Aug 22 - Conversations
Title: Day 22 - Conversations
Author: acswatwst
Rating: FR-13
Crossover: BtVS / Ghost Busters (1975)/ Secrets of Isis
Word Count: 847
Disclaimer: This is a derivative work. All BtVS characters and concepts belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. Funimation/NBCUniversal owns the original (1975) Ghost Busters and Secrets of Isis.
Note: Not quite a Stargate crossover yet, but some elements. Not enough to tag it with that fandom.
Summary: A conversation in a car. Hints at past things.
Joyce held tightly onto her travel mug, as Andrea drove them to school. They'd managed to get out the door after a quick breakfast, but the coffee was vital to her continued woeness.
"I have so many questions," Joyce said. "So, she's been here since your trip to Egypt?"
"Yes," Andrea said. "The amulet had been buried for a long time. At least since the fake gods left. It wasn't needed."
"Fake gods?" Joyce said. "There were fake gods?"
"Aliens," Andrea said, shaking her head. "The true gods, such as Isis, did not appreciate others wearing their mantels."
"Are there any of these aliens still running around?" Joyce said, wondering if being a descendant of Furlings would cause issues. "How do you know?"
"Glowing eyes, excessive arrogance, and strength, among other things," Andrea said. "We shouldn't have to worry about them. I hope. Any left behind should be harmless."
"Isis implied that she might know what is going on," she said, looking over at Andrea. Referring to her cousin's alter-ego as a separate person when they were out in public was never not going to be weird, she decided.
Andrea nodded. "It isn't anything definite but something seems familiar about the situation. Some past memory, possibly."
"Of these aliens?" Joyce said, tightening her grip on her mug. "Maybe they came back?"
Andrea tilted her head. "Possibly? I'll have to ask."
Joyce wondered who she could ask, if they were all gone. Another question for the pile. She sighed.
"If this Isis is an avatar, I think you called her, of the actual goddess, does that mean she remembers anything that the other Isis's did?" Joyce grimaced, wondering if that was the plural of Isis. Saying it out loud grated on her ears.
"Only in the vaguest sense," Andrea said. "Sometimes just enough to provide a clue for dealing with something, but usually just a feeling."
"So, this has happened before, maybe?" Joyce said. "Do you think the thing in their office and the disappearing apartment are connected?"
"I would like to say they are separate, unrelated events," Andrea said, frowning. "But the chance of that being true is very slim. We'll know better this afternoon when we can check the energy detector."
Sensing the car slowing down, Joyce noticed that they'd pulled into the school parking lot while she was busy thinking.
"Do you have something to keep busy with until lunch?" Andrea asked, getting out of her car. "Rennie needs to work on her summer project and I have office hours."
Joyce held up her bag. "Notes and research," she said. "Maybe there's something I've missed. Also, I'm trying to learn Latin."
"Rick knows Latin if you have questions," Andrea said. "He spent some time teaching at a traditional private school, and Latin was apparently a requirement."
"No Latin for Isis?" Joyce said, following Andrea into the school.
"Understanding languages is another ability but that doesn't really help anyone else who wishes to learn," Andrea said.
"Like Star Trek? And that Universal Translator gadget thing?" Joyce said.
"That would be a good example," Andrea said, unlocking her lab. "With fewer flashing lights and computer noises."
"Being able to understand every language would be neat," Joyce said, "but probably not if you were taking a class for a grade."
"That desk should be quiet," Andrea said, pointing to a corner at the back.
"Thanks," Joyce said.
----
"What are you doing?" Rennie said, coming over to the corner desk Joyce was using. "Have you discovered anything about that missing apartment?"
"Latin," Joyce said, holding up the old book she'd gotten from Jake. "I think we'll have to go back, maybe with Andrea's energy detector." She looked through her pile of papers, and handed one to Rennie. "That's all I could find out about that mansion at the town hall this morning," she said. "Who built it, and when. And the permit when it was remodeled. But not much more. It's over one hundred years old. No one lived in it full time for years."
"Were the apartments part of the original mansion?" Rennie said, sitting down at a desk next to Joyce.
"Not according to this," Joyce said. She dug out the building permit from her pile. "The servants quarters were i that area but they must have torn it all out to put in the apartments."
Rennie nodded. "We'll have to sneak in again, past the old man. Tomorrow?"
"After lunch we're checking out Andrea's energy detector," Joyce said, nodding. "Tomorrow sounds good. But I'm running out of time to figure this out."
"You'll have to take another week," Rennie said. "I'm sure Miss Thomas won't mind."
"My Uncle Eddie, and my parents might not like it," Joyce said. "But we'll see what happens. Maybe we'll have it figured out tomorrow."
"Lunch in fifteen minutes, girls," Andrea said, looking at them from the front of the room.
"Yes, Miss Thomas," Rennie said.
"It'll just take me a minute to clean up," Joyce said. She started straightening her piles of papers, putting them away in her bag.