Summer in New York city was in full swing, and at 2AM it was still hot enough to make you sweat. Erin, fed up with tossing and turning, peeled herself out of her sheets and stamped towards the kitchen. It was Tuesday night and she was on duty at the new Station, both Patty and Abbey were probably blissfully slumbering in their air-conditioned apartments. As for Holtzmann, she wasn't sure if the engineer had any other lodgings, but either way she was always at the Station; her room was the smallest out of the four, sequestered in the back of the building.

With a full glass of water, Erin padded back to her room to write the next chapter in their new book, there wouldn't be any more sleep until it cooled off.

The light under Holtzmann's door at the end of the hallway caught her eye, and after a moment's deliberation, she changed course; if the engineer was awake well, they might as well be miserable together and Erin had some questions about the most recent products of the Holtzmann laboratory.

She knocked, noticing a strong draft of cold air over her bare toes; she was just bending down to feel the space under the door when it opened and she was dragged into the room by the back of her tank top, the door closing quickly behind her. Erin swayed, dazzled by the bright fluorescent lights, eyes snapping open when she realized it was cold in the room; not only chilly but cold.

The engineer slid into Erin's stunned view, "Sorry about that Gilbert, I can't let too much air escape. It's hot as fission out there, yeah?" Holtzmann was wearing a huge parka; the hood, rimmed in fake fur, was up and barely visible under the jacket were a pair of blue brief jockey shorts and knee-length yellow socks patterned with radioactive symbols. Erin's eyes flashed down to the engineer's briefs, the tell tale pouch in the front sagging (was she surprised?), the sight was somehow disconcerting.

Holtzmann chuckled, "Like something?" the engineer wiggled her hips playfully and Erin's cheeks lit up in the cold air.

Oh yes, the cold!

"Holtz, it's cold in here," Erin pointed towards the floor, gesticulating to encompass the entire room, "How? How is this?"

The engineer wiped her nose on her sleeve, "Well, I insulated the walls with old newspapers and garbage bags, patched the cracks in the window frame, and took two air conditioners I found behind that movie shop down the street and amped them up using parts from the old Ecto-1 and…"

Erin took a step back and gazed around the room, taking in the foot-thick insulation covered in duct tape from floor to ceiling and the two whirring, occasionally sparking, air conditioners in the corner of the room; they vented out the window with the help of a busted plastic trash can, some garbage bags, and about three more rolls of duct tape. The room was tiny, about half the size of hers, and strewn with electronics in various stages of disarray.

"Where's your bed?" Erin blurted out, halting Holtzmann's macgyver list; the engineer pulled back the hood of her parka and smirked, pointing one burn-scarred finger towards the ceiling. Erin looked straight up, squinting at what she thought was part of the buildings extensive open air circulation system, but which turned out to be a plyboard bed frame, suspended from the high ceiling with heavy cable cord. "But...how do you?" Erin stuttered, her brain working half as fast as it needed to to keep up.

Holtzmann pulled her keyring out of her jacket pocket and clicked a small button tied to a string; something above their heads beeped and a rope ladder unrolled, thudding on the floor a foot shy of the engineer's head. Holtzmann winked, "My own design, of course."

Erin's mind whirred along with the air conditioners, still staring open-mouthed at the bed suspended above them; finally her gears snagged some traction, "Isn't that going to be expensive? For the power bill?" She gestured towards the air conditioners with her untouched water glass.

Holtzmann pushed her glasses onto her forehead, "We pay the power bill?" The question was voiced innocently enough, but there was a familiar glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Yes. We do. The city pays the rent. We pay the power. Weren't you at that meeting?" Erin said in her no-nonsense voice, but Holtzmann just paused, catching her lower lip between her teeth, "Huh" she shrugged, turning and picking up a steaming mug of tea from her dresser.

"Tea; you're drinking tea. In a parka. It's two in the morning and hot as a monkey's nut sack out there and you're drinking hot tea in a parka." Erin was nearly frozen in disbelief, eyes wide and staring at the engineer who was now lounging in her desk chair, bare legs propped on her cluttered desk.

"Humidity and extreme heat are bad for electronics. I mean, if you want me to turn it off…" Holtzmann leaned forward, reaching towards a remote control on the end of the desk.

"No!" Erin yelped; Holtzmann's eyebrow quirked, a wicked gleam drawing Erin's gaze again to the empty pouch in the front of Holtzmann's briefs. "I can't sleep out there. So I'm going to sleep in here" She proclaimed, setting her water glass down on the nearest surface with emphasis, her cheeks coloring lightly.

Holtzmann paused, caught off guard; "Okay, uh, I still have some work to do. I'll be as quiet as I can and I can work by my desk lamp…" the engineer went quiet, watching as the physicist nodded with as much dignity as she could muster.

"Thank you" Erin mumbled, cheeks inflaming anew as she edged to the ladder and climbed awkwardly up, finding at the top a veritable nest with drifts of the comfiest blankets and a mattress that you could practically swim in. As she settled she heard the engineer stir, switching off the main lights and lighting her desk lamp.

Erin was just closing her eyes when Holtzmann cleared her throat; "They're comfortable, you know."

Erin's eyes popped open, "Huh?" She had no idea what the engineer was referring to.

"Men's briefs. It's amazing how higher the quality is than women's underwear, the moisture-wicking qualities really keep the junk dry," Erin could hear the smirk in the engineer's voice, "plus, I can keep my phone in the handy man-junk pouch; guarantees that I wake up when it rings. I sleep like the dead, well, like the actual dead. Like a dead body." She paused, "Not a possessed one at least."

Erin's eyebrows screwed up with the fierce blush that threatened to swallow her whole, she must have made a noise because the engineer spoke up again, " and ever since the incident at the Conway mansion with Patty's phone going off I keep mine on vibrate so…" Holtzmann dissolved into a throaty chuckle, "keep that in mind the next time Abbey gets trashed and starts a late night group text."

The bald lasciviousness in the engineer's tone left absolutely nothing to the imagination and Erin's blush went critical, her toes curling with the tide of blood rushing into her capillaries.

"Good night Holtzmann" she mumbled, her voice muffled by the billowing comforter, but she heard the engineer pick-up her tools and continue to tinker.

"Good night Gilbert" Holtzmann said quietly, smiling to herself as she pulled her glasses back into place and set to work.