Patty and Erin both were used to Holtzmann being very outgoing and enthusiastic now that they had been more time together. There was usually sunshine, rainbows, and kittens in her near vicinity when she started talking about her babies and upcoming projects. What they hadn't realized was how private her life was. Neither she nor Abby had mentioned the fact that they were DATING until two months after everyone started living in the firehouse to be closer to their work and to save on rent. It was New York after all, and why not when the third floor was free and paid for? An emergency call had come in late at night, and both Abby and Holtzmann had been up working in the lab. So they were the first out to the Ecto-1 while Patty and Erin had both been sleeping, were struggling to wake up. When they had finally staggered downstairs to get their jumpsuits and packs, they had both gotten the shock of their lives when they found Abby and Holtz making out against the back of the vehicle, hands roaming. It had made for an interesting topic of conversation for the ride, as the pair of them had to listen to Erin and Patty yelling at them from the backseat. But the both of them had been so enthusiastic about the news, and Abby had found Erin reworking the overnight schedules the next day so that she and Holtzmann had one night a week off for a date night together.
One morning, Erin was sure she had heard cackling coming from Holtzmann's work space when she came downstairs. When she got to the first floor, she found Abby already up and working on something, shaking her head.
"Is Holtz- cackling?" asked Erin, sitting down with her bowl of oatmeal with blueberries.
Abby sighed and rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her. She's working on a practical joke. She forced me out of the lab already, which makes me think she has something for me in mind."
"She pulls jokes on you?" said Patty as she came up to the conference table with some books and a cup from Starbucks. That bit of news surprised both Erin and Patty. "But you two are like, the master jokers together. Ya'll even got me with that fake ghost footprint."
"She thinks she can pull one over on me," said Abby. "It doesn't happen very often, but she likes to try." She stood up and went to the stairwell.
"It's not going to work this time Jillian!" yelled Abby. The other two was standing behind her when they heard a crash and even more maniacal laughing. Abby wiped her eyes before adjusting her glasses.
"She's up to something."
"Obviously it's very good if she's not worried about you getting mad at her and losing girlfriend privileges for a couple of days," said Erin. She was kind of interested now, wondering what Holtzmann had in mind to prank her best friend with. She hoped it was slime. Lots and lots of slime. Someone else needed to enjoy the ectoplasm.
"That's what worries me," said Abby. "I'll just have to be vigilant."
"Good luck with that," mused Patty. She sat down at the conference table. They had asked Patty to do some research on the old Pneumatic Transit System that had been developed in the 1870's and abandoned. There was some strange energy readings coming from under First Avenue and they were looking into investigating to see if there was something there..
"Because you know she's not going to stop till she's pranked you."
Abby gave a noncommittal noise and a shrug. Erin and Patty looked at each other with a grin.
This was going to be fun.
The next few days in the Ghostbusters firehouse were a little tense. Patty and Erin decided together not to say anything to Holtzmann just yet, even though they were dying to see what she was working on. They decided to wait and see the plan fully fleshed out that Holtzy had in mind for Abby. Jillian still wasn't letting Abby into the lab space during the day, which seemed to put Abby off balance. Patty had gone up a couple of times to bring Holtz food, but she had come back down and told Erin and Abby both that she hadn't seen anything.
The redheaded physicist was definitely finding it interesting that Abby seemed at odds with herself, having not spent her days around Holtzmann. She waved it off that it was an imbalance in Abby's typical schedule and not having the same events every day was throwing her off a bit. The casual glances over her shoulder and the wariness of picking up anything was definitely giving both Erin and Patty glee. It was nice for once to see one of their pranksters get it instead of them. The two of them had about had it with their friends finding little things to tease them with, even if it was in good fun. Well, mostly good fun.
Erin went upstairs to Holtzmann to check in and see if she needed anything one afternoon. The blonde greeted her warmly and looked behind her.
"Abby with you?"
Erin shook her head. "She had an appointment."
Holtzmann frowned at that. "I guess I had forgotten in the midst of all this. I'm usually better at keeping up with these things. I'd better text her." She pulled out her cell phone.
"So what is this practical joke you're going to pull on Abby?" asked Erin. Jillian stuck her phone in her back pocket with a smirk after finishing the text.
"Is Patty here?"
"I think so," said Erin. "Don't tell me you've got her roped into this."
"No," said Holtzmann. "But I- I need your help." Erin uncrossed her arms, still holding onto one elbow, looking skeptical. She really didn't want to get Abby mad at her. Jillian must have sensed her hesitation.
"It's not an actual practical joke, I promise," said Holtzmann, crossing her heart with a finger before giving a scout's honor pledge.
"Okay, then you need to clarify that with Abby," said Erin. "She thinks you're up to something and she's been a bit on edge, especially since you've been practically living in the lab."
"Good," said Jillian a smile creeping across her features. "Let her keep thinking that."
"Why?" asked Erin.
The blonde hummed. "Because I am up to something." She looked at her workbench.
"Can you go get Patty? I really do need both of you. This thing is turning out to be a little bit bigger than me and I could use some help getting everything together."
Abby was restless in the firehouse. There wasn't anything new that was holding her attention online, and she didn't feel like doing any of their current projects. Patty had disappeared somewhere and Jillian was out and about, looking for parts for experimentation. They tried at least to save the city on money and find things while still in the research and development stage. Abby was really missing her girlfriend and feeling irritated about the whole practical joke thing. Erin, who was sitting across from her, was starting to feel sympathy for her friend, but not enough to be of any help. She didn't want to mess up anything Jillian had planned.
"So have you heard anything from the publisher about us doing the re-write? I haven't gotten anything back yet," asked Erin, looking over to her best friend. They had been sitting in the living area of the third floor instead of downstairs. Kevin had printed out his portfolio of graphic design and there was a flood of paper all over the place. There were ghost boobs everywhere.
"No," answered Abby. "They're still working with Amazon. Self-publishing is a little bit more complicated than I realized."
Erin nodded. They had been thinking about updating their book now that their friendship had blossomed again and they could now test the theories they had only theorized about. They were really going to have to delve into what they had thought to be more of the fantastic side of the supernatural. The whole ley lines thing had changed their minds about what could and couldn't be true. They were going to need lots more research, which Patty was proving invaluable at.
But in the meantime...
Erin's phone started ringing. She took the call, seeing it was Holtzmann.
"Holtz?" she asked into the phone. This perked Abby up and Erin put it on speaker.
"Guys... I think I might need your help." They heard Holtzmann gulp. "I may have created a problem."
"What did you do?" asked Abby, sounding a little panicky.
"I wanted to test out a theory on a new trap I was working on, and Kevin took a call about a ghost in an apartment building this morning."
Abby groaned. "Please don't tell me you went alone, Holtzmann."
"Technically... no. Patty's here, and we got 'em."
Abby looked surprised. Erin was having the hardest time to keep a straight face, but she did what she could.
"So you're headed back with the ghost?" Erin asked, just so she wouldn't break out into giggles.
"Well, we were..."
"Oh dear," said Abby, rubbing her thumb knuckle across the bridge of her nose.
"Long story short, trap was faulty. A Class III apparition is running around Times Square having the time of its life. You might want to get here as soon as you can. Byyyyyyeeee!"
Erin hung up and started getting up off the chair and gathering her things. She noticed that Abby wasn't moving.
"Abby, let's go! Times Square!"
"This is part of her prank isn't it?" asked Abby, looking at Erin. "I knew she had something up her sleeve. I can't believe she dragged Patty into it."
"Dragging?" repeated Erin, hoping that would do for an answer. "You think this is part of a prank? Catching a ghost and losing it?"
"It's not real," said Abby, shaking her head. "She's got a plan, which why it involves..."
"Well, I hope her plan involves us going and helping them, because that's what we're doing," said Erin, breaking in over Abby. "We can't be sure, and you know Holtzmann. This sounds like something she would do."
"It kind of does," said Abby. She thought about it for a moment.
"We can't leave them to cause a further mess if it is true."
Erin nodded, hoping she could hurry Abby up. This was Times Square, and they didn't really have much time. She hoped Holtzmann had a really, really good plan as a backup.
It was the longest 25 minutes trying to get between the firehouse and Times Square. While Erin might have had misgivings that Holtzmann's plan would work, her excitement went up fivefold when she saw the square was sectioned off in the late afternoon sun. There was police cars, fire & rescue, and emergency vehicles lining the street right up to the barricades, blocking off traffic. They were both a little boggled after they got out of the little smart car Abby and Holtzmann had invested part of the Ghostbusters budget in to get to places that didn't involve all of them. Mostly because Erin thought Holtz wanted to tear apart the electric car and put it back together with upgrades- not to mention she had it painted just like Ecto-1. It's tag was Ecto-3.
"What- what is going on?" asked Abby as they looked at the lines of safety workers for the city of New York. Erin put on her proton pack, fastening it with a small squeal. A couple of New York Police Officers approached them.
"M'am," greeted one of them to Abby. His partner, a rather cute young looking blonde which reminded Erin of Holtzmann, handed her an object that could only be described as a steampunk compass rose made out of cogs and gears surrounding an actual red rose. The redheaded physicist had seen a couple of them lying in Holtz's workspace, but it looked even more impressive now that she had a little bit more time to work on them.
"Thank-thank you," said Abby, looking confused. Erin couldn't stop grinning. The buildup of excitement in her body was bubbling and threatening to spill over. But instead, she took Abby's elbow and led her down the short distance towards where they saw the Ecto-1 parked in the middle of the square. There were even more officers holding the roses along the way, each one handing it to Abby as they passed. Abby ended up with 18 in all. When they got to the edge of the center, they saw all sorts of people gathered around behind barricades. Most of them had cameras or cellphones out and were filming everything. More safety workers and police officers were standing in front of the barricades. Erin didn't see Patty or Holtz yet, but she knew they were there. What she did see was two lines of small, moving machines leading up to the Ecto-1 all flashing colorful LED lights. They looked handmade of course. Holtzmann had been wearing out her welding torch lately. More red roses filled the space between the machines. They came up to Patty, who was standing in front of them in her jumpsuit and proton pack. She gave Abby a hug.
"She's waiting for you."
Patty and Erin exchanged grins after Patty pointed up towards their redesigned vehicle. They had to find another when theirs had been blown to bits in the vortex. While still a hearse, Holtzmann, Abby, and Erin had come up with a few changes to make it safer to the general public. Abby started walking cautiously towards it. When she got near the end, a cheer went up in the crowd. She found Jillian sitting on top of the Ecto-1, full Ghostbusters gear, like the rest of them.
"She looks so confused," laughed Patty quietly.
"She has no idea what's going on," said Erin, starting to squeal. "Completely clueless and I love it." They both shared wide grins, knowing what was happening next.
Jillian jumped down off the top of the vehicle, adding a black velvet top hat to her outfit that was covered in wires and yellow pieces of glass that matched her eye-wear. More cogs and gears also decorated the surface of it. A red rose was pinned to the lapel of her jumpsuit. She started towards the three of them. Erin and Patty had waited just a few seconds and followed behind Abby. Erin jogged forward and took the roses out of Abby's arms and gave Holtzmann an OK symbol as she walked backwards towards Patty. Jillian took Abby's hand and led her away from Patty and Erin, who were both still grinning like idiots.
"Jills..." said Abby, looking something between amazed and confused. "What-"
Jillian smiled and took her hand.
"I bet you're wondering what is going on."
"You've blocked off Times Square," said the brunette to her girlfriend. Jillian laughed.
"I did."
"For a jo-" began Abby, putting her hands on her hips.
"For you," said Holtzmann. "For something that I want to do, right now." She got down on one knee and there was a murmur going on in the crowd around them. Out of the corner of her eye, Erin saw the mayor's personal assistant standing just inside the barriers and practically bouncing. Flashes were going off around the square. But as public as it all was, only the two in waiting heard Abby's soft gasp as Jillian took her hand into hers and started to speak.
"Abs," she said softly. "I know we've been through a lot together since we first met. Like, apocalypse type things. That day, here at what some consider the gateway of the world, I thought I had lost you. I froze, completely afraid that you were gone forever. I thought I had lost my first friend and the love of my life. And if it wasn't for our friends, I would still be frozen. I don't want to go through that again. I never want to lose what is mine." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a ring. It was simple and small, something Holtzmann knew would suit her girlfriend's tastes. Abby wasn't much for jewelry, and the white gold band with a simple two carat ruby nested in the middle was all she would need.
"Abigail Leslie Yates, will you do me the honor of proving my very scientific theory that love conquers all?"
By that point, Erin could tell that her best friend had realized that what was happening wasn't a prank and was shaking. If Abby was feeling the pressure of this very public moment, she couldn't even imagine what Holtzmann was feeling. The magnitude of such a public proposal had to wearing on her.
But it didn't take but a second for Abby to nod yes to Jillian, who whooped loudly and wrapped her arms around Abby's neck and kissed her.
The crowd interrupted in cheers, Patty yelling the loudest of all and jumping up and down. Erin hugged her and the flowers close to her, watching as Holtzmann put the ring on Abby's finger. Patty looked at Erin and they both ran forward and hugged their friends. Erin got Holtz while Abby was hugged by Patty. But Holtzmann wiggled away from her and clung to Abby, who picked her up and swung the both of them in a circle, making her squeal and take off her top hat. Jillian kissed her gently.
"I'm sorry I've been busy the last few days."
"I- I'm amazed you pulled this off," said Abby, adjusting her glasses. "How did you-"
"The mayor owed me a favor," said Holtz, smirking. "I can't say what- it involves Homeland."
About that time, his PA had made her way over to Erin and was talking to her and Patty. There were still cheers coming from all the public servants and the people of the city. Abby was pretty sure she heard a whole entire Japanese family cheering in their native language and noticed Erin was leaning her head to the side and trying to translate it.
"I think the Ghostbusters are going to be famous worldwide after this," said Patty, looking around at all the cameras.
"There could be worse things," said Holtzmann. She helped Abby shed her proton back and leaned it against the car. She wrapped her arms around Abby, feeling relieved and exhausted at the same time. She looked at her girlfriend with a rueful smile.
"I still got you."
"And now you're stuck with me Holtzmann, remember that."
"I will take that challenge anytime. But I am still the master prankster," added Jillian, looking smug.
"How so?" asked Abby, looking dubious. Holtzmann smirked.
"I fooled you into saying yes. Now I get to keep you forever."