Holtzmann's day had, admittedly, been a little ruined by the arrival of the hunk of beefcake that Erin was suddenly so enamored with. It wasn't like she couldn't be just as hot as Kevin, so that wasn't her concern, but she worried she was no match for compulsory heterosexuality. Thus, her newly implemented ten-step plan to win over Erin Gilbert's heart (steps one and two had been going swimmingly) had a bit of a wrench thrown in it. No matter. She would just have to kick it into high gear. Maybe skip over steps three and four. Or change up the order. She was up for the challenge.

Right now, though, she was face-to-face with a ghost for the second time in less than a week, and wooing Erin could wait.

Well. Maybe not. She had always been a good multitasker.

"Okay, Erin, c'mere." She shoved her prototype proton gun into Erin's arms. "Grab it. Grab it. That's gonna shoot a proton stream at that ghost, okay?" She made sure to lean into Erin's side as she pointed. "So whenever I say go, you just do that."

"Uh, why am I operating the untested nuclear laser?"

Holtz grinned. "You have the longest arms." She patted one of them to prove her point.

"You guys might want to hurry up," the subway worker—Patty—said from behind them.

"Oh my God, I forgot the most important part." Holtz grabbed the grounding collar and tugged it over to Erin. "Yeah, sorry, Erin…" She clipped the collar around Erin's neck. "This is just a bit of grounding so you don't die immediately." Then she leaned in, placing her hand on Erin's shoulder. "Do you know your iron level?"

She had never been this close to the physicist before. The coconutty scent of her shampoo mixed with a little bit of sweat overpowered the scents of the subway. It shouldn't be intoxicating, but it was. Holtzmann's chest thrummed, whether from Erin or the ghost ten feet away she wasn't quite sure.

Erin made a muted noise in the negative. Holtz hovered there for half a second more before patting her shoulder. "It's fine."

The first test was underwhelming, to say the least. In hindsight, maybe they shouldn't have tested the prototype for the first time whilst dealing with an actual ghost.

Suddenly, the ghost lunged forward, and Erin was thrown back to the ground. Oh, fuck.

Then there were lights coming from down the tunnel. "That's the train! We gotta move!" Patty shouted.

Holtzmann tried to grab some of the machinery while Abby and Patty heaved Erin, still battling the ghost, backwards. The cart dragged behind her like a reluctant dog. The train came hurtling closer still, and Holtz skittered away up on the platform.

"GET IT OFF!" Erin shouted.

The collar. No, no, no, no, no. "OH GOD, THE COLLAR." Holtzmann sprinted over and ripped it off, throwing it onto the tracks at the last possible second before the train whizzed past, the effort throwing her onto her butt. She narrowly missed the spray of slime as the train trapped the ghost.

All in all, it was truly spectacular. Even if her equipment was destroyed in the process. And it nearly got Erin killed. She resolved to never let that happen again. From now on, they were going to test things before they used them on a ghost.

She clapped her hands excitedly and laughed at how ridiculous that all was. She'd always been a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Her brain was already churning with ideas for upgrades. "We need more juice, we need to be more mobile, I know what to do."

"I almost got killed," Erin said incredulously.

"Yeah, I know. It was so awesome." Holtz replied.

They helped her up onto the platform. Holtz tried to wipe a little more of the ectoplasm off of Erin's eyes until she could see again.

"You saved my life," Erin said softly. "Thank you."

Holtz grinned. "Any time, beautiful."

Erin may have been blushing under all the goo, but it was hard to tell. "Yes. Well. Uh. I should head home and shower. Gotta get all this off."

"Need any help?" Holtz lifted one eyebrow and smirked suggestively.

Patty looked back and forth between them. "Oh, are y'all a couple?"

Erin said, "No!" at the same time that Holtz said, "Not yet."

Erin looked at her exasperatedly, then she shot a pained glance at Abby. "Help me out here?"

Abby chuckled and shook her head. "Nope. This is far too funny. If you want her to stop, you're gonna have to tell her you're not interested."

Holtz smirked in agreement, silently daring Erin to do it. Because yeah, if that was the case, then Holtz would back off. She didn't think it was, though.

This time, there was no mistaking how red Erin turned underneath the layer of ectoplasm on her skin. She began backing away, stammering something about needing to go, and then broke out into a bit of a jog away. The three of them watched her go.

"She seems a little tightly wound," Patty commented. "Is she always like that?"

"You're gonna give her a heart attack, Holtzy," Abby said with a laugh.

"It certainly appears that way, doesn't it? Ruh-roh."

"Anyway," Abby said, turning to Patty, "thank you so much for reporting this to us. I'm so sorry we couldn't catch the entity properly."

"Man, no worries. That was cool as hell to watch."

"Give us a call any time if you see it again," Holtzmann said. "Really. Any time at all. Want me to give you my personal phone number?" She winked.

Patty squinted at her. "Are you flirting with me, too? Do you flirt with everyone?"

"It's a coping mechanism," she deadpanned. Well, more like a reflex. "And not everyone…only the pretty ladies." She jutted her chin in the woman's direction and smirked. "Why, you interested?"

"Nope," Patty said immediately, shaking her head like she couldn't believe Holtz went there. "You'll have better luck with the skittish one." She nodded in the direction that Erin had escaped. "Because she definitely is."

Holtz beamed. "You're alright, you know that?"

Patty snorted. "I'll see y'all around. Good luck with your ghosts and—" She gestured to Holtz— "All that."

Holtz saluted in response and her and Abby set off, earning a few curious glances from passerby at the slime on Abby's clothes.

"Hey Abby, my pal, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Yeah, Holtz?"

"On a scale of 1-10, how not-straight is Erin?"

"Oh, Jesus."

"To clarify, one being 'straight as a board' and ten being…me."

Abby shot her a look.

"Come on," Holtz prodded, "indulge me."

Abby sighed. "Six, at least. Maybe more. But you didn't hear it from me."

Holtzmann fist pumped. "YES! Best news I've heard all day." She patted Abby's head. "Thank you dearly. Follow up question, would you be okay with me pursuing her? Given your history?"

"That makes it sound like we're exes," Abby muttered.

"Are you? Because lemme tell you, I haven't had many friends in my life to know for sure, but I'm pretty sure friend-breakups don't usually have that much angst, and—"

"Holtzmann! We're not talking about this." The slight colouring of Abby's face betrayed her. So they did have a thing. Interesting.

Holtz softened her expression. "So you don't want me to go after her? Because I won't. I'll back down right away. You're more important to me than her, and I don't want anything to get in the way of our friendship. And be honest. Don't pull that movie-shit where you say you're okay with it but you're really not and then everything implodes."

"When have I ever not been brutally honest about my emotions?"

Holtz nodded. "Good point. So? Should I back down?" She tried to conceal the desperation in her voice. The thought kind of made her want to cry, but she was telling the truth: Abby's friendship was more important. She could get over Erin if she had to.

Abby studied her face for a second. "Wow. You actually like her, don't you? I thought you were just flirting with her to mess with her, but you…yeah, you like her."

Holtz bit her lip and ran her hand through her hair. She thought about making a joke, but instead she just nodded quietly. There was no point in lying to Abby.

Abby's face softened. "What she and I had was a really long time ago, and it was over just as soon as it began. We loved each other a lot, and the lines got a little blurred. Sometimes it's hard to tell where platonic love ends and romantic love begins. We figured it out, though. We were meant to be friends, so we went back to that. Even now, with the years between us…I still love her as a friend, Holtz. But that's all. That's all it will ever be. So if you want to pursue her, I am 100% okay with that."

Holtz breathed out. "Promise?"

"I promise. I can't guarantee that she'll return your affections, but I give you permission to try."

Holtz snorted. "Come on. I'm irresistible."

Abby grinned and clapped her on the back. "Yeah, you kinda are."

"Okay, you're not in love with Erin, but are you in love with me? Because that's also a movie plot. I refuse to have unnecessary angst on my watch. Did you know that 99% of angst could be prevented if people just talked to each other about what was on their minds?" Holtz solved this problem by having no filter, ever.

"Oh my God," Abby said.

"Answer the question, Abigail. This is very serious."

"No, Holtz, I'm not in love with you." Abby playfully shoved her. "There is nothing stopping you from chasing Erin."

Holtz tapped her finger to her chin and thought about Kevin. "Well, there's one thing…"