A split second

Chapter One

Maddison nodded eagerly as Patty showed her around the Firehouse, the attractive brunette clutched her notebook to her chest, scrawling down anything of importance that was said by the Ghostbuster.

The Firehouse was old, its stairs creaked, its walls needed fresh paint and the token fire pole was not safe to use, but it was home for the four Ghostbusters. The late nights, their dedication to work and studying made it easier for all of them to stay, their own apartments now more of a retreat for each of them. Abby and Patty had permanently moved into the huge space, but Holtzmann and Erin still spent a lot of time at their own apartments. The four women had redone the Firehouse's kitchen and lounge area and had settled themselves into the small rooms located on the second level, all of course but Holtzmann, the blonde engineer setting up a makeshift bedroom in the corner of her and Erin's lab. Some mornings the physicist would arrive, rolling her eyes with a smile, Holtzmann asleep in her bed after a night of work.

A few months after saving the city and defeating Rowan, the four women decided they were going to need help, an extra pair of hands, there was too much to do and when they were busy, there was no time to do any of it. They had Kevin to answer the Calls, but they needed someone who could hep with the IT side of things, develop and maintain a website and also someone who could assist each of them when they needed, almost like the team's personal assistant.

The newcomer smiled, looking up to the stairs as Abby walked down, 'Hey Maddison, welcome!'

'Hi Abby, Patty's just showing me around,' she tapped her notebook with her pen, 'just taking some notes'.

Abby nodded, smiling at the younger woman watching as she trailed behind Patty, she was excited to have an extra set of hands, especially to take care of the mountains of paperwork; as she always seemed to be left with that duty. Abby looked over at Kevin, the strong-built man was twirling a pen through his fingers while he sat at his desk, the woman shaking her head, relieved that he was only going to be needed to answer the phone from now on, and that was more than enough of a challenge for him.

'I'm going to head out and get some snacks Maddison, would you like to hang around this evening? We're all going to watch a movie I think,' Abby said as she walked towards the door.

'Yeah, stay for a movie Maddy', said Patty, turning to the brunette.

Maddison nodded in agreement, as Patty motioned to follow her to the basement, Maddison giving Abby a quick wave as she followed Patty down the stairs, adjusting the collar of the button up shirt, suddenly feeling the humidity of the room. Patty talked through the containment unit and how it worked.

'We will probably get you trained up too, might be good to have a back up on Busts should we need you, or if one of us can't attend or something.'

Maddison nodded eagerly, her book already filled with pages of notes, and her stomach flipped with the idea of getting to learn the ropes of going on an actual Bust, she'd seen the women use their Proton Packs on news broadcasts before, but never in person, so she was keen to be shown how to use one.

Once the two finished in the basement and Patty had run through a few more things, Abby returned from her snack-shopping, Maddison helping the shorter woman lay the food out on the coffee table, Patty calling up the stairs to Erin and Holtzmann to join them. The smallish lounge area featured two three seater couches next to each other, one with a chase and two coffee tables that had been saved from being dumped on the side of the road. Maddison looked at her new colleagues, smiling to herself as she adjusted the waist on her jeans, pulling them up a little, her nerves peaking as she exhaled softly.

'Kev?' Abby called out as she slunk into one of the couches, 'You hanging around?'

The handsome man looked over to Abby, shaking his head and scrunching up his face.