**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 7

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Back at the office, Erin and Holtzmann positioned themselves at a table while Abby and Patty stood a few feet away. Patty watched as Erin worked on the handcuffs. Holtzmann seemed overly wound up, which wasn't entirely unusual. She was staring at an open laptop as Erin fiddled with the cuffs on her wrists.

"Says here Leroy Hayes was murdered. I'll bet Miller and Lenny did it." Holtz noted, pausing for a few more seconds as she read whatever article she had open further. "The three of them may have robbed a bank last month. They were suspects, but the cops couldn't find any concrete evidence... So that's probably the money they were talking about."

"Holtzmann, hold still." Erin grumbled.

"I've gotta scroll down..." Holtzmann pouted, but put her hands back down where Erin could reach them.

"So Miller and Lenny probably killed him not realizing he had hidden the money somewhere or something... That would explain why he was so mad at them." Holtzmann guessed.

"So we let a ghost who's a bank robber go..." Abby noted with raised eyebrows and a small pout.

"A bank robber who saved me and Holtzy's lives, Abby." Patty reminded her.

Abby shrugged and exhaled. "I guess that's true..."

A silence fell over the room as Erin continued working on the cuffs and Holtzmann continued silently reading. Patty and Abby were content to watch wordlessly. Patty was deep in thought. Abby probably was too.

"I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down, Holtzmann." Erin noted as she carefully maneuvered a bobby pin in the lock of the handcuffs around Holtzmann's wrists.

"Eh..." Holtzmann laughed and shrugged her shoulders slightly. "There's too much of it. Gets in the way."

"Well, it looks nice." Erin smiled warmly with a quick glance up toward Holtzmann's face before focusing back on the cuffs. "There we go." She said as they snapped open.

"Thanks." Holtzmann breathed, looking away from the computer screen and rubbing her wrists. They were a little bruised up thanks to her failure to stop trying to squeeze out of them.

"You're welcome." Erin smiled. "So what exactly happened? How'd those guys find you?"

Holtzmann's smile fell as she looked down at her hands resting on the table.

"I guess they had been watching Holtzy for a while." Patty explained on Holtzmann's behalf. "They wanted to take one of us, thinking the others would have no choice but to find Leroy's ghost and ask him where whatever money they were looking for was. Holtzmann goes out early in the morning for Pringles often enough that it was a pattern they noticed."

"Holtzmann..." Abby frowned and sounded almost disappointed. "I told you not to walk around alone at night... Can't you just buy extra Pringles in the daytime?"

Holtzman pouted. "I can't resist eating them all right away if I buy extras... They'd all be gone within the first hour..."

"Anyway... They didn't know I was gonna be there too, but they went ahead with their plan." Patty explained. She looked over toward Holtzmann who was sinking down in her seat as though trying to disappear into it. She clearly didn't want to discuss her experience or even listen to the others discuss the whole situation. "The rest is pretty self-explanatory." Patty wrapped up.

"Did they hurt you guys?" Erin asked with a frown. "Holtzmann, you said he was choking you... And the one on the phone said-" She trailed off as she looked at Holtzmann, who was avoiding eye-contact with everyone by now.

"We're alright." Patty cut in. "They got a little rough here and there... Liked to make pretty mean threats... But we're okay. They didn't do anything too violent, and it's over now. We're alright. Right, Holtzy?"

Holtzmann nodded.

"You sure?" Erin frowned.

"Yeah." Holtzmann forced a smile and nodded toward Erin. She glanced over toward Patty. Her eyes looked like she wanted to say something, but she held back.

"Why don't you and Abby go get us some coffees?" Patty suggested. "From that place Holtzmann likes. Maybe some Pringles..."

Erin laughed and nodded.

"Alright..." Abby frowned, likely sensing that Holtzmann wasn't her usual self, but probably understanding at the same time that her friend wanted a little space. She glanced over toward Patty, who offered a tight smile back. "We'll be back in like twenty minutes..." Abby noted as she followed Erin out the door.

Patty moved over toward the sofa where Holtzmann was sitting. She sat down next to her friend. "You alright?" She asked.

Holtzmann nodded, but frowned. "I don't like everyone asking me that so much..."

"I know... They're just worried." Patty assured her. "They want to know you're okay."

"I know... and I am..." Holtzmann told her, swallowing and looking over into Patty's eyes. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and exhaled. "That was..." She paused, trying to find the right words, or maybe debating with herself whether to say anything else at all.

"It's alright, Holtzy. You can talk to me." Patty reassured her. "It'll stay between us if you want it to." She could tell Holtzmann wanted to vent - to get the experience out of her head, but the younger woman also clearly didn't want to say any of her fears and concerns out loud.

Holtzmann stared into Patty's eyes. She opened her mouth, but froze, breathing in and out soft breaths.

Patty stared back. Holtzmann's eyes were wide. Her hair was looking crazier than ever, hanging around her face and falling wildly over her shoulders. Patty reached over and brushed some of the curls out of her eyes, but didn't ask her again if she wanted to talk. She didn't want to pressure her friend into talking when she wasn't ready.

"I don't regularly voice concerns having to do with my emotions..." Holtzmann rattled, looking down and fidgeting with her fingers as her voice shook slightly. "I will only say this once and don't need a response. I've read it can be therapeutic to put thoughts into words..."

Patty nodded, but said nothing, giving Holtzmann the space to speak as much as she wanted without interruption.

"As you know that was a really frightening experience. It's over and we're both okay." Holtzmann nodded, still looking down at her hands as she spoke on and on, her voice trembling the whole time. "When I was tied to that chair, and he was right there... with his hands... I wanted to scream and fight back, but he said he would hurt you if I did and that fear outweighed the other. I didn't want him to hurt you..." She whispered, looking up at Patty with large eyes as she put her fingertips lightly against a bruise forming on Patty's cheek where Miller had hit her with his gun.

"I'm okay." Patty promised in a small voice.

Holtzmann nodded, moving her hand back, swallowing, and blinking a few times before continuing.

"He messed up my hair and said gross, misogynistic nonsense. And he tried to shove his hand down my shirt, and it made me angry... and scared... really, really scared... I don't know what he would have done if you hadn't stopped him, Patty... I'm mad at myself for getting you into this - it should have been just me there... I was the one being careless... but my mistake cost you too, and I feel bad... But if I had been there alone... I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there... The possibilities are obvious and make me want to scrub my brain with acid."

Patty forced a smile and reached out toward Holtzmann's hand, holding it and squeezing it lightly. "I'm glad I was there, Baby. I'd rather him hit me with a gun a million times than leave you alone with him. You don't need to worry about what he could have done. He didn't get that chance and he's not gonna."

"I know..." Holtzmann laughed nervously. "I can appreciate the appeal of being logical here. We're both alright, so it's all good... There is no reasonable purpose to staying traumatized." She rolled her eyes slightly and shook her head as though fed up with her own emotions. "Also he made me kiss him and I really need Listerine if we have it." She exhaled loudly and leaned back in her seat, seemingly relieved to have gotten all of that out of her head and out in the open.

Swallowing, Patty frowned as she stared at her young friend, who looked so much less tense now. Holtzmann had to have been terrified through all of this. Patty certainly had been, and she wasn't even the one the men kept zeroing in on. Of course, Patty knew as well as anyone that watching your friend get hurt is in many ways so much more painful than being hurt yourself.

She felt tears stinging her own eyes as she looked down at Holtzmann. The younger woman was always so energetic and fearless. She certainly didn't scare easily, but this was obviously something that had really upset her, and understandably so.

Thinking about Holtz tied down, trying to keep her words and tears silent for Patty's sake while some jerk groped her, threatened her and her friend, and forced a kiss on her made Patty almost shake with anger. How dare he? How could someone look at Holtzmann, with all her innocence and naivety and want to hurt her like that?

Holtzmann frowned and pulled herself up straight, looking into Patty's eyes. "Are you okay, Patty?" She asked.

"Yeah." Patty spoke in a low whisper. She shook her head. "I'm just mad about the whole thing... They kept telling us both to cooperate so the other one wouldn't get hurt... and I did what they asked... and they kept hurting you anyway..."

"Well, you did strangle Miller with a rope." Holtzmann smirked.

Patty couldn't help but to laugh. "Yeah... I did..." She agreed.

"That was really cool, by the way." Holtzmann looked more serious now. "I don't know if I said it before, but thank you for that."

"You're welcome, Baby. I'd do it again if I could." Patty frowned.

Holtzmann smiled slightly and scooted closer to Patty, leaning her head on the older woman's shoulder and letting out a loud exhale.

Patty put her arm around Holtzmann's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"I think we'll be okay." Holtzmann noted. "That could have ended up a lot worse... It's done... We're back here... We did the obligatory discussion of our feelings. Now we can move on." She nodded matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." Patty laughed and laid her cheek down against Holtzmann's wild mess of hair. "I guess you're right."

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