The firehouse turned out to be a better investment than Erin had thought it would be. Now they could spread out, with three whole floors and a garage, not to mention the rooftop access. They had managed to replace the Ecto-1 and even found Kevin's motorcycle impounded at the NYPD. They could even afford more jumpsuits, which they were all expecting to need more of, especially with Patty bringing in some of her mom and aunt's very delicious cooking. The third floor came with living quarters, which had kind of given them weird thoughts at first, but they ended up dividing up the space for all five of them just in case. While the portal had been closed, the barrier between the worlds had been breached. Ghosts were still popping up all over the city. And after long nights out, they usually wanted to collapse and sleep. Gradually more and more of their things migrated to the firehouse till the point Erin wasn't sure any of them were even going to their apartments on a regular basis. Holtzmann had been the first to give hers up. With the childlike eagerness to spend more time with her friends, Abby had not long followed suit. She and Jillian spent a lot of time with designs, and now that they had a larger bank account thanks to the city, they could actually order the materials to make them instead of scouring for leftover parts in trash cans and dumps.
Erin and Patty both had quietly admitted that they still felt awkward about the whole living thing since they were so used to their apartments and living alone. But Kevin was loving it. He was enjoying getting to hang out with Abby and Jillian in the evenings when he wasn't out. They had even started movie nights, although it had taken days to explain to him that Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory didn't quite exist. He had been a little too happy at the thought of getting to visit such a place that it boggled Erin's mind. They had pulled that body out of the Mercado. There was no way inhell chocolate ever touched those hips.
After one particularly long night of chasing some ghosts that had taken up residence at an old abandoned cookie factory that they had all decided not to worry about going any further than upstairs. Holtzmann had already collapsed on the couch, slime and all. Patty was conversing quietly in the shared living area on her cell over a cup of coffee. A Keurig maker had come from a family who had been thrilled by a ghost extraction from their brownstone and it was probably the best gift they could ever give to her best friend. Kevin's coffee was not meant for human consumption, but Holtzmann had been using it for lubrication on a temporary basis when she couldn't find anything else. Erin had decided to go for a shower and felt much better afterwards as she stepped back into the kitchenette. Jillian had woken back up, and winked at Erin. The redhead smiled, finally used to Holtzmann's constant flirtations. She sat down at the table.
"Where's Abby? I thought she'd working on the 15 cups of coffee she wanted by now."
"Walking the floor as usual," said Holtzmann.
"Usual?" frowned Erin.
"She told me that she hasn't been sleeping well," said Patty.
"Which is to say, not at all," commented Jillian.
Erin frowned at that. Sometimes she felt like it was a bad thing that she tried to keep her own apartment. It seemed like there was distance now between herself and the others, and she didn't know all the intricate details that went on.
"Any reason why?" asked Erin. Holtzmann shrugged.
"Been a few weeks now."
Erin blinked at that, thinking. That would have been back when everything happened with the portal and the cataclysm and-
"Shit," she said. She looked at Jillian and Patty, a light bulb going off in her head. She realized that Abby hadn't said a word about any of the events of that day, which in hindsight, should have sent up a warning signal. She had been possessed by Rowan and tried to kill both Holtzmann & Patty while under his influence, and then had been dragged into the ethereal plane by Rowan to her death if Erin hadn't come after her. The more she thought about it, the more she started to panic a little. They hadn't talked about any of it at all, aside for a need of hair dye.
"She hasn't said a word has she?" Both Jillian and Patty shook their heads.
"You know Abby," said Patty. Erin sighed.
"Too well, all the way down to her purple Birkenstocks." She started to get up from the table. Holtzmann put a hand on top of hers.
"Don't startle her."
Erin nodded and moved away from the table and headed downstairs, her wet hair sticking to her neck as she looked for the one person in her life that had believed in her unconditionally. It wasn't long till she found Abby near Kevin's front office. They had gotten permission from the Chinese restaurant to take the old fish tank and had filled it with fish, telephone still submerged inside. It was a bit of a running joke between them still about Kevin's phone answering abilities, and the fish seemed to like hiding behind it. Abby was staring at the fish tank while sitting on the waiting bench for those who came to see them, cross legged. Black and white plaid pajama pants adorned her legs while a grey Ghostbusters tee they had printed up was covered with a black cardigan that almost matched the black furry slippers that were on the floor. Erin had thought that Abby looked tired, but then, they had all been a little worn out while still cleaning up the mess of ghosts in the city on almost a daily basis. Her friend's tiredness went further than that, and Erin was kicking herself that she hadn't seen it. She should have been a better friend and partner.
"Hey," she said softly.
"I would have thought you were headed home by now," said Abby, pushing up her glasses to look at her friend.
"Slime," said Erin, trying not to be bitter. She had accepted that the ectoplasm was out to get her. It was a universal constant that she was just going to have to accept. "I think I'm staying here for the night. Too late to go home."
"Want to go see if anyone's put up any videos of today's events? Last one had over 20,000 hits."
Erin shook her head.
"Actually Abby... I wanted to talk to you about Rowan."
"What about him?" asked the brunette. "He's dead and gone, not much to speak about."
"Abby."
"I don't know what you're talking about Erin."
"He was in your head. I know you're not talking to Patty or Jillian about... everything."
Abby looked away. Erin knew she was hitting a sore spot. One of the things she knew best about her friend was her loyalties. And the fact that Rowan had made her do anything against them had to be hurting her.
"He was more than just in my head. He had control of well, everything," said Abby, gesturing to herself. Erin wanted to roll her eyes. Deflecting the real question by giving a psuedo-answer. She knew a great many politicians who did the same thing.
"And?" she gently added.
"It sucked, okay?" Abby said, obviously a little irritated. "Psychokinetic Biological Inhabitation is not a picnic in Central Park."
"No, it's not," said Erin. "And you of all people should know that. You're the one who has done the most work in this field. And none of us knows what it is like to have been under Spectral Possession, except maybe Kevin."
Abby gave off a soundless laugh. She shook her head.
"We're the only two idiots who let someone take over our brains."
"Like you could have stopped a ghost when you didn't know-"
"I should have never let Rowan scare me," she said, sighing as she got up off the bench and slipping on her shoes. "I should have never locked myself in the bathroom and away from our equipment. I could have taken him."
Erin went to say something, but stopped.
"No, you did the right thing," she said. "Although ghosts are scary, there are still scarier things among our own... kind."
Abby crossed her arms and stood against the wall.
"What was it like?" asked Erin. "I know we talked about writing an update to our book and including everything that's happened, but..."
"I don't want to talk about it," said Abby, shaking her head and waving Erin off.
"Well, I do," said Patty. "Because that shit was scary." She and Holtzmann were standing on the staircase. They both starting walking towards Abby, who looked a little wary at their appearance.
"And you, you're going to talk about it." Holtzmann grabbed Abby's hand and arm quickly and Patty grabbed her around the shoulders.
"Now, upstairs."
"No, thank you," said Abby, getting out from under Patty's arms. "I'll write up something for the book Erin, but-"
"You will talk to us," said Jillian in her most calm, flat voice. She looked at Abby, still holding her hand. "Because I almost got choked to death and thrown out a window." Both Abby and Patty winced at that. Erin took that moment to get up off the bench and came over to Abby and took her other hand. Abby looked between the two of them and sighed.
"If it'll make the both of you shut up about this."
Erin looked over to Jillian, who mouthed "Many times." The redhead nodded, understanding. They all headed for the stairs up. Erin never let go of her best friend's hand. Coming to a stop on the third floor, they made Abby sit down at the head of the table while Erin made more coffee for everyone. Holtzmann disappeared for a moment, but came back to the table, patting her pocket. She nodded to Erin and sat down. Patty followed not long after, bringing over the sugar and milk. Also, four big chocolate bars appeared out of nowhere. Abby was sitting and staring at the table top when Patty nudged her shoulder.
"Alright, now you have to talk Missy."
"I don't think I can do this," said Abby, getting up from the table. "We've got so much work to do. I should get started-"
"Nuh-uh," said Jillian, standing up. She grabbed Abby's shoulders, turning her toward her. "You can." Abby tried to turn away from her, but Holtzmann cradled her chin in her hand. "Sit."
So Abby sat down and Jillian looked satisfied with the action. She sat down next to her, leaning her head on Abby's shoulder. Erin was amused by the closeness of her their friendship. While she knew Abby had never replaced her, she was glad to see that she had found someone to depend on. They were both private (and awkward) people, but then, so was Jillian and Patty. She was glad that Patty had joined the team. She brought a lot of sensibility that as scientists, the three of them didn't have. There would be no telling what they would have gotten up to without Patty's help.
"So..." began Abby. "It was a dark and stormy night..."
"It was two o'clock in the afternoon, and it was sunny as hell," said Patty. Erin smiled and crossed her arms. She gave Abby a look of sympathy, but she couldn't help but feel stern. She out of all of them knew Abby's techniques back before they were techniques and knew this would go nowhere. So, she had an idea.
"Pretend like you're making a rough draft for the book," she said, adjusting her ponytail. "And we're all taking notes."
Jillian looked at her like she could kiss her and probably would have if she hadn't been across the table. Abby laid a hand on Holtzmann's knee.
"Yes, it was the afternoon. And yes, it was about a week after Erin said she was going to give up on the Ghostbusters and left us hanging after saving New York the first time. Like she left our fledgling book." The redhead was going to ignore the barbs like she had done at Higgins. She knew she hurt Abby, and it was going to take a while to prove herself again. Although jumping headfirst into the ethereal plane to save her best friend's life should have garnered her some BF points. At least five.
"But you know all of that. Patty and Holtzmann went out to grab some lunch. Erin was at home. And I... was there. I had started to go to the bathroom when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was Jillian or Patty, so I unlocked the door to let them in. But there was no one at the door. And on top of that, the lights in the stairway went out when I looked outside. So I did the only thing I could think of when one is mildly creeped out on the second floor of a restaurant in Chinatown. I locked myself in the bathroom. As soon as I did, someone started knocking on the bathroom door. It was... a little disconcerting."
"Wait, so Rowan was knocking?" asked Patty. Abby nodded.
"So what was with the sink pipe? I remembered you saying something about that right after," asked Jillian. She was lazily stirring a spoon in the cup of coffee. All the girls knew she wasn't going to drink it. Holtzmann had enough energy by herself that she really, really didn't need caffeine.
"That's how he got into the bathroom," said Abby, fiddling with the cap on the sugar. "Starting coming through the water line to get in."
"So... he was in the pipes?" repeated Erin. Ghosts in the water supply would be a scary thing to deal with. That meant sewers. In New York. She wrinkled her nose at the thought.
"He was looking for you Abby," said Patty. "You can't tell me he wasn't."
"I can only assume he wanted to mess with all of us and wreck our plans to stop him," said the brunette, shaking her head. "He called my name out before well, taking over."
"Wait, how did he know your name?" asked Erin, looking concerned. "All the media just called us was Ghostbusters."
"I would imagine the book," said Holtzmann. "He did have your book, remember?"
"Right," said Patty. "With all those crazy notes and drawings in it. That dude had some problems."
"He was brilliant," said Abby quietly. "He could have made something of himself if he had tried. He went to MIT and Stanford. Graduated with top honors."
All three of them looked at Abby, who was fidgeting again.
"How did you know that?" asked Erin. "We barely know anything about this guy."
"Psychokinetic Biological Inhabitation can work in reverse, emphasis on the psychokinetic part," Abby said softly.
Holtzmann's eyes widened. "You mean you were in his brain?"
"Whoa dude, that's some messed up shit," said Patty, shaking her head before taking a drink of her coffee. "So you saw everything he ever did in life?"
"Some- some," said Abby, grimacing. "He was gleaming knowledge off of me, and I couldn't do anything to well, move myself, so I reached out and touched his thoughts. He didn't like me doing it, but he didn't really have much room to argue. If he tried to stop me, then I would have gotten back control of my body, which I wish he had." She grimaced and looked at Holtzmann's neck.
"I'm fine," said the blonde, waving Abby off. "My bruises healed, and all Patty and I got was little cuts from the glass he broke with my erm, back. You had them too, along with the bruises from Patty's excellent exorcism."
Erin felt like she really needed to get out pen and paper. She had never even given thought to the idea that the spectral possession was something that could work in the opposite direction. They needed to sit down and discuss the intricacies of this. They'd have to establish a baseline, see if they could find anyone who may have been taken over by a ghost in the city. They could do interviews. Of course, she was fairly certain that her best friend would be the high end of the bell curve, while Kevin would be low line. Not that she could fault him, but from the small comments he had made since then, Kevin had barely any recollection of the events that had transpired while Rowan was in his body. And maybe it was for the best, as he might not have been able to process what he had been doing to the city, albeit with someone else in control of his form.
She looked at Abby. And her best friend was having trouble processing it too, as she was still hesitating about her answers. Abby was always the cool demeanored scientist, but she had the biggest heart.
"Did you try to plead with Rowan any?" Erin asked gently.
"When he was in my body or when he had me in his large ghost grip?" replied Abby. Her words seemed a little too icy for Erin's taste. She frowned.
"One thing at a time," she replied, trying not to respond in a way that would set off her friend. But she knew this would get Abby's attention and her mind off of things. "I'm curious. How did you work against him? We theorized that when the human subconscious was pushed out of the way by the spectre that it would automatically shut down and render the user in a sleep-like state."
"Well, it would have," said Abby. "But I didn't exactly go down without a fight. We sort of struggled with that for about a minute or two. I was not about to let him have control."
"That's my girl," said Patty with a smile, nodding her head. "I always knew you were in there somewhere trying to strangle Rowan."
"You just couldn't stop him from doing anything," added Jillian. Abby shook her head softly.
"This is why I asked you to put up those wall-traps up around the building," the brunette responded. "So we'll know if a ghost ever gets up in this place, we have a safety net. We don't need Kevin running around the city again."
"Kevin, or you?" said Erin, looking direct at her friend.
"Well no one," said Abby, staring back. "We need all of us to help take care of this barrier problem we've got."
Erin smirked. If there was one thing she knew about her friend beside her loyalties, it was the fear of her losing control of her mind. Abby was always going to be doing something to further her knowledge. She knew she was probably about to get on Holtzmann's bad side, but she had to try something. The blonde was quite protective of them all, especially Abby. Oddly enough, Erin wasn't afraid of getting on Abby's bad side. Maybe because she had been on it for many years.
At least, she thought she was going to get on Holtzmann's bad side. Erin noticed Patty shaking her head at her. How did-?
"So basically Rowan got the better of all of us because he got the advantage of being three steps ahead of the game while we were stumbling around like idiots," said Patty, turning and looking at Abby. She started adjusting her necklace. "It's not like we had a master plan at that time."
"No, we were- are- stumbling around in the dark," agreed Abby. "We hadn't established a baseline as to how we were doing all this stuff." She took a drink of her coffee. "I mean, we are getting to that point. I don't think Holtzmann's traps can get any more perfect and the containment unit is working splendidly. We just did put three ghosts in there tonight."
"So we're figuring stuff out," said Patty. "And upping our game."
"Eeeeexactly." said Holtzmann. "Although the containment unit's power readings were a little wonky. I think we may have to think about getting our own generators as to not drain off half of Manhattan to fuel the thing."
"It needs half the power of Manhattan?" said Patty, her jaw dropping a little.
"Well, technically not half," said Holtzmann, looking at the ceiling. "2/3's maybe?"
"That's even worse," scoffed Patty slightly. "You still scare me Holtzmann. Nuclear reactors and enough electricity to fry us all."
"Yes, we're sitting on enough boom to send us all into the next plane," said Erin. She winced and looked over to Abby.
"Provided we don't have enough safety cables."
"I had Holtzmann install some on the new vehicle just in case we are nowhere near a fire truck. And the extras are under the stairs next to the backup proton packs," said Abby absently.
"That's another thing," said Patty. "Why have you been walking the floors at night? Every time I go to the stairs, you're running around, making sure everything is locked, checking the safety equipment..."
"I did put in a security system," said Holtzmann, nibbling on a chip and trying not to look offended. None of them had even realized she had gotten up from the table and gotten them. Erin needed to find her stash of Pringles just to see how many cans she had stockpiled. Not that anyone could make sense of Jillian's workspace to even locate the current pack she was nibbling on.
"I just- I need to know that everyone is safe for the night," answered Abby. "And sometimes Kevin comes back in and doesn't remember to lock the door behind him. We have a ton of equipment, and..."
Hypervigilance, thought Erin. Acute stress disorder. She was almost sure of it. The redheaded woman closed her eyes. Maybe if she had been here more at nights, she could have talked to Abby more, gotten this out... But then, Jillian had said that she had tried to get Abby to talk. Which was probably another symptom. She was avoiding conversation about the topic, and even looking at Holtz would have brought up the feelings of guilt for not being in control.
It was then Erin noticed a little detail in the conversation that Abby had let slip.
"Wait," she said, turning her head slightly in thought. "So if you still know that Rowan went to school at those places, then you-"
Abby winced, but nodded silently.
"You still have his memories?!" said Erin in disbelief. "Abby..."
"Whoa, what?" asked Holtzmann. Abby had laid her head on her arms on the table.
"Yes, I have his... stuff in my head."
"So basically you got to be Rogue," said Patty, looking mildly impressed. Erin looked confused at the black woman, not getting the reference.
"X-Men character," said Holtzmann. "Red hair, thin, kind of like you."
"I would think she be more of the Jean Grey type," said Patty. "You know, the whole stiff and proper till I transform into Phoenix type deal."
"Well, just as long as I didn't get any of his megalomania," said Abby in her arms. "And Erin doesn't consume whole entire stars any time soon."
"So does this make Kevin Cyclops?" asked Holtzmann to Patty. "Because I have questions."
Erin was glad that Jillian and Patty got off on a tangent of which X-Men character they would be. She wrapped her arm around Abby's shoulders.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
"There's nothing that could have been done," said Abby, shaking her head as she looked up to Erin. "I could probably set Holtzmann to making a memory erasure device, but..."
"Not anytime in the next 30 years," piped in Jillian. "We're not that advanced yet. We've just barely got the mind controlling prosthetics."
Abby held up a hand in Holtzmann's direction and looked at Erin.
"This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'remembering someone for who they were,'" said the redhead.
"I'd rather not," said Abby wearily. "This is more of Rowan than I'd like to know."
"Abby this wasn't your fault," said Erin. "You had no idea what would happen."
"I tried something and this is the consequences," said Abby. "Sort of like someone jumping into a giant swirling vortex. You didn't know what would have happened Erin. You could have died."
"Like you weren't?" said Erin. "You were already resigned to the idea that you were going to die when I caught up with you. You couldn't even move out of the grip that stupid ghost Rowan had."
"At least you three would have been ok," said Abby. Erin noticed Patty was not looking in their direction. Abby had pushed her out of the way or Rowan might have had two Ghostbusters in his grasp. Holtzmann nudged Patty's shoulder with her pointer finger and poking her.
"No guilt," she said. "None of this is anyone's fault."
"Well, technically everything is Abby's fault," said Erin, giving her friend a smug smile. "If she hadn't published the book again, then we wouldn't all be here. I'd still be at Columbia teaching. Holtzmann, you and Abby would still be in the basement at Higgins, and Patty would still be at the MTA."
"So what you're saying is that I nearly caused a cataclysmic event by re-publishing a book? And all for friendship?" Abby stated, giving Erin a doubtful look.
"And proof that ghosts do exist," said Holtzmann, crunching on a chip. "Kinda validates your life's work. And this," she gestured around the room. "Way better than the mini-fridge."
This made Patty laugh and clap her hands, which made Erin grin.
"Alright, I'll take the blame," said Abby. "Although I'm placing blame on Rowan for the mess he created."
"More than reasonable," said Holtzmann. She put down the chips and got up out of her chair, which Patty automatically stole off the table. She wrapped her arms around Abby.
"You really aren't to blame," she said softly. Abby looked up at her and sighed.
"I know that. But try telling my brain that." Both Erin and Patty laughed as Jillian started talking into Abby's hair, making her scrunch up at the hot breath that Holtzmann was deliberately blowing on her neck.
"I don't think that's going to work," chuckled Erin. "But good attempt at trying." Holtzmann puffed up at that and sat back down in her chair, taking back the Pringles from Patty.
"Why don't you go get some rest," suggested Patty to Abby as she play fought with Jillian over the chips. "You could use it."
Holtzmann nodded, taking a bite of chip and trying to cradle the can under her arm. Abby shook her head.
"Maybe in a little while. Kevin's still gone. And I really do need to finish-"
"Actually, I'm... back," said Kevin, surprising them. He waved from one of the comfy chairs in the living area.
"You were all being so serious, so I didn't say anything."
"Kev-in," said Holtzmann. "Come join us at the table, buddy." The blond haired man stood, putting his phone in his pocket. He sat down across from Patty. Erin leaned her head into his shoulder happily.
"Wassup?" he asked. "You all like hell, seriously."
"We're having a roundtable discussion," said Patty. "About the events from you know, when the world nearly ended?"
"Oh, you mean when Abby threw away my sandwich?"
Holtzmann snickered at that, but Erin nodded. Abby rolled her eyes. Kevin considered it for a moment.
"That was a sad time, back when we didn't have this space. The hotel afterwards had a lot of damage, didn't it? I still have nightmares from that day," said Kevin.
Everyone looked at the receptionist in surprise.
"You have nightmares?" stated Erin. "What of?"
"The creepy guy," said Kevin. "And my motorcycle. Like, he kept rubbing my tummy, it was so weird."
"So you remember him doing things?" said Abby.
"Not much," shrugged Kevin. "Like, the police told me I punched a couple of officers. No clue at all."
"Huh," said Patty, looking deep in thought.
"Did you try to fight against him?" asked Holtzmann. Kevin shrugged.
"I kept dreaming of ice cream. It was really good ice cream too, like you get out in Little Italy."
"Learn something new about you every day Kev," said Jillian, winking. He smiled back, standing.
"Well, I'm headed off to get some sleep. Got a photoshoot tomorrow." He grinned. "I'm the Ghostbusters most eligible bachelor."
"You're the only eligible bachelor," yelled back Abby as he started off towards his quarters, waving back.
"So he did remember something," said Erin, thinking.
"And he has nightmares," said Patty. She frowned.
"We haven't been thinking much about everyone's mental health," said Erin. "We've been a little focused on the work. Survival mode I suppose."
"And some of us have been in ultra survival mode," said Holtzmann, looking pointedly at Abby.
"Why don't we all go get some sleep," suggested Erin. "I'll make sure Abby goes too." Abby gave Erin a sour look as the others started putting their coffee cups in the sink and said good night. The redhead laid a hand on Abby's arm and headed towards the couch with her friend in tow. Abby sat down beside Erin as she handed her a large pillow.
"Sleep," she said. "I'll be here." Erin picked up the TV remote, and started trying to find something to watch. Abby warily looked at the pillow.
"Sleep," Erin repeated. Abby sighed loudly and sat the pillow on Erin's lap and laid her head on it.
"Now I definitely know you're not leaving," said the brunette. She closed her eyes, laying her glasses on the back of the couch. Erin rubbed Abby's fluffy bun as her friend turned over on her right side. She looked up and saw Holtzmann bringing her a bottle of water and her tablet.
"Thought you might need something," she said, shrugging. She also handed Erin a tiny voice recorder. Now she understood why Holtzmann had patted her vest pocket when she had first sat down at the table. She had recorded the whole conversation, hopefully to help avoid having to make Abby go through all that again.
"Thank you," mouthed Erin. Holtzmann turned around and went back to bed, leaving Erin to listen to the low sounds of the TV. She knew Abby wasn't asleep yet, and was relieved when the lights dimmed around them. She didn't know who had done it, but she was eternally grateful for the soft darkness that seemed more like a blanket than a stark and empty void. Erin noticed that VH1 classic was playing 80's music videos and picked up the tablet off the side table to check her email after setting the channel. She knew she'd be tired the next morning, but if she could get her best friend to let go, even just a little, she would count it as a victory.
But she would nearly kill Holtzmann the next day when she found a picture of the two of them sleeping on the couch had been posted to the Twitter account they had set up for taking questions about their book.