Make New Friends, But Keep the Old
by Gayle F. Cox

"Trini, behind you!" Trini Kwan spun around and aimed her proton blaster at the shadowy figure behind her. Quickly, she hit the switch on her pack and let loose a white stream of light. The light struck the entity, and it wriggled helplessly.

"Kylie, I need a trap!" Trini yelled to the girl behind her. Kylie grabbed the trap from the pack on her back and threw it under the ghost. It opened and the shadowy figure was sucked in. Reaching down, Trini picked up the smoking trap and handed it off to Kylie. "Thanks, Kylie."

The other girl smiled and shrugged. "No biggie; part of the job. You're doing good out here." Trini smiled back at her. After only three months fighting with the Ghostbusters, she was definitely feeling right at home.

"Thanks, I'm having fun; if you can believe it." Kylie nodded and they walked over to join the others. Garrett saw them coming and rolled over.

"You guys okay? I heard some yelling." They nodded and Kylie smiled at the worry in Garrett's eyes over Trini. In the past three months, Kylie had noticed a definite line of defense come up anytime Trini looked like she was hurt or had a date.

_"If these two don't get together soon I'm going to do something horrible to both of them."_ She thought as they piled into _Ecto-1_. The drive back to the ancient firehouse was quiet. It was late and everyone was tired. As they pulled into the garage, Janine and Egon ran to greet them.

"How did it go?" Egon asked. Usually, the older man, who had been an original Ghostbuster, or OGB, came with them on calls, but since Trini had joined, he started working more and more behind the lines.

Roland, the unspoken leader of the group, handed Egon three loaded traps. "Not bad; we got all of them, and no one got hurt." Egon nodded and the two men walked downstairs to the containment unit, still talking about the ins and outs of the bust.

Janine approached Trini and handed her an envelope. "This just came for you. Special Delivery; I signed for it." Trini took the envelope and turned it over. Her name was almost sloppily written, and the handwriting was one that Trini had thought she had forgotten. Quickly, she turned the envelope over and tore it open:

Dear Trini,

Greetings from good old Angel Grove. I am home after spending some time away. Z. told me he let you know where I was. Hope you were not worried. I am back working in my lab and working on those computers we always had problems with. Did you know that Z. was gone from his building for months? He got it renovated again, and it looks very similar and different at the same time. A. says to tell you hi, and both Z. and A. have given me permission to use the private resources anytime I wish to visit. I would like to see you sometime soon. According to my sources, you have become a Ghostbuster. Very impressive, almost Morphinominal. I apologize profusely, but I could not resist. Let me know if you mind my company for a few days. I am pretty sure you still have that old 'watch'. I will find out soon. Be careful with those ghosts. You have worked as much as I have, but we never worked with something that should be dead. (Unless you count Goldar.)

Yours Always,
Billy

Trini refolded the letter and turned to find the rest of the team, minus Roland and Egon-who were still downstairs, watching her. "What is it? Haven't you ever seen someone read a letter before?"

Edualdro was the first to speak, "Sure, but you got some weirded out look on your face when you saw the writing."

"It's from Billy. I told all of you about him. The look was because he has been gone for a long time, and this is the first I've heard from him. He wants to meet you guys sometime soon." Trini explained.

Kylie noticed the look that passed over Garrett's face at the mention of Billy. Everyone in the firehouse knew how close Trini and he had been. _"Garrett better keep his cool."_ She spoke up, "Why don't you invite him next week when we have that break because they're having the convention at the University?"

Trini nodded, "That would be great! I'll clear it with Egon if you guys are sure." Edualdro, Janine, and Kylie gave their support quickly while Garrett answered a little more slowly. Trini was to excited to notice his hesitance. "Awesome! I'm going to talk to Egon." She headed toward the elevator excitedly.

Janine shook her head as she watched the younger woman disappear behind the elevator doors. "I haven't seen anyone that happy since my high school graduation party-of course most of us were high." No one seemed to hear her, and she looked around. All of the young adults looked as though they were about to fall asleep where they stood. _"Mother hen duty calls."_ "Okay, everyone, bed. Now." No arguments followed the statement as Janine watched the exhausted Ghostbusters almost crawl up the stairs where the OGB's old beds still sat, waiting for use. "Of course, we had to add an extra bed when Trini joined." Janine thought aloud as she pulled blankets from the linen closet and started making up the couch for Egon. When she finished, she pulled another set of blankets out and set up the futon that pulled out of the ancient arm chair. Once finished, she pulled the blankets down and settled down to sleep. "You'd think by now we would have all moved out of our separate apartments and renovated this place to make enough room for everyone."

The next morning, Trini woke before the rest of the team and dug through her duffel bag. Reaching down, she found the hidden compartment she had sewn into the bottom material when she had gone to Switzerland. The cool, familiar metal was inviting as Trini pulled her old communicator out of the pocket and looked it over. Despite a few chips in the paint, and a coating of dust, it looked exactly the same. _"Hope it still works."_ Trini thought as she locked the bathroom door. Tapping the small button on the side, she heard a familiar series of beeps.

"THIS IS ZORDON; HELLO TRINI." The voice seemed to boom out of the small speaker, and she smiled.

"Hi, Zordon, how did you know it was me?" A deep laugh rumbled out.

"TRINI, I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU SINCE YOU ARRIVED IN NEW YORK. HOW ARE YOU DOING AS A GHOSTBUSTER?"

"I'm fine, Zordon. Is Billy around?" For a few moments, it was silent, but then Trini heard a long yawn followed by a loud *thud*. "Billy?"

"I'm awake, Dad, just give me five more minutes." Billy sounded half asleep, and Trini held back a laugh.

"Billy, your lab just got blown up."

"*What the hell?*" Billy now sounded completely awake, and another *thud* came over the speaker.

Trini laughed freely now. "Billy, it's Trini. What's with all the noise?"

Billy's voice came back over, but it sounded muffled. "I fell off the top bunk to the bed next to it, to the floor, and now I'm trying to untangle myself." Trini laughed again. He may have been more coordinated when she had left, but he was still Billy.

"I got your letter, and the whole group wants to meet you. We have next week off because of a convention. Can you make it?" Trini asked.

"Sure, I'll teleport in next Monday. Is that okay?"

"That's great, See you Monday." Trini tapped the button on her communicator again and smiled as she left the bathroom and headed back upstairs. She stepped in the large room and took a moment to look around. There were five beds set around the almost bare area. Two along the left wall, two along the right wall, and now one against the back wall. There had never been assigned beds, but it was common knowledge among the five people on the team that Edualdro and Garrett were on the right, Trini and Kylie on the left, and Roland in the middle. _Kind of like when I was a ranger. Jason in front, then Kimberly and I on one side with Zack and Billy on the other._

Garrett stirred in his sleep and turned to his other side the best he could. Trini crept over and watched him for a moment. _"He's so adorable when he sleeps."_ Garrett's auburn hair fell over his forehead and the smile on his face almost made him look like a little boy. He turned over again and his green eyes opened. When he saw Trini standing over him, he smiled up at her.

"Was I talking in my sleep or something?" Trini shook her head as a smile lit up her face. _"Geez, she's so beautiful."_

"No, I got up early to give Billy a call. He says that he can make it next week. Isn't that great?!" Trini's enthusiasm was contagious, and Garrett gave her a half-smile.

"That's fantastic. I'm really looking forward to meeting him." Trini smiled again and headed over to her bed to gather her clothes for the day. Garrett watched her for a moment as he propped himself up on his elbows. "So, did you and Billy ever date? By the way you talk about him, you two were really close." Trini nodded.

"We were, and as far as I know we still are, but we never dated. I don't know why; I guess neither of us really felt like it was a good idea. We talked it over before I left, and decided that the chemistry just wasn't there. Friends, yes, but a couple, no." She turned and walked downstairs leaving Garrett behind.

He grinned and pumped his fists in the air, causing his head to hit the pillow. _"Yes! I have a chance!"_ He pumped his fists a few more times before another thought hit him. _"Now, if I just had the guts to ask her out."_

Trini waited impatiently at the front second-floor window of the firehouse. Between Billy and herself, she had managed to come up with a good enough story to please the whole team. She had told them that Billy had relatives that used to live in New York, so he could find his way around find. In truth, Billy had only come to New York a few times in his life, but with his photographic memory, he knew every corner better than Trini did now.

A tiny flash of white running through the sky caught Trini's eye, and she smiled to herself. _I can't believe I still notice stuff like that. Whoever said out of sight out of mind was never a ranger._ A figure in a blue polo shirt caught her eye, and Trini smiled. Billy looked almost exactly the same. His hair was a little blonder, and he was a little more muscular, but when he adjusted the wire-rim glasses on his nose, a little bit of the old Billy peeked through.

As he approached the door, Trini ran across the room and slid down the fire pole in the corner. She hurried over to the door, and flung it open as Billy raised his hand, and prepared to knock. They looked at each other for a moment before Trini leaped at him and grabbed the semi-surprised man in a tight hug.

Billy hugged back and gasped, "Uh, Trini, I would like to breathe again sometime soon." She released him, and Billy smiled as he pretended to gasp for breath. Trini grabbed his hand and led him inside.

"It's so great to see you, Billy! Come on, I'll drop your stuff in the guest room and introduce you to everyone." Trini deposited the dark blue duffel bag in the seldom used back room. "I thought you changed to contacts after I left for the Summit."

Billy shrugged, "I did, but when I got home from Aquatair the glasses just seemed right." Trini smiled at him, and Billy smiled back. "What's so amusing?"

"I don't know. I guess I just expected you to be completely different since you lived on another planet for a couple of years." Billy laughed.

"Gee, thanks. As long as you're insulting me, why don't you introduce me to the team so they can get their shots in?"

Trini laughed along with him. "Okay, maybe you changed a little. Come on, I'll introduce you, but you have to promise to be nice." Billy stuck out his tonuge and screwed his eyes shut.

"Fine, fine, I'll behave; I promise."

She grabbed his hand and led him back to the main part of the house. "Hey, Ed, Roland, Kylie, Garrett, Egon, Janine, Slimer; I want you to meet someone!"

Billy's eyes widened, "Who or *what* is Slimer?"

Garrett watched as Trini and Billy said their good-byes in a corner of the living room. The young man had stayed with the Ghostbusters for a week, had been slimed at *least* two dozen times, and Garrett found him to be a very good person; especially since Billy had assured him that if anything ever did happen between Trini and himself, it would have to happen in an alternate universe. _Now, if I could just get the courage to ask her on a date._

Billy walked to the door, turned, waved one last time, and was hailed with a loud round of "Good-Byes." As he shut the door, Trini walked over to Garrett and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Billy said you wanted to ask me something."

Garrett felt his throat go dry, and tried to remember how to breathe and speak at the same time. "Uh, I was just wondering if you wanted to, um, you know, go out sometime?" He felt his face flush and ducked his head.

Trini watched him with amusement. _If he gets much redder, I won't be able to tell where his hair ends and his face begins._ "Garrett," He glanced up at the sound of his name. "I would love to go out with you sometime."

As she turned and started talking to Egon avout adjustments Billy had made to _Ecto-1_, Garrett beamed. _All right!_ He wheeled around and headed for the eleavator, _Now, where to take her for our first date?_

To Be Continued...In A Love Story (Maybe)
(Maybe I'll make it into an Action/Love Story)

The End... for now