:._+ Eddy in Time: ._+

Chapter Four

"Winter!" her mother's voice broke through her sleep.

The teenager groaned as she felt herself being yanked into reality. The need to sleep was still pulling at her body. She had the habit of oversleeping and being late for school.

Wait. Where was she?

Winter slowly cracked open her eyes. She hoped she would be back in her room or at the firehouse. Maybe whatever ever took her to the past would fix this.

Her heart fell when she saw she wasn't in a familiar spot. She was in her mother's bedroom. That meant she was still in 1984. With a loud yawn, she rolled over and climbed out of the bed.

She walked into the kitchen to find her mother hurriedly cooking breakfast.

"Finally," Janine said. "I've been trying to wake you up for close to an hour."

"Sorry," Winter said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I sleep pretty hard."

"That's fine," her mother said, dumping a pile of eggs and bacon on her plate. "I have to go to work darling but you're free to stay here if you want."

"I think I might see the city today," Winter explained, pushing her food around with her fork.

"Be careful out there," Janine said, pulling on her coat. "It might be more dangerous than in your time. If you need me or Egon just come down to the firehouse. I want you to feel comfortable darling."

"I will," she said, nodding slightly. "I'll be by for lunch."

"Sounds good, hun," she said, kissing her daughter on the head. "I left some money for you on the coffee table. I've got to run."

Janine hated the idea of leaving her by herself. After all, the city could be a dangerous place for a young girl. Of course, Winter had been raised there and was nearly an adult. She had to know how to take care of herself.

"Bye Mom," Winter said as her mother left the apartment.

Winter sighed pushing her plate away as she felt tears fill her eyes. She didn't want her mother to see her upset. Her mother always got so emotional when she cried.

She was still here. Winter had been so sure this was all one big nightmare and she'd wake up at home. Should she be so upset about this situation? She had her parents here but they weren't her parents. They didn't know anything about her. Her mother didn't know she liked fried eggs or that her favorite color was pea soup green.

Her friends and boyfriend weren't there.

She didn't know how long she'd last without Oscar. Even before they had started dating they'd been best friends. He was always there to make her feel better, to make her smile.

Winter cleared her tears on her shirt sleeve before standing up. She couldn't stand the thought of eating while she was so upset. She would take a nice hot shower and then get dressed and explore the city. Perhaps that would take her mind off her troubles.

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By the time she got out of the steamy shower, her tears were finally gone. Her eyes were still a bit red but nothing really noticeable.

The apartment was silent as she walked into her mother's bedroom and retrieved her new clothes from the shopping bags. As she retrieved the shirt and jeans she liked she heard it break through the silence of the room.

Growling.

Winter quickly jerked her head up and looked around for the source of the sound. There was nothing. Only silence greeted her.

Great. Now she was losing her mind. She was really letting that dream get to her.

Winter hurriedly got dressed and raced out to the kitchen. She needed to get out of that apartment and get her mind off what was happening.

As she passed the kitchen table she noticed her untouched breakfast. She frowned looking at the food her mother had left. It was stone cold at this point. She wasn't really hungry anyway. Food could wait until she joined her parents at the firehouse for lunch. She stuffed her money in her pockets and headed out.

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Egon frowned as he tried to wrap his head around what he was going to do. He was going to have to invent time travel to get his daughter back home. If he didn't she was stuck there.

He was sitting in his lab staring at a blank sheet of paper. He had designed and built a system for catching and holding ghosts. How much harder could time travel be? Both relied on a lot of theoretical science.

The scientist groaned looking away from the paper with frustration. He had no idea where to start. Perhaps he and Ray could crack this with enough time but it might take too long. They were doing alright for business but he had no idea what kind of capital this would take.

"What's up?" Peter asked seeing his friend bent over his desk. "Working on something?"

"You could say that," he said. "Wheres Ray?"

"He went out to get lunch with Winston," Peter explained. "He seems pretty giddy about something but wouldn't tell me what it was."

Egon hadn't told Peter and Winston about Winter yet. Ray had been more than ready to but Egon had given him a warning look as soon as he saw that excited look on his face.

It wasn't that he was ashamed of his future wife and child. It was just a lot to take in. He didn't need Peter teasing him or making jokes at Janine's expense. Of course, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep Winter from them long.

Perhaps it would be better to tell Peter on his own so they could all tell Winston together. Their newest member might be a little unnerved by the thought of time-traveling teenagers.

"Come on," Peter said. "Let me in on it. What secret do you have that could be that interesting?"

"You might want to sit down for this Peter," he said.

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Winter slid her headphones down around her neck and paused the music on her walkman. Despite the cool January weather, she had spent a few hours walking around. She had dropped into a store to get an orange juice and warm up a bit.

She had even bought a pack of cigarettes without the clerk even asking her age. She wasn't even sure what the age was to buy cigarettes but she looked older than she was due to her tall height.

She didn't really want the cigarettes but she was curious if she could get away with buying them. As she sat on a bench lighting it up she thought of how angry her father would be. He hated smoking.

The smoke burned her lungs and she quickly began to cough. How did Oscar smoke so many of these things? She shook it off as she pulled in another drag. That one tasted so much better.

As stupid as it sounded smoking the cigarette made her feel like Oscar was there. He often smelled of smoke whenever they went out together. She had always hated the smell. Yet as she smoked that cigarette and smelt that smoke she felt like Oscar was sitting right next to her.

Winter finished her cigarette and shoved the nearly full pack in her pocket. She knew she'd have to keep it hidden from her parents even in this year. They'd take them away from her if they knew. She stopped off for some breath mints and headed to the firehouse.