The Long Game, Lucas Sinclair

a day of no dana

"A fucking ambulance."

"I don't think those are the words," Will beamed from behind them, causing the four singers to let out a simultaneous cheer as they ran towards him while Corey just fondly rolled his eyes, offering a small smile and pulling the boy under his arm when their group hug disbanded.

"Hey, Egon!" Sam greeted, sending her friend a forced smile.

"Hey—" Will tried matching Sam's energy, until he realized Sam was dressed in normal clothes. "What happened to possessed Dana?"

Sam shrugged easily, wanting to brush the topic off. "Didn't end up happening. But that's all right. You look awesome!"

"Yeah, you do, Egon!" Lucas cheered, clapping Will on the back. He was ready to change the subject of Sam's topic, too, knowing she clearly didn't want to speak about it.

Will's smile returned in full, calling, "Ay, Venkman!" to Lucas.

When the two boys stepped away from each other, Mike pushed himself in the newly created gap, nudging Lucas with an outstretched arm. With a frown, he started, "Woah, woah, woah."

They all turned to Mike, confused. How could he have already found something else wrong at 8 in the morning?

"What?"

"Why are you Venkman?" Mike asked, appalled, pointing at the nametag on Lucas's jumpsuit.

In an obvious tone, Lucas answered, "Because I'm Venkman."

"No, I'm Venkman," argued Mike, gesturing to his own nametag.

"Why can't there just be two Venkmans?" Will asked easily, not wanting to sit through another Mike-and-Lucas argument.

Sam nodded in agreement with Will. "Yeah, guys. I doubt anyone will really read the nametags, anyway."

"But there's only on Venkman in real life!" Mike said, rounding on Lucas again.

Raising an eyebrow, Corey interjected, "You mean in the fictional movie that isn't actually real?"

Mike whipped his head to shoot a glare at Corey, and then he was glaring at Lucas again. "We planned this months ago! I'm Venkman, Dustin's Stantz, Will's Egon, Sam's Dana, Gray's Tully, and you're Winston!"

"I specifically didn't agree to Winston," Lucas replied, and, yes, Sam actually remembered this exact argument happening back in June when the movie came out.

But Mike, stubborn as ever, argued, "Yes, you did!"

"I don't think he did," Will interjected unsurely.

Sam shook her head, said, "Will's right. He didn't."

"No one wants to be Winston, man," Lucas added, grateful that two friends were coming to his aid.

Next to each other, Corey and Dustin shook their heads ruefully in unison.

"What's wrong with Winston?" asked Mike in a certain tone, trying to convince Lucas to switch.

"'What's wrong with Winston'?" Lucas repeated, and he could have laughed at how absurd the question was. Then, "He joined the team super late, he's not funny, and he's not even a scientist!"

Mike's eyes darted away from Lucas for a moment. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, said, "Yeah, but he's still cool."

"If he's cool, then you be Winston," requested Lucas, knowing what Mike was doing the second he locked eyes with Sam and she wordlessly told him.