**NOTE: I'm publishing the last three chapters of this here today. Chapter 4 was the last one you read if you've only been following this story here. I published the whole thing on archive of our own actual months ago because the people over there were more welcoming and responsive. I'm only publishing the rest of it so the story isn't incomplete. Unfortunately, the lack of reviews on this one when I could tell people were reading and favoriting and following and when I got gobs of responses elsewhere broke my delicate little writer-heart, so my other Ghostbusters stories are only on archive of our own and not here.

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CHAPTER 5

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Patty frantically but quietly pulled at her wrists as she felt the binding around them loosening just in time. She'd been working on getting the ropes loose for what seemed like hours when she must have dozed off. She was awoken by the sound of Holtzmann's frightened voice and soft, muffled whimpers.

She heard the man only known as 'M' threatening Holtzmann as he leaned in close to her. As much as Patty wanted to yell out, she knew doing so while still tied down wouldn't help. She was almost free. If she could remain inconspicuous until the time was right, she could take the guy down, untie Holtzmann, and get them both out of here. But she had to hurry, because whatever M was saying or doing over there was not anything pleasant, not if Holtzmann's shaking whimpers were any indication.

Patty tried to keep her breaths quiet and calm as she squeezed one hand out of the ropes behind her. The rest of the ropes hung from her other wrist. She ignored it and moved on to the ones around her chest, and then to the ones attaching her ankles to the chair legs.

Shrugging out of the ropes, she quickly jumped to her feet, grabbing the rope still attached around her wrist in both hands and quickly making her way over to her friend, who was softly crying under a large hand pressed down over half of her face while her attacker spoke what he either meant to be comforting or mocking words.

"Don't cry, Angel. I won't get much further than this. Not with you tied up." He whispered with a sort of chuckle in his voice.

With a growl in her throat, Patty slipped the rope down in front of man's neck, pulling roughly back. She heard him make a strangled, gasping noise as he threw his elbow back, hitting Patty rather hard in the ribs.

She grimaced and pulled the rope tighter. She wasn't giving in this time. He had no leverage. She was gonna keep going until he was passed out on the floor. He let out a choked noise, clearly trying to talk as he swung his arms back, trying to hit Patty. He mostly failed, and she ignored the ones that landed, caring much more about subduing the man than about any small amount of pain he might cause her.

He was clearly trying to talk still as she pulled the rope back harder and harder. "Shut up." She growled, feeling the rope cutting into her own wrist and hand as she pulled it as tight as possible. She wasn't sure she'd ever hated another human being this much in her entire life.

She held the rope tight as his struggles became more manageable, as he grew desperate and focused his clawing hands at his throat. Finally, he went limp and she let him drop to the ground. As she stared down at him, she breathed out shaking, exhausted breaths and finally let her arms relax. They were actually shaking from the effort she'd had to put into that. It seemed it took longer to choke someone into unconsciousness than Patty would have guessed. She'd never had to do it before.

"Patty?" Holtzmann whimpered in an out of breath voice.

Patty exhaled as she focused her attention on Holtz. The younger woman stared back, with tears in her wide eyes and tear streaks down her cheeks. She was visibly shaking, her overalls were undone, and her hair had fallen down significantly from its ordinary style.

"It's okay." Patty spoke, not sure what to say beyond the regular reassuring words and phrases. "You're alright now." She assured her friend as she put her hand lightly on Holtzmann's jaw in a way she hoped was comforting. She could both see and feel the smaller woman's lower lip trembling. It broke Patty's heart how young Holtzmann looked in that moment. With her hair hanging down loose, although still quite unkempt, her impossibly huge doe eyes brimming with tears, and her lips in a shaking pout, she looked so much like a frightened little girl.

"Did he hurt you, Baby?" Patty breathed as she reached for the ropes wound around Holzmann's ribs. While she was there, she re-clasped the smaller woman's overalls and then moved down to her ankles to untie the additional ropes there.

Holtzmann stared down at her, not answering, but looking a little unfocused as though she wasn't even comprehending what she was staring at. Perhaps she was in shock.

"Holtzy..." Patty spoke again, putting her hand back against her friend's face and looking into her eyes. "You hear me?"

Holtzmann blinked a few times and inhaled a trembling breath."Yeah..." She whispered, looking and sounding a bit uncertain.

"Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?" Patty asked again.

Holtzmann hesitated for a moment before blinking and shaking her head. "No." She breathed. "He didn't... I'm not hurt." Her voice was shaking.

"You sure?" Patty frowned. The younger woman seemed so confused.

"Yeah..." Holtzmann nodded. "He didn't hurt me."

"Good..." Patty exhaled, kneeling down again and untying Holtzmann's ankles. "Let's get out of here." She suggested as she finished freeing her friend's ankles and then stood up, putting her hands under her friend's armpits and lifting her up off the chair with her cuffed hands still behind her. She kept her hands on Holtzmann's sides until she was sure the smaller woman was paying enough attention to herself to keep standing on her own two feet. "You okay then?" Patty asked.

Holtzmann swallowed nervously. She looked unsure. She blinked a few times and then maneuvered her arms around behind her, stepping over her hands rather effortlessly so that they were in front of her.

"Baby... You okay?" Patty asked again, putting her fingers on Holtzmann's chin and leaning down a bit to see her better. "He didn't hurt you... but he clearly at the very least scared you... Are you alright?"

The younger woman looked back up at Patty with tears still in her eyes. Her lips were still in a pout and she was most certainly shivering. Finally, Holtzmann sniffed back tears, blinking a few times, exhaling and shaking her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. She seemed at a loss for words.

"That's alright, Holtzy... You don't gotta answer right now." Patty forced a smile, trying to appear calm for her friend's sake. The last thing Holtzmann needed was for Patty to freak out and demand that they discuss every detail of what had just happened. Her smile was short-lived, however. It took a mere few seconds before Holtzmann's eyes shone with tears again and her lower lip began to tremble. Patty could tell she was seconds from breaking. "Come here." Patty held her arms out and let the younger woman lean into her. She squeezed Holtzmann gently but securely in a hug.

As Patty held her, she felt her friend's shoulders shaking with sobs. She kept her eye on the man she'd just choked, who still lay perfectly still on the floor. He was knocked out - not dead. She also occasionally glanced up toward the door where she expected the second man would come in if he chose to return any time soon. They really needed to get out of here sooner rather than later.

Holzmann's breaths were short and shaky as she sniffed back sobs. Patty hugged her tighter, noticing the skin on her bare arms felt quite cold. She glanced a few yards away where M had thrown the younger woman's jacket. She'd have to retrieve it later. For now, she rubbed her hands lightly over her friend's arms, trying to warm her up that way.

"I'm sorry I didn't get over here sooner... I guess I fell asleep in the middle of trying to get free." Patty frowned. "I didn't know whether to call out and ask him to stop or keep trying to loosen the ropes... He probably wouldn't have listened to me, and once I had drawn attention to myself, maybe I wouldn't have had the advantage of surprise..." She felt like she was rambling. "I wish I'd have woken up sooner... Got him away from you sooner..."

"It's okay." Holtzmann spoke, her voice still shaking, but her sobs subsiding. "I thought you were still asleep... I was scared to scream... I tried not to cry either. I didn't know what to do..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Patty asked as she ran her fingers through Holtzmann's hair. She hadn't ever realized how long it was. It was soft too, though a bit tangled.

The younger woman shook her head.

Patty nodded. "That's okay... You don't have to. If you do want to talk about it later, I'm here. Now and forever."

"Thanks, Patty." Holtzmann glanced up at her for a moment before looking back down and laying her forehead against the older woman's chest.

Patty put her hand against the back of Holtzmann's hair and wrapped her other arm around the smaller woman's shoulders, holding her close as she ran her fingers carefully through her friend's curls as they remained silent for a few minutes. As they stood there, Patty noticed Holtzmann's trembling lessening as Patty's close proximity warmed her up a bit and quite likely reduced her level of fear at the same time.

Although Holtz had already assured her that the man hadn't hurt her, Patty couldn't help but to wonder what exactly had happened. Holtzmann wasn't one to get overly emotional or frightened. She wouldn't have been sobbing like she was without a good reason. Whatever had happened was significant. Patty hadn't ever seen her young friend so frightened and upset. Of course she had been scared for obvious reasons - the man who had kidnapped her and tied her to a chair was sitting very close, saying or doing something Holtzmann wasn't comfortable with... Her overalls had been undone - Holtz didn't do that herself... So at the very least, the man tormenting her was sitting very close while partially undressing her. That alone would have been terrifying for anyone.

Patty frowned as she continued holding her friend close and noticed a mess of bobby pins discarded on the floor. She had wondered how Holtzmann's hair had gotten so messy... M must have taken the pins out. Though it wasn't a gesture that was obviously threatening or sexual... it still made Patty's skin crawl to think of the strange man messing with Holtzmann's hair. It had probably scared the smaller woman too.

As she rubbed her hand lightly over Holtzmann's back, Patty closed her eyes and rested her chin on top of her friend's messy curls. She hoped Holtzmann would eventually talk to her about this - both to get it out of her own head, and to put Patty's mind at ease. She didn't think M could have done anything too terrible with Holtzmann so securely tied down. He couldn't even get her overalls down past her waist thanks to the ropes tightly wound around her ribs... Patty wanted her friend to reassure her that nothing worse had happened... but she also wanted to be there to support Holtzmann. This situation clearly bothered her, and even if it wasn't the worst possible scenario, that didn't mean it didn't still matter and wasn't still traumatizing. Patty wanted her to know she was here for her - that she could talk as much as she needed to. But she wasn't sure Holtz was ever going to want to talk about this. Maybe Patty wasn't ever going to know the whole story. Holtzmann didn't owe it to her. If she wanted to keep quiet about whatever had happened, that was her right.

Patty gasped softly and felt Holtzmann flinch as a phone began to ring echoing loudly through the entire otherwise silent room. It was a familiar tone - Patty knew it anywhere... It was Abby's ring.

With a frown, Patty looked toward the man lying on the ground. He had taken her phone, and obviously still had it on him. Maybe Abby had found the ghost after all and was calling the guy back with an update. "I got to get that, Baby." She spoke, loosening her grip around Holtz and reaching down to the unconscious man, feeling his pockets for her phone.

"Hello?" She answered, keeping her voice to a low whisper in case Lenny was around anywhere.

"Patty? Are you okay? Is Holtzmann okay?" Abby sounded out of breath.

"Yeah... For now. We knocked out one of the guys... Don't know where the other is. Holtzy and I are here together. We're alright." Patty rambled.

"Are you guys at a warehouse by any chance?" Abby breathed. Why did she sound to frantic?

"Yeah..." Patty frowned.

"Okay... Well, we found the ghost... Leroy Hayes... We found him." Abby explained. "I think he's on his way over there... And he's pissed off."

"At us?" Patty frowned.

"No... I don't think so..." Abby answered. "I guess he doesn't like those guys... Lenny and Miller... Says they're violent, vulgar bullies... And he said he was betting they'd have taken you guys to this warehouse outside of the city. He gave us the address and we're on our way, but it's like a thirty minute drive from where we were. He's probably gonna get there first."

"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Patty wondered. "He's on our side."

"Eh... maybe..." Abby didn't sound so sure. "He's not on their side... Don't know if that means he is on ours or not... You might want to try to get out of there if you can."

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