Chapter Text
“I probably shouldn't of punched him so hard.” They're all back in their lab now, and Holtz is nursing Erin's hand. Holtz had become in charge of first aid in the team, seeing as she knew the most because of having to patch herself up after blowing so many things up.
~~~
Erin thinks back to the events causing her hand to ache as much as it did. They had just finished catching the ghosts at the metal concert. They were all running on a high, so excited that they were being recognised. They had achieved the impossible, they had managed to capture a ghost. It gave Erin comfort, knowing she was right, knowing she wasn't just ghost girl. It was like all her fears and doubt from here childhood had been validated. She felt on top of the world, surrounded by her friends, a crowd of people thanking them for their hard work. She was stupid to think that feeling could last forever.
Some guy in the crowd was yelling at them, calling them frauds, saying they were still making things up. Erin turned to the source of the noise, recognising the person it was coming from. Phil, one of the worst tormentors from her childhood. He was one of the people who managed to get the nickname 'ghost girl' going. He made Erin's life a living hell. Erin froze, her stomach sinking, suddenly transported back to being a child, alone on the playground, no one believing her, all of her peers whispering between themselves and giving her weird looks. Abby was still standing next to her, gripping onto her arm, tugging on her to move.
“Just leave him Erin, He isn't worth your time.” Phil was still coming closer, and Erin was still frozen to the spot she was standing on. His yelling had now attracted the crowds attention, surrounding him and Erin. Holtz and Patty had even come over from the other side of the crowd, curious to what was happening. He had his phone out, recording, obviously trying to get a reaction from the ghostbuster. Erin could vaguely hear Abby still muttering to leave and ignore him, asking if she was okay. She turned to face Abby for a second, when he yelled out again.
“They should put you back in therapy, you freak!” And that was it, Erin could feel her blood boil, the anger coming from inside of her. She was angry at her parents for putting her in therapy, angry at the kids at school for being so mean, angry at her neighbour for dying and haunting her for a year. All of that anger was storming inside of Erin and she had to let it out. Abby knew what was about to happen, recognising the anger that was on her face, and quickly let go of Erin, ducking out of the way.
And then Erin punched him. Right in the face. She heard Holtz give out a yell and Patty muttering about how it was going to leave a mark. Erin took a few deep breaths, still processing that she had actually just punched him in the face. Abby was back at her arm in a few seconds, pulling her away again.
“Okay we gotta go, now.” Abby said, giving Erin a particularly strong tug. Erin stumbled after her, still in a little bit of a daze. Holtz and Patty followed both of them, stopping anyone asking any more questions or following them.
~~~
“At least you remembered to keep your thumb outside of your fist, could of broken it if you did that,” Holtz spoke, breaking Erin out her thoughts. “I learnt that lesson the hard way.” Erin stared at Holtz for a few moments. Erin was sat down in a corner of their space above the takeaway shop. Holtz had taken her away as soon as they got back. Abby and Patty were all the way on the other side of the building, giving Holtz and Erin their privacy. They were probably discussing something like damage control. Erin knew she shouldn't of punched that guy in the face. Holtz's face was close to her own, so close they were nearly touching. She was looking down at Erin's hand, her tongue slightly out in concentration, gently holding Erin's hand and turning it, assessing the damage Erin had now done to her own hand. Erin felt a small bit of warmth in her chest, not thinking much of it. It was nice to have someone care about you.
“Wait, what?” Erin spoke, just as she processed Holtz's last comment.
“I may have punched a lot of people in the face when I was a kid. Broke my hand the first time.” Holtz said this casually, as if it was perfectly normal just to go around punching people. Well, Erin supposed she couldn't really talk, she had just punched someone herself. They both just sat in silence for a few more minutes. Erin was pretty sure Holtz wasn't even doing anything anymore, just holding her hand, but she couldn't quite bring herself to move.
“I was quite an over active child,” Holtzmann continued. “I was so full of energy and I had no where for it to go. I spoke at 100 miles an hour and was constantly running around, going from one idea to the next. The other kids all though I was weird. I didn't mind that much, I was always too busy and they could never keep up. But I managed to get into fights a lot.” Erin just sat and listened, looking at Holtz with a soft expression. Holtz was glad Erin didn't interrupt, she hadn't really told anyone this before, but for some reason she knew she could trust Erin.
“My parents sent me to therapy too, you know, after the first few incidents. It didn't help much though. The therapists always wanted me to slow down and think things through before I did them and it was just so slow. I just couldn't do it. My parents stopped paying for them after a few years, realising they weren't achieving anything. I was still the same weirdo I always was. Still getting into fights every week. That's when I met Dr. Gorin.” Holtz paused, making eye contact with Erin and giving her a smile. “She taught me how to focus my energy on science. How I could build things. How I could turn all these ideas running through my head into actual machines. It helped a lot. I mean, I was still reckless and over active but I was getting into fights less. I poured all my energy into my toys.” Holtz stood up, walking over to her workbench. Erin felt her stomach drop at the loss of physical contact. “Your hand should be fine by the way, you'll have a nasty bruise, but it will clear up in a few days.”
“You went to therapy too?” Erin asked, looking up, her voice barely above a whisper. She never knew anyone else who had gone through it. Hearing that Holtz had gone through it too made it seem more normal.
“Yeah.”
“Does Abby know?”
“I don't really talk about it much, so no.” And with that statement, Holtz pulled the googles that were sitting on her head over her eyes, and started working on something on her desk. Erin wasn't sure quite what to do, she felt weird if she just left, knowing that Holtz had just told her something very private. She decided to take a nap, the whole day had taken it out of her, first capturing a ghost and then having to relive her childhood. He shuffled on the sofa she was currently sitting on, repositioning herself so she was lying down. She looked up at Holtz, who was working away. Erin smiled, feeling a bit of warmth coming to her cheeks. She shut her eyes to go to sleep and heard Holtz put on some of her softer music, just loud enough to drown out the noise of her tinkering away.