The Wait is Over
by Gayle F. Cox

_Green shirt? Red shirt? Green? Red? Wait, what about my new blue one?_ Garrett sighed to himself and threw the shirts onto the bed in his bedroom of his parents' house. _This is impossible._

~*~

_This is impossible._ Trini thought to herself as she dug through the closet in the huge upstairs room of the ancient firehouse the was the headquarters of the Ghostbusters. _Let's see, I have my yellow dress with the black trim, the black dress with the yellow trim, or my new yellow dress with the red trim and madrid collar._ She stopped a moment and did the only thing she could think of. She screamed. "AHHHHHHHHH!"

Kylie heard the scream from downstairs where she was fighting with Edualdro over control for the remote and ran up to save her friend. "Trini, are you okay?"

The young Asian woman glanced up at her teammate and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Kylie, it's just I'm a *little* nervous about tonight."

Kylie tried to hide her smile, but she couldn't. As long as she had known Trini, the girl had always managed to stay cool in a crisis, even when she was staring down a class ten entity, but now all it took was the mention of her date with Garrett that night. "Okay, first, b-r-e-t-h-e. Next, sit down, and let me figure out what you're going to wear before you make the guys downstairs go deaf."

Trini obliged and posted herself on the edge of the nearest bed. "Why am I so stressed out, Ky? I've been on dates before, but for some reason this one really freaks me out."

_Maybe it's because you think something could come out of this one._ Kylie thought. Aloud, she said, "Maybe it's because you know Garrett, but you don't know the date Garrett."

"Maybe," Trini muttered.

"Eureka!" Trini looked up as Kylie held up a silver tank top and a pastel yellow skirt." "Try it on; I think it'll work."

Quickly, Trini slipped into the outfit and examined herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the closet door. "This is perfect, Kylie, but what about shoes? It won't look good if I walk into the restaurant without shoes."

Kylie grinned and held up a pair of strappy silver platforms, "Try these."

The other girl slipped them on, buckled them, and stood in front of the mirror again. "You're a miracle worker, but there is one more thing," Kylie looked at her friend quizzically. "What am I going to do with my hair?"

~*~

_Lookin' good, Garrett._ The young man thought to himself as he took one last look in the mirror. He had finally decided on a yellow dress shirt, partly because he knew it was Trini's favorite color, and a pair of perfectly creased khakis.

"Garrett when are you due at the firehouse?" His mother called up to him.

He grabbed the bouquet of white daises from his dresser and wheeled down the ramp outside his room to the living room. "Right now. Bye, Mom; don't know when I'll be back; rumors of some ghost activity have been going around. Trini and I are going to Liazo's if you need to get a hold of me. See you later." Before she could reply, he was out the door and headed to the subway.

~*~

"Hello! The man has arrived!" Garrett called as he rolled into the firehouse.

Eduladro and Roland came in from the garage covered in grease from _Ecto-1_, and greeted their friend. "Hate to break it to you, G-man, but the man is already here." Edualdro joked.

Garrett looked all around, "That's funny, I don't see him around here. Oh, did you mean you man? My bad." Edualdro swatted at him and Garrett ducked out of the way. "Careful, Ed, if you stain this shirt I stain the rug-with you."

The three guys laughed, but stopped short when they saw Kylie slide down the pole from upstairs. "Where's Trini?" Roland asked.

"She's coming down in a second, chill." Kylie looked at Garrett and smiled as he wiped his palms on the sides of his wheelchair. "Don't worry, Garrett, she's excited."

The redhead smiled back at her and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was hoping I wasn't the only one freaking out.

_Don't worry, you weren't._ Kylie thought to herself as a door closed upstairs. "I think she's ready. Breathe, Garrett."

Garrett followed orders and made himself relax. At his first glance at Trini he felt as relaxed as a bowl full of jello. "Whoa."

Edualdro and Roland nodded in response while their jaws scraped the floor at Trini's entrance.

Trini had finally decided to French braid her hair and wear a pair of silver earrings hammered into tigers-a gift from Kimberly when she had left for Sweden. Her eyes were highlighted with a touch of mascara and a little bit of gloss made her lips smoother than usual.

Garrett finally composed himself, rolled over, and handed the bouquet of daisies to her in a half-dazed state. "You look-I mean-*wow*."

Trini smiled and accepted the flowers. "Thanks, Garrett, you look great." He blushed the color of his hair, and Trini couldn't help but smile. _He's so cute like that._ "Are you ready?"

Garrett nodded, "Sure, let's get going."

"Hold on, not so fast, you two." Egon came into the room from the kitchen, followed by Janine. Both of them mock-glared at Garrett. "Where are you going, when will you be back, and are you a responsible young man?"

Trini and Garrett traded a look before he answered. "Well, sir, I can't tell you where we are going because I haven't told Trini yet; it's supposed to be a surprise. We'll be back when we get back," He stopped a moment to give Trini a *very* obvious wink. "And I'm really not that responsible, but I do like to party."

Egon and Janine turned their backs in a fake huddle, "Well, I guess it's okay, if it's okay with you."

Janine eyed Garrett for a moment before finally shrugging. "Fine with me, but if you're not back by four a.m. we're going to wait longer."

Garrett and Trini joined in the laughter as they headed out the door. "So, where are we going?" Trini asked as they headed for the subway.

Garrett grinned, "I never make reservations and tell. Trust me."

She smiled back, "That's pretty dangerous, isn't it?"

They stepped onto the subway car and fought for a place to sit. Four stops later, Garrett motioned Trini to the door, "Let's go."

Trini eyed him again, but followed him off the train. They were in the West End surrounded by small restaurants that were probably run by fourth generation families.

Garrett rolled toward the closest one, a small Italian place with a large front window that showed waiters and waitresses in white button down shirts and black pants moving from table to table to take orders from a variety of people. "Hope you don't mind Italian."

"I love it. How did you know?" Trini asked.

Garrett shrugged, "I have my sources, and they should remain nameless." _Thank you, Billy._

They headed into the eatery and were greeted by a hostess who quickly showed them to a seat. After ordering drinks, the two young people sat back and tried to stay calm.

_Geez, she's beautiful._

_He's so cute when he's nervous._

Finally, Garrett swallowed the huge lump in his throat and decided to go for it. "Trini, you look awesome tonight."

Trini's head shot up, and she smiled. "Thank you, you look great, too."

Before the conversation could go any further, a quick succession of beeps interrupted. At first, Trini couldn't figure out what it was, she hadn't used her communicator since contacting Zordon to get ahold of Billy.

"Is that your beeper?" Garrett interrupted her thoughts.

Looking down, Trini saw the small yellow square was in fact, the source of the beeps. "Uh, yeah, that's me." Reaching down, she pulled it off her waistband and hit the small black button on the top. "Darn."

Garrett looked up from his menu. "What's the matter?"

She stood and glared at her beeper. "It's Egon, we've got a class eight entity."

Garrett threw an identical withering glance at her beeper. "I hate it when duty calls in the middle of dinner."

Trini smiled at him, "Don't worry, I plan to take a rain check."

He smiled back and they headed quickly to the subway.

~*~

"What's going on?" Trini yelled over the alarm as she and Garrett hurried into the firehouse.

Kylie tossed her a jumpsuit and a pair of sneakers before answering. "We've got a woman on a rooftop that's floating about six feet in the air and glowing bright yellow."

"Oh, just wonderful," Garrett quipped as he helped Roland attach his proton pack to his wheelchair. "So, where are we going?"

"Sixth and One Twenty-Eighth Street," Egon called out as the five younger Ghostbusters headed for _Ecto-1_. "Be careful."

"Please, Egon, we know what we're doing by now," Trini assured him.

"Yeah, I know, but be careful anyway." He watched as the car sped out of the garage, sirens blaring, and headed toward the location of the ghost.

Janine came up and slipped an arm through his. "Don't worry, they'll be fine. You taught everything you know."

Egon smiled down at her but didn't say anything. _She's right, but I'm not going to admit it. If I did, I would never hear the end of it._

~*~

"Here we are," Roland called as they pulled in front of the large, semi-rundown apartment building.

"Lock and load, people!" Edualdro called as they ran into the building and loaded the elevator.

Twenty-two stories, and three brown-outs later, the Ghostbusters were on the roof and looking for cover. The entity in question was a medium height slim young woman with short blond hair and blue eyes that were literally lit up.

Her eyes fixed on Edualdro and bright yellow bolts shot out of her hands.

Edualdro jumped clear just in time, and a string of what the others assumed were Spanish curses was let loose as he saw the smoking spot where he was previously standing. "That's it! I'm pissed!"

Before the others could warn him off, a column of white light streamed from his proton gun and hit the entity square in the chest. The young woman withered and squirmed from the force of the protons and finally fell to the roof while the ghost moved quickly away.

Kylie and Trini ran over to the girl while the guys tried to get one last shot in. "Are you okay?" Kylie asked as she helped the woman sit up.

The blond nodded and clutched her head. "If you don't count the headache I'm fine. Who are you people?"

Trini spoke up, "We're the Ghostbusters. Sorry about having to hit you with the proton beam, but it was necessary-" She gave the young woman a look.

"Sara, Sara Meeks. Let me tell you, that's an interesting way to be introduced to New York." She stood and headed slowly for the door to the stairs. "Thanks for depossesing me. If I can do you a favor let me know."

Trini and Kylie waved goodbye and ran over to join the rest of the team. "I like her," Kylie stated. "She's cool."

"If you ignore the fact she was possessed." Edualdro quipped while ducking the smack Kylie had aimed for the back of his head. Unfortunately, he didn't miss the one from Trini. "You two chicas have got to stop spending so much time together. Your reflexes are starting to act the same."

Before either girl had a chance to get in a second hit, Roland's PKE meter started buzzing. "That demon is still in the building; let's go."

Together they headed for the elevator and made it down to the sixth floor without incident. PKE readings were off the chart when the team stepped off the elevator and headed for an apartment.

The door to apartment was ajar and the demon was inside scaring a cowering Sara into a corner. "How nice to see you again, Sara." The demon's voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard mixed with the twisting metal of a car crash, and caused the Ghostbusters to wince.

"NOW!" Roland's yell made the entity snap around and get five proton beams directly in the stomach.

Trini gritted her teeth, fighting to keep control. _Come on, girl, you've fought bigger things than this! What about the Praying Mantis Monster? The fear of heights?_ Her inner pep talk was cut short when Garrett was thrown against the far wall, and she saw him slump there unconscious. Swallowing back a scream, Trini concentrated harder then ever on the demon in front of her. _Bastard._

Without Garrett's proton pack, the flowing mass in front of them started gaining back some of its strength. Just as it was about to take over the situation again, a scream that made Trini think of a banshee, escaped from the its mouth.

"Kylie! Now!" Roland saw their chance and yelled for Kylie's trap.

Kylie nodded, threw the trap, and stomped her foot onto the opening catch. The demon, still screaming, was sucked down and clamped in. Reaching down, Kylie picked up the trap and smiled wickedly at the others. "One less possessed courtesy of the Ghostbusters."

Edualdro looked around a moment, before settling on Sara, who was still in the corner holding Garrett's proton gun. Walking over, he offered her a hand and pulled her up. "Nice shooting."

Sara smiled, "Thanks; it's amazing what you can learn when you spend to much time in an arcade."

"Ugh, anyone get the number of the ghost that hit me?" Garrett's strained voice caused everyone to hurry to him and help him up. Roland and Edualdro helped him into a sitting position while Kylie grabbed his wheelchair from the other side of the room.

"You okay, man?" Roland asked as they got him seated.

Garrett nodded and rubbed the back of his head. "Fine, if you ignore the giant bump on the back of my head." His eyes focused on Sara and his proton gun. Wheeling over, he held out his hand. "I guess I owe you one for saving my butt."

Gratefully, Sara handed him the gun and shrugged, "Don't worry about it. You save my life, I save yours. Consider it even."

~*~

"Was anyone else impressed by Sara?" Roland asked as they drove back to the firehouse.

"I was, it takes a lot to stay that calm under pressure." Kylie spoke up from the back.

"She told me she had studied Tae Kwon Doe some a couple of years back and that helped her. Ice pack," Trini replied. Edualdro passed an ice pack to her, and she applied it to the back of Garrett's head.

"Didn't you study martial arts?" Garrett asked quietly, so only Trini could hear. His headache had worsened and he was leaning forward with his eyes closed.

"Yeah, I did. Kung Fu mainly, but the guys taught me some basic moves in other types." Her voice was just as low, partly to help keep Garrett's headache from getting worse. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, but I feel bad about tonight."

Trini smiled, "I told you I'd take a rain check, and I meant it, but not until that bump goes down."

"Listen up, gang, we've got a class five entity in a Broadway theater terrorizing the cast of *Ragtime*," Egon's voice came over the two-way radio interrupting all conversation.

"We're on it, Egon." Roland hit a switch and the siren blared to life causing Garrett to wince. "Sorry, buddy."

Garrett looked up at Trini, "And not until we can get a night off."

End