Chapter Text
The tension in the firehouse is stifling. On the second floor, the lab reverberates with clanging and crashing as Holtzmann channels her anger into her work. It's especially noticeable with the relative silence of the rest of the lab--music is for happy days.
Downstairs, Erin sits at her desk, a scowl on her face. Every time a noise echoes down the stairs, she lets out a loud, exaggerated huff. She scratches equations onto her notebook with so much force that it's no wonder she's already snapped two pencils.
Two hours into the day, Abby shoots a pleading glance at Patty. Patty replies with a wide-eyed exasperated shake of her head. Abby tilts her chin up and then cocks her head to the side, and Patty nods. They rise from their seats, and Abby bounds up the stairs while Patty sidles up to Erin's desk.
"Erin, baby, what the hell happened?"
Erin ignores her. Her scribbling becomes more frantic. Patty snatches the pencil from her hand and hucks it across the room.
"Patty!"
"You can get it back when you tell me what happened. Did you and Holtzy break up?"
A deep, horrible pain cuts through Erin's chest at the words. Her face screws up for a second, then drops back into the angry mask she's been sporting for the past week. It's easier than facing the pain.
Upstairs, Abby watches across the lab as Holtzmann literally throws a handful of metal down at her worktable with a loud clang.
Abby winces. "Holtzmann? You wanna stop damaging equipment and come talk to me?"
"Talk about what?" Holtz grabs a blowtorch and turns it on. She stalks around her table, eyeing the scraps of metal. She has an angry glint in her eye that usually means she's restless and in a destructive mood.
Abby rushes over and grabs the blowtorch before Holtz can impulsively light something on fire just to watch it burn. She shuts off the flame and gives Holtzmann a look. "Talk about what happened with you and Erin. Did you have a fight?"
Holtzmann slumps down into her chair and makes an angry noise of confirmation.
"Did you break up?" Abby prods.
Holtz' head jerks up and she glares at Abby through her thickest pair of goggles. She's been wearing them all week so nobody can see how red her eyes have been from crying.
"Why don't you ask Erin?" she snaps, venom in her voice.
Downstairs, Patty is still waiting for the answer to the same question. Erin stares down at her notebook, her brow knitted together and her heart heavy.
"Yeah. I think we did."
Patty considers that. "Why?"
"We had a fight," Erin says through clenched teeth.
"That's it? You had one fight and now you're calling it quits?" Now Patty sounds angry too.
"It was a bad fight," Erin mutters.
"So? Talk it through and make up. You can't just give up on a relationship because of one fight. Come on."
Erin shakes her head. "You don't know what you're talking about, Patty. It's not just--it's a lot of things, okay? It's not that simple."
"Oh, I know plenty. It is exactly that simple. You guys may be the strangest couple I've ever met, but you're a damn good one. None of us thought you two would get your crap together and realize how much you liked each other, and now that you ARE together, you're about to throw it all away? That's bullshit."
Erin is quiet for a second, then she meets Patty's furious stare.
"Have you considered," Erin says finally, her voice surprisingly steady for how many emotions are running through her, "that maybe we were never meant to date? Maybe we just made a colossal mistake and now we've ruined a great friendship?"
Patty rolls her eyes. "I refuse to believe that."