Standard Disclaimer: I don't own the EGBs, wish I did, they are property of those as-, ah, Sony and the dip-wads at BKN, grumble grumble growl hiss, and no characters portrayed are based on anyone living or dead. Well, I did kinda name Eduardo's teach after Fil Barlow, the guy who did the character designs for the EGBs. Please don't sue me, I have no money for you to take, and did it only out of the utmost respect. Okay, now that the formalities are over, on to the fic!

Secrets

By ICKA! M. Chif

The phone rang, making the muscles in Kylie's body tense as she looked up from her book, waiting for Janine's familiar cry and the alarm to go off. From her vantage point, she could also see Rolland and Garrett tense and look in Janine's direction. Eduardo, as usual, appeared not to notice, engrossed in the cartoon he was watching. Janine talked for a moment to the person on the other end, ignoring the fact that she was the centre of attention. Finally, Janine looked up, in her direction.

"Hey, Eduardo!" She called in her Bronx accent. "Phones for you!"

Eduardo gave Kylie a puzzled look as he got up and meandered over to Janine's desk. Janine handed the phone over to him, giving him an annoyed look.

"Make it quick." She growled. "This *is* a business line."

He nodded, picking up the phone.

"This is Eduardo." He said suspiciously into the receiver.

He straighten up, face becoming more animated as the person on the line talked.

"What!? You're pulling my leg, man!"

Eduardo glanced around; suddenly realizing he was drawing attention. He turned his back to them, talking softly so that she couldn't hear what it was about. Garrett cast her a questioning look, silently asking if she knew what was going on. She shrugged, shaking her head a bit. He shrugged in response. He didn't know what was going on either. Finally Eduardo nodded a couple of times, then hung up the phone.

"I've got to go." He said quickly before they could ask him what it was about. He rushed over to his locker, hurriedly pulling out his school backpack and shoving some stuff into it.

Janine put her hands on her hips, a scowl forming.

"And where can we reach you if we get a call?" She demanded, a touch of irritation in her tone.

Eduardo didn't miss a beat, shutting his locker and zipping up the pack.

"School."

He said brusquely before heading out the door, throwing his pack over his shoulder.

"I'll be back, 3 hours tops."

He shouted over his shoulder as he ran out the door. It shut behind him with a bang, leaving the firehouse in silence for a moment.

"Well, that was interesting." Roland remarked, wiping his hands off on a rag.

"What?" She asked, closing her book. "The fact that Eduardo was in a hurry for once or the fact he was voluntarily going to school?"

Roland snorted, amused at the comment.

"Kylie's right." Garrett said, doing a wheelie. "That's not normal slacker Eddie behavior. Something's up."

Roland shrugged in dismissal. "So, he's in a hurry to get to school. Nothing wrong with that. I mean, what are we gonna do? Follow him to see what's going on?"

Garrett exchanged looks with them. "Why not?"

"Hold on gang." Janine cut in, holding up her hands. "You've a job to do, remember? Just because one of you goes running off doesn't mean all of you have to go running off too."

"So, we'll put our gear in the trunk and carry the comm units with us." Garrett said impatiently. "C'mon! Time's a-wasting! And I'm willing to bet you're as curious about this as the rest of us." He cajoled.

Janine sighed. Garrett was right, she was curious.

"All right." She growled. "But I want details. And none of this gets to Egon, got it?"

They exchanged triumphant looks.

"Our lips are sealed." Kylie said, speaking for all of them.

Janine nodded once, then motioned for them to get out of there. "Then git, before you lose him entirely." She growled, a faint smirk softening it.

"We'll take my Mustang." Roland volunteered, already moving for their gear in the Ecto-1.

She got up out of the beanbag chair, hurrying after them. This was going to be entertaining, at the very least.

"Are you sure you saw him go in here, Roland?" Kylie asked as they walked through the college's art museum. The well lit large room was fairly crowded, a student art show was in full swing.

"Positive." Roland said, looking around for their teammate. "It does seem un-likely though, Eduardo at an art show." He admitted.

Garrett stopped, pausing to looking at something.

"Uh, guys?" He said hesitantly, getting their attention. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."

What? Puzzled, Kylie backed up the few steps to look at whatever had caught Garrett's eye. It was a picture of the Ghostbusters logo, only it had been altered a bit, so that there was a strange black and gray patterned border around it, holding the words 'Extreme Ghostbusting'. (The Extreme Ghostbuster's logo)

"Who's it by?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna hold them for copyright infringement." Garrett growled, a scowl darkening his face.

Roland leaned over, reading the small tag beside the picture.

"Logo redesign by..." He paused, shaking his head as he slowly straighted up.

"Who?" She pressed.

"E. Riveria" Roland said in amazement.

"Eddie?!" Garrett exclaimed, eyebrows almost disappearing in his hairline. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope. E. Riveria." She confirmed.

"A relative, perhaps?" Roland offered. "Eduardo never seemed the artistic type."

"He doesn't, does he?" a new voice asked, startling them.

They looked over at the speaker of the voice. It was a middle-aged man, hair just turning white, dressed in a tweed jacket and slacks. He smiled kindly at them.

"I'm Mr. Balrow. I teach some of the Graphic Design classes here. Eduardo is one of my assistants. He's been helping me set up the art shows the past few months."

If Eduardo had been helping him set up displays for the past few months, that would explain why he was always crashing at the firehouse. Displays were usually only allowed to be put up after hours, late at night. No wonder he had been so tired.

"We're talking about the same Eduardo, right?" Roland asked skeptically.

"Tall, thin guy who has a habit of saying he's a scientist in a funny Spanish accent?" Garrett pressed.

Mr. Balrow nodded.

"That's him. Ah, you must be his friends. Garrett, correct? Roland and Kylie."

"How did you know-?!" Kylie asked a bit startled.

"C'mon, I'll show you." Mr. Balrow motioned for them to follow him.

They exchanged startled looks, then shrugged and followed him. The teacher led them to another picture, this one of the firehouse.

"This was an extra credit assignment for his architecture class."

It was a three-quarter view of the firehouse, the closest corner of it was cut away, allowing the viewer to see the inside. It was well drawn, everything done to scale and fully detailed. It had to have been a Ghostbuster who had done it, no one else would have the inside knowledge to have done such a good job.

"Hey, there's Janine!" Roland exclaimed, pointing to the tiny picture of her sitting at her normal desk, talking on the phone. "And there's me!" He added, pointing to the Ecto-1 where he was polishing the hood.

"There's Egon, in his lab." Kylie said, smiling slightly at the small scientist bent over a microscope.

"There you are, Ky." Garrett motioned to the basement, where she was reading by candlelight next to the containment unit. "Where am I?"

The teacher pointed to a small version of him lifting weights while watching TV. She wasn't sure, but the spiky brown hair rising out from the couch was probably Eduardo.

"I still haven't been able to figure out what the floating green blob in the kitchen is." Mr. Balrow shook his head.

They smiled, exchanging amused looks, but kept silent.

"Probably just a speck of paint. But still, very unusual for his work. Ah, there he is. Eduardo!" The teacher called, waving a hand. "Come meet some of your fans!"

She turned to see Eduardo walking up, a large notebook under one arm and a smile on his face. The smile rapidly faded at he realized just who 'his fans' were. He glanced around, more than likely looking for an escape route, before realizing he was caught and resigning himself to join the group.

"How did it go?" Mr. Balrow asked eagerly.

"Uh. It went well." Eduardo responded uneasily, glancing around him like a trapped rabbit.

"Excellent! I told you that they would like your work." Mr. Balrow grinned.

Some one called the teacher's name, needing assistance.

"I've got to go. It was nice to meet you." Mr. Balrow said hurriedly, walking off with a friendly wave.

They turned to Eduardo, who was looking quite uncomfortable by now.

"What did you guys do? Follow me?" He glared at them from under his bangs.

"It was Garrett's idea." Roland motioned to Garrett.

"Well, how else are we gonna know what's going on?" Garrett asked with false innocence.

Eduardo scowled at him. Garrett shrugged.

"So, when were you planing on telling us about this?" Kylie crossed her arms.

Eduardo shrugged, looking nervous.

"I dunno." Was his intellectual answer.

"Fergit that, what ya got in the folder?" Garrett asked, grabbing the folder Eduardo had been carrying under his arm.

"Hey!" Eduardo tried to snatch it back.

Too late, Garrett had opened it and was rifling through it.

"Wait a minute..." Roland took one out of the pile. "I recognize this. This is Kahlil!"

"And here's Ol' J.D." Garrett said, pulling out another one. "Remember what he did to your car, Rol?" He asked with a mischievous smile.

"Hard to forget" Roland snorted.

"Hey!" One caught her eye and she pulled it out, studying it. "Achira." She breathed, a chill running up her spine, even after all the months that had passed since she'd been possessed by the deamoness.

"These are good." Roland said, a touch of awe in his tone.

"Hold on." Garrett said sourly, setting down 'Ol' J.D.' "You mean all this time I've been slaving away over graphics for the web site and you've had the perfect solution in your locker the entire time?! Why didn't you say anything?!"

Eduardo shrugged again, this time with a smirk. "You never asked."

"I never asked?! You never told me you could draw!!!"

"Not my problem, pachuco."

She would have hit him if Garrett's dumb-founded reaction hadn't been so funny.

"So what was the phone call about?" Roland asked, quickly changing the subject as he set down the picture he'd been holding.

"Eh, some big design school wanted to see some of my sketches and offer me a full scholarship." Eduardo said dismmisvily.

"That's wonderful, Eduardo!" She smiled up at him.

He grimaced slightly, running a hand through his hair. She got the feeling that maybe it wasn't good news after all.

"It'd be a full time load, early morning to late at night, outside of the city." He explained. "I'd have to quit Ghostbusting."

Kylie's heart sank into her gut unexpectedly. She had never really thought about what would happen if one of them left, much less Eduardo. He was a pain in the butt sometimes, but he was a good friend.

"Quit Ghostbusting?" Garrett said somberly. "You thinking about it, bro?"

Eduardo shifted his weight, not looking at them. Evidently he was.

"I dunno. It's a really good offer. All my books and supplies would be covered, as well as tuition and a pad near the university, so I'd be able to get out of Carlos' house...." He trailed off.

It was a good deal, one she would have jumped at before she had teamed up with the Ghostbusters. No wonder he was so nervous about it.

"What did you tell them?" Roland asked gently.

"I said I'd think about it. They want an answer by next Tuesday." Eduardo said neutrally, retrieving his notebook from Garrett.

Tuesday. Five days away.

The silence that followed had an oppressive feel to it. Garrett moved his shoulders as if trying to shake it off.

"Well, in the mean time," He said with forced cheerfulness "Can we offer the famous 'ah-tiste' a ride back to the fire house?"

Eduardo smiled slightly at that. "You got it, pachuco."

Garrett and Roland nodded, satisfied with that answer at least, and started walking to the car, ushering Eduardo with them.

She paused, taking a quick final look at the picture of the firehouse, before turning and catching up with the other three. As she did, she noticed a paper slide out of the folder Eduardo was carrying and drop to the ground. She picked it up. It was a picture of her, curled up in the beanbag chair, a slight smile on her face as she read Spengler's Spirit Guide. She smiled at it. It had been painstakingly drawn; she could tell a lot of time and care had gone into it.

"So, Eddie," Garrett was saying jovially as they stepped outside the art building "Just what other secrets have you been hiding, hmmm?"

Eduardo laughed, somewhat forced. "You're just gonna have to wait and find out."

She looked at the picture again. Yes, Eduardo. Just what other secrets were you hiding?

Finis, fer the moment...

Hee, Hee. That's all I have for now on this story line, I just wanted to get this out before my brain decided to explode. So, if you have any comments, questions, (I looove questions) or anything else for that matter, please send them, as usual, to icka_IMP@hotmail.com. Thanks!