The mirth of earlier in the day had already escaped Holtz' mind as she watched the mayor's assistant on TV announce that they were all frauds. Even though it didn't bother her as much as Erin, it still hurt.
The sound of glass breaking startled Holtz from her thoughts and she spun around to see that Erin had knocked the bottle of hydrochloric acid off the table and onto the floor, where it was now smoking.
"Oh, my favourite acid!" Holtz said. She wasn't actually that upset. Just trying to lighten the mood.
"It's okay, I'll get it, I'll get it," Kevin said, coming over from his desk. He had been hovering all morning, trying to make up for the toilet fiasco.
"Careful," Erin warned.
"Hey guys, I've been meaning to ask. What was that thing that threw that man out the window the other day?" Kevin asked, seemingly having already forgotten about the acid. Was he for real?
Most of Holtz' patience for the receptionist had evaporated. "Kevin. It was a ghost."
"A ghost?" He sounded truly surprised.
"Do you not know what goes on here, Kevin?" She was beginning to seriously wonder if he had been dropped on his head as a baby.
He started rambling about how they should sell the restaurant, and then, as if to prove Holtz' point, stepped forward and into the acid on the floor.
"Aw, not my slippers," he said.
Why the hell was he wearing slippers at work? "It's hydrochloric acid. Get the baking soda." She pointed. "There ya go. That's how you clean up hydrochloric." He sprinkled the baking soda on the puddle. "Good boy." Was it dehumanizing to talk to him as if he were a dog? Probably. But at this point, she was unimpressed by his antics (and in her opinion, a dog would make a better receptionist than him).
On the TV, the segment wrapped up. "Well, it's official, we're all Ghost Girls now," Erin said. God, Holtz hated that Erin had to keep being forced back into her past.
"Can't see," Kevin interrupted from the floor, eyes screwed shut.
"Well, that's the acid," Holtz said.
They directed him to the bathroom to rinse his eyes, even though Holtz didn't think he should be allowed back in the bathroom any time soon. Once he was gone, Abby started a rousing pep talk, clearly trying to cheer up Erin again. She walked over to Holtz' laptop and started reading off some of the ghost sightings around the city. Clearly, they would have plenty of opportunities to capture another ghost.
And then Holtz could practically see the gears turning in Erin's head as she snagged a nearby map and started plotting out where the sightings had been. By the time she started drawing lines through them, Holtz already knew where her train of thought had led her.
"Ley lines," her and Abby said at the same time.
Something stirred in Holtz' head. She had seen that very pattern before. She strode over and grabbed their massive copy of Ley Lines of North America from a box on the floor and set it down on the table. She unhooked her glasses from one ear and left them to dangle from the other, and started flipping through until she found the image she was looking for. A map of Manhattan, showing the exact same pattern that Erin had just marked on her map. She nabbed the map, placed it on top of the book, and shoved it across the table.
"Dismiss this."
And then Erin figured it out. The guy who was leaving the devices all over the city was using them to charge the ley lines. He was going to create a vortex.
"Oh boy," Holtz said.
"Okay, if he gets one of his machines in there and it's big enough, he's going to be able to rip a hole right through that barrier," Abby said.
"Letting whatever's on this plane…" Holtz swirled her hand around in the air. "Come crashing down on this plane." She slammed her hand down onto the maps.
Abby started calling the men from Homeland Security while Erin looked up what was at the intersection where the lines intersected. It appeared to be a hotel.
"The Mercado…Mercado, that's Spanish for table," Erin muttered.
Even Holtz, who had never taken a single class to learn Spanish, knew that wasn't right.
Patty started explaining some of the history of that location, and it turned out that bad shit had been happening there for ages. Holtz leaned on Patty's shoulder and watched as she clicked around on the Mercado's website. She landed on a picture of the staff, and it turned out that the angry looking man in the back row was the same guy that was talking to Patty about cataclysms.
Abby and Erin came over to examine the photo, and Holtz felt Erin press into her side and grab her upper arm.
"It's always the sad, pale ones," Erin said.
Holtz turned to her and smirked, then turned back to look at the screen.
"Okay ladies, let's gear up and hit that Mercado," Abby said.
Erin squeezed Holtz' arm and tugged her away from the table. They suited up into their jumpsuits, now embroidered with their names and little patches of their logo on the arm, courtesy of Patty. Whoever she knew that ran the embroidery shop must really like her, because she had gotten them done fast. She also unpacked four shoe boxes from a bag and distributed them. Holtz opened hers to reveal a pair of black combat boots.
"Nice," she said as she tugged them on.
She watched Erin meticulously lace up her own matching boots, the last one to finish, and then they all grabbed their proton packs off the wall and headed out.
"Kevin, we're leaving. Don't touch anything except what's on your desk while we're gone," Abby called.
"Sure thing, boss!"
They loaded up the car and got in. "Who's in the mood to save New York City?" Abby asked as the garage door opened.
The rest of them cheered in response, and Holtz peeled out of the garage, tired squealing, siren blaring.
As she weaved in and out of traffic, Patty groaned in the back seat. "Please drive carefully. I don't want to die today."
"There's no time for careful!" Holtz shouted back. "We've got a maniac to stop!"
"But who's gonna stop you?" Patty grumbled.
She parked right in front of the hotel, in a towing zone, but she figured the city would forgive her. Once they got the whereabouts of the janitor—Rowan, the picture said—they went down to the basement. Holtz wasn't quite sure what to expect, but as soon as they saw the closed door with blue light coming from underneath it, they all grabbed the wands from their packs. Holtz exchanged a brief glance with Erin as they turned their packs on.
The machine looked even worse than Holtz was imagining. She couldn't help but admire how beautiful it was.
Less beautiful were the mirrors scattered around the room with spectral forms crashing into them from the Other Side. They were kind of horrifying to look at, but Holtz couldn't tear her gaze away.
Until Abby's shout caught her attention. There, across the room, stood their guy. He stood up immediately. He began strolling towards them as he began what was very obviously a prepared speech. Holtz was trying hard not to laugh at how ridiculous he was. This was their evil villain mastermind? Yikes.
It became increasingly less funny as he detailed his exact plans for how his army of the undead would 'pester' the living.
"I think the word we're looking for is apocalypse," Holtz said. "Apocalypse." The word was fun to say, less fun to think about.
He went to start up the machine, but Abby managed to stop him. She tried talking him down, coming up with reasons why he shouldn't destroy the world, and all she managed to come up with was soup. Really, Abby? Holtz couldn't criticize too much, though, because at the moment all she could think about Erin, and somehow she doubted that the existence of Erin would be enough of a reason to live for Rowan as it was for Holtz.
Abby's last ditch effort was to announce that the police were coming, which had the exact opposite reaction that they were hoping. Rowan threw himself again the machine, dramatically electrocuted himself, and fell to the ground, dead.
"That's a weird move," Holtzmann said.
The machine continued to make noise, increasing in volume.
Abby pushed her in the direction of it. "See if you can shut that thing down."
Holtz grimaced and ran over to the machine, looking for anything that looked like an off switch. She frantically looked around, terrified to press a button that would accidentally release the ghosts. She heard Erin calling her name with growing panic.
She spotted what looked like a power conductor and traced it down a set of thick cables to where it joined up with a large lever. That would be her best bet. She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled it down.
It worked. The machine quieted and the intense blue lights disappeared. A glance around the room revealed that the ghosts in the mirrors were no longer visible either.
"Holtz, are we good?"
Holtz started walking back, looking down at Rowan's lifeless body. "Uh…well, he's not. But yeah, we're okay."
As Abby began hollering for the police upstairs, Holtz continued to stare at Rowan. "You hate to see the smart ones go bad," she said. From what she had seen of his work, Rowan was just as much of a genius as he said. He could've done great things if he hadn't been so bitter. For a second, Holtz felt like she was looking into some sort of alternate road her life could've taken had she not been so resilient in the face of her own childhood. She was willing to bet she had been tormented and isolated just as much, if not more, as Rowan.
The similarities grew even freakier when she discovered that Rowan had been using Ghosts from Our Past to build most of his technology. He was working with the exact same science as Holtz was. It was frightening, really. She could've built everything in this room just as easily as he could've built the proton packs strapped to their back.
She decided to let the thought slip from her mind. No use dwelling on it.
She could tell that Erin's mood had increased tremendously since earlier in the day. There was no way that the mayor's office would try to quiet them this time. They had without a doubt saved the city.
Except that apparently the mayor didn't care. Not only had they towed their car, but they insisted on walking them out as if they were being arrested.
The last thing she heard before they got outside was Ms. Lynch telling the reporters inside that they were just a group of sad and lonely women pulling a publicity stunt. Holtz was immensely enjoying being fake-arrested (it was more fun than being real-arrested, something she knew from personal experience) until she caught a glimpse of the look on Erin's face. She looked devastated.
Once they were a few blocks away from the Mercado, the men from Homeland Security let them go. They took off down the street. Holtz really wished they still had the car. Towing it was kind of a dick move.
She looked down the row at Erin, who had been completely silent for the walk so far. She seemed so utterly dejected. Holtz needed to figure out a way to cheer her up. Maybe another date? More cool weapons? She should finish the unfinished gun that Erin had tried to select. That would cheer Erin up.
Or going out for drinks, like Abby suggested.
Before they could make any plans, though, a nasally voice behind them interrupted. Holtz looked over to see a scrawny pale dude with a phone in his hand. A fan?
"How does it feel wasting taxpayer money and government resources with your pranks?"
Hm. Maybe not.
"Ms. Gilbert, I asked around your hometown."
Oh, shit. This could only go badly.
"I talked to somebody you went to school with."
Even worse.
"They said when you were a kid, you made up a ghost."
Holtz was about two seconds away from 'accidentally' firing a proton stream at the blogger.
"So, tell me, were you born a fraud, Ghost Girl?"
Oh, no he fucking didn't.
Erin froze, and before anyone could do anything, she had whirled around and started attacking him with fire in her eyes. "DON'T CALL ME THAT," she shouted.
Abby and Patty tried to pull Erin off the man to no avail. Holtz just backed up several steps and watched in complete adoration. Erin was definitely winning, and she was so proud of her. Finally, Abby got Erin to step away.
"They should put you back in therapy, you freak," the blogger said.
And then Erin punched him in the face. He crumpled down to the ground instantly. Erin just stood there, seething, not looking the slightest bit sorry about what she had just done.
"Ooo…kay, then. We should probably get the hell out of here," Abby said, staring down at the blood coming from the man's nose and the reporters that had followed them from the Mercado. Cameras were flashing around them.
Abby and Patty each took one of Erin's arms and pulled her away from the scene. Holtz flagged down a cab for them, and they piled in, away from microphones and barking voices. Erin sunk down into her seat between Holtz and Patty.
Abby glanced back from the front seat. "Erin…"
"Don't, Abby," Erin said.
"I was just going to say that he deserved it."
Erin pressed her lips together and screwed her eyes shut, then let out an almost strangled sounding sigh of frustration. Holtz took Erin's hand in her own and absentmindedly ran her thumb along the back of it.
"That was completely badass," Holtz said quietly. "I was right: you can take care of yourself. Where'd you learn to throw a punch like that? That was one of the best hits I've ever seen."
Erin didn't open her eyes. "Lots of practice," she replied through her teeth.
Holtz considered that. Did she make it a habit of punching people? The reaction to fight after hearing the old nickname was immediate. Holtz wondered how many people she had fought for calling her names.
The rest of the ride back to HQ was quiet and a little uncomfortable. Once there, they stripped out of their uniforms and changed back into their street clothes.
"I'm going home," Erin said once she had hung her proton pack on the wall.
Holtz' face fell. She sounded so upset. "Do you want company? Why don't we go do something fun to take your mind off things?"
Erin shook her head, already grabbing her coat and purse. She didn't meet Holtz' eyes as she walked towards the door. "I need to be alone right now. I'll see you tomorrow." She disappeared down the stairs, and they heard the door slam.
Holtz was about to follow after her anyway, because Erin was clearly distraught and probably in no state to be alone, but Abby caught her arm. "Let her go."
Holtz looked at her sharply. "I'm not letting her go home alone. She's upset."
"Holtz, I've known her for a hell of a lot longer than you have." That probably wasn't meant to be a cruel remark, but it still stung. "She needs to cool off."
"What if she thinks I don't care about her because I didn't chase after her?"
"This isn't a romantic comedy, Holtz."
Holtz grumbled at that and slid out of Abby's grasp.
"Hey, I said don't go!" Abby said as Holtz grabbed her coat.
"I'm not. I'm going to go get our car back."
"Oh. Okay."
Holtz saluted grimly. "I'll be back."
A part of her was still planning on finding Erin, but her girlfriend had disappeared from the street already. With a pout, Holtz headed off to find their car.
Later, when the Ecto-1 had been safely returned to the garage (with a hefty fee), Holtz texted Erin.
Thinking of you. Still need to be alone, or are you up for a pajama-clad movie night/cuddle fest? I'll bring snacks and let you pick the movie. ;)
She pocketed her phone and got back to work on the gun she was finishing for Erin. She was going to make it the best damn gun that had ever existed. 15 minutes passed before her phone buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out and inspected the screen.
Erin: Not tonight, Holtzmann. Thanks anyway. I will see you tomorrow morning.
Holtz' heart fell. She had been expecting Erin to say yes. She noted the use of her full last name. Was Erin mad at her, or was she still just upset? She tried to remain indifferent sounding in her response.
Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. See ya tomorrow.
After a moment of thought, she added a little heart to the end of the message. Then she erased it. She pressed send and tossed the phone onto her worktable, standing from her chair.
"I'm going out to look for parts," she called. Abby and Patty didn't look up from their whispered conversation. Holtz wasn't sure if they were talking about her or about Erin, but she didn't really care that much. She left her phone on the desk and headed out.
She ended up at her favourite dumpster, scavenging for anything that could be made useful. This was where she always came when the thoughts in her head were getting too loud. She found the practice therapeutic, almost. There was something about being arm-deep in garbage that calmed her. One man's trash, and all that jazz.
She returned to headquarters much later with a duffle bag full of finds. Abby and Patty had already left. She took a seat back at her workbench and picked up her phone, hoping to see a message from Erin. There was nothing. She tossed the phone back with a sigh and set to work.
She stayed much too late again. First she finished Erin's gun, then she worked on a set of side-arms for herself, then she grabbed the four pairs of boots lying around the lab and set to work affixing some cool shin guards that she had found a set of in the dumpster (maybe an entire sports team had changed uniforms?) and lined them with reflective tape to match their jumpsuits. Finally, she finished her additions to the wall where their proton packs were hanging, so it functioned as a charging station too. Eventually tiredness overcame her, and she decided to call it a night. She went back to her apartment, paced around there for a while, and finally surrendered to bed. The last thing she did before falling asleep was check her phone one last time, then she turned it right off so she wouldn't have to look at the empty notifications screen.
The next morning, she took care picking out her outfit, selecting her nicest matching vest and slacks and her favourite silk scarf as a necktie. It wasn't that she was trying to impress Erin, per se, but she definitely wanted Erin to notice her. Providing Erin actually showed up.
She headed in to work on the motorcycle that had been her pet project for a while, that she had recently decked out in a similar fashion to the hearse, with some potentially dangerous machinery on the back and a little ECTO-2 license plate to match the car. Maybe she'd be able to convince Erin to go for a ride on it later.
After a few hours of waiting at headquarters, though, Holtz was beginning to think Erin wasn't going to show up. Desperate for a distraction, she told Abby to suit up in her jumpsuit and meet her in the alley. Holtz shed her carefully selected clothes in favour of her own jumpsuit with a little shred of bitterness.
In the alley, she had Abby test Erin's new gun to make sure it worked properly. She wanted to surprise Erin with it the next time they went to catch a ghost. It worked perfectly. Erin was going to love it.
Then she stripped down to her plain tank top, tying her jumpsuit at her waist, and tested the set of proton pistols she had whipped up for herself the previous night, delighting in the way she was able to blast apart her little ghost target.
"You're having a little too much fun, there, Holtz," Abby said from where she was sitting on a milk crate.
"No such thing," Holtz replied.
"Have you heard from Erin?" Abby said suddenly.
Holtz stiffened and dropped her weapons, letting them retract back into her pack. She didn't turn to face Abby, instead opting to scuff her boot on the ground and pretend she didn't hear the question.
"Holtz."
"Not since last night," Holtz grumbled. She slowly turned with a pained expression on her face. "Abby, you don't think she—"
"No," Abby cut her off firmly, somehow knowing the end of Holtz' sentence. Her eyes were steely, like she wasn't even willing to entertain the possibility of Erin not coming back.
"But Abby—"
"No," Abby said again, louder. She stood from the milk carton. "Are we done out here? We should head inside."
"Yeah." Holtz took Erin's gun from Abby and the pair headed upstairs.
Erin still wasn't there. Holtz hung up her proton pack. Then she gathered up the ghost chipper and an armful of tools and took a seat at Erin's desk because it made her feel close to the missing physicist, which was an admittedly sad and melodramatic move, but she was lovesick and forlorn and she was going to allow herself such eccentricities.
She worked there for a while, not really accomplishing anything in particular. After a while she started absentmindedly flicking a blowtorch on and off just to watch the flame.
"Can you stop that? I'm trying to read," Patty said.
Holtz looked up to see Patty reading her copy of The Journal of Astrophysical Mechanics. "Whatcha reading that for?"
"It's interesting." Patty shrugged. "A lot of it's going over my head, but I feel like I'm learning some stuff. I'm never going to understand this science like y'all do, but I figure I can at least start to familiarize myself with some of it."
"Huh." Holtz was very impressed. She sure didn't find academic papers interesting, even when they were on cool topics, but somehow she didn't doubt Patty's sincerity. "Let me know if you want me to explain anything. Some of the technical jargon can get a little tedious."
Patty smiled. "Thanks, Holtzy."
Holtz resumed her mindless on-off-on-off with the blowtorch.
"Erin!" Abby said all of a sudden.
Holtz jumped to attention so violently that the blowtorch clattered to the desk, immediately igniting the closest papers. Ah, shit. She pulled the ghost chipper out of the way of the flames and grabbed the closest fire extinguisher to spray a healthy dose of foam on Erin's desk. The small blaze died quickly, but now there were burn marks on the desk. She thought it looked cool. Erin probably wouldn't.
Now that the building wasn't in danger of burning down, she allowed herself to look up and see if Erin was there or if Abby had just been thinking out loud.
Erin was there, shrugging off her coat and clutching a newspaper under her arm. She didn't appear to have seen the fire, possibly because she was avidly avoiding eye contact with any of them. Holtz stood there silently, unsure if she should greet Erin or let her say something first.
God, Holtz didn't understand people. If there was one thing she desperately loved about Abby Yates, it was that she was very forward about her emotions. And since she was the first friend Holtz had ever made, the ability to read people wasn't a skill that Holtz cared about finessing. Now, though, she kind of wished she'd practiced it more, because she either had a very upset or completely fine girlfriend and no way to know the difference. She was starting to realize why women always thought she was too emotionally stunted to be girlfriend material.
Erin took a seat in the booth and set the newspaper on the table in front of her, still saying nothing. Holtz made frantic eye contact with Abby and gestured her head in the direction of Erin.
"Should I go?" she mouthed at Abby. Did the 'leave her alone' rule still apply?
Abby studied Erin for a moment, then nodded once.
Holtz immediately began striding over to the booth, too excited to play it cool. Was she hurt that Erin had disappeared off the face of the planet overnight? Yes. But she was mostly just relieved to see her again.
She realized a little belatedly that she was still holding the ghost chipper in her hand and she set it down on the table as she slid into the booth and began crawling over so she could sit beside Erin.
"Hey," she said, grinning. "Guess whose desk I just sat on fire? You'll never guess."
Erin didn't respond. In fact, she only glanced up for a second and then went back to staring dejectedly at the unopened newspaper in front of her. Well, that was an underwhelming reaction. And God, Holtz was even wearing a tank top. The last time she had worn a tank top, Erin had nearly jumped her bones.
Holtz continued, because clearly Erin wasn't going to play along. "You may guess when you see…your desk later."
She had grabbed the newspaper that Erin was staring at so intently and flipped it open. She wasn't stupid, she could see the photo of Erin punching that dude on the cover, but she had every intention to ignore it.
"Alright, just read it. Just read it," Erin said.
Feigning ignorance, Holtz began reading the article in front of her instead of the one about Erin. "'Midtown movie theatre owner claims Basset Hound regularly attends matinees by himself.' Look at his ears!" She tilted the newspaper so Erin could see the adorable photo.
"Yeah, kay, I meant the one about me."
Erin was having none of that. Tank top nor Basset Hound could cheer her up—she must've been really upset.
Holtz examined the front page to get the article's location. "Oh." She flipped back to the two page spread with the word NOSEBUSTER across the top and several unflattering photos. A cursory glance revealed that the article itself wasn't too flattering either. "It's not that interesting," she said finally. Before Erin could reply or look for herself, a perfect distraction appeared in the corner of Holtz' eye. "Oh look, you're on TV!"
Erin leapt up as the newscasters spoke. Then it cut to some stuffy-looking guy from Columbia. Abby and Patty came up behind Erin as the man started speaking.
"It's unfortunate that we have these former ties with Ms. Gilbert," he said.
Holtz winced. He didn't even have the decency to use Erin's proper title?
He continued to slander her. Abby grabbed the remote from Erin to change the channel, but the video cut to a more familiar face. Oh, great. The dean from the Institute was quite possibly the least reputable person to speak on the matter, yet there he was.
Finally, Abby shut off the TV.
"Yo, Erin, shake that off!" Patty said. "You know how many lives you've saved?"
Holtz had a feeling a simple pep talk wouldn't suffice on this one. She needed to get Erin away from all this so she wouldn't have to think about it any more.
"We gotta get out there," Holtz said. "We gotta get something to eat. We gotta find that Basset Hound." If a lunch date wouldn't distract her, maybe cuddling a dog would.
"I'll just see you guys tomorrow," Erin said quickly, and before any of them could stop her, she was walking out the door. Again. Abby called after her, but Erin just shouted an apology in response.
Holtz watched her go, a horrible feeling sinking in her chest. She didn't know what to make of all this. What if this time, Erin didn't come back? Holtz stood up and jogged over to Abby.
"Should we go after her?" Holtz asked.
Abby sighed without looking in her direction. "No."
"I don't understand," Holtz said. "I thought you of all people would want to go after her."
Abby whirled on her, eyes flashing. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Holtz knew she should probably drop it, but she had already dug herself a hole. "A few years ago. You were drunk and you let it slip that after Erin left you, you didn't try to go after her. You just let her go. And you said you regretted it."
Abby's eyes narrowed. "I never said that."
"You were really, really drunk. You passed out shortly after. I think it was the anniversary of her leaving, or something, because you were a mess and that was the only time you spoke about her like that. I'm not surprised you don't remember it. But you said it. You regretted not going after her. And I know you don't want to consider the possibility that she—"
"You don't know what you're talking about," Abby said hotly, her face hardened into a mask of anger.
"Abby, listen to me," Holtz pleaded. "You just got Erin back into your life, and now she's in my life too, and if us going after her will keep her from leaving for good, then don't you think we should do it?"
Abby pinched the bridge of her nose under her glasses and screwed her eyes shut. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes to look at Holtz. "When she left me last time there were no warning signs that anything was wrong. She just disappeared. Ignored my calls. There was no reason for any of it. Do I regret not going to her house to see what her problem was instead of just letting her ignore me? Yes. But that is…not the same as this situation. At all. Erin is upset. Really upset. We know why she's upset, and it has nothing to do with us. I've seen Erin upset many times, and she always wants to be alone until she feels better. That's just how she is. But she's coming back. She needs to come back." Abby's voice broke on the last word.
Holtz swallowed. "I'm sorry, Abby. I shouldn't have…shit."
Abby bit her lip. "We just…we can't think that way. She just needs some more time to cool down. It's been a really intense week for all of us, but especially her. Her whole life is in upheaval. That was bound to catch up with her. Plus all the reminders of her childhood? She needs time and space. I know that might be hard for you, because you just started dating and you don't really understand her yet, but you're going to have to trust me. Believe me, I want to chase after her too. I just got her back, and the thought of losing her again hurts a lot, but we've just…got to have faith. It could push her further away if we ignore her wishes."
Holtz inhaled and nodded. "You're right."
Abby snorted. "Of course I'm right." She hip-bumped Holtz. "I'm always right."
"I don't know about thaaat."
Abby shook her head. "I'm always right. Now go work on something productive so you don't burn the building down in your lovesick misery."
Holtz shot finger guns at her. "Can't make any promises, Abs."
She ended up grabbing Erin's proton pack and fiddling with it, not doing anything in particular, just making sure it was in perfect shape. Then, before she could really think about what she was doing, she etched a tiny heart into the metal at the bottom of the pack, where Erin wouldn't see it.
Patty noticed though. "Girl, what are you doing?"
"Nothing."
She shook her head. "Let's get you out of here and get your mind off her. Let's go pick up some food."
"I could eat," Holtz said, standing from her worktable.
"Abby? You want food?" Patty asked.
"I'm not hungry," Abby replied.
Patty's eyes narrowed at that. "Sure you aren't. Kevin, what about you?"
"I'm heading out, actually," Kevin said. "I have very important business to do."
"Kevin, what could be more important than your job?" Abby asked.
"Bye!" Kevin ignored her and left.
Holtz blinked. "Ooookie dokie then. Looks like it's just us, then, Pattycakes."
"I said don't call me that."
"It hasn't grown on you yet?"
Patty just sighed.
Holtz changed back into her outfit from earlier in the day, so she wouldn't be walking around in just her tank top and jumpsuit, and soon her and Patty were walking to a nearby sandwich shop.
"We should probably get Abby a sandwich," Patty said. "She says she isn't hungry, but I think that's bullshit."
"She always says she's not hungry and then eats half of my food anyway," Holtz confirmed.
They got the sandwiches and began walking back.
"So how're things going with you and Erin? All the disappearing stuff aside?" Patty asked.
"Good, good," Holtz replied. She frowned. "At least I think so. Everything was going well before she got all bummed out. We had a really excellent date yesterday morning. And then we had so much fun at the hardware store…which is so weird, because it was just shopping at a hardware store, y'know? But being there with Erin made it fun."
Patty laughed. "Oh girl, you got it bad."
"I'm in love with her," Holtz said, testing the words out loud. "I know that sounds weird, because I only met her just over a week ago, but I am. Have you ever just instantly clicked with someone, Patty? Because I swear, it's like…I don't even know what it's like."
"I mean, I feel like I'm clicking with all of you right away, but I have a feeling you mean a little more intensely?"
"Yeah, like love at first sight, but not, because that's cheesy. Love at first kiss? Because shit, Patty, it was just…it was incredible. I think Erin is…I think she could be…"
"Your soulmate?" Patty supplied.
Holtz wrinkled her nose. "That word has always bothered me, for some reason. She's just like…my person. She's the one I'm meant to be with."
"So, your soulmate…"
Holtz looked up at the sky. "Yeah, okay. I guess Erin's my soulmate. Why does that thought terrify me so much?"
Patty chuckled. "Love is scary, baby. But worth it in the end."
They arrived back to a quiet headquarters. Abby was in the bathroom. They started unpacking their sandwiches while Patty called out to tell Abby that they got her a sandwich as well.
There was no answer. Holtz began walking in the direction of the bathroom. "Abby? You in there? Everything okay?" A little giddy from her conversation with Patty, she improvised a happy sandwich song and tapped on the door.
She was about to knock one more time when the door flew open suddenly, and Abby stepped out and stood with only a few inches between their faces.
"Hello, Jillian."
That was new and admittedly weird. Jillian Holtzmann wasn't one to shy away from the strange, though.
"Hello, Abby." She paused. "Are you okay?"
"I'm quite well."
"That's good," Holtz said, and Abby was already pushing past her. She watched her go, wondering what the hell that was all about.
She followed Abby back into the main room and watched her pick through some of her dumpster finds. Abby picked up the lead pipe she was planning on making a proton shotgun out of.
And then, before she could process what was happening, Abby had walked over to where Holtz' proton pack was hanging and ripped the Faraday cage off.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Holtz roared.
Abby began striking the pack with the pipe in her hand, and Holtz started sprinting. Was Abby still mad about their fight earlier? Was this her way of getting Holtz back? "NOT MY BABIES!" Didn't Abby know how much they meant to her? Couldn't she have punched Holtz in the face instead?
Abby had moved on to hitting the other packs, and Holtz threw herself at her, trying to wrestle the pipe from her hands. How had Abby gotten so strong?
Then Abby shoved her, hard, and Holtz flew across the room, the wind knocked out of her, and rolled a few times before coming to rest. Black spots dotted the corners of her vision. She inhaled roughly and felt a sharp pain go through her. Had she broken a rib? She heard the sound of something whiz through the air and then there was a metallic thunk and the sound of Patty shouting.
Abby appeared above Holtz, and she only had enough time to faintly wheeze out her friend's name before Abby had taken Holtz by the neck and lifted her in the air.
Except yeah, that wasn't Abby, Holtz realized now.
She struggled in Abby's grip, trying to pry her hand from her throat, but Holtz was no match for whatever ghostly strength was coursing through her. All she could do was scream with what little air wasn't being crushed from her windpipe.
"Look at the view," not-Abby said.
And then she shoved Holtz through the window. The same window that the government had fixed immediately after Martin Heiss was thrown out of it in order to hide the evidence. She doubted that they would care as much about covering up her death.
The glass shattered around her. Not-Abby held her struggling form for a few more seconds. "This is fun, right?" she said. "Goodbye!"
Then she let Holtz go.
Time slowed down. She could hear Patty screaming. She could see the look of pure evil on not-Abby's face, and Holtz realized sickeningly that she'd never get to see Abby's real face again, never get to speak to the true Abby again.
And Erin.
Holtz was going to die, and she would never see Erin again. Never hear Erin's voice again. Never kiss Erin again.
Holtz was going to die, and Erin didn't even know that she loved her.
At least Erin was going to be the last thing she ever thought of.
She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for impact, but instead, she felt warm skin connect with her hand, and her arm jolted so hard that she was sure it was going to come out of its socket. Then her whole body slammed into the side of the building, and she felt another stab of pain as her chest collided with the wall. Yeah, her rib was definitely broken.
"I got you, baby, I got you!" Patty shouted, her grip on Holtz' hand tightening.
As not-Abby and Patty struggled and fought above her, Holtz scrambled to find something, anything to hold on to.
"Oh my God, help me," she said. She could barely breathe. She could feel the area between her hand and Patty's growing sweaty.
And just when things couldn't get any worse, not-Abby's head swivelled completely around. Holtzmann screamed.
She watched in horror as they continued to battle, and not-Abby got her hands around Patty's neck—was she going to rip her head right off? But Patty, with unwavering strength, fought her off once more, just long enough to yank Holtz back through the window. She hit the floor hard and rolled onto her back, gasping for breath, feeling the pulsing ache of her rib.
"GET OUT OF MY FRIEND, GHOST," Patty shouted, and then there was the unmistakable sound of flesh being slapped, and a flash of blue light soared over Holtz and out through the open window.
"Ow! That's going to leave a mark," Abby said.
"THE POWER OF PATTY COMPELS YOU." Another slap.
"OW!"
"Is that you, Abby?"
"Where'd he go?" Abby asked.
Holtz carefully rolled herself into a seated position and then stood shakily and stumbled over to the window with the other two, her breathing ragged and painful.
There, down on the street surrounded by broken glass, stood Kevin. He was wearing a makeshift jumpsuit with a duct-tape name tag, and he was standing next to the Ecto-2 motorcycle, which he must've stolen from the garage. Okay…Holtz would be upset about that later.
Right now, she had a more pressing concern, because the ghost was circling above Kevin. They shouted for him to come inside, but it was too late. The ghost had flown inside him.
"Come on, Rowan, get out of him!" Abby called.
Shit. That was Rowan? The situation was suddenly a billion times worse than it was before. And before they could do anything, he had jumped on the motorcycle and was riding away.
"Oh, that's so not good," Patty said.
They sprung into action immediately.
"Holtz, I'm so s—"
Holtz cut Abby off before she could say it. "Don't, Abby. It wasn't you."
"You could've died," Abby breathed as she started stripping out of her clothes to change into her jumpsuit.
"The day's not over yet," Holtz muttered. She felt for the tender spot on her ribs and winced.
"Are you going to be okay to fix the packs?" Abby asked anxiously. She grabbed Holtz' pack and the parts she had ripped off when she was possessed, and carried it over to the worktable.
"Yeah, I've got this." Holtz reached for her tools and got to work as fast as she could, ignoring the throbbing of her ribs. She tried to tighten the screws on the Faraday cage to hold it back in place, and her shaking hand slipped. A little shock went through her when the screwdriver hit some nearby circuitry. "Fuck," she hissed. Now was not the time for her body to betray her.
Abby appeared beside her and she jumped away out of reflex. She relaxed a second later when she reminded herself that this was the real Abby, and she wasn't going to hurt her.
Abby folded her arms around Holtz, pulling her into a loose embrace, careful not to squeeze too tightly. Tears flooded into Holtz' eyes as the events of the past ten minutes caught up with her, and she allowed herself to fall into Abby.
"I'm so sorry," Abby said into her hair.
She held on a moment or two longer, then pulled away, picking up her screwdriver again with determination. She fixed up her pack, then repaired the damage to the other two as well. While Abby and Patty headed downstairs to load up the car, Holtz changed into her own jumpsuit and strapped a belt full of proton grenades across her chest. She was about to run out when she spotted Erin's proton pack lying on her workbench from where she had been tinkering with it earlier. She jogged back over, dug out the new gun for her, and laid it on top of the pack. Then she looked around wildly, grabbed the first sheet of paper and pen she could find, scribbled a hasty note, and left it lying beside the gun.
With one last look around at the lab, a horrible feeling growing in her gut that she'd never see it again, she turned on her heel and walked out.
It was at that moment that the sky turned black.