Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pulling her boots on, Holly glanced over at the police. The platinum blonde head stood out, but she didn't see it here today. Instead there was a man with brown hair, about Gail's age, and Detective Swarek. "Gentlemen," she smiled, absently, crossing into the crime scene.

"S'cuse me, ma'am, I need your ID." The uniformed officer held his hand up in front of her. He looked like a gentle puppy dog, how cute.

"Jesus, Diaz, that's Dr. Stewart from the lab," growled Swarek. Diaz startled and let her pass.

Shaking her head, Holly looked at Swarek, "That's two of your officers now, Detective."

Swarek smirked. "Sorry about Peck. She's a handful on a good day, and she doesn't have a lot of those." There was a weird look from Diaz at that, but he turned it into a frown.

"Actually, I like her macabre humor," mused Holly, squatting to look at the body on the asphalt. His head was taped into a plastic bag, but there was no vomit, making suicide unlikely. She gently moved one arm and blinked. "Stabbed with a scalpel. That's new." She sniffed and glanced at the dumpster, wheeled only a foot away before looking up at Swarek.

The detective caught her look and nodded. "Garbage men found him this morning. Badda boom, dead guy underneath."

With her assistants, Holly made sure the evidence was collected and got ready to head back to the lab, when her phone beeped. "I got this," assured Rodney, and Holly thanked him before pulling off her gloves.

Stupid question, but have you seen The Karate Kid?

Holly eyed the number a few times. It was local, but that hardly meant anything these days.

Who is this?

For a month, she'd been the recipient of texts from a young man in Barry, whose girlfriend's number was one off of hers. The boy had been sweet, but the sexting was gross.

Officer Peck.

Bubbling a laugh, Holly popped her trunk to changed her boots.

I won't ask how you got my number.

Exactly how you're thinking. Karate? Yes no?

Yes, all five of them.

There are FIVE?

Holly started to tap out a lengthy answer, explaining the four 'original' movies, though many people doubted the canonicity of the one with Hilary Swank, as well as the new one... Then she deleted it all and kept it short.

Why are you asking?

There was a lengthy delay before Gail's reply.

I need to be out of my apartment, and there's a showing tonight at this retro place.

Holly arched her eyebrows.

Which movie? Jaden Smith or Ralph Macchio?

Does it matter?

Yes.

Buckling in, Holly started the car and drove back to the lab. The phone did not beep again until she, and the body, were there.

Ralph.

Holly toyed with the answer. She'd seen Gail around before, and found the woman insanely attractive. When Gail had shown up in her lab, being with her had felt so natural, it was like finding the perfect friend you'd always wanted. Except Holly also had a knee-jerk reaction to get in her pants, and Gail was straight. Yes or no? Lisa kept telling her to try new things.

Sure. What time?

Gail replied with time and location, and that was that.

"How hard is it to break up with women?" Gail knew she was slightly tipsy, but it was so nice to hide in the back of a closet with Holly right now and avoid the wedding. The humor of the fact that she was in a closet with a lesbian was not lost on her.

Holly sipped from the bottle. She'd forgone glasses a while ago, though Gail kept hers. "Why? You want to help me break up with someone?"

"One, you're single. Two, I was thinking about my ex." Nick was with Andy tonight, working, which meant she didn't have to see them. "He was in love with someone else, so I cheated on him to make me feel better and him mad and give him an out so we could break up."

"Wow. That is ... Epically passive aggressive."

Gail frowned and reached for the champagne. "Shut up. He was in love with someone else."

"It's something a sixteen year-old would think was a good idea!" Holly was laughing.

"Never mind." Gail downed a drink and sighed. "Why are you single?"

That stopped the laughing, and Holly winced. "I date the wrong people. And coming home smelling like death is a turn off."

The smell hadn't bothered Gail, but her opinion didn't matter there. "Yeah, that's kind of why I've always dated cops."

"Does it help?"

"Nope!" They both giggled.

Holly took the champagne back and sipped. "Why do you hate weddings?"

"No, I told you about my ex and how we broke up. You have to tell me how you break up with a woman."

The bottle was handed back without prompting. "I've never done it myself," admitted Holly. "And a lot of, ah, relationships just fizzled. Or they're experimenting…" Holly filled up Gail's glass and then drank from the bottle. "Serious ones, though. First girlfriend moved to Vancouver, second one dumped me for a mutual friend. That hurt. Third one … She said it had all been a mistake."

So Holly had dated a straight chick, and possibly more than one. That had to be rough. She sighed and threw Holly a bone. "I hate weddings because I got dumped at the altar."

Blinking, Holly refilled Gail's glass again, "Well okay then. That wins."

"Gets better. He ran off and joined the military. Then he came back, joined the force and got posted to my division. He's dating a … friend of mine right now, and we all work together."

"Is he here?" Holly sounded incredulous.

"No, they're working. Together. Dov had 'em on the phone." She sipped the champagne.

Holly looked confused, perhaps trying to sort out Gail's ex with the guy who dumped her at the altar. It was confusing to Gail, and she'd lived through it. "Okay," said Holly at length.

They were too serious. So Gail tried to ask some stupid questions to make Holly laugh. "What's it like, getting dressed?" Instead, it ended with laughter (good!) and Holly kissing her (what!?), calling her insane (huh?), and leaving with the bottle to go dancing.

Gail stared after Holly for a while. "What the hell just happened?" she asked herself. Holly kissed her. It was a light kiss, barely a kiss. Just lips touching. But holy crap it was so nice. It wasn't a maternal kiss, what little Gail knew about those. It was a kiss that implied there should be more kissing. And Gail had wanted to kiss her back.

She was still sitting there, processing, when Traci walked in. "You okay, Gail?"

"I ... Have no idea."

Halfway to the club, Holly pulled into a Starbucks parking lot and yanked her phone out of her purse. When she saw the three texts were from her friend Rachel, she felt a rush of relief coupled with annoyance. Why wasn't Gail texting her?

Where are you, Dr. Death?

Holly sighed and replied.

I think I'm just going home.

Danger! Danger! Holly has done stupid things! Lisa wants to know what her name is.

Groaning, Holly remembered how hard this was with her friends sometimes. They knew her too well. Any time she blew them off this late, it was because of stupid things with dates.

Gail

Hitting send, Holly ran her thumb over the edge of her phone and sighed again. Damn it, this was really, really, phenomenally stupid. Why did she have to kiss her?

Lisa wants to know if she's hot. She's hot, right?

They sucked. Holly pondered not answering, but knew Rachel would just start calling her.

Yes, she's blonde and fit and totally hot in a dress.

Does she have short hair? If she has short hair, she'd be your thing.

The problem was she was already Holly's 'thing.'

She's straight.

Best to get to the meat of the problem, after all.

Ouch! You fell for a straight girl? What is this, the bajillionth time?

Both of you shut it.

You're only saying that because you totally have the hots for a straight chick. Again. Lisa says that's not stupid.

Holly hesitated. She could tell her friends now, or she could tell them later.

I kissed her.

WHAT? When?

Now. Like half an hour ago. In the coat closet.

Spill or I call you.

K, hang on.

Taking a deep breath, Holly tapped out the edited version of the night.

She needed an emergency plus one to a fancy party. We were dancing like friends and having fun. Then we stole a bottle of champagne and were talking in the back of the coat closet, and I wanted to kiss her. So I did and then I left.

There was no reply for a while, leaving Holly to remember the days before phones. Sadly it also gave her time to think about kissing Gail. It was brief, and while she hadn't exactly kissed back, she hadn't dodged away. And god her lips were soft.

Did she say ew?

That had to be Rachel.

No

Did she kiss you back?

Not really

Did she pull away?

No

Are you *sure* she's straight?

No...

Truth told, Gail could be bi, but the implication was that she was hetero as they come. She was done with men, after a pretty disastrous failed engagement, and now having to work with her ex. Holly could understand that one.

Come dance with us. Either she's going to freak out and never talk to you again or she won't.

That was marvelously deep. Holly sighed and replied with the letter K and drove to the club. Her friends were right. It was a little too late to get terrified about it now. She'd done it, and what would be would be. Holly made a face at herself. Quoting "Que Sera, Sera" was never the best start to an evening. Dancing was a better idea.

Letting Oliver drive was peaceful. He didn't try to talk about stuff, most of the time, but when he did, he had a reason and Gail didn't really mind. She'd known him for too long to actually care, and even though he treated her like every other rookie, she knew she was his favorite. That's why she listened when he finally spoke up.

"You have been weird since the wedding," Oliver said firmly. "I just figured it out."

"Slow, ain't ya? Good thing you're not a detective, Ollie."

"Hey, on the job, it's Officer Shaw, sir," he snapped, without any malice.

"No, I'm a woman, and I'm Officer Peck."

"Yes, ma'am." He laughed cheerfully. "What's with the deep thoughts? Did you hook up with someone?"

Gail glared at Oliver, "Ew. No." He smirked and she sighed. "I think I'm done dating men, they suck." She paused, "Present company excluded."

Nodding, Oliver stopped at the light. "Good. I know you guys always date in-house early on, since you're all you see, but ... That's no good." He checked the street and drove on, "See, you think that because you're a cop, and he's a cop, you should be fine. You know what to expect, who to expect it with, what it's all going to be like, and it's easy to deal with the crazy stuff like shootings and bruises." Oliver glanced at her carefully. "But you picked idiots."

"Wow," grumbled Gail.

"I mean the guys you date. Chris, Nick... Nice guys. Good looking. Not good for Gail."

Gail sighed, "Oliver, please stop."

"No, no no. See, you dated pretty cops thinking it could be fun and casual, but they don't see Gail Peck. Maybe they see part of you, but you can't be anyone but who you are, and they can't take it. You need someone who gets the whole package."

"Oliver," she said warningly. "Do not make me show you the trick Noelle taught me with a baton."

Oliver smiled. "Okay! Okay. I'm done."

They rode in silence, Gail watching the street. She kept thinking about Holly, and it was distracting. The woman was funny, smart, and sexy, which was fine, but Gail was straight and you're not supposed to think like that about your friends. Or because you're straight.

By the time lunch rolled around, they got massive burritos and sat on the hood of the car by a park, Gail felt like she could talk to Oliver. It was Oliver, after all.

"My mother thinks I'm going to be a spinster."

"Your mother also thought I was the universe's worst rookie." That was news to Gail, who had only met Oliver when he was well past rookie stage. "I may have driven a car over those tire rippers? I was chasing a perp." He shrugged, highly amused.

Gail filed that away for later. "Your point?"

"My point... Is your mother is not infallible."

Huh. "She's setting me up in blind dates."

Oliver glanced at her, wincing sympathetically. "I wish I had a son your age. Then I'd set you up, and-"

"God, shut up." She shoved Oliver's shoulder, laughing. "You have Izzy, and she is over ten years young than I am." Oliver made a sour face, which Gail read as 'trouble with the ex' and sighed. "Anyway, the dates are okay. Boring."

On the other hand, going out with Holly hadn't been boring. She was fun and strange, and babbled occasionally. And she'd kissed Gail.

Oliver did not reply, and instead was staring down the street like a hunting dog. Sitting up, Gail followed his gaze. "No fucking way," she whispered.

"Bobby Zanaro." Oliver's voice was tight, excited. "It's him, right? Two Lakes? Issac Lapointe's right hand man?"

One of the drug czar's lieutenants, Bobby looked more seedy than Gail had ever seen. Four weeks ago, he'd been bumped to the top of the list to pick up and question, following the death of a high schooler on some of the drugs known to be sold by his crew. But Bobby was normally well dressed. Now he looked like he'd been sleeping in his suit.

Having worked with Oliver for so long, Gail had no second thoughts about what to do. She slid off the cruiser and started walking around the likely escape path. Meanwhile, Oliver waited until Bobby was near and called out to him, "Heeeeyyy Bobby!"

As expected, Bobby spun, stared at Oliver, and then turned to run right into the waiting Gail, who used his own momentum to spin him around and plant his face on the grass. Days like this, she loved her job more than anything.

The text message was amusing, if confusing.

I'm on a date. Please tell me there's a dead body somewhere.

Gail hadn't ignored her since the wedding, which made Holly feel more confused. They'd bumped into each other at two crime scenes, as well as a coffee run that Holly may have planned, overhearing that 'Pecks' were getting coffee down the street. She'd been surprised to see two men, both with Peck on their shirts, and Gail getting donuts.

That led to Holly checking out just exactly who Gail Peck was, and it floored her. The Staff Superintendent's only daughter, Gail was actually well known to most cops because of her name. She also had a couple strange commendations on her name, including helping catch two serial killers. There were easy stats to find out (constable fourth rank, posted to 15, suspended once), and there were ones you had to infer (fears of a promotion due to her mother's name, something Holly hadn't really understood before when Gail mentioned it in passing).

And it all led to a horrible feeling of having a crush on a straight cop, who was related to more cops, and was the daughter of a super important cop. Well done, Holly. This was looking about as dumb as anything else in her life. No, it was definitely more stupid than the time she'd been what's-her-face's experiment. Go ahead and have a major crush on an unattainable beauty, whose parents could bury you if they wanted.

Alas, I have no dead body today.

Humming 'We have no bananas' to herself, Holly went back to her novel.

If I kill this guy, will you be my alibi?

Gail must be really bored.

No, I don't think so.

I hate you. Plus ones forever didn't last long.

Oh you need a rescue?

You're slow. How do you ever pick up chicks?

Grinning, Holly put the book down.

I've never rescued a damsel in distress before.

Gail replied with an address and one word. Please.

"Jesus, Holly, what the hell are you doing?" But Holly got up and went for her keys. She found the restaurant easily, and spotted Gail's blonde head through the window, sitting with a dull looking guy. The woman looked bored and homicidal, which was a cute mix. Now what? Holly hesitated and walked inside, right up to Gail's table. "Hey," she grinned brightly.

Gail turned towards her, surprised (or acting surprised...) and Holly watched it shift from bored to bright and happy. Her stomach flipped. "Holly, hi." Gail paused a moment and looked perplexed. "Why are you... Oh god, did I forget? Is that today?"

For a split second Holly was lost and confused. What the hell was Gail on about? The slight widening in Gail's eyes dropped the clue. Oh! They were faking it. "What- yes! Yes you did, and, um..." Holly quested for a name and failed. "What's her face said you came here and... Well, how could you forget?"

Unlike Holly, Gail lied like a damn boss. She even managed to look sincere. "I am so sorry, I thought that was next week. Neil, I'm sorry, but I promised Holly and... This was fun."

The man, who looked incredibly dull, nodded. "Sure, sure, I totally understand! We can do this another time."

"No," replied Gail. "You're nice, but you know I'm busy with work, and this thing with Holly and, yeah, I don't think this would work out." Gail fished a bill out of her purse, "Thanks, though!"

Like lightning, Gail had Holly's arm in a hold that propelled her out the door. "Neil?" Holly was trying not to giggle.

"Hush, you're a terrible liar! That was your plan?" Gail got outside and turned to the parking lot. "Which car?"

"This one," giggled Holly, and Gail quickly walked over. "I didn't have a plan!"

"That was obvious, nerd!" For a second, Holly was angry, but in the flash of streetlight, she saw Gail's wicked smile.

"See if I rescue you again," huffed Holly, and they got in the car. "Now what?"

"Take me somewhere with alcohol. I'll buy."

They ended up in a small restaurant, not too far from where Gail said she lived, sharing a bottle of Prosecco and some insanely amazing Italian food. Gail explained the blind date situation and how Neil was a poet. After reciting one poem, Holly understood everything, except how Gail had memorized it. The blonde shrugged and said 'Peck,' as if that explained everything.

The food needed no explanation. "This is amazing," sighed Holly, swallowing another bite of her shrimp and pasta. "Do you want some?"

Gail leaned over and shook her head. "Can't." She had a creamy prosciutto concoction that looked deadly and delicious. "But if you want to try...?" She gestured at her plate.

Holly looked at her fork. "How allergic to shrimp are you?"

"I'm not," Gail said absently, but held over her salad fork. "I'm allergic to tomatoes."

Taking the fork, Holly ate the offering and melted a little. "Oh my god... That is mind blowing!"

Smirking, Gail continued to eat. "Listen," she grinned between bites. "Thanks for getting me out of that tree."

"Any time," grinned Holly. "Plus one forever!" They raised their glasses, clinked, and drank again. "You've got to stop going on those dates, though. I mean, really, they've all sounded awful."

Eyes were rolled. "I have another one on Thursday. I think I'm going to switch shifts on accident."

"Ooooorrr stop the dates?"

Gail sighed and poked at her pasta. "My mother," she explained. "She has decided I can't live my life as a spinster, and as I cannot bestir myself to my own future professionally, she will take charge of personally."

That sounded horrible. "Bestir? That's a quote, I take it."

"I can give you chapter and verse," Gail replied, morosely.

"No thanks." Holly contemplated her own food and then blinked. "Hang on, we had pizza after the movie!"

Gail blinked. "Huh?"

"Tomatoes!"

"Oh! Just uncooked ones. Raw and grilled give me a rash. Mashed up and cooked like sauce or ketchup is usually okay." She pointed at Holly's dish, "Those are fresh. I remember the menu." She paused and added, "My brother and I love this place."

Mollified, Holly leant back in her seat. "That's a food sensitivity," she chastised.

"Potato, tomato," grinned Gail. "Can't eat 'em raw."

Now Holly rolled her eyes. "You're insane."

"You said that before."

There was a pause. Yes, Holly had said that before. After kissing Gail. She felt horrible awkward, and Gail just looked nonplussed. "I did," muttered Holly.

"You should try the blind date thing, Holly."

A thrill ran up Holly's spine, hearing Gail say her name, but was washed away when the words sank in. "Me?"

"You said you were trying new things. I mean, just because my experience is sub par may be unrelated to the general success of the method." Gail sipped her drink, "Just don't let my mother try it. I think I've seen the son of every possibly useful scion in the province by now."

Unwilling to delve into her current (two year) dry spell, Holly cleared her throat. "I thought she didn't want you to be a spinster."

"Hm," sighed Gail, skirting the topic. "Or maybe I should just take up something that would annoy her. Skydiving."

They spent the rest of the meal coming up with horrible, improbable ideas of new hobbies for Gail.

Chapter Text

"We're going out," announced Dov, through the door to Gail's room. Gail didn't reply and just stretched out on her bed, letting her head dangle off. Someone knocked on the door, probably Dov.

"I heard you," she replied. Gail looked at the phone on her nightstand, trying to decide what to do. Traci was right on many levels. But every single date she'd been on had been an absolute disaster. So instead of going out again, she'd canceled with the new guy and texted someone who'd been on her mind for days. Like, every single day since Frank and Noelle's wedding.

Why the hell did Holly have to kiss her? She could have cheerfully gone on with denial that there was any sort of attraction there without it! But now the lesbian had brought up the damn elephant in the room, and Gail had to think about it. It didn't feel like a chaste, sisterly, kiss. But then again, Gail didn't have sisters, she had Steve, and he was more inclined to noogie her than kiss her. They were also more than a few years apart.

Holly was older too, though not too much. Not that it bothered Gail at all. And the lesbian thing didn't bother her either. What bothered her was how she felt about the whole thing. That she was stuck thinking that the best person she'd found, in years. Someone who was a little anti-social, like she was, misanthropic, and who put up with her at her snarkiest. Hell, Holly even rescued her from horrible dates gone bad.

And so, instead of going on a date, she'd called Holly and asked what she was doing. But it involved sports and Gail didn't do sports, so she'd never-minded. Now she was regretting the choice.

She was in serious danger of slipping up to one of the Peck Rules: Always know who you are.

There was the sound of shuffling outside her door. "I mean, I'm going out with Chloe and Chris is going in on a call. So … you know, out out." Dov sounded concerned. Ugh.

"And I heard you!" God they were so annoying. Gail pulled a pillow over and covered her face to muffle a growl.

The door opened. "Please be wearing clothes," Dov said, pleadingly.

"Hey! The deal was you don't come in!" She whipped the pillow at him.

Catching the pillow, Dov protested, "I'm not in!" He tossed it back. "I just… Y'know you could come with me and Chloe."

Gail gagged. "I'd rather drink drain cleaner."

Dov laughed, "Seriously, you gonna be okay?"

That was a deeper question than it had to be and Gail sighed. She couldn't really remember the last time she'd felt 'okay' all told. She'd pretty much hid from having to deal with her own drama and trauma by hooking up with Nick again when he came back from undercover, and he'd been a nice distraction. But. He was an ass too and was now having marathon sex with Andy, who didn't even have the balls to tell her about it. People sucked.

When Gail didn't reply for a while, Dov came in and sat down on the floor by her head. "I said don't come in," she sighed.

"I know."

Gail huffed and looked at the wall. After a while, she noted, "You have a date."

"Yeah, you did too."

Oh right. She'd told him that before. "I canceled. One more date with the idiots my mom's picked, and I may vomit." She was perilously close to listening to 90s angsty girl music. She had a Tracey Chapman CD somewhere in her crap. Depressing lesbian music. Awesome.

With a deep breath, Dov spoke. "I'm gonna say this, and you can hit me okay?" Gail eyed Dov. "Okay, you're my friend."

When Dov said no more, Gail rolled over and smacked the side of his head. "That's it?"

Dov didn't flinch, "Well, yeah. I worry about you. Okay? I mean, no offense, the last two dates your mom set up did not make for happy Gail. Or as happy as you ever get."

As Dov babbled, Gail gave him her most annoyed stink eye. "Dov. Shut. Up."

"Shutting up."

Gail sighed and sat up. "Thank you, and if you tell anyone I said that, I'm going to turn your balls into a change purse."

"That's…. Vivid." But Dov didn't look offended. It was, admittedly, nice to have someone with whom she had absolutely no sexual tension, and simple friendship. Why did it have to be Dov?

And then her thoughts drifted back to what Traci had said earlier and Gail sighed reaching for her phone. She thumbed a contact who was becoming far too familiar for someone she'd only known a couple weeks, but to say that she could get her mind off of Holly would be lying. Gail tapped in the sentence and hesitated over the send button for a moment. It was agony. She pressed send.

Is it too late to change my mind?

Dov watched her, but said nothing. In a way, he was like Oliver. A rock she could lean on sometimes, though it was easier to let her guard down with Oliver. With Dov, she could just be as mean as she wanted, and he was okay with it.

Nope. Need the address?

Smiling, Gail replied she didn't and got up, "Go away, Dov, I'm going to hang out with a real friend."

"I'm hurt." He clambered to his feet and hesitated as if he wanted to hug her. Gail quickly shot him an angry glare and he bolted.

Holly tamped down her delight at the text, and fed another coin into the machine. When Gail had texted to ask what she was doing, Holly had hope. They'd hung out a couple times since 'the kiss' and never once talked about it, though they both clearly remembered it. What did any of that mean? Stupid Holly.

But today, after Gail said she didn't play sports, and maybe they'd hang out some other time, Holly felt crushed. Like when she was ten and bought her boyfriend flowers. That had ended wonderfully, and Holly wondered why her parents hadn't suggested dating girls earlier on. They'd certainly been entirely positive about her sexuality, when she did come out. Maybe they hadn't known, and just thought Holly was eccentric.

But then Holly got that other text. Not even an hour later. Something changed her mind and Gail wanted to come hang out with her, even though she didn't like sports. Gail wanted to hang out with her. This was progress! Of course, Gail wasn't kidding when she said she didn't sport, and resulted in what was possibly the most embarrassing softball related incident Holly had ever seen, including the time she'd played beer-league rules and the catcher puked stopping a slide.

At least Gail was willing to laugh at herself, and they went out to dinner instead. Gail insisted Holly pay, after making her play sports. "I can't believe you're that bad! You're a cop!"

"You don't swing a nightstick like that," whined Gail. "Give me a break."

"Oh so you're super awesome at nightsticks and guns and handcuffs?"

Gail stuck her tongue out at Holly. "If you tell me any of those things are a turn on, I'm going home."

"Hah, like this is even a date."

"Oh? You're in a fleece and flannel hat and we played softball. It's totally a date."

The quip caught Holly off guard. Did Gail think this was a date? Admittedly Gail had been going on a lot of horrible, failed, blind dates. "It's cold out. And why are you so fixated on a date?"

Abruptly Gail threw her hands up, shaking them out as if they were going to fly away. Holly had seen the nervous motion before. "Do you like Vietnamese food? This smells good." She turned to the restaurant and gestured.

"Uh yes, yes I love Vietnamese," replied Holly, though she couldn't remember the last time she'd ever eaten it.

Gail nodded and quickly acquired a table. "My mother," she explained, "has set me up on a date every night for the next week."

"That escalated quickly," Holly noted.

Nodding, Gaul sighed and slumped a little bit. "After the last one, I couldn't deal with it anymore and called you."

Interesting. This was worse than just needing the rescue from boring Neil. This was giving up. The waiter showed up before they could go further. Holly ordered a Thai tea and something in a bun, while Gail got a coke and Pho. They split the pork egg rolls. "So am I going to keep being your emergency bail out?"

Looking skittish for a moment, Gail shrugged. "My roommates were out and I really didn't want to be home alone."

"Where mom might call you and demand to know where you were?" That sounded familiar.

But Gail looked a little odd, like she was lying about something. "Sure. That. My mother and I don't get along." That was evident, as Gail called her 'mother' and not 'mom.' She puffed out a breath. "Plus one forever?"

This meal was going to be all kinds of awkward. "Have all the blind dates that bad? Neil was cute, in a male sort of way, but dull."

That set Gail off on a tirade about the last date. A fellow Toronto native, he'd gone to England for a couple years and come back with a pompous accent. Holly dissolved into giggles as Gail recapped and imitated the guy. The giggles became guffaws when Gail started doing the mannerisms.

The food came as a rescue, and they dug in and it was great. When Holly's surprise was evident, Gail pointed at her and laughed. "You didn't know! You totally don't eat this."

Holly felt embarrassed, "You caught me off guard." She knew she sounded petulant, but at least Gail found it amusing and fun.

"That's okay, I still came out ahead. Good food and hanging with the coolest chick ever." She lifted her coke in salute, which Holly matched. The tea was really good.

"Flattery will not finagle you my buns."

"Your buns do look awesome, Dr. Stewart," Gail said with a slight leer.

Then it clicked, "Gail Peck, are you giving me shit?" Gail just grinned and Holly found herself laughing again. The only awkward part of the meal had been her all along. The tension was gone, and Holly found herself enjoying hanging out with her friend again.

A part of her was disappointed the kiss didn't come up again, but a surprisingly greater part was pleased they were still friends. Gail had shown the most 'whatever' reaction to Holly being gay and she still seemed to value her as a friend after all that. It wasn't perfect, Holly still had a massive crush on the woman, but she could live with it.

As soon as Gail opened the door, Dov scared the shit out of her. "Who was the hot chick hugging you?"

"Jesus!" She snarled at her roommate, "What the hell is wrong with you?" He knew she hated people jumping out at her. She hit his arm as hard she she could, causing Dov to jump back. "What are you talking about?"

Not sensing his own impending mortality, Dov barged on, rubbing his shoulder. "The brunette? I saw you guys outside the Indian place."

Gail tried not to blush. There was nothing to blush about right? Just friends. "That's my friend, Holly."

"Gail, I know you. I live with you. You're not a hugger. She was totally hugging you."

It took effort not to slam her coat on the hook. "You're an idiot."

"Come on, who is she? I swear I know her."

"I told you! She's my friend. She sat behind you at Frank and Noelle's wedding."

The itty bitty hamster wheel in Dov's head spun. "The coat check girl you were giggling with all night?"

Perhaps Gail would kill Holly. "Yes, the coat check girl." Awesome, Dov had noticed her being a goof with Holly all night. She'd kill Dov, that would work better.

Dov looked like everything clicked, "Oh! This is the friend you went out with the other night? I thought you were kidding!"

It was hard to say what was more annoying. Was it that Dov had been so worried about her being home alone that he'd nearly sacrificed a date, or was it that he was willing to let her just leave the house on a lie? "No, I actually have a real friend, all on my own, so you and Officer Posterboy can stop hovering."

"Sorry, I'm just... You know what, I'm going to shut up."

"The boy can learn!"

Dov rolled his eyes. "So you made friends with the coat check girl?" Pivoting to rail on him, Gail paused when she saw he was smirking. "That's the new forensics geek, right?"

"Nerd," Gail corrected. "Yes. Dr. Stewart to you."

"That's cool, you need a friend."

"Dov, I will hurt you."

"She hugged you. You'd punch me if I hugged you."

"Yeah, well she smells better." The snap remark made Gail's stomach flip. Crap. No good.

That did not seem to make Dov concerned and he flopped on to the couch. "It's cool, you having friends outside of work. Except she's not really outside work, is she?"

"Goodnight Dov." Gail rolled her eyes and went into her room.

Friends totally kiss each other, right, Peck? she asked herself.

Gail's regular therapist had pushed her a little on the topic, asking if it was a bad thing (similar to how the department shrink had poked at it). While Gail really didn't care about people being gay or straight, she thought she knew herself. It was a damn Peck rule, for crying out loud! And being better than everyone? Well that wasn't working out so great. Neither was not letting anyone get in her way.

Today's session had been helpful about Nick at least. She didn't want him. Not only that, she hadn't wanted him. He was just convenient, as had been Chris. Cute guy, wants to make her happy, can't deal with her behavior when push came to shove.

Gail knew she was hard to deal with. She had a lot of ex-Peck-tations to live up to, and she was always compared to Steve, or her cousins. Gail the Fail was what her cousin called her, until she hit him. She had to be tough, she had to be hard, and the only way to protect herself was to be cold.

So how come Holly made her feel so warm inside? She could trust Holly. They already talked about a lot, especially after the kiss and the stupid "Things Straight Girls Say" stupidity. Now they were friends in a way she'd never had before. And Holly didn't just tolerate her attitude, she smiled at it in that quirky, side smile way. She laughed honestly at Gail's dark and twisty jokes.

This was just what a best friend was, she had told the therapist. But she knew, she knew this was something else. She felt right with Holly, and being away from her was frustrating. Now what to do about it? Would Holly even be interested in someone changing teams? Maybe she'd worry that Gail as going to use her as an experiment? But weren't all relationships experiments?

Gail fell on her bed and pushed her face into her pillow to scream.

Why was this so hard!?

Why was it so hard to not swoop over and kiss Gail?

Holly had stood to the side, being blocked by Gail, as the man continued his tirade about the death behind Holly. Gail stood her ground, hand away from her gun, and let he rant, but then he'd taken a step closer and Gail raised her hand to stop him. "You need to step back, sir," she said grimly.

The tussle surprised Holly, mostly because she didn't expect tiny Gail, who had zero sports abilities, to be able to spin the man around that fast and cuff him with no effort. It was insanely hot, which reminded Holly about how she'd had a horrible crush on a woman in the navy once. Women in uniforms. If Gail had short hair, Holly would have cried.

Officer Cruz, Gail's partner that day, had been less than pleased at the situation, chastising Gail for the action, and the urge to kiss Gail started when the blonde quipped that the man was about to violate medical jurisprudence. Cruz's mouth dropped open as Gail went on to recite exactly what the man had been about to do to the evidence and why it was a problem, especially if he was the killer.

That freaked the man out, and as Gail hauled him to her cruiser, she winked at Holly.

Melting. Holly was melting inside.

When Gail came back rather quickly, she was smirking like a little devil. "You look very pleased, Officer Peck."

"Cruz called it in, guy was already a suspect. Nash thinks I'm psychic."

"No such thing."

"You have no sense of humor, Doc."

Always in the field, Gail called her 'Doc' or 'Dr. Stewart.' The use of 'Holly' was surprisingly rare, unless they were alone or far away from police things. "I've been told I have a fantastic sense of humor."

"Probably by the same people who think you're a good dancer." Gail screwed her face up in amusement. "Cruz and I are gonna stick around until Diaz gets here with whoever lost the bet this morning," she said, semi-cryptically. "Anything cool I can take back with me? Bonus points?"

"You already caught a suspect trying to tamper with the scene," noted Holly, amused at how adorable Gail was. "He was run over by something big and heavy. A van or a trailer."

Gail leaned over, "Tire treads are wide... Not a trailer, maybe a truck. Why heavy?"

"The way his stomach burst."

"Cool. Gross, but cool."

Too soon for Holly's taste, the replacement officers arrived and Gail took her suspect off to the station. When Holly was ready to go, she texted Gail, suggesting they could have dinner.

She was very, very, disappointed when Gail had to work.

When her phone beeped, Gail got excited, thinking maybe Holly had changed her mind about going to the hockey game, and would be free to hang out instead. It was a little disturbing, how much she cared about Holly right now, and wanted to spend time with her. The kiss thing aside, which frankly Gail hadn't really managed to put aside at all, Holly was an altogether awesome person.

You canceled another date.

That was her mother, and Gail groaned.

"What's wrong?" Chris looked up from his video game.

"Nothing," she lied and tapped a reply.

I'm not going on them any more, so just cancel them.

That probably wasn't going to help anything, but it was worth a try.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Chris remarked. "You look angry."

"Watching you absolutely fail at Mario Kart will do that for a girl."

"You can do better?" He held out a controller.

Gail snatched it, and sat down beside him, "It's my Wii, you moron."

Smirking, Chris restarted the game as a two player session. "I never see you play."

That was true. Gail only played in the middle of the night, when she couldn't sleep. It had started when she lived at her parents, long before Perik. There had always been nights when Gail didn't sleep, fears of the unknown. One Christmas she'd asked for a Nintendo. Then a Playstation. Now she had three gaming systems, a milk crate of games, and something to do at night when the dreams that were based on reality got to her.

As she proceeded to trounce Chris on every track, her phone buzzed a few more times. Chris asked, twice, if she was going to check the messages, but she noted they'd call if it was really important. Of course the phone rang next.

"I know that ringtone," blinked Chris, surprised and hitting pause. "You better take that."

"Watch me not," she snapped, and pressed the decline button on her mother. "I don't want to talk to her." She unpaused the game.

"Gail," Chris said warningly, hitting pause again. He had met her mother, once, for dinner. She'd called him Craig all night and didn't like him. "Why are you ignoring your mother?"

"You've met her," snapped Gail. "Do you want to play or what?"

They played another round before Chris' phone rang, "It's Denise." He went to his room.

Biting her tongue on the advice to ignore the lying bitch, Gail played a few tracks on her own. It became evident that Chris wasn't coming back, and Gail shut down the Wii and flipped to a first person shooter, with headphones on. It was easy to get lost in the mindless carnage of make believe.

Her phone kept buzzing however, and Gail finally reached over to look at it. Fifteen from her mother, which she promptly deleted. Two from Holly. Gail felt her skin heat up in a blush.

You're missing a great game!

The second text was a selfie of Holly and two friends in hockey jerseys, hoisting beers. Gail laughed and startled when Chris spoke.

"That's not your mom."

"How would you know?" She scowled and tapped a reply, calling Holly a nerd.

"You look happy." He smiled at her, tiredly. "You never looked that happy with me. Or Nick." Chris sat down on the couch. "So what's his name?"

"There's no..." Gail trailed off and felt herself startle. Oh crap. "It's not even that, god. We're just friends."

"If you say so."

The phone rang again. Her mother. Ugh. Gail answered. "I'm surprised you didn't send a uniform for a visit."

"Your father talked me out of it." The tone in her mother's voice made this a serious comment, not a joke. "I've canceled your dates."

What? Gail blinked and then grinned, "Good."

"I trust you understood their point."

"Yes, I do. And you should be happy to know I've been going out with a friend lately."

"Oh?"

"We went to a movie, and dinner, and batting cages."

Her mother was silent for a moment. Chris looked surprised as well. "Gail dear, you're terrible at sports."

"Thank you so much."

"I see. Is this serious?"

"Not at the moment, but I'm trying new things, which was your point."

"Hmm, well. I suppose." Her mother hesitated. "You're still seeing a therapist, I understand."

Ugh. That wasn't good. "Yes."

"Just make sure Sgt. Best doesn't know. Promotions are due up soon, and now that you've recovered from your suspension..." The rest went unsaid and Gail winced.

"Of course. I wouldn't want to shame the Peck name."

"That would be nice. Remember dinner is next week."

"How could I forget." They hung up with the customary lack of adorations and Gail flopped onto the floor. "Chris, what would it take for you to taze me next Thursday? Or spray me with pepper spray?"

"Leave your bras in the shower again?"

"You can't put them in the dryer, they get all bent and break too fast."

"TMI!" But he laughed. "She's not that bad, is she?"

"I promise you, I would rather be shot. Or abducted again."

The dark humor fell flat and Gail sighed. Just one more person she couldn't tell.

Chapter Text

"Your phone keeps buzzing," Holly noted, pointing at Gail's purse.

"Yep." Gail popped the P loudly and drank more beer. "Herr Peck is after me."

Holly frowned, "Your father? Why?"

"My mother," corrected Gail.

"That would be Frau Peck." Holly gave her a grin and Gail squinted. Then she rattled off a sentence in what Holly presumed was German. "You memorize that?"

Snorting, Gail reached over and plucked a fry from the bowl on the table. "Are you one of those boring monolingual people?" There was a pitch to Gail's voice, a drawl that made her words a little more biting than normal. But she was grinning.

"I know French, and some Latin… Wait, you speak German?"

"Yep," grinned Gail. "Why is that a surprise?"

"I heard you speak Italian, and you're telling me you speak German too?" Holly was, she had to admit, impressed.

"And French." Gail smirked.

Holly waved her hands, "No, no, wait. You told me about a case where Dov was stuck with a woman who didn't speak any English!"

"The Italian woman? Yeah, that was a crazy day."

"And you didn't help?"

"Didn't speak it then."

Holly frowned, "You said that was four months ago."

"Yeah?"

"You were fluent at dinner!"

There was a sad expression on Gail's face that surprised Holly more than the language revelations. As if Gail had expected no one to believe her, or in her. "Well," she sighed. "Don't know what to tell you, Holly." And she ate another fry.

"That is so cool," Holly breathed, and Gail startled. "I know French. Barely. I can't imagine having that many languages in your head! Do you dream in them?"

"Sometimes," Gail replied, confused. "I'm sorry, this is cool?"

"Totally! I don't know anyone who's fluent in multiple languages!" Holly bounced in her seat and startled the waitress. "Sorry," blushed Holly, and they put in their orders for entrees, Gail making it clear hers was not to have any tomatoes. "Okay, give, how many total?"

Gail was flustered. "Languages? Including English, six fluently. And I understand some of those morons from the east coast. Oh and Russian, but I'm not really fluent." Holly whistled, and grinned. "Is this a turn on or something?"

"No!" Liar. Yes. Totally. Absolutely. "I just think it's awesome! Did you take them in school or something? I mean, you picked up Italian in a month? That's crazy!"

"No, I just read the books." Gail had the grace to look sheepish. When Holly stared at her, she looked away, face closing.

Was Gail just not used to compliments? To being awesome? "Okay, maybe that's a turn on," Holly muttered. Gail blinked and arched her eyebrows. "You're funny and a genius? Why are men not falling all over you?"

Gail groaned. "I scare them away, Holly. And I'm ignoring my mother because I don't want to go on anymore dates." A pause. "Men suck."

"I am not qualified to remark on that," decided Holly.

Their food made an appearance and Gail dove into her fish after checking it for possible tomato contamination. "When?"

"When what?"

"When did you know you were a lesbian? Did you just wake up one morning and think that fleece and backpacks were the thing?"

Holly laughed, but realized that Gail remembered that entire night with freakish clarity. "I knew I liked girls when I was twelve," she explained. "I knew I was gay when I was sixteen."

"Back of a car?"

"A truck, and he got to first base." They lifted their beers and clinked to bad dates. "Do I get to ask random questions?"

"Sure," grinned Gail.

"Combat boots, skinny jeans, and baggy tops?" Looking perplexed, Gail arched an eyebrow. "Why the boots?"

"Comfortable ass kicking."

It was too late, Holly realized. She'd already fallen for her.

"Did that child hit your cat with her car?"

Gail tried to concentrate on the nurse, but the world was a little wobbly. Pulsing. God, she hated Oxy. She loved it, but God it made conversations a bitch. "Who?"

"The cop you came in with."

"Oh. No. Just Nick." Andy was still there. Awesome. The day just kept getting better and better.

The nurse laughed softly. "We could call Nick," she suggested to Gail. Making a face, Gail shook her head and there was another laugh. Why was that funny? "You're lucky that didn't get on your clothes. You would have melted it right into you."

Words. Why were they saying words? Why did people have to say stupid words? "She slept with my ex-boyfriend," sighed Gail. "And now she's tanking my mellow. I like my mellow. The Oxy's nice." It was nice now. It would kick her ass. "When's the doctor coming? I want to go home."

The nurse glanced at the waiting room. Jesus was Andy still there? "Not with her I take it."

"Anyone else," groaned Gail, falling back onto the bed.

"Siblings? Parents?"

Gail sniffed and shook her head. She really didn't want to think about the fact that she didn't have anyone who she could deal with at the moment. Dov and Chris would fuss, Steve was busy on the case and would just dump her on her parents, and she really did not want to deal with Herr Peck while on drugs. She'd probably agree to something stupid. "Nope," she sighed, popping the P loudly. "Gail Peck flies solo." All she really wanted was to check into a hotel and enjoy being disconnected for a while. No wonder people did drugs.

The nurse kept on talking about how she couldn't go home alone, and needed someone to sit up with her. "Child, you can be as brave a cop as you wanna be, but we are not letting your pasty ass home alone."

Ugh. "Why are you being difficult?" she muttered. Alone was better. She was happier alone, except when she was with … Oh. "Plus One Forever. God, I'm going to owe her my life if she comes." Gail dug in her pocket for her phone.

"You're not calling anyone," the nurse informed her. She took the name and number and gave Gail some water.

Closing her eyes, Gail tried to recover that wonderful mellow place where she was relaxed and at ease and very much not think about Nick or blind dates or anything at all like that. She was sure Andy would want to know some damn thing like if Gail forgave them or gave them her blessing or whatever else the Girl Guide wanted.

She didn't care, but it did still hurt. Gail had let down those walls and Andy broke them. But as she thought about it, she didn't know how it could be magically made better. Maybe if Andy had told her before it became a thing, admitted she had feelings for Nick. Or maybe if Nick had fessed up that he grew to like Andy over their undercover work. Maybe. Maybe.

Gail sighed and stared at the drop tile ceiling. Maybe the doctor would give her something different for the pain and it would just knock her out to sleep. That would be really nice. Sleep and wake up and not have to care anymore.

For the first time in her life, Holly was infuriated by a medical professional. The doctor keep trying to explain what the burn was from, when Holly had run the damn tox screens in the first place. The hospital had called in the middle of the Mass Spec running a sample, and asked if she could pick up Officer Peck that afternoon, because she should be able to be discharged by three.

Holly had said yes, as calmly as possible, but panicked. Gail was hurt? It hurt Holly in a surprising way, and she had momentarily found it hard to breath. She'd tried texting Gail more than once about it, but got no answer, and finally had to hunt down a detective to find out what had happened. The case she was working on was the one that had hurt Gail. Undiluted industrial strength drain cleaner. That stuff would eat through clothes.

"Look, I'm from the crime lab," she told the doctor. "I ran your screens. See there? Dr. Stewart?" She held up her work badge and was gratified to see him pale and then vanish.

As they brought Gail out, Holly was surprised to see the pained look with which Gail gave her partner. It wasn't an attack, it was just cutting and quiet and clearly gutted the other woman. Then Gail's eyes caught Holly's and there was a wash of relief from the police officer. Holly caught the words 'real friend' before Gail walked over and grabbed her arm. "Hey," exhaled Gail, her voice sounding like it was forced levity. "Let's get out of here."

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Holly. She didn't sound okay at all. She barely looked okay.

Stupid, stupid question. "Please just get me out of here." Gail's eyes were a little wild, and perilously close to tears.

That was not a problem. Holly took the handout and pills, and then led Gail to the car. "Are you hungry?" Holly helped Gail sit and realized she was going to have to buckle her too.

"McNally keeps harshing my vibe," sighed Gail, lifting her arm with a wince so she could be buckled in. "Sorry I had them call you. I'm a shitty plus one."

"It's okay." Though it did make Holly wonder how few trusted friends Gail had. Small wonder, with that armor and caustic nature. "Want me to take you home?"

Gail looked up at her, suddenly very small and vulnerable. Her voice was tiny, which Holly didn't even think Gail could do. "No one's home." Then, even smaller, "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Holly sighed and, making sure Gail's hands were in her lap, closed the door. There was something that made Gail not want to be alone, more than just being stoned out of her gourd would do. "Of course." Gail was clearly asking for help. Holly could keep her unfair feelings in check for one night when her friend needed her.

The drive to her house was quiet. Gail rested her head on the passenger window, eyes closed, and occasionally winced when she moved. She didn't even make a fuss when Holly got her inside and out of her jacket and shoes. The uniform belt was tricky, and Gail had to fight with it to get it off. Without any prompting, Gail sat on the couch and rested her head on the back, as if the drive had taken every last ounce of her energy.

She'd had a rather high dose of pain killers, so when Holly came back with water and Gail was sound asleep, sitting on the couch, there was no surprise. Wondering what Gail might look like without all those walls, Holly sighed. She nudged Gail to lie down and covered her with a blanket. The blonde's face was scrunched up and Holly gently brushed the hair away from her forehead to kiss the pale skin.

Nope, still in pain. Not like kisses had magical properties. Holly sighed and went about her usual evening, making a change to plug in Gail's phone which had a text from someone named Princess saying "Andy told me you're with some brunette. Assuming it's your coat check friend Dov told me about. Tell me if you're dead." Holly toyed with the phone, wondering how to reply. Of course, she didn't know the passcode, and was about to put the phone down when a voice from the couch rose up asking who called.

"It was a text from Princess." Holly put the phone down and touched Gail's face with the back of her hand. No fever. "Feeling any better?" The pale, smooth, skin was cool to the touch.

"Pretty sure hands aren't how you're supposed to check for pain," grumbled Gail.

"Actually they do teach us how to check for a high temperature with our hands. Mostly for little kids." She handed Gail the bottle of water. "How's your pain?"

"Seven." She tried to open the bottle and winced. "Nine. Shit, shit, shit." The bottle fell to the floor and Gail cradled her burnt arm, tears sparking in her eyes. "I'm going to kill McNally. I wipe with this hand."

The simple absurdity of the statement made Holly smirk. "I don't know if our friendship is up for me helping you pee." She retrieved the bottle and handed it, open, for Gail to drink. "That said..."

Gail sighed. "I need to pee. Can I have more drugs?"

"After," decided Holly. "You're too heavy to haul upstairs."

"I'm not fat," groused Gail. "Did you get my bag from the hospital?"

"Yep. If you want to shower, we can work something out."

Gail looked like she desperately wanted a shower. "Lemme see how peeing goes." Glancing at her phone, Gail picked that up and read the text first. "Shit..." Gail shoved it in her pocket without replying and made it up the steps without harm and shooed Holly out.

Leaving Gail alone, Holly went back to get Gail's bag, some more water bottles, and the pills. Her guest room was more of an office, but like all over workers, Holly had slept on the sofa bed enough times to know it was pretty damn comfortable. She made it up and then knocked on the bathroom door. "You fall in?"

"I can't button my pants." Gail sounded absolutely torn between the hilarity of the comment and frustration enough to make a grown woman cry.

Holly swallowed a laugh. "Do you have something in your bag? I can get you sweats."

The door opened. "I have sweats." Gail's face was damp, as was her hair. "Can you... God, I hate asking all this." Maybe some of the pain on Gail's face was embarrassment.

"It's okay. Plus one forever!" Holly raised her arm in salute and went to the guest room. Gail's bag had academy sweats shoved in, as if they were for running later. The sniff test showed they were alright, so Holly took them, the shirt, the underpants and socks, to the bathroom. "Knock knock."

"It's open."

Holly popped in and blinked at a shirtless Gail, holding a towel up to her front. "Hey. You got your shirt off!" And bra. Down girl.

"You are a shitty detective." It was that acerbic, angry Gail. Sweating too. Getting her shirt off must have been a trial.

"Dead body puzzles are more fun. Let me know if you need help, okay?" She placed the clothes on the radiator.

But Gail shooed her out again. This time Holly stayed by the door and heard the snarls and curses. "I'm fine!" Gail shouted once. There was running water, the sound of a damp cloth, and Holly felt her face burn. Gail was giving herself a wipe down.

Firmly ordering her brain to stop fantasizing about the mostly naked blonde beauty in her bathroom, Holly cleared her throat. "Everything okay?" Gail was her friend, and only her friend.

There was another curse and the door opened. "I can't get my hair back," she snarled.

Holly smiled, looking at her friend in sweatpants, a t-shirt, and an angry scowl. The socks were in the sink for some reason. "How about you eat a sandwich, take your drugs, and I'll brush your hair."

"I'm not hungry," grumbled Gail, walking to the hallway and stopping. A moment later she turned the right direction to the guest room. Holly was a little impressed. Still, she went downstairs to make a sandwich. Part of her brain remembered that Gail didn't eat raw tomatoes, and she ended up making tuna fish.

Back upstairs, Gail lay on her back, eyes squeezed shut. "I'm not giving you your meds until you eat." Holly set the plate on the nightstand and cajoled Gail into sitting up and eating.

"I hate you." There was no venom in her tone as Gail took a bite. Then she took another, until she inhaled half of the sandwich. In the brief quiet, Holly started to brush her hair. "You're good at that."

"Thank you. I don't get to brush other people's hair a lot."

"Date women with longer hair," advised Gail, reaching for the second half of the sandwich. "I don't feel as queasy."

"And that is why I wanted you to eat. Here." She handed over two more pills, which Gail popped immediately. Holly freed the blonde hair from it's braid, brushed out tangles and then asked, "Do you sleep with it down or in a braid or..."

"You can braid it?" She sounded interested, so Holly started to braid. "I usually just let it get all tangled. I braid it for work sometimes. I can't remember why I grew it out." She sighed. "I was probably trying to get my parents off my back."

Holly thought about that for a moment. "That sounds annoying." Holly could only imagine the stress of living up to that Peck name. They were a who's who of Toronto policing.

"Hah," snorted Gail. "Be better than everyone else, don't screw up, and remember who you are." At Holly's quizzical sound, Gail elaborated. "Don't forget you're a Peck and what that means. I represent policing in Toronto. It's my birthright." She sounded almost resigned. "I mean, if my mother knew I was high as a kite in the hospital, singing to lamps, I'd get a lecture."

Holly smiled and was grateful to be sitting behind Gail just then. "Singing?"

"I can see you in the mirror, nerd."

Looking up, Holly met Gail's gaze in the mirror and blushed. "Damn, you're supposed to be stoned right now!"

"I'm at the in-between stage where I have a brain." Gail closed her eyes and sighed. "That feels really nice."

Holly pursed her lips and tied off the braid. "Your hair needs some love, Officer. Split ends all the way up."

"Maybe I'll just cut it all off and freak out my father. He'll just give me the silent, disapproving, look." Gail was staring to ramble. "He's great at that one. Whenever Steve or I screwed up, mostly me, he'd just frown and not say anything. Except I can get him to yell. Steve can't. Our mother never yells at us. She has this voice ..." Gail paused. "They're shitty parents."

"I'm sorry."

"I bet your parents are nice. You're nice, so they must be. I'm a jerk, just like my parents." Gail sniffed once. "Sorry, I'm dumping my life all over you. Did I tell you I got dumped at the alter once? And most of my exes tell me I'm a frigid bitch." Another sniffle. "This is why I hate people. Except you're not people."

She was starting to fall into the drug pit fast, which wasn't surprising when Holly thought about the day and the dosage. The second half of the sandwich was only partly eaten, and Holly wisely took it from Gail's hand. "Why don't you go back to sleep."

"Phone?" Holly handed it over and Gail thumbed a message with one hand. "Don't need my roommate's girlfriend calling SWAT on you." Holly wasn't sure if it was good or bad that Gail's roommates were so concerned. "I'm feeling stupid again."

"How's the pain?"

Gail squinted at her wrist. "Throbby, but like warm jello and not a trampoline." Then she paused, "I'm real dumb, Holly."

"You're doped up, Gail."

"I'm dumb about people." She sighed and looked at Holly with big eyes. "You're pretty. And nice. A really good friend, even if you're weird and awkward. You laugh at my jokes, give me shit when I deserve it. And your lips are really soft. I liked that."

Exhaling, Holly nudged Gail to lie down, "I take that back, you're stoned."

"Stoned out of my miiiind, but I don't care about men anymore. I don't think I'm gonna date them. They suck." Sighing again, Gail lay down and looked wistful. "Is it nicer, dating women?"

"That's … really subjective, Gail. Go to sleep."

Gail pouted a little, "Is it quiet here at night?"

Holly smiled. "Yes, it's very quiet." She took her laptop off the table and brandished it, "I'll be downstairs."

"Writing the next, great Canadian, journal article, I'm sure." Ah, there was the snarky Peck she'd grown fascinated with. "Thanks." And there was the vulnerable one that Holly was falling for.

"Just remember this when I get attacked by some dead body," joked Holly. Gail made a weak zombie joke, and looked a little off-colour, but curled up in the bed. Holly wondered what that was about, but went to the kitchen to try and finish the article about the Robbie Robbins case. The case where they met.

It was dark when she decided to pack it in, quietly slipping back into the office/guest room to stow the laptop. Gail was out cold, with the lights on, and Holly smiled. The blonde's face was still slightly contorted in pain, but much less than before. She stood and watched Gail sleep for a while, before deciding she was being a creeper. As quietly as possible, Holly pulled the blankets up and turned off the light.

That turned out to be a bad idea.

Sometime after her shower but before she got tired of her trashy novel, Holly was startled by a scream, no ... By a yell from the guest room. Absolute terror. Quickly a thud and a clatter followed and she shouted, "Gail! I'll be right there." Holly all but fell out of her bed on a mad, barefoot dash to the guest room.

She arrived to find Gail, sitting on the floor holding the now-turned-on lamp, sweating and looking freaked out. "Holly," she said in a strangled voice. The room was mostly fine, if you ignored the bed sheets being pulled out and in a mess. Gail pushed some loose strands of hair away from her face. "Right." She exhaled a long, shaky, breath and leaned against the end table.

It was fairly common to have nightmares when in pain, and for some people, the painkillers only made them worse. If Holly hadn't been aware of Gail's expressions, she might have chalked that up to the medicine. But. Gail's face had a weary resignation about it that implied these sorts of things were regular.

Something very bad had happened once.

"Here, give me that," she asked Gail, softly, and put the lamp back on the end table. Kneeling by her, Holly felt Gail's cheeks and was not surprised to feel a cold sweat. She glanced at the bed again, and decided to change the sweat soaked sheets entirely.

Through the sheet changing, Gail barely moved. "You don't have to do this," she mumbled. "I'll be fine."

That was a damn lie, Holly thought, and ignored the suggestion. "Do you need help getting up?"

Gail shook her head and, after a moment of thought, got up to sit on the bed. "I'm sorry," she grumbled, putting up walls immediately.

Deciding the best action was not to make a fuss, Holly handed her the water bottle. "Do you want something colder?" Gail shook her head and downed half the bottle in one go. Carefully, Holly pressed the back of her hand to Gail's forehead. It was getting back to a normal temperature. "I'm fine."

"Uh huh." She sat on the bed and cupped Gail's face with both hands and studied her eyes clinically. Which was hard. "Pupils are fine and your eyes aren't glassy." While Gail muttered that she'd said she was fine, Holly stood up. "Do you want more painkillers?"

"No," Gail replied, wearily. "They made my head too thick. Couldn't think when I woke up."

It had been years since Holly's psych rotation, but that sounded more than a bit like PTSD and trauma induced nightmares from psychical pain. Gail should not be left alone right now, if possible. "I'm going to get my book."

It was a measure of her emotional temperature that Gail didn't argue. When Holly came back, with book and her robe, Gail was curled up on her side, face at the light. So that being left on hadn't been due to exhaustion. "I'm a grown woman, and I sleep with a light on," she sighed.

Sensing that was as much admission to the issue as there would be, Holly stretched out on top of the covers. "I'll leave it on when I leave, then. I'm sorry, I turned it off earlier."

"S'okay. You knew I can't eat raw tomatoes." She yawned. "And I hate eggs."

Hesitating, Holly reached over and caressed Gail's head. "Feel better," she whispered, as Gail yawned again and seemed to sink into the bed. She really was like a cat.

After a long bout of silence, Gail spoke. "Holly?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I'm still here."

"I'm sorry I scared you."

Holly lowered her book and rubbed Gail's back lightly. She didn't know what to say to that. "Try to sleep, okay? I'll be right here."

It was a while before Gail's breathing eased into the pattern of sleep. It was longer before Holly stopped watching her, but when she left, the light stayed on.

Chapter Text

She didn't get back to work for three days, and even then Frank kept her on desk duty. Gail had stayed only the one night at Holly's and after that Dov and Chris babysat her. Now the whole station was, which was annoying, and everyone was giving Andy a glare. That was alright, Gail felt. When Nick tried to talk to her though, Gail had enough and told him to screw himself.

Finally left alone, Gail pulled her phone out and tapped Holly's number to text her.

I'm going to kill someone.

It felt very natural to text Holly. And in this moment, Holly might be the only person she could confide in. Maybe Traci, but she was Andy's friend too, and that would be unfair. Was 'too' even the right word? Was McNally her friend any more? Ugh.

It may be better not to tell me that.

Har. You made plans for tonight?

Not exactly.

That was a little vague.

Can I buy you dinner?

There was no immediate reply and Gail put her phone down to answer the desk phone. Why she had to answer calls when she hurt her writing hand made no sense, but it was better than staying at home another day. While she took a call about a noise complaint (no, a delivery truck at noon didn't count), the phone buzzed a few more times. Finally she picked up her phone to read them.

Gail Peck. Are you asking me on a date?

The second was five minutes later.

I promise to wear flannel.

Another few minutes later.

Or I could wear fleece. I bet I can find a sexy fleece pantsuit.

And as Gail considered her reply, a fourth and fifth came in.

I'm sorry, I was trying to be funny.

No more date jokes. That was really bad taste.

Gail smirked.

I was on the phone, you idiot.

She flexed her hand a few times and jumped when Oliver walked up and cheerfully asked, "How's my girl, Peck?" If it was anyone else, Gail might have insulted him, but Oliver was Oliver. She flipped him off. "That's my Peck. You eat?"

"I swear to god, Oliver..." Gail trailed off as her phone buzzed and Oliver held up a bag from her favorite middle eastern restaurant. "Did you buy me schwarma?" She practically salivated.

"And dessert." He pointed back at McNally, who was sheepishly holding a box of donuts. As Gail scowled, Oliver added, "She said she's not eating with us." Her cellphone buzzed again, this time ringing. "Answer that. Me and schwarma will wait in the break room."

Gail glanced at her phone and smiled to see it was Holly. "Don't eat my lunch!" She shouted as she thumbed the phone to answer.

"Really? You asked me out," replied Holly on the phone. Gail could hear Holly's lip quirk into that side smile.

"Oliver brought me lunch. Dinner? Yes or no or are you going to send me six more texts?"

"Shut up! I sent you ... Fine, I sent you six! But you were all radio silence for twenty minutes."

"Hey, I have a very important job, taking in noise complaints and filing papers." Internally, Gail thought how it was Canada's tax dollars at work.

"My tax dollars at work." Holly echoed Gail's thought. "I'm actually busy tonight," sighed Holly. "Not for dinner, I mean, but I won't be free till late."

"I can eat out late." The moment the words left her mouth, Gail blushed. Holly laughed. "Oh shut up, you know what I mean."

"I really don't think I do." Before Gail replied, Holly went on. "Nine PM late."

"Oh that's not late. Besides, I'm just on phones till at least next week."

Holly's voice got softer, "How is your hand?"

Damn it, why did that make her feel warm? "Better. I can flip people off." The bright laughter delighted Gail. "So nine. Should I meet you at your place?"

"Oh you know where I live?"

"Idiot, I spent the night there. I remember. Cop."

"I'll allow it. Okay, pick me up at nine and take me somewhere nice."

"Wear your best flannel," joked Gail and she hung up to Holly laughing. She could feel the smile on her face and turned only to see McNally standing there like a hurt puppy, holding the box of donuts. "What is with you?" She snapped at McNally.

The other cop shuffled. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry-"

Gail cut her off, "Don't okay. Just don't." This wasn't the time or the place. She took the donuts. "I don't want to talk to you about it, I don't want to hear shitty excuses. Okay? You screwed up. Take him, deal with it, I actually don't even care anymore." The words came out of her mouth, and Gail was shocked to realize how true it was. As McNally stepped forward, Gail held up her burnt wrist. "No. Do not hug me."

McNally's eyes locked on the wrist. "Okay. I just... I don't know what to do," she whispered.

It was mean, but Gail smiled thinly. "Well. That's your problem, McNally."

At least Oliver just wanted to talk about shopping for weapons.

Holly was ignoring her friends. It wasn't that they were annoying, it was that she'd finally pegged that she had more than a crush on Gail Peck, and was stuck in a rut. So the fact that she was at dinner with two of her oldest, best, friends, who were practically family, wasn't enough of a distraction from the memory of that beautiful, pained, face, sleeping in her guest bed.

So much of Holly just wanted to kiss it and make it better. But she knew that would never be enough to chase the demons out of Gail's head. They'd spent a couple other nights at Holly's since then, all sober and undrugged, but each night Gail had left a light on in the guest room. Holly knew the six-pack of nightlights in her purse wouldn't fix it, but she'd grabbed them anyway. Would Gail appreciate it or be defensive about it? Impossible to tell. Maybe she'd make one of those dark jokes about it, the ones that made Holly laugh deeply.

"Earth to Holly," Rachel said loudly.

"Sorry, I was thinking about ... work." Partly true. Gail was at her work, right?

"So the date?"

Holly's mind was blank. The only date she could think of was Gail's disaster series of blind dates, which she'd ditched to hang out with the coolest chick ever. Her words. "Sure?" she replied, hesitantly.

"Great, she can meet you at the bar by the station!"

Danger! Danger! What had Holly just agreed to? "Uh, wait, what?"

"You, blind date, next Tuesday. Get your head out of the cadaver, Holls!"

Holly stared at Rachel, frowning a little, "Right! That's fine. Tuesday is good."

Dinner went on, and Holly found herself feeling entirely uncomfortable. She used to enjoy blind dates, meeting new people was fun. But she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a date at all that wasn't with Gail.

This meant a blind date was a good thing. Get back out into the dating pool. So why did it feel like she was about to be cheating on Gail?

When Gail had figured out that Nick and McNally were getting it on, she'd been mad. Not that they'd done it. Hell, she thought they'd done it while undercover. No, she'd been angry at them for lying and hiding, but in a way somewhat grateful. Now she didn't have to ditch Nick when he got too close. But for the first time she could ever remember, Gail felt jealous.

What the hell was Holly doing on a date!?

They'd texted that morning, Gail inviting Holly to play trivia crap with her friends, or not, and Holly simply said she was busy. Gail had assumed, stupidly, that meant work. But no, no, it meant a date with a kind of hot chick. For unknown reasons, it made Gail irrationally jealous! And why the Black Penny?

She finally gave up staring death glares at them, right around the time Dov wrapped up the game. When he and Chloe started kissing between disgustingly tender replies, she snapped. "I'm going outside."

As she stormed out, she caught a weird, guilty, look from Holly. Really? Now you're having second thoughts? With a snarl, Gail yanked her coat on and let the blast of cool air calm her a little.

"I didn't know you were such a bad loser at trivia," remarked Chris, shivering as he got his jacket on.

"You think I really give a damn about Dov's stupid game?" Gail dug her hands into her jacket, letting the oversized bulk hide her from Chris. In as far as exes went, he was the least objectionable. Simple, unaffecting, and straightforward, he was easy to get along with, but not someone Gail had connected with on any deep level. It was always been, to her at least, a relationship doomed towards brevity.

Looking at him now, she felt nothing. No pang of loss, or regret for cutting ties that quickly. That said, he had also evolved into the role of friend. Chris offered up a sad smile, and Gail was reminded of his recent loss of fatherhood. "I never thanked you and Dov."

She blinked. "For the totally lame cheer-you-up party?"

"It really helps, you know? Having people who care."

That sent a pang into Gail's heart and her eyes drifted back to the Penny. She could see Holly, and was strangely gratified to find her looking less happy. "I did it for the booze, Chris." Gail stomped her feet, "If Epstein is making out with that fluff head, I'm going to be pissed."

Chris looked in, "No, he's talking to Andy. Hi, Chloe."

Blinking, Gail was presented with the happy, perky, puppy: Chloe. "Hi, Chris. I'm headed home." She raised herself on her toes and kissed his cheek. Then she hesitated.

"Don't," warned Gail.

Chloe rocked on her heels. "You looked unhappy."

"Trivia's boring." She turned on her heel and started walking to home. Dimly she heard Chris asking her to stop.

Yes, she was unhappy. The one person in the world she really, truly, liked was on a date. If Holly liked that chick, she'd stop seeing Gail as much, and that would be back to what it was. But as much as Gail wanted to pretend it was about that, she knew it wasn't just friendship anymore. Gail stopped at the corner and watched the light change.

Crap, she thought to herself. What if these were actual feelings for someone? They were weird and new, but Gail recognized them as more than what she felt for Nick or Chris. She rubbed her face and heard footsteps behind her.

"Hey, Gail wait up." Dov. He was huffing as he fell into step beside her. Chris came up on the other side, but Dov just seemed content to walk with them.

Less attuned to the situation, Chris asked, "You okay?" Before she could answer, he ran on, "Stupid question, right."

She sulked. Gail knew she was being petulant, but for some reason Holly on a date-date bothered her. Really bothered her. She didn't talk to the boys at all, save to claim first shower, and holed up in her room. Normally around now, she or Holly would text each other. Either it would be a complaint about the day, or a check-in to see if the other made it home okay.

Gail tapped in a message asking about the date, and then deleted it. Twice. The third time she just asked if they could have dinner tomorrow, but she deleted that as well. Finally she gave up, turned on her closet light, and went to bed. There wasn't a way she way in love with Holly, it was just friendship. Because more than that was terrifying.

The kiss stunned her. Not because Gail was good at it, but because of how it made her feel. Holly was rooted to the spot, terrified and thrilled at the same time. Here was this woman she'd been crushing on for months, kissing her. It was totally Gail's idea too! All Holly had wanted was to make sure Gail was okay, but then she found out Gail had been shot at! Her Gail was shot at! Someone wanted to kill cops, and she could lose someone she cared about.

How did people live in that world? Gail took it as a matter of fact, that her job was to run into danger and save people. People like Holly. Which just made her feel horrible about that stupid, stupid, blind date. And then the babble went on overdrive. Holly knew she babbled when she was scared or nervous, and yet no one had ever stopped her with a kiss before.

It was nothing like when Holly kissed her, too. This was a real, get-into-your-pants kind of kiss. No peck (hah!) on the lips but a real, almost hungry, kiss. The way Holly had always dreamed about being kissed. "I'm sorry," whispered Gail, her face was still right there. Their foreheads were almost touching, and her hands still on Holly's face. "You just- you just had to stop talking."

It was the softest she'd ever heard Gail's voice. Tender. It made Holly want to kiss Gail more, something she really hadn't thought was possible. "I won't say another word," she whispered back and leaned in slightly, wishing with all her heart Gail was on the same page.

They kissed again and Holly's nerdtacular inner self cheered. It was like Gail had been starving herself from kissing Holly, but now it was free and oh god, it was everything Holly had dreamed about. Gail didn't stop touching her, too, her soft hands cupping Holly's face. Holly lost total track of time, but when Gail leaned away, it felt too soon, and Holly clutched Gail's shoulders. "You really shouldn't be here, Holly," Gail sighed, resting her forehead against Holly. Before Holly could really decide if she wanted to be upset, Gail added, "If someone's shooting at cops, this is the least safe place."

Oh. That made sense. "I'm sorry."

"No, no," Gail kissed her, lightly, again. "Don't be sorry, please." She sighed. "I need to go. Oliver will be looking for me."

Holly nodded, "I don't want you to get shot at."

That made Gail huff a laugh. "It's my job." She caressed Holly's face. "I'll call you after, okay?" Sniffling back the fear, Holly pulled Gail in to hug. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'll be okay."

If she held on to Gail, them she wouldn't be able to be shot at. She never wanted to let her go. "You have to go..." Her voice was barely over a whisper.

"Yeah, I have to go." Gail stroked her hair. "I'll be safe."

"Please be safe." It took monumental effort, but Holly let go.

Gail nodded slightly and then leaned in to kiss her again, "I'll be safe." Another kiss. A deep kiss. A great kiss.

Oh that was bad. Holly didn't want to stop kissing. It took all her willpower to step back. "I'm going to, um, wait. A minute. You go, and ..." Gail nodded, looking a little blitzed, and took a deep breath before stepping out.

Holly covered her face. Oh this was so, so bad. She was totally falling for Gail. Completely and utterly, she was past crush and into that place where all she wanted to do was touch her and hold her. Hell, they didn't even need to have sex, just getting to be able to be with Gail, when both of them knew what they wanted, was going to be satisfying for days. No... No, she wanted more of the kissing and touching.

Right. Go back to work. Holly fixed her glasses. Catching a glimpse of herself in the glass, she saw she was way too happy. Bad Holly. Taking a breath, Holly pulled her shit together and walked out... Right into a cop talking to Gail. Damn.

"Hey!" He smiled brightly at her.

"Hi," smiled Holly, and she turned to leave. Behind her she heard the man identify her as Gail's friend from forensics.

Then Gail's voice, forced and too loud, bounced down the hallway. "The courier was sick, Oliver! If you really must know."

At least Holly wasn't the only one having trouble keeping cool.

Chapter Text

What the hell was Holly doing here? Gail's brain pinwheeled out of ops prep and into a confusing world where she'd been making out with her friend. Bad timing, she cursed. By the time she got Holly to go, Gail's heart was pounding, and she was sure Holly was pissed at her.

But it was Oliver. And he was kidnapped. And Jerry was dead, and the absolute worst place to be was going to be the damned police station. After she was out of earshot from the floor, she turned on Chris. "Hey," she grabbed Chris' arm, "Who the hell let her in?"

Chris looked blank. "Her? Your friend? Gail, she's forensics! She's supposed to be here!"

"Not till we stop people shooting at us!"

Crap. Her agitation was showing. "Hey, it's okay." Chris gripped her upper arms. "You don't have to do this. We can get him back without you, he'd understand."

Gail stared at him, mind boggled. "Yes, I do." She took a deep breath. "Everyone is coming home, Chris. And I'm going to be there."

She turned went to the bathroom. The alternative was pissing herself when they raided the church. In the women's room, Gail fixed her vest again, needlessly. This was so much less terrifying than many other things she did, but it was still scary. "You can do this, Peck. Oliver needs you, he just doesn't know it." She closed her eyes, but the first image that popped in was of what a car's trunk looked like.

Oliver would know what that looked like now.

Slowly, Gail pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Please promise me you'll stay in your lab until it's safe.

She hovered over the send button for a moment, and then swallowed. Send. Delivered. Gail turned the phone ringer off, as well as vibrate mode. The phone went into a pocket where it would not give her away with light or sound and Gail nodded at her reflection. "Okay, Peck. Get Oliver back."

Frank led them perfectly. He knew where to send everyone and when. He said every one of them would go home. He was the perfect sergeant, but Gail knew this was his last time as her sergeant. She could feel it in her bones and it hurt. You didn't grow up Peck and not see these things. With ETF, Gail did her first rush of a building. She knew this was nothing she wanted to ever have to do again, crossing another job off her list, but the rush when she saw Oliver's face was everything.

"But there's a gun," he repeated as they pulled him outside. Gail refused to leave Oliver, and after a momentary scowl, Frank didn't object. He knew.

"He's not there, Oliver," Gail replied, worried about that too. And Oliver dumped his conversation on her and Frank. Shit. Shit shit shit. He was going to the station. Gail and Frank shared a look and she nodded.

"Peck, stay with him." It was an order she wasn't going to break and checked her gun.

Oliver was sweating suddenly. "He's going to the station, isn't he?"

"And you're not, Oliver." The EMT came over with a blanket, now that the area was clean, and Oliver started shaking. "Ollie, what's Celery's number?"

His eyes were wild. "No! No no nonono! You can't call her yet. She'll freak out."

"She already knows, Oliver," soothed Gail, pitching her voice like she did for children. "She's why we found you. Okay?" He was shaking his head rapidly, and the EMT told Gail off for agitating him. That didn't stop her from getting into the ambulance with Oliver, and Gail pulled her phone out after radioing Dispatch to tell Celery what was going on.

She stared at the text on her phone.

Please tell me you're okay.

Holly. Holly was worried about her still.

I'm okay. I'm taking Oliver to the ER. Stay in your lab. Please.

She left the phone on her knee and took one of Oliver's hands. "When does it hit you?" He looked at her, like a lost child.

Her phone lit up and Gail glanced at the one word reply of 'Okay.' Good, she needed to not try and think about why she kissed Holly for this. Oliver needed her now.

"I think it already did, Oliver," she sighed. He looked away, tears in his eyes. Ignoring the look from the EMT, Gail kept talking. "It's stupid, right? You think that you know what you're doing because you're a cop. You're smart and safe." The hand in hers twitched. "And then this happens. This thing that happens to everyone else. Not us. Cops don't get abducted, right? We get shot at, punched, stabbed... Spit on."

"Spat." Oliver puffed a laugh, probably remembering the first time he pulled an angry Gail off a citizen.

"He hocked a loogey on me, Oliver," smiled Gail. "But that's normal, right? For us that's what happens. Not this."

And Oliver started to cry. "How bad's it gonna be?"

"You have Celery, Ollie." It sounded absolutely idiotic to say out loud, the woman needed a proper name. "She's been through stuff. She'll be here." A pause. "I'm here."

They said nothing more until they got to the ER, and Gail stayed with Oliver the whole time. Then the second punch came. Sam was shot. They'd already doped Oliver up, but Gail took the hit like she'd been shot. Jesus, first Jerry and now Sam? She checked to make sure Oliver was asleep before replying that she'd tell him.

The nurse, a familiar one, touched her arm. "Officer, are you okay?"

"Physically," Gail sighed, wearily. "There's another cop coming in, Swarek. Please get your best ... Thoracic surgeon here." While the nurse agreed to do so, Gail pulled out her phone and called a cousin. "Hey. Can you push the hospital? One of my guys was shot at the station." If you couldn't use your Peck powers for nepotistic things, what the hell was the point. She then explained what she needed and how fast.

"You're nice," sighed Oliver, who had woken up during her argument with her cousin.

"You're high." She tucked the phone away again.

"You're mean and angry but you're nice. You don't like Sammy."

She smiled and walked to the bed. "True." Jerry had been her favorite detective of that lot.

"You like me." He reached up and Gail took his hand.

"I do. But you're not going to tell anyone."

Oliver sighed and closed his eyes again. "What happened to Sammy?" His voice was a whisper. "Is he gonna die?

She sighed. "Oliver, Sam's going to be okay. Frank promised we all go home." When Oliver nodded Gail smiled at him and squeezed the hand. "Swarek got shot, Oliver. Ford was at the station." Oliver cringed and the machines by him started to beep. "Hey, calm down, okay? He's going to be fine. Everyone goes home, remember?"

"I don't want to loose Sammy," he whispered. "We're the only ones left. Frank's leaving me too." The grip on Gail's hand tightened, and she swallowed down the fear and pain of the memory of Jerry. "Don't leave me."

"I won't," promised Gail. "Any time you need me, I'm here." She squeezed his hand and sat down. "I'm going to sit here, and you're going to sleep until Celery gets here." Mumbling an okay, Oliver quieted down.

Once he was out, Gail pinged dispatch, who said Celery was on her way. Then she pulled out her phone again. There were no new texts from Holly, so she sent a simple one instead.

It's okay now

She didn't trust herself with anything else to say to Holly. Beside her, Oliver stirred. "I'm so sorry you're in the club, Oliver," she said softly. "If anyone doesn't deserve this shit, it's you."

She looked at her phone, somewhat sad there was no reply from Holly. There was nothing to say, except maybe that she loved Holly, and Gail wasn't real sure she knew what love was. Had she been in love with Nick? Probably not. God, Andy was totally dumping Nick right now too. Served her right, in a way. Him too.

The door opened and a nurse motioned for Gail. Celery was standing at the end of the hall, looking terrified, listening to Chris. Yeah, he was fucking this up. "Would you get her? I don't want Oliver to be alone."

The nurse nodded and brought Celery over. Gail made a hand motion at Chris, ordering him to stay. "How is he?" Celery's voice was a whisper.

"Banged up. He's on Haldol and some painkillers, but mostly they want to calm him down." Gail looked at the sleeping Oliver and guided Celery to a seat by the door. "I want to talk to you, before you go in there."

Her eyes were wide, but Celery nodded. "Okay."

Gail knew she wasn't going to tell this woman about her own history, but she had to make her understand. "He's going to freak out," she explained. "He kind of did a little, but tonight or tomorrow or a month from now, he's going to get weird. Like maybe he won't be able to walk into church, or ... Or minivans will freak him out. Or he looks like he's having a panic attack when he opens the trunk of a car." Gail huffed, "Or he can't sleep in the dark."

"I ... Understand," Celery said slowly, and Gail, who never believed witnesses, believed her.

"You need to be there for him. Okay? You have to sit with him and not let him be alone and be there for him. And ... If you can't, then you need to just go now, because if you do this to him later-"

"I'm not leaving him." Her voice was firm.

"This is an out, Celery. After this, it changes forever."

"I know what fear is," said Celery coolly. "I can do this. I will do this. I love him."

Gail exhaled, feeling pressure on her shoulders evaporate. "Okay. Come on, you can take over babysitting."

She started to stand, but Celery caught her hand, "What happened? To you?" Tension rose and Gail shook her head, tightly. "If ... You need to talk..."

"I," Gail paused. No. She couldn't say it. Even thinking about saying it, her throat tightened. She shook her head, dismissing the question. "If Oliver needs ... I mean, he's Oliver and ..." She stopped and took a deep breath. "If he needs me, call. Any time. Anywhere."

And damn it, Celery hugged her. Why did people have to do that. Gail felt bruised as she went down the hall. Chris was waiting. "What was that?"

"It's a club thing, Chris." The abductee cop club. He was not welcome, and Gail prayed he never would be. "How's Swarek?"

Chris hesitated, but didn't try to hug her. "In surgery. They got the best heart and vein guy in the city!"

"Thoracic surgeon," sighed Gail. She'd owe her cousin a favor, but she couldn't deal with Oliver losing Sam too. In the waiting room was ... Everyone. Traci had Andy, Nick was lurking, and Steve caught her arm as she walked by.

"You okay?"

Gail was insanely weary. Not tired. Weary. She shook her bother's hand off and stood to the side. "Celery's with Oliver," she replied, not answering his question, but making everyone else relax. Gail closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm okay," she said quietly, and felt him standing beside her, while everyone else had left. It was odd how she knew Steve just by his presence.

"Something happened. You and Dr. Stewart." His voice was barely audible. They'd always talked this way at home, when they didn't want Superintendent Mom to hear.

Gail opened her eyes and signed at her brother. Shut up. The odds of anyone else eavesdropping ASL was slim.

He smiled and signed back. She worried.

I kissed her, replied Gail. Steve stared at her hands and then her face. His hands stumbled a couple times, trying to form a sentence. He was always crap at languages. I like her, she added, bailing him out.

Steve exhaled loudly. She's smart.

Beautiful. Funny. Gail smiled and looked at her own hands. I want her safe.

The reply surprised her. She's here. Steve jerked his chin over Gail's shoulder and she dropped her hands. Holly was here?

"Hey, I came as soon as I heard." The breathless voice was Holly

Autopilot. Gail grabbed Holly into a hug, trying not to cry, but just holding her like a drowning man. She knew the tears were falling down her face but couldn't stop them. Suddenly Gail understood why people hugged each other. This was comfort. "Hey," she whispered into Holly's ear.

"Hey," replied Holly, breathlessly.

"I'm glad you're here. Okay?" She let go and studied Holly's face for a moment. Then she led her over to where her brother, and now Chris, were now standing. "Steve, this is Holly. Chris, this is Holly."

Chapter Text

Pulling into her garage, Holly wondered if Gail would be there soon or later. She'd pressed her front door key into Gail's hand when they left the ER, Gail saying she needed to put her gun back and change. But Holly watched her slip up the stairs of the hospital one last time. No matter how much Gail reiterated that no one wanted to cry on her shoulder, Holly had the distinct impression that something mattered to her a great deal.

"Now what?" Holly looked around her home and decided to clean up and change. It was something small she could do. Small things. Like dinner. They hadn't eaten, well, Holly hadn't. Gail probably ate something unhealthy and gross. A salad would not be enough and Holly stared at her fridge. She needed something more substantial.

Resting her head on the fridge door, Holly groaned. What was she doing? Gail was straight. Even if she'd kissed her in the interrogation room, the girl was straight. "You're doing it all over again," whinged Holly, and she tried to ignore the butterflies and the ache in her heart to just hold Gail again. "She blew you off and hugged you and introduced you to her brother. Girl runs hot and cold." Holly caught her reflection in the stove. "You're falling for a crazy straight chick, Holly Stewart."

But Gail had kissed her. Really kissed her. The kind of kiss she'd always wanted from someone and never quite found. Hungry, passionate, and overwhelming. Jesus, Gail knew how to kiss. They'd held hands, in front of everyone, at the ER, and if anyone noticed, besides Gail's brother, they didn't say anything.

"Dishes," decided Holly, and she started washing them by hand to try to calm herself, ground herself.

The front door opened and Gail walked right in, not taking off her boots, jacket, or scarf. "Hey, you hungry?"

"Nope, only want alcohol." And true to her word, Gail started rummaging through the shelves.

"It's up there," and Holly pointed over the oven, which was probably a bad place to store it. "But. Why don't you eat something first."

Gail's hand latched on to the Jim Bean. "Yeah, okay, if it's got alcohol in it." She proceeded to remind Holly that no one needed her shoulder to cry on, that the only use she might be is as the 'big gay distraction,' likened her brother's gossiping to herpes, and stomped upstairs announcing, "No going back now, girlfriend!"

Holly grimaced. Awesome. It was three fifteen in the morning, and she had a probably experimenting straight girl drinking upstairs. Hadn't she promised herself not to fall for people who didn't know they were gay, or at least bi, anymore? The sound of music startled her, and Holly realized Gail was in her bathroom. In college, she remembered her roommate locking herself in the bathroom to hide the sound of her crying. "Right." Holly sighed and looked up the stairs. Something besides just her friends being shot and kidnapped was going on here.

After giving Gail half an hour, Holly went upstairs. Where there was no answer to her knocks or questions, Holly let herself in and blinked at Gail, short hair, holding her ponytail, announcing it was just hair. "So. This is happening." She turned the music down to buy processing time.

She let Gail explain, such as it was, and have a meltdown on the bathroom floor. The inches of her hair seemed both mundane and horrific and there was something weird in how Gail said 'that part's where Jerry died.' As if Jerry dying was not the reason her voice became a near whisper. "I'm freaking out a little bit, aren't I?"

"Yeah," sighed Holly. Gail's lips curled up into a sneer/smirk and she exhaled loudly. She pulled herself back into a semblance of control far too fast for Holly's taste. People were allowed to have meltdowns in her world. "Can I have the bourbon?" The bottle was passed over and Holly sipped from it, just as Gail had. "Do you want to just stay here and get drunk?"

Sighing, Gail looked at Holly with less desperation. "No. I want..." She grabbed the irregular end of her hair, "I want to calm down." She closed her eyes and rested her head on the cabinet. Remarkably she was calming her breathing and the slight panic attack just ... Stopped. That couldn't be healthy.

"Do you want to talk?"

"Not yet," sighed Gail. She touched her hair again, "Holly, it's not about that."

Holly blinked. "What?"

"The kiss. Kissing. I'm not having a gay kissing freak out." She held a hand out and Holly passed the bourbon back, after taking another sip. "I have a lot of issues, Holly."

"Okay," replied Holly slowly, watching Gail's face get more maudlin, though she looked at Holly with a pensive sort of fondness.

"My parents, my job, shit that happens..." She took a swig of the bourbon, "The hair is not an emergency."

"Is this another tree metaphor?"

"No. No. I want to kiss you again." Pausing Gail touched her hair again. "God, I must look like ass."

Smiling, Holly reached over for the bottle and caressed Gail's face. There was no deer in the headlights look from the blonde, just a sad, tired, drunk, smile. "Maybe I can help, honey." She took another sip and got up to find the scissors and the clippers.

"You have buzz clippers? I could go all Sinead."

"Ew, no, please don't." Holly grimaced and Gail laughed. "Sit in the tub, I don't want little blonde hairs all over my bathroom." Gail muttered that Holly was bossy, but took off her boots and got into the tub with the bottle.

Holly took off her sweater and studied Gail's face. With a tired smile, Gail asked, "You have two degrees and you're gonna tell me you can cut hair?"

"I have many skills," smiled Holly. "Can I fix this?"

Gail laughed, "I don't know!" She touched the back of her head. "Short. Make it short."

"I can hardly make it longer," teased Holly, but she nodded. "I'm going to start in back, okay?"

"Okay. Can I have the bourbon back?"

"Don't drink it all," smiled Holly. She plugged in the clippers and started work on Gail's hair. By the time she had something good going, the bottle was nearly empty and the sun was starting to rise. "Hey, Gail do you have to work today?"

"Nope. 22's covering for us until they clear the scene fully." Holly shuddered and told Gail to turn around so she could address her bangs. The cowlick was adorable, if possibly beyond Holly's skills to fix. "Probably be back tomorrow. No rest for the wicked."

Gail lamented about life, which Holly likened to the cowlick, and then complained she had no hair. "Still kind of beautiful," noted Holly, taking a good look at her handiwork. She'd not fixed short hair like that in years, but she was insanely proud of it just then.

"Oh really?" Gail scoffed and Holly smiled, oozing into the tub to sit face to face with Gail. She watched Gail's expression change, the sarcasm and defensive antagonism slipping away into a softer look.

It wasn't a vulnerable look. Holly had seen that before, when Gail had a nightmare in her guest room. This was a different softness. One that begged to be kissed. Holly forgot her worries about Gail's sexuality and cupped her pale face in both hands. She leaned in slowly, giving Gail an out, brushing her lips with a thumb. Holly was not surprised when they met halfway. This was a softer kiss, not backed by panic or fear. A kiss of equals.

Holly realized she was going to lose herself in the kisses, and end up somewhere way too fast. "Come on, let's wash this down the drain." She stood up, but Gail's expression didn't waver. She wanted to kiss Holly more. They fell into another kiss, this one prompted by Gail, and Holly knew she had to slow things. Reaching down, she turned on the water, cold, and let it blast Gail. And that didn't stop how either of them felt, kissing again... Again...

Gail's brain had stopped. She didn't care about the water, her hair, the fact that she'd outed herself to her brother and her ex/roommate. She didn't care about anything at all. Her mind was blissfully blank, and all she could be aware of was Holly, kissing her. It didn't matter they were standing in Holly's claw-foot shower, or that the shower was indeed on. It didn't even matter that the water had been cold.

This kind of kissing was exactly what had been missing with Nick, Chris, and everyone else. This softness and the curves and the kissing. Holy god. Everything should be this way. Gail was able to forget about the pressure and fear and just exist in a bubble of Holly.

When Holly broke away, sighing, Gail felt like a floundering fish. "Okay, you shower off the hairs, I'll get you some clothes." With one last, quick, kiss, Holly stepped out of the tub.

Gail stood under the water, confused, for a while. The whole day had been confusing. From the shootings to kissing Holly in the interview room, to ignoring her at work, to hugging her and introducing her to her brother. "Oh God..." Gail slowly reached up to touch her hair. Her father was going to give her hell. He had some weirdly rigid views. "No going back now, Peck," she reminded herself. But really, she didn't want to go anywhere but forward. Gail turned to the shower and let it blast her face for a moment.

The bathroom door opened, cutting the train of thought off short. "Gail, honey, a shower works better when you take your clothes off."

Pivoting, Gail nearly fell. "Yes, yes it does." She stared at Holly, making no move to undress. The doctor had already changed into comfortable clothes and tied her wet hair up, but Gail's eyes locked on the water trickling down Holly's neck.

Holly raised her eyebrows. "Just leave your clothes on the floor, okay?" She put sweats on the sink counter and, after a moment of hesitation, picked up the whiskey bottle.

"Hey!"

"You can have it back when you're clean!" The door clicked closed.

Gail groaned and wriggled out of her clothes, letting them slap onto the floor. Grabbing the shampoo, she lathered up and inhaled. She was going to smell like Holly. There were worse fates. The soap, the shampoo, the conditioner, and the towels all felt of Holly. It prevented Gail from having to process the night. Instead of wrapping her hair in a monument of towel, Gail rough dried her hair. The clothes were sweats and a dark shirt, and underpants. Her own clothes. Had she left clothes here before?

Gail sighed, "I should have taken a cold shower after all." Her libido was entirely out of control. After spending a few, futile, moments trying to style her new haircut, she gave up and left the bathroom. "Okay, I'm out. Can I have the bottle back?" Instead, Holly handed her a mug of tea. "Seriously?"

"Don't look at me like that. It's whiskey tea." Holly smiled and sat on the sofa, sipping her own. After a moment of glowering, Gail tried the tea and blinked. That was really good, and really strong. "See? All better. Soothing and drinking."

Carefully sitting on the other end of the couch, Gail pulled a pillow into her lap for armor. "Thank you." She drank the tea again and let it warm her insides, before touching her hair and trying to smooth it down.

"I'm no hairstylist," Holly noted. "But you still look beautiful."

Gail was about to laugh, disparagingly, when she realized Holly was still looking at her with a serious expression. "Thank you," she repeated. Why was it still confusing? She wanted to kiss Holly again. It was amazing, kissing her, and now she was hanging out with an insanely amazing, cool, person who was into her. Gail groaned, "God, what are we doing?"

"I? Am drinking tea after a stressful day, where I thought you were going to die. You are having a mini-meltdown after being shot at and having a friend nearly die. We are trying to relax." Holly put her mug on the coffee table and leaned across the couch to smooth Gail's hair back away from her eyes. "I'm glad you're alright."

The touch sent shivers down Gail's spine and she closed her eyes. "I'm very not alright, Holly." She thought about Oliver for a moment. Then the hand on her hair ran down her cheek and Gail jerked back reflexively, her body remembering that time when someone had caressed her face in a basement... No, no. Bad brain. Bad body. This was Holly! Holly was safe. "I'm really, really not alright. I don't know what I'm doing." She opened her eyes and looked, worriedly, at Holly. "I want to be here, with you."

"You're not up a tree all alone, Gail." Carefully, Holly took the mug out of Gail's hands and wrapped them in her own. This time there was no twitching and Gail wormed her fingers in-between Holly's.

"I know." The amount of messed up in Gail's head was unmeasurable. She knew, logically, none of this was her fault. At the same time, she knew flashbacks were going to be a bitch. You couldn't not remember the last time everyone was at the hospital together, not when you were the reason why. Not when you'd just helped Oliver, and would have to keep helping Oliver. But even Oliver said it... Jerry was gone.

When Gail said nothing more, Holly asked, "Did you blow me off at the office because it was work or because it was me?"

That brought Gail back into the now. "What?" It took her brain a moment to remember the time between kissing Holly in interrogation and then hugging in the ER. "You mean when we were getting ready to go out and rescue Oliver?" Gail felt incredulous.

Holly nodded. "Was I a ... an embarrassment or inconvenience or what? Because you just looked upset I was even there, and I'm not really used to worrying like this over someone. That you might get shot, or worse and then you hugged me in the ER and held my hand -"

Why was she talking? "Why are you talking?" Gail pulled Holly closer and kissed her. Maybe this would be a thing, Holly babbling and Gail kissing her to shut her up. "I was about to go on a raid, Holly. I needed to concentrate." She sighed and rested her forehead against Holly's. She hadn't even thought about how that might have looked, and while Gail was partly concerned about being a big gay distraction, she also didn't want to get everyone's head in the wrong place before going to save Oliver. She loved Oliver, in a weird way. And it had been hard enough to keep her own head in the right place. "I don't care who knows I'm with you, Holly, but breaking that to them right before we go shoot at people? Way too dangerous." She lightly kissed Holly again, "I wanted to do that."

"Oh. That makes sense." Holly didn't move away and they kissed again, gently, carefully.

"I've never really ... Had anyone be worried about me like that. Even when I dated ... if we had a work thing like that, it was just work." Gail sighed, wondering if that was true, and thinking about how Nick and Chris had been when she was abducted. She felt the tension in her neck and pushed the memory away, looking at Holly. "I forgot you don't speak cop."

Holly smiled and kissed Gail, "Forgiven."

"Sorry." They kissed again and the question that was burning in Gail came up again. "Why did you stop kissing me in the shower?"

Now Holly sighed. "Because I was going to do more than kiss you, Gail. And you're kind of drunk, freaking out, and you cut your hair off after a really shitty day." Squeezing Gail's hands, Holly started to lean back.

"I want to do more than kiss you, too."

Holly bit her lip, as if self-restraint was being lost, "Gail, it's been a long day. I don't want us to regret anything." Holly's hand twitched, as if she was holding back from touching Gail more.

Part of Gail wanted to point out that with every man she'd dated, they'd have had sex by now. It did not seem like a good idea to bring that up. She squeezed Holly's hands and the woman blushed. That was when it dawned on her that Holly was purposefully trying not to throw herself on Gail, that she was holding back to make sure Gail knew this wasn't an impulsive act. It was flattering and exceptionally relieving to have confirmation that Holly wanted this too.

That said, it was only going to be harder on Holly if she stuck around, since they both wanted each other, but Holly was very, very, right in now not being the best time. Gail had made enough mistakes her in past. "I should go home then," stated Gail. Holly started to protest, "Because you're right." Sex with someone for the first time shouldn't be to distract you from the crappy day but to celebrate being alive with them… Oh god. Peck, are you falling in love!? If that was the case, then she'd never actually loved Nick.

"You can stay in the guest room..." Holly stopped and looked embarrassed.

Gail smiled, "No I can't." They both knew that being in a different room would change nothing.

"You're not driving home," Holly said firmly. "You have had way too much to drink, and so have I." Hesitating a moment, Holly said four words that sobered Gail right up. "I'll call a cab."

History was a bitch. "No!" The word was out of Gail's mouth before she could actually think about it. But it was too late. Memory had her.

She remembered the look on Traci's face. Traci. She remembered Oliver holding her arms, stopping her from breaking something, raging in the hospital after they told her about Jerry. She remembered not wanting to touch Nick, or have him touch her. She remembered Dov covering her with a blanket on his couch, trying to pretend she wasn't awake, trying not to cry. She remembered Sam not looking at her for days after she got back to work. She remembered her mother telling her to be a Peck. And she remembered a small, dark, place. Rough carpet on her face, which hurt. Everything hurt. The air was too hot, and she was freezing in that stupid dress.

And not knowing anything about it, Holly simply looked a little annoyed, "Gail. I know it's been a long, weird, day, but don't be unreasonable-"

"I'm not being unreasonable," Gail snapped and jumped to her feet. It was hard enough not to hyperventilate. The rising panic attack had a hold on her and she swallowed, trying to force it down. "Not a cab."

"Gail—"

Her hands were shaking. Awesome. It was going to be one of those flashbacks. She could try locking herself in Holly's bathroom again, but that hadn't exactly worked out so well. Except for the kissing part. "You know what," she replied, forcing her voice to be light and trying not to wince when it came out high pitched and freaky. "I'm totally sober now. So yeah, I'm going to go." Gail moved to her purse, trying not to let the shaking show, trying not to hyperventilate, trying to push it away.

"I think I just set off a bomb," Holly muttered and got up. "Honey, I don't know what I just said but you are not zooming off, okay? No taxi, no Uber, no driving, you're staying here." She touched Gail's arm.

They both froze. Gail knew Holly could feel her trembling. She closed her eyes, unable to stop from crying. There she was, Garbage Pail Gail the Fail again. She self-sabotaged herself, she'd never be able to be the cop her family wanted, she'd never have the relationship she wanted. No one wanted to be with someone who was cold and broken. "Holly," she replied, in a strangled voice, "Please just let go."

"Oh, Gail," breathed Holly, and she did the opposite of letting go. She wrapped her arms around Gail, holding her close. The shaking didn't stop though, neither did the hug cease the crying. It wasn't the worst flashback she'd had, but it was the first in ages in front of anyone besides her therapist. Gail hiccuped and rubbed her face, as it that would erase everything. And yet, without asking a thing, Holly held on to her.

"Sorry," gasped Gail, unable to stop shaking or crying. She let Holly turn her around and hold her. Her arms wrapped around Holly, fists pressed to her back, face in her shoulder.

Saying little words, encouraging words, Holly led her back to the couch. "You don't have to say anything," she whispered, and held Gail close, stroking her hair. It took a while for the tremors to pass, for the tears to dry, and for her breathing to get to normal. The whole time, Holly just held her in her arms. Finally, Gail started to mumble she was sorry into Holly's shoulder, and in return was just shushed and petted. "You really are a cat," sighed Holly.

"I'm sorry," repeated Gail, and Holly shushed her again. Gail wracked her brain, but could never remember anyone holding her like Holly was. The closest was Oliver, when she'd been in the hospital, but even that wasn't the same (and had more to do with Gail throwing an empty bedpan at Callaghan). It was the hug of someone who had never lived this life being welcoming and comforting and calming. Her hands wormed to Holly's back and stayed there, tight fists holding her in place while she breathed in the smell of Holly.

"I'm serious. I know we talk about stuff, but you don't have to make yourself talk about this. Okay?" Gail nodded and sniffled the snot back up her nose. Real romantic, Peck. "Good." Holly cupped Gail's chin and kissed her forehead. "I think we're okay tonight."

The cryptic statement confused Gail until Holly tugged her up and led her upstairs. Oh. They probably were. Any thought of romance was dead and buried tonight. Instead of the guest room, Holly brought Gail into her bedroom. "Um. Which, which side?"

Holly blinked and pointed to the right side, with the clock. "I kind of sleep in the middle." She looked embarrassed to admit that.

Wiping her face with her shoulder, Gail confessed, "I steal blankets."

At that, Holly smiled. "Of course you do."

Holly had trouble sleeping, like she knew she would. But it had nothing to do with the night light being on. While Gail was washing her face before bed, Holly had plugged it in, trying not to feel silly. Then they'd settled in bed, and the moment Holly turned off the lights, Gail had stiffened. Holly told her to look at the doorway, the fear and tension fell away as the nightlight was on, and Gail mumbled a thank you. She would eventually, tell Holly about the dark and cabs. Or not.

It was with Gail actually in her bed, sleeping like an angel, that made it so hard to get to sleep. The pain of the day, and the weird terror about taxis, was erased from Gail's face, and she was so strikingly lovely. The last time she'd watched Gail sleep, her face had never fully lost the agony of her burn or the nightmare. You've got it bad, Holly told herself, and brushed the wisps of hair away from Gail's forehead.

The soft sigh and smile from Gail made Holly's heart pound. "Go to sleep, Holly," whispered Gail, startling her. While Gail's eyes didn't open, she reached over and touched Holly's arm.

It wasn't helping. "Sorry. I'm keeping you up." Gail just made a soft hm noise so Holly tried to settle down. Once she did, Gail scooted over and rested her head against the outside of Holly's shoulder. "Oh. We're doing this..."

"You keep looking at me," noted Gail, not sounding very much awake. "And you smell nice. Safe." A hand rested on Holly's arm, and Gail sighed again, exceptionally contented.

Surprisingly, having Gail touching her was far more relaxing than just being near her. Gail's breathing slipped into a steady rhythm, and Holly felt her own eyes getting heavy. Maybe this was going to be fine. There was more than enough time to learn why Gail had nightmares or hated taxis.

For the first time in her adult life, Holly fell asleep with a nightlight on.

Gail did not sleep much at all, and it had nothing to do with the beautiful woman who was holding her. That felt right and perfect.

She listened to Holly breath and stayed absolutely still. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but every time she dozed off, there was his face. And she would jerk awake, scared, heart pounding, and stare at Holly's arm.

It was never really going to go away entirely. She'd figured that out ages ago. No. She'd known that pretty much since it happened. Gail touched her neck, then her hair. Part of her had hoped that without the hair, maybe she'd cut the bad dreams off. Part of her knew this would always be inside her.

Holly made a soft sound in her sleep. A happy, contented, sound. And Gail pressed her head against Holly's arm, inhaling the smell that ignored thought and made her feel happy in the pit of her stomach. Safe.

"I'm at Holly's," she whispered to herself. "I'm safe. We're safe."

And Gail tried, again, to sleep.

Chapter Text

It was a relief that Andy wasn't her partner today, though Chris wasn't a whole hell of a lot better. When they pulled back into the station for lunch, Gail started to make an excuse, but simply said, "Chris, go away."

It worked. The Peck Shell was useful for a lot of things. Taking her sandwich, Gail sat in the hallway and contemplated calling Holly. They'd spent the morning in a nice little cocoon, kissing and touching each other like they had all the time in the world, and no one was dying. When Gail finally left to get her things from home, Holly said she'd call.

That hadn't happened yet, but work was a mess. Even Gail had been a little overwhelmed by the crazy at the station. Dov had a mini meltdown on her, demanding to know where she'd been that night and did she know Chloe had died? It took a while for him to unpack that Chloe was not dead but her heart had stopped. Chris had told him to lay off, though.

Her phone pinged and Gail quickly pulled it out to look. It was Holly. Warm fuzzies, which Pecks never got, ran down her spine.

Guess who caught a double?

Gail groaned.

Need me to feed you?

I have a salad.

Rabbit food.

What noise do rabbits make?

Probably the same ones you make in your sleep.

There was no immediate reply, so Gail sent a follow up.

I thought it was cute.

Holly replied with a blushing emoticon.

"What are you grinning at, Gail?" Nash, a tired and cranky Nash, was eying her curiously. When Gail looked up, Traci did a double take. "Woah." She touched her own head and asked, "When?"

Call me if it changes? I'm going to the Penny with the gang.

Up until now, everyone had been so wrapped up in the shooting that not a single person had remarked on her hair. "I may have gone crazy last night," sighed Gail.

Traci sat down beside her. "You look ... Good. It looks great. Where did you find time to go to a salon?"

"Holly did it in her bathtub." Gail touched her own hair and sighed. It had freaked her out in the morning, but at the same time, Holly had been toying with it with such interest, Gail was sure it was a turn on. Holly probably gave her the haircut she found sexiest. Nerd.

Tossing the name around a little, Traci asked, "Holly who?"

"Dr. Holly Stewart? The forensic pathologist." She watched the wheels turn in Traci's head. "Oh come on, detective!"

It clicked. "No shit?" Traci was a little impressed and Gail nodded. "How long has that been going on?"

What a loaded question. "Since yesterday."

"Wow, I guess the U-Haul joke is real." Gail gave Traci her best side-eye glare. "So you're serious? Changing teams?"

"We haven't gotten that far!" Not that Gail didn't want to. Hell, she'd thought about it for hours now. And she still had no idea why she'd kissed Holly in interrogation. Not because kissing was wrong, oh god no. At the moment, it had seemed right and then, when she did it, it felt so wonderful. Someone caring about her like that, and attracted to her? Had that ever happened? But at work? Stupid Gail!

Traci put her hand on Gail's knee. "You okay?"

"No," confessed Gail. "I didn't sleep much." Traci did not leer at her, thankfully. "You?"

"No, not really."

They both carried Jerry's death close. It had to be hurting Traci too. "Steve likes you. A lot."

Traci smiled. "Does that bother you?"

"Nah, you're the second hottest person in the division. Especially after my haircut." That brought a laugh.

"Hottest available woman," declared Traci.

"He's the dumbest Captain of the Universe, but he means well."

Traci's face lit up in a smile. "You will tell me that story later." Gail shrugged. "Holly, huh. Really." She didn't sound too surprised. "Need to girl talk?"

"No," smiled Gail.

Now Traci gave her a look. "You like her." With a sigh, Gail nodded. "So what's wrong?"

Gail glowered and pointed at herself with her thumbs, "Straight."

"Holly," replied Traci with a smirk. "Reclassify."

"Fine, but... It's like... When you were in school, did you ever make out with an older guy who'd already been around?"

"Sure. Dex." Traci paused, "Bad example."

"Little bit, yeah."

"I see the problem, though." Traci leaned back and looked thoughtful. "How ... Gay is she?"

"Totally." Gail realized with a start just how much they know about each others past relationships.

"And she knows that you're new at girls, right?" Gail nodded. "And ... Kissing?"

"I may have, um, made out with her in interrogation..." Gail still felt embarrassed. "God, I can't believe I did that at work!"

Traci laughed, "Glad you're horrified about the Peck things." Silence. "Oh, that's gonna suck."

"Yeaaaah," drawled Gail. She had no idea. "Plus side, you and Stevie won't be a blip on the radar. God, he owes me one. You both do."

"If you'd done this on purpose, I might agree," teased Traci. "So? Kissing?"

"Traci! Yes. There's been kissing, okay. And I stayed with her last night."

Traci looked surprised. "And you didn't jump her? I've seen her, she's hot."

"God, why are we talking about this?" Gail groaned.

"You want to jump her." Fixing Traci with her best 'you are stupid' look, Gail nodded. "Okay. keep kissing her."

"That's it? That's your advice?"

Shaking her head, Traci pointed out, "I said you deserved happiness too, Gail. If it's with her, same thing. But can I be there when you tell Steve?"

"Too late for that!" Though Gail wondered why her brother hadn't told anyone.

That night at the Penny, Gail sat with friends and none of them remarked on her hair until Oliver showed up. He was physically fine, and delighted about the new look, but complained that it wasn't fair she had better short hair than he did, and then everyone caught on. Dov she forgave, not that she'd tell him that, ever, since he'd had to cope with his girlfriend being shot and married. That was filed away for later ammunition though.

When totally drunk McNally went back to the hospital, Gail, Dov and Chris departed for their lair.

"So," started Chris, in his dumb-as-a-box way. "Holly."

"Oh Christ," groaned Gail.

Dov, who had missed all the excitement of the Big Gay Distraction, was lost. "Holly what? Holly who? Are you finally over -"

"Holly the forensic pathologist. I'm dating her." There. She said it. Kissing meant dating, right? Gail hunched inside her coat, walking a little faster. The boys were quiet, and Gail peered over her shoulder to see them looking at Chris's phone. "What the hell?" She grabbed the phone and was startled to see a fuzzy shot of her and Holly, holding hands in the hospital.

"She's gonna kill you," Dov remarked to Chris, but regarded the photo again. "Coat Check Dr. Stewart. Wow."

"Hey, she introduced Holly to me!" Chris was smiling.

Gail wasn't really mad but she threw the phone back at Chris, "I thought Steve was going to be the gossip queen about this."

Softly, Chris replied, "I'm not telling anyone." And then, "I like your haircut too."

Gail grumbled, "They're not related." The trio walked in silence for a little while, until Dov nudged Gail with his shoulder. "What?" she demanded, peevishly.

"Nothing." But he was smiling.

"You both need to shut up. We're not talking about this."

In defense, Chris held his hands up. "Just let us know when you won't be home," asked Dov, grinning. "Or if you have a guest over."

"Stop talking."

Locked in her room, Gail twiddled with her phone. Either Holly would text her, or she'd be working all night. So Gail tapped in a message.

I'm not drunk enough to deal with my roommates being supportive.

She turned off the lights and tried not to get tense listening to the noises in the house. It was normal for her to fuss about it. Her therapist swore eventually she'd get past it, be able to sleep in the dark, but right now that didn't seem likely. With a sigh, Gail turned her closet light on and curled back up. Holly had a nightlight. She remembered from the nightmare Gail had the night she was on Oxy. Eyes wide open, Gail tried to think about happy, relaxing thoughts, and immediately went to daydreaming about the kiss. Kisses. That wasn't really relaxing, but it sure made her less tense... Or tense in a different way.

Abruptly her phone lit up. Gail rolled over and grabbed it, hoping it wasn't going to be her parents.

Coincidentally, I'm not drunk enough to be at work.

Definitely not mom and dad. Gail grinned.

I'm pretty sure you lose your license, drinking at work.

Which is another reason I'm sober. Your friends ok?

Everyone lived. Oliver's getting promoted, Chloe's out of the woods, so Dov is making my life hell telling me you're cute. He is sooooo wrong.

I'm not cute?

Cute is not the word I would use, no.

This is much more interesting than work. What word would you use?

Cool. Smart. Sexy.

Holly didn't reply for a longer time and Gail bit her lip. Finally the phone beeped a reply.

Sexy.

Duh. Totally awesome and sexy.

Well, you would know.

What's THAT supposed to mean?

It means I think you're sexy too, silly.

Not usually the word people use for me.

Well they're stupid-heads.

Gail laughed and then covered her mouth so she didn't wake up the boys.

Very scientific.

Sexy Dr. Stewart says go to sleep, Officer Crankypants.

K

She paused and sent a second message.

Can I see you tomorrow?

After work?

I'm on second shift, I'll text you when I'm done?

Sounds good, honey. Sleep.

Night

Gail smiled, feeling her skin blush. There was something about Holly calling her that ... She sighed and curled up with one hand on her phone, wishing it was Holly's hand.

Two days. Two days ago, Gail was asleep in her bed. Two days ago, she was cutting her hair and kissing her. Two days had passed with phone calls and texts and schedules that were enough to drive anyone insane. Or maybe just one pathologist with a rampant libido. Ugh. It was not fair to fall for unavailable people. Not that Gail was unavailable by choice at the moment, if the brief make out session before she'd gone home that first day was any indication.

The first cancelation of seeing each other was on Holly, stuck working overtime. The second was Gail, who ended up calling her from the patrol car. That was how Holly was introduced to Dov. He confiscated the phone and informed Holly that Gail was driving while talking on her cell phone.

The names Gail called Dov were enlightening and hilarious. Also descriptive and anatomically impossible.

However Gail did come over that night, in the end, fairly late, knocking on Holly's door at eleven.

"Gail?" Holly wasn't quite awake, having dozed off on the couch.

"Hey, sorry, did I wake you up?" Gail looked ready to step back and leave, so Holly grabbed her hand. "I saw the lights on."

"No," she lied. "Okay, yes, but I was on the couch. Why didn't you let yourself in?"

With a smirk, Gail let go of Holly's hand to hang up her coat. "I gave you your key back, nerd. I could pick the lock, but your neighbors already think I'm weird."

Perplexed, Holly locked her door. "I don't even know my neighbors, how do you know them?"

"Super cop powers." Gail stepped out of her boots, making Holly wonder if she ever tied them, and smiled softly. "Sorry, I know you have to be up early."

That soft smile melted Holly's heart. How could someone so stuck up and stubborn look that tenderly at her? "It's okay." This was a truth. "I wanted to see you." Holly informed her brain to stop acting like a teenager, telling the first girl she liked that she liked her like her. That had gone badly.

Gail didn't say anything to that, and just invaded Holly's personal space to kiss her again. Quietly filing away her worries about Gail being straight, Holly pulled her close. Kissing Gail was rapidly becoming one of her favorite things about the woman, though Holly managed to ruin the moment by yawning. "That's really encouraging," laughed Gail, clearly not offended.

"Sorry, I didn't sleep enough." Holly sighed, hiding her embarrassment by burying her face in the crook of Gail's neck.

Gentle fingers brushed at her hair, and Gail whispered, "We don't have to do anything, Holly."

Holly laughed and let go of Gail to look at her better. "I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be my line."

"Eh," she smiled. "I just wanted to be with you… Is that okay?" A touch of shyness grew on Gail's face.

"Very much okay." They went upstairs to the master bedroom, Gail borrowing the same sweats and shirt she'd worn two nights ago, and curled up under the sheets. Holly did not miss a brief moment of tension when the lights went off, fading as the light from the nightlight cast the room in a faint glow. How did you ask someone if they were afraid of the dark as an adult?

This time, Gail curled against Holly's side, an arm wrapped around her waist. "Thank you. For the light."

Holly turned her head and let her eyes adjust to the dimness. "Sure," she said softly, watching Gail's face quietly compose itself into relaxation.

One blue eye opened to look at her and Gail smiled. "You're going to watch me sleep." It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact. When Holly didn't answer, not having a real answer that wasn't a little embarrassing, Gail propped herself up on one arm. "I like you, Holly. A lot." The arm on her waist moved and Gail rested her hand on Holly's hip.

Right away, Holly's mouth went dry. "I like you too." It seemed so silly to say that, when Gail was looking down at her with a face that said she wanted to kiss her.

And Gail did lean in to kiss her again. Holly closed her eyes, concentrating on the feeling of Gail, hovering over her, kissing her in her bed. Her hand found Gail's arm and squeezed it, wanting so much to feel her weight, her skin. But before the kiss got too far, Gail pulled away for a moment. A second, very soft kiss, without any pressure to take things further, followed. Why was Gail so clearly in charge in this moment? Holly sighed when the kiss stopped and Gail returned to cuddling with her. "Good. Because otherwise that would have been really awkward."

Holly laughed louder than she meant to and covered her mouth. "You're terrible."

"I'm the most awesome person in the universe," corrected Gail.

It was impossible not to smile. "I'm rolling over." As she did, Holly was aware that Gail simply scooted around with her, taking the 'little spoon' spot as if it was hers all along.

Lacing their fingers together, Gail sighed, comfortably, her body relaxing into the mattress. "Night, Holly."

The strident voice of Elaine Peck cut in the moment Gail said her name into her phone to the number she half-recognized as being from another station. "What are you doing on Thursday, Gail?" Of course Elaine knew the minute Gail was off shift. She probably had her schedule, and Steve's, laminated to the damn wall.

Gail eyed her phone. "Tomorrow? I… why?" It wasn't time for the monthly Peck Dinner, which Gail made a mental note to figure out how to ditch this time. Maybe Oliver would put her on a stakeout.

"The McDonald boy asked about you—"

"Oh. No. No, I am not free for a date, Mother. And not with Trip." Gail made a face and hung up her gun belt. "We went over that."

"I know we'd agreed to stop setting you up, Gail," remarked Elaine, her tone clear that this was not ex-Peck-ted behavior. Gail grinned at her mental pun. "And while I understand your reservations with Winston—"

"Forest Hill, Mother. He was from Forest Hill and was the most pretentious ass—"

"His father neglected to mention the accent—"

"You didn't even talk to him first!" It was somewhat normal for her and her mother to cut each other off mid-sentence, and Gail was surprised she got a second one in. "Anyway, I have a date."

There was a pause on the line, as well as a sound behind her. Gail glanced and saw another officer quickly look away. At least it wasn't Andy. Or Chloe. "Oh. A date. With whom?"

"Someone I met, but just be happy, okay? I won't be some dried up spinster Peck."

"Do I know him?"

Oh good god. "I have no idea, and I don't actually care." She paused. "It's not…" Shit.

"It's not…? What? You're seeing a police officer? It's not Nicholas?" Elaine's voice dripped with venom. Wow.

"God, no. Nick and I are over, and by the way, thank you for telling all my dates that I was on the rebound." Gail carefully hung up her uniform and thought about what to say. Most of the time, in public, Elaine was sickeningly sweet and undercutting. On the phone, when no one could hear them, it was different. That meant different answers and replies. "She's not a cop."

And with that, it was said. The word was out there and Gail waited. "She?"

Being a cop's child meant your parents regularly picked up on any careless words. This had not been that. "Yes. She. I'm going on a date with a woman." Gail was not quite certain she wanted to re-identify herself as a lesbian, but this much could be worked with.

"I see. Is this your … first date with her?"

Gail smiled and touched her hair, thankful her mother could not see her face. Weren't phone's wonderful? "No." Well… yes. Maybe. Did the other times count? She'd have to ask Holly. "This is who I told you about before. Why I was done with blind dates."

There was another, long, silence from Elaine. "Shall I buy you plaid for your birthday, then?"

"November's a long time away, Mother," Gail replied, snidely.

"I suppose this would be better than your goth phase," sighed Elaine.

An evil grin crossed Gail's face. "I cut my hair, too. It's all short now. I'll send you a picture."

She could hear her mother's wince. "Short hair is easier to clean," she muttered. "Dear, are you sure you understand what you're doing?"

Gail closed her eyes. She didn't understand everything, but she did understand one important thing. She liked Holly. Holly made her feel loved and beautiful, even when she was having a crazy freakout in the bathroom, or a nightmare. Holly didn't judge or try to fix, she was just there. "Tell Trip MacDonald no thanks."

"Alright." A pause. "If this proves to be something substantial, I'd like to meet her. I don't think I've met any of your boyfriends since Craig."

"Chris, his name was Chris." And Elaine would meet Holly when pigs fly. "Dinner, fine." Gail dismissed the proposal in her mind. She'd just make sure to 'have' to miss the family dinner. "Can I go?"

"Of course. I'll tell your father." Her mother hung up without a farewell or an I-love-you. Of course, Gail couldn't remember a single sincere 'I love you' from her mother, so that was nothing new.

She sighed and took a selfie to send to her mother. And then she texted Holly. Because that was infinitely better.

Chapter Text

The text made Holly's face burn. It was silly how the sentence was making her feel warm and cuddly inside. And horny, definitely horny.

I've decided I really like it when you call me 'honey'

"What's this? Puppy love?" teased Lisa.

"Yes, exactly," replied Holly, tapping in a quick reply.

I like when you call me lunchbox.

Lisa, one of Holly's oldest and dearest friends, made a disgruntled sound. "How long have you been going out with her anyway?"

Warning bells went off. Lisa was always weird about the women Holly dated. She likely had a crush on Holly, which was fine, but not something to throw Gail into. Gail would probably bite. "Not that long," deferred Holly. Three months or three days, depending on your point of view.

"This is why you blew off that date I set up, isn't it? You flipped your straight chick."

Oh god, it was going to be one of those days. Her phone pinged again.

You're such a nerd.

Holly tried not to smile. "Yes, yes it is exactly why. I totally flipped for a straight chick, she kissed me, and unlike you, I can't juggle more than one woman and a career." It was a mean comment, but then again, Lisa's nickname in med school had been Slutty BitchTits.

I'm your nerd. When are you off shift?

Lisa snorted. "I want to meet her."

"Pushy, aren't we? I'll talk to her."

Another snort. "I bet she hasn't introduced you to her friends."

For a moment, Holly contemplated explaining that Gail didn't really do 'friends' very well, but she'd met her brother and her roommates. "Actually, she has," smiled Holly, sweetly. "They're nice. I just don't want ..." What she didn't want was to introduce Gail to her own friends before they'd had sex.

Depends. What's the best way to stop you from IDing a body?

Holly eyed her phone. That was not an answer.

"You don't want to scare her off? Come on, if she can't take us, she doesn't deserve you."

Glancing at her friend, Holly thumbed a fast reply, "You can be a lot to take in at first, Lisa."

Whom you killing now?

The reply was an angry emoticon.

Lisa sighed, "I won't bite her."

No, but Gail might. They would either like each other or hate each other, depending on if Lisa understood what 'Peck' meant in cop-speak. Even Holly knew Superintendent Peck. That those Pecks were the same as her Peck had freaked her out. Gail, of course, was Gail about it.

Dov has the day off, and it was McNally or Nick. Shoot me.

"I'll talk to her," repeated Holly.

"You're texting her now."

Holly stuck her tongue out at Lisa. "I'm asking when she's off work." It was not the time to explain Gail was a cop either. Lisa would be classist. Rachel would be worse. Lisa she might have to ask Gail to shoot.

Come to my place after you kill your partner, I'll feed you.

Hopefully it wasn't too forward. The last few days had been rough, with Sam and Chloe still in intensive care. The whole division was overworked. Still, Holly just wanted to see Gail, and knew she wasn't going to get anywhere laying hints.

Lisa exhaled, "I don't want your heart broken, again." Whatever else Lisa was going to say was, mercifully, cut off by her own phone.

While Lisa took an emergency boob job call, Holly watched her phone for a reply text. Finally it came with one word.

K

"Really?" Sometimes Gail was too much. Pocketing the phone, Holly paid for the coffees and hugged Lisa goodbye. She would have to find out the best way to handle her strange cat.

Around seven, she got another text from Gail.

Finished reports, home to change, yours all night.

Holly was glad to be home alone, and knew she was blushing. The implications of that sentence were ones that gave Holly tingles.

"Oh shit. Gail's coming here!" In a mild panic, Holly ordered takeout and rushed through her house putting things in order. She even changed the sheets and made the bed, and squeezed in a shower. Because... Hope lies eternal. Or as her father said, chance favors the prepared mind.

She had just pulled on jeans and a clean top when the doorbell rang. Doorbell meant food, though Gail had left the key with Holly. "Coming!" Was it too soon to give Gail her own key? She rushed down the stairs only to find Gail tipping the delivery man. "Hey! I said I'd feed you."

Gail kissed her cheek as she came in, "I thought maybe you'd cook." She was far more relaxed than she had been the other night. Routines did that to people.

Locking the door, lest the police officer scold her again (it was thus far the only time Gail had gotten mad at her), Holly went for the dishes. "I said I'd feed you. I'm really a better breakfast cook."

It was then Holly noted Gail had an overnight bag. Not that it meant anything. She may not have gone home after work. "I don't really do breakfast. I hate eggs and tomatoes, which seem to make up everyone's ideas of a good breakfast."

The sentence made Holly wonder about meanings. The first time Gail spent the night, she'd been doped up and complained about all food. The next two times there had been coffee and kisses, but no time for food. "I'll keep that in mind. Drinks?" Gail obliged with coke and water. "No alcohol this time?"

"Not for me," smiled Gail, and she pulled her boots off. The enigmatic Peck was at it again. As their paths crossed in the kitchen, Gail caught her arm, "Hi." Her smile was inviting and soft, begging to be kissed.

It was too easy to be distracted by Gail's smile. When they first met, it was so rare. Holly sighed, succumbed to temptation, and stepped in to kiss Gail. "Hi," she replied, before leaning her head in.

Kissing Gail was still so new and fascinating. Everyone told her that Gail Peck was cold and aloof. Holly didn't see that. She saw a pressured, smart, antagonistic porcupine. Just pet her the right way and you were fine. More than fine. Holly could get lost in her kisses. "Hi," smiled Gail again, at a pause between kisses.

"You said that before." Holly felt a little light headed, and sighed.

Gail made a noncommittal noise, "You'd cover for me, right?" She let go of Holly and took the plates to the table.

"Oh god, you did kill someone."

"Hah, hardly. I was stuck with Nicholas today and McNally dumped him for Swarek. I'm letting him stew. I mean, Nick went to her right after we broke up... Which was the point."

That was when everything about this Nick guy made sense. He'd been the fiancé who left Gail at the alter. He was the ex-solider whom Gail had dated recently. He was the guy she cheated on, to give him an out so he could, guilt-free, date her friend, and ruin that friendship too. Holly remembered the haircut, when Gail had pointed at a bit of hair, calling it 'round two with Nicholas.' Nick. Nicholas. "Sorry, what?"

"Didn't I say? Last summer, when he and McNally went undercover, they pretend hooked up but he fell in love with her. While he was supposed to be dating me, or they did shortly after. They're both really vague about it. I gave him the out..." Gail shook her head. "It's all messed up. God, I'm glad to be out of that shit." Sitting down, Gail glanced back at Holly.

There it was. Holly was a rebound. Her face tightened. "No, you didn't mention that."

Gail frowned, "Hey, Holly..."

"You somehow neglected to mention the details."

This did not make Gail get up. "Nick was ... Convenient." She looked a little tense to explain it. "There was other stuff going on, and it was way less about him, trust me. I didn't care that McNally fell for him, I cared that they both lied about it." She frowned a little. "Remember when you picked me up at the hospital? The burn?"

Holly's train of thought derailed. "Yes..." What did the burn have to do with it?

"That's when McNally finally told me. McNally who I thought was my friend lied to me about how she felt about him." Gail looked more thoughtful, and more pained. "This is why I don't like people. They lie and they hurt you and you can be friends but they still do it."

There was something odd about the brutal honesty in Gail's words. "I don't know what to think about this," sighed Holly and she sat down. It certainly made that night make a lot more sense, and the attitude towards her coworker in the hospital.

Gail shrugged and reached over to squeeze Holly's hand. "It's a long, stupid, story. And involves another stupid hair moment." At Holly's arched eyebrow, Gail sighed. "Goth. After Nick left me at the alter, I was a goth for a while. Then I went to Europe, backpacking, for the summer. And then I became a cop." Gail served them both Kung-pao chicken. "And then shit happened."

Holly frowned. One day Gail would tell her the rest of the shit. She had a feeling that getting back with Nick was related to the problems with cabs, and the nightmares. And her trust issues. And yet she trusted Holly with all this. There were a lot of contradictions in Gail, and they were fascinating. "You are impossible to figure out sometimes," smiled Holly.

"Thank you?" Gail laughed a little. "You confuse me too, though mostly about myself. I mean, who knew the whole sexy librarian thing was my thing?"

Touching her glasses, Holly smiled more. "And you like it when I call you 'honey' too." There was a slight flush to Gail's pale skin. "Goth, huh? You'd have been striking with that skin."

The blush didn't fade, "I looked terrible. It was my rebellious phase. What about you? Horrible perm stories? Secret stash of flannel?"

Holly pursed her lips, "Do you have photos of Goth Gail?" At the nod, Holly got up and took her high school photo album off her shelf. "Senior year, high school." Gail flipped through until she found the right page, which was self evident.

"Oh, Lumberjack Lunchbox!" Covering her mouth, Gail's eyes twinkled. "You are the cutest little butch ever! I swear this is what my mother thinks will happen."

Heart stopped. "Your mom?"

Nonchalantly, and cheerfully looking at more photos, Gail said, "I wanted to get it over with before Steve did, so I told her I was dating a woman." She paused and looked at Holly seriously. "That sounds so weird, doesn't it? A woman. But 'girl' felt wrong. You're not a girl at all." Gail looked Holly up and down, then at the pictures again. "This is girl Holly, and she's adorable. I like woman Holly."

Holly tried to place her feelings on Superintendent Peck knowing about her. Was this going to change her job? Oh sure, now let's worry about that. No wonder Gail was a little slow to introduce her around, this actually did have an impact on her career. Would the Superintendent come down and try to talk to her? What about the Commissioner? God, there were a lot of Pecks to worry about! But what came out of her mouth was, "We haven't even had sex yet, Gail!"

Naturally Gail's reply was filled with the snide bite she loved to use. "I had noticed that."

"Seriously! You told your mother about me before we had sex? Who does that?"

"Uh no, I told my mother I was dating a woman." Gail was careful to emphasize the word.

Holly paused. "Not me?"

With a shrug, Gail closed the photo album. "Not like she couldn't figure out in an hour, but she promised not to invade my privacy. We have a deal." Gail looked at Holly thoughtfully, "Wow, I thought I was the only one having a meltdown."

Holly sighed, explosively. "A mini freak out."

"Which is why you cleaned the house. That or it's your seduction plan, and I gotta tell you, I'm a slob, so it doesn't impress me much. Not a lot to compare it to."

"And this is why you don't invite me over." There was something about Gail's caustic nature that was soothing.

"That and my stinky boy roommates." Gail smiled. "Your house is way nicer. No roommates at all." She reached across the table to touch the back of Holly's hand, tracing a circle in a way that tingled.

Oh. They were on the same page. "You know what sucks about being a lesbian?"

"Fleece and flannel are hot in the summer?"

"When I tell a girl she's cute, she doesn't always get the homo-intended vibe."

Gail stroked the back of Holly's hand again, "I can see that being a problem sometimes." She turned Holly's hand over. "I understand how you feel," she told Holly.

Certain Gail was wrong, Holly attempted to be calm. "Oh? How's that?"

"Well. Here's this misanthropic cop, straight, who you kind of like, and worry about. And when you try to tell her without saying that, she kisses you. So is she straight? Will this be more than a kiss? Will it be like when you kissed her, and you both pretended nothing happened? Or maybe it's like the shower... What if you do sleep with her and she thinks it's a big mistake?"

Meeting Gail's eyes, Holly was a little surprised. "That... Isn't all wrong." This wasn't the first time she'd heard Gail talk about feelings and emotions candidly, but it was still odd. It was clearly something she thought about, but rarely said.

With a soft smile, Gail stroked the palm of Holly's hand with her thumb. "And then I tell you I've been thinking about kissing you for months." Holly sucked in her breath a little. "Now... This is the part where you tell me we don't have to do this." Holly shivered as Gail traced lines on her palm and inner wrist. Her voice got softer. "And I tell you I know, so you tell me we can go slow." Gail didn't stop caressing Holly's hand. "Then I tell you I'm not scared. You get to have a freak out again because this is my first time with a woman, and it's a big deal because maybe it wasn't special enough for your first time. So you-"

Holly leaned in and kissed her. If Gail was startled, it didn't show and she welcomed the kiss. Holly oozed out of her chair and into Gail's lap, winding her fingers through the short hair that was so, so beautiful. Women with sexy short hair were totally her thing, and Holly knew it. She shivered again when Gail's hands slipped up the back of her shirt. "Sorry," she whispered. "You just needed to stop talking."

"I can shut up," smiled Gail. The kissing, like the time in the shower, started getting a little eager. It was good to know that sober, adjusted-to-short-hair Gail was kissing her the same way. It made Holly ache with a need to be touched. But this was not the place. Reluctantly, Holly stood up, eliciting a half moan, half groan out of Gail. "No more cold showers, please."

"No," agreed Holly, running her hands from Gail's head down her arms and finally to clasp her hands. "No shower." She tugged once and Gail immediately stood up. Leading Gail by the hand, Holly went upstairs to her bedroom. There was no hesitation from Gail as they stepped inside. She paused, looking at the bed, "We really don't have to do this, honey."

Gail let go of her hand, and as Holly turned, expecting to see some hesitancy in Gail's face, she caught Gail pulling off her own shirt. Oh. No mistakes about it, Gail knew what she wanted and went after it. Holly was frozen in place, admiring Gail's build. For someone who couldn't swing a bat, she was incredibly athletic. She walked passed Holly and sat on the bed, eyebrows raised in a silent question. Why are you still standing there? Holly could hear Gail's voice in her head and smiled.

Why indeed?

Afterwards, they lay in a sweaty, loose tangle of limbs. "Yeah, that's going to happen again," decided Gail, toying with the ends of Holly's hair. After what had become round one, Gail declared that Holly was right, and men sucked. And then she'd stepped up to demonstrate her appreciation to Holly in a way that showed she'd been paying attention or had done some research. Or Gail was just a fast learner. Either way, Holly never wanted to move again.

"Yeah," agreed Holly. Her limbs felt pleasantly heavy and she had no intention to move any time soon. Not even to shower. "After a nap."

Gail gently kissed her bare shoulder. "That was ... Amazing."

Holly finally opened her eyes and looked up to see Gail smiling, almost shyly, at her. "That was unexpected." She smiled back and closed her eyes again.

"Liar."

Opening her eyes again, Holly frowned, "What?"

"You changed the sheets." Gail looked amused and Holly rolled her eyes. "The sheets still have creases. I'm a cop."

"You're far too awake," grumbled Holly. "You didn't warn me you were chatty after sex."

Gail pulled the blankets up over them and settled down. "I'm usually not." Her weight dipped the mattress and she exhaled, clearly getting comfortable. "Sleep now," she yawned.

Smiling, Holly stopped fighting sleep, and her last conscious thought was that Gail didn't really do breakfast.

"When you said to meet you at the range, I thought somewhere else," Holly noted.

"That's your excuse for staring at my ass for the last ten minutes?" Gail handed Holly the old target and hung a new one on the line.

When Holly had called her after work, Gail was torn between running off to be with her new girlfriend and finally getting in some practice. Thankfully, when she suggested Holly meet her at the range not at the station and then they could go out to dinner, this was met with interest.

Anything was bound to be better than the shit she was getting at work for the haircut. Her brother grabbed her at lunch to warn her their father was on the warpath. Apparently, while Superintendent Mom was relatively alright about Gail's dating a woman (though the remark of it being a phase stung), Inspector Dad was less so. She'd spent the day dodging his calls until, finally, he caught her at the end of shift. The argument had been brief, centering mostly around Gail screwing up her chance to make detective and look at that Nash girl, already there.

That Gail didn't really want to be a detective didn't matter. She was a Peck, and Pecks did what was expected. She told her father it didn't have any impact at all, and to mind his own business. In that moment, Gail expected an explosion, but her father just fumed and said they'd talk at home. Which meant Gail was avoiding her parents' place for the time being. Nothing new there.

But none of that mattered at the moment, especially when she knew she was doing just fine at work and she had Holly. Even Gail deserved some happiness, as Traci had noted. So had her therapist the night before.

"It's just you said you didn't do sports." Just hearing that amused voice lowered Gail's blood pressure. This woman knew her at her snarkiest and still not only wanted to be her friend, but wanted her for exactly who she was.

Gail snorted, "This isn't a sport." She wiped off her ear protectors and checked to make sure Holly had the right kind. "It's just target shooting."

"There's an Olympic event for it."

"That's not a selling point."

"Seriously, you don't just shoot your work gun at ... Work?" Holly looked impressed as she studied the target. "Wow. Do you score that or something?"

Gail looked at the target for a moment, "Not during practice, and I haven't done competition shoots in years. I'm just trying to have a nice cluster." She put the ear protectors on her head, though not her ears. "I don't do sports, I just like shooting things." Shopping and weapons. Did that make her butch or femme? Did it matter?

Huffing, Holly rolled up the target. "By yourself. In the middle of the night. At a public range in the middle of nowhere."

"It's six, and Marc's right there." She waved at Marc who was still hanging his own target. He liked to record his scores, along with his thoughts, right away. Most people were annoyed by it, but Gail found it calming. "At least I'm not at the outdoor range."

Holly shuddered and pulled her coat tighter, "It's a colder than normal winter. Spring's going to be a bitch."

"Too many dead bodies under the thaw," quipped Gail, putting another clip on the counter and stretching. If Holly was going to reply, it was lost when she watched Gail. "Perv." Gail smiled and kissed Holly tenderly.

Making an appreciative noise, Holly sat on the bench behind Gail. "I'm trying to reconcile the most girliest shriek I've ever heard with the badass cop."

"I'm a contradiction," grinned Gail. "Put on the headgear, okay?" Holly nodded and Gail called down to Marc, "Range is hot." He repeated it back and she picked up her gun, slapping the new magazine into place. Gail had worried that having Holly there would distract her, but she found it easier to center herself, and easily shot the target.

After retrieving that target and shooting another, Gail eyed Holly, who was smiling. "What?" asked Holly, suddenly defensive.

"You're looking extra nerdy there, Lunchbox." When Holly just blushed, Gail laughed. "Oh you can't even say you were thinking about physics and crap, can you?"

"You look ... amazingly graceful, Gail." Holly fidgeted in a way that assured Gail the doctor had gone to a dirty place.

She grinned. They had only had sex the once, but Gail too found herself going to a dirty, dirty, sexy place in her mind all the time. That morning, waking up in her own bed alone, all Gail had been able to think about was Holly. "You want to try shooting? I've got a smaller caliber."

Holly startled but shook her head. "How long do you think you'll be shooting for?"

Gail pulled out her phone and checked the time. "Half hour. Forty-five max."

Nodding, Holly moved to the bench and sat. "I'm going to sit here and stare at your ass then." Gail rolled her eyes, but finished up her practice. As she started to take apart her gun, Holly noted, "Thirty-eight minutes."

"Punctual Peck. That's me."

They walked back to the cars holding hands, and while Holly floated the idea of take out, Gail noted they wouldn't get much eating done that way. The doctor blushed again, and suggested an Italian place that was walkable from her house. That was a better idea, and Gail took a moment to kiss Holly before they drove their respective cars to her place.

Gail was there first, and texted Dov.

Don't wait up.

In the not too recent past, Gail wouldn't have worried about such things, but since her attack and Chloe's shooting, Gail felt obligated to do so. Besides, Chris and Dov had been very attentive, making sure she was never alone since Perik.

Say hi to Holly.

Dov was a surprisingly good friend. Thank god they'd never slept together.

Say hi to Chloe.

The lights from Holly's car light up the area and Gail rolled down her window as Dov replied.

That's not Gail. Holly has the phone.

She smirked and tapped a fast reply.

Don't be an asshole.

Holly opened her garage, "I think you can squeeze yours in, honey."

Gail rolled up her window and eased her car into the second spot in Holly's rather messy garage. Her phone buzzed again as she got out.

That's my Gail. See you tomorrow.

"Work or family?" wondered Holly.

"Roommate."

Shut up.

And wisely he did not text again. Gail looped her arm through Holly's and sighed, "They worry if I don't show up."

"That's sweet, and creepy." Holly leaned into Gail, leading her down the road.

Was it too soon to bring things up? "I suck at relationship Jenga, Holly." Holly gave her a quizzical look. "When you said I didn't have to go back out there, with the madman, and I said it was my job, I realized I was more Peck than I thought."

Holly was, apparently, getting used to Gail's non-sequiturs. "I was scared. I've never been worried like that about someone before, and it ... Scared me." For a moment, Gail thought about not continuing what she was trying to say. Holly worried about her so much that she had to see her. Had anyone cared like that about her before? Gail squeezed Holly's arm. "Jenga? Is this about getting up trees?"

Jenga, right. "No. It's ... I'm afraid of dark small spaces, Holly. I'm afraid of being alone in the apartment at night, and I'm really, really, afraid of taxis. Nightmare, talk to my therapist afraid." She felt herself tensing up a little. She'd stopped going to a therapist regularly, but after the department shrink gave her the look about a lesbian kiss, Gail caved to common sense and called her old one up. The therapist had been unsurprised to hear about the cheating on Nick, though somewhat shocked about the kiss with Holly. They were back to monthly sessions.

At first, Gail insisted she wasn't gay, or switching teams, but her therapist had pointed out it didn't matter, and let's talk about being happy. It was a nice change from talking about being afraid all the time.

"You don't have to talk about it, Gail," Holly said quietly, slowing her steps.

She tried to get the rest of the words out a few more times, and finally, as they got to the restaurant, Gail asked, "Is it really okay?"

Holly kissed her cheek. "Only if you promise to spend the night next time you drink with me."

It was wrong for Gail to buy into the distraction, but they were just starting to play Jenga, and there were already enough blocks puller out on Gail's side. Don't yank out all the blocks at once and go run up a tree, she told herself, and let Holly whisk the night away with a story about a drunken adventure, school stories, and a life Gail hadn't really thought about. Gail was sure her therapist would yell at her, as much as a therapist ever did, and tell her not to use Holly (or anyone, man or woman) the way she did, as an escape.

But this was not an escape. As terrifying as it was, Gail was falling in love with someone for the first time, for the first real time. She wanted to be invested and close in more ways than just physically. She wanted the long talks and the support and the sharing, and most importantly, she wanted it all from Holly. Gail was up a different tree, and she wanted to build a tree house with Holly up there.

"Earth to Officer Cranky Pants. Where's your head at?"

"Tree houses," replied Gail, reflexively. Holly's laugh was warm like a summer rain. "Sorry, I was thinking about you."

The laughter changed a little, shifting into a softer tone. "So no dessert?"

Gail wanted to say yes. She had seen the words 'chocolate cake meltdown' on the menu and Gail loved sweet foods. But for the first time in her life, Gail didn't want the dessert. Or at least not that dessert. Holly's shirt had the top two buttons undone and suddenly Gail's mind was locked on target. Holy hell, that's why men liked to look at boobs. "Only if we can take it to go," she decided.

Chapter Text

"Wow, you're never here," announced Dov, staring at Gail in the kitchen of their apartment.

"I'm always here. There's coffee here." She sniffed the coffee in the pot, verifying it's freshness, before pouring a cup. "Is Chloe here or did you finally learn how to make coffee?"

Dov stared at her, "She's at her parents. Why are you here?"

"I live here, Dov. I even pay rent." Gail dropped into a chair and sipped the dark brew. Holly had an espresso maker, which was nice, but overkill. "Why is Chloe at her parents?"

"The whole dead thing... Seriously, Gail. Why are you here for breakfast?"

Gail eyed her roommate. Truthfully, the last two weeks she'd barely been home except to shower and change. She and Holly had been a little joined at the hip. Thinking about that, she smiled a little. "You're a shitty cop, didn't even hear me come in."

"You know what... Why aren't you at Holly's?" Then Dov's eyes widened and he looked at Gail's bedroom door. "Is she here?!"

Throwing a dish towel at Dov, Gail snarled, "No, she's at home. I don't have to spend every waking hour there."

"I was thinking more about the sleeping ones."

"Stop. Just ... Stop thinking about me and Holly."

Dov looked embarrassed and sat down. "But-"

"Oh my god, Dov, really? I'm allowed to sleep where I pay rent, and I do pay. God, we're going out tonight, which is more than I can say for you and Chloe."

"She's on bed rest!" Dov protested, but smiled.

"See? This is why I don't hang out with you anymore, you're all perverted." Gail finished her coffee and went into her room to change for work.

She'd wanted to spend the night at Holly's, but getting finished with her own work so late on the night before Holly had a court date made staying over seemed like a bad idea. They'd just be up all night if Gail stayed over, so it had been a quiet phone call where they talked about nothing important. She'd woken up to a too cute text, wishing her a good morning. Not willing to really get up, Gail had demanded pictures of Holly's court outfit. Holly obliged with a photo of the suit on her bed. When Gail asked for photos of Holly, she got one of Holly's foot.

It was actually one of the more hilariously happy ways she'd woken up in a year.

Gail's day was spent in anticipation of dinner, and she kept tabs on the court case by simply asking her brother how it was going. His former partner was the arresting detective, so he had all the scoop. Thus she was prepared when she finally got a call from Holly near the end of the day.

"I am so, so sorry. This is going on forever."

"Hi to you too," smiled Gail, stepping into a quiet corner. The new rookie, Gerald, looked at her expectantly. "Go. Away." She shot him a glare and he ran off.

"Wow... Was that to me or-"

"Oh god, no. The rookie, he's an annoying puppy and I think McNally wants to kill him. Of course, he's the commissioner's step-son so ..." Gail knew that pressure all too well. Of course, her godfather had remarried when she was in the academy, so she really had no idea who the kid was, or if he mattered. There hadn't even been an informative text from Superintendent Mom. "Stuck in court hell?"

"We're on an hour recess, then I finally get to take the stand."

"Ouch!" Steve had told her it was delayed, but that was plain late.

"No kidding." Holly huffed, annoyed. "I hate lawyers. They're so picky and snippy. Science is so much better, don't you think? Just straight forward and there we go, answers."

She was rambling and Gail knew what that meant. "Did you eat?"

"Did I ... Eat?"

"Yeah, the thing where you put food in your face?" Silence. "Baby, go get something." There was a little more silence and then a chuckle. "I'm hanging up now," sighed Gail. As she did, she heard Holly laugh.

The rest of the day went by slowly. Dov went to see Chloe, Chris had some date, and Holly wound up in the apartment alone. Not generally a good thing. After doing laundry and actually cleaning, Gail gave in to a whim and drove over to Holly's. The lights were on, so she pulled out her phone.

Did you make it home ok?

The reply was pretty prompt. It was a grumpy emoticon.

Open the garage?

A long moment passed and the garage door rose. Inside, a robed, un-spectacled, Holly stood, looking confused, "How long have you been there?" Her eyes were all slitty and she looked miserable

"Two texts." Gail eased her car into the empty space and ushered Holly back inside. "You look beat to hell."

"Thank you so much," grumbled Holly, and she wandered back to the couch. Gail made sure the house was locked up before hanging up her coat and joining her. "I need brain candy or I won't sleep," complained Holly.

Gail settled in on the couch and draped an arm over the back. Raising an inviting eyebrow, she asked, "So what are we watching?"

"Sports. You'll hate it." Holly wrapped her arms around herself and looked grumpy. Without really thinking about it, Gail leaned over and turned Holly's shoulders. "What are you doing?" She sounded annoyed and like she'd rather be alone. Oh, Gail knew that one.

"Lean back."

Holly eyed her, but did, allowing Gail to be her pillow. They sat there, stiffly, for a while, and then Holly pulled her legs up underneath herself and relaxed against Gail, her head on Gail's arm. Through the first hour of the game, Holly's body became more and more limp, until finally she slid down so her head was in Gail's lap, and she was snoring softly.

"Yep," smiled Gail, and she gently stroked Holly's hair. This was better than alright. This was perfect. Holly felt perfect against her.

It was amusing to watch Gail, absolutely filthy and annoyed, as she stood guard in the falling sleet, mud splattered up past her knees. Holly was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to find it cute, but the look of disdain aimed at the people trying to drive through the crime scene was absolutely hilarious and sexy.

It was inappropriate, but Holly's spot by the body, collecting evidence, afforded her an unobstructed view of Gail's ass. And the best part was that Gail seemed to have no idea that she was that nearby. True, Holly was working, and making sure all the evidence was bagged (and it was weird evidence, medical trash that made no sense given the rest of the scene), but she enjoyed the free show when Gail leaned over into the car at the tape right then.

"Sir, I'm sorry our crime scene is making your pizza delivery late, but trespassing violates medical jurisprudence, so unless you want to be arrested, you can just call Dominos and tell them to meet you at the corner." Glancing over her shoulder, Gail shot Holly a smirk and then directed the car away.

Caught, Holly adjusted her hood to hide the smirk on her face and went back to monitoring evidence collection.

"Peck, anything new?" The voice was a grumpy, older, male officer Holly had met a couple times. Holly couldn't make out his nametag.

"Weird medical trash. That's my coffee, right?" Holly glanced over in time to see Gail taking a cup of coffee from the much drier officer.

"Oh yeah, nerd patrol tell you that?"

Disdainfully, Gail replied, "Forensics. No, but they're bagging it and I don't see any more except around the body."

Blinking, Holly looked around and realized Gail was right. So did the other officer, apparently, who muttered 'huh' and sipped his own cup. "Killer doctor?"

There was a chilling silence from Gail, and a tone of forced levity (or sarcasm) in her reply, "No. A clown, Andrews." She looked vaguely deadpan, but Holly got the inkling of a feeling that there was more to Gail's comment. The other officer, apparently Andrews, looked guilty.

So she spoke up. "Or nurse. Or our victim's in the medical profession. Or coincidence. At this point anything's possible, which is the point of why we're collecting evidence. If we find trace that's on the evidence that matches the body, then maybe we have more than just coincidence. Of course, its also possible it's just cross contamination, depending on how long the bodies' been here and for that we'll need to do more intensive tests."

"God," muttered Andrews. "Are they all like this?"

"Nope," replied Gail, popping the P in the word and smirking. "Still weird. Not a place I'd look for junkies."

"Junkies?" Andrews looked around. "They don't use nice parks?"

"Not this close Zanaro's territory. This used to be Bobby Zanaro's world. Ollie and I nabbed him 2 months ago."

"Used to be," pointed out Officer Andrews. "Could be a new group or an internal fight or a total random."

"Yeah, which means drugs and gangs needs in. You want to call it in?"

"Nah, you look like you could use some time to dry out." Car keys were exchanged and Gail vanished into the cruiser to call in the situation. Andrews lingered closer to Holly than the tape, though at this point Gail had rather effectively chased off everyone. His radio crackled into life and Gail's voice came through, unintelligible but recognizable. "Copy, Peck."

A moment later the cruiser pulled out and Holly was left with just the strange man she didn't really know. And her fellow lab rats. "We'll be done soon," assured Holly, watching the body finally drive off.

"They get mad if we leave you guys without protection. Killers like to come back."

"He could have died accidentally."

"Sure, but just in case." Officer Andrews patted his gun. "Peck'll be back before you guys roll out anyway. So will other Peck."

Holly blinked. "Other Peck?"

"Her brother. She probably tossed the case to him, fraternal freebie."

"Sororal sympathy," suggested Holly, smiling. She glanced up at Andrews' face and saw confusion. "Sororal means sister, and she's his sister..." Holly sighed and went back to her work. Gail probably would have made a joke.

While the rain let up, the crime scene for more officer mostly ignored Holly and crew and said nothing, until Gail pulled back up with the cruiser. "Peck, they said you were a fast driver."

"If you want cheese all on one side, sure." Gail popped open the car and pulled out five boxes.

"What the hell? You said pizza." Officer Andrews tromped over and took a box.

"Nerds eat too." Gail smiled and jerked her chin at Holly. "Whaddaya say, Dr. Stewart? Care and feeding of forensics?"

Andrews looked grumpy, which was normal based on today, "When I called them nerds, you gave me crap."

"I did," agreed Gail, though she seemed to be more watching Holly than her fellow officer. "So?"

The other lab workers looked at Holly pleadingly. "We're almost done..." Holly sighed and gestured at the pizza. Half her crew descended on Gail the moment they were out of tyvek, thanking her profusely, and eating it outside of the crime scene. The other half finished up under Holly's watch. Holly went for the pizza last, and was not horribly shocked to see there were no more boxes. "Whoops," she sighed, walking up to the cruiser.

"All that thinking makes 'em hungry."

"I did not think this through," sighed Holly, suddenly craving the pizza and not wanting to make her coworkers feel guilty about eating all of it.

Gail smirked and reached into the cruiser, "I did." She pulled out a smaller pizza box.

"No tomatoes?"

"Just the sauce."

It was an amusingly surreal moment, sharing a pizza at the crime scene, waiting for guns and gangs (and Gail's brother) to show up. Officer Andrews was more interested in flirting with one of the techs, so it was almost like they were parents supervising a kids play date.

Holly leaned into Gail's shoulder. "This is the weirdest date I've been on in a while." She kept her voice low.

"Well since I'm going to have to cancel tonight to work on the case, and I'm hungry, I figured..."

"You're always hungry." Holly smiled, finding she really wasn't too upset about the lack of a date night. There were these stolen moments with Gail that more than made up for it.

When Steve arrived, it was back to Professional Peck, and the siblings somehow even put aside their usual bantering to discuss the case. While Steve's partner was dismissive of Gail's theories, Steve seemed to be interested. It was probably aided by the fact that Gail saved them pizza.

"Run that by me again," asked Steve around the mouthful of pizza.

"Zanaro said he got ousted, and now this guy, with the same old school ink, is here dead. I say cover up."

"And the meds?"

"Not sure yet. Waiting on forensics." Gail gestured at Holly, not smiling but still looking more friendly. Work Gail was usually this kind of distant, which wasn't a bad thing. It was nice to have some delineation.

"Well then maybe you should stop feeding them pizza and let 'em get to work," joked Steve. "Okay, uni, you get to run with us today on this one. Start with-"

"Canvassing the area, did that." She handed over her log book. "Statements, such as they are. Lots of 'I ain't seen nuthin' around here. We should run the traffic light at the corner, though. I already asked the store about their security camera, but it's just for show."

As Steve's partner reviewed the log book, and started taking Gail more seriously, Holly caught a smirk from Steve. It hadn't been a shock that she was closer to Steve's age than Gail's, though both Pecks were younger than Holly. Still, somehow Steve always felt more childish than Gail did. She was more immature, but she wore it like a shield, as if it protected her from having to be taken seriously. And then Gail was this brilliant, lazy, cop. And Holly found it enthralling.

Steve winked at Holly, clearly noticing. "Dr. Stewart," he grinned. "Mind if we come back with you to the lab? See what your minions uncover?"

"Not at all, Detective," she coughed. "Uh, Officers?"

"They're leaving the footwork to the experts," smirked Gail, looking just like her brother. "Come on, Andrews, you can ride shotgun."

"This is going to be awkward," sighed Nick, dropping into the driver's seat.

"Why?" Gail really wasn't paying attention to her partner at the moment. After working with her brother for a couple days, the drudge and boredom of a normal day was much welcome. Even if it was with Nick. Speaking of, he was being quiet, so Gail looked up at him and not at the text from Holly, asking her when she got off shift. "What?" Gail put on her best sneer.

And Nick exhaled, looking relieved. "Chloe said you were going soft."

"Oh, Nicholas, don't worry, you're my special punching bag." She gave him her best biting grin, and was pleased to see him cringe.

That let them ride in silence for quite a while. "Are you still mad at me?"

Boy, Luke wasn't wrong. People do just talk if you give them enough silence. "No," she sighed, and was surprised to feel how right that felt. Then she thought about what she'd said to Holly about it, and repeated the conclusion. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch, Nick. It was passive aggressive and ... Childish."

"I'm dreaming," mutter Nick. "I'm going to drive around the corner and there'll be a bear and my high school English teacher, tap dancing."

Gail sighed and reached over, pinching Nick's arm hard. He yelped. "Smart ass, I'm serious."

"I was worried you cut off all the bitch with the hair."

"Hardly. I just think short hair looks better on me. Maybe I'll try the motorcycle next." Without thinking, she laughed and said aloud, "She'd get a kick out of that."

The problem with dating cops was the same as being related to them. They latched on to things. "She?" Nick darted a glance over. "Your mother would blame me."

"I'm having sex with a woman."

It was delightful to watch Nick's double take. He whipped his head around and slammed on the brakes at the last second to avoid rear ending a van, and Gail laughed gales of laughter. The best moment she'd had in days, outside of ones with Holly. "What the hell, Gail!?" Nick was sweating.

But Gail kept laughing. "I should have taken a video of your face, Nick. That was great."

"That's not funny," he growled.

"You were funny," she retorted.

"God, is there anything you won't say to get a rise out of me?" Nick eased the car back out into traffic.

Gail carefully aimed her phone at Nick and tapped the record button. "It's true though."

"What's true?" Nick was grouchy.

"I am having sex with a woman. It's great." The range of emotions on Nick's face were priceless. She was saving this video forever. "Seriously, I totally see why you're into it. I mean, wow. Soft and curves and she smells amazing. Did you know you guys smell totally different? It's like... I used to like turkey bacon, but then I had real bacon that first time, and I thought my parents had lied to me for years. Which isn't new."

In a strangled voice, Nick asked, "Are you comparing sex with women to bacon?"

"Good point. Men are more salty."

To her delight, Nick gibbered. "Jesus, Gail. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm a lesbian now, Nick," she said firmly.

"This is a nightmare. I'm having a nightmare right now."

"Don't worry," caroled Gail. "I won't ask you for sex tips. It's a lot easier when you share the same parts."

Nick's face turned red. "You're still mad at me."

"Nope," Gail laughed, popping the P loudly. "We're good now." She turned off the video.

She let him live in silence for the rest of the shift, but wasn't surprised when, at the end, he asked, "You're serious about this? The lesbian thing?"

Gail leant on the car and thought it out. "Yeah, Nick. I am."

Her ex-fiancé looked confused but shook his head. "I gotta say, it makes a hell of a lot more sense."

"What's that supposed to mean?" But she saw his smile and, for the first time since he was back from undercover, answered it with an honest smile of her own. "You're an ass, Collins."

"You're a bitch, Peck."

But they were friends again.

Chapter Text

Holly knew a honeymoon week couldn't last forever, but she was very happy when the second week of dating stayed in that awesome bubble. And the sex was awesome. Even when there wasn't sex, there was this sweet, vulnerable side of Gail that was warming up to things. Part of her worried Gail was going to be one of those project girlfriends, but when she nagged Holly to eat, or made sure she was sleeping, the doubts faded.

It made her feel special, too, when she got to watch Gail sleep. It wasn't the only time Gail was so peaceful and angelic, but it was the only time Holly could watch her without getting teased. That was Gail's armor. Sarcasm and bite to keep the world at bay, to keep it from hurting her. And asleep, the armor seemed to fade. Sometimes, when they kissed, Holly caught the same open look on Gail's face, where she surrendered to her feelings.

Turning off the lights, Holly let her eyes adjust to the darkness and focused on the nightlight. It was symbolic, in a way. Letting that light in brought Gail closer. She turned to the side and curled up, watching Gail's deep, even breathing. "You're beautiful," Holly whispered.

"I'm not asleep," replied Gail, startling the crap out of Holly.

"Jesus, how the hell can you breath like that and be awake!"

Gail opened one eye, "Really wanna know?" Holly nodded. "If I'm asleep on the couch, my parents don't talk to me." She closed her eye and added, "They had a doctor check me for narcolepsy when I was ten."

What a horrible reason to master that skill. "I'm sorry." She caressed Gail's face. "How come you're not asleep?" Instead of replying, Gail rolled over and snuggled up against Holly, using her as the big spoon. Holly smiled and draped her arm over Gail's waist, letting them hold hands.

"Because you keep staring at me. Go to sleep, Holly," instructed Gail, her breathing still slow and comforting.

Holly was asleep in moments, or so she presumed, since the next thing she knew, it was a quarter after two AM and the bed was empty. "Gail?" She rubbed her eyes and squinted around. There was some light in the hallway, and Holly got up and reached for her robe. Her favorite robe was missing and she frowned, taking the one Gail usually borrowed instead.

The light was from downstairs, and Holly poked her head down to see that Gail was curled on the couch with one small light on. Interesting. She was partway down the stairs when Gail spoke, "Sorry, I tried not to wake you up."

"You didn't." Holly sat down next to Gail. "That's my robe."

"Yeah, it smells like you," smiled Gail, not putting down the forensics journal.

Holly's brain wasn't running very fast. "Gail, it's two. Why are you awake?" When Gail didn't answer, Holly reached over and took hold of the magazine. "Gail."

The blonde sighed and dropped the magazine. "I couldn't sleep. It's not a big deal."

There was a lot of deflecting going on just then, "Honey. Is everything okay?"

For a second, a pained expression crossed Gail's face, but then with levity she remarked, "My schedule change messed up my circadian rhythm, that's all. I start night shift tomorrow."

Suspecting there was more to it, Holly frowned but asked, "Night shift for how long?"

"Five nights, just enough time to get used to it before screwing me up again." Gail reached over and pulled Holly onto her lap. "Five whole nights where I'm going to be working when you're in bed," she whispered, kissing Holly's collar bone.

Every time Gail did that, spontaneously touching her and kissing her, the fears Holly had about dating a 'straight girl' melted away. Gail wanted to touch her and be with her. "You're trying to distract me," sighed Holly.

"Is it working?" Gail started to worm one hand into Holly's robe.

"A little," admitted Holly. She kissed Gail softly. "When you're not on night shift, can we have drinks with my friends?" Gail murmured something that sounded like a yes, but her face was now pressed into Holly's neck. "Gail..."

"Drinks with Holly's friends," she repeated. "Tuesday?" The kissing was getting far harder to ignore.

"I'll check." Holly turned her neck, giving Gail more access. "Bed?"

Gail hmm'd and looked at Holly, "Only if I can keep kissing you."

"Oh, no," laughed Holly, getting up. "Clearly it's my job to make you sleep." Gail smirked, and followed her back to bed.

After four nights in a row at her own apartment in her own bed, Gail decided she hated it. She also hated the night shift, and she totally, absolutely hated being partnered with Salvador. He smelled sour and only wanted to talk about jujitsu.

On the one had, she wanted her shift to be longer so she could get used to it better. On the other, she was grateful she only had to cope with it for three nights, and this was the third. As shift change finally rolled around, she pulled the car into the lot. "Sal, wake up." She slammed on the brakes to snap him awake.

"Damn, woman," he groaned. "Would it kill you to be nice?"

"Yes. I'm deathly allergic to nice. Every time I ride with Price, I have to stab myself with an epi-pen." Her deadpan was not seen as humorous.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Sal shook his head. "Just TGIS man."

Gail rolled the letters around in her head and blinked. It was Saturday. Days often had less meaning when you worked them the way they did. "I'll take care of the car," she told Sal. "What? I can be nice."

The man shook his head again, "You're only nice 'cause you're getting something."

Smirking, Gail popped the trunk to get their gear. "You are shockingly correct, Salvador."

After filling out the paperwork on the car and locking her gun up, Gail took the time to shower and change. By the time she was done, the day shift had started to drift in. Gail stalled a little, not wanting to chat with McNally or Price, but she checked the schedule to make sure of a couple things. Two days off. Then back to days.

"You look too devious, sister mine," drawled Steve. He was haggard and unshaven.

"I have two days off, brother dearest. Don't call."

He spelled Holly's name in sign language and Gail rolled her eyes. "We missed you at dinner last night. Mother asked, you know."

"I'm sure she did."

"So did Dad."

"Now that's a lie, and you know it, Steven." Gail swung her bag to her shoulder. "Unless he wanted to say how I was delusional."

"He said distracted, and asked if you were still seeing a therapist."

"Christ." Gail shook her head. "See this is why I hate family dinners."

Since he couldn't argue that, Steve just shrugged. "You're serious about this, aren't you?" When Gail abruptly blushed, she found herself the recipient of a surprised brotherly stare. "I feel like I should pull her aside and ask her intentions."

Making the sign for sex, Gail smirked at Steve's wince. "You asked. What's up with you and Traci?"

"It's going okay, I think. Good. I like her."

"You've had a crush on her since that night at the Penny."

"Jerry got there first," sighed Steve. "And then there's Dad."

They both paused. Their father had more weird sticking points than anyone else they knew. "Dad will get over it. Or not. I don't care. I'm actually happy for once, Steve."

"Then grab it with both hands and don't let the bastards take it away, Gail." He grabbed her for a quick hug and then shoved her away. "Get. Leave the crime solving to me."

Gail snorted and headed out. She wanted, in no particular order, breakfast and to see Holly. That gave her an idea, and instead of driving to breakfast, she found a small fruit and nut, hippie place that Celery had told her about, and bought groceries. Then she drove to Holly's and rang the doorbell. There was no answer and Gail felt a little stupid. She had this idea that Holly would open the door, all cute and sleepy in a robe, and Gail would make her breakfast and then maybe things could happen.

Instead, she sat on the stoop and sighed. "Clearly I'm stupid," she told herself under her breath. Holly was probably out, doing things early risers did.

As Gail reflected on how long it was safe to sit on a stoop with eggs and milk, she saw Holly come jogging up. Literally. "Gail?" Holly blinked and pulled her earbuds out. "Did I forget something?"

Gail felt sheepish as she gestured at the reusable grocery bag at her feet. "No. I just finished shift and thought... I wanted to see you." She couldn't remember feeling this way about any of her boyfriends, and even Nick had managed to monumentally screw up surprise breakfasts. Was she the screw up now?

"With a bag." Holly pushed her sweaty hair away from her face and peered in the bag. "Flour. Eggs. Blueberries. Chocolate chips... Cookies for breakfast?" She sounded disappointed.

Reaching in, Gail pulled out the milk. "Pancakes."

Holly's eyes lit up. "Buttermilk pancakes? You cook?"

"Contrary to what everyone believes, I can cook. Just not first thing in the morning."

Holly made a show of looking at her phone. "It's 6:20."

"I just got off shift." She smiled up at Holly, feeling awkward.

When Holly's face softened, she looked like Gail was the sweetest person in the world. "So this would be dinner?"

"Both. Or I can go wake up my roommates. They'll accuse me of trying to kill them..."

Holly held out her hand to Gail and pulled her up. "If you promise not to burn down my kitchen, I think we can make a deal."

She wasn't sure what the hell had just happened. Or why it happened. But Gail was out the door and angry. "Let her go," advised Lisa. "Better now than six months when you break her heart, or she breaks yours."

"It's too late for that," muttered Holly, and she ran outside without her coat, but Gail was out of sight. Holly vaguely knew where Gail lived, but was startled to realize she'd never been to her apartment. She knew Gail lived with two coworkers, male, but the details were lost on her. Dov and ... Nick? No. Chris. An ex.

The cold, late winter/early spring wind whipped around her and Holly shuddered. How little did she know about this woman after all? Gail didn't take taxis, she slept with a light on, she was allergic to tomatoes, she had a morbid sense of humor, and she was bratty and immature. And Holly had no idea where she lived.

Damn it.

Holly pulled her phone out and called Gail. Voicemail. "Hey. Honey, what the hell just happened? If it's what Lisa said, I can explain. Just... Call me back. Okay?"

It was a terrible message, but what else could she say.

A day went by without a reply, and Holly called again, leaving a voicemail again. "Gail, hi. I'm sorry about the stupid things they said, I know you're not uneducated or not in my league. I mean, who cares about leagues, right? Except for sports, they're stupid. Actually, they're made up in sports too, to give us something to side against, which is really fake. Faker than weddings. And- that woman you work with. Price? Her too. So. Um. Yeah. You're not fake. And I'm rambling and I really need to stop talking... So. Call me. Please."

The third voicemail, after a week of silence, was less friendly. "Okay Gail, this is fucking stupid. I know you're not dead. I've heard you're working on cases. This is just stupid, and you're in a damn tree and I'm trying to get you down, but you have to actually answer me sometime. So come on, just pick up the phone when I call, or call me back. Or ... Something. Anything. This not talking shit is immature."

The day after, she left the fourth voicemail. "That was mean. I was mean. I was angry. I'm still angry. I. I don't know what to do about this anymore, Gail. I miss you, but if this is what's happening, then I guess ... This is goodbye." She paused. "Goodbye, Gail."

Somehow Holly managed not to leave any more voicemails. She didn't text. She didn't stalk or spy. She just looked away. She moved on. She went on a date, which was with a woman who wasn't as witty as Gail. There was another date with a woman who was lazy, like Gail, but not in an endearing way. After the third date, Holly considered throwing in the dating towel.

"Do you know what your problem is?" Rachel asked the question over a glass of wine at her condo, across town. "You're too picky."

"I have standards. And you're the one who didn't go on a second date with Roger because he smelled funny."

"You're still hung up on the cop."

Holly groaned. "Her name is Gail."

"Her name is walked-out-on-you," corrected Rachel. "You know I'm not saying Lisa was right about it, but..."

"Yeah, I know." Holly sipped the wine, "I'm just going to be celibate."

"Don't tell Dr. BitchTits." There was a pause and they both laughed.

So Holly went on another date and tried to make it work a little. This woman was nice, funny, not acerbic, but had a bit of bite to her. Feisty. And she had a sense of humor. That got her a second date. This went a little better, and she even kissed Holly before going home on her own.

The third date happened to be after she saw Gail again, and spent more than a minute in her presence. And Gail was a damned force of nature. She wasGail. As if nothing had happened for three weeks, Gail asked her out to talk. When Holly casually mentioned she was seeing someone, the hurt in Gail's face astounded her. Through all the not-talking, Gail still had feelings for her. Gail was still totally hung up on her?

Giving in to temptation, Holly made the drive across town herself with the thumb, forgotten in the mess of Gail losing Oliver's daughter. And Gail confessed she felt Holly was the best thing to ever happen to her. That hurt. It stung and it poked and it ripped open everything Holly had tried to push away. It was everything she'd wanted to hear, only four weeks late.

"Goodnight, Gail."

They were the hardest two words she'd ever said.

And in that mood, where her mind was swimming with Gail, she proceeded to make an ass of herself at dinner with her date. Because when she asked Holly what was wrong, Holly told her about her ex, the cop, who dumped her crap on Holly and made her think again about everything.

"You're not over her," said the date, sadly. And she kissed Holly's cheek and left her with the check. Which Holly admitted she deserved.

That was when even Rachel stopped trying to set Holly up. Actually, that was when Rachel told her to call her back when Holly's head was out of her ass, and hung up. Lisa was more crass and told Holly to fuck off and stop being stupid. Her mother was similarly unsympathetic. After all, Gail was the one who walked away and didn't answer.

And that was how Holly ended up filling in her resume and tossing it up in various places. Vancouver. Los Angeles. Mexico City. Paris. It started as a drunk game she could play. Find all the cities she'd wanted to live in and see if they had an opening for a forensic pathologist. New York. London. Budapest.

When she got a phone call from a city she hadn't even applied to, Holly was flabbergasted. They'd pay for the move, give her a pay bump, and make her assistant chief? And she didn't need to learn a new language. But her first thought was of Gail. She wouldn't see Gail again if she did this.

As she went through each stage of the interview, first with the SFPD and then the medical college, she started to wonder if this was all real, if it was all possible. After the first interview with the US consulate and then the Department of Homeland Security, Holly felt a rising panic of reality. This was going to happen.

That afternoon, in her lab, an alert pinged on her phone that brought it all crashing down. "Peck Family Dinner in Suburbia Hell."

Gail had put the alert on her phone. She wanted Holly to meet her parents, and had promised much drinking afterwards. Holly stared at the paperwork in front of her and shoved it all in her bag. Getting drunk now seemed like a better idea, and she went to the store to find something to drink that didn't remind her of Gail for at least 12 hours.

What she found was Traci, similarly determined and similarly flustered.

"Why are you here," Holly blurted?

Traci startled and then blushed. "My mom has Leo. I forgot..." She and Holly shared a look and Traci tilted her head. "Huh, that explains why Gail's been avoiding me."

"Steve hasn't been avoiding me," Holly complained. He hadn't once mentioned Gail though, which was a small blessing.

They both looked at the various brands of wine and liquor before them. "You know what really sucks?"

"I can't drink tequila without thinking about Gail and how she swears it makes her do stupid things?" Holly sighed and put her hands in her pockets.

"I was thinking about vodka for Steve. Maybe getting drunk is stupid."

"Oh, it usually is," agreed Holly. They were silent for a while. "Did they go to the dinner?"

"I think so. Gail was somewhat dressed up and left with Steve." Traci smiled somewhat fondly. "Are you hungry?"

Holly blinked. "I seem to have a dearth of dinner plans," she admitted.

"I know a great dumpling place nearby."

And that was how Holly and Traci found themselves sitting in a booth talking about their failed relationships with the Pecks. When Traci explained that Steve had followed Dex, in an attempt to ensure Traci's custody battle was won, and possibly set him up. And then Traci had warned Dex. "Isn't that illegal?" Holly made sure to keep her voice low.

"Yeah," nodded Traci. "Steve hasn't told anyone, though. I don't think he ever will." She poked at her potsticker and then ate it. "But Dex is Leo's dad."

"He doesn't sound like a very good one."

Traci looked rueful. "He's ... Complicated."

Holly didn't buy it, and suspected it was more displaced affection for Leo, but that wasn't something you said right away. Well, Gail might. "He had your best interests at heart, Steve did."

"In a creepy, stalker, 'look at me, I'm a Peck' way." Traci put down her chopsticks. "Did Gail do something like that?"

"Oh, no, she walked out on me at drinks after she heard my friend." Holly winced and explained what had happened.

"See, that actually makes sense if you know Gail," sighed Traci. "The only person I know who knows Steve is Gail, and I can't ask her if this is normal." The dumplings made their appearance and Traci took a moment to explain the best dipping strategy.

"Does everyone from Fifteen take food so seriously?"

"You should hear Oliver about schwarma. He has some unholy affinity to this tiny shop. Back when I was uniformed, Gail and I..." Traci trailed off and looked apologetic. "Sorry."

Holly couldn't not smile when she thought about the time she heard Gail shout at Oliver about not eating her food. They weren't even dating then, "It's fine. You two were friends. Are friends."

"As much as Gail has friends." Traci took a bite of her dumpling. "We didn't really become friends until after ... After Andy and Nick left, actually." She looked a little sad, as if there was much more to the story. "She babysat for me that summer. Leo likes her more than Steve, actually. Except she's just inept at sports."

And that reminded Holly about the batting cages, so she related that story. Traci told her about how Steve took Leo to hockey and ice cream. They ended up spending the night chatting about that, their shared misadventures with two people named Peck who, for all their faults, were wonderful people.

"Have you met 'Herr Peck' ever?" Holly ran her finger around the rim of her glass.

"Their dad? Twice, he was ... Weird."

"Oh, no, sorry, their mother. Gail called her Herr Peck half the time."

Traci laughed. "Not met, no. She was there when we graduated, but all I remember was an angry red-haired woman with more brass than blue on her jacket, telling Gail not to embarrass them."

"She's just as lovely as Gail implied, I see."

"Yeah I wasn't looking forward to that part of dinner." Traci smiled, "Gail applied for the detective spot I got."

Holly blinked, "She doesn't want to be a detective, does she?"

"Not then. I don't know about now… She did it because she was supposed to. Half assed it." Traci shook her head. "She's still rebelling against her parents in her own way."

Sighing Holly looked at her plate. "See, and now I have to wonder if that's what I was. Another way to get at her parents."

Traci's hand reached over to touch Holly's. "I don't think so. She hasn't even looked at anyone since, Holly."

"Oh great, and here I am, going on dates." Holly groaned and slid her hand away from Traci's, slumping back in the booth. "She's impossible."

"Cryptic."

"Frustrating."

"Impulsive."

"Reckless."

"Pushy." Traci smiled and added, "Sucks doesn't it?"

"Totally," agreed Holly, despairingly. "God. Maybe I should have gotten drunk."

Traci laughed. "Then we'd be hungover and missing them." They split the check and wandered back out into the spring night. "Gail went to college, you know."

"I didn't know," replied Holly, surprised. "She didn't say."

"Tends not to. That's why she's older than most of the rookies in our class, except me. She has a BS in criminal justice." Traci looked at the traffic driving by, "She likes to act lazy and like she doesn't care, but ever since a year ago..." Again, Traci stopped. "If she ever gets her head out of her ass with you, she might tell you why. Maybe. It's this whole, painful, thing. But Gail did change. Maybe she will again."

It felt like Holly should say something encouraging about Steve, but she didn't know him well enough. She barely knew him by sight. "Steve cares about you," she offered, guiltily.

And Traci nodded. "I know he does."

None of that helped her answer the email awaiting her when she got home. San Francisco. Yes or no?

Chapter Text

While she had her own car, Gail let Steve drive her to dinner with their parents. Her excuse was that she wanted to drink, though the reality was she never got drunk in front of their parents, no matter how much she and Steve joked about wanting to do so. They always wanted to get blitzed, but getting drunk in front of Herr Peck and the Super's Inspector meant being harassed for days. And you just never, ever, got drunk at a fancy restaurant with reporters stalking your parents. They were Pecks. There were rules.

Still, public dinners out with the parents were infinitely better than the ones at home, which she'd managed to avoid most of, by picking up night shifts at the last minute. The public ones, however, she'd been caught and dragged into, and that meant at least one person stopping by the table to interrupt parental harassment. This one she'd hoped would be where she could introduce them to Holly in a way that would prevent a public scandal. Not so much.

"That wasn't so bad," Steve muttered, buckling in. Gail ignored him and turned her face to the street, watching the valet go to get the next car. They pulled out and, in a moment, hit the empty streets. "You gonna do this all night?"

He meant the silent treatment, probably. "What do you want me to say?"

The dinner wasn't an unmitigated disaster, not even according to Peck standards, which were really low. Judgmental comments from her father about the haircut notwithstanding, he'd kept his opinions of Gail's sexuality to a minimum. Steve had muttered that the table for six had been a low blow. Both of the siblings had Peck'ed it up to the best of their Peckish ability. As Nick had put it, the Pale Fails.

"I don't know," sighed Steve. "I was kind of expecting you to yell at me."

"I'm not mad at you." She side-glanced at Steve and caught him smiling. It was not without notice that Steve took the long, slow, way back to Gail's apartment. He wanted to talk. "I miss Holly," Gail finally allowed.

Steve turned to look at her for a moment. "I miss Traci."

"Please, it hasn't even been a month." She, on the other hand, was on week seven of the outs, and now the done and gones. "Holly's seeing someone else." Like everyone else in her life, Holly had moved on fast. Gail Peck was really not girlfriend material, thank you very much, Nicholas.

Steve glanced at her, "I'm sorry... You didn't say that before." He sighed, "I'm just saying, sister. If I feel a tiny bit like you feel? I feel you."

Gail snorted and then laughed. Steve chuckled. Within a minute, they were both laughing. "That was the dorkiest thing you've said in hours, Steve," she informed him, smiling for the first time since dinner started.

"Oh, really? You're the one who said 'I'm a lesbian. Steve, please pass the salt.' I mean, come on!" He smirked and stopped at the red light.

"I said please," muttered Gail, and Steve laughed.

"The face Mother made was great." Steve puckered his face up in an approximation of annoyance.

"And then there was Dad," she muttered.

Steve winced, "He'll get over it. I mean, Mom's okay, so he'll have to be. The Super's Inspector, and all." They both knew their mother ruled supreme in that relationship, though Gail was starting to think this would not be that simple.

"I should have brought Nick, he would have been their target." Her parents still hated him, though. Twice over. Not that she'd told them the details about the second time, but she'd certainly gotten stern looks from her family for even considering a second round with the idiot. He wasn't Peck Material, her mother said.

"That's mean. You're not mean anymore."

"Am to!"

"You helped a total stranger, Gail! And you said it felt good! You're all soft and gooshy and—" Gail wound up and punched her brother's arm. Hard. "OW!" Steve stared at her as the light turned green.

The car behind them honked, and he blinked. "Steve, green means go."

"When the hell did you learn to throw a punch?"

"I'm a cop, Steve!"

"The laziest one in existence, too," he noted.

Gail slouched in the seat. "Well. I've been working out, okay? It's that or listen to Dov and Chloe. Or Chris."

After a moment, Steve asked, "Sleeping okay?" She snorted. "If you want to talk about it…"

"I really don't, Steve." Gail looked away again, watching the street flow past.

He'd been away when she'd been abducted. When he got back, he tried to talk about it, but Gail had yelled at him. Then, after one night without any sleep, all alone in their suburban hellhole of a house, she'd shown up on his doorstep at three AM, asking to sleep on his couch. Steve was safe, after all. And he knew, he totally knew it was crap comfort they got from their parents.

Pecks, after all, didn't have anyone to talk to about these things. She couldn't talk to their parents, they wouldn't hear about it, or worse, they'd just tell her to suck it up. Steve, maybe, but he wasn't there at the time, and now it was just too hard to talk about at all. Except for one session with her therapist, Gail had found she just wasn't physically able to talk about it, not even drunk out of her mind. Her throat would close down, her heart would race, and once she even puked.

That one she blamed on the alcohol.

Her current therapist told her that she may never fully get over it, which was just peachy, and something she'd already sorted out. There was even an ugly, painful term for what was going on in her head, with the sleeping and the dreams and the days where it all hurt and she lashed out, angry and bitter and cynical. Post traumatic stress disorder. And there was no real cure.

At least now she could talk around it, tell people to shut up, and move on. It was better than the time she'd thrown a book at Oliver. He was seeing the same therapist she was, and doing much better than she was, which was galling. But then again … Oliver was off the streets now. She wondered if he'd ever be back.

"You gonna take the detective's exam?"

Gail glared at his reflection, "Go screw yourself, Steve."

He sighed. "Fine. Here you go, home sweet, stinky, home." Steve pulled up to the sidewalk and studied his sister's face.

"Steve," she sighed. "Can we just not go next time?"

"If you don't go, I don't go," he agreed.

Gail nodded and got out of the car. Of course Steve didn't drive off right away and she turned around to look at him. Thank you, she signed at him. It was easier this way.

You're welcome, he signed back, and then held up his fingers in a well understood formation. I love you.

"Shut up, asshole," smiled Gail, and she went home alone.

She wasn't supposed to hear the conversation. She was supposed to be working on her immigration papers. But the voice was so familiar it kept pulling at her,

"Look, Gail, I'm sure Dad will settle down..." Gail? Holly peeked around the corner. A tallish man with strawberry blond hair was at the far, far end of the hall, talking on the phone. "Just be happy Mom isn't starting up blind dates again." Blind dates. Gail. Steve, right. She'd only met him twice, maybe three times, and he didn't look that much like his sister. He sighed and looked at the ceiling. Now he looked like Gail. They shared mannerisms when frustrated. "You know that isn't what she meant."

Steve fell silent for a long while, and Holly suspected Gail was ripping into her brother. "I am glad you came to the dinner, Garbage Pail," he said softly. "I don't think so, no. I just thought- Mom thought that coming to dinner at the club meant you'd come to dinner at home." There was another long silence. "Hah, no, if you don't go, there's no way in hell I'm going. I told you that in the car." He laughed softly, "I love you too, sister dear."

Steve Peck tapped his phone and frowned. He dialed another number. "Hi, this is Detective Peck. Is the Superintendent in? Yes, I'll hold." He rocked on his feet and waited, about as patiently as his sister ever did, which is to say not at all. "Hi, Mom. She's not coming." He sucked in his breath. "I know... Yes, Oliver talked to her... Why me? Come on, she told me to screw myself, Mom." He huffed, sounding just like Gail. "Because she's gotta get it out of her system!"

When Steve started to turn, Holly tried to duck and hide in her lab. Nope, not eavesdropping! "That's not what I meant. Being a lesbian isn't another phase, Mom." Footsteps paced the corridor. "No. That's ... Mom, she's not going to be you. Or Dad, or Uncle Al or Gary, or anyone but herself. That's why you've gotta let her be. She's a great cop." He sounded angry. "See? This is why neither of us want to come over for dinner anymore, Mom. At least in public you have to be Superintendent Peck, and worry about the news. Look, I'm working on a case, so you'll just have to entertain without your pet monkeys. I have to go." There was a beep and an annoyed growl.

"Damn it," he snapped loudly. Then he was silent for quite a while before knocking on Holly's door. "Hey, Dr. Stewart." Steve's affable smile seemed stretched.

"Hello, Detective Peck." She returned the smile a little uneasily. But all he wanted to talk about was the case, which was a relief. As he turned to go she felt guilty. "Ah, Steve. You should know... The hallway? Excellent acoustics."

Steve tilted his head and smiled tiredly. "I know."

And he left, leaving Holly to wonder what the hell that meant.

When the call came in the middle of the night, Gail had almost forgotten it was a possibility. "Peck," she mumbled into the phone.

"Can you come over?"

Gail's eyes snapped open as the voice registered with her brain, though she checked caller ID first. "Yes. On my way." She hung up and stumbled out of bed, not caring about the noise. Pants, shirt, hat, coat.

As she was pulling on her boots by the door, a cranky Dov opened his bedroom door. "Gail, what's going on?"

Things in the house were still tense. Chris was away at rehab, which Gail felt guilty for not having noticed but also for not going to visit him. But then again, Chris didn't want to see her, so she concerned herself with cleaning his room. "I gotta go, it's a ... thing." She didn't bother to tie her boots and tugged her watch cap on. "Don't freak, okay?"

Dov stood in the doorway to his room, clad only in boxers. "Freak?" He yawned. "Gail it's one."

She sighed. "Getting up early is good for you. Aren't you on night shift tomorrow?" Gail grabbed her keys off the peg.

But Dov hesitated. "Did you... Have a nightmare?"

The walls in the apartment were too thin. Gail normally was quiet when she had a bad dream, or a flashback, but sometimes she knocked things off her dresser. And it was no good telling them she was a restless sleeper, because Chris knew better. "No, but I will if I have to look at you in your underwear any longer." She smirked and bounced out the door.

The drive wasn't too terribly long, but Gail kept checking her phone for another call or text. She pulled up to the curb, not really worrying if she parked illegally, and tried to keep her volume down as she knocked on the door.

One knock, the door opened, and a strained Celery was there. "He's in the dining room."

Gail nodded and went right in. She didn't see Oliver at first, but then saw his feet. For whatever reason, he was sitting on the floor, hugging a photo of his kids. At least he wasn't drunk. Gail sat down beside him. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he repeated.

They sat in silence for a while. "So. Holly is seeing someone," she informed him. "And I helped someone move. I also told my parents I'm a lesbian."

Oliver puffed a laugh. "One step past dating a woman. What did your mother say?"

"She didn't. She just looked like the wine had turned." It had been a great expression. Gail mimicked it for Oliver, who smiled weakly. "My father, on the other hand, informed me I was being a petulant child."

"Only I get to call you petulant, Peck," remarked Oliver, almost reflexively.

"That was the first thing you called me."

He looked at her softly, as if she was one of his daughters. "No. No, I remember this. I called you a delinquent and a car thief. And then you handed over your license. I thought I was going to piss myself."

"Pleasant," sneered Gail, but she wasn't mad. "Steve was such an ass."

"You took his car."

"I borrowed it!" They shared a smile. "Anyway, he didn't press charges, thanks to you." The fact that Oliver (and Steve, technically) was the only officer involved was the only reason Gail didn't have an arrest on her record. She'd actually been resigned to fact that she was about to disappoint her mother, again.

"I was more scared about your mother than what my first, stupid, rookie was going to do to his sister."

"Everyone is more scared of my mother."

"You're not." It wasn't true. Gail was terrified of her mother. He sighed and turned the photo to Gail. "What if he'd taken Izzy?"

"He'd have given her right back and turned himself in," Gail replied, snidely. Oliver cracked a smile. "Or we'd have done the same thing and gotten her back. Just like we got you."

"We almost didn't get you, darling." Oliver's voice shook. "It was dumb luck."

"But you did. And we got you. And you're safe, and Swarek's cheerfully making up with McNally so that's fine." The princess had worn the stupidest expression on her face all day, too.

Oliver stared at Gail. "I got scared," he whispered. "I woke up and I was scared about the streets, and then I ... Was relieved. I don't have to go out there again." Oliver's face drew pinched. "How can I be a cop, and protect people? I can't even protect Andy from herself."

To his credit, Oliver did not blurt the details Gail already knew about Gerald (Duncan, whatever) and Andy. She knew about the cover up. She knew about the deal, keeping Oliver in a white shirt. Her godfather had pulled her aside to ask her to not protect Duncan, which was the weirdest favor ever. But he wanted her to treat Duncan normally. Which probably meant she was going to be his new T.O. since McNally was such a fuck up.

"Oliver, the whole damn city can't do that. Andy's better at self-sabotage than I am!" Gail made a 'kaboom' sound and won a smile from her sergeant. "Cops get scared too, Ollie."

"Don't call me Ollie," he replied, putting the photo down. "I hate that nickname." Then he studied Gail's face. "How did you do it? Go back out there?"

She sighed. "Because. I hate people. But I hate losers and people who hurt people most of all. And... I can stop them. I like that."

"You just want to be the only mean person. But I'm on to you, Peck. You're secretly nice."

"Ice, Oliver. I'm an ice queen and a terrible girlfriend."

"And a good friend."

"If you tell anyone, I will use my connections to have you transferred to the RMCP."

Oliver whinged, "I hate horses." They smiled and he threw an arm around her shoulder. "Thank you." She didn't reply but leaned in so he could hug her. He needed it. "You're a jerk, but you're a nice jerk."

"That's a shitty compliment, Oliver," she laughed.

He sighed, "Izzy said she's sorry for messing you and Holly up."

Gail side-eyed Oliver and frowned, "Oliver, there's only one person who screwed up me and Holly, and you're hugging her."

With a thoughtful sound, Oliver let go. "You wanna sleep over?"

It was easy for Gail to translate that, and she nodded. Oliver wanted another cop around. "Sure. The couch looks fine."

"I have a guest room," he scoffed, and got to his feet.

"Fine, but we're having coffee and none of this tea crap in the morning." Gail took Oliver's hand and stood up. "And tell your girlfriend not to hug me."

"I'm just shocked Peck didn't punch him." It was a voice Holly recognized, and she glanced down the hall at Detective Swarek.

A female officer stood next to him and shook her head, "She's getting soft."

"Maybe she's growing up, Andy," laughed the Detective. "Just because you guys don't understand her sense of humor... Do me a favor and get the evidence report? I'm gonna call Nash." Swarek walked down the hall and Andy turned to face Holly.

"Oh. Dr. Stewart!" She looked confused and awkward.

"The acoustics," sighed Holly. "I never mean to eavesdrop, but I think they designed this place so we'd never be surprised by an invasion." She saw Andy (McNally, per the name tag) freeze and her face closed. Swarek. McNally. Invasion. Holly kicked herself mentally, wishing she'd paid more attention. Not that Gail had ever talked about the incident much. It seemed to be a sticking point. One of many that had driven wedges between them.

But McNally recovered. "Do you have the reports on the drowning?"

"You mean the body dumped in the lake? Yes." Holly smirked as McNally's eyes went wide. "Would you thank whichever officer controlled the scene? Getting the samples that fast, with that much detail, helped immeasurably."

"Sure, but don't expect her to be all excited about it," replied McNally, absently. "I don't think Gail's been happy in months."

Hearing Gail's name sucked the breath out of her. "Officer Peck?" Holly pulled the last paper from the printer and tucked it in the folder.

The officer gave her a strange look. "Yeah. She's stuck with the rookie, Moore, and he took a lot of wrangling." McNally looked guilty. "And since I'm not allowed to stay at the scene with him, I'm here ... Gail asked me something about diatoms?"

Of all the damnedest things, Holly blushed. "Diatoms in the water and bones. The body wasn't in the water long enough for that. But the water in the lungs wasn't inhaled. Your victim died of anaphylactic shock, source yet unknown. We're still running that."

McNally squinted at the body. "That's what Gail said. Petechial ... Something. She was right? Crap, she's totally going for detective," sighed the officer.

"Oh?" Holy tried to pitch her voice innocently. Gail was going to be a detective? That might make her proposal harder. Would she even consider it in the first place? Gail was Toronto Police Royalty.

"Yeah... Do you know her? Gail I mean."

"We've met," Holly said, a little dryly, and that got a smirk from McNally. Clearly she had no idea about the nature of Gail and Holly's past relationship.

"We used to be friends. And then stuff happened and more stuff." McNally paused and studied Holly's face for a moment. In that look, Holly remembered seeing the woman once before at the hospital. This was Andy McNally who slept with Nick. "Anyway, Gail's been ... Weird. Even for Gail. Like she's changing. Sam thinks she's growing up. Maybe she's just becoming a Peck. Go be a detective, then an officer, then Chief of Police."

McNally sounded both offended and jealous, which Holly found amusing. "And you?" She didn't know why she was asking, but it was comforting to hear that Gail had been doing alright. What Holly really wanted to know was if Gail was single, and she couldn't ask that.

"I just flunked as a T.O. so ... Beat cop forever, just like my old man." McNally paused. "God, sorry, I'm dumping my crap on a stranger. Case?"

Holly pursed her lips. "Well. Officer Peck was right. Your victim was a body dump. The body started on manicured grass, colored. The chemicals were familiar, so I ran them and they matched what the Blue Jays and other professional fields use."

McNally looked at the report as if she could make sense of this. "Gail's going to be so pissed when Sam tells her she has to check out every baseball and softball stadium in the area."

Holly couldn't help but smile a little. It would, indeed, be very annoying for Gail.

When she got home, Holly started to tackle the personal paperwork and breaking the news to her friends. Lisa was pissed, predictably, and Rachel was upset they didn't talk first. They both blamed the 'Peck Fiasco' for Holly's decision to cut and run out of Toronto, and Holly couldn't really refute it. She still had feelings for Gail, Holly knew that.

Scratch that. She had more than feelings. Gail had uprooted her, given her a glimpse of a future with someone who was an equal in many ways. Gail's feelings for her were strangely unconditional. They never put a label on their relationship, which retrospectively seemed to be a bad idea. Maybe she should have put a label on it, told Gail that she was falling for her, that she was more than just fun.

But that would require being able to define what Gail was to her, and Holly didn't know. She did know there was an ache, a hole in her chest, where there was no Gail. Holly missed the little things, like Gail's grumpy expression in the early mornings, and the sweet looks in the day when they stole time for themselves. She missed jokes about the courier being sick when Gail brought her coffee. She missed hearing Gail berate people for being idiots.

Be honest. She missed Gail, and was starting to think this was the stupidest choice she'd ever made. But there was the job offer. A future for herself. And she was seriously doubting it was the right one. But she'd have to try and ask... She had to.

Chapter Text

Sports reminded her of Holly, which did not help her mood with Gerald in the slightest. Him, she wanted to kill. Holly, she just didn't want to think about for eight hours, if possible, and if she was lucky, she could stop dreaming about her too. If she thought about Holly, she'd think about trying to apologize, for real, and maybe some grand romantic gesture to win her back. Or figure out who she was dating and arrest her... That wouldn't go over well either. Better to just work, run, and try to sleep without sex dreams about her ex.

"What's next on the list," she asked Gerald. No answer. Gail looked over and saw he was on his phone. Again. Without warning, she reached over, took the phone, and shoved it in her pocket. "If you touch me, I will break your arm," she growled at him.

Gerald (yes, fine, Duncan) complained, "I was tweeting!" He didn't attempt to get his phone back, however.

"Not. At. Work." Gail bit off every word. "God damn it, this is why you're in trouble to start with. You're not good enough to play on your phone and watch the streets." Gail knew she was, but she'd also been practicing that for years. Her parents bought her the GameBoy she'd wanted, but she could only keep it if, after a three hour car drive, she passed their idiotic tests. "How many cars with out of province plates did we pass since leaving the station?"

"What?" Duncan stared at her and she repeated the question. "Come on," he whinged. "No one knows that."

"I counted fifteen on Queens Quay. And I'm driving, Gerald." She fixed him with a glare. "Where are we going now?" She pointed at the paper and he read the address. St. Clements. Awesome. "This is an all girls school, Gerald. You are not to look, ogle, stare at, or even remotely ponder them. They are off limits."

The rookie grumbled, "What about for you?"

Was that a lesbian dig? He was going to be hurt. "Do you want to fail?" She hated this job, she didn't want to be his nanny. But Oliver and Uncle Al pointed out, rightly, her name was going to protect her from anything the idiot did. She could, freely and clearly, give her opinion and review on him, without fear of retribution.

"No," he whispered.

"Do you want to be a cop?"

He hesitated. "Yes."

God. He was doing this because it was expected of him, just like she did. Except Gail had a complex about failure, and stupid Duncan didn't care. She sighed. "No one likes you, Duncan," she said, intentionally using his real name. "No one likes me either, but I'm a good cop, and they would go to the line for me. You, on the other hand, are an embarrassment." She turned into the parking lot for the school. "I have zero interest in being T.O. to an embarrassment, so you are going to learn what you should have in the academy. I'm not your friend, I'm not your confidant. I'm your teacher, and you will not flunk this class, or so help me, I'll shoot you myself. Are we clear?"

Agape, Duncan stared at her. "Yes... Ma'am. Yes, ma'am."

Gail stopped the car and continued, "Since no on else wants your crap to touch their careers, and I'm the only person who doesn't have to worry about your step-father, I'm your training officer until further notice. You don't touch anything in the car until I tell you to. You don't write anything down in your memo book until I tell you to. You don't talk to other people, you look at me first. You do not tweet, text, Facebook, Instagram, FourSquare, Yo, or any other social media bull while we are on the job until I tell you to, and if you even consider telling people about our cases after shift, I have a cousin in the DA's office who would love to hear that. You do as I "say" not as I "do" and never question that." She paused, and knew this was where Oliver got nice and made a connection of friendship with the rookies. But Gail was not nice. "My job is to keep them safe," she pointed at the people walking around. "And to keep you safe. Which means if I keep your phone hostage all day because it's safer, then you suck it up. Can you do this?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Get out of the car." She flipped on the stupid body camera. "Officers Peck and Moore, at St. Clements." She started down the walkway. "The DB was male, Moore. So why are we here?"

He didn't answer, and Gail checked to see if he was thinking or not. "Because. Forensics said the um, the grass matched?"

"The chemicals used on their softball field matched the ones found on the body. And how did we know that?"

"The, uh, the gardening crew." He hesitated, "How come we're not interviewing them? The grounds people?"

"Because that's an important interview and you are not ready for the responsibility," she said flatly. "What do we want to look for here?"

"Someone who knows the victim!" He smiled, confident.

Good enough. The odds of that happening here was pretty slim, which was why she was here with Gerald in the first place. "Do you think it's a student?"

He looked lost at the question, "I guess. Anyone can poison, and it's a chick method-"

"Bzzzzzz! Wrong. Anyone and everyone poisons. More men use it to debilitate their victims." She rubbed her neck, an unwanted flashback. Push the thoughts back. She was a Peck. "This was anaphylaxis. Not poison." Off Duncan's blank look she elaborated. "He died of an allergic reaction."

"Oh. To ... What?"

"Spermicide." It was great to watch his face turn pink.

The interviews with the staff were brief and uninformative. Gail let Duncan try his hand at talking to the priest, trusting that the collar would keep him in check. It didn't, and after Duncan asked outright if Father Farr was sleeping with the dead kid, Gail cut in. "Okay, Officer Moore, that's enough." The priest looked relieved. "Shut up, sit down, listen, learn."

"Yes, ma'am."

Gail pushed her hair out of her face. "Sorry, Father, he's new. How's it been?"

The priest stared at her hair, then his eyes flicked to her name tag. "Officer Peck." He brightened. "You didn't come to the reunion."

"I told you I wasn't going."

"That was a decade ago, I thought you might have changed."

"Nope, still me." She handed him the photo again. "The reason my rookie was asking you awesomely awkward sex questions was the kid choked to death on spermicide." Father Farr's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "No DNA of course."

"You never believed testimony," mused the priest.

"You never bought mine," she retorted.

Smiling, regretfully, he handed the photo back. "I can give you my word. I don't recognize the boy." Gail watched his face, his eyes, and nodded. "Have you spoken with my younger teachers?"

The phrasing of the question was leading. "Not yet." She studied his face and then asked, "Who would you start with? If it was one of the girls." Seated beside them, Duncan twitched.

Father Farr, who never used three words of one would do, nodded slowly. "I would speak with Mr. Darthan last."

Gail pulled out her notes and looked at the name. The art teacher? Now her eyebrows rose. He wouldn't say the name if he didn't have a gut feeling. The gut was nice, but Gail needed evidence, even circumstantial. "Okay." She handed Father Farr a card. "You know the drill." He looked at the card and nodded.

As she led Duncan down the hall, he asked, "You know him?"

"I went here." She paused and looked at the girls leaving the art room.

"Didn't he say the art teacher would be last on his list?"

"He did," she replied. Her eyes sought a specific badge, and she tapped the shoulder of a short, grumpy, girl. Jerking her chin, Gail introduced herself, "I'm Officer Peck, this is Officer Moore. I wanted to ask you a question about your teachers."

The girl blinked. "Shouldn't I be called to the office?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, don't worry. I just had a question only the Arts Captain would be comfortable answering." Gail gestured at the badge, and the girl blushed. "Is Mr. Darthan the supervisor of the club?"

"Yes, since last year when Ms. Finch started retiring."

"She's still here?" Gail made a note to avoid her.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I know. She's a billion."

"She was a billion when I went here," confided Gail, and won a smile. "How's the new guy?"

"Oh, he's fine. He's a good teacher, but he's weird."

"Weird how?"

"You know how the guy teachers here are always ... Awkward?" Gail nodded encouragingly. "He's not. Not that way, I mean. And not how the priests are. He's just- he doesn't notice."

Gail thanked the girl and let her go. "Rookie, call dispatch and have them run a check on a Mr. Brett Darthan." She pulled her phone out to call Swarek and tell him she had a lead.

At first, not knowing the end of a case bothered her. Over time, Holly accepted that sometimes she wasn't going to get the whole story, and it made her inevitable testimonies easier. With just over two weeks until she left, Holly started to wonder if she'd learn what became of Gail's non-drowning victim, and if she'd have to fly back for a trial later, when McNally showed up again. It was only two days later, and McNally toted all the evidence and papers, in lieu of the courier. Frankly, Holly was surprised.

"You caught him already?"

"Super Peck did," grumbled McNally. "She actually managed to get the rookie to do something right too. Grown up having a fling with a kid, accidental death." McNally shook her head. "It's crazy, right? She's the laziest cop I know, but she's just being freakin' amazing. I don't know how she does it. If all that had happened to me, I'd be ..." McNally stopped and put the box on the table.

All that? Holly didn't ask and signed the chain of evidence paperwork. "I wonder why he didn't call 911," she wondered aloud. "I mean, he died of anaphylaxis, which means it took hours to die, at best. You could drop him off at an ER." Holly realized she was rambling, and stopped, feeling awkward. She didn't really get people as well as everyone seemed to think. Awkward extrovert.

"He actually claims he called 911, and didn't dump the body at all."

Both women shared a look. "Okay, that's weird," decided Holly. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" At McNally's confused look, Holly pointed out, "We have a courier."

"Oliver. He said sending Gail here kept her out of trouble, and since I'm in trouble again, it's my turn." McNally stopped and stared at Holly, recognition finally dawning. "You're Gail's friend." Holly said nothing, but the surprise must have been evident on her face. "Now I remember! You picked her up from the ER."

"Oh. Yes." This was not going to be a good conversation. "We were friends." The past tense in the statement hurt. Still.

"You too? She's a hard person to like." McNally sighed. "I miss being able to talk to her, though. Did you sleep with her ex too?"

Holly was terribly grateful not to be drinking in that moment. "No."

"She'll never forgive me. At least I didn't screw up her last one. That was all her." McNally turned to go and stopped in the doorway. Her body froze and Holly imagined, if this was a cartoon, a lightbulb would go on over McNally's head. "Oh. Shit..." Pivoting she stared at Holly. "You and Gail... Oh oh my god I'm an idiot!"

In any other time or place, Holly might have found the late realization amusing, "I honestly thought all of you knew."

"Ugh, well it's not like Gail talks to me anymore. God, I'm so sorry, just rambling about her and you guys broke up." McNally sighed again, "She really liked you." Before Holly could point out that McNally didn't even know about her, the cop went on. "She was nicer to everyone. Even me. And then three weeks ago she was back to Mean Gail, except she wasn't. She was, she is different. Believe me, I saw her through two breakups. I know breakup Gail. She likes to get drunk and complain. This isn't that."

Holly sighed. "McNally. I'm sure you mean well, but this is not your business." No wonder Gail hated talking about life at work.

"Gail's still my friend," pointed out the other woman. "Even if I'm not hers. And I'm responsible for some of her issues and if that screwed you guys up, then yeah, it's my business too."

"This has nothing to do with you, or Nick."

The dark look on McNally's face chilled her. "No. It doesn't have to do with Nick at all," she agreed. "Just... If she talks to you, please. Listen. Okay?"

Holly nodded, confused, and was relieved to see McNally let it go at that. But she was left wondering what crisis would cause an ex-friend to still care about Gail like family.

"This is just ... wow," muttered Holly, staring at her steering wheel.

"That is an understatement," sighed Gail. Silence fell again, and Gail couldn't look anywhere but out the front windshield.

After the mutual bomb drops, Gail and Holly had walked silently to Holly's car and said very little. Clearly, Holly was still processing, as the car didn't move and Gail finally cleared her throat. "Dinner?"

Holly startled and nodded. "Yes, dinner— Wait. Dinner?" She turned to look at Gail, perplexed. "You still want to have dinner? With me?"

Nodding, Gail leaned back in the seat. "Clearly we need to talk, Holly. About a lot of things." Whispering her agreement, Holly put the car in gear and drove to her house.

Years of Peck Family Dinners had prepared Gail for the painful awkwardness of a dinner were people were on different pages and stages of their lives. Clearly this was not the case for Holly, who nearly dropped the dishes multiple times, until Gail took over and served dinner.

"Why are you calm?" grumbled Holly. "This is insane. All of it's insane."

Gail tossed the truth around in her head a little before being honest, "I have spent my entire life having a dinner with passive aggressive harassment from my parents, Holly. I'm used to this kind of awkward." She caught the pained look from Holly and smiled a little. "Do you want me to start?"

Embarrassed, Holly nodded. "Yes. No," she said, contradictorily. "Did you listen to any of my messages?"

"All four of them," admitted Gail, willing to let Holly set the pace right here.

"Why didn't you call me back?" It was a nearly whinging tone. Pleading.

Bringing the pasta to the table, Gail chewed her lip. "Because I was sure you were going to hurt me again, like everyone else." She pushed her hair back. "It's funny," she laughed softly. "I was so afraid you were going to break my heart, I went and did it myself. And you know, I actually cared for the first time." Gail sat down. "It was stupid. I don't have an excuse."

Holly sat down across from Gail and picked up her fork. "Is that what you wanted to tell me before?"

"In the hall? No," admitted Gail. "I had this whole other thing in mind." Holly didn't say anything to that, and they took a couple bites. "San Francisco? Is that a lesbian mecca?"

The laugh nearly caused Holly to choke. "Portland or Provincetown, I think," she smiled. "It's for assistant chief pathologist. I was going to give you crap for springing the adoption thing on me, but I did the same thing." Holly poked her dish. "I over cooked the pasta."

"Little bit," agreed Gail. "Next time I'll make mac and cheese, with cheese puffs."

"That's a thing?"

"It's really good," smiled Gail. "And you accepted the job."

"I did."

Gail looked at her plate for a moment. So that was it. "I can't quit my job, Holly." She sighed and looked up at her, seriously. "Even if there wasn't Sophie, I can't leave."

"You could transfer," suggested Holly, thinly.

"Not in two weeks. Not to the US." She took another bite. "This, Toronto policing, is my birthright. I can't." It was hard to admit how invested she was in her job, but the truth was she was never going to leave Toronto alive. This was her life. It had taken nearly losing her job to realize how much it meant, how much she wanted this, and how much she had rested on her name.

Now Holly looked down at her plate. "I didn't realize how much I missed you until you said I was the best thing that ever happened to you."

Quietly, Gail replied, "You still are."

"What about long distance?" Holly chewed her lip and then shook her head.

"No. That isn't fair to either of us, Holly." Long distance nearly always ended poorly, and Gail knew one of them would end up mad at the other. They needed to be together to be together.

"This— Is this it?" Holly's voice cracked, as if she was about to cry.

They looked at each other across the table and Gail sighed. "If it wasn't, would you still want to try?"

Holly put her fork down. "Tell me about the adoption."

"Her name is Sophie." Sophie was hard to explain, but Holly listened seriously and thoughtfully. When Gail finally said she knew it would be probably impossible for her to adopt Sophie, but she still felt she had to try, Holly covered her face with her hands. "I know it's a lot to take in," Gail said quietly.

"Jesus, are you insane?"

That stung. "Because I'm a cop?"

"You're a cop, you're single, you're a beat cop! Gail! If you die, she'll lose two mothers!"

"Yeah, I know," snapped Gail. "But a lot of single cops are parents." She was about to use Noelle as an example but she had Frank, and Gail wasn't sure which way that argument would go. "I'm ready to do this."

Holly groaned. "You'd be a great mom, Gail, but really? This is so you. Reckless."

"Seriously? You're acting like I have a monopoly on impulse."

A heartbeat passed and Holly blushed. "That was fair," she sighed. "I don't want children, Gail."

Gail nodded. "Then that's it." Her throat was tight, and she looked away. She wanted to yell at Holly, that asking her to do this was stupid, that the de facto ultimatum was stupid and reckless, and she knew she had no room to say it. Holly was moving and didn't want children. Finally, Gail took another bite of pasta and asked, "Are you going to sell this place?"

Holly almost dropped her glass. "Seriously? That's where you're going?"

Now Gail's fork went down. "I still want to be your friend, Holly. I care about you, and I'd be a really shitty plus one if I can't help you pack, and sell or rent or whatever." And it was true. She wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

Holly's look softened. "Oh. Thank you." After a moment, they picked up their forks again and resumed eating, talking about smaller things.

They talked about being stupid. Gail for running off, Holly for letting her friends get away with that behavior. It had apparently made Holly start to worry about her own social inabilities, her awkwardness of not being able to always read people (hence forensic pathologist and not living people doctor). Holly also explained why her friends were family (it involved heartache and breakups and family who didn't always agree with choices).

And they talked about fears. Holly was afraid of the move, far away from friends and family. Gail was afraid of not being her parents to a child. It didn't heal the gaping hole Gail felt, knowing that it was, finally, over with Holly, but having her there at all was better than nothing.

It began the hardest two weeks of Gail's life, however. Ever day she spent with Holly, helping her pack and clean and sort out her life into boxes made Gail feel like she was falling apart. She told her therapist how hard it was, how much it hurt and cut into her. It was worse than the time she'd been shot in her vest. Breathing hurt. But she felt like she had to do this, to say goodbye, and to have closure.

Naturally her therapist pointed out there was a difference between closure and masochism, and Gail mumbled that she still cared for Holly. A lot.

"You're not going to magically change her mind and win her back," her therapist remarked.

"I know, life doesn't work that way. But I just ... I just want to be in her life a little while longer. I don't want the fairy tale to be over yet."

So she held on, kept her feelings to herself, and went running every goddamn morning to try and keep her head clear. That was probably why the nightmare scared the shit out of her. It came out of nowhere. She'd actually enjoyed dinner with Holly, sitting on her deck eating out of to-go boxes, drinking a beer. They were down to the last few bottles, and Holly insisted Gail take the last ones homes.

The last thing Gail really wanted was to have memories of Holly floating around her home. Especially not a six-pack from a microbrewery where they'd had a pulled pork pancake at brunch and then some fantastic sex back at Holly's months ago. But she took the six pack and, finding Chloe on her couch, waiting for Dov, handed it over as a present.

"Here, don't say I never gave you anything nice."

Gail locked herself in her small room, mind drained, and curled up on her bed. When Dov knocked to ask of she was alright, she told him to fuck off and she had a headache. That bought her blessed silence, in which she fell asleep.

Until then, most of her dreams had been about Holly, which was embarrassing and uncomfortable, but not horrible. When she dreamed about someone caressing her hair, however, it was long hair, and she panicked. She knew it was a dream, but she couldn't move, couldn't wake up, couldn't see. She felt the hand on her face, knew it wasn't real, that it wasn't now, and thrashed, throwing herself out of the dream and her bed with a thump.

Christ.

She lay on her floor, panting, waiting to hear if anyone would come knocking at her door. Would anyone just break in and pick her up. Holly had. Holly ran to her when she had a nightmare, and stayed with her to make sure she was alright. When no one came, Gail covered her face with her hands and smothered the encroaching tears. Would anyone would ever do what Holly did? Could she ever have anything like that again?

Chapter Text

"How can they deny my work visa," she shouted at her phone. "What the actual fuck!?" But the consulate couldn't tell her, no matter how many times she asked. They only said the Department of Homeland Security rejected her visa application, and she could apply again. In a year.

Holly stared at the boxes in her house, angry beyond her capacity to rage or cry. The San Francisco Coroner's Office had been sympathetic, and advocated for her, but it was clear no one was budging. Neither of her best friends had any sympathy either, which only made her more angry. She'd rushed into this, they argued, and maybe it was for the best. But here she was, three days from moving to a new country, with no job and no visa.

After screaming and shouting into her phone, to Lisa and Rachel, and then to immigration, trying desperately to get an answer, Holly turned it off and threw it down the hall. She tore through the boxes with the intent on finding that damn bottle of Jim Bean to start drinking. As she dug through yet another box labeled 'kitchen,' there was a knock at her door. No, a pounding. She ignored it. A voice muttered something. Giving up on her search, Holly lay down in her fort of half-filled boxes. Maybe they wouldn't be able see her.

The pounding happened again, this time with a voice she knew all too well. "Holly, I don't have a key."

"Go away," she shouted. Gail. Gail was outside her door. Why was Gail outside the door?

"Holly, seriously, open the door."

"No," she snapped and stared at her ceiling. "Go away, or I'm calling the police on you."

There was blissful silence for a moment, and then she heard her lock click open and the door creaked. "You're such a pain in the ass," muttered Gail, her voice clearly inside the house. "I had to pick your damn lock."

Holly sat up and looked for her phone. "I'm calling the police."

"I am the police, you nerd," sighed Gail, dressed in her uniform. She looked at Holly for a moment, then the house, and turned around. "Dispatch, 8727," and her voice lowered, saying words Holly couldn't quite catch. Then her door closed and Gail walked around the boxes to sit down next to Holly. "Your neighbors thought you were being robbed."

"Oh." Holly leaned against a box. "I was looking for something to drink." They both looked around the room, which had a destruction of boxes. Gail had seen it two days before, helping pack the books.

"What happened?" Gail sounded like Gail at her most calm. It was rare, but those moments felt like a safe harbor, where Gail would protect her from anything, and Holly started crying. "Hey, hey," Gail startled and sat down, putting a hand on Holly's shoulder. "Holly, what's wrong?"

Between sobs, she managed a sentence. "The US rejected my visa application."

"What!?" The sheer honestly of Gail's astonishment was refreshing and comforting. "How the hell could that happen?"

Holly couldn't stop crying, though, and Gail ended up sweeping her into a hug and holding her until she stopped sobbing. "I'm getting snot all over your jacket," she whinged, squeezing Gail so hard, the utility belt bit into her side.

"It's had worse, Holly," Gail replied soothingly.

They stayed like that for a while, well past the time that Holly had her breathing under control. "I wish I was drunk," sighed Holly, resting her head against Gail's shoulder, letting herself savor the feeling of Gail caressing her hair.

Gail laughed softly, "I think we did this bit in reverse, Holly. You're not going to cut off your hair, are you?"

"No, I like my hair." There was no reply to that. "You have to go to work."

"I'm at work. Oliver asked if we were friends before sending me to check," sighed Gail. "Come up, get up." She stood, hauling Holly to her feet. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Sure," sighed Holly. "If there's alcohol in it."

"Hm, no. We tried that before, ba— Holly." The slip of an endearment caught Holly's attention and she blinked. "I'm going to order you food."

"Gail, I'm fine.

"Horse shit," smiled Gail. "You're not. I wouldn't be."

Gail ignored her protests and arranged for food to be delivered. She also found the Jim Bean and confiscated the bottle. They ate together, going over what had happened and Gail coming up with a plan of action. After a couple hours, Gail left with the booze, but came back rather quickly, out of uniform and with tequila.

The night was spent drinking, which was far less productive than earlier, but far more fun. They didn't talk about a single important thing, and Gail tucked drunk Holly into her own bed, alone, and said she was going to crash on the guest couch.

"You can stay," whispered Holly, catching Gail's hand.

Gail stared at the plug where the nightlight used to be. "Plus one forever, Holly. I'll be in the guest room." It hurt, and it hurt more when Holly heard the doorknob lock click. Staying or going, they really had ended a romance, hadn't they?

With Holly's life in disarray, Gail stuck by her to help sort out the mess. She pushed the ME's office to re-hire her, using all the Peck Muscle Power she had. It was a near thing, too. Gail had to resort to her cousin at the hospital faking an offer to make the ME's office realize Holly was in demand (the cost was babysitting and tickets to a Jay's game). Taking back the offer on the house had been harder. Luckily Holly had only intended to lease it out, but there was another tense moment until Gail did a deep background check on the tenants and found just cause to yank that.

When Holly called it an abuse of power, Gail didn't argue that one bit. It was terrifying, since the last time she'd tried to use her Peck name to push things around, she'd been suspended. Justified suspension, of course, but still, it filled her with lingering doubts of if she was doing the right thing. When she'd done it before, it was because she figured she could get away with it. This time, she realized she would do anything to help Holly.

She didn't abuse her power when it came to Sophie, though, who quickly became a regular topic. They talked about their days, and Gail would mention Sophie. Holly would even ask about her, joking she could help teach Sophie softball, since Gail was inept at sports. But they didn't talk about a them. At the same time, it was clear neither of them wanted someone else. It was just strange timing. Holly was still vocal about Gail adopting as a single parent being a terrible idea, which led to a loud argument about if Gail was doing this for selfish reasons or for Sophie.

They didn't get to resolve the disagreement themselves, any more than they'd resolved Holly's move to the States.

The adoption was rejected. Gail was deemed unready and currently unfit, due in part to trauma at her job. She was too close to Sophie's situation, she'd been suspended for poor decisions, and she was too damaged from Perik. Gail was flabbergasted not that Perik came up, but what part came up. The video evidence from the trial of the copycat killer. And not just the part where she got Perik to give up evidence. The entire video had been watched.

It always came back to Perik. Got suspended and nearly lost her job because of him, got it back because of him, got promoted because of him, got demoted because of him. Lost Nick because of him. Panicked and did stupid things and lost Holly. Everything seemed to revolve around one moment in her life.

All Gail wanted to do about that news was either get drunk or go shoot things. Instead she called Holly and asked if she could come over. Sitting on Holly couch that night, Gail talked around the edges of the problem, the obvious reasons why an under 30 beat cop would be turned down, and yes Holly was entirely right, including her living situation, and Holly had hugged her. When anyone else did that, Gail would flinch, but Holly felt safe.

Then Holly gave her a look, as if she wanted to kiss her, and Gail realized she had to do this. She had to do this. If she ever wanted a hope, a second chance, it had to start here. "Holly, I need to tell you something else," she whispered.

"God, tell me you didn't sleep with Nick."

Inappropriate laughter bubbled up. "No, ew no. Never again." The 'ew' made Holly laugh, a little nervously.

Gail let go and sat still, clasping her hands together. Holly, cross-legged on the couch, faced her profile and waited.

It was easier to talk like this, quietly, even in what Dov would have called the 'enemy territory' of Holly's house. She had known in her heart that actually adopting Sophie was never going to be possible. As a single, lesbian, cop, she'd have an uphill battle. But that hope, like the hope of Holly being back in her life, burned so strong, that she'd dared to dream. She could, and would, still advocate for her to have a good home, and even if she couldn't be the parent, she wanted to be part of her life in a positive way. Holly had, weirdly, understood that. Sympathized with it. Pretty much everything in Gail's life, screwups and all, Holly had understood.

Would she really understand everything? Gail chewed her lip, worrying it.

"What else are you thinking?" Holly's voice was a whisper, as if being loud would knock them out of the place where they could just exist.

"I need to say something," she replied equally quietly. But the words hung there in her throat. Again.

Holly touched her leg, "You don't have to, honey."

"No. No, I do. I'm just- I'm afraid." There. Hurdle one passed, and Gail exhaled shakily. It was hard to get words out, always. She couldn't tell Steve. She could barely tell her therapist that she'd picked. She'd not been able to tell the idiot her parents made her see, and sure as hell she couldn't tell her parents. Lying to them had been hard, but easier than the truth.

"Take all the time you need."

Of course. Because Holly understood her. That was why this had to happen.

"Holly, I'm scared pretty much all the time, and... The real reason I can't adopt Sophie is why I'm scared all the time."

She had to say this now. If she didn't, she'd never get the words out. She couldn't look at Holly while she said this. "About a year and a half ago, I was working on a case. This serial killer went after call girls, so McNally and I were call girls! He went for blondes, so I was the bait and Andy was my backup." She laughed, bitterly, and stared at the wall, the boxes on the floor. "I wanted to, y'know, because I'm a Peck, and we have to do that." A far too familiar tension grew in her back and neck. Her hands weren't shaking, which was a good sign, though her heart was pounding.

"So I was undercover, at a fancy hotel, looking for this guy. Didn't find him. I went home after giving my statement. Andy's home. My parents weren't home, and … I forget why I thought it was a good idea." She was friends with Andy then. How weird had that been? But she'd let down those walls a little, let them in, and Chris and Dov, and it hadn't all been horrible. Right? She remembered Andy's horror when Gail walked, naked, from the shower to the couch where her clothes were. That had been funny. "He followed me. Turned out it was the taxi driver, the taxi Andy put me in to send me home."

With her eyes wide open, Gail's brain cheerfully filled in the moments with memory. Calling Nick. The door hitting her face. Stupid, stupid, Gail, not looking first! Fighting him. Hitting him. Her throat tightened, remembering his hands around it, and she tugged at her shirt collar. She remembered how hard it was, putting her tie on for the first time afterwards, using every excuse not to wear one. "He beat the hell out of me. Drugged me and Andy. I don't remember that either, Andy coming back."

Her face felt wet and the taste of salt was on her lips. Awesome. She was crying on the couch of her ex-girlfriend. There was a sound, Holly inhaling, and Gail waited a moment, to see if Holly was going to say something, but there was only the sound of them breathing. "He tied me up." She rubbed her wrists, feeling the bite of the zip-ties all over again. "When I woke up, I was tied up. Blindfolded." She felt Holly move beside her, but they didn't touch.

She wiped at her face, the back of her brain amazed at her continual ability to cry without sobbing. Her hand was now shaking and her tightened it into a fist. She had to concentrate on her breathing for a moment. The memory in her head was when he'd put the butterfly sutures on her head. That was the most terrifying moment. Realizing he wanted her alive for a reason. Realizing how prepared he'd been. If she'd just looked… Except that wasn't true. Gail was able to kick a door in, and she wasn't that strong. A man that strong wouldn't have a problem.

Gail tried to mention the IV, but her voice stopped. That memory hurt too much, still. She was lucky she didn't lose her mind at the ER after the stupid chemical burn, but that was probably because Oxy had a weird effect on her. Reflexively, she rubbed at the spot on her arm where he'd stuck her and remembered being sarcastic to her kidnapper. That helped. "I was in his house, his basement, strapped to a table. He kept me drugged, until he figured out I was a cop."

There was a shift on the couch but again, Holly didn't touch Gail. She was just there. "Jerry, he found me. Good police work, total coincidence. They were looking for someonefollowing me." Gail exhaled. "God, nobody knows what happened really. Just that Jerry got stabbed. Perik, he came downstairs, with the knife, started yelling that I didn't tell him I was a cop. Asking why didn't I tell him? Shouting that was taking care of me." She coughed an un-funny laugh.

Take all the pain and drama of her life, take all the lack of parental influence on her, and add in someone wanting to take care of her who actually wanted to kill her. Of course she kept burning relationships. Every single person in her life who'd wanted to take care of her had hurt her. "Jerry, I don't know how he did it, but he jumped him, put his phone in his pocket. I couldn't move… he'd, Perik'd removed the blindfold so I could see to walk, but the drugs... My legs weren't working. He knocked Jerry out and put me in the trunk of his cab."

The taxi ride from hell. Knowing no one alive knew where you were. By the time the fog of drugs wore off, helped by adrenaline and terror, she could hear the sirens and knew she'd either be killed or saved. She remembered the cab stopping. That moment of terror, trying to rip her hands off to free them from the zip ties, planning to gouge his eyes out. And then she heard Nick and Chris, the trunk opened, the light burst in and her boys were there. They tried to hug her, and she remembered saying she was just cold.

She didn't have to tell Holly she was rescued. She was here. Obviously she was saved. But that last smile from Perik, when he was being cuffed, that smirk was the one thing that made her want to cry. They took her to the hospital. The hospital sucked. Crying in front of Traci, knowing Jerry was dead because he'd come for her, because he put the phone in Perik's pocket. "It wasn't my fault, that Jerry died. But it was. I'm accidentally the reason someone died." Now Holly's legs moved, turning to sit beside Gail, their shoulders nearly touching. "I know it's not my fault, I do. I know it. But…"

"I moved in with Dov almost on accident. After the hospital, I stayed with my parents by force, but I couch surfed a lot. My brother's. Nick's. When he and Andy went undercover, I spent most of the time with Traci, crashing at her place. Nick was gone, six months. I thought I got over my shit, you know? I thought I was feeling better. Then Nick was back and it was all screwed up." She sighed. "When Chris left for Timmons, Dov complained about being lonely so I took the room. Nick wanted me to move in with him, but that felt like the worst idea ever. I didn't want to be alone, but I didn't want to be with someone that close."

"I slept with a light on then. I still do. I don't do well when I'm alone at night. Sometimes I drink too much, which doesn't help either." Her voice felt thick. All the crying was making her head pound worse than a hangover. "And … I don't trust people. So I run away, and I'm cold and unfeeling, because if I'm just going to get hurt, why invest, right?" She paused, "Except there was you."

Now she side-glanced at Holly. Holly didn't say anything, but leaned so her head was touching Gail's shoulder, which felt okay. "And that's kind of- it's why I was stupid. Am stupid." She sighed. "And have nightmares, and I'm afraid of the dark." Holly made a noise, and Gail went on. "The problem ... Is the trials. I mean, I think I can deal with all the rest, but there was a case where we had to talk to Perik, and it was taped, and ... It's not bad except for the part where it just shows how screwed up I am." She closed her eyes. "They saw the whole interview. It's rough and it's hard, and it's not a wrong decision, but ... I wanted you to know why."

She felt entirely naked. There it was out there. And now Holly was silent.

Holly cleared her throat. "Thank you for telling me." They said nothing for a while, though Holly took her hand. It was clear she was trying to think about what to do with Gail. "Stay here tonight," Holly finally said.

They spent the night like that, holding hands in Holly's bed. They were fully clothed, lying atop the sheets, their bodies barely touching. And it was enough.

Things were 'normal' again for Holly. She was back at work and in her groove again, which felt wonderful and horrible all at once. Having Gail back in her life had been a relief, but strange.

She'd cried at home after Gail's first admitting to having strong feelings for her, raging at stupidity. Mostly Gail's immaturity, but also her own. She could have forced it, shown up and demanded answers, but Holly too had felt guilty. It was stupid to have let her friends goad her, stupider not to follow Gail out sooner. Stupid to have actually felt, for any moment at all, that she could possibly do casual, easy, or light with someone who struck her heart as Gail had.

Then Holly had been the insane one, deciding to move out of the country and beg Gail to come with her. At the same time, Gail moved forward to adoption. And both had lost everything.

Where did that leave them now? Gail had been nothing but a good friend since their mutual bomb drop. She'd helped Holly pack, pick out a new apartment, sort out incidentals. And then she'd done it all in reverse, without asking for a single thing. She'd just done it and been there and it was wonderful to have Gail in her life again. Gail had actually been supportive, unlike Lisa or Rachel, both of whom were barely talking to her at all.

The problem was that Holly didn't want to have Gail in her life as a friend. She'd already worked through the drama of how terrifying it was to be in love with someone like Gail. Given a choice, she wouldn't have fallen for someone who was damaged goods to start with and had a dangerous job. She'd never dated anyone who was shot at before and it scared her. But she couldn't imagine her world without Gail making snappy commentary, or kissing her, and Gail's life was filled with danger.

She was in love with that wonderful, sweet, vulnerable woman, who opened up to her. Gail made her laugh, made her happy, and above all, Gail had really made Holly feel important. Adored. Holly had called her 'sweet Gail' once, and the blush on Gail's body was amazing. She was caustic and witty, and certainly Gail's default setting was to attack the world. At the same time, Holly had caught Gail working with a child witness, and that absolute tenderness with the young boy was painful.

It had been at a minimart hold up. They'd found the boy hiding in shelves behind the dead body, who was clearly protecting him, only after forensics had arrived. Gail had looked daggers at the rookie, but instead of ripping in to him, she sat down by the boy, who refused to get out from behind the mac'n'cheese. She talked to him, quietly, introducing herself, asking little things that made not a lot of sense. Holly was sure the boy was never coming out, when suddenly he squirmed out and into Gail's arms.

Without a trace of discomfort or annoyance, Gail held him and let him cry until child protective services showed up with his parents. Only then did she ask him anything about the shooting. He didn't know who the dead person was, just some stranger at the store. But he had seen the shooter, and described him. Once the boy was gone, Gail tore the rookie a new one, shouting about what clearing the scene meant, and that he could have put forensics in danger.

That was only two days ago, and it had been the first case they'd worked since Holly was back. Before Gail left the scene with the boy, Holly had asked her if she was okay. Gail had given her a momentary sad smile, before returning to tough cop mode and saying she was fine, but she had to kill her rookie. That night, on the phone, Gail told her she worried about Sophie, but she didn't want to come over to sit with Holly, she just needed to talk to her friend about what she could do.

What Holly wanted was what she'd wanted since she'd gotten the job offer. She wanted them to be back together. And she'd thought Gail wanted that too, which was making this weird now-ness so weird. What she needed to do was just ask Gail where she wanted to be, and asking that was hard. It should be easy, natural, like everything else with Gail had been.

Holly pushed her glasses up to her forehead and pressed the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. She tried to think through what she needed to do at work instead of her personal life, though. It wasn't going to be a good idea to slack off just because she was trying to sort out the right way to tell Gail she wanted to get back together together.

Of course that's when Gail texted her.

I'm coming by with some smelly evidence.

It was impossible not to smile a little. Holly had no problem thumbing a reply. This was easy.

Thanks for the warning.

Only fair to give you a chance to fob me off on someone else.

Oh the layers in that statement.

Why? How smelly are we taking?

It was just so easy to talk to Gail. Everything with Gail had been surprisingly natural. Why couldn't it all be easy like that?

Hard to say. I'm nose blind

Holly thought about that for a moment.

Officer Peck, are YOU evidence?

The reply of a sad-face emoticon made Holly laugh. She tasked her assistant to get some scrubs for an incoming officer, and went to prep a place for Gail to change. When Gail and an officer named Price walked in, Holly tried not to laugh. Gail looked exactly like she expected, angry and sullen and frustrated. Officer Price was bubbly and telling Gail how much she liked being back at work. They both had on tyvek suits from forensics over their uniforms.

It was easy to read Gail's expression. She wanted to kill her fellow officer.

"Is that Holly?" asked the other officer in a hushed tone, and Gail gave her a death glare. "Right! Shutting up. But she's so pretty!" The expression on Gail's face would have been funny if Holly wasn't momentarily worried for the other woman's life.

"Hi," Holly smiled, saving Officer Price from sudden grievous bodily harm. She inhaled to introduce herself and was nearly floored by the smell. "Wow..."

"I wasn't kidding." Gail cleared her throat, "Officer Price, Dr. Stewart." Gail glanced at the curtains in the back of the room. "It's just my pants and boots that are evidence, you get all of Price's crap." Jerking her chin, Gail led the other officer to the back and Holly could hear them changing.

"Dr. Stewart," said Price, in a voice that was meant to be for Gail alone. "You should grovel. I would grovel. I did grovel, because Dov-"

"Chloe, shut up." Gail's voice was quieter, but the tone was not as harsh as Holly might have expected. That made her Chloe Price, Dov's bubbly girlfriend who drove Gail up a wall on a good day, but she secretly appreciated, and don't ever tell anyone that. Holly quirked a smile.

"I'm just saying, she's pretty, you like her, you need to grovel and win her back. It'll be so romantic! You can tell your kids about it every Christmas!"

There was a pause, "My god, you sound like Dov."

"Really?" That voice sounded so ... Perky.

Poor, poor, Gail, stuck with her polar opposite all day. Gail said something in German and Chloe responded. Soon the two were arguing (or not, Holly couldn't tell the difference between talking in German and arguing in German) rapidly. Holly heard her name come up. She coughed and asked, "Do you even know what that stuff is?"

"It's more who it is that we don't know," replied Gail, causticly. "Chloe opened a cabinet and the guy fell out and exploded on her."

"So you know it's a male?" She meant to be sarcastic and teasing. But Gail's reply surprised her.

"Bones." And of all things, Gail rattled off a rather nice description of the pelvic bone's shape. So she was listening all those times.

"I didn't know you knew all that," remarked Price.

"There's a lot about me you don't know, Chloe… And GOD you reek." Gail came out from behind the curtained area in scrubs and paper slippers. "The bag'o'body's on it's way. Think you can clear our weapons first?"

A bag of body was not an appetizing image. "Yours maybe, if you really didn't get any spatter." It was strange, working with Gail again. She was careful about keeping her distance, even when Dov showed up to fuss over Chloe and bring them clothes.

The detective (Traci) came with the evidence, and told Gail that Oliver wanted her to stick with the body. So Gail ended up waiting in the lab with Holly, while she went over the body. "On a scale of one to awkward, with awkward being turtle, how weird is this?"

Holly swallowed a laugh and smiled at Gail, "Less weird than a month ago, but weird."

"Goody. I'll sit outside," decided Gail, and she picked up her jacket.

Holly felt horribly shy when she looked at Gail. "Gail... I know you said not to be, um, private us at work, but. I just want you to know..." She trailed off and lost her sentence. She wanted to be kissing Gail again, disgusting smelly guy or not.

"You're really bad at this whole girl thing," Gail decided. "I mean, I thought I was bad, but I'm not the one who's been a lesbian since forever." A smile tugged at Gail's lips. "I totally get why you're single a lot."

"Shut up," smiled Holly. Holding up her hands, Gail moved to the door. "I didn't say thank you."

Gail paused in the door way, "For what?"

"Everything. Helping me move and un-move and everything else."

"Hey, we're plus one's forever." Gail paused and kicked at the door frame. "Thanks for listening about Sophie. I took your advice."

"Which part?"

"Helping find a good match for her. Even if it means I can't be in her life." That had been a gut wrenching conversation, with Gail saying she would rather Sophie be happy without her, if that's how it would be best.

Holly reached for the zipper on the bag and pulled her face mask down. "I don't mind if you stay, Gail. You're always welcome here." There was no reply from Gail, and Holly unzipped the bag and started to carefully take samples and remove the bones. She didn't hear Gail leave, so asked, "Why are some of the bones in the bag and some out? You didn't zip this up…"

"And screw up medical jurisprudence? There were two bags."

"Ah, and one exploded over you and Chloe?"

The sound of a chair scraping on the floor preceded Gail's reply, "Of course. The tools in the garage are being processed."

Confident that Gail couldn't see her face well enough under the mask, Holly smiled. Gail was staying in the room. "What were you looking for in the first place?"

Gail laughed, a real laugh this time. "A stolen pedigree cat. Can you believe that? People pay thousands for a special cat?"

"I think my aunt did that once, some bengali thing." Holly glanced over and saw Gail settling into her desk chair, picking up the latest journal. Gail snorted and flipped through the first pages. "So you and Chloe speak German?"

"We speak a lot of the same languages," confessed Gail. "Dov doesn't know any German, though, and it pisses him off when we do that." Which explained why Gail did it. Finding something, Gail skipped to the middle of the journal and started reading. "Legal Implications of Medical Jurisprudence in Field Samples," read off Gail. "You know, you didn't even need all that diatom stuff to find who he was."

Of course she was skipping to Holly's article. "We did to find cause of death," smirked Holly, feeling safe behind her mask.

"I can actually hear you smirking, Lunchbox," Gail teased.

Holly rolled her eyes and continued to separate the bones.

Chapter Text

They worked through two coffees before Gail suggested they walk outside and talk. They were at a tiny shop Holly had picked, nearer to Holly's place than Casa Diaz/Peckstein, the Hostel for Wayward Cops. When Gail referred to it as such, Holly had an honest laugh. They talked about how Gail had yet to kill Gerald, and resented being his T.O. That was official, too. She was going to get another rookie after Gerald.

It was nice. The spring evening wasn't too cold, and she ended up walking Holly to her door.

"Thanks," she smiled, trying not to look as shy as she felt. She wanted to hug Holly, but she didn't want to overstep anything. Her therapist had told her not to repeat past mistakes, and jumping right into everything physical with Holly, no matter how wonderful, would be a repeat.

Holly rocked on her heels. "You're welcome. Better than being yelled at for bad decisions and getting tazed, huh?"

Gail winced but had to smile. "Not in the eye, at least." She exhaled, "I really don't like her, Holly. She's crazy judgey."

"I call her Dr. BitchTits sometimes," confessed Holly.

"I don't think she'll ever like me."

"She doesn't like me much right now."

"You think she'd like me better if I flaunted money?"

Holly made that goofy side smile that Gail adored. "Only if you spent it on a boob job."

They both laughed a little. "Yeah, no thanks. I like my boobs the way they are."

"So do I." Holly's eyes went wide the second she said it. "God, I'm sorry. My mouth just runs off sometimes and I can't stop it. It-"

"It happens when you're nervous," smiled Gail. She was disproportionately happy that Holly liked her breasts. The babbling nerves were why Gail kissed her in the first place. She wanted to kiss Holly now. Instead, she laughed and pulled Holly into a friendly hug. "You're very weird, Holly."

For a moment, Holly was stiff, but her hands reached around and rested on Gail's back, holding on to her. "Are we ever going to be the same?" Holly's voice was a whisper.

"Probably not," sighed Gail, one hand gently stroking Holly's hair. "Maybe we could be something else, though. Something better."

Holly laughed softly. "When did you become an optimist?"

The hug loosened. As much as Gail would have been happy to stand on the steps forever, she let go. Just having Holly in her arms was so good, and so right. She looked at Holly and reflex kicked in. Gail cupped Holly's face with her hands and felt her mouth go dry. "I should go home," she whispered.

Holly's hands rested on Gail's shoulder. "Gail," she sighed. "You can stay."

"No, Holly, I really can't." She leaned in and kissed Holly lightly. "I can't stay because I really want to do that."

"So do I." Holly leaned in and they kissed again. "And I want you to stay."

This was a problem. Gail closed her eyes and stepped back. She let her hands fall to her sides. "Holly, don't," she whispered. "Please, I really ... I love you, but I don't want to hurt us by thinking everything is fine just because we're kissing, when we know it's not. We rushed in to everything."

"You .. What?" Holly looked shocked.

Gail rewound her conversation in her head, caught the reason for the look, and exhaled. "I love you."

There. The three small words Gail had never been able to say before were out there. They just fell out without warning, and they startled Holly enough that Gail was able to take Holly's hands off her shoulders and squeeze them. She did love Holly. Insanely, madly, deeply. She'd never gotten her out of her head.

"I don't know what to say," remarked Holly in a whisper.

Gail smiled, trying to keep her face together. There was no chance Holly was going to say the words back right now, which could mean a lot of things, so she addressed Holly's hands. "You say goodnight, drive safe, and maybe you tell me to call you tomorrow." She squeezed the hands again, and dared to look up at Holly. Tears were in the corners of Holly's eyes. "Goodnight, Holly."

"Goodnight, Gail." A pause. "Text me when you get home."

Gail smiled, a more relieved smile. "I will." She turned to go and made it down two steps.

Cleaning her throat, Holly started to ask, "Gail, If I call you-"

"I'll answer." A pause. "Unless I'm on stakeout."

"That," agreed Holly, "is a good reason." They looked at each other, Gail shyly and Holly anxiously. Finally Holly opened her front door and stepped inside, but she kept watching Gail.

A small wave and Gail turned to walk to her car, parked not that far away. When she got home, she dutifully texted Holly.

Burning off excess energy should be fun. After a long day with horrible cases and emotional stress, hitting balls in the cages was supposed to be relaxing. It wasn't. Instead it was reminding her of Gail's attempt at killing herself with a bat, which was hilarious. And that also meant thinking about Gail.

It wasn't fair to still feel like this about Gail. Sure, she wanted to be back together with Gail, but for her to drop the 'love' word threw Holly off her game. She'd been hoping for maybe make-up sex. Anything but this. And it was making her conflicted. She'd never stopped caring about Gail, that was simple and easy to understand. The funny, people-hating cop, who cared about kids and was passionate about her work, was immature, and petty and ... Damn it, why did Holly keep rushing to kiss her all the time?

That was how she had gotten into this mess in the first place. Stupid, impulsive, Holly. She fell for the straight girl, again, and then gave her a pass, and then it bit her in the ass. And yet it was still better to think about her complicated, annoying, relationship with Gail than to think about the foster kid on her table today. Starved to death.

Why were people so damn cruel? Gail was right, people sucked. And she couldn't call Gail, because she was spending the afternoon with Sophie and wasn't available. Which was fair, Holly had to admit, and somehow comforting. There was one child Gail was desperate to make sure wasn't going to be mistreated. This new, mature, Gail was strange and wonderful. With an angry grunt, Holly swung and hit the ball, sending it flying into the home run marker, tweaking her back in the action.

There was applause from the other batters.

"Damn it," she winced, and added Salonpas to her mental shopping list.

Holly tried a couple more swings but verified that, indeed, her back hated her, so she called in a night. On the drive home, she found herself passing Gail's cop bar. A handful of officers Holly recognized were headed in and Holly wondered if she was in... Would it be weird to show up? Yes, it would. It would be very weird and inappropriate.

She continued on her way home, and texted Gail once she got in.

Saw your friends at the Penny.

The reply was surprisingly fast.

Game night.

Going to beat them?

I'm enjoying a quiet night at home with a book.

Holly stared at her phone. Was Gail home alone?

Lies. You only read books with pictures.

Your articles have pictures. Does that count?

Holly smirked and winced as she hung up her purse. "Should've stopped at the store." Pressing a hand to her lower back, Holly decided to try a hot shower.

You're not reading my articles.

No, I'm reading some actually dreadful fantasy book. It has a map, and that counts.

When they'd been dating (the first time? was this a second or a reboot?), Holly had caught Gail inspecting her fantasy and science fiction books more than once.

I told you Game Of Thrones was dark.

Wrong! Kvetch.

Who?

Damn you, autocorrect! KVOTHE.

Name of the Wind is a great series!

Holly was defensive, but she'd really liked the first two books, and was on pins and needles waiting for the third.

The second book is all about sex! He out-sexes a nymph, bangs a teacher, and is a super Mary Sue expert.

You remembered Mary Sue!

I'm not taking your advice on books anymore.

Holly laughed and tossed her phone onto her bed to try the shower, pain killers, and a heating pad to make sure her back wasn't going to kill her that night. When you spent half your day bending over to peer at things, back care was important.

Her phone had a text waiting for her when she got back.

Why are you home at 7pm, Dr. Stewart?

That's awfully personal, Officer Peck.

Sooner than Holly expected, she got a reply.

It's one of my charming traits.

Why wouldn't I be home at 7pm on a work night?

Because you should be hitting balls, like a good lesbian.

Holly blinked at her phone. Was she that predictable?

I've decided that's creepy.

Sorry.

That was it? That was the reply? She waited a while and got no further texts. "You are annoying, Gail Peck." Holly wedged the heating pad into place and turned it on before settling into China Miéville's latest book. Except... "Damn it!" She snatched the phone back up.

Okay, why should I be at the batting cages?

This reply took longer to arrive, and was short but entirely explanatory.

Traci was working the case.

Oh. That was ... Less creepy. But that also brought memories of the child on her table. Less than half the weight of children his age. Broken bones from systemic abuse and malnutrition. She felt like crying again. Instead she replied to Gail.

I apologize. That's not creepy.

It's okay. I figured you were looking for a virtual shoulder.

Damn. She really was transparent. Deflect. Deflect.

Far more embarrassing actually

Gail took a long time to reply.

Do you need me to call?

In an instant, tears pricked Holly's eyes. She sighed and tried to think about how she could say no when the answer was yes. The answer was that she wanted Gail in her arms, in her bed, and she wanted to comfort herself. Inevitably, the phone rang. "You're trying to say no," remarked Gail.

"I hate people."

"Pretty sure that's my line."

Holly laughed and started crying at the same time. "I really do, though," she sniffled through the tears.

"I'm sorry." Gail sounded sincere and warm in a friendly way that comforted Holly. She couldn't stop crying though. She really wished Gail was there to hug her and hold her.

"Who does that to anyone, Gail?" She sobbed into the phone. Holly had seen hundreds of bodies, and parts of bodies, in her years in the lab. The number of children were thankfully small, but they'd never hit her this hard before. "They locked him up in a cage because he was autistic! They beat him! That.. How can people treat their own child like that?" Her breath caught on a sob and Holly wailed.

But Gail stayed on the phone. "Everyone has one case, Holly," she said softly, her voice breaking through the tears with tenderness. "It knocks us down, humanizes us. Hits harder than all the others, for no reason we can tell. But it does." Holly sniffled and wiped her face. "Pierces the skin. And ... Now it's going to be harder and everything's going to hurt more for a while. And I'm really sorry. But this is a good thing, okay? It's a horrible, sucky thing, but it's good. Because it makes us human."

Reaching for the Kleenex, Holly blew her nose. "That was ... Deep." And comforting. Gail had clearly been there before.

"That was Oliver," Gail admitted. "He taught me that."

"I think I like him."

"Me too. He's not people." Holly blew her nose again. "That's really not a charming sound," laughed Gail.

"And you've ruined this awesome moment," Holly replied, but she started laughing again. Two idiots, laughing on the phone. The laughter lightened her a little.

Gail found her voice first. "That sounds better."

Holly sighed. "I feel a little better."

"Good. So tell me the embarrassing thing." When Holly groaned, Gail snorted. "Come on, after every dumb and embarrassing thing I've done with you, including stupid things straight chicks ask, you can't possibly have a single thing more embarrassing than me at the batting cages."

"Oh, god, you have no idea... I hurt my back hitting a home run." There was silence on the phone. "That's the good one where the ball goes out of the park-"

"Wow. And you thought I'd hurt myself." The giggles were being barely contained.

"See? I'm hanging up if you laugh!" But it was too late, Gail was giggling like a child. "You suck, Gail Peck."

Gail laughed more now. "You're right, that is embarrassing. Oh, man." She snorted a laugh.

"Now that is a charming sound," smiled Holly, but she could picture Gail in mind, laughing so hard that her jack and coke came out her nose. That had happened before over drinks, when Dov had thrown a dart into someone's hair. "Hey why are you home by yourself?"

She could still hear the smile in Gail's voice. "I asked Chloe to take Dov out, and Chris is working."

"That's how and not why," admonished Holly.

"Oh, I wanted to be alone." Gail was so flippant about things sometimes. "Don't get worried, the lights are on and I'm in the living room. I was watching Big Brother."

"That'll rot your brain."

"Please, I saw the Mary Higgins Clark books on your shelves."

Holly's face burned. After she'd ended up not moving, Gail had helped her unpack and put everything back in place. At least she hadn't found the collection of actual smut on Holly's shelves. "Are you okay?"

"Home alone? Well I set up a bunch of booby traps in case the burglars show up, with a paint can and some marbles." Gail chuckled. "Sophie and I were watching that."

"That's a horrible movie."

"She picked it. Anyway, I'm fine. I'm kind of enjoying it. Thinking about moving out of the frat."

It was hard to say how Holly felt about that. She knew it had been part of why the adoption failed. Was it related? Was it just a sign of growing up? "Well. Don't rush in to anything. Okay?"

"Says the woman who keeps driving across the city to kiss me in inappropriate rooms at my work."

"You kissed me the first time," Holly pointed out, indignantly.

"Seriously, I thought you were drunk or high..." Gail trailed off. They'd talked about that before, though. They'd talked about all of it, from exactly how not-serious Holly had been with her rebound and how she'd been dumped, to how Gail hadn't so much as looked at anyone. "You going to be able to sleep?"

"I think so." Holly hesitated, "Hey... Thanks for calling."

"Any time. Sweet dreams, Holly."

"Goodnight, Gail." They hung up and Holly smiled at the phone. Oh yeah. That's why she still cared about Gail.

It was Holly's idea to go to a movie. Gail had simply asked her to dinner, as a casual thing, but Holly claimed she seriously needed some brain candy and, after all, Gail had taken Sophie to see a movie. Eager to spend time with Holly, Gail agreed with some guidelines.

"No science fiction," she reminded Holly as they looked up movies over a coffee break. "No fantasy."

"Cartoons?"

Gail paused and stared at Holly. "Oh my god, you want to see Frozen."

The nerd blushed. "Look, it's funny and there's singing and you asked me out, so I get to pick the movie, right?"

It was the smile that did her in. Holly had a soft, shy, introverted smile. She didn't show it often, only in rare moments where she was totally embarrassed (like the time in bed that she'd lasted all of 90 seconds, and blamed Gail's couch foreplay while blushing to the tips of her ears). That smile made Gail want to do crazy things.

"Right. Okay, we go to the kiddie movie, but we're having ice cream after."

"I like this already," announced Holly, and with no shame put in the order for two adult tickets to Frozen.

Gail had to admit the movie was cute, though not her thing at all. Holding hands in the theater was. Holly had flipped up the armrest between them right away, before the lights went dark. After the second song, Gail checked and saw Holly's hand sitting on her own thigh, and reached over to touch it, just lightly resting her fingers on the back of Holly's hand. In response, Holly's hand turned and easily fit into Gail's.

She'd felt a little bad, since Sophie had dragged her to see the movie three weeks ago, but it worked out since Gail paid no attention at all to the film this time. She cared more about touching Holly, holding her hand as if nothing had changed. They held hands through the whole rest of the movie, neither hand sweating, as if it was the most normal, natural, thing to do. They stayed through the credits, since Holly wanted to watch them, and it wasn't until she stood up that Holly let go of her hand.

They did not hold hands walking to ice cream, and Gail let Holly's adorable babble about the movie wash over her. This felt so right. Being with Holly in normal situations, that normal people did, and feeling happy was a strange feeling for an umpteenth generation cop. But she was relaxed and wished the day could never end. Well, maybe it could end in a better way, but Gail was surprisingly alright with just being with Holly and being happy.

Gail bought the ice cream. "Do you want to sit outside...?" The patio was crowded with children and parents, all from the same movie. There had actually been other couples, adult couples, at the film, but none of them were at the ice cream parlor. Did no one else think of ice cream as a date thing anymore? Was this a date?

"There's a park," Holly noted, and looped her arm through Gail's to lead them there. Gail's heart started pounding, and she felt herself heating up. It wasn't until the ice cream started to drip on her hand that she remembered she was even holding the cone.

As they walked to the swings, Gail asked, "What's the part of your brain that doesn't ask for directions and just decides how you feel about things?" She tried to keep her voice light.

"Amygdala." Holly licked her ice cream cone. "Yours is probably on overdrive a lot," she mused. "Studies show that traumatic incidents center there."

Gail gave Holly a frown. "Wow, really?"

Embarrassed, Holly explained. "You deal with a lot of fear-based situations, and your amygdala is what processes that. So that you're always overcoming those moments, you have to suppress that reaction, which contributes to ... Um. Yeah, that's probably not what you were asking."

"Very much not, you nerd." She smiled, squeezing Holly's arm and then letting it go to sit on a swing. "I meant the part where when you're doing one thing and your brain calms down and you stop worrying about all the crap in your life."

Holly looked thoughtful and sat in the next swing over. "Reptile Brain, possibly, though that's debatable." They swung in silence for a little while. "Why?"

Exhaling, Gail let her feet drag to stop her swinging. "Because when I'm with you, I don't worry as much about the shit-storm that is my life. When I held your hand, in the theater, I forgot to watch the movie. And when you took my arm, I forgot I had ice cream." She leaned against the chain and looked at Holly. "I miss us. And I kind of feel like we have a second chance."

Still swinging gently, Holly nibbled on her cone. "I see," she finally remarked.

"I'm sorry," sighed Gail. She had no taste to finish the ice cream. "I know it sounds like I'm treating you like some fallback plan."

"Are you?"

"No. I never once stopped wishing I was with you." It was true. She'd wanted Holly and Sophie, true, but she thought she couldn't have them both. Then she had this brief, insanely hopeful moment, where she thought she could have them both before life pissed in her cornflakes. Neither. Or maybe not. Was it wrong to want a dream with Holly again? Was it a fallback when it was really something she'd wanted with all her heart even when she said idiotic things.

Holly looked over at her, thoughtfully. "I don't want kids, Gail. Not now, maybe not ever."

"I know," she sighed, but the back of her brain twigged to how Holly said that. "And you were going to leave Canada."

"With you." Holly grimaced. "That was stupid, I know. I'm sorry." Before Gail could say anything, Holly added, "I love you."

"What?" Gail blurted the question without stopping to think about it.

A pause. A heartbeat. Holly's voice was quiet and calm and she repeated, "I love you, Gail Peck." Gail kept staring. While she'd said it before, Holly had not, and hearing it now was crazy. Her pulse pounded in her head, and she felt light headed.

Was she supposed to say it back now? She remembered, dimly, Nick professing his love as he proposed. That was the only time he'd said it seriously, and it never felt like this. "Oh," she finally managed. Swallowing, she whispered, "I love you."

Taking the tongue-tied expression well, Holly pushed off the ground and swung. "I was mad at you for moving on when I did too, which is so insanely stupid of me. It wasn't fair, and I… I don't know if I would have been willing to be a mom with you, Gail, I still don't want kids. But I don't want to be without you right now. So I want to try. And talk."

That had been a fear of Gail's. That Sophie and Holly were and either/or situation. And while the reality looked like that would be the case, she didn't feel that she was settling for one or the other. She'd wanted both. Her life was not a fairy tale. "Can we do this again?"

"No," admitted Holly, "but maybe we can do it better."

Chapter Text

Either Gail was playing it cool or she was scared to death and frozen with indecision. No matter what, she was not making an advance on Holly, even while sitting on her couch, watching soccer with Holly. They both had a Long Island ice tea and Gail was curled up with her feet tucked underneath, watching the TV curiously.

"Okay, honey, you have got to be bored."

Gail took a sip of her drink, "What? No!" She paused. "Has Canada ever made it to the … Universal Bowl thingy? They keep showing commercials for it."

"World Cup, it's this summer. And yes." Holly scooted so her thigh was up against Gail's.

"Ever won?" When Holly hesitated, Gail laughed, "Okay, how many times have they gone?"

Holly scowled. "Once, in 1986." The smirk on Gail's face was epic. "Shut up, we watched it at home."

But Gail had the giggles. "Baby lumberjack lunchbox."

Holly swatted her arm but smiled. "Come on, we've been in five of the six Women's World Cup. Came in fourth in 2003."

Gail looked surprised, "Women do this? Why aren't we watching that?" She gestured at the TV with both hands. Giggling, Holly pointed out a women's match wasn't on. Gail huffed and leaned back, resting a hand on Holly's thigh.

"It's in Canada next year," she noted, trying not to let her heart race any more, just from having Gail touch her. "The Women's World Cup. Men's games start in June."

"Huh, maybe I could get tickets from Uncle Al. I'll probably get stuck working though."

"You don't even like it!"

"You like it. Sophie's kinda into soccer. Maybe." Gail tried to shrug nonchalantly, but managed to look awkward and nervous.

Holly smiled. "You'd be bored, and you know it."

"Hey, they're not sexy librarians, but they're probably cute, right?" When Holly blushed, Gail grinned, "Please tell me you came out because you had a massive crush on some Brazilian."

"She was German," Holly said defensively. And she had short blonde hair like Gail.

Gail made a satisfied noise and moved her hand from Holly's thigh so she could wedge herself in the corner of the couch. "Of course she was." Gail put her glass down and draped an arm over the back of the couch. "Sit with me?"

Holly hesitated and then turned around, leaning back against Gail, resting her head against her shoulder. "I thought you were the little spoon," she teased.

Gail gently stroked Holly's hair, brushing it out of the way. "I'm all about new experiences."

This must have been how Gail felt at the movie theater. While Holly was interested in the game, she kept thinking about the soft body under hers, the pale legs touching her own. All she had to do was turn around and Gail would be right there. She turned her face, looking up, and was surprised at how relaxed Gail was now. "You look way too calm."

"No more hair to chop off." Gail stretched her legs, one sliding over Holly's which was not helping Holly's self control. "Pecks stay calm under pressure, don't you know?" Holly gave her best 'oh really?' look and Gail chuckled, self deprecatingly. "When we're not having traumatic flashbacks and freaking out about our self-identities. Which Good Pecks don't do either." The obvious meaning there was that Gail did not consider herself to be a very good Peck. "I'm happy right now."

It was too soon to get into Gail's issues of self-worth and her family. "Really? Gail, you hate sports."

"True, but you like it, and it's kind of nice to get to spend the day hanging out with the coolest chick ever." When Holly poked her thigh, Gail chuckled. "My life is not the happy end of the fairy tale. I have this right now, Holly, and I kinda want to savor it."

Knowing everything she did about Gail's life, Holly could not disagree, but she wasn't quite sure what to say. Just then, a particularly vicious play went down and Holly groaned, "Oh come on! Red card!"

"How can you tell when they're really hurt? Every time someone goes down, they act like their leg came off." So Holly attempted to explain the ways of drawing fouls and scoring and penalty shots. "I don't get why the scores are always one to nothing, then, with all this kicking."

"Well there are offsides rules." Holly tried to explain them, but she was pretty sure Gail didn't follow or care.

Gail huffed but continued to watch until halftime. "They make me tired just watching them run around." As Gail raised her arms over her head to stretch, her bangs flopped into her eyes.

"You," laughed Holly, "Are incredibly lazy." She sat up and turned to look at Gail. The hair was starting to grow out, and Holly reached to push it out of Gail's face. "Still kinda beautiful." In reply, Gail smiled a little embarrassedly.

There wasn't enough alcohol in their drinks to make a claim for liquid courage, and Holly moved into Gail's personal space. She really wanted to kiss Gail again, and the predatory look in her eyes must have been obvious. Now Gail was nervous, but she reached out to touch Holly's arms. "Holly, I want to kiss you."

"We are dating," agreed Holly, and she leaned in to kiss Gail. This was better. This was how things should be, and Holly settled on Gail's lap running a hand through her hair. So much better.

They broke off the kiss before getting further in, looking at each other carefully. Holly gently kissed her again. It was a light kiss, almost the same as in the coat closet. "This is nice," whispered Gail, and Holly sighed, touching Gail's face.

Gail held Holly's hand in place, smiling. Their eyes met for a moment, and Gail pushed herself up to kiss Holly this time. As Gail's hand touched her hip, Holly's eyes drifted closed. She let Gail guide her back into her lap, concentrating only on the kiss. But Gail's hands went no further and she sighed. On an unspoken cue, they broke apart, Gail pulling Holly onto her, tucking Holly's head on her shoulder.

They lay there, quietly, in a safe bubble. Holly's fingers traced the collar on Gail's shirt, drinking in the feeling of nearness. "You haven't told me about any of your cases... Except stinky cat hoarder guy."

"You... Don't want to hear about them from my end, Holly." That was code for Gail didn't want to talk about her feelings and Holly frowned. "Really, I have a mess of ugly cases." But Gail reached to took Holly's hand in her own. "I'm still hunting down Mr. Stinky's cat." When Holly blinked, Gail grinned. "I have talked to every owner of a Scottish Fold in the city."

At Holly's prompting, Gail went on to explain how frustrating it was to track down a damn cat, who probably ran off on its own anyway. And for her part, Holly smiled. This was okay.

She thought her brain was going to explode. "Can women even get blue balls," Gail asked herself, aloud, in her bedroom. Holly would know, but you couldn't really ask the reason behind your ongoing aches what the technical term was for female sexual frustration. And so Gail self-diagnosed herself with blue balls.

Pulling on the snug black undershirt, Gail tried to put it out of her mind. She could hold off on sex, as long as needed to be. Rushing into things was how they'd ended up at a place of insecurity to begin with. Not that it helped to go slower right now, or slower faster, whatever they were calling it. Gail kept worrying she was doing things wrong and was being a bad girlfriend.

At the same time, Holly seemed happier than before. They were cautious about certain topics, but they spent more time together touching. Hand holding, certainly, but sitting on the couch with her arms around Holly had been one of the best days in recent memory. Yes, they'd made out many times, but other than the one, chaste, night, hadn't slept together.

Then there was the other day, when Gail had dared to kiss Holly while they were watching a movie.

It wasn't that she hadn't liked the movie, it was cute and had a surprising amount of action and tension. She'd never seen Lord of the Rings, and Holly saw it as a deficiency. So they'd watched. But with Holly leaning up against her for the whole first half, Gail had felt a discomfort unrelated to the hobbits and elves. As Holly started to get up to change the DVD, Gail pulled her down.

The kiss was meant to be just warm and brief, but Gail surprised herself by how much she'd needed to feel Holly against her. Before long, a simple kiss became serious one, hungry and hot. She'd pulled Holly closer, falling back onto the couch, and met no resistance. Instead, Holly had gasped and laughed, letting her weight settle on Gail.

She had missed that so, so much. Feeling Holly against her, having her hair fall and get in Gail's face, and the rims of her glasses bumping Gail's nose. It took every ounce of Gail's willpower not to move Holly onto one of her thighs. But she wanted it, oh god did she want to feel that. And unlike the time watching soccer, there was no need to stop, or feelings of doubt.

Her hands went up the back of Holly's shirt, and Holly made that soft sound she used when she happy and turned on. It wasn't a moan, but something more gentle. They'd started to move more against each other in a way that was more than suggestive, when Holly stopped, pulling away reluctantly.

That one kiss, that one make out session, kicked Gail's libido into overdrive, and made her wish she lived alone. It just wasn't fair to crave someone that much.

Gail pulled a loose sweater on and checked her phone. She pushed thoughts of Holly out of her head as much as she could, and headed out. Today was a Sophie day. She'd been telling the girl bits and pieces about her best friend, and Sophie admitted she'd always wanted one, but asked if Gail could be her best friend too. It pulled at Gail's heart, the blatant obviousness of an eight year-old. Social services had been a little more iffy about Gail still spending so much time with Sophie, and she'd been honest with them about where things stood with Holly.

Because Holly was worth waiting for.

"Was the courier sick again," asked the man in the white shirt with the name tag of Shaw. It took Holly a moment to recognize him as Oliver. Gail talked about him in possibly the most friendly ways possible, so she understood he was someone Gail actually liked. He wasn't 'people' to Gail, which was high praise.

Smiling, Holly held up her empty hands. "No, I'm supposed to talk to Detective Swarek about a case, and he asked if I could come here. So."

Oliver nodded, "Sam is in the detective bullpen." He turned and shouted, "Price! Come escort our esteemed forensics friend to Swarek, please and thank you." Then to Holly he added, "I'm glad you're back. My petulant Peck wasn't the same."

Before Holly really had a chance to process the comment, the bubbly Chloe Price popped up, appearing out of nowhere. "Hi, Dr. Stewart! You look great. Do you always look this put together? I wish I could. I'm really glad we wear uniforms here, though. I'd never want to be a detective and have to figure out those suits."

Holly shot Oliver a pained look and he just smiled. No wonder Gail regularly reported wanting to kill Chloe. "Dress for the job you want to have," replied Holly, trying to tamp her annoyance down.

"That makes sense." Chloe paused and looked around. "So … are you and Gail … back together?"

Well. That was unexpected. "I'm … sorry. What?" Did they all know? Probably. Gail mentioned once that her brother would spread gossip like herpes, which wasn't an appealing analogy. Though that would imply Gail had told her brother anything, and while they were indeed back together, it was being kept under wraps for as long as possible. No long nights at Holly's, just long phone calls and talking. And sometimes getting a little hot and heavy on the couch. It was frustrating, sexually speaking, but at the same time had been a relief to have someone touch her the way Gail did. Reverently.

"It's just she was all sad while you were broken up, and more grumpy than normal. I mean, it probably had to do with that case too. She kind of takes cases with kids really hard, but don't tell her I said that." Chloe cleared her throat. "Sorry, word vomit. She's just less angry since you came back, though I hear about your transfer not happening, and that sucks. The US is stupid, you'd be great. I'm just really happy that she's happy. For Gail."

Holly tried to figure out the nice way to say she wasn't going to talk about that with a total stranger, when a fit man walked up, "Chloe, stop it." His name tag read Collins and it was familiar. "Sorry, she's really excitable."

"Nick! You're working with Gail, where is she?" Chloe actually looked worried.

"Lockup. You really need to stop interfering."

But Chloe had a look on her face. "You should! You were so good at getting Dov over his issue, and it was really great and—"

"Oh no, no no no, we are not doing this!" Nick looked horrified. "Especially not with Gail!"

Why would he care that much about Gail in that regard? Holly stared at Officer Collins for a moment. Nick Collins. "Oh, you're Nicholas," said Holly aloud and then felt herself blush. He looked nothing like Gail had described, but then again, she also didn't have any photos of him. But this was the man Gail had once been engaged to. Holly felt irrationally jealous. He looked like the perfect trophy husband.

Half embarrassed and half relieved, he nodded. "Yes, which is exactly why this is not a conversation I should be having." At least he was somewhat self aware of how awkward it was for two people who had slept with Gail to talk about one of them having sex with Gail. Or not. Ugh.

"I think that about pretty much everything you say, Nick," remarked Gail in her most acerbic. "Hi, Dr. Stewart."

There was a twinkle in her eye when she smiled at Holly and Holly grinned back. "Hello, Officer Peck. I'm just here to talk to Detective Swarek and …"

"And you got waylaid by Chloe, who needs to mind her own business." Gail shook her head, but was fairly relaxed by Gail-standards when it came to people like Chloe.

"You are back together!" squealed Chloe.

Gail looked momentarily startled. "Don't, Chloe, just … Don't. We're at work."

"Yes, and I should not be here," Nick remarked

"I think that every day," Gail sighed. "Swarek's in the break room." She gave Holly a sympathetic look while Nick just looked like he wanted to run away.

Chloe was just looking thoughtful. "Oh, I get it! You aren't together together. Well that's silly! I mean, I bet it's just like me and Dov, where he was being all stupid and didn't want to hurt me, and I just wanted to get laid—"

"Chloe!" snapped Gail. "Shut. Up." There was a bite to her tone that actually did cause Chloe to close her mouth. "Swarek. Break room. Work. Stay the hell out of my personal life, okay?" Turning to Nick, she added, "We have a call, Collins. Stop trying to help people and actually help people." With one last glance for Holly, Gail hauled Nick off.

After a moment, Holly coughed. "Well. That's awkward."

Chloe sighed. "I forgot he used to date Gail... It feels like a million years ago."

Holly eyed Chloe, marveling that Chloe's takeaway was that, of all things. "Uh huh. Break room?"

Chloe jumped and started down a different path. "She really likes you, you know."

Clearly this wasn't going to end. "I know," sighed Holly.

"You like her."

"That … isn't the problem." Why was she even having this conversation?

"Gail can be kind of immature," Chloe noted. "I don't think it's really her fault. She's got more pressure than I do, and my godfather was the sergeant here before Oliver." With a sigh, Chloe opened the break room door. "Just give her a chance?"

Holly stared at Chloe for a moment, and realized the super-perky person actually cared about Gail as a friend. For all Gail said she didn't make friends, the whole division seemed to be invested in her happiness. "Thank you," she replied, in lieu of anything else to say, and found herself stuck in a Chloe hug.

"Don't see that every day," said Detective Swarek after Chloe left.

"I'm really not sure what just happened," admitted Holly.

"No one really is with her." And thankfully, they got down to work.

Does she hug EVERYONE?!

The text from Holly made Gail laugh.

"What's funny?" asked Nick, driving the squad car.

"Lesbian jokes." Gail tapped a reply.

Only once if you're me. I threatened her.

"So. You and Holly." He hesitated and glanced at her. "This is inappropriate, isn't it?" Gail just glared at him. "Right! I'm just … She looked at you."

"We're friends, Nick. Friends look at each other."

"Yeah, she looked at you the way Dov looks at Chloe."

Gail shuddered. "Do not compare her to Dov. Or me to Chloe."

Was Chloe really trying to give us advice on sex?

"I'm not, I'm just saying she really likes you. And if you got a second chance—"

"Nicholas! Seriously, we're not talking about this!" He was silent for a mile after that and Gail tapped in a reply.

Afraid so.

For that alone, Gail might have to poison Chloe. Sex advice was not the issue. They were taking it slow, damn it.

I think you have a lot more friends than you think.

That was a strange text.

I think your definition of friend is strange.

This is possible. I think you're one of the friendliest people I know.

Gail smiled at that peculiar thought. Friendly Gail Peck.

It's all that formaldehyde, Lunchbox.

"How's the girl? Sophie?"

"Jesus, Nick. Seriously?" Gail put her phone down. "Since when have you cared about me?"

The words came out harsher than Gail had expected. Nick winced. "I'm sorry. I just... Care about you as a friend."

"Well, stop it."

They paused at a red light and Nick sighed, "Look, you like Holly. She likes you. I think you're in love with her, and you really need to not screw this up, Gail. You … after all the shit that's happened, you deserve to be happy."

Slowly Gail turned to stare at Nick. Everyone always thought Gail just didn't have feelings, but really she just didn't want to talk to people who were going to judge her. As she started to formulate a reply, a man burst out of a store carrying an enormous TV, ran into the street, tripped, and threw the television towards the car. Nick slammed on the brakes in time.

Gail snatched the radio to call it in. Work. Work was way better than having awkward conversations with Nick about the sex with Holly she wasn't having.

Chapter Text

The positive side was Gail was actually telling her they had to cancel their date night. The negative was the reason.

"I'm sorry, you stopped a radio with your face?" Holly was sure her phone was cutting out.

Gail's reply was more amused than caustic. "That is indeed what I said, Doctor. Have you had your hearing checked out?"

"Very funny. Do you want to explain this one?"

"If I say 'cop' can that be it?" sighed Gail. Holly did not answer and Gail grumbled. "Guys robbed an electronics' store. One of them broke a TV, the other threw a radio at me when I was cuffing the first guy. Honestly it's just stupid stuff, but my jaw hurts so dinner's kind of a bad idea."

"Uh huh," sighed Holly. "And what did the doctor say?"

"The EMT said I should stay off it," Gail quipped. "Actually, Nicholas said that and promised to stop bugging me about sleeping with you. I am so, so sorry about that."

Holly smiled, pretty sure she was the only one who got to talk to Gail like this. It did not escape her notice how derisive Gail was when speaking of Nick."I've had more awkward days with police officers, but that was mostly after this one didn't call me back after walking out on me."

She could hear Gail cringe. It wasn't really fair to keep poking at Gail about it, but at the same time it certainly reenforced shit which Holly would not accept in a relationship. "And you see how I'm calling you now to explain why I can't go out?"

"I accept your reason," agreed Holly. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm just going to pop some more Aleve and watch Big Brother. Pretty people being stupid on live TV, only I don't have to arrest them. Fun times."

"Well. Okay. Call me or text me if you need anything, promise?" That Gail was only taking OTC painkillers meant it couldn't be all that bad. Or it was horrible.

"Geeze, you're pushy," laughed Gail. "Yes, I promise to contact you should I need so much as a tissue."

"Idiot," smiled Holly, "Feel better."

"I will." Gail paused as if holding on to a word. "Talk to you later."

They hung up and Holly stared at her phone for a while. She had been looking forward to spending time with Gail and their non-physical intimacy was growing. Improving really. Gail actually talked to her about things, like a horrific case that was hitting her hard, or that she knew ASL. They were little things but they really were helping.

If anything, Holly was the one in danger of messing it up since she really just wanted to touch Gail and Gail was being weirdly mature and tentative. When Holly mentioned it the first time, Gail said it was at her therapists' suggestion. Not to just jump back in but to take it slow and actually listen to Holly more. Holly decided it would be inappropriate to send the therapist flowers. At the same time, right now she wanted to borrow Gail's gun and hold the therapist hostage until Gail was convinced to move a little faster.

She really did enjoy hanging out with Gail again but after watching Lord of the Rings and getting seriously into each other at the disk swap, Holly determined what she wanted was more than just hugs and kisses and holding and talking. She wanted to get back to where she could have Gail in her bed. Instead, she had Gail at her own apartment with boys, watching TV with an ice pack.

"Oh for god's sake, Holly," she snapped at herself. If Gail was going to sit around and mope, Holly was going to intrude and that was that. She stopped to pick up some protein smoothies, certain that Gail was just going to drink and not eat, but also soft serve frozen yogurt. The girl loved her sweet treats and today Holly was inclined to be generous.

She knew where Gail lived now, having dropped her off before, but had never actually gone inside. Holly didn't know what to expect when she knocked but having Chloe open the door wasn't on her list.

"OH! Gail, it's for yooooouuuuuuuu," sang Chloe, dancing away to let Holly in.

That was very weird. "Seriously, Chloe, I don't want pizza. You and Dov should just go out and— Holly." Gail's head poked over the couch and Holly could see the entire left side of her face was already discolored. Not that it took much, with Gail's pale skin, to stand out. This however was a massive black eye, a fantastic bruise on her cheek, and serious swelling.

"That looks painful," remarked Holly, closing the door. It looked broken. She frowned at Gail and was highly suspicious of the claim of Advil.

"I've had worse." Gail held up an icepack, indicating her treatment regime. The horrid thing was that Gail probably wasn't lying. "I see you've met my nanny. Her cohort in crime is in the back."

Holly smirked and hung up her jacket. "I brought you some food. Can I…?" Holly gestured at the fridge and Gail did a shrug-nod. When she opened the freezer, there were a dozen icepacks. That made sense, given the physical nature of the job, but it was still daunting. "Want a fresh pack?"

"Sure." Gail tossed the icepack over, belying her claim to not being sporty, and Holly exchanged it. "What'd you bring me?"

"Some soft, cold, foods. Smoothies." Holly loaded up the fridge and was surprised at the amount of fresh food. Hesitating, Holly brought the sweetest one over first, along with the icepack. "Let me look." Gail sighed and turned her head so Holly could inspect the damage. She barely touched it and Gail winced. The worst part was where a sharp corner had impacted along Gail's cheekbone. "They really let you home with this?"

"Her brain breaks the machines," remarked Dov, walking in from the back bedroom area. "EMT swears she doesn't have a concussion. They offered her the good drugs, too."

While Gail flipped Dov off, Holly carefully brought the icepack to Gail's face. "She has a tough head," smiled Holly.

"Hah, if I said that, she'd hurt me."

"I still might, Dov," grumbled Gail, and she eyed the smoothie. "This is healthy."

"And tastes good," Holly insisted. With a reluctant, puppy dog, face, Gail took a sip through the straw. She winced a little, but then sipped more.

Holly smiled, "If you have a blender, you can make a lot more like that with your fridge stock."

Snorting, Dov explained, "She's on a raw food kick. Can you believe that?"

"I didn't touch your candy stash, Dov," grumbled Gail, sinking into the couch.

Holly was impressed. "It's good for you," and she settled in on the couch. For all Gail had warned her, the place wasn't that messy at all. It showed evidence of a recent cleaning though, which made Holly think the cleanliness aspect was new. "So give, how bad is it?"

"Fractured. They x-rayed it. Something about a closed fracture." She shrugged and sipped the smoothie. "I have the print out in my room."

A zygomatic fracture made a lot of sense and Gail was insanely lucky that the damage was so light. "Double vision?" Holly studied Gail's eyes, but both pupils were the same size.

Gail sighed, "Blurry." The admission was like pulling teeth. "I'm off work for a while."

"Holly... If you're going to stay," wondered Dov aloud and paused when Gail glared. "Chloe and I are going out, if that's okay."

Holly was about to say they didn't have to, but Gail spoke up first. "God. Please, go. Or I won't be responsible for what happens to your girlfriend." Said girlfriend was all but dancing on her tip toes, watching Holly and Gail.

In mere moments, Dov had Chloe ushered out the door and as it closed they could both hear Chloe exclaim, "They are so cute together, Dov! Almost as cute as you!" There was a sound of kissing and Holly broke up laughing at the disgusted face Gail was making.

"Sorry, you don't have to stay but I really was going to kill her. She's over all the time again since she and Dov made up." Gail sipped the smoothie again, "I actually started running in the mornings just so I don't kill her before my coffee."

"Poor baby," laughed Holly. "And it's fine. I wanted to see you." She hesitated, "I just.. remembered the last time you got banged up and called me."

Gail looked surprised. "Oh, god, no. Holly, that's why I turned down the Oxy. No, I'm okay." The nightmares and the flashbacks had scared Holly, but Gail seemed much more at ease this time, just a little more pained physically. It was clearly a trade off. Hurt more or sleep worse.

She hadn't really understood why Gail had reacted the way she did to the dark, to being absolutely alone in a strange place, and to taxis. Now that she knew some of the story, the fact that Gail was still rushing to a job where she could get killed was crazy and brave and terrifying.

Holly put that aside for a moment, smiled and reached over. Gently she cupped the unbruised side of Gail's face. "That has got to hurt."

"It's really not that bad," insisted Gail. It probably wasn't, given everything else that had gone on in her life, but Holly didn't think for a moment that it didn't hurt. She sighed and gently kissed Gail, startling her. It was a soft kiss, a welcome kiss, a real kiss. Gail made a happy noise, winding a hand in Holly's shirt to pull her closer. The kiss became more heated, but a moment into it Gail winced and pulled back.

Holly shook her head. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt," she admonished. "How about we just sit here and watch TV?"

Gail sighed. "I liked the kissing part better."

Since both of Gail's hands were quickly occupied with an icepack and a smoothie, Holly situated herself so Gail could lean back against her and Holly could toy with her hair. Yes, damn it, she loved the hair. "It's growing out. Are you going to keep it short?"

"Dunno. It's just hair, right?" That, Holly had to agree with. "I'm not bleaching it anymore." While the bleach and the pale skin were amazing, the warmer natural colors would be beautiful in a different way.

They made it through one episode of Big Brother and Holly was surprised that the DVR auto played another. Apparently Gail had a backlog. With her jaw hurting, Holly didn't expect much conversation out of Gail and was content to simply sit here, holding her, for another episode. By the third one, Holly thought her brain might melt. "Gail, honey, can we please watch anything else?"

No reply. Holly squinted and realized Gail had fallen sound asleep on her. Actually asleep, too, not the fake sleep. "I should have brought a book," Holly muttered and flipped the TV off. The only thing within reach was a People magazine, which was poor reading, but better than sitting doing nothing.

That was how Dov, sans Chloe, found them when he returned. "Is she…?" he asked quietly.

"Out like a light." Holly carefully took the warm icepack off Gail's face and held it up for Dov, who tossed it back in the freezer.

He walked back over and stared down at Gail for a while. "I asked her to move in with me, when Chris left. Nick had come back, but when I asked her, we both felt alone. She even volunteered to move into the den when Chris came back. I couldn't ask her to leave."

Holly stroked Gail's hair softly. "Thank you for doing that." Dov made a 'hmm' noise and nodded. "How is Chris?"

"Okay. Better. He's working tonight. I'm getting him to NA and all the fun stuff, though... Gail takes him sometimes too."

"I won't tell her you told me she's being nice," smiled Holly.

Dov hesitated. "I love her too, you know. Not like you do. I mean, I did. Or I thought I did. I was on Vicodin and totally confessed to her. Broke up her and Chris. But she never makes fun of me about that." He sighed. "But I do. Love her. She's the family I chose."

That was a surprising statement and Holly nodded. They said nothing more about it, both watching Gail sleep. It had taken Holly a while to understand the levels of sleep Gail possessed, but this particular sleep of exhaustion was hard to fake. "I should probably get her into bed."

"I am going to get out of here before she wakes up and yells at me." He smiled and vanished into the back.

It took a while to wake Gail up. "Honey, you need to sleep in your actual bed." Finally, though, Gail squinted up at Holly and sat up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"You stopped crime and a radio today, honey. It's fine." Holly smiled and caressed Gail's right cheek. "Come on, let me get you into bed."

"No, I'm okay," insisted Gail, getting up slowly and wincing as she touched her own face. "I hope Nick's knee is worse than this. He tripped on the TV and banged it."

"Less visible."

"I know, right?" Gail went to get a fresh icepack and then hesitated. "I'm serious, Holly, I can tuck myself in. Besides, I gotta lock the door."

Holly stretched and stood up, "Dov can let me out."

With the icepack in hand, Gail hesitated. "Could you stay?" Her voice was quiet, almost embarrassed.

They both looked towards Dov's room. "Just to sleep," Holly said slowly. Gail nodded quickly. The presence of roommates certainly would put a halt to any shenanigans, which made it relatively safe. Not that Holly wanted to be safe. She wanted to have been at a romantic dinner and convincing Gail to stay at her place that night.

"You can say no," Gail pointed out, stupidly. "I mean, you already came all the way over here and you have work tomorrow and I don't."

"I don't," replied Holly, smiling at Gail's babble.

"What?"

"I have tomorrow off. It's a holiday? Don't you guys take those off?"

Gail looked embarrassed. "No. I mean, sometimes, but I usually work them so I can avoid my parents."

Nodding, Holly got up and picked up her purse. "Which room's yours?" Gail took her hand and led her into the smallest room and they closed the door. Nothing would happen that night, Holly knew it, but she found herself sleeping the best night she had in months, curled around Gail in a tiny bed in a tiny room, with a light on in the closet.

"Holy hell, you better not let mom see you." Steve Peck eyed his sister, much to Gail's annoyance.

"She already knows, you moron," snapped Gail. "You know she gets reports on us daily."

"Yeah, well hearing and seeing aren't the same. How can you even see?"

The blurry vision had gone away pretty fast and the pain was really tolerable. "It looks worse than it is, Steve." It was too boring to stay at home and she'd begged Oliver to let her work the desk and admit.

"It better. I brought you the smoothie."

"You should start with that next time," and Gail grabbed the cup. "I can't wait till I can chew again."

Smirking, Steve sat on the edge of the desk. "Messing with you and Holly making up?"

Gail glowered, "I know all your bad habits and Nash is my friend." It was not an empty threat and Steve held up his hands. "Besides, you two just sorted your shit out too."

"True," allowed Steve. "You like her."

"Seriously? Why does everyone want to talk about my personal life at work?"

"When do you give us a chance otherwise, kiddo?"

Challenge accepted. "Buy me a drink tonight at the Penny."

"Oh! You're drinking again?"

"A, single, drink. And I'm not on the fun drugs." She sipped the smoothie and was somewhat disappointed it didn't taste as good as the night Holly came over. "Since when have you counted my drinks?"

"Who said I counted? Drink tonight, on me." And Steve headed back to the bullpen.

That was something to look forward to, at least. Gail might call Holly, but she still felt like walking on eggshells around her. It was too weird and too fragile to assume anything, no matter how passionate things could be. They had to have stability to make it last and Gail wanted Holly. For as long as humanly possible.

Swirling her smoothie, which was very watery, Gail sighed and contemplated how thin the ice of the relationship was. If Holly made her a better person, then she really needed to live up to that. She felt she was about Sophie, talking to her honestly about the adoption situation, asking her what she wanted. When Sophie asked if Gail could adopt her, she'd had to explain why her job was making it a bad idea. With childish logic, Sophie pointed out her mother had been a single mom and that day, when Gail left, Sophie had been angry with her. Three days later, Sophie apologized, but asked if Gail had a boyfriend.

"No, not a boyfriend, sweetie," Gail had explained. "I have someone I like, and we talk about you a lot." Immediately Sophie wanted to know details,which Gail skirted around carefully (was he handsome, did he want kids, and so on). The social worker dropped that bomb for her, asking in front of Sophie if Gail's girlfriend was going to meet them any time soon.

Schooled from an early age not to over react, Gail just watched Sophie's eyes widen as the clue dropped and the reality of why Gail had avoided details was explained. And, with a complete lack of guile, Sophie demanded to know when she could meet the girlfriend, what her name was, and was she pretty? Gail showed a picture and was amused to have Holly deemed 'very pretty'. She promised to ask Holly, but then the stupid radio thing had happened.

When Gail showed up the day before, with her black eye and bruises, Sophie had been appalled. Gail was forced to explain what happened, but promised that Holly was a doctor, and was taking care of her. All that drove Gail desperately into the arms of work, yet again.

Jarring her out of her thoughts was a shout, "Petulant Desk Peck!" Oliver's voice rang out. "Come. I have need of your smiling, discolored face."

She rolled her eyes but willingly ceded the desk to anyone else. "Yes sir, Oliver, sir." She tossed him a salute, which he returned laughingly.

"I need a secretary and you type faster."

"This is an abuse of power."

"Only if I ask you to sit on my lap. Besides, I bring a bribe." He held out a styrofoam bowl. "Little bird told me you're still not chewing."

"Would you convict me if I shot Chloe?" Gail took the bowl and smiled at the ice cream. "What am I typing?" Oliver put his hand on a stack of papers. "Oh, you owe me a lot more than one plain vanilla, Oliver." He promised more and blew her a kiss as he left.

The reports were all old, and dead boring. But it was better than answering phones since everyone left her alone. She finished the smoothie and the ice cream but only a third of the papers. It was time to scrounge the fridge. Without the paperwork to occupy her brain, thoughts returned to Holly. She wanted to talk to her, just about anything without being creepy, and finally had an idea.

I have apples, oranges, cranberry juice, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and bananas. Is that healthy enough?

Pulling out the food, she dug the ancient, but effective, blender out from a cabinet. It was probably old when her parents had worked uniforms in 15. The phone dinged.

Are you eating enough protein right now?

Probably not. The idea of blended meat was disgusting and that meant scrambled eggs (which she hated) or protein powders. Gail stared at the cabinets and found some whey protein powder that hadn't expired.

Whey protein?

Check the sugar content.

That was enlightening and she put it back. Who knew there was that much sugar in 'protein' powder? Well, besides Holly.

Yogurt?

The yogurt was actually hers and was really low in sugar. Greek yogurt without the fruit in it meant no one ate her food.

If it's the Greek stuff you had in your fridge yes. But not with the juice. Milk would be better.

Perfect. Gail dumped it and everything but the apple into the blender.

Thanks. Steve found me a smoothie but it wasn't as good as the ones you brought me.

She ran the blender, watching the food pulverize, and got yelled at by a grumpy McNally who had shouted her name a few times. Gail flipped the off switch, "What the hell is that loud noise?"

"Blender?" She gestured at the machine and jiggled the contents. Mostly done. She pulsed it a few more times, getting a wince out of McNally each time. A fringe benefit.

As Gail poured the well blended mix into a tall cup, McNally lingered. "So. You ... Still can't eat solid foods?"

Gail eyed McNally with a frown. "Soft foods are fine. The less chewing, the better."

Fidgeting in the way she did when nervous, McNally poured coffee. "How's Nick?"

That's what she cared about? Of course. Gail rolled her eyes. "Fine. Doctor popped his knee back into place. He has the night desk duty." One person at roll call had implied her day shift roll was because she was a Peck. Oliver, bless his soul, said that was right, because Pecks ask to come back first.

She sipped the smoothie, which was a little thick but tasty. Gail pulled her phone out again to thank Holly and saw the doctor had already replied.

Don't keep me hanging! How is it?

Heaven in a cup

McNally lingered. God she was annoying, "Okay, McNally, give."

"I don't know how to start." That was new. "I just. I miss being able to talk to you. About stuff. You made more sense about Sam and you didn't let me be stupid and ... I need a friend like you, Gail, and I don't know what to do to fix this."

Gail wanted to just be cruel, but of all the damned things to happen, her phone beeped. Holly. And thinking of Holly made her self-reflective. Gail knew damn well what McNally wanted to talk about and why. She closed her eyes and sipped the smoothie. "Okay. I do."

"You ... You do?"

"It's five words, McNally, follow along okay?" Gail stared at McNally in the eyes. She held up a hand, ticking off a finger for each word. "I'm sorry, it was wrong."

McNally's eyes darted from the hand to the eyes and then she nodded. "I'm sorry. It was wrong." She paused, "Now what?"

Wondering when she became fluent at girl, Gail waved at the table. "Now tell me what really happened. And ... Then you can buy me a drink later." Hopefully Steve wouldn't count.

Chapter Text

When Holly sent the text, offering to deliver sexy smoothies, she was partly joking. Looking at it with no reply for hours made her wonder if she'd spooked Gail. Why was she doing the chasing again? This was the woman who'd ignored her for weeks when scared, and them dumped her life on Holly again. Why was she in love with a damn project girlfriend. As Holly packed up for the day, she was livid. Gail was doing this shit again.

The phone beeped.

Jesus, Andy is a talker.

The name Andy was familiar. Andy McNally. Only Gail had only called her McNally before.

Andy?

Girl Guide McNally wanted to apologize, so I thought I should listen.

That barely sounded like Gail. Holly hesitated. Gail was listening to an old friend apologize. She wasn't running off and being a brat. Holly felt insanely guilty and relieved. Sitting down, Holly tried to assess her own reaction and feelings.

Wow. How'd that work out?

She's buying me a drink at the Penny.

Sounds promising.

Not as much fun as home deliveries from you, though.

Holly smiled. Okay, she was blowing it out of proportion. She got to her car and considered asking to come to the Penny. But getting more people involved in their recovering relationship felt like a bad idea just now.

So you're up for going out?

Holly chewed her lip waiting for an answer.

Maybe. I'll be home by 8

So not a long night. That was smart.

Let me know if you want home delivery then.

Gail replied right away.

You do not play fair, missy.

Sorry. Mature, dealing with her shit, Gail is surprisingly attractive.

This time the delay in replies was probably legit and related to Gail thinking.

I have Thursday off. Maybe we could hang out again?

There's a soccer game.

You are a mean, mean, woman!

Is that a yes or a no?

Yes. And you should think about how much I like you, that I'll watch sports with you.

Holly smiled.

She could see Holly checking her out in the reflection of the oven. "Chop the salad, you perv."

"I am! How come I'm making the salad if you're making dinner?"

"You like rabbit food. I'm making tamales." Gail wrapped the last one and tossed the pan in the oven. Leaning over Holly's shoulder, Gail pondered the salad. "You should put an avocado in there. They're the good fats."

Holly laughed. "How do you know that?"

"This incredibly hot doctor told me that was why I was eating a guacamole smoothie last week." She kissed Holly's cheek and went to put the cookware in the dishwasher.

"Speaking of last week, how's your jaw?"

Gail considered her own black and blue face. "Feels okay. Yellow is not my color, though." The bone had cracked, but not much, so it only ached a little and then only if she touched it the right way. Or slept on it. Strangely it didn't remind her of Perik at all. Possibly because it was the other side of her face. It was a very different sort of pain for a very similar injury. Already, Sophie was over the fear of the injury and asked Gail all sorts of details about the job.

Armed with two avocados, Holly smiled, "Maybe not that shade, no. I'm glad you're feeling better." She paused and then went to chop the avocado.

Smiling, Gail hopped up to sit on the island and watch Holly chop. Once the salad was done, she waited for Holly to cross her path with empty hands and reached out to her, "Hey, come here for a second."

When Holly slowed, Gail pulled her over and looped her hands behind Holly's head. "I thought you were all about taking it slow," smiled Holly. It was clearly not a complaint.

"Fast would be kissing you and wrapping my legs around you." Gail did neither of these and simply smiled at Holly. "Maybe I'll kiss you."

"That would be nice."

Gail smiled and leaned in to kiss Holly. It was soft and warm and so easy to just fall in. "Yeah, that's nice," agreed Gail and she ducked her head down for a second kiss. Holly's hands ended up on Gail's thighs, not gripping them, but in tight fists. There was a tension and Gail could tell Holly really wanted more.

If one of her boyfriends had pulled what Gail did, she'd have dumped his ass and never looked back. That Holly actually was letting her back in was a miracle and a blessing. "Gail," whispered Holly, her eyes closed. "There is such a thing as too slow."

Taking the comment for what it was, Gail pulled Holly a little closer and kissed her again. This time Gail gave in to the craving to kiss like they had before in interrogation and the shower. To kiss Holly with passion and, yes, lust. Holly's hands moved to Gail's waist as she stepped in closer. Gail smiled, breaking the kiss, "I take instructions better, I think."

"Stop talking," whispered Holly and kissed Gail hungrily. It was impossible not to get wrapped up in the kiss and Gail's hold on Holly tightened. It felt so, so good to be kissing her again and a familiar ache was burning for more. Would this be a bad time? It felt right and natural when Holly moved one hand under her shirt. Gail clutched at Holly's shirt, tugging her closer still, winding one leg around to hold them in place.

However, when Holly put her other hand on Gail's face, she pressed harder on the bruise than she meant. Gail yelped and jerked her head back. "Ah, sorry," Gail winced, putting the back of her hand on her cheek to cool it down.

Holly exhaled, "I should be apologizing, honey. I forgot." She tenderly cupped Gail's face. "You really are beautiful." Kissing her softly, Holly went to the freezer. "I have ... Peas."

"It's really okay. I don't think about it." Unless she slept on it or someone touched it. Holly ignored her and wrapped the peas in a dish towel and pressed it to Gail's cheek. Best not to argue, and Gail held it in place.

"I have some arnica upstairs. And Tylenol. Or do you want something else?"

Gail grabbed her arm. "Hey, Lunchbox, you didn't hurt me." But Holly had tears in her eyes. What would Oliver do? "Hey, it's okay." She pulled Holly in for a hug, pressing her safe cheek against Holly's. Holly squeezed Gail tight and sniffled.

Finally Holly mumbled, "Your job scares me." There it was. "You get shot at and hit with radios. Some of you die." She sighed, "I've already picked you up at the hospital."

Putting down the makeshift icepack, Gail stroked Holly's hair. "Oh, Holly," she sighed. All the love in her heart wasn't going to make that any easier to stomach. "That's probably why your friends are worried about us," realized Gail. Holly nodded and Gail felt a little vindicated. "Lisa could work on her words."

That made Holly laugh. "Really? You're going to say that?"

"Hey! I'm growing." But she had to laugh too and in a moment they were both just laughing helplessly. Gail sighed and kissed Holly's cheek. "Do you ... Do you want to talk about it?"

Shaking her head, Holly sighed as well. "No. Not right now." She lightly kissed Gail's bruise.

"That doesn't hurt," smiled Gail. Her stomach interrupted the tender moment and they both laughed. "Okay, I need to eat something, baby."

Holly tilted her head, "Baby."

Gail scrunched her face up. "Lunchbox?"

But Holly kissed her again, "I like it. How about we eat the salad and then your tamales and then..." She trailed off, expectantly.

"Then I have to go home, because I have to work tonight," sighed Gail. Technically this was her breakfast. Holly scowled but kissed her one more time.

"At least I'm getting you to eat salad!"

"You need to explain this again," growled Rachel. While she was the more forgiving of her friends, she had not been pleasant when faced with Holly's abrupt 180 with the whole moving thing and less with the re-introduction of Gail.

"I told you, after the move didn't happen, we kind of fell back together."

"You mean you took her back."

Holly winced and nodded. She knew Rachel and Lisa were not going to take that well. "We talked."

"Holly, she didn't talk to you for three weeks!"

Lisa added, "And you were moving!"

"I know," sighed Holly. "It's complicated, okay."

Rachel scowled. "I don't like it."

"You broke the rules," added Lisa, with a similar scowl.

"Oh come on, this isn't about the damn move," snapped Holly. "I'm serious about her."

It was amusing to watch Rachel's jaw snap shut. Lisa frowned more. "You're serious about her," Lisa repeated. "You also said no one was going to get hurt."

"Well, if someone hadn't been a classist and gave her a chance, no one would have," snarled Holly.

"I do not understand you," Rachel cut in.

"What's to understand?"

"Well except for telling us she was gorgeous, which she is, and straight, you haven't told us anything! That's not what we do, Holly!" Lisa was angry, but had a point. "You were going to ask her to move with you and don't think you're off the hook there."

Holly took a deeper breath. She couldn't tell them about Sophie, since she still didn't know how she felt about it, but the rest... "She's smart. She picks up new skills insanely fast. She speaks French, beautifully. And Italian. Can't play sports with other people, but I think that's a psychological thing. She hates people, loves kids. She'samazing with kids. Music, she can sing with any pop tune on the radio, but has a massive blues collection. She has this horribly dark sense of humor that I like, she takes the world by the horns. She doesn't take shit from people and ... She gets what I do."

The last was a dig at her friends but Holly didn't regret it in the least. But that was actually important. Gail got her work. And on so many levels, Gail understood what Holly was about. Her friends at least had the grace to look apologetic.

"That isn't fair," muttered Lisa.

"I'm just saying, out of the three of you, only one helped me with that move."

"How serious?" Rachel was thoughtful now.

Holly didn't answer right away. She knew the answer want going to help in the arguments at all. "I'm in love with her."

Looking like she'd bitten a lemon, Rachel put her coffee down. "Holly-"

"I'm serious enough that I want to make this work and I don't want my best friends in the universe to just write me off because they don't want to get to know someone I really care about." A pause. "She said it first."

Both Lisa and Rachel looked at each other. "Okay," Rachel decided. Lisa blustered and Rachel was louder. "I want to meet her again. Maybe she's just not the kind of person who makes a good first impression, Lisa."

Holly smiled hopefully. Now she just had to get Gail on the same page.

Gail whinged, "They don't like me, Holly."

This time Holly was being firm. "They don't know you. You're dark, you're funny, and I love you, so you're going to get to know them." Gail scowled and Holly glowered.

"Fine, I'll be on my best behavior."

"Gail, I'm serious. If you pull that shit again-"

Gail threw her hands up. "I wasn't thinking that!" She sighed. "I am not running out on you or them. I just... I don't think I'm going to enjoy this. We have nothing in common."

"Sure you do."

Rolling her eyes, Gail fell on the couch, "Name me one thing I have in common with Dr. Lopsided Boob Job."

"Me."

Gail blinked and looked back at Holly. She was slightly upset and Gail swallowed. "You're right." She held out a hand and Holly came over, but did not sit. "I'm sorry."

Holly reached out and brushed Gail's hair out of her face. "I know. You don't like people."

"I like you." Gail wrapped one hand in Holly's. "They don't like me."

"Well yeah, you hurt me, dummy."

"Yeah, and you forgave me. And they didn't like me before I hurt you."

"You don't make a great first impression, honey. You tried to arrest me."

Gail snorted. That's what Dov had said. "What reason do they have to like me? I'm not in love with them. They don't know I'm an awesome kisser!"

That won a smirk from Holly. "Oh, don't mention that. Lisa will talk your ear off about the lesbian sex web." With another fond hair tousle, Holly went to the kitchen.

Gail stared after her. "The lesbian sex what!?"

This time, Gail was on her best behavior. She held Holly's hand most of the night and was polite, if terse, to Rachel and Lisa, tolerating their nagging. Both of her friends repeated, many times, that Gail was the luckiest woman in the world and she better not hurt their friend.

When the two went to get drinks, Holly leaned in. "Holding up okay?"

Gail nodded. "I was a jerk. I deserved most of that." She sighed and looked longingly at Holly. "They really care about you."

Holly smiled and kissed her gently. "See, you have something in common." And Gail's eyes drifted closed as they kissed.

"Ugh, again?" That was Lisa.

"Oh shut up about it, BitchTits," joked Holly, and Rachel guffawed.

"What the hell, Holly!?"

But Rachel joined in, "Oh come on. Who slept with her professor's wife?"

As one, Holly and Rachel said, "BitchTits."

When Lisa started to protest, Holly added, "Who had a random hook-up and ditched us without a car at the jazz festival in Montréal?"

Again as one, "BitchTits."

Lisa pressed her lips together and spoke before they got further down the chain of The Adventures of BitchTits. "Okay, fine, but I don't make a habit of dating straight girls."

Holly was prepared to counter that but Gail simply remarked, "I'm not straight." Everyone stopped. "What?" Her face was collected and calm, in the way she got when someone was being dense.

"So how do you identify?" Lisa was her most demanding.

"Misanthropist." Gail winked at Holly who laughed. Even Rachel smirked.

That did not appease Lisa, however. "Seriously."

Gail sighed and picked up her drink. "I hate labels, you're worse than my parents." Hiding her smile behind her own drink, Holly squeezed Gail's knee under the table.

"Your family knows?"

"About Holly? Kind of. I haven't told them we got back together, which has nothing to do with Holly. I don't talk to my parents much in general. But I did tell them I was a lesbian at the family dinner." Gail smirked, "I like that word better than gay, Holly. Lesbian." Holly grinned and kissed her quickly. "So very much lesbian," smiled Gail.

Disgruntled but accepting, Lisa moved on and told Holly about her last date. Then Rachel told them about a trip to Paris and Holly glanced at Gail. If she was bored, she was hiding it well and simply listened with her normal bitchy-resting-face expression. This time Holly had made sure to stress the fact that Gail wasn't being bitchy like that, and Lisa had understood.

Speaking of Lisa, she started droning on about the riding instructor at her barn and how she was amazing, and Gail tsked. "Yeah, she's straight."

Everyone stared at Gail again. "I'm sorry, do you even know who I'm talking about?" Lisa was about to be her worst.

And Gail rattled off some information about the instructor, including how she'd come in third at junior nationals twice. "She used to date her instructor in high school. Still does, even though he went after McNally a couple years ago." Holly quickly sipped her drink to hid a smirk.

Lisa was flabbergasted, "Why do you know that?"

"How do you know that?" Rachel was a little louder than necessary.

"We use those stables for training—"

"Gail Peck!" Lisa was floored. "Gymkhana Juniors champion four years running! Reserve senior champ-"

"She means I got second place," Gail explained. "Twice? Twice." Shrugging, Gail replied, "Yes, that would be me."

The reality that Gail was, in fact, not actually as blue collar as all that was known to Holly. The horseback riding was not. "You didn't tell me you rode horses."

"It doesn't come up much anymore. I mean, cops barely ride horses nowadays." She shrugged again, "Pecks have to know. Steve's terrible at it, though. Probably why he rushed for detective."

"She didn't just ride horses, Holly, she was a goddamn genius." Lisa was positively astounded and any lingering snideness seemed to have fallen away. "Why did you stop? Everyone said you could go to the Olympics!"

That was surprising and impressive and Holly looked curiously at Gail, "Because you're a Peck, right?" She smiled and kissed Gail again. In a way, she was grateful for Gail being a target as she didn't have to argue about the move. Again.

"Pretty much," sighed Gail. There was an undertone that Gail was just not going to talk about in front of Rachel or Lisa. "I went to the Academy, not a lot of time for that."

Rachel huffed, "I have to ask... Why a cop?"

"Pecks have been police officers in Toronto for ... As long as Toronto's had police. Family business." Gail caught Holly's hand under the table.

"Don't worry, they don't understand why I'm in forensics either," smiled Holly, squeezing Gail's hand.

It was after dinner, with Gail driving them back to Holly's, that a more real answer came out. "It's hilarious that I'm really only great at the stuff my family wanted me to learn so I could be a cop."

"You're a good cop, Gail, everyone says so."

"Yeah, and I'm supposed to be a great cop." She sighed, "I stopped riding, competitively, because my parents said it was taking too much time away from all the other things I was supposed to do."

Holly frowned, "Why did you decide to join the force?"

There was a long silence and Gail tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "It was a deal to get them off my back after the wedding. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to, but not as much as they did. They just expected me to do it and part of me felt I was supposed to. But ... The more I think about it, the more it's a thing I have to do. I mean, I get scared too, but when people need someone between them and the crazy, I just don't run away. I can do that." She side glanced at Holly. "Sorry, that's not really an answer."

Putting her hand on Gail's shoulder, Holly smiled. "No, I understand." It was hard to explain why she was in forensics. Why she had a need to answer those questions. "Besides, you're not a Peck."

Gail laughed, "Oh, really?"

"You're my Peck."

After a moment, Gail quipped, "Steve will cry."

Holly could tell Gail was trying defuse the tension. "I'm not about to ask Steve to come inside." Looking at Gail drive, Holly made a decision. She let her voice drift lower, "Spend the night with me, Gail."

While Gail's eyes didn't leave the road, Holly was sure she was being checked out in the mirror. They'd fooled around on the couch since getting back together, but they hadn't been as intimate, physically, as before. It was something they both wanted and just hadn't rushed back into. A flush was rising on Gail's neck. That was an encouraging reaction. So was Gail swallowing and nodding, "Okay."

The tone was so blasé it was pure Gail. "You can say no, honey."

"Uh huh," she replied, her voice a little higher than normal. Clearly she had no intention of declining the offer. Single syllables. Holly smiled smugly and leaned back in the seat.

Deciding not to tease Gail too much while she was driving, Holly stayed quiet until they got to her house and parked in the garage. Gail lingered at the door from the garage for a moment, her face still red. Holly took her hand, "Gail, I want you."

The blush deepened. Gail just nodded and followed Holly inside. When Holly put her purse down on the kitchen island, Gail stepped into her personal space and kissed the side of her neck from behind. Shuddering, Holly tilted her neck for more access. "Holly," she breathed, almost reverently, and brushed her lips against Holly's skin, hands lightly holding her waist.

That was two syllables. Holly sighed and turned around, bringing her hands up to run her fingers through Gail's short hair. They hesitated a moment before kissing, not in trepidation, Holly felt, but out of a need to experience everything anew. The kiss was hungry, no, starving, and Gail wasn't holding back any desires now. She was a little forceful but in a way that felt so right. Holly's pulse pounded as Gail pressed their bodies against each other. "Bedroom," she groaned.

Gail pulled away for a moment, her eyes half closed. "Soon," she agreed, and started to kiss Holly's neck and collarbone. Letting her head tip back, Holly squeezed her eyes shut and gave in to the feeling of Gail's lips on her skin. Oh god, yes. A hand slid under her shirt, touching her ribs, almost touching her breast. The lips were on her chin, and now her lips again, and they kissed.

She wasn't going to be able to keep standing and Holly took the effort to step back and pull Gail with her. "No, now." While Gail's face was still red and serious, her eyes were smiling. "I need you in bed," she informed Gail and led her upstairs.

There was a different kind of shyness in bed this time. The clothes came off faster, before they even got onto the bed, but there was a slower pace as Holly reacquainted herself with Gail's body. She'd lost some weight in the two months since they had last been naked in front of each other, in ways you couldn't easily tell when Gail was dressed. The non sporty girl had new muscle definition. "How did you change that much that fast," Holly wondered, running her hands over ab muscles that had not been quite that noticeable before.

"Lots of running." Gail's voice was still higher, more tense. "It was that or I killed Chloe."

Well, they couldn't have that. It was impressive how fast Gail built muscles and learned things. Holly wanted to take stock of every curve, count every bruise, and measure every inch of Gail's body. She gently touched Gail's left cheek, "Does it still hurt?" The discoloration was faded and nearly invisible, unless you spent a lot of time studying Gail's face.

"Not if you're kissing me." Gail threaded a hand through Holly's hair and pulled her in for a kiss. That was perfection. Their bodies were easing into sync quickly, where it was so simple to know what to touch and where and when and how. This was the easy part of Gail, of loving her. The universe was two people and everything made perfect sense.

And there were hands and lips and hands and finally, finally, release and sleep.

It was still dark when Holly realized Gail was talking. "Right now?" A pause, "I'm not. At home." A longer pause. "Are you sure? ... Well. If you don't, I will." She hung up and rolled onto her back with a groan of annoyance.

"You okay?" Holly yawned, completely awake now.

"Crap," muttered Gail, and she turned to look at Holly. "Sorry, Dov... You know what, doesn't matter right now." She leaned back to toss her phone onto the nightstand and then scooted closer to Holly, reaching over to brush the hair away from her face. "You are so beautiful, Holly," Gail whispered.

Holly blushed. "You're pretty sexy yourself, officer."

"I missed this so much." Gail's fingers trailed down Holly's face to her shoulder, arm, and then dipped under the sheets to find her hip. With a contented sigh, Holly's eyes drifted closed and she reveled in the sensations of Gail's fingers on her skin. She'd missed that too.

When Gail's hand moved to a more suggestive location, Holly curved towards the hand, only to have it inch away. "You're a tease," she muttered.

Lips pressed into her neck and Holly moved to give Gail more access, drawing her arms around the blonde. "Get used to it," Gail warned her. "I'm not leaving this any time soon."

Chapter Text

Three coffees and she still wasn't really awake enough for parade. One of the coffees was Holly's super strong espresso. The second was a depth charge from a coffee house by her own apartment, which had been empty. The third was actually tea, handed to her by Andy.

"You look wiped," Andy remarked, slipping into a seat beside her.

"Long night." She sipped the tea, which was doctored the way she liked. "Thanks."

"Wow. I got a Peck thank you," joked Andy.

"Bite me," Gail grumbled and drank the tea.

"I feel better. You weren't at game night."

"Because that's sooooo much fun." But Andy was giving her a look. "What?"

"You had a date!"

Gail blinked a few times. She hadn't really been talking to Andy much since that day, and in the last three weeks, they'd really just talked about Sam, and Duncan (Gerald, whatever), and other things. Gail had not mentioned her personal life. "Oh. Yeah."

She tried to think about how to talk around it, when Oliver saved her. "Good to see one of my Diaz/Pecksteins made it to work," announced Oliver. "Peck, my office after parade."

So it was going to be that kind of day. Gail tried to put the night out of her mind, pretty unsuccessfully, and peeked at her phone. Messages from Holly but not Dov. Odds were that Oliver wanted to talk about Dov and Chris, so she flipped the sound off and surreptitiously texted Dov.

Oliver is looking for you - 30 min

As a child, her parents had drilled into her the need to listen, process, and multitask. Doing it at parade was easy, and she took notes while focusing on the day's routines. "And that's it people. Check the board for your assignments."

Gail glanced at her name on the board as she headed to Oliver's office. McPeck. Damn it, Oliver. Could be worse. At least Duncan could be trusted regularly with other officers now, though she felt a little bad for him being stuck with Chloe. "You wanted to see me, Oliver?" She tried to look bright eyed and bushy tailed, but probably didn't manage it.

"You sleeping okay, Gail?" Oliver looked seriously concerned.

Jesus, you don't sleep one night... "Yep." When she'd slept, it'd been great. It was just that there hadn't been a lot of sleeping. Of course, the not sleeping part had been pretty fantastic too. Make up sex was awesome. She was sure her face was giving her away, but it was hard not to smirk.

Too late. Oliver noticed something. "Uh huh, so. Diaz and Epstein?"

"Not home when I got there." An honest reply.

"Everything okay with you three? Diaz has been weird, I know."

What? "Yeah, we're fine." Generally they watched each others backs, but this wasn't the first time Chris had been left to his own devices at night since he got hooked on drugs.

The desk phone rang and Oliver frowned. "Stay." She shrugged and finished her tea while he grabbed the phone. "Sgt. Shaw... Epstein! Where the hell are you? Uh huh. And Diaz? ... Peck's right here. Where the two of you should be. Get the hell in here."

Gail peeked at her own phone. Sometime between parade and now, Dov had texted her that Chris had been at Nick's and overslept and they were going to an NA meeting. "So. Patrol now?" She gestured at the door as Oliver hung up.

"Just... One thing." He hesitated, in his endearing dad way. "How are you?"

Unexpected. "Fine." An understatement to put it mildly.

Oliver, per usual, didn't buy it. "When a lot of stuff hits us at once, it's really hard to process all of it. And you, you've had a rough couple of years." Where was this going, wondered Gail, frowning. "That case hit you hard earlier this year."

She hesitated. "Yeah, it did."

"And I said things were going to hurt more for a while." Nodding, Gail had to admit that he was right. "Dov said you weren't home last night." Before Gail could ask what the hell was going on, Oliver added, "I asked Dov and Chris to keep tabs on you, after Perik."

Now she was annoyed, "You asked them?"

"They came to me... You were sleeping on their couch sometimes, Gail. Chris worried, and he didn't know what do with you." Oliver looked so pained, Gail felt guilty for being annoyed at him. "I told him that he and Dov should be your friend and watch out for you. Make sure you're not alone."

"Oh. That's... I thought this was about Chris."

"It is. Dov's going to run himself thin right now, looking out for you and Chris and Chloe." Oliver looked serious for a moment, though Gail wondered what he knew about Chris. "So I'm asking, are you okay?" Gail started to reply when Oliver said, "Don't just say 'yeah' okay? I'm serious. You've been through a lot, you're acting tense lately, and then you were out all night and you look... Well you look like you haven't slept. Gail, you're not drinking, are you?"

Gail stared at Oliver. "What?" She forgot to be a cool Peck in that exact moment. "That's where you all went?"

"Look, I'm just saying it's been an extra rough couple months, with you and Holly and breaking your face-"

"Oliver, I, literally, slept on my face wrong. Which is the second most annoying about that stupid fracture. I wasn't drinking, I had a beer at dinner and..." She stopped. Damn it. It was Oliver. Gail tried to find that cool-as-a-cucumber Peck face and, as casually as possible, added, "And I spent the night at Holly's."

Oliver blinked. "Holly's."

"Yeah, Holly's."

"So you weren't home because you were at Holly's."

"Oliver, why does everyone need to know about my personal life?" She ran her hands through her hair. They were really intent on ruining a great thing, just because she wanted to hold on to it privately for a while.

"Because we care about you," but he was grinning. "You spent the night at Holly's. So ... Things are good?"

"Don't be an ass, Oliver. I know your secrets."

He smiled more. "We should have dinner. You and your girl, me and mine." She gave Oliver her best 'you are an idiot, please shut up' look, but he smiled. "I'll figure out dates! Go make the streets safer, Peck."

Gail escaped and pulled her phone out.

Oliver interrogated me about our sleepover.

She tossed her cup away and went to find McNally, while Holly replied.

I told you to call in sick. You looked exhausted.

And whose fault is that? Headed on patrol with Andy. I'll text you later.

"McNally! Come on." As expected, Andy was awkwardly talking to Sam. "I'm driving."

That got Andy's attention. "Why are you driving? I got you tea!"

"I got the keys!" She didn't, but she was closer to the garage and thus had the car keys and was in the driver's seat before Andy. "If you're nice, you can pick lunch."

Andy laughed, buckling in, and Gail pulled out of the lot. "You're in a good mood today. Date really that good?" Turning the car down the road to a scruffy part of their patrol, Gail pondered how to explain it. "I mean, what was she like? Or... Was it a she?"

"Yeah, I'm done with men, Andy," she sighed. "Team switched."

"Is it really that good?"

"No scratchy beard stubble or chest hair." Soft lips. Curves. Oh yes, women had everything men were missing. "Way less smelly." That made her think about the heady, mind-spinning smell that was Holly. The way the scent of her skin and sweat circumvented thought. The taste of ... Oh god, how Gail had missed that.

Andy seemed to accept that. "Okay you have a really good point there." There was a pause and Gail's phone beeped. "Is that her?"

"Probably." Gail checked the street. She wanted to check, but she'd been trying to be a better person, and better people don't text and drive.

"So? What's her name?"

Gail sighed. "Holly." That shut Andy up for a moment. "Don't act so shocked, we've been talking things out a lot."

"You didn't cheat on her like you did Nick, did you?"

"Oh, that would have been better on so many levels." And Gail actually detailed the drama for Andy, who asked all the right questions and make the right noises at the right places.

They paused at a perfect moment, Gail's hallway confessional, to check on a gang hanging outside a store. They'd looked like they were dealing drugs, but instead they were swapping thumb drives. Andy insisted on checking one, and they were rewarded with some interesting music.

"That has to be the weirdest deal I've seen," laughed Gail.

"It could have been an illegal software ring!"

"They use torrents for that, McNally, don't you read the notices?" When Andy looked indignant, Gail smirked. "You lose the lunch offer. I'm picking schwarma." She could get some for Oliver too, and try to bribe him off of his idea for dinner double dates.

"That so isn't fair! Man and you got laid last night too." When Andy caught sight of Gail's side eye, she huffed. "Oh come on, you look that tired and you're in a good mood?"

Gail's phone buzzed. It was probably Holly, but she ignored it for now. "Why are we having this conversation, McNally?"

"Oh. I thought... Sorry." When Gail glanced over, she saw Andy looking nervous again. Jesus, she was such a baby sometimes.

"If you start asking me for details about lesbian sex, I will tie you to the roof of this car."

Andy was quiet for a moment, "I think I'm jealous of you two. When did you get emotionally older than me?"

Wasn't that a funny thought. Part of why Gail had liked Andy was that they were the same age when it came to relationships, and similarly stupid. "Steve and I decided the Peck Cycle of Self-Sabotage and Relationship Jenga needed to stop."

"Jenga ... Wow, that makes perfect sense! Pull out the blocks, and boom." Why was Andy the only person who got that metaphor? "You really like her."

"Okay, now we're stopping!" But she smiled. She really liked Holly. The rest of morning patrol was quiet, so Gail pulled up at the middle eastern restaurant. "Ten bucks."

"I'm paying?"

"For yourself. Schwarma, fries, salad, coke. Trust me, it's heaven." Gail walked around the car and held her hand out, "Actually make it fifteen. We'll split Oliver's."

While Andy grumbled, she handed over a twenty. "I want my change, Peck!"

"Change comes from within, McNally!" Gail inhaled as she stepped into the store. It was quiet, as usual for a weekday. "If I wasn't hungry before," she sighed, happily.

"Officer Peck!" The old man behind the counter smiled, looking a little tense. "Your hair's growing out."

"It must be where yours is going, Mr. Abrams." She'd known the man for years, since before becoming a cop, and had always teased him about balding. When she'd shown up with her short hair, he'd been delighted. "Three chicken lunches, please."

"Three, one with no tomatoes, you seeing someone I should know?"

Gail hesitated and decided not to address that today. "My partner and I are bringing one back for Oliver. You know he can't say no to your wife's pita."

"I keep telling you, it's laffa. You should remember." In truth, she did, but the old teasing jokes were the best. Gail watched the old man move about, more stiffly than normal. He wasn't really old, but she wondered if he felt that way.

"You know, I know a great osteopath," she mentioned, pulling out her phone.

His head jerked in a funny, nervous, way. "Can't help getting old," he said, with forced levity.

Maybe it was something personal. Maybe he and his wife were having problems. Gail frowned but tabbed her phone open to answer the texts from Holly, one asking if Gail was going to kill Andy too, and another about lunch.

Girl Guide McNally and I are getting schwarma. Want one?

"Mr. Abrams, can you make that four?" Gail suspected it would not go to waste, no matter what. "No tomatoes on that one, too."

"Oh ho," he laughed, seeming to understand right away why there were no tomatoes on the new one. "I should get my wife here to girl gossip you." He would never actually ask, saying before that it was improper to speak to a girl about those things. But he would tease her a little.

That sounds great. I'll call off the courier.

He might be sick anyway.

Gail pocketed her phone and studied the building. There was something that felt off today, "Hey, Mr. Abrams-"

"Hay is for horses."

That joke was old. "I thought your daughters were coming back from school for the summer."

His back stiffened. That wasn't good. "Today they're off. Not enough work."

Gail played it cool, "Sucks, doesn't it? Finish all your holidays and now it's dead?"

"Since when have you known my holidays?" The tease was a little forced.

"I remember the one in spring when you're closed for a whole week. The no bread one right by Easter." She knew what Passover was, even if Dov had been made to explain the details once.

Mr. Abrams smiled and handed over two bags. "Cokes?"

"Three Cokes. One Sprite." Oliver would be able to get away with a Sprite, but Celery would hassle him for a Coke. She paid, leaving a tip in the jar, and watched as he scribbled the receipt by hand, "Machine down?"

"My printer is stuck," he sighed. "My son-in-law swears he can fix it." The receipt went in the bag, which wasn't normal, and Gail thanked him. The receipt was always placed on the counter, with the change on top. Always. "Come again, and bring your friends."

She smiled and went back to the car. By the time she got there, she was frowning. "Here, check the receipt for me, will you?" She put both bags on Andy's lap before starting the car.

"Sure. You got my change?" Gail ignored her and pulled up Mr. Abrams name on the computer. Nothing for him or his kids. Or his son-in-law. "What's wrong?"

"Not sure. Maybe nothing," sighed Gail, tabbing through the family. She went back to the wife and started on her family. "Receipt?" The machine hadn't looked broken, and there had been no sign. But.. Why would he hand write the receipt?

Andy pulled it out, "Do I have to check his math?" She absently flipped it over and muttered, "Weird doodle." Doodle? Gail started the car and headed down the block. "It's all wiggles and shapes. What's up with that?"

"Give it here." Gail held out a hand while turning the car.

With a shrug, Andy held it over. "The station's the other way." Gail ignored the question and looked at the receipt. It wasn't doodles. "Gail, I know you got top scores on the driving course, but, um, can you look at the road?"

Instead, Gail swung into the alley behind the stores and stopped the car. "Shut up for a minute, Andy," she said quietly and stared at the paper. Those were not doodles. It was Hebrew script. She'd seen it before. Pulling out her phone, Gail saw three texts from Holly, but skipped them to take a photo of the receipt and send it to Dov. "Andy, ask dispatch to get Dov on the radio and translate what I sent him."

There must have been something in her tone, because Andy did it right away. The phone pinged her back with a translation. "Please help. Hostage." Gail was out of the car calling for backup, drawing her gun, "Andy, go around the front and tell Mr. Abrams we're missing an order of fries or something."

"That's your plan? Not waiting for backup?"

"He didn't say armed." Gail wasn't stupid, nor overly brave. She was confident though. Leaving her cell in the car, Gail waved Andy off and crept along the alley. People like Andy and Swarek ruled with their gut. Pecks used their brains, and Gail was no exception to that. Mr. Abrams had been glancing at the back. There was someone held back there.

"Store's closed now." Andy's voice was low and quiet in the radio. "Sign says back in 15."

"Copy," replied Gail.

She heard Andy knock on the door and ask, loudly, "Excuse me, Mr. Abrams?" Smart, smiled Gail. Andy was going to keep up the facade of a lost item.

Gail reached the back door and put her ear to it. She could hear people talking. "Just ignore her and she'll go away." That voice didn't have the same lilt or accent of the Abrams family. She looked at the basement windows, the small hinged ones, but they were closed. The lights were on. Gail oozed forward. "Andy, can you see anything?"

"Negative." Their voices were low. "Door isn't locked."

"Hold on." Gail leaned forward and looked in the window quickly. It had taken her years to train her eyes to be able to look at a room and lock it in her mind in that split second. "Two men. Mrs. Abrams is tied to a chair. Can you go in without making the bell jingle?"

There was a pause. "I think so."

"Okay, I'm going in the back." Gail stepped back to the door and turned the handle slowly. No sound. She pushed it lightly. Thank god for good maintenance, there were no squeaks. Waiting a long moment, Gail made sure none of the sounds changed, and slowly closed the door behind her. Pause. Wait. Listen. "I'm in," she told McNally.

"I'm in," repeated McNally. "Visual?"

"They're down the stairs." It was a poor tactical plan to charge them, and neither one of the officers suggested it. Even if it was only three steps, they didn't have a clear view.

"Second exit?"

"Negative." Gail checked her gun. "Front rooms?"

"Cleared." Andy stepped in from the front and nodded.

They took up flanking positions on either side of the door, listening carefully. The two strange men were talking about drugs. Andy and Gail shared a confused look, as the captors demanded the Abrams tell them where the drugs were.

Gail touched her radio, "Dispatch, 1521, what's the status on backup?"

"1521, dispatch. Backup is twenty minutes out."

"Copy. Hostage situation is drug related."

"Copy, drugs and guns units alerted."

They should wait. Protocol was protocol. But then they heard the sounds of someone being hit. It was possibly the only thing she and Andy would agree on. They locked eyes and nodded, Gail dropping low, Andy staying high. One step, Gail in front. Two steps, gun safety off. Three steps, turn.

"Police! Freeze!"

Chapter Text

It was bad that every time she heard about shootings and 15 Division, Holly rushed to the station. In this case, Holly was actually at the station when she heard that Gail and Andy were involved in a shooting.

Seated at a desk was a very tired looking Dov. "Hi, Dov. Do you know where Gail is?"

He blinked at her. "Dr. Stewart. Uh, Gail's out with Andy. Were you supposed to meet her?"

"She asked me to meet her for lunch." Holly eyed Dov. "You can call me Holly."

Dov looked sheepish, "I just figured out where Gail was... I'm sorry for bothering you in the middle of the night."

"It's alright." She really hadn't minded, though going to her work physically exhausted was less of a problem than Gail doing the same. "Can you see where she is?" Holly gestured at the computer.

"Oh!" Dov reached for his keyboard when an alert went off from dispatch, calling in a hostage situation. The car number caught Dov's attention. "Crap, can you hang on a second?" Without waiting for an answer, Dov bolted to the office in back.

Holly sighed and sat down, wondering why cops were so weird, when an announcement came in for backup on the officer involved shooting. Assistance needed for officers McNally and Peck. Shots fired.

Her blood felt cold and Holly ceased to hear anything around her. She wasn't sure she was even breathing. "I got it, Epstein. Go, take Other Peck." The names pierced her horror, and she turned to see the white shirt. Oliver Shaw. "Hey, Holly, come with me for a minute, okay, darling?"

She had heard him call Gail that, darling, and without processing much, Holly followed him to his office and allowed Oliver to sit her on his couch. "Shooting?" Her voice shook.

"You just sit and breath for a moment, Gail's gonna kill me if you pass out." The use of present tense caught Holly's attention. "She's fine. Andy's fine. They're waiting on guns and drugs to take over the scene."

"But ... Shooting?"

"Hey, hey, I know that's scary stuff, okay?" He sat down next to her. "They had everything under control. No one got hurt, okay?"

Holly felt like she was about to cry and Oliver pulled her in to a hug. Waterworks. "We just... I just..."

He patted her back gently, like a father. "I know." And Holly suddenly understood why Gail adored this man. He was a rock in a storm. A gentle, wonderful, soul. "It takes a while to get used to this kind of thing, if you ever do," he told her. "My wife never did. Celery, she gets it."

"Celery?" Holly blinked at the name.

"My girlfriend. Gail didn't tell you?" He sighed. "You two should talk. You and Celery I mean. We cops, we do crazy things like get shot at or kidnapped or hold grenades. And you, you crazy people who love us... I think it's harder for you."

Holly shuddered and let go of Oliver. "I was coming by for lunch," she whispered.

Handing over a box of tissues, Oliver smiled. "You're having schwarma too? Perfect, it'll help."

Really, Holly had no idea how that would help, but a cup of tea did. Oliver had her wait in his office, and he ran back and forth, bringing her news of where Gail was, her ETA, and promises that the food would be good. It did help calm her down, surprisingly, and Holly was able to erase most of the signs of crying by the time Andy and Gail arrived.

She heard them first, and Oliver asked Andy to come with him, sending Gail to his office. "Hey, sorry the food's cold," she said quietly, closing the door. There was a smudge of dirt on her face.

"You were shot at," whispered Holly.

Gail sat beside her, reeking of sweat. "Yes," she sighed. One hand rested on Holly's knee.

Her hands started to shake again, and Gail took the tea mug away. "Is it always going to be like this? People throwing radios at you and shooting at you?" Gail took her hands and said yes, softly. "I don't know how anyone can live like that," she whispered, looking at Gail in fear.

Stiffening, Gail looked down at their hands, "This is what I do, Holly." She sighed, "I wish I could promise I'll always be safe, but ... This is what I am."

It was clear that Gail thought Holly was about to dump her. The only way to explain otherwise was to hug her, and Holly buried her face in Gail's neck. She didn't care that Gail smelled nasty or that she was still dirty. She cared that Gail came back to her. "Promise me something."

"Anything," agreed Gail, her face pressed against Holly's hair.

Holly knew she was about to ask something unreasonable and impossible to hold Gail to, but she said it anyway. "Always come back to me."

The negotiations with Holly had been harder than with social services. All social wanted to know was how serious Gail was about Holly, since she hadn't mentioned her before except to Anne. Holly, on the other hand, wanted to know what Gail expected of her. After patiently explaining she just wanted them to meet, possibly to be friends, and if not, Holly never had to see or hear about Sophie again, Gail was surprised by a glare.

"Gail Peck, don't do this. Don't chase me away."

"I'm not! I'm just... I'm trying not to pressure you or-"

"It feels like you're making me decide if I want you and Sophie or nothing at all."

Gail took Holly's hands, "No. I swear no. That's not at all what I'm saying." She chewed her lip. "I love you. And yeah, I love this kid, but it's not the same thing."

But Holly was not convinced, "I don't know if I want kids... No... I don't want them, Gail. Not right now, maybe not ever. So this is a big thing."

"Okay, I understand that." She studied Holly's face. "It I was volunteering as a big sister or mentor, would you be okay with it?"

Blinking, Holly nodded, "Sure."

"Well, that's what this is now."

Holly frowned, "If they'd said you could adopt... Where would we be?"

"I don't know. I don't know that I can know, Holly." She drew Holly's hands up to her mouth and kissed them lightly. "I want a lot, and I know I'm asking a lot right now. I kinda got into this without you, and I didn't expect, I didn't even dare to dream I could have this back. I'm as lost as you are, baby."

In the end, Holly agreed to meet Sophie. The girl, upon seeing Gail, sprinted away from her social worker to get a huge hug. Immediately she started telling Gail about how she was learning French, and proceeded to flaunt her vocabulary. When Gail replied in kind, Sophie cheered, announcing she knew Gail would know French. Only then did Gail lead her over to where Holly was sitting with the social worker.

"Sophie, remember I told you about my girlfriend?"

The little girl looked up with curious eyes at Holly. "She's prettier in person," Sophie said, in the childish whisper that was not quiet at all.

"Why do all your friends say that?" Holly blurted the question and then blushed.

"Because it's true," Gail smiled and sat down next to Holly. "Sophie, this is Holly." Hands were clasped in a very adult manner.

After a moment scrutinizing Holly, Sophie declared, "You don't look like a doctor. Gail said you were a doctor and took care of her after she stopped a radio with her face."

"I'm a forensic pathologist." Noticing Holly's hand shaking, Gail reached over and took it in her own.

The action was not missed by Sophie, but she was more interested in Holly's words at them moment. "What does that mean?" So Holly explained, in broad terms, that she helped find out why people died. This led to a few more related questions about how Holly and Gail worked together sometimes, and finally, "Did you find out how my mom died?"

Holly looked panicked and stared at Gail. "No, she didn't," replied Gail calmly, squeezing Holly's hand in support. "But we met at a crime scene." And she easily distracted Sophie from that topic by telling her how she'd tried to arrest Holly at the scene.

The intentional inaccuracies in Gail's story made Holly step in to correct her, and soon they were bantering about the day. Sophie giggled and claimed Gail's free hand, leaning against her to continue talking to Holly. They quickly found common ground in movies, both having loved Frozen (though Gail got a light glare from Holly when Sophie leaked that Gail had taken her first).

After a while, Gail and the social worker stepped away to talk about the current status of Sophie's situation, as well as the idea Gail'd had, but also to let Holly and Sophie talk a little more privately. Holly had barely noticed Gail left until she came back and kissed her cheek, "Come on, you nerd, it's time to go."

Sophie pouted but hugged Gail tight. "She's nice. I like her." This time, Sophie remembered to keep her voice quiet.

"I like her too," Gail whispered back.

The conversation was repeated in the car, with Holly, though not in whispers. The difference being Holly added, "I see why you like her. I worried it was just guilt."

"You, my therapist, social services, and everyone else," acknowledged Gail, sighing.

"Speaking of social services..."

Gail pursed her lips and turned the car down a different direction than Holly's place. "Someone I know might kinda be a good fit."

"Someone ... Peck?" Holly looked worried.

"Ew, no. Someone sane. Remember the wedding?"

Holly laughed, "I don't think I can forget, honey." Then she caught on, "Wait, they'd adopt her?"

"Foster," corrected Gail. "I asked Noelle for advice when I started this, cause she did the whole IVF thing for a kid and... Well she's still on maternity leave, but she was interested when I brought it up." That had been weird, asking Frank if she could come over to talk to them.

Frank had been surprised, but he'd also been the frequent recipient of political workplace bullying by Elaine Peck, and having her daughter talk to them about fostering a kid because she couldn't was, they all agreed, really not what they'd expected. Noelle was amused at how much Gail had grown, and said she'd think about it, in a way Gail read as 'I will talk Frank into this.' The girl network was amazingly powerful.

This was explained to Holly, who was very quiet. "You'd be cool Aunt Gail?"

"I guess, yeah."

More silence, and Gail pulled up at a quiet French restaurant. Holly remained quiet as they were seated and until they ordered. "I think I could be okay with being Aunt Gail's girlfriend."

Gail covered her smile with a sip of her iced tea. "Thank you, Holly."

With a sigh and a smile, Holly reached across the table to touch Gail's arm. "You're very persuasive, honey. And clearly deficient in musicals, cartoons, and sci-fi. Someone has to help her!"

"Do you want kids?"

Gail froze where she was, her lips just starting to move from Holly's collarbone to regions southern. "What?" She pulled her head up, perplexed and flustered, fingers still on the buttons of Holly's blouse.

"Kids." Holly managed to force her voice into calm and casual, trying not to let Gail's hands get the better of her. She even tugged Gail back up to settle in an easy cuddle on the couch.

There was a frustrated grumble from Gail, but she rested her head on Holly's shoulder. "Yes, I want kids." Gail's hand slipped under her shirt, fingers roaming over Holly's stomach. "Why?"

Holly squirmed, "I don't really right now."

"I know that, you dork," laughed Gail, surprising her. "You told me before."

"Oh. I just thought... I mean, with Sophie and all..."

Propping herself up, Gail frowned at Holly. "Are you worried I'm going to leave you because of kids?"

No. Holly was more worried Gail was going to leave her because she was dead. There was a scratch on Gail's arm right now, caused by nothing more than a failed attempt at learning soccer, but it worried Holly nonetheless. "Yes," she replied. "I don't want you to get dissatisfied. Regret not having kids in thirty years."

Gail made a soft noise and kissed Holly's neck. "Thirty years, huh? You see us together that long?"

Holly swallowed a dry throat. It was a measure of her fear that she realized she'd rather talk about kids than make out with Gail just now. It had been getting worse, and she knew it. The more she thought about what Gail did, the dangers, the more she wanted Gail here with her safe. The more she wanted to touch her, like Gail was touching her right now.

But at the same time, the constant little things were driving her crazy. Ok, being shot at was a big thing. The bruises, the sore muscles, the aching back, the feet, the headaches, were wearing on Holly. She found herself constantly panicking every time Gail so much as winced. It was worse when she caught Gail taking extra time stretching before they ran. Was something wrong?

"Hey, baby, what's wrong?" Gail had stopped kissing her and the hand on her stomach stilled.

"Sorry," mumbled Holly and she squirmed out from under Gail, feeling a need to put distance between them.

Gail frowned, "Don't you go up a tree, Holly." Her voice was tender. She pulled her legs up to sit cross legged on the couch, facing Holly. "Yes, I want kids. I love them. But they don't have to be my kids. I want them in my life. That doesn't mean they have to be in my house."

"You wanted to adopt on your own!"

"Sophie was different. Is different."

"What if there's another Sophie?"

Looking thrown, Gail exhaled sharply. "Well. Okay, what if you have a Sophie?"

Holly blinked. She had never loved children like Gail, and she wanted to say it was impossible. Gail loved them because they weren't people yet, but Holly feared them for the same reason. Neither she nor Gail really understood people like Dov or Oliver did. Motive was different. Understanding people who knew who they were was hard enough. Understanding people who were figuring it out? Just look at her record with straight girls.

Gail reached over and put a hand on Holly's leg. "I love you, Holly. I'm not running away, I'm not giving up or settling or anything else. I want to be here, with you."

Holly nodded, but didn't say anything. She had doubts. She would, possibly, always have them. But now, this time, she let Gail's gentle touch turn her face and bring her into a kiss. There were too many things to fear right now, with Gail getting hurt again, or changing her mind about kids, or what about men? It was all just too much sometimes.

Gail sprawled on Holly's bed, giving in to the feeling of absolute relaxation seeping into her bones. Hands pressed down on her shoulders again and Gail groaned. "Not too hard?" Holly's voice was soft.

"No, it's great."

Holly continued to massage Gail's shoulders, "Good." She moved her hands to Gail's neck and gently pressed on the muscles. She was sitting on the back of Gail's thighs, which was exceptionally comfortable.

"I hate softball," muttered Gail.

"You're supposed to slide feet first." She could hear Holly smirking. "And you don't slide into first at all. I told you you could overrun it down that path."

"That pitcher was going to touch me with the ball, and I know that means I'm out."

"She would have had you out by touching the bag, silly."

"I'm never playing with you again."

"The fact that you are topless in my bed suggests that may be a lie, Ms. Peck."

"That's Constable Peck to you, evil doctor." She winced when Holly pressed on a sensitive spot on her back.

"At least you're not going to tease me about hurting my back hitting a home run anymore."

"Says who?"

Holly laughed, "Gail, you tried to dislocate your shoulder sliding into first base!"

"And who hit the ball that scored a touchdown?" There was no reply and Gail smirked. "I know it's called a run."

"You are insane." Holly moved off Gail's legs and kissed the sore shoulder. "Need anything?"

Sitting up, Gail carefully rotated her shoulder and grimaced, "Yes. Do you have any Tiger Balm?"

"No, but hang on." Holly kissed her briefly and vanished into the bathroom. She was spending a rather large amount of time damaged at Holly's place. Of course, it was somewhat normal for Gail to come home banged up and bruised. It was not normal for Holly. "Salonpas," announced Holly, coming back with a patch. She carefully applied it to the stiffest part of Gail's shoulder.

It didn't smell as strong as Tiger Balm, thought Gail, and she tried to see what it was. "Is this like icy hot?"

"Similar, but they had better double-blind results. And you can wear a shirt." Holly held out Gail's shirt. Her eyes darted around Gail's body, doing an inventory. When they stopped on the discoloration on Gail's ribs, which was from bouncing off a car door last week chasing a perp, Holly turned away. This was not the first time Holly had stopped looking at Gail's body, and it was starting to get worrying.

"I was thinking I'd walk around topless for the rest of the day." But she took the shirt and put it on, following Holly out of the bedroom. They hadn't really talked about things regarding Gail's work since the schwarma case. While Gail cheerfully accepted free schwarma for life, and grumpily took the commendation for being the reason a drug smuggling ring was discovered, Holly had been tight lipped about the whole thing.

Actually, Holly had been very hands off lately, in the physical sense. They'd run around and had fun, hiking and playing softball (not that Gail would admit it was fun at all). But other than kissing, there had been a dearth of physical intimacy. Gail was pretty sure Holly was still creeped out about the shooting that wasn't even a shooting. The idiot drug runner/kidnapper shot his own damn foot! Andy and Gail hadn't ever laughed so hard giving statements before.

"That would make dinner interesting," joked Holly, but her voice was too tense to make it funny.

While it would be easier to climb a tree, Gail took a deep breath. "Hey, can I ask an awkward relationship question?"

Holly paused on the last step of the stairs. "That you're asking it that way fills my heart with terror, Gail."

"It's … I love you. You know that, right?"

"Was that your awkward question? Because yes, I know, and no, it's not awkward."

"No. I just want you to know I'm not, like, trying to break up or anything stupid like that!"

"Not helping," and while Holly smiled, it was a tense look.

This was not a conversation that was going to be easy, and Gail knew it. But when your girlfriend started getting weird about touching you, or looking at you, and stopped sleeping well, you had to do something, didn't you? Scratching the back of her head, Gail grimaced. "Does it bother you, me coming here banged up all the time?"

"Yes," admitted Holly, faster than Gail had expected. "I hate it." She looked down the staircase and away from Gail, her face tightening up.

"I don't have to—"

"Please don't say you don't have to come over when you're hurt, or I'll never see you." Holly's voice sounded tense, and she walked into the kitchen.

Defensively, Gail wanted to point out it wasn't every time, but the reality was at least every week she had something new. Usually it was something strained or sore, but sometimes it was a bruise from an arrest. Gail was adrift for words. Not at a total loss, as she had an idea where to go with the conversation. She leaned against the stairwell. "Okay," she said to buy some time. "What do you hate about it?" She had a good idea, but just in case she was off base, Gail figured she should ask.

With one hand on the refrigerator door, Holly stood perfectly still. "All of it. Every time I see you, you have a new bruise, or something hurts, or you're sore. Like, last week when you were limping? I had this whole terrible, horrible story in my head that you'd kicked a drug dealer or twisted your ankle jumping a car, or ... Pretty much anything except having a stupid ingrown toenail because your nail clipper was old." Holly turned to look at Gail. She wasn't crying, which didn't help Gail understand her mood in the slightest. "I hate that I have five ice packs in my freezer, just in case you come over hurt again. And I hate worrying that I'm going to hurt you when I touch you when you come here. Or that you're going to call me from the ER again or, or worse."

The fact that Holly dumped all that so fast meant Gail was right about needing to talk. And she was right about exactly what was going on. "Okay," she said slowly. "Do you want me to take the sergeants exam?"

Holly looked blank for a moment. "What does that have to do with anything?" Thankfully she didn't sound angry, just confused.

"White shirts don't generally get involved in the psychical stuff." It was more boring, in Gail's opinion, but she wanted to see where Holly's mind was at.

Scowling, Holly pointed at Gail. "You are not quitting your job to sit at a desk and order people around. And you don't want that."

That escalated quickly. "Good? I ... Holly let's sit down okay?" They moved to the living room but Holly kept standing. Oh good. Gail sighed and sat down on the couch, looking up. "I don't want you to be scared every night."

"You're a little late on that, Gail." Holly's snide reply was on par with Gail's best.

Any enjoyment Gail found in Holly's ability to give as good as she got was lost by the truth of that statement. "There are other cop jobs that aren't as dangerous," she said softly.

"Yeah, and I'd still freak out if you came home with a hangnail!" Holly looked bitter and before Gail could comment, she added, "Yes, I know how unfair I'm being."

Gail took another deep breath. She couldn't believe she was about to say this. "Holly. I think you she see a therapist." Never before had Gail seen Holly's face shut down like that. "Don't tell me I'm being unreasonable, Holly," she continued softly.

"I really don't want to talk about this." Holly folded her arms in a posture Gail read as defensive and scared.

"I know." She pitched her voice the same way she did when talking to children. This was a time to be careful and kind. "But I'm a cop. And it's scary." Her standard of using small words might backfire here, but Gail held on to that. The theory was that if you lowered the wall, it was easier to talk about things.

Holly turned away, but did not walk away. "Were you scared about your parents?"

"Not often," she admitted. "But I was ... They're older, you know? By the time I was born, they both had desk positions." Gail sat back, trying to project the aura of comfort and safety. "I was more worried someone would shoot them at a press conference or something public." She remembered crying to Steve about assassination fears.

Facing away, Holly's back stiffened. "Great, so even if you get a desk job, you'll still get shot at."

"Well. Yes." There was no point in lying or trying to make it light. "I'm a Peck, Holly. I'm always going to be a target of something."

Holly didn't say anything for a little while, and Gail let her wait. Luke taught her that waiting people out had a power all it's own. "Does it help you? Talking to a stranger?"

Exhaling, Gail looked at the ceiling. In public, she made a lot of wise ass comments about therapy. It was no secret that she hated the department therapist, and being made to talk to anyone stuck in her craw. "Sometimes it does. I don't really have anyone to talk to about stuff."

That got a reaction. Holly pivoted and looked absolutely hurt. Quickly Gail reviewed what she'd just said. Her mother had always stressed she memorize what she said, so she could regurgitate it in court later, and Gail had found it to be a strange benefit to a relationship with a woman. Rarely had she ever found a need to do this dating guys. "You don't have anyone?"

Gail winced a little. "Well. No. Not about some things. I mean, I couldn't exactly talk to you when we weren't an us, could I?" It was rational. Hopefully Holly could understand that. "And right now, I really don't think you'd be okay with me telling you why I'm annoyed about the stupid commendation, 'cause every time I mention it, you get that look on your face." She pointed at Holly, who was currently wearing a closed expression, clearly unhappy and trying to hide it with blankness.

Called out, Holly tried to force her face into any other expression and failed. "What look?"

"The one that says 'I'm really freaked out about my girlfriend getting hurt, to the point that I'm not really sleeping well, I'm scared to touch her, and it's a problem I don't want to talk about.' And … I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do want to talk about it."

Holly's face tightened. "It's not …" She stopped and tightened her arms around herself.

Okay. Here was the hard part. Gail looked at her own hands for a moment and then, slowly, made herself watch Holly's face. "If you can't deal with this, it's okay."

She did not want to say it at all. The very idea that she was trying to give Holly an out burned. But being with someone who was going to be miserable with you wasn't fair to either of you. Gail learned that with Nick, twice, and she'd be damned if she did that to Holly.

It was a little gratifying to see the abject shock and horror on Holly's face. "You're giving me an out?" She was a little incredulous.

Gail put her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. "No, I'm reminding you that you have one."

After a moment, Holly looked away. "I don't want to be the bad guy, Gail."

"You're not," replied Gail, earnestly. "I've just— I've seen a lot of relationships fall apart over this. Oliver, my godfather, my aunt, cousin Larry. And it's stupid, right? Because you fell in love with me for who I am, and what I am, and now it's making it all hard and weird and I know you love me, but it's hard. When I get hurt, which is gonna happen, it's gonna be painful for you. And, baby, I have a lot of baggage."

Holly's arms twitched, but she stayed where she was. "I don't want a therapist to tell me the best thing is to leave you," Holly said in a small voice.

Puffing a laugh that wasn't funny at all was all Gail could do. "God, neither do I."

"What if they do?"

In Gail's experience, it had never come to that, but she could imagine it might one day. "Then maybe that's the right thing for us." It took monumental effort to keep her voice relaxed, and Gail was abruptly grateful for years of police work. Though she was never going to tell Holly she treated her like a terrified witness.

Finally Holly sat down, though not beside Gail. She took a seat on her coffee table. "I'm scared," she said, staring at Gail's knees. "About us."

Gail reached out one hand and put it on Holly's knee, trying to be comforting. "Me too." She'd lost Holly once before, and the idea of telling her it was okay to leave was horrible. If given the option, she'd rather watch Dov and Chloe make out than even consider this.

One of Holly's arms wormed out of it's protective shield enough to cover Gail's hand. They both sat there, looking at their hands, for a long time.

Chapter Text

Science was great. You could put the right formulas in and there were answers, solutions. You never had to speculate on their meaning, unless you were a cop like Gail, you just had to process evidence and study bodies and report the findings. And damn it all, Holly loved that about science. Working backwards to figure out that someone had lived in another country based on the density of their bones was, as Gail would say, the shit she lived for.

The fluffy 'science' of psychiatry was not Holly's cup of tea.

If she'd have her way, her brain would cheerfully accept the fact that Gail had a high stakes, high risk job, and move on. Her brain had other plans, like waking up and freaking out when Gail wasn't in bed. Which wasn't uncommon, even when Gail was spending the night. She caught herself listening to the reports from dispatch more often, straining to hear if anything was happening at 15. And she was afraid to touch Gail half the time.

Which is why she agreed with Gail, and ended up going to talk to a therapist. She was entirely annoyed with the necessity, and after a weekly visit for a month, entirely displeased with the current results. There weren't answers for any of the problems in her head, just more questions and poking at them to talk about them. It was like inviting the worlds neediest girlfriend into your life, and having them badger you for an hour.

It wasn't helping much that Gail didn't come over on nights when Holly had talked to the therapist either. Initially, Holly had been surprised that Gail didn't want to have dinner after her session. "You won't want to," Gail had said both knowingly and cryptically. And that first time, she was annoyingly correct. Holly's head had felt full and confused and talking to Gail, or even looking at her, was painful to contemplate.

That wasn't how she felt right now, and as soon as she pulled into her garage, she yanked her phone out to call Gail. "You suck," she informed her girlfriend, not giving Gail a chance to say hello.

"Ooookay," drawled Gail. There was a muffled sound, Gail talking to someone else, and then a door closed. "What did I do?"

"You and your stupid therapy idea. This is stupid. It sucks, and I hate it and it's not doing me any good. I still hate you getting hurt, and I'm still worried about you."

Gail sounded amused, "Baby, I really don't think that is gonna change."

"Then why am I going," wailed Holly, throwing her fridge door open. She stared at the take out boxes which had not been there that morning. "And why do I have food in my fridge. Were you over?"

"Yeah, I picked up your usual 'I am grumpy' order from the Chinese place."

"I'm not grumpy! I'm pissed off at wasting my time and money." She put an assortment of the take out on to a plate. "Four weeks. Four hours, where I sit in a room and she doesn't even ask me questions half the time!" Holly slammed the microwave door and stabbed the reheat button hard enough to make her finger hurt. "I mean, she doesn't even ask me why I'm worried about you in the first place! Or why it scares me. Which, no thanks to her, I figured out was because I'm in love with you and I don't want to lose you. Duh, thanks a lot." Holly huffed and looked at her finger. In the silence, she realized Gail hadn't spoken for a while. "You're very quiet."

"I was waiting for you to finish." Gail sounded exceptionally polite. "You didn't say that before, you know."

Holly paused and tried to think about what she just said. "Say what?" More than once, Gail had repeated, word for word, something Holly had said. It was creepy, and Holly asked her not to do it anymore. Especially if they were fighting.

"You said you're in love with me and didn't want to lose me."

"What? I never said that before?"

"Nope." Gail popped the P in nope.

Holly frowned and took her food out of the microwave. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Sometimes," allowed Gail. "But, y'know, I'm all fuzzy inside now. It's nice."

That was a strange thing to contemplate. "Do I not say I love you?"

"You do."

Which meant the other part, about not wanting to lose Gail, had been unsaid. Holly stared at her dinner, confused, and thought back over the day. "I've always thought that. I hated it the first time. I don't want you to be just ... Gone." So why had she not said it before? "Oh. Shit."

"Hm?"

"Son of a bitch, that goddamned therapist!" Holly groaned and covered her face. All this time she'd just not been willing to say that out loud? "Am I an idiot?" How stupid did you have to be to not know that you were afraid of losing someone to the point that you couldn't say it. "Why is just saying this making me feel better?"

There was a laugh on the phone, "Did I tell you about the dinner with my family? The one you were gonna come to?"

"You ... No." Holly knew that sometimes Gail would go on a tangent that didn't feel at all related, but would loop back around.

"Steve and I went, solo, and it was epically horrible. Every way you could imagine. And my mother said that now that I broke up with you, she had a nice young man I should meet."

Holly scowled. "I'm mad at her right now. Is that okay?"

"Join the club. I'm President, Steve's the Treasurer." Gail chuckled. "So I told her that I was a lesbian."

Out of nowhere, Holly felt better. She smiled and felt her face warm up. "At dinner?"

"Yep. I said I was a lesbian and asked Steve to pass the salt."

Holly giggled. "What did Steve do?"

"Passed the salt, duh. But. That was the first time I said I was a lesbian to them, out loud. And it felt good. Like everything was going to be easier. I didn't care who knew I was into women, I mean, it was kind of obvious, right? But saying it changed how freaked I was about it."

Which was why Holly was feeling better. "How come you're smart about this?"

"I have a lot more issues, baby. You should eat dinner before you have to re-reheat it."

Holly sighed. The daunting realization that Gail was getting smart about dealing with her shit simply because she had that much to deal with was depressing. "Will you come over?"

There was hesitation on the phone. "You sure?"

"I think... I want to see you. I don't want to talk about everything, but I want to hug you." She paused and felt herself blushing. "I don't want to be alone right now."

After a moment, Gail exhaled and replied in the best way. "Okay. I'll be right over."

"I'm not used to you being happy," Chloe told her at the Penny.

"I'm not used to drinking with someone with that shitty a dye job, but there's a first for everything," remarked Gail, sipping her beer.

Per usual, Chloe did not rise to the bait. "And the beer. You don't drink hard stuff as much."

Gail put the pint glass down. "Is there a reason for all this, Chloe?"

The smaller woman smiled and shrugged. "I was thinking ... Dov actually talking to me, making up. That was you."

It was, but Gail was loathe to admit it. "Yeah, right. Because I want to hear the Dork Kingdom banging in the next room over." Truth was, she did. The alternative was to listen to Dov lament about his relationship, and in a house with a recovering addict and a broken heart (at the time at least), fixing one thing felt a hell of a lot better.

"You like me."

"No, I don't," snarled Gail. "I tolerate you."

There was no reply to that, as their order of mini burgers showed up. After a whole day riding with Gerald, Gail would actually rather hang out with Chloe. Since Chris, Dov and Holly were working, at least hanging out with Chloe seemed better than being alone.

It had not taken long for Gail to really hate an empty house. Once in a while it was alright, but actually being alone for a whole night hadn't ended well recently. Things came and went of their own volition, without any regard for Gail's wishes. This time of year was turning out to be tense and frustrating, though. The weather had fooled her, being colder than normal, and she wouldn't have thought about it, but Oliver had asked if she wanted the day off in such a weird way she'd had to think what he meant.

Dates were not Gail's forte. She rarely remembered the date of anyone's birthday, and she constantly forgot the date that Nick's parents died (even though she had good cause to remember that). If Steve hadn't programmed them into her phone, she'd forget her own parents birthdays and their anniversary.

When she and Holly started getting serious, Gail warned her. Holly wisely took a page from Steve's book and programmed her birthday into Gail's phone, but not their anniversary. After all, how did you count a relationship that started at a crime scene and just fell into something more.

But. Today was a day she didn't want to remember, and everyone else did. Today was a day she could have cheerful blocked out for eternity.

"Why did you stop drinking?"

Jesus. Chloe. "Because I have to drive home."

Lie. Because drunk and remembering Perik led to vomiting.

Chloe split the fries, putting ketchup on a bread plate. "How come you're not scared?"

"What?" Gail stared at the woman, absolutely lost.

The vinegar was passed over for Gail to doctor her fries. "Scared. Sometimes, when I hear a gunshot, I freak out. I think ... Maybe it's going to happen again." Chloe touched her neck. "And stupid Wes left the blood clot, which could still kill me, thank you. And I think every day that I could die."

Gail narrowed her eyes. "And you're telling me this because..."

"Because something happened to you," whispered Chloe. "I didn't know... I didn't see it before. But it's like, now that I've seen death, which I know is such a trope, right? But now that I've seen it, I can see it in people. Like Oliver."

"It's a different club," Gail muttered and ate a fry.

"What-"

"No," growled Gail. "No, just... No. Ask Dov, shit, ask Andy or Traci. I don't care, but I'm not talking about it." And of all things, Chloe backed off, apologizing. Everyone knew anyway, but she wasn't going to tell Chloe when she could barely tell Holly.

The thing was that it sucked. Literally. It sucked the air out of her lungs, preventing her from talking about things. It sucked her courage away. It sucked her self-confidence. So she put up more walls, cared less, and hunkered in cynicism. They ate the fries in silence, Chloe volunteering to get the next round, and when she came back with beer for both of them, Gail cleared her throat.

"I'm a cop," she told Chloe. "I go out and protect people who have no idea what the hell is out there. I'm Buffy. I stop things from being worse, I catch losers doing stupid things. So ... No matter how scared I am, no matter how much I don't want to do it, I have to do this. I have to put my vest on and go out there because there isn't another choice for me."

The words sat there between them. Chloe's eyes were wider than normal and she nodded, looking relieved. "Thank you," she whispered.

Instead of going straight home, Gail offered to drive Chloe to her place. Anything to defer the possibility of nightmares. She almost accepted Chloe's offer to come in and hang. Desperate much? What she wanted really was to be asleep, preferably with Holly near her. Holly wasn't home tonight, Holly was working overtime, on some sort of punishment gig after her re-hiring.

So she lied to Chloe, said she was just going home to crash, and drove. And drove. It was like going on patrol, only she drove by her friends' places. The lights were off at Sam's but on at Andy's, implying god knows what. Nick's living room lights were on and the flashing colors indicated he was watching TV. Or sleeping with the TV on. Sometimes he did that too.

Nick should have been the person to talk to. He should have been the one who understood any of it. But he didn't and he wasn't and he couldn't. He understood pain, but not when it was you. Nick was the guy who understood loss, not horror. Nick was the guy who lost everything, always, and forever.

For a very long time, Gail felt the same way. That maybe he and she were meant for each other because everyone else left them. Even after Nick left her, twice. She took him back because he did, eventually, come back. And yet it was never right. She was always going to break his heart because he wouldn't give her his.

Oliver, also, she couldn't talk to. He was home and clearly with Celery, as the lights and sounds from that apartment were friendly and welcoming. Celery would let her in, no doubt, just to hang out, and Oliver had texted her earlier, asking how she was. Gail had lied, said she was fine, and ignored the question.

She didn't drive out to the PeckMansion. She couldn't do that, since they'd see her car, know something was up, and berate her for not getting over it. Two years, she should be over it, right? Gail know she'd never be over it, but she may one day be able to better cope with it. She did check on Steve, in his shitty apartment, and then Traci and her mother. Frank and Noelle. She'd have called Sophie if it wasn't such a shitty hour.

Knowing that Holly was at work didn't change the need she had to just go to her house, though. Gail drove to Holly's, letting herself in through the garage. She turned off the car and texted Holly, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer.

Are you stuck at work?

Surprisingly, she got a text back in moments.

Till god knows when.

I'm at your place. Is that okay?

Honey, you can always be there.

Gail wasn't sure if it would be harder to easier to be at someone else's that night. She checked Holly's front door, the security system, and then the whole house. That night, Nick hadn't replied at all. Not to the calls or texts. But Holly did. She replied right away when Gail texted, even though she was busy.

Sitting on the couch, Gail tried to convince herself that being home alone was okay and safe and normal, but it wasn't working. She tried watching television, but every sound started to get to her, make her twitch.

Damn it. Chloe had to ask, didn't she? Oliver had to care, didn't he? She could have just forgotten the damn date and moved on with her life.

What did normal people do in these moments?

Gail looked at her phone and picked it up. The last time she'd tried this, he never answered. She pressed the call button and swallowed. It was answered.

"Hey, honey, I'm sorry, it's going to be a long night-"

Closing her eyes, Gail cut into the apology, "Can you please come home?" She couldn't say more, the words made her throat thick, and she hated, despised, the desperation she felt. At the same time, she prayed that Holly would hear it in her voice.

There was a pause, an infinitesimal pause, before Holly replied. "Yes."

Whispering a thank you, Gail hung up and hugged her knees. She hated this. She hated feeling this way. Needy. Scared. Alone. It didn't feel like a panic attack, Gail knew that very well. The empty feeling of isolation crept in and Gail concentrated on her breathing. In and out.

That's how she was when the garage door went up and Holly came inside. She knew it was Holly the same way she knew when her brother was there. "Hey," breathed Gail, resting her face on her knees.

"Hey." Holly sat next to her, not touching her.

Gail's voice was a whisper. "I forgot what today was." She saw Holly's perplexed expression, "Oliver kept trying to get me to go home. Andy was really weird. And ... I just forgot."

Exhaling, Holly moved, hesitating as if she wanted to hug her. The back part of Gail's brain realized that tomorrow was the anniversary of Jerry's death, which she ought to warn Steve about if he hadn't already known. He may not have. Traci had the week off.

"I don't know what to do," admitted Holly, at length.

Really, Gail didn't know either. "Last year, I got so drunk I threw up."

"Hm. Let's not."

Slowly, Gail lifted her head up. "I just... I needed to be with you." She held a hand out to Holly.

When her hand was grasped, squeezed, Gail felt the tension start to slide away a little. "Can you ... Come here?" Holly's voice was soft, and Gail nodded, scooting until she was wrapped in Holly's arms. That was better.

"This isn't how I communicate," she told Holly, letting go of her own knees.

The arms were soft and comforting though. "I know," Holly laughed. It wasn't a funny laugh, it was a laugh that just expressed emotions Holly couldn't put into words. She'd laughed like that during sex and the first time it had surprised Gail. Now she understood. Holly could share joy, humor, nerves, fear, or just everything with that laugh.

Uncurling her legs, Gail settled against Holly, listening to her breathing and her heart. "Sometimes... A lot of the time I'm okay alone," she said into Holly's shoulder. As Holly's hand stroked her hair, she relaxed a little more. "Thank you for coming back."

"You only have to ask, honey," whispered Holly, holding her close.

It was an answer to a question Gail hadn't realized she'd been asking her whole life. The obvious questions she'd given up on years ago. Why wasn't she the one? Why wasn't she special enough? Why did everyone else get happiness and not her? But this was different. This was a answer of what life was supposed to be.

This was love and peace. Comfort. All the things she'd craved from Nick, the strength that he'd been afraid of giving her or was unable to, they were here. All the things she'd loved about Chris, his caring nature and the undeniable comfort, they were here. It was all here, in Holly, in her arms and her heart.

She closed her eyes tightly and pressed her face into Holly's shoulder. This was a new world, and a new feeling and ... New everything. It was new. And it wasn't terrifying. It was right.

The night shift was a strange idea. Many people excelled at it, but Holly was a morning person, and had hated it. Gail just hated getting out of bed, regardless the hour, so it didn't make too much of a dent in her attitude. But a week of only seeing each other in passing was already surprisingly painful after two days.

Perhaps the upside was Gail usually got three days off afterwards, which meant one day sleeping to get her mind back to 'normal' hours and then two days where they could spend together, like a normal couple. Normal.

Her relationship with Gail was anything but normal. Holly smiled, folding away the last of the clothes Gail had left over. Tempestuous, strange, wonderful. The way Gail's childishness still shone through the odd, newfound maturity was a delight. At first Holly worried that the bratty, sassy woman she'd fallen for was going away, but in their short time apart, Gail grew up without losing herself.

And damned if it wasn't sexy. A woman like that, who was always confident, sarcastic, and yes, bitter and jaded, was attractive. It was mostly the confidence, to be honest. Gail threw herself at things she wanted with a reckless abandon, certain that it would be something. Except... Not people. How many times had she been discarded to grow that wary of people?

The phone rang, startling Holly, and she smiled to see Gail's face on the screen. "Hey, I was just thinking about you."

"Oooh, sexy thoughts?" Gail's tone was light and breezy.

"Depends on who you're with and if I'm on speaker."

"Duncan, ew, no. I just wanted to tell you I love you before I go patrol the city streets for losers and failures."

Holly blushed. "What time do you get off shift?"

"Six, same as usual. Why?"

"I don't have to be at work till eight. We could have dinner."

Gail snorted. "You mean we could screw before you go to work, and I can sleep like the dead in your house?"

"It'll be quieter." Holly had no guilty feelings about her intention. But the sex, which was great, was only part of it. She wanted to keep tabs on Gail's emotional temperature, as it was.

"At seven AM, everything's about the same, Holly," laughed Gail. "How about this, call me when you get up, and maybe we can have breakfast."

"I don't like the maybe part of your equation, honey, but I'll take it."

"Good, go to sleep. I love you."

The casualness of that comment, the ease of it, made Holly blush. "Love you too, honey. Night."

Hanging up, Holly smiled at the phone. Love. That was a wonderful feeling. That was something missing in her other relationships. Not that Holly was all that great at dating to begin with. Falling for unavailable people was her forte. Even Gail counted as that in the beginning, but she was so damn magnetic.

Getting the second chance made things worthwhile. It made the drama of the breakup and the move that wasn't all seem like those Herculean trials one had to face in order to prove worth. It was ... It was simple.

Of course, better would be Gail not having insane hours and weird shift changes, because that night began the week of her girlfriend being a phone. There were three calls a day. Holly called when she woke up, usually catching Gail right at the end of shift when she was stuck finishing paperwork. Then Gail would call when she woke up around six at night. The third call was before Holly went to sleep, a call from Gail to tell her where she was, who she was with, and that she loved her.

Gail always told her she loved her before going on patrol now.

Sunday was Gail's last night on shift, and Holly had made sure to free up Tuesday and Wednesday for it. She even worked the weekend, picking up an extra shift, just to be sure she'd have no arguments from her boss. The current medical director of the lab was not her fan, and since most forensic pathologists reported up that chain, Holly was stuck with a boss whom she didn't care for, and who wasn't always too forgiving about her wanting time off.

Come Monday evening, Holly realized how little she cared about that. She came home to a second car in her garage, a note on the kitchen with a list of dinner choices, and a note reading 'for gods sake, wake me up when you get here, I want to see your unpixelated face.' It was romantic, for Gail at least. Romantic to Holly certainly. Picking the first dinner suggestion on the list, Holly ordered in Thai food.

She left her bag downstairs and rushed up to the bedroom, where Gail was curled up making a cocoon of all the blankets. Holly grinned and kicked off her shoes before kneeling onto the bed to kiss Gail. She was not surprised when a hand wormed out of the covers to pull her into a half hug, half cuddle. "Honey, I smell like death."

"Don't care." Gail's voice was muffled by the blankets and Holly let herself be pulled into the embrace. It lasted a moment before one baleful blue eye peered out from the nest. "Jesus, you reek. What the hell?"

"Long day," sighed Holly. "I'm going to shower. Dinner will be here in half an hour."

Pouting, Gail let go and rolled away, somehow managing to straighten out the blankets as she did. "What time do you have to be at work?"

Holly smiled and headed to the bathroom, "Thursday. Eight AM."

The look of sheer delight on Gail's face made the weekend and Monday all worthwhile.

Chapter Text

The hardest part about having to work a murder scene was not looking at Holly too much. She was at work, they were at work, and Gail's job was to maintain the perimeter. Those were rules Gail agreed with, and in fact had pushed herself. Some Peck rules had started to make more sense. Of course, when she lectured Gerald about medical jurisprudence, the laughter had been from Holly.

"Stand here. If anyone tries to cross the line, ask for their badge or ID. Then ask me to verify. Copy?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Gail nodded and walked over to Traci and Holly. Implementing the fear of Gail in Gerald had been a trial. "You sure that's wise?" Traci glanced back at the rookie.

"Traci, I will look the other way if you shoot him." Gail sighed and looked at Holly and the dead body, "Just be glad he didn't sit on the body when he was trying not to puke."

The doctor looked up, annoyed, "He was here?"

"No. He was there." Gail pointed at the other body. The rotting one. "He started stepping back, but I hauled him up to the rocks. Dry heaves. That's when we saw number two here, and he freaked." She rolled her eyes. "I should make him clean out the division's fridge."

Traci laughed, "That's mean."

"Oliver's mean. I'd rather babysit Izzy again and deal with her stupid questions."

"You lost Izzy last time," Holly noted, looking up from the body. "What questions?"

"She asked if we boned," grumbled Gail. Her rookie was gazing off into nothing. "Hey, Gerald, eyes front!" He snapped his head around and Traci chuckled.

A little miffed, Holly remarked, "Inaccurate."

"That's what I said."

"If you two are done flirting over dead bodies," teased Traci, "maybe I can get some info?"

"Please, I've seen you and Steve at work." But Gail turned to Holly for actual information on the case.

Adjusting her glasses (which Gail had to remind herself not to smile over), Holly offered a tidbit. "The body wasn't moved since it landed here. And he's fresh. Rigor's just starting to set in."

Gail and Traci exchanged a look. "Fresh body dump on an old site," said Traci. "Unless Mr. Maggoty there …" Both cops looked over at the more decomposed body.

"I won't know until I get back to the lab," noted Holly, a little pointedly. "But. He's been there long enough for second stage larval development to begin, and the soft-tissue damage from decomposition appears to have been impacted by wildlife." She sighed, "I'd say you're looking at weeks, rather than days. Versus this one, who's been here hours, at most."

When Traci opened her mouth, Gail leaned towards her, "Don't ask her about the variable rates of rigor mortis." Then louder, she asked, "Let me guess, me and Gerald stick around here?"

"Unless you want to send him to the lab with the bodies," suggested Traci, and both Gail and Holly glared. "Or he could stay here or—"

"Or the lab can call us when they have results. Really? You want me to be half the town away from Gerald? God knows what he'd get up to on his own."

"You've got to take the training wheels off sometime, Gail. He will pass."

Gail huffed, "Yeah. Yeah, well not today." She pulled out her logbook. "One fresh, one old, anything else?" For some reason, Holly hesitated and then said what sounded like 'ivy.' There wasn't any ivy around that she remembered, but Gail took a second look.

"Ivy?" Traci, too, was confused. "Like trace from another location?"

"No, like intravenous … He has an IV tap in his arm." Another hesitation, "And it looks wrong. It's not even in a vein. Here, wait…" Holly turned the arm over and gestured at the still intact IV port.

Both Gail and Traci leaned to get a better look at the arm, Gail absently rubbing her right forearm. "Anything in his neck?" she asked carefully. She knew she was going to have to get used to looking at this, but some days it was harder than others.

"Not that I can see here," Holly pursed her lips. "It's almost like they just put it in for show. Which I gotta say is weird."

Gail stopped listening for a moment, thinking backwards through every case she'd worked on, or read about recently. Just for show. Why would someone stick an IV in for show? They were clearly hiding 'something' but what? What it did mean was that the IV was unrelated to the actual death, unless he bled out from it, which looked unlikely. The forensics nerds could try to get a print off it, of course, but …

Turning around, Gail looked at the ground. She heard Holly start to ask what was wrong, but Traci hushed her. The ground wasn't super dry, but it hadn't rained recently, so tracks should stand out a little. Gail studied the path for a moment and looked up at the 'safe' end where she'd stuck Duncan. That path was not one they'd used because it was too steep for the forensic gear, though it was closer to the parking lot. It was a little worn down, in the way unofficial trails generally were. Gail looked at the path. No one would use that path often. If you did carry a body down it, though, you'd have the perfect angle to toss a dead guy out of sight of the normal trail. "Hey, Gerald," she called up to her partner. "Any wide wheel tire tracks up there?"

"Um. I … like a van?"

God help the future of police work. "Deeper than a van. Wider tires. Look in the grass." She moved to get a better view of the idiot.

"Maybe?" He carefully moved away from his station to look at something. "There's some tire tracks here, which is funny cause the parking's like ten feet away. Maybe some kids making out?"

"Don't touch it," ordered Gail and turned back to the body, only to find Holly and Traci grinning at her. "What?"

Traci pulled out her phone, "Care to share with the class?"

They looked so weird, smiling like that. Gail rolled her eyes. "Someone with access to medical supplies drove past the parking lot and chucked our fresh guy. It's either bad luck they landed near the other guy, or they've used this as a dump before. Either way it's lazy not scoping your site first," she sighed. People didn't get that there was an absolute art to being lazy, and it was to be good at what you did and not slack off. Gail had, twice, and both consequences had been galling.

Leaving Holly with the bodies for a moment, Gail showed Traci where she saw the trail broken, and then they went up to check on Duncan's possible tire tracks. "Nice," grinned Traci. "You really should take the exam, Gail, you'd make a great detective."

"And work with you or my brother? Hell no." She shoved her hands in her pockets, looking around the parking lot. Something was still bothering her about it, reminding her of … something. "You want us with the bodies or here?"

"Stay with forensics," decided Traci. "I'll go back with the body." Giving instructions for Duncan to stay there and not let anyone but forensics near the tire prints, Gail and Traci took the longer way back down to the nerds. "I gotta ask, how did you get him to stop taking photos?"

Gail reached into a pocket and held up Duncan's phone. "If he's smart and does well, he gets it back at second break. Otherwise he gets it back at the end of shift." Covering her mouth, Holly tried not to laugh.

On the other hand, Traci did just laugh. "How many times has he gotten it back before shift change?"

"Too few to count." The phone went back into her pocket. "Fine, I'll stick here and look for clues with Scooby-Dum." As the bodies were loaded away, Gail found herself thinking more about the oddities in the situation than anything else. Stupid, lazy, or unlucky? Well, that would have to wait for the autopsy.

At Traci's request, Holly called Gail with the preliminary autopsy results. "It'll cheer her up, and maybe she won't kill Duncan." Holly had to agree Traci had a point and once the bodies were in the cooler, rang up Gail's phone.

"Peck," she answered, perfunctorily.

"It's Dr. Stewart," Holly smiled. Most of the time Gail answered the phone as girlfriend Gail even when she was at work, but when they actually worked a case together she was very much Officer Peck. Really, Holly liked the smart Officer Peck who was great at anything she put her mind to. It was one of the things she'd like in Gail early on, the smarts and the snarks.

"Results already? Hang on..." There was the sound of shuffling and Holly heard Gail talking to someone. "Rookie, quiz time. Fastest way back to the station?" Holly couldn't hear the answer but Gail's reply surprised her. "Okay, Duncan, you can drive us back." A pause, "Phone or car, your choice." There was a thump and Gail spoke to the phone again, "Sorry. I can't take notes and drive, Doc."

"You're letting him drive?" It was hard to be mad at Gail about it but she was a little nervous. "I think I'm more scared then when you get shot at."

"So am I," confessed Gail. "Results? Your lab guys have picked bits from every tree, bush, and blade of grass in the area."

About to tease Gail that it was impossible in such a short time, Holly glanced at the clock. "You're still there? Gail, it's been five hours!"

"I know, I'm starving. Lunch was some disgusting sandwich. Results please? Or are you splitting more DNA?"

"Sorry, results. The deaths appear unrelated. The older one matched a missing persons. Detective Nash is running that right now, looks like he hit his head when he fell."

"Wow," sighed Gail. "Twenty feet from the trail. That's horrible."

"Given the depth and dimensions of the skull fracture, he was likely unconscious."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Subjective."

Abruptly Gail snapped, "Hey, Gerald, take the left. If you scratch the cruiser it's coming out of your paycheck." Then a lower growl, "I'm going to kill him."

Holly laughed, "You're having better luck than Andy did."

"Don't start," groaned Gail. That was code for 'I'll tell you about it later.' But Gail went on with work. "Fresh body?"

"The IV was totally useless, not even used. I sent it to CSI for prints, but frankly there was talc so don't get your hopes up."

"Hold that thought. Gerald, what's talcum powder have to do with medicine?" Not bothering to correct Gail about talc versus talcum powder, she listened for the stammered answer of gloves. Not bad. "Good. But remember that means old gloves, or not medical grade. They use cornstarch now."

Holly grinned, "I didn't know you knew that."

"I know a lot of things." She could hear Gail's smirk. "Old gloves. Anything else?"

"He was shot."

"Woah, how'd we miss that?"

"You'll like this," grinned Holly. "They bandaged him up, like crap by the way. You did better with Chris. Then they redressed him, and then they dumped him."

There was too long of a silence before Gail replied. "Huh."

Holly had a bad feeling she'd said something wrong. The silence dragged on. "So. On your way back to the station?"

"Yes, yeah, if Duncan doesn't flip the car over." Gail sounded distracted and not the way she had been at the crime scene. "Thanks."

"Hey, Gail... We still on for dinner?"

"What?" The brightness returned to Gail's voice, though it sounded forced. "Yes, definitely yes."

Still, Holly wondered what she'd said to bug her girlfriend wrong. Gail did show up at the restaurant, barely on time, clearly just out of the shower and out of breath. "Cutting it fine," smiled Holly, relieved to see her at all.

"Sorry." Gail looked apologetic and sexy in jeans, a dark shirt, and a long coat. "I was talking to Frank, he was our sergeant before Oliver."

"I believe I may have attended his wedding," teased Holly.

Gail gave her a smirk, "Yes, that. He's working upstairs now."

"Are they really going to foster Sophie?"

"Huh? Oh! Probably. They filed the paperwork, aced the class. This was something else, though. Work and I ... Doesn't matter, sorry I was late." She reached across the table for Holly's hand. "Let's not talk about work. Unless you want me to tell you how Chris ripped his pants. I let Duncan take a photo. We're trying to let Oliver put it on the official division twitter."

Dinner became a lighthearted affair, which suited Holly fine. She began to think there was nothing at all wrong and Gail was just a little distracted from an interesting case. They split a desert, after Gail begged Holly to just try the cake which was sinfully delicious. In return, Holly asked Gail to come over which was readily accepted and, in the mind of some, actually sinful.

By the time Holly drifted to sleep, she'd almost forgotten the weirdness of Gail on the phone.

Gail's nightmare startled Holly awake. More often, Gail woke up without a noise, but this time was the first since the Oxy induced drama, where she'd yelled when coming out of the dream in the guest room, that Holly heard anything. This wasn't a shout or a yell, but a sound like a choked cry of someone about to vomit, and Gail sat bolt upright, clapping a hand to her right arm, hugging it close.

It was the motion that fully shook Holly out of her own, clearly much better, dream. Her brain lagged a moment, connecting the sound to the motion to the woman in her bed. "Gail?" There was no answer and Holly pushed her hair out of her face to get a better look. "Hey, Gail, it's me, Holly."

"Yes!" Gail's voice was tense and strained, like it was an effort to get sound out. "Holly." Her back was soaking with sweat.

Holly fumbled for her glasses and sat up. "Honey, it was just a dream." Slowly, Gail's hands moved to cover her face and she nodded, not speaking. Was it safe to touch her? Holly reached over and her hand hovered over Gail's back before resting her palm between Gail's shoulders. The sweat was cold. "Hey," she whispered. There was no shaking this time.

Nodding again, Gail inhaled a shuddering breath. "I'm okay," she whispered.

She was clearly anything but. Holly sighed and scooted over closer. While Gail didn't move towards her, she didn't lean away either. "I'm here, honey." Another nod. Gail was taking long, deep breaths, controlled breaths, that came out shuddering.

Without a single idea what to say, Holly leaned against her girlfriend, hoping that the physical nearness would help. It didn't seem to be hurting at least, as Gail leaned into her as well after a while. "I'm. Okay," she whispered again, sounding like she was affirming that with herself more than anything else.

"Do you want the lights on?" First Gail shook her head no. Then she nodded a yes. Holly reached around Gail to turn on the lamp on her side. "I'm here," she repeated and wrapped her arms around Gail loosely.

Another nod and Gail exhaled slowly. "Bandages," she said quietly.

"Are you- are you hurt?" Holly started to let go, but Gail caught her hands.

"The bandages, on the fresh guy. The IV. Reminded me..."

Holly frowned. "The IV?"

"Perik. He put an IV in my arm." Gail took another deep breath and let it go slowly. She reached up and touched her neck again, as if checking for something, then her forehead. "He put sutures on my head, to stop the bleeding. My head... The door hit it."

That was new information. Every once in a while, Gail shared a little more about the incident. "Honey, you don't have to say anything." Nodding, Gail leaned more into Holly's arms. They sat like that for a while, Holly's back against the headboard, Gail in her arms. It was hard to keep that level of tension and Holly felt herself starting to drift off. She glanced at Gail's face and saw her eyes wide open. "Lie down?"

"Yeah." Gail let go of Holly's hands and surprisingly turned her light off.

"Honey, you can keep it on."

"I know," Gail replied, and once Holly was lying down, settled her head on Holly's shoulder. It was easy to wrap her arms around Gail and hold her close.

"Sleep?"

"No, I'll just see it again. Him again." She sighed. "I just want to lie here with you."

"Okay," agreed Holly and she closed her eyes.

"Your glasses are still on, baby." Holly took them off, carelessly tossing them onto the nightstand. At least Gail was up to complete sentences now.

She gently rubbed Gail's back and sighed, trying to think of what to say. "How did Nick deal with this," she wondered, barely noticing she said it aloud.

"Didn't. If I felt… off I didn't stay the night," Gail replied, sounding almost apologetic. Holly paused and thought about the implications of that. Did that mean Gail trusted her where she didn't trust Nick? Her hand stopped as she realized how much Gail had let her in more than anyone else. "You can go to sleep," whispered Gail.

"Don't want you to be alone in the dark."

"I'm not. You're here." While flattering, Holly fought for awareness and to stay awake longer. She knew she wouldn't be able to tell by Gail's breathing if she was awake or not, so she kept lightly rubbing her back. "Holly?"

"Yes?"

"I always gonna have nightmares."

This wasn't a question but Holly treated it like one. "Yes, you are." She hugged Gail a little. "I'm right here." Gail's body relaxed a little. Listening to Gail's breathing, Holly realized she didn't care how late she had to stay awake or how little sleep she got, because she wanted to be right here, for Gail. With Gail. She closed her eyes and let Gail's even breathing lull her to sleep, hoping it would be comforting enough.

After Dov, Chris, Nick, Andy, and Chloe bugged her, Gail took her notes and stole her brother's desk. She'd begged Frank for a copy of some files, and technically could have gotten the rest from Steve, but for now, she had enough. Fake ambulances were still bugging her. The tire prints from the double dump two weeks ago had, indeed, been from an ambulance, which had reminded her of the body dump at the lake, over six weeks ago. That had been the accidental death of a teenaged boy, but Gail remembered the 'killer' insisted he'd called an ambulance. The phone records backed that up, but there was no trace of the actual pickup.

The theory she had was someone was playing fake EMT. But why would they pick up these bodies? She'd found nothing in common, and started reading phone transcripts. The 911 call was normal, until she hit something downright weird, and logged in to Steve's computer. It was easy to get access to the 911 calls and Gail plugged in the headphones to listen, eyes closed.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Oh god, he's choking and turning blue. He can't breath. What do I do?"

"Sir, do you need an ambulance?"

"Yes!"

"What's your location, sir? Can you see a cross street?"

"It's... I don't ... Hang on." A door slammed. "327 Blue Ridge, off ... Um ... Off Cornwell. Wait! There's an ambulance! Hey! Hey! Stop!"

The rest of the call was him reading off the ambulance number to 911 and disconnecting before he'd gotten a reply from the operator. She must be pissed. But Gail frowned. He did call 911. He then grabbed a passing ambulance, which was the devil's own luck. And then ... Nothing.

The ambulance number was a fake.

Who the hell did that? Why the hell would anyone do that? If Gail was a fake ambulance driver in a fake ambulance, why would she be looking for people who would die en route? Did that happen a lot? Probably, but where did they go? She snatched pen and paper from Steve's desk and scribbled that down.

How many people went missing every year? Were there a lot between pickup and ER? How easy was it to lose a body at a hospital? Could you deliver someone right to the morgue? What about real people picked up by a fake ambulance? Maybe they left AMA. Could you do that? How long did it take for a hospital to realize an ambulance didn't show up? How hard was it to fake being an EMT? How many bodies never made it to the morgue.

She sighed and put the pen down, followed shortly by putting her head on the desk, pillowed by her arms. It was annoying to not get this out of her head and Gail felt like she should already know a lot of this.

"Napping?" Traci's voice cut in to Gail's thoughts.

"Reading. Thinking. How do you get anything done?" Gail turned her head to the side and looked at the detective.

"Yikes, you need a nap." Traci sat down on the table. "Holly keeping you up at night?" she teased.

"No," grumbled Gail and buried her face again.

"Did you do something stupid?"

"What?" Gail turned so she could open one eye and glare at Traci. "Is my track record that horrible?"

After a moment Traci said, "Yes, it is."

People sucked. Gail scowled and closed her eyes. "It's not Holly."

"Good. I like her."

Everyone liked Holly. For all she claimed not to make friends any more easily than Gail did, she was incredibly likable to pretty much anyone with a brain and quite a few people without them (i.e. Duncan). "Why is it every time I don't sleep, everyone's up in my face about me being an alcoholic or screwing up my love life?" Traci made a thoughtful sound but didn't press. "Do you think about him?"

"Who?" She sounded perplexed.

Gail picked up her head a little, propping her chin on her fists. "Jerry."

Exhaling, Traci slumped a little. "Yeah." She glanced at the desk that had been Jerry's and luckily was not Steve's because, wow. "What brought that on?"

Nerves kicked in and Gail started digging her thumbnail into her fingers. She could trust Traci, who had been there when she'd been in the hospital and was a friend. "Not sleeping," she said vaguely, trying to allude to things without having to say them aloud.

"Not sleeping because of, or because of not sleeping?"

While the sentence was convoluted, Gail understood. "First one." Not sleeping because of Jerry and Perik.

Traci frowned and got what Gail could only presume was a 'concerned mother' expression. "Gail." She hesitated. "I'm not sure what to say."

Neither was Gail, to be honest. She propped her chin up in one hand. "It's just what it is, Traci." She shrugged a little. Really, she didn't want it to become a big deal. Yes, she still had trouble sleeping, she still had nightmares.

Sometimes it felt like she wasn't making any progress at all. Like all the hours figuring out who she was, not just being Gail the Pale Fail and letting her name push her around, was for nothing. But that really wasn't the case. She was better, and it wasn't just Holly, though that was a major catalyst. Gail honestly wanted to be a better person, do better and be more than just someone floating at life, resenting being a Peck and yet using it to meander forward.

Traci reached down and picked up Gail's note paper. "So what's this?"

A subject change was welcomed by all. "The tire tracks at the double body site were an ambulance, but not a model used by any of the nearby stations."

Eyes widening, Traci gestured, "You gonna follow up on this on your own? The case is pretty cold."

"Yeah, I know. But it's just bugging me. It made me think about the underage sex teacher."

"Oh yeah, I remember." Traci paused, "You know, the idea of an illegal ambulance ring is pretty crazy."

"Aaand this is why I didn't tell anyone." She snatched the paper back, carefully putting it into her folder.

"Seriously, what good would it do anyone? Let you dump bodies in weird places to make people not use ambulances? Drive everyone to one specific company?"

Absently, Gail let her own, private, theory see the light of day, "Cover up a bigger crime."

Traci scoffed, "That's way too much work for such lousy output, Gail."

"Depends on how big the crime is, doesn't it?"

There was a moment of hesitation. "Okay," allowed Traci. "But that's crazy. You'd have to have to have a massive network." She shook her head, "No way, I take back everything I said about you being a good detective. You're totally Fox Muldering."

Which made Holly her Scully, and that wasn't too bad. "Never. Mind." She rolled her eyes at Traci, "I'm going now. You're as bad as the rest of them." Gail paused to change a setting on her brother's chair, and went back to find her rookie and head back out to the streets.

Chapter Text

Random questions weren't too unusual for Holly's job. Police generally weren't scientists so they asked questions in weird, round about ways, trying to put their ideas in an order only they understood. She just wasn't used to the source of her strange questions being her girlfriend since most of the serious relationships she'd had were broken over the job. And the questions really were odd, like how many bodies did the morgue lose a year and did Holly know any EMTs.

After that, however, no mention was made of the topic and Gail seemed no more or less distracted than usual. There were no repeat nightmares, though it wasn't as if she saw Gail every night (especially around shift changes, Gail frequently lamented her hatred of the night shift). Nights they didn't spend together were often filled with phone calls. Sadly, right now Gerald— Duncan (damn it, Gail!) was Gail's regular partner, and she didn't feel comfortable flirting on the phone in the car and only called Holly back in private.

There was also Sophie, whom Gail saw regularly. Holly went with her on those and they both had dinner with Noelle and Frank. Frank had been flummoxed at the appearance of Holly at dinner, having not been privy to the usual gossip about Gail, though Noelle confided she'd thought something was up when Gail brought Holly as a plus one, but hadn't expected that either. Then she proceeded to give Gail crap for not warning her about the gay thing.

They'd all talked about Sophie, what the odds were, did Frank and Noelle really want to become that big a family, that fast. And then everyone spent a Saturday with Sophie, together, and Frank was sold, provided Gail promised to babysit. It was really that easy, which amazed Holly. When Frank asked her directly about wanting kids, Holly had stalled, which did not go unnoticed by the other two police officers, though Gail didn't make a fuss and simply said that Holly did not. It was true, but Holly started to wonder if she was wrong.

And then there were the breaks. Not dating breaks, they'd worked through that and had no interest in a revisit. No, the breaks of not being able to see each other for days. The breaks where where Gail worked too many hours, Holly had court, and now two weeks had passed between the last time Gail had spent the night. It made Holly feel like a total horn dog.

There had been a surprise afternoon visit on Sunday when Gail showed up unannounced, still in uniform, and explained she had four hours and was going to kill her roommates. Holly had been watching TV and finishing a needless proof of an article, but Gail had said she didn't mind just hanging out. They never even made it back to the couch, heading right upstairs as soon as Holly got a clear look at Gail in uniform. The uniform really was a turn on. Leaving the police car parked outside on the street for three hours, however, had encouraged her neighbors to knock after Gail had left and ask if everything was all right.

What she needed was to get her mind off it for a while. Being grumpy because you couldn't be with your girlfriend all the time was juvenile and unproductive.

Holly pulled on her running shoes and stepped outside into the damp Toronto spring. A muggy heat hugged the air and Holly sighed, thinking about how sticky it was for late May. If you can't get your endorphins out one way, best to try another, and she turned on her running mix before stretching and heading down the road to her favorite park trail.

Running was her zen, her meditation. She'd gone into medicine out of an interest in health, but forensics had fallen into her heart like a calling. It was impossible to explain her devotion, but with it, everything made sense. Similarly, running made sense. One foot in front of the other, your heart pounding and blood rushing, and then the brain chemistry kicked in to make you forget the pain and aches, and all that was left was joy. Which made it a lot like sex with Gail, if she was being perfectly honest.

Running cleared her brain, which was entirely unlike sex. At least not sex with Gail. That tended to completely blank her brain. The first time Gail had gone down on her, Holly forgot how to speak in English for long enough that Gail found it hilarious. And none of that was helping her not think about the sex she wasn't having because schedules sucked.

What would be nicer would be if Gail would move in with her, but that was an odd thing to ask. She'd never successful lived with another woman before. College barely counted, and that had been living together to girlfriends to being dumped and ex-roommate/girlfriend moving in with another girl, leaving Holly to deal with a new, mid-term, homophobic roommate. Other than that, she'd never had a girlfriend she wanted to see that often.

But she sucked at girls. Girlfriends. Relationships. Gail wasn't the only one with a terrible track record and commitment issues. Good lord, and the whole kids thing, which was a massive commitment Holly was terrified to consider. Except thanks to Gail, she was now actually thinking about it as a possibility. Holly slowed down as she reached a corner, saw no cars, and sprinted across the street to hit the trail. Feet pounding did, eventually, calm her mind down and she made her circuit thinking of little beyond the songs and the air and the quiet.

As she sprinted across the street again her phone started ringing. Holly did not slow down, but thumbed the hands free button. "Hello?"

"Jaywalking's against the law." Gail's voice was surprisingly cheerful for the hour. Given her way, Gail would never be out of bed before noon.

But that wasn't the weirdest thing. How did Gail know she'd just jaywalked? "Are you tracking my phone?"

"That would be a misuse of power." Gail sounded a little out of breath now that Holly thought about.

"Where are you?" Holly stopped moving forward and jogged in place.

"Waiting for the light to change."

"That's a what..." Holly trailed off and turned around, looking back at the corner. There, jogging in place and waiting at the light, was Gail in shorts and a police academy sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off.

It was hard not to laugh and Holly hung up. The light changed and Gail joined Holly. "That was incredibly rude," smirked Gail.

"The 80s called." Holly flicked a finger on Gail's top.

Gail plucked at her sleeveless sweatshirt, "It's Steve's. I stole it, in lieu of having a boyfriend to steal comfy clothes from." She stopped jogging and started stretching.

"The one lesbian drawback. Giving up already?" Holly slowed down but kept bouncing in place.

"Puuuuuhlease, I've done four miles." She held up her phone so Holly could see the running app. "This is, by the way, your fault."

Holly sighed and stopped running. "Okay, spell this one out."

"You making me care and healthy and all this crap. I could be asleep right now." Gail shook her head.

"And that's your excuse for coming miles out of your way for a run."

Gail pointed at Holly's legs, "Those are my excuse." When Holly didn't reply, she sighed. "I wanted to see you, and ... I don't know, it seemed like a good idea. Meet you jogging, go to brunch, stay over tonight?"

"It's not a terrible idea," allowed Holly, a smile tugging at her face. "However..."

"Oh, no no, you are not working, I checked." Gail held up a finger. "Your case plead out last night. Steve was in the judges chambers all night. If he didn't tell you, I will flatten his tires." Gail reached for Holly's hands. "Please? I traded shifts with Andy to have a whole weekend off. No work. No trial prep. Just us."

That sounded far better than anything else. "I'm going to call Steve. And the ADA," she warned Gail but tugged her in for a kiss. "If I hear you threatened anyone..."

"Just Andy," promised Gail. "Come on, I'm hungry."

Holly rolled her eyes but laced her fingers with Gail's and let herself be led off to a brunch.

"What's it like?"

Gail opened one eye and looked at Andy. They had ended up at the Diaz/Peckstein apartment, Andy lamenting over yet another fight with Sam and Gail trying to actually be a friend. This had involved drinking at Gail's because the odds of Sam showing up there were slim. Gail ruthlessly punted the boys out, texted an apology to Holly about breaking the 'only get drunk with your girlfriend' rule (which Holly accepted), and proceeded to get half-blasted on margaritas with Andy in her living room.

The drama had been expected, somewhat, when Marlo showed up. The internal investigation had been rather ruthless, led not by Gail's mother, thank god, but a pretty anal retentive Inspector whom Gail knew. It had still been rough since Andy had known about the bipolar situation. Realistically, Gail pointed out that if Marlo had told her superiors before it became a problem it wouldn't have been quite as bad. Not everyone who was bipolar went off the rails and Gail knew a few officers with serious issues. Herself included. She hadn't mentioned her own PTSD which worried her at times like this. Rarely had her mother had any sympathy for anyone with issues like that, though Gail certainly did.

After the complaining Andy had become maudlin and quiet, lying on the floor hugging a pillow. Gail took the couch and relaxed in the quiet for a while.

"What's what like?"

Andy sat up, "Sex."

Gail blinked and turned onto her side to stare at Andy. "I'm pretty sure you've had sex, Andy."

"Oh, yeah. But not like you." While Gail tried to work out if Andy was calling her a slut, Andy added, "Lesbian sex."

Was this how it'd felt when she'd asked Holly those horrible questions in the closet? Holy crap. "I'm not having sex with you, McNally."

Andy groaned, "Not in a million years, Peck. I've seen you naked. Not interested."

"Same here," smirked Gail.

"See? That doesn't make sense." Andy hugged the pillow closer. "You don't check anyone out?"

Gail huffed. Wow. People did just ask lesbians weird questions. "What are you really asking?"

"Are... You gay or just gay for Holly? And is it gay or lesbian or…"

"Lesbian," confirmed Gail. "But... You don't find every guy sexy, right? Sometimes you just look at them and know." When Andy nodded Gail gestured. "Holly."

Andy let that ruminate in her brain for a while and Gail could hear the hamster wheel spinning. "How did you know?"

"Which? Holly or lesbian?" The look on Andy's face clearly said both so Gail chewed her lip. "Holly first. She kissed me at Frank and Noelle's wedding." That brought a widening of eyes to Andy's face. "It made me think." The margaritas had done a nice job and Gail felt that comfortable lassitude that came with good drinks and a comfortable person. She realized she rarely wanted to get drunk with Holly, preferring to enjoy her as sober as possible.

And Gail would have left it there but Andy looked at her pleadingly, clearly desperate to hear a love story for once. "If I did that, you'd have hit me."

"I knew she was a lesbian, dumb ass," laughed Gail. "I was asking her stupid questions, like you are now, and I swear to god if you kiss me I will taze you in your ass." That set Andy giggling and they both seemed to agree that the idea of them kissing was stupid.

"Not enough tequila on the continent," agreed Andy. And then she added, "Holly is insanely hot, though. I could see kissing her."

"I have a tazer, McNally," snarled Gail, only to see a smirk from her friend. "Not funny."

"Totally funny," disagreed Andy. "Objectively, she's hot."

"Stop objectifying my girlfriend."

A moment passed, and Andy realized Gail was serious. "Wow, you really like her."

Sighing, Gail closed her eyes. "You have no idea. She changed my whole world, Andy. And ... It's not the sex. I mean, wow, sex, but it's just her. She makes me feel better. About everything. She looks at me like I'm the only person in her universe, she calls me on my bullshit. And she's funny, smart... Sexy." Gail exhaled a long breath and smiled. There was no sound from Andy, and Gail opened her eyes to see her friend, passed out against the table. "Nice talk, McNally."

It took monumental effort to get Andy onto the couch, but once she was there Gail covered her with a blanket and left a note for the boys not to bother her. Almost absently, she cleaned up the drinks, drank a cup of water, and took another to her room. In the past she might have hauled Andy into her room to sleep it off like friends do, but right now having anyone in her bed besides Holly felt wrong. Not that they'd ever had sex in Gail's bed.

Barricaded behind her door, Gail checked her phone. No messages. She quickly tapped one out to Holly, three words, and lay down on her bed.

Instead of thinking about Holly, Gail found herself thinking about work. Her handling of idiot Gerald made Oliver float the idea of being a regular T.O. and taking a rookie when the next batch rolled in. She countered that this was only a special favor because of the Peck name and he pointed out she could use that to train them right.

Her mother agreed with Oliver which didn't help. At the monthly Peck dinner the previous week, with Gail and Steve attending solo by choice, her mother positively oozed pride. In the last four months, Gail had gone from a Pale Fail to the Pride of Pecks. A public commendation for the schwarma thing, a successful training rotation, handling the T.O. job with style, and Gail was well on her way to being a white shirt. Then her mother had let slip that Gail's rookie group was, collectively, up for promotions. This was expected, at least by Gail. For the most part, Chris, Dov, Andy, and herself were damn fine officers and unlikely to cause problems if made constable third class. The only delays were likely to be related to stupid things like Chris leaving for Timmons for a while, Dov dating a suspect and getting rolled for it (and covering for Chris on drugs), or Andy and Gerald… Actually, Chris and Andy probably would be promoted next round, with that in mind. At least Gail's fuck up and suspension was furthest out.

However her mother brought up one last thing that tweaked Gail. There was a Peck Timetable and Gail was on it. She'd driven Steve home and he asked how she was going to handle it. Flippant, Gail replied she'd skip the next three dinners. But it was a problem. The Deal, as she'd called it, was nearly up. Her mother had plied her with information about the detective spot opening up but Gail just wasn't interested in that spot, Guns and Gangs. At least it stopped her father from making veiled remarks about her sexuality. Those were getting old.

Her phone rang, startling her out of work-related angst, and Gail was surprised to see Oliver's name. "I'm too drunk to work, Ollie."

"Too drunk for congratulations?"

"Are you pregnant?"

The man laughed. "You're funny when you're drunk, kid. Brass bumped you to third."

Third? Third rank. Gail blinked, "Why are you telling me this at 11PM, Oliver?" Then she remembered what day it was, "Jesus, did you guys just finish the damn reviews? Please tell me Gerald failed."

"Persnickety Peck, you always know what's going on behind the scenes. No, your rookie did not fail. Sorry, he's a real officer now."

Groaning, Gail bashed the back of her head into the bed. "Who else got bumped?" There was silence and Gail frowned. "Not even Dov?"

"He'll be in the next batch," Oliver said hesitantly. "There was an issue …"

"Which you can't tell me about, I get it. You suck. I'm going to sleep."

"Love you too, sunshine," teased Oliver. "Keep McNally out of trouble."

"She brings it with her, smart ass." Hanging up, Gail rolled to her side and went to sleep.

The information came from Oliver, who made an effort to explain just how important it was and it needed to be special because Gail was Gail and would reject anyone else's attempts to congratulate her. "The first in her class," he repeated for the fifth time, pacing in her office.

"How many others?"

"Seven, but none at Fifteen."

She wasn't really sure what that meant but Oliver had driven across town just to talk to Holly about it. Ergo it was important. "I hate even thinking this," Holly said slowly. "Is it because she's a Peck?"

And that's when Oliver hit her with a thousand watt grin. His open geniality was heartwarming. "No," he grinned. "Not a chance. She earned this. And you have to make sure that sinks in!"

"Me?" Holly almost babbled. "Oliver, I don't know a thing about this! It's all ... Whatever!" She waved her hands in a way Gail did when being dismissive.

"Our little Peck has a thing about deserving good things, Holly." The reply grimace on Holly's face only seemed to confirm what Oliver was saying and he nodded. "Which is why I'm asking you to make sure she knows it's amazing and awesome. I know it is, Fifteen knows it is, but she's going to blow it off."

"Oliver," Holly sighed, wearily. "She's going to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about and blame it on nepotism." That had happened before, with the stupid schwarma thing. Even though Andy had insisted Gail knew what was wrong, Gail argued that Andy's gut instinct was how they'd managed to burst in and surprise the kidnappers. She didn't want the stupid award.

"I know, my Petulant Peck has a chip on her shoulder," he sighed. There was always a paternal feeling from Oliver, like he loved Gail as if she was his own. "I'm giving you this." He handed a print up with names and what looked like votes.

Holly read the paper, confused. "I don't get it." Oliver opened his mouth and Holly stemmed the word vomit. "No, I get it. These are the people who voted for promotions, and yes, I see that her mother recused herself. But ..." All Holly had was horror stories about Elaine from everyone, Peck and not Peck.

"Not a single Peck Crony on that list, Holly. Gail will know. She starts freaking out, you show her that."

It wasn't until after Oliver left that Holly wondered if they'd broken a law.

Her only warning about it from Gail was that she texted to complain about being dragged to the Penny for drinks after work, and would Holly please pick her up absolutely no later than 7. "Make it special, huh," muttered Holly texting her agreement.

That gave her enough time to go home, make a semi-romantic setup on the dining table, get a real, home made dinner in the oven, shower, get into sexy clothes, and pick up Gail at the Penny at ten after seven. She pulled up out front and texted. A moment later, Gail and her crew burst out of the bar, them singing, her cringing. Gail's people tolerance was about done for the night.

"Hey, hot stuff," smiled Holly, looking out the open window.

"You're late," griped Gail and suffered another hug from a very inebriated Dov. "Okay, see? My chariot awaits, I'm going now."

"But you're the first third fifteen!" That was Andy, sheets to the wind and clearly caring little for it.

"Okay, you're wasted." Gail looked past her drunk friends to where a sober looking Nash nodded. "I'm dumping them on you, Traci!"

"Thanks so much!" Traci laughed however. "Come on, let's go drink for Gail!" Someone cheered, remarking it'd be more fun if Gail wasn't there.

For once, Gail didn't rise to the bait and just slipped into the car. Her brother emerged from nowhere which Holly felt was a skill for such a pale ginger to have. "Congrats, sis," he smiled, holding the door open.

"Come on, Steve. It's embarrassing." Gail clipped herself in. "I'm almost thirty, of course they bumped me first. Herr Peck would have had their asses otherwise."

"Hey, I told you. Gossip chain swears this was all you, little brat." He ruffled her hair and closed the door. When Gail flipped him off, his hands moved in a longer, more eloquent, statement. Gail sighed and replied in a similar way, before telling him to go away.

"What's the party for?" Holly tried to be innocent and pulled the car out. She wanted to know what Steve had said as well, but let that alone for now.

Gail scowled. "Nothing, I got promoted is all."

"And this is bad?"

Somehow Gail slouched impossibly low in the seat. "It's stupid. I'm the first one in the division. From my class."

"Honey, you're gonna have to work with me here. Why is this bad?"

Gail said nothing until they eased into Holly's neighborhood, "I didn't want to be the first. But stupid Andy screwed up being a T.O., Dov killed a kid and dated a suspect and got beat up, and Chris went to rehab, so that leaves me and Traci, and she's a detective, so yaaaay, Peck gets firsties." She sunk further into her seat. "And tomorrow it'll all be how I got it because of my stupid name."

Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, Holly thought about that. "You took a bunch of training classes, right? When we were being stupid?" Gail grunted a 'yeah,' though she smiled a little at Holly's description of their break up. "And you totally aced Gerald... Duncan... Whatever." Now Gail giggled. "That's your fault, by the way. Everyone at the lab calls him Gerald now, it's like an epitaph. Someone drops a vial, they shout 'Damn it, Gerald!' And we all laugh."

"No way," laughed Gail. She sat up a little, brightening at the story.

"Yes, and you're mean and should stop it." Holly smirked at Gail. "And my point, honey, is that you've done a lot of things at work and you deserve some accolades. You've been an amazing T.O. You were instrumental in solving multiple cases. And your friends need an excuse to get drunk, so you're it."

"Bah," grumped Gail, though she didn't slouch as much. "I don't want a birthday party."

"Duly noted." They pulled in to the garage and Holly pondered her plan and how poorly it was going to work. "Why don't you grab a shower and I'll get food ready?"

But Gail shook her head, "No, I'm gonna face plant when I shower. I just... I wanted to be with you and not people. You're not all pushy and noisy." Gail was out of the car surprisingly quickly. "I'll make a sandwich or something and we can watch one of your sport things..." Gail stopped as she opened the door to the townhouse.

"Surprise?" Holly smiled weakly and stepped up behind Gail, ushering her inside.

Slowly Gail took in the candles (unlit), the red wine (breathing), and the smell of good food. "Who told you?" She paused by the dining table, looking embarrassed again.

"Oliver. He said it was important so I thought I should make it special." She scooted past Gail and pulled the chicken out of the oven. "I even made the potatoes the way you like them."

"God, Holly..." Gail pushed her hair out of her face and Holly realized she was crying.

Cue dramatic Peck Family flashback? Holly cursed Oliver silently and put the pan down. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry. We don't have to do this. It can just be dinner and I'll put the candles away. This was a bad idea right? I should have thought, I mean, your parents and-" Gail stopped her rambling in Holly's favorite way, with a kiss.

Gail's hands were firm on her shoulders, holding Holly still. Oven mitts and all, Holly grabbed Gail's waist and melted into her as much as possible. These kisses, the ones that went right past her brain and lit a fire, were some of Holly's favorite. "No one else does stuff like this for me, baby," she whispered. Her fingers smoothed the fabric of Holly's shirt. "Thank you."

That was entirely depressing to think about and Holly sighed. "You probably scare your friends." Holly smiled and kissed her again, her glasses bumping Gail's face and digging in a little to the bridge of her own nose.

"I meant boyfriends and family." Reaching over, Gail adjusted Holly's glasses. "You're amazing. How are you so amazing? I mean, Jesus, I've known Nick for years and he still forgets I'm allergic to fucking tomatoes!" That had been the subject of an argument outside Holly's lab, when Gail and Nick came by on a case and he brought her a burger with tomatoes in it.

Holly tilted her head. "You also hate eggs and don't do breakfast." She kissed Gail's nose. "But you love chicken and potatoes and I bet you'll like my veggies. And the red wine. It's really good wine. Dinner?"

"Should I shower? I mean, you're all dressed up..." Gail looked Holly up and down, seeming to just now take in the clothes.

"That's up to you, honey." Holly turned back to the chicken and got a knife out to break it down. Behind her, she heard a 'huh' noise and Gail's footsteps fading into the upstairs. By the time she had the chicken separated and plates served, she was staring to wonder if Gail was ever coming downstairs. "Gail? Confirm existence please!"

"Do you have any high heels here?" Gail's voice drifted down.

"Don't own any except the boots." The reply was reflex, but Holly blinked and looked at the stairs in curious wonder. Why was Gail asking about shoes? But then Gail came down barefoot, in a casual knit shirt/dress that was a little too short. She'd worn it over jeans a couple times, but this was the first time she'd just worn the dress as a dress.

And Holly suddenly understood why Gail had said the getting dressed part was the best part of a date. "Catching flies there, baby," teased Gail.

The too short dress and bare feet were adorable and sexy, especially given the limited wardrobe Gail had here. The makeup and hair were astounding. Holly was just stunned with how Gail looked, dolled up, making her sexy in a way the uniform or the leather jacket never did. "Okay, wow... How did you do ... That?" Holly waved a finger in a circle around her own face.

"The hair took forever," admitted Gail. "Why is short hair so hard to style?" She had somehow managed to get her unruly cowlick to lie in a curl that would put a 1940s pin up girl to shame. The makeup, which Holly was generally adequate at, was brilliant and made her pale skin radiate health. The red lipstick was perfect and distracting.

Tongue-tied, Holly blurted, "I am so gay right now, Gail."

Gail bubbled with laughter. "Well next time warn a girl, and I'll have my sexy lbd on, and shoes." She gave Holly a peck on the cheek before sliding into her seat at the table. "Guess short hair doesn't make the dress look funny, huh?"

It took Holly a moment to get back on track, and she couldn't stop smiling.

Chapter Text

"Am I allowed to ask personal questions?"

Gail gave Duncan a stern look. "Generally no, but since your sorry ass got me promoted, I will grant you one."

He cleared his throat. "You and Dr. Stewart are dating, right?"

"Are you asking for a purpose?" She paused at the corner and sipped her green smoothie, which was Holly's fault.

Duncan looked down. "Kinda. You keep telling me to pay attention, so I've been trying to. And at the body dump place? She was looking at you." He gestured with one hand, nervously.

They were back at the car, having done a courtesy check on a store. "Hmm. Okay. And do you care?"

"No! I just ... I want to know if I'm seeing things right. Like you and Detective Nash are friends and you kinda want to kill Officer Price a lot... And Collins is totally guilty about something."

She put her smoothie on top to the car. "Collins, huh? That's old news. Ask your stepfather, he was there." Digging into her pockets, Gail pulled out Duncan's phone and the car keys. She didn't have to tell him to choose. He knew.

The rookie pointed at the phone but did not turn it on. He simply put it in his pocket as is. "Thanks, ma'am."

"Today you can call me Peck," she informed him and finished the smoothie. "You should have gotten a smoothie, you know, Moore."

Confused by his elevation, Duncan just nodded and got in the car. "It's fruit and shit, ma'am - Peck."

They'd work on that. "It's good for you." She tossed the smoothie and got into the car.

After a few blocks of silence, Duncan spoke up again, "Why do you keep looking at ambulances?"

Now this question was more awkward than the Holly one. "Because only two times is coincidence."

Duncan hesitated. "The guy with the IV?" When Gail nodded, he frowned and wracked his brain. "Was there more?"

"Remember the kid in the lake? His lover called 911, but the kid never got there."

"That's still coincidence, right?"

So he wasn't useless. Gail smiled thinly. "It is," she agreed. "How many Quebec plates since our last stop." Duncan stammered a count, which wasn't too far off Gail's, winning him a reprieve in that particular training game. The joy on Duncan's face was brief, as the game replaced by a new, harder, one, called Guess Who? Duncan lost three times in a row and sulked most of the day.

Back at the station, Gail was presented with a stack of papers from Chloe, who said someone from the main building came by for her. "I didn't peek, but who'd you upset now?"

"It'll be you and Dov in about ten seconds," growled Gail, and she opened the folder. "Ah crap..."

Chloe peeked over Gail's arm. "You're going for detective? You'd make a great detective. You're smart and you see things and pay attention in all these really impressive ways. I mean, you scare me, not in a grrr way, but like in a smart and capable way. And you scare me the rest of the time, but I don't think you're really mean."

"I most certainly am not going for detective, and sure as hell not in guns and gangs with Steve," snapped Gail, and she dumped the whole folder in recycling. Stomping off to the locker room, she was surprised to be followed by Chloe.

"Uncle Frank keeps asking me about it too," she said quietly, surprising Gail yet again. Chloe put the folder down on the bench between them. "Can I keep this?"

"Sure." Gail opened it again to see if her mother left any snide missives. "Don't do it because they want you to, Chloe." There was, indeed, a letter in the mix and Gail folded it up into her pocket. She'd read it, or not, later.

Taking the folder back, Chloe pulled out the handbook. "I don't know if I want it or not, but ... I want to know." It was nice to sit there quietly. "Uncle Frank's adopting a girl."

"Fostering." The correction came out without Gail really thinking about it. She glanced at Chloe, feeling apologetic and wasn't that a weird way to feel about Chloe? But Chloe was smiling. "What?"

"He said it was your idea and I should ask you about her."

There was a long pause and Gail frowned. "Why aren't you talking a mile a minute?"

Chloe kept her eyes on the folder, but also kept smiling, "Sometimes you keep the bubbly inside, Gail." With that, Chloe quickly hugged Gail and bolted. Gail was partly convinced it was all a set up for the hug, but as she left to go home she saw Chloe reading the papers with interest.

She waited until she was home, locked in her room, to read the letter. The note. It was short and to the point. Here was the latest information on the open spot in the rotation. Here was the type of officer they wanted. Here was who she'd work with. And here was a date, underlined in bold.

The date bewildered Gail until her phone rang. It was Nick.

"No, Nicholas, I will not save you from a blind date."

"I wouldn't dare ask. I just... Wanted to say I was sorry."

Gail frowned and kicked her shoes off. "Why? What did you do this time?"

Now Nick paused. "Wow. I can't tell if you're being a bitch or you honestly forgot." He sounded pained. Forgot? Gail looked at the date on the letter again.

"I could be a bitch if you wanted, but I was really just going to watch TV and crash. What the hell are you talking about?"

More silence. "Christ, I envy you." Now he was angry. "Did it mean nothing?"

"Did what mean nothing- oh. Oh!" The words were the trigger. She'd shouted them at him five years ago over the phone. Because of what happened five years ago from today. The deal.

"Seriously, Gail. How the hell did you forget?"

While Nick was angry, Gail was confused as to why. "Hey, asshole, you left me at the damn altar. With a fucking note in my dressing room. I didn't find out you joined the damn army until Steve hunted you down."

"Did you even look?" He was bitter. And possibly drunk.

"No," admitted Gail, honestly. She tried to remember why the date was so important to Nick, though. He couldn't be mad because she'd moved on. Hell, he liked Holly and Gail together, or so he said.

"You know, I don't know what the hell I was thinking... Never mind, Gail."

"Hey, hang on. What the hell is going on?" Memories of conversations she'd tried to forget rushed to the front of her brain. She hadn't picked the date for the wedding. He did. He picked the date because it was the same date as his parents' death. "Jesus, Nick, can't you just say you're depressed about your parents?"

"I'm not! I just... This was supposed to be our day. And I screwed it up. Twice."

Gail snorted, "Nick, we both screwed it up." Her bald statement stopped him. "I was a crap girlfriend and we would have divorced within a year. You and me, we were bad for each other."

There was a sharp intake of breath. "I didn't mean that..."

"What? That I wasn't girlfriend material? You weren't wrong, Nicholas." She sighed. "I'm sorry I forgot."

"No," he mumbled. "I'm sorry for bringing it up." Then he apologized again and hung up.

Gail fell onto her bed. She couldn't fathom loosing her parents. As much as they fought, they were her parents and a part of her still loved them. The paper crinkled and she pulled her mother's missive out to look at it. Ugh. Why was everything so complicated? She crushed the paper into a ball and threw it into the garbage.

Curling up, fully clothed, on her bed, Gail contemplated just going to sleep when her phone rang again. "Goddamn it," she growled, ready to ignore the call until she saw Holly's name on the phone. "Hey."

"Wow, you don't sound happy."

"I'm having a very Peck day," sighed Gail. "The only way it could get better is if Steve showed up or it was the third Thursday." There was silence on the phone. "Please god don't tell me today is the third Thursday of the month..."

"Well..." Holly trailed off. "Is this the monthly dinner?"

"Shit," snarled Gail. That's why her mother underlined the damn date. "I have to get dressed." She scrambled back up, hunting for clean things to wear. "Baby, I'm sorry. I have to go."

"That's fine, we can talk later." Holly sounded a little off and Gail stopped, her hand on a clean shirt. "I'd say have fun but that seems unlikely."

"No kidding. I'm sorry, Holly, I love you."

That brought an honest laugh across the phone, "I love you too."

Gail hung up and stared at her phone. The last thing she really wanted to do was see her parents, but it was Thursday and she had promised. She really wanted to sleep. Or see Holly. Grumbling, Gail wriggled out of her jeans and into a nice dress, to perhaps stave off her father's increasingly pointed remarks. "Dov, get out of the bathroom!" She pounded on the door until he threw it open.

"What the hell is - woah." He was in a towel and Gail quickly pulled him out and popped into the bathroom to get her makeup. "You forget a date with Holly?"

"It's Thursday, I'm late, my parents are going to kill me." Fast makeup was hard to get right, but Gail had mastered it. For all Nick called her high maintenance, she really wasn't. She just liked things the way she liked them.

"You never dressed up that nice when you were dating Chris," Dov remarked, watching the transformation into girl with amazement. Taking a moment to flip Dov off, she stole some of his hair cream to fix her hair. "Hey! That's mine!"

"You can borrow my blush," offered Gail. Satisfied with her look, Gail dashed back to her room, grabbed her shoes and purse, and sprinted for the door, hopping into her heels on the way.

"I can't believe you ditched me and Traci," complained Steve for the hundredth time.

"Seriously, Steven. I'm sorry!"

"I had to lie to mom!"

Holly had been watching the Peck siblings banter most of the night at dinner and the basketball game. The tickets and meal were Gail's apology for abandoning her sibling to the Peck Family Dinner, and a bribe for Holly not to say what had really happened. That didn't stop a blush and smile from crossing her face, though. Seated beside her in the skybox, Gail squeezed her hand.

"Brother mine, let's get drinks okay?"

As Gail hauled her brother off, Traci oozed into a seat. "Okay, spill."

"What? I have no idea how Gail got these seats."

"One of their cousins, probably," Traci waved a hand. "You keep grinning when Gail apologizes."

Holly sighed and glanced out the door. The Pecks were at the bar down the hall so she pulled out her phone and showed Traci a picture of Gail leaning at the counter of a quiet, fancy, restaurant. Gail was in a wine red dress and heels, her hair curled back in a vintage '40s look. Leaning back slightly, she smiled at the camera in a femme fatale sort of way.

"Woah," breathed Traci. "She was going to wear that to dinner with her parents?"

"So she says." Holly had been called, mere minutes after their first phone call that night was aborted. Gail's request had been simple, begging Holly to please meet her for dinner instead of making her suffer with her parents. She then sent Holly that photo. "I swear, I have never gotten dressed so fast in my life."

"I don't blame you." Traci shook her head. "You know, I get so used to her in jeans and those boots, I forget she used to girl it up all the time."

Holly lost her focus, trying to picture a world where Gail was girly all the time. "What happened?"

"She moved in with Dov, after Chris left for Timmons." Traci stopped and looked embarrassed. "You know what, never mind."

The timing snapped Holly back into reality. Moving in with Dov. "After Perik?" When Traci froze Holly added, "She told me."

"Jerry was my fiancé," sighed Traci, looking over at the siblings. Okay, maybe Gail hadn't told her everything. "I don't think she and I would have been friends without that. And without Nick and Andy going undercover." Traci smiled. "It's funny. She's closer to my age than Andy's but it was easier to be friends with Andy first. Gail just never let's people in."

"Well," sighed Holly. "Their parents..."

"Are batshit insane," agreed Traci. "They didn't ask about you once, though. Steve just said she'd had a long day and was probably asleep."

"It was supposed to be my wedding anniversary," Gail announced and Holly blushed. "I told you they were gossiping about us."

"Since when did you learn to speak girl." Steve handed Traci a drink and sat beside her.

"Ass."

"Brat."

They started signing rudely at each other, until Holly grabbed Gail's hand and pulled her over for a kiss. "Wedding?"

"Nick," grumbled Gail, leaning back. "He's a moron for picking the date, too. Same day his parents died."

Many people would have heard that as Gail being uncaring or unfeeling. Holly saw that Gail actually was angry that Nick would set himself up for that kind of pain. She kept hold of Gail's hand and leaned into her shoulder. "Clearly you need to pick the next wedding date."

"Is that a proposal, 'cause it needs work, nerd," laughed Gail, but she let go of Holly's hand to flip the armrest up and drape her arm over her shoulders. Much better, Holly agreed, "What are we watching again?"

As one, everyone replied, "Basketball!"

Discussions of marriage, exes, and slinky dresses were put to the side to watch the game. Holly and Traci knew more about the sport, and Traci confessed that Leo had been upset to learn he wasn't coming. That had surprised Gail who said next time they should bring him, because more people who knew more about sports than she did was just fun. Even Holly wasn't sure if that was a sarcastic remark but Gail did adore mini-humans, so it might have been serious.

After the game was over Gail tossed them one more surprise and they got to meet the players. Holly was positively gleeful and got her jersey signed by the player himself while Steve simply asked for a signed ball for his girlfriend's son. Gail nudged Traci at that point and said she'd better put out, which resulted in the two giggling.

Back at her place, Holly hung up the jersey reverently. She was going to get it framed but had already sent a selfie of her wearing it to her mother, who was jealous, and wanted to know how she'd gotten that. That was an interesting question. The last her parents heard, Gail was included in the group of friends like Lisa and Rachel. There had been no mention of the relationship status. She just wasn't sure how her parents would take it.

Her mother had taken Holly's sexuality harder than her father, who was pretty much laconic about anything that wasn't science. Once she got over it, Holly's mother had been a confidant for almost all her relationships, including the myriad fiascoes with straight girls. That said, the fallout over Gail had not gone as well as one might hope. The argument over moving to the States went worse. Both of her parents accused her of making impulsive choices and running instead of dealing with thing.

Ironically, that was why she'd 'lip attacked' Gail in interrogation. Deal with things. Deal with the fact that she was still terribly hung up on Gail, in a way she'd never wanted to be. It was supposed to be an easy thing, a friendship that grew into something more and, eventually, love. Love scared the shit out of Holly. That was her own hurdle, though. Gail's was more like relationship self-immolation. If things got too much, or too weird, she broke things as best she could and escaped.

Except… Gail wasn't doing that anymore. At least not now with Holly. And Holly wasn't running from a serious commitment, which was kind of novel after her last serious relationship. Six years ago, she'd been dumped by the woman she thought she'd spend the rest of her life with, because oops, she wasn't gay after all.

Since then, it had been a series of casual, friendly flings. Nothing too deep, in part because she didn't want to get burned again, but also because she just didn't connect with anyone that way. She did with Gail, though. Strange, petulant, sarcastic, outright mean when she wanted to be, Gail. Gail who, by her own admission, was immature and prone to self-destructive relationship patterns.

And who was sitting on her couch right now, having gone an extra mile or ten to treat her girlfriend out to a night at a sporting event she hated. Gail could have just given her brother the tickets, but she knew that Holly would want to go too. So she sucked it up and spent a boring night, just for Holly. Who the hell wouldn't think that was love?

Holly glanced at Gail, feeling incredibly guilty, and asked, "Have you told your parents we're dating again?"

"No," admitted Gail. "Which doesn't mean they don't know."

"Do they really spy on you?" She dropped onto the couch and curled up against Gail, too keyed up to consider sleeping yet.

"Sometimes. Not right now, though, we have a deal." Gail wrapped an arm around Holly and pulled her close to kiss her cheek. "Ever since I moved out we talk less, which if you knew how little we talked when I lived with them, you would be impressed." Gail caressed Holly's face, "But this was you trying to tell me you haven't told your parents yet."

Holly grimaced and pressed her face into Gail's cleavage. "I never should have dated a cop."

"Says the woman with her face in my boobs."

"They're very nice," smiled Holly. "I could live here." Gail laughed and her fingers found Holly's chin, drawing it up so they could kiss. "This is good too." She practically crawled onto Gail, pushing her back into the couch so they could stretch out. "Can you stay tonight?"

"I can," confirmed Gail, drawing her in to kiss again. "If you did my laundry."

"Curiously enough, I may have washed the clothes you left here," Holly grinned. "What about your uniform?"

"If I leave by seven, it'll be fine."

Holly did hate that part of their routine, the scheduling and adjustments. But that said, it meant she had Gail in her bed for another night, and that was worth it.

Chapter Text

"Dad?" Gail practically bounced off him as she rounded the corner to her car. He was out of uniform for once, which was unexpected. Her father wore his uniform like a shield.

"Hi, kiddo. Can we talk?"

Gail tilted her head and nodded. "Sure." She made no move to go anywhere, nor did he. "Everything okay? I didn't to anything to embarrass Mom again, did I?" She was reasonably sure she'd been under the radar with all things.

Bill Peck stalled. "No. I'm here on my own." He hesitated and looked away. "You're dating a woman. Again."

Technically she was dating the same woman again. Not wanting to get into semantics, Gail just nodded. "I am."

"I don't understand." His hands went into his pockets, grumpily. "Why?"

"Why what? Why a woman?" Now her father nodded. "Because it happened. Same way I decided to date a guy."

"But this isn't a guy, Gail," he sighed. "And I don't understand why women. Why now? You're almost 30, and you're suddenly a- a-"

"Lesbian," Gail filled in. "Dad, it's not a phase. And it's not a choice. This is what it is, okay? I fell in love with a girl, and she's in love with me, and that's just what it is."

Her father looked away. "How could you do this?"

"Do what?" There was no answer from her father and Gail checked the time. "Look, Dad, I have an appointment so I need to go."

Nodding, Bill hesitated and finally said, "I don't like it. It's unnatural and wrong."

Gail flinched. She'd always suspected her father held something like that. Once, he'd called one of her teachers a fairy. But having it aimed at yourself, from your own father, was painful. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Dad." She had no idea where the politeness came from, when all she felt was rage.

"This is just against everything we ever taught you, Gail. It's bad enough we have to cater to the gays, have parades, but now you? This? Did we fail somehow?"

Gail felt like she'd been punched. "Seriously? This is how you want to do it?" Her father looked startled. "What do you want?"

"I want you to stop playing around."

"Is that what you think? Wow." Gail pushed her hands through her hair.

"This rebellion- this is just lashing out. Ever since you were abducted-"

"This has nothing to do with Perik!" Gail's voice was loud enough to grab the attention of the other officers in the vicinity. She swallowed and said more quietly, "Go home, Dad. Tell mom you tried to talk me out of being a lesbian, and I told you to fuck off. I don't care anymore." She jerked her car door open and threw her purse inside, "But I'm the same Gail I've always been. Right? Just failing your expectations every day."

Slamming the door, Gail drove out of the lot faster than she intended. Shit. When she pulled up at the park, she resisted the urge to hit her steering wheel or punch anything. Fuck. How the hell did her father drop that bomb. Gail winced and pulled out her phone to text her brother.

Our father is a raging homophobe.

She really hadn't expected him to go there. Nor did she expect Steve to text her right back.

What did he say?

It's unnatural and wrong and did they fail at raising me.

Shit. Our father? Was he drunk?

Smelled stone cold sober.

Steve didn't reply to that and Gail flipped her phone to silent, shoving it into her pocket. She stepped out of the car and took a deep breath. Calm. Breathe in, breathe out. People wondered why she had high walls, why she pushed them away. Most people just hurt you, wanted what they wanted, and you weren't a consideration. Most people included her parents it seemed.

She wasn't her parents. Holly wasn't most people. She opened her eyes and looked across the park. Neither was she, decided Gail, and smiled as she saw Sophie playing on the jungle gym with the other foster kids. Pulling the box of donuts from the car, Gail walked over to sit by the social worker, not willing to break up the game.

"You should stop bringing junk food," joked Anne, the social worker.

"Is that a complaint?" Gail grinned and popped the box. It was like catnip. Six kids surrounded them, cheering the donuts, and immediately wolfing them down.

"Not really." Anne cheerfully handed out napkins.

Sophie was watching Gail curiously. "You're having an eat your feelings day."

Kid was perceptive. "Nah, just got into an argument with someone before I came here, sweetie." Maybe a few years ago she'd do that, but it felt wrong now. "How about you? Did you like dinner with just Frank and Noelle?"

"I guess," she mumbled, tearing the napkin.

Gail knew that Sophie had been a little belligerent. "They said you didn't talk much."

Nodding, Sophie asked, "How come you can't adopt me?"

Gail glanced at the social worker, who shook her head. Clearly this was not a leak. "I'd love to, but I can't. They won't let me."

"Is it because you have a girlfriend?"

Sighing, Gail ate the last of her donut before replying. "No, it's not. They don't think I'm ready, that's all."

There were tears in Sophie's eyes. "But I like you best!"

Right. This was why people hugged. Gail pulled Sophie into a gentle hug, "Hey, I like you best too." She sighed, "You know I used to work with Frank and Noelle?" There was a nod. "Well. When I tried to adopt you, they gave me lots of advice and support. And I told Noelle how come I like you so much, and she feels the same way."

"They have a baby they'll like more than me."

"They have a baby they'll like differently than you, sweetie."

Sophie squirmed out of Gail's hug and stared at her. "Tell me why." When Gail didn't answer, Sophie insisted. "Tell me why they said you can't."

Jesus. Gail exhaled and glanced at Anne, silently begging for some space. The other woman led the rest of the kids away, giving the two some privacy. "Okay. A couple years ago I got hurt really badly in a case." She regarded her own knuckles, thinking about how to explain all of this in a way that didn't terrify the child. "Sometimes it comes up at work, and the last time it did I got very angry. So they read my record and decided I wasn't ready yet. That I'm not ... healed."

She really couldn't explain it better than that right now. She didn't want to. It was hard to talk about, and Gail hadn't argued when they'd told her that was the reason either. She knew in her heart it was right. If this was another year from now, maybe it would be different, but it wasn't. It was now, and it was here, and Gail was still damaged.

"Do you have nightmares too?" Sophie's voice was the softest whisper ever.

"Yeah, I do," whispered Gail.

The girl threw her arms around Gail, "If I live with Frank and Noelle, will I still see you?"

"All the time, sweetie. All the time."

There were snuffles and tears, but Sophie finally let go, promising to really talk to Noelle and Frank. And like that, the visit drew to a close. Gail walked the kids back to the van, and one of the other girls dawdled.

"Officer Gail?" She kicked at the dirt, nervously.

Rooting in her brain for the name, Gail was saved when Sophie mouthed it. "Yes, Kate?"

The girl blinked and blushed hearing her name. "Sophie said you had a girlfriend."

Oh dear. The other kids were suddenly silent, paying attention. "I do. Her name is Holly." Gail reached into her pocket for her phone. "Sometimes when I pick up Sophie, she's with me."

"How'd you know?" Jesus, kids just asked things. They were worse than straight chicks.

"Well. When you like someone, you just know." Gail ignored the texts from her brother and opened a photo of her and Holly at the basketball game. "Here. This is me and her and my brother and his girlfriend."

All the kids crowded around to look. They all decided she was pretty, but Sophie announced that Holly was even prettier in person and a doctor. Suddenly Gail's stock went up. It was restorative, having a group of children be so open and accepting of Gail being gay. A total opposite of how her father made her feel. It was bewildering. Gail helped get the kids in the van and was not surprised when Anne pulled her over for a question.

"Do you think Kate..."

"She's eight," Gail pointed out. "And I have no gaydar. But ... Y'know she's talking."

"True." Anne paused. "Would you mind coming over to see her some time? Just her?"

Gail looked at the van of kids and her heart ached. "I can do that." She didn't need to think. Those kids needed someone, and if she could help even a little. Some had been afraid of cops, some hated them, and some needed to see people being people. But this, this feeling of hope in a kid's eyes, knowing that Gail was there and gay, that was how she knew her father was all wrong.

Without thinking much, Gail found herself driving to Holly's instead of her apartment. She circled the block, spotting the office lights on, and pulled around back. Holly had given her a key and a remote for the garage during the great unpacking, insisting Gail could come over any time. It still felt odd to show up unannounced, even though they were sleeping together. It was a small, strange invasion of privacy.

Still, Gail thumbed the remote to open the garage and let herself in. Once the garage closed, and Gail was inside, she heard Holly shout down, "Better be my girlfriend and not an axe murderer."

"¿Por qué no los dos?"

"Spanish. You speak Spanish too?" Holly's head popped over the stair railing, her hair in an adorably messy bun. "Or are you just quoting commercials?"

"Actually I do speak Spanish."

"You never cease to impress me, Gail Peck."

"I've got Russian down now, too," smiled Gail and she made her way up the stairs. "Officer Nemov said I sound like a real Muscovite now."

"Fluent in Russian, when do you learn these languages? Why did you?" Holly shook her head and looped her arms around Gail's neck. "Is there another one you're not telling me about?"

"Just one... I listened to tapes while I was running." Gail kissed her lightly. "Anything and everything to get you out of my head." Resting her hands on Holly's waist, she drew her closer. "Didn't work. I just dreamed about you in Punjabi. It turned into this whole Bollywood thing, where you were dancing with Andy and Chloe as your backups. Very weird."

Holly bubbled a laugh. "Punjabi? Why Punjabi?"

"It's the third most spoken language in Canada," smirked Gail. "I can't read it well yet." Languages just stuck in her head, though. They worked far more than math and science ever had.

Holly shook her head and kissed Gail again, "Give it time." They stood in the hallway, kissing for a while. "Just here for a booty call?"

"Sympathy and cuddles." Gail rested her head on Holly's shoulder.

"Is Sophie still mad about the Bests?" Of course Gail had told her about Sophie's mini tantrum and frustration.

Gail kissed Holly's shoulder. "She was mad because she wanted me to adopt her. I told her I was still kinda messed up." The arms around her tightened and held her close. "Hey, it's okay. They're right. I'm pretty crazy."

"You're not messed up. You're perfectly sane," whispered Holly. "It's just the rest of the world that's crazy."

"Is that your professional opinion?" Gail inhaled, taking in the smell of Holly's skin. While Holly didn't answer, Gail knew it was girlfriend Holly who had spoken. "Sophie's fine. They asked if I could come hang out with another girl."

Holly started to toy with the hair at the back of Gail's neck. "Is that good?"

"They think... She thinks she might be gay, I think. I have no gaydar." In her arms, Holly snickered. "It's not funny! I'm serious!"

"You have no gaydar, really?"

"Okay, that's funny," she allowed. They kissed again and Gail's stomach growled. "I haven't had dinner. You?" Holly leaned away and looked thoughtful. "That's a no. Come on, bookworm, I'll cook."

"Oh you are needy," Holly blinked, letting Gail lead her downstairs.

"There are other reasons to want to cook," muttered Gail, popping open the fridge. "Where did all your tomatoes go?"

Holly blushed, sitting on a stool. "I didn't want to accidentally eat one before you showed up." Smiling, Gail pulled out avocados and cheese and bread. "Tuna melts? Okay, give. What happened? It can't be this kid, unless you're trying to tell me you want to go into CYAC."

Wincing, Gail shook her head. "No. That'd eat me alive." She pulled her phone out and slid it over. "Passcode's 1383."

"Oooh, we're at this point in our relationship? Should I tell you mine?"

"It's your mother's birthday." Gail smirked and took the can opener out, "And before you ask, I've never used it. Check the texts from Steve."

Holly looked perplexed but did so. Keeping watch of her reflection in the window, Gail watched her face go from confused to surprised to angry. "What did he actually say?" Her voice was low and tense. So Gail recited the conversation, word for word, including the part where she told her father to fuck off. "Huh. I thought he was upset about it hurting your career."

"Dad doesn't get my sense of humor either," admitted Gail. "I once told him I'd rather be abducted than go to work with my mother, which actually is a fringe benefit of having been suspended... I'll never work in her department." She side glanced at Holly who was smirking ruefully. Relief washed through her, just seeing that Holly found the joke for what it was.

"You have a dark sense of humor, sweetheart," smiled Holly. "But I think maybe if I'd known you then..."

"They were in New Zealand. I didn't see them for two weeks." She shook her head. "You probably would have done what Traci did, hauled me out of the hospital and made me talk to people." Gail set the cast iron pan on the range to start heating it up.

"I knew I liked Traci." Holly got up and pulled out plates and glasses. "What did your parents do?"

Gail exhaled. "My mother sent me to a therapist way the hell out of town. Made me live at home. Got mad when I started dating Nick again. The usual." Waving a hand, Gail put the bread in the pan to toast it. "They hate Nick. And Chris... Huh. I kinda hoped they'd like you because you're a doctor."

Lips quirking into that adorable side-smile, Holly shook her head, "So you're only into me for my degree."

The bread was flipped and Gail sliced the avocados. "All those big words are a turn on," agreed Gail. "Plus side, I won't be going to any family dinners, so you don't have to worry about them hating you."

"That's a little extreme."

"How did your parents take you coming out?" She sprinkled cheese on the bread and let it start to melt before putting it on plates and adding avocados and tuna.

"Well I was fifteen so ... They caught me making out with my 'best friend' in my room." Gail giggled and Holly looked embarrassed. "Totally cliché, I know. Dad was okay with it, but Mom said she couldn't spend the night and we had the most awkward conversation ever. It wasn't in her mom lexicon, so now it's really funny. At the time, I was freaking out that they'd kick me out or something. But dad just hugged me and said no matter what, he loved me."

The feeling of jealousy tickled her spine and Gail pushed a plate over. "I have no idea how that even feels," sighed Gail. She couldn't find one memory where her parents said that. The closest was her father telling her not to joke about being abducted, but even then he never said he loved her. "Steve calls us trained monkeys."

Holly was silent, eating her sandwich with a rhapsodic expression. "Okay. So I can't fix that, honey," she finally said.

"What? No, I didn't think you could. I just... Needed someone? To talk to, I guess." Gail bit into her sandwich.

They ate quietly for a while. "What did you do before?"

"Get drunk."

"Then this would be better," agreed Holly. "But I do need to finish my report..."

"Can I hang out? I have my iPad." She smiled shyly at Holly, "I just feel safe here. Like everything will be okay, even if I go a little crazy. Or you go crazy." Spinning around on her stool, Gail looked up at the ceiling.

"You need a drawer. And some room in my closet," decided Holly. Gail stopped spinning and blinked at Holly. Did she just say she wanted Gail to have space in her house? "That was pushy? Yeah, that was pushy. Bad timing, too. I just want you, I mean, I like that you feel safe here. I feel safer, better, when you're here. You're the first girl I ever gave my key too, actually. You're, um, the only one who slept over, too. Even before we were dating, unless you count my mom, and I really don't."

Gail slid off her stool and kissed Holly to stop her rambling, "I want a big drawer. And room for shoes."

"A big drawer. You want to leave a uniform here too?"

"No, you'd just want me to wear it 'cause I'm sexy in my uniform." When Holly blushed, Gail kissed her again, "This is a step up from me just leaving things here when I'm late."

Holly smiled and made a pleased sound, "I may have put your things in a drawer already."

"Aw, I liked my pile."

After dinner, they ended up in the office, Holly working at her big desk and Gail reading up on the other kids in Sophie's foster group, sprawled on the sofa. While she certainly appreciated the work CYAC did, she knew that kind of job would eat her alive. Scratching one more possible future off her list, Gail flipped to a doc her mother had sent with a list of all potential jobs. She had been lazy before, reluctant to invest in her career, but now having trained Gerald she had an itch to do more. Was this how it started for everyone?

"You look very serious," remarked Holly.

The thought came out of her mouth, unhindered by the remark. "I think Noelle's coming back to Fifteen soon."

Holly turned around in her chair, resting her arms on the back. "That's not what you were reading."

"Oh, no. I was thinking about the whole T.O. thing. Training Officer. Since Gerald's probably gonna pass. Finally. And I can't be Ollie's partner anymore, and I really don't want to get stuck with anyone else ..." She sighed and tossed the iPad to the foot of the couch. "It's silly."

"No it's not." Holly kicked her chair and wheeled over to pick up the iPad. She lingered over the lock screen before taping in four digits and frowning. "Seriously, who uses different codes on their devices?"

"The same people who use random number generators to make them in the first place. 7643."

Holly tapped in that code and read the app Gail had left open. "You highlight your ebooks? And I'm the nerd?" Not replying, Gail scrunched down on the couch and put her feet up. "This is from your mother?"

"Yup." She popped the p loudly out of habit. "Lots of options. Except every one where my family is involved."

"Do those even exist?"

"Not really, no." Gail closed her eyes and recited off the various positions her relatives had, until Holly stopped her by covering Gail's mouth with her hand. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"You know, I don't understand something," Holly decided, putting the iPad on Gail's stomach. "You're smart. I mean, insanely gifted smart. You could do anything in the world. You practically inhale languages and I know you actually understand all the crap I like to spout out about medicine." Holly sighed, "So how come you always act like you expect to fail?"

Oh. That. Gail opened her eyes and looked up at Holly quietly. "My nickname growing up was Gail the Fail. Actually it's Garbage Pail Gail the Pale Fail." She folded her arms under her head, turning her face away to look at the ceiling. "My cousins, Steve, they're all better at cop stuff. Better detectives, stronger, faster... They'd pick on me, since I'm the youngest, until I'd cry and my mother would tell me I wasn't being a Peck. Dad'd just have this look... I'm absolute crap at sports too. which pissed him off, though it's funny now since he's having the stupid homo-hissy fit."

Holly's hand rested on her thigh, "Sweetheart, you don't have to be strong."

"No, I have to be tough. Don't let things like that get to me, don't let Perik get to me. My mother was angry I was in therapy that long." She exhaled an angry breath. She hadn't actually told the, she'd gone back to therapy. "Being smarter didn't seem to matter. If I got an A, I should have gotten an A+. I got the highest score on the police exam for my class, but that's just what I was supposed to get. And I didn't the highest score ever, so I got shit for that."

"I see why you call then ex-Peck-tations," grumbled Holly. "But Gail, that's like saying you're not a good swimmer because you're not Michael Phelps!"

Which was something Gail had known. "Yeah." She pushed herself up on her elbows. "Unattainable goals. So I stopped trying to be the cop they wanted me to be." Holly just looked at her, saying nothing. "I just don't know what I want to be yet, Holly."

After a long moment, Holly got out of the chair and nudged Gail over so she could curl up against her on the couch, face to face. "I don't mind how long you take, if you don't mind how long it takes me to get back to where I was."

"How's that going?" Gail stroked Holly's back gently. She'd been aware of the complications Holly had faced, taking her job back at a pay cut and a decrease of responsibilities. The amount of scut work, as Holly put it, had increased, though she'd still had to work on as many articles as before.

Holly made a grumbling noise and pressed her face into Gail's shoulder. "You got demoted once, didn't you?"

"Kind of. Pay cut, suspension." She scooted over and Holly draped a leg over her own, nestling in. "Guy died because I didn't search him." There was a soft 'oh' from Holly. "Little different." They lay there quietly for a while. "I'll still love you if you become a mortician," decided Gail.

Holly giggled. "I'll love you when you become a mall cop."

Let the future be what it will be.

Chapter Text

Being swamped and doing the grunt work at 25 was a lot easier than at 36. It was worse at 36 when you had a serious relationship with a woman who was working hard do advocate for a child's fostering, and wanted you involved. Talking to the therapist about it had been weird, and while Holly was feeling better about that, she really wanted to talk to Lisa and Rachel. The problem was that they didn't know about Sophie, and Holly wasn't sure it was her place to tell them. Not to mention they hadn't been as close since the move that wasn't.

So when she came home to find Gail on the desk, grilling burgers and drinking beer with Lisa and Rachel, it was strange. "Gail, how insane are you?" Holly accepted the beer and eyed the group.

"Pretty nuts, but you said you were missing girl time. So..." Gail gestured.

"But you said you're working tonight."

"Yes," nodded Gail, hoisting her drink which was actually just a soda. "Exactly right. I have to leave in an hour and Rachel will grill the meat."

"If that's another straight joke, Blondie," drawled Rachel, mock warningly.

The bantering between Gail and Rachel seemed practically natural and weird. They were talking about Gail and Nick's wedding, or lack there of, in Las Vegas. Gail was arguing that she had nothing to do with any of the planning, nor was it running away. Her parents had actually been there. Rachel was fascinated by the idea of the wedding in Las Vegas and Gail was surprisingly tolerant (for Gail) about the retelling. It was nothing Holly didn't know.

"I'm a bad friend," announced Lisa abruptly, catching Holly by surprise.

"No arguments here." Gail lifted her drink in mock salute which Lisa met, chagrined.

Holly picked up her own beer, feeling rather perplexed. "Why are you a bad friend?"

When Lisa hesitated it was Rachel and Gail who said, as one, "BitchTits is happy you didn't leave Canada."

Beer did not shoot out Holly's nose, but it was a near thing. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you guys..."

"I'm more mad you were going to ask blondie to run away with you."

Rachel nodded, agreeing with Lisa. "Seriously, that was stupid impulse Holly who slept with her roommate."

Lisa added, "Or who fell madly in love with her straight TA."

"Okay!" Holly waved her hands. "God, yes. I know it was stupid and crazy, but." She looked at Gail, sheepishly, and saw the blonde smiling. "I'm really in love with her."

"I can't believe you were going to give her up," grumbled Lisa and Holly startled. She certainly hadn't mentioned that Gail had let her go while still helping pack.

"I can't leave Toronto right now." Gail sipped her beer. "And at the time, I was trying to adopt."

That shut both Lisa and Rachel up. "Adopt?" Lisa almost stuttered.

"Gail, Holly doesn't want kids." Rachel looked between them, confounded.

And Gail just nodded. "I am aware of this."

"We talked," Holly noted and kicked the railing. "I offered the long distance thing."

"Yeah, that was just going to make one of us hate the other, baby." Gail leaned around and kissed Holly gently.

Lisa made a face, "Stop being cute. And stop being right. I liked it better when I though you were uneducated and blue collar."

"I liked you better when you were a lopsided boob job, so we're even."

For a moment Holly worried the two would argue but she saw a glimmer of delight in Gail's eyes, matched by Lisa's. Oh dear god. "When did you two decide to be friends?"

"We're not!" The two women shouted at once.

"I think she's an elitist ass," snarled Gail.

Lisa nodded, "And she's a stuck up ice princess. Go back to the adoption. Holly was moving to the US and you were going to adopt a kid."

"It's a Peck thing," sighed Gail. "When you have something complicated, make it more complicated." Gail perched on the railing and tugged Holly into her arms, though she continued to talk to Lisa. "Her name is Sophie and they turned me down for a couple reasons."

"Single lesbian?" Rachel looked over from the grill. "Or cop things?"

"Cop things. My record had ups and downs."

There was a pause and Lisa noted, "I was suspended for conduct once." When Gail looked interested she added, "I slept with a teacher at the hospital."

"I thought you slept with a teacher's wife." Gail sounded amused.

"That too." Lisa looked embarrassed and Gail laughed. "I don't like how I'm the only one with a horrible nickname."

Holly snorted and pointed at Lisa, Rachel, and herself in turn. "BitchTits, ManEater, ImpulseSex."

Eyes sparking, Gail whispered 'ImpulseSex?' into Holly's ear as Rachel asked if Gail had a nickname. "Ah, Ice Queen or Frigid Bitch is what it usually get."

"Yeah," acknowledged Rachel, "but what do your friends call you?"

"Peck. It's a name and an epitaph," smiled Gail. "Or an insult. It's really a wonderful multifaceted, love/hate name."

Rachel grinned and the friendly banter continued until Gail pulled herself away to go to the station. She lingered with Holly in the house for a moment, kissing her and promising to come back after work. Back on the deck, Rachel handed her a burger. "Did you know she went to college?"

"Lisa? It's still in doubt that she graduated, but I do recall her in our classes."

Rolling her eyes, Rachel gestured towards the house, "Gail!"

"I didn't the first time you met her," smiled Holly. "Criminal Justice." Holly also knew Gail had taken some business management classes to 'prep her for a white shirt,' per her parents, but had not officially minored in it because it was 'stupid.'

"Why is she a beat cop?"

"Patrol officer," corrected Holly. Not that 'beat cop' was necessarily insulting, it just usually was meant that way. "You should ask her, Rachel. It's complicated."

Lisa sighed, "She did. Exactly how many Pecks are there in police, Holls? I get the feeling she was downplaying exactly how blue her blood is, and I mean that in every way possible."

Holly hesitated. "Her mother's in charge of internal affairs, her father's the head Inspector of her Division, her godfather's the chief of police, and there's basically at least one Peck or a blood relative in every division, every department. So ... Yeah."

Both her friends looked flabbergasted. "Shit," muttered Lisa. "I asked her about how crazy that was and your cop hottie told us about the kid." Of all things possible, Lisa looked sympathetic. "Holly, she's going to want to be a parent one day."

Getting another beer, Holly sat on her bench. "Yeah, I know. And she's amazing with them. They love her." Even mature, sorting her shit out, Gail was a child at heart.

"You don't want kids," Lisa pointed out. "You've never wanted kids the whole time I've known you. That was why you broke up with the accountant whatever her name was."

Holly sipped her beer. "Melissa and can I call parlay?"

It was an old joke, calling parlay. The friends had used it since the first pirate movie as a way to agree to let each other say what they were thinking without judgement. Had Holly been thinking, she'd have called it when she announced her move. At the time she'd been sure Rachel and Lisa would be supportive. Now she wasn't. Parlay also had come to mean a time when you could say things that weren't well thought out, but spoken from the heart.

"Of course," promised Rachel. A moment later Lisa muttered her agreement.

Holly closed her eyes. "I'm in love with Gail. And I spend a lot of time with her and... She's good with kids. So I'm around them more. I was never around kids before. We don't really hang with them." This won quiet murmurs of agreement. "I see Gail with kids and I think she's amazing and I like the kids and ... Maybe I do want them and I just never had the right person to want them with. I maybe kind of want them with her." She opened one eye and screwed her face up at her friends. "I'm crazy huh?"

"You're our crazy." Lisa, of all people, sat next to her on the bench and hugged her. This was why Lisa was her friend. When her parents had argued about the last second switch to forensics, Lisa stood by her and helped her figure out how to survive without her parents' money. Even if she didn't always agree, Lisa would help. "No having babies right away. You should try living with her first."

"They'd have adorable babies, though," mused Rachel, who had been vocal about her biological clock ticking lately. "What's Gail's real hair color? And does she have a brother?"

"Kinda what you saw tonight. She stopped dying it when we broke up." Holly leaned into Lisa and sighed. "Her brother's a ginger and not single. Also ew? I'm not having a baby."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You would have amazingly cute little babies, I'm just saying." Squeezing in on the other side, Rachel wrapped her arms around Lisa and Holly and hugged them both. "I'm glad you stayed in Canada, Impulse Girl."

"I'm kind of glad I didn't move too, but ... God I wish I knew why."

She spent the rest of the evening talking about regular things with her friends, like movies and their dates. Rachel had a new boy who was possibly serious and wanted them, including Gail, to meet him. When Lisa joked Gail could run a background check, Rachel looked worried and Holly had to promise that Gail wouldn't.

When she woke up in the morning, Gail was in bed with her, hair still damp from a shower, sound asleep. Holly knew better than to surprise Gail, so she just turned around and curled up into her, getting that extra precious hour in her company rather than sleeping or running. Early on, Gail would invariably wake up when Holly did that, the sound and movement startling her out of sleep. That didn't mean she'd get up. On the contrary, Gail often burrowed back under the covers and looked grouchy.

Recently though, Gail had started sleeping through Holly getting up and dressed. Holly had not yet asked her about it, fearing the answer a little. Downstairs, the coffee machine was set up for her and Gail had left a note.

Dinner with Sophie at 7. She wants you to come if you're not working. I have the day off so send me on errands after noon. Love you.

Holly smiled and flipped it over to leave her answer (yes), a list of two errands (dry cleaning and groceries), and a confirmation of adoration.

This part of life was currently her favorite. The little things with Gail, spending time with her and having normal life moments. Even more than that were the moments where they did little things for each other. Gail gassed up Holly's car without being asked, Holly took Gail's dress uniform to the cleaners when she noticed it had a small stain after a funeral for a retired officer, and they both just shared random chores.

At seven, Gail drove them over to Sophie's foster home and Holly found herself the surprise focus of a couple other girls. They demanded to know if she was really a doctor, and when they found out she was a 'dead people doctor,' their fascination grew. Sophie was delighted to brag and tell them that she knew all about Holly's job, and explained in slightly more gory detail than Holly would have, but she did nod and confirm that, indeed, Sophie was right.

At dinner, though, Sophie had a more important topic to discuss. The fostering with the Bests was a go, and she'd be moving in with them in a week, but as soon as Gail stepped away to the bathroom, Sophie had her moment, "You like Gail a lot. Why doesn't she live with you and not the stinky boys."

Holly blinked. "We haven't talked about it," she said slowly. "Sophie, do you know what it means, me and Gail dating?"

The girl nodded. "You're girlfriends. You kiss and hold hands and probably have c-e-x." She looked pleased when Holly startled and blushed.

It was not a conversation she really was comfortable having, with or without Gail present. "It's s-e-x and ... Okay, you do know. Um..." Now what?

"So why doesn't she live with you? Do you have stinky boy roommates?"

"No," Holly said slowly. "I have a house. Townhouse. It's, um." She frowned and wondered where this was going. "You can come over, if you want."

Sophie took another piece of bread. "Okay. Next week?"

"If I don't have to, um, work. Sure." What the hell was she doing? How did a child railroad her like that?

Thankfully, Gail returned and paused to kiss Holly's cheek before sitting down, "Sophie, don't interrogate Holly. And if you fill up on bread, you will be very grumpy about desert."

The magic word distracted Sophie for a second, but not enough for Holly's sanity. "Holly said I could come over next week."

"Oh did she?" Gail looked interested. "You know next week is the last week, kiddo."

Sophie grinned ear to ear. "I know. And if you move in with Holly, then I can sleep over when you babysit me."

Gail blinked and looks at Holly. "Well. That's for us to figure out, Sophie." The little girl fixed Gail with a look that clearly asked if Gail thought she was being serious. "Hey, I told you..." She paused and looked at Holly.

"Told her what?" Holly smiled, hoping Sophie saw it as amused and Gail saw it as a girlfriend threat.

"That we hadn't talking about it at all, and ... Um. Hey, look! Dinner."

Holly and Sophie eyed each other but let it go. The rest of dinner passed uneventfully. Holly and Gail got big hugs before Sophie would let them go home.

"You want to stay over tonight?" Holly asked the question lightly as Gail turned onto the road.

"Want, yes, but I have to meet with Oliver early tomorrow." She made a face. "Stupid training officer training."

"How early?"

"I'd have to get up and out the door by six. And I need a clean uniform."

Holly sighed. "You should leave a uniform at my place." She'd made the suggestion before but been blown off with a joke about how Holly found the uniform too sexy.

After a moment of silence, Gail nodded, "Yeah."

Blinking, Holly looked at her girlfriend. "Yes?"

"Yes. You're right. I was going to get another spare anyway." Gail's thumbs bounced on the steering wheel. Apparently she wasn't going to bring up the idea of moving in either. Of course, it wasn't like Holly had a hell of a lot of experience with that herself. That was why she bought her home on her own. It was just easier.

That said, Gail was the only girlfriend who'd ever stayed over regularly. Actually or at all, now that Holly thought about it. Gail was the only other person to have slept in that bed. She wasn't sure how to approach the topic. So she went another way.

"Sophie says we probably have c-e-x," Holly said casually.

"What?" Gail spelled the word back and laughed. "Did you correct her spelling?"

"I may have."

"That's my nerd." Gail didn't seem bothered by it in the least. She pulled up to the front of the house and parked, looking at Holly fondly. "Next week is her last week in the group home."

Holly pondered that. "Should we throw a party?"

"No... Maybe. I'll ask her I guess." Gail sighed and leaned on the steering wheel, resting her arms and head on it. "I was just thinking ..."

"Dangerous pastime," teased Holly, reaching over to fluff Gail's hair. "I like it shorter."

Smirking, Gail closed her eyes to the touch. "I know you do." She sighed, happily. "I was thinking about us. And how incredibly lucky I am. Like how everything had to absolutely wrong to get us here, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Really? Even the part with you walking out of the Penny and me leaving mean voicemails?"

"Really," confirmed Gail. "Because without that, I wouldn't have changed enough. I still would have been childish, bratty, immature." She opened her eyes and smiled at Holly. "You deserve that. Grown up Gail."

Those blue eyes did her in and Holly smiled. "She is remarkably attractive." She rested two fingers under Gail's chin. "You're not coming in, are you." It wasn't a question. She knew.

"No." There was a sigh. "Want to, shouldn't. Grown up Gail has to be a grown up." She picked her head up and leaned across the gearshift to kiss Holly lightly. "If I walk you to the door, I will not make it home tonight," she whispered.

Holly sighed and nodded, giving Gail one last kiss before sliding out of the car. "Gail," she chewed her lip before closing the door. "You're the only person I've ever had spend the night here." The surprise on Gail's face was obvious. "You're the only person I want to spend the night. Even when we broke up. I can't see anyone here but you. I just want to be with you, and here and... I love you."

When there was no reply, Holly bit her lip, wondering if she'd said too much. The slow smile on Gail's face made he feel relieved. "I made Andy sleep on the couch the other week. Because you're the only person I want in bed with me."

They looked at each other through the car for a moment and finally Holly closed the door. She made a careful sign with her hands and, after a heartbeat, Gail laughed. The window rolled down, "You just asked me to summon you, you nerd." She made the proper sign back.

"You knew what I meant," huffed Holly. "Call me." And she went inside her home, grinning.

The party was quietish and rowdy at the same time. Gail and Steve had Sophie and Leo on their shoulders, playing some game they made up on the fly in the pool, while Holly was trapped by Noelle and Traci and baby Olivia. The wrestling match between Leo and Sophie was complicated by the fact that Gail was smaller than her brother, though not much shorter, and was struggling to keep up.

"Frank, for god's sake, take over," shouted Oliver. All three of his daughters were over as well, the youngest being the same age as Leo and Sophie, making for a trifecta of second graders.

"You should take Winny in there, Dad," suggested Izzy with a smirk. Gail might just have to treat her to lunch for saving her from drowning.

After a moment, Frank pulled off his shirt. "All right you Pale Pecktective, try taking on someone your own size."

Sophie cheered and happily clambered onto Frank's broader shoulders, while Oliver and Winny joined the fray. Gail made her escape to the deep end, far from the fighters. "What on earth are they playing?" Celery's hand extended to haul Gail out of the pool, as did Izzy's.

"I think it's called 'Drown Gail,'" muttered Gail, planting her feet on the pool wall and hauling both of her helpers in with her.

The whoops of laughter came from everywhere and Gail hopped out of the pool, smirking. Holly shook her head, "I'd offer you a towel, but you might get me wet."

"Holly! Not in front of the kids," joked Gail, making an L with one hand and brushing it under her chin. It took a moment, but Holly apparently remembered that sign and threw a towel at Gail.

Izzy clambered out of the pool, leaving Celery to enjoy it for a moment. "You're mean, Aunt Gail."

"You're a delinquent and have no room to talk," she smiled at the teenager, but picked up a towel. "And you need to get in the shade before you turn pink." Gail too was aiming for the shade and fell onto Holly's lounge chair. "Hey cutie," she grinned at Olivia and was rewarded with a beaming smile.

Snorting, Izzy sat down beside them. "So if it's not boning then what is it?"

Watching Holly nearly spit-take her beer was worth the price of admission. But Gail went with a demure answer, "Dating." But she signed the letters s-e-x.

Traci smirked. "Sophie was correcting Leo's spelling earlier. Apparently he thought you spelled it with a C."

"So did Sophie," noted Gail. "Holly corrected her spelling." Holly, still blushing, muttered that this was far too frank a discussion to be having. Sitting up, Gail kissed her cheek, "Izzy is 17. She's old enough to hear about stuff she's probably doing, or thinking about doing. And I'm pretty sure Olivia doesn't understand any of this yet."

"What Olivia understands is nap time," smiled Noelle. "I'm going to get her settled and grill."

As Noelle left, they all looked at the squealing eight year-olds in the pool and their father figures. Then Gail checked Oliver's middle daughter, thirteen and sullen, with her headphones on. "She hates everyone," Izzy said of her sister with a sigh.

"I remember you at that age," teased Gail. "Oh wait, that was last week." Izzy rolled her eyes. "How's she holding up?"

"She wants to stay with mom and Daryl." While Izzy was, generally, skeptical of Celery after that whole fertility thing (Gail understood it to be less fertility to have a baby and more something boring about aligning your uterus with the moon bullshit), she outright despised her mother's boyfriend. "He wants to move in."

This caused Gail to glance at Traci. Steve had made noises about the idea to Gail, mostly suggesting she move in with Holly so he could ask Traci about it. "Big step," muttered Gail.

Traci exhaled and echoed Gail's thoughts, "Leo likes Steve, but I don't know what he'd think about living with him." She tugged at the towel's edge. "After Jerry, I'm scared to even think about it."

Almost absently, Holly's hand landed on her knee. Gail covered it with her own, worming her fingers between Holly's. She was not ignorant of the hints Holly had been dropping, broadly, about being more than sleepover buddies. "What about Celery?" Gail kept her voice low, watching Celery swim and cheer on the kids.

"She's weird," sighed Izzy, "But she really loves Dad." The teenager looked at the woman as well. "Dad's getting an actual house. He asked if I wanted to move in."

"Do you?" Gail pitched her voice casually. She already knew about it from Oliver, who'd talked to her over a lunch.

Izzy shrugged and then nodded. "I like her better than Daryl, I guess." Clearly a ringing endorsement. "What would you do?"

"Well, I don't even like my parents, but I lived at home until I was 27, so you really can't ask me." Gail glanced at Traci and Holly for support.

"I lived at home until I was a cop," noted Traci. "But I was raising Leo and my mom helped."

"I moved out during college." Holly sipped her beer. "Me and a bunch of friends got a crappy apartment, kind of like yours." She squeezed Gail's knee.

"Hey," smarted Gail. "My apartment is perfectly clean and uncrappy." The apartment was, currently, spotless. One of the ways she'd devised to help keep Chris sober was to make him clean with her, run with her, go to the gym with her, and cook with her. The last one terrified Dov until he found, with shock, that Gail could cook just fine. She'd even caught Dov telling Nick that he knew nothing about Gail, and waved the fresh baked bread in his face.

Holly grinned and leaned in to kiss Gail again, "I meant with the stinky boy roommates and one bathroom." There was another kiss, followed by a gagging sound from Izzy. "She lives in a closet," explained Holly, innocently.

There was stifled laughter from Traci and Izzy. Gail watched Holly's expression shift as she caught on to what she had just said. "Nerd." Gail let go and grabbed the sunblock. "Just for that, you can do my back."

"You do live in the tiniest room known to man, Gail," teased Traci.

"It was a den thing." She had lived in Chris's room until his return from Timmons, with Denise and Christian in tow. Then, in a burst of kindness, she'd taken her dresser into the smaller non-room with the sliding, pocket door and picked up a small Ikea bed. The smaller room suited her. Less crap to cling to, more light at night even with the dark red walls, and more privacy. It barely fit her bed and dresser, but that made it feel safer.

By contrast, Holly's house was open and airy. Light. Staying there felt like living in the sky, with the tall ceilings and warm colors. She even had a corner of a closet and two dresser drawers. She sighed as Holly started to work the ultra strength sunblock into her back and shoulders.

Izzy grumbled. "I want my own room." Gail was aware that she shared with her sisters at the moment. "Dad would give me my own room."

"See? Sounds like a good choice!" Traci grinned. "Gail, does Steve sunburn like you?"

"No, that ass has all the melanin." She received a slap on her shoulder from Holly for cursing. "Oh come on, Izzy knows that word!"

"Grinding?" Izzy's comment came out of left field and the adults stopped talking for a moment. "I get why boning is inaccurate. But what is the right vulgarity?" The teenager had twinkling eyes.

Gail smirked, "You can do that with guys too, kid." Point scored, Izzy looked blank and then blushed, Traci laughed and Holly groaned. That done, Gail mentally made a note to snag Izzy next time she was around for some actual educational talk. It was clear that Oliver was not going to be asked the awkward sex questions, and Izzy didn't feel comfortable asking Celery or her mother.

The boys eventually clambered out of the pool, waterlogged and pink, with the children arguing about who was champion of the world. No one complained when the talk moved to food, and Gail found herself being Frank's grilling assistant.

"Listen, Gail... I want to say thank you," he said softly. "For this. Sophie."

Oh. Gail smiled and looked at the girl, complaining as Noelle put sunblock on her. "You're welcome." She did still wish she had been able to adopt, and this felt like such a fallback plan, but it worked in a different way. Suddenly Sophie had a good man as a father figure, something she'd never had before, and wouldn't have had with Gail.

"I'm proud of you, Gail. You grew up."

"It was bound to happen eventually," she laughed, disparagingly.

"Have you thought about the other thing?"

Gail nodded. "A lot. But Oliver needs a T.O. who won't get IA involved every time."

Nodding back, Frank flipped a burger. "Three months. Maybe six."

They had both been involved in policing for so long it was easy to skip around in conversations. "Give me time to prep," she joked. "Take a class or three."

"Ace another T.O. run and and you won't need any." However he did start talking about useful courses she could take at the police college. Some were technically closed off to non-white shirts, but they both knew if a Peck applied, a Peck would get in.

At least it might make her mother happy.

Chapter Text

School was a laudable thing. Adults continuing their learning, never ceasing, was a thing of beauty. Girlfriends who were taking training courses in pretty much all their free time were positively frustrating. Either Gail was at work, in a class, with Sophie, with another foster kid as a big sister, or asleep. Now, half the time asleep meant at Holly's, but rarely had it been more than kissing before Gail conked out.

Normal people took time off from work to do those things. Training Officer Peck did not. She spent a full day with her new rookie, having finally gotten Duncan trained enough that she felt he could work well without her every day. Of course, Noelle had come back, so Oliver devilishly assigned her as Duncan's new primary partner. Gail had cackled with glee, telling Holly that Duncan said Noelle was easy after Gail, and Noelle had been torn between horror and pride.

The new rookie was a young woman who was painfully shy and earnest. It was a trial for Gail, who did better with the sort you had to tamp down, but she seemed to be making it work. Already the rookie, Samantha Gagnon, had the nickname Snowflake and Holly heard it from Nick before anyone else. Of all Gail's friends, Nick avoided Holly the most. Even though Gail swore they were friends, Nick looked horribly awkward and uncomfortable around Holly. He hadn't noticed her at the scene when he radio'd Gail, asking if she and the Snowflake were at the other scene.

When pressed, Gail said that the rookie told her that was the nickname she'd had growing up, so Gail just used that. And she took news of Nick's attitude in stride, saying she'd talk to him. That Gail was able to remain friends with her ex-boyfriends was not weird to Holly. She was still friends with some of her own ex-girlfriends. But she didn't see them daily.

Holly first met Snowflake the day before Pride Week began. Gail, already in her civvies, was giving her a firm talking to about listening to everything McNally told her, and to do what she was told. Listening in, Holly was amused to hear the lecture. "She's really good at it," sighed Andy, popping up beside Holly.

"So I see. How come you're taking over?"

"Pride Week. The Commissioner asked for Gail to be on the float."

Holly blinked and stared at Andy, "What? When did that happen?"

"About ten minutes ago. Congrats, you get Grumpy Gail."

But as Gail wrapped up her instructions, she broke into a huge grin when she spotted Holly. "One minute, then we bounce." Turning to Andy, Gail said one final sentence. "Do not fuck this up, McNally."

"I know, use Noelle and follow the Peck Rules." Oddly Andy did not seem hurt or offended. It was almost with relief that she replied to Gail. "It's a week. I can do this."

Gail nodded and picked up her bag. "Good! I'm out. See you fools from the easy seats." As soon as they walked out of the station, Gail groaned. "Please tell me Andy spilled so I can start without explaining this is not my fault."

"She did," sighed Holly. "Have you even been to Pride Week before?"

"I usually avoid it," admitted Gail. "It's filled with noisy, happy, people. And no one wants to do regular patrol, or desk. They all want the show, so ... I stay."

They had not actually made Pride Week plans. Holly rarely did the parade thing now that she was looking at forty a lot closer. It had been fun in her early twenties, but like many things she'd outgrown the need to be so in-your-face about it. And also the desire to go and get drunk around thousands of lesbians in the hope of getting lucky. "And now you get to be on the float." She giggled at the idea. Maybe she'd go with Lisa and Rachel.

"Worse. I get to go with everyone to the parties, in uniform." She rolled her eyes. "My father is going to shit bricks."

The reminder of Gail's parents and their lack of acceptance slapped Holly out of her amusement. "Not your mother?"

"No," sighed Gail. "Apparently she's okay with it. I officially give up trying to understand her."

Holly laced her fingers with Gail's, walking to the parking lot and Gail's car. Her father was, clearly, anti-gay. Her mother was clearly pro-career. The talks at home had to be interesting. "Wait, isn't next week a dinner week?"

"Oh, like hell I'm going," laughed Gail. "I legit have to work a gay people with uniforms thing." She glanced at Holly and then, shyly, asked, "Would you be my plus one?"

"I did say forever, didn't I?" Holly smiled and leaned into Gail as they walked. "Your parents won't be there, will they?"

"Uncle Al says no, they're not invited. One Peck is enough."

They got into the car and as Gail eased out of the lot, Holly asked, "What about your classes?"

"On break for two weeks, thank god. This crap is running me thin! I haven't been to the Penny in three weeks!" Nor had they had enough time together, thought Holly. "When was the last time we went on a date?"

"Um, just us? A month ago."

"Yeah, that's no good." Gail checked traffic and turned the car away from Holly's house. "We need dinner, out, you and me. Pan Asian? There's a new place, Octopus Grill. Chloe swears by it."

Holly laughed, "Right now?"

"Unless you have other plans..."

Smiling, Holly watched Gail's face. "No," she admitted.

"Right. Dinner, then I take you home and spend the night. It's Friday, I have a weekend free of homework and rookies ..." She trailed off, arching an eyebrow.

So Gail wasn't too tired. Holly blushed. They got to the restaurant, which was packed, but Gail quickly got a table through the simple foresight of having made a reservation.

Holly quirked a smile as Gail muttered it was a surprise. "It's a nice surprise, but how did you know?"

"Well if we'd have missed it, I was going to give the spot to Dov or Andy. They don't seem to comprehend planning."

"I do. And I love it. I get cranky when I don't see enough of you."

"It shows," confirmed Gail. "I didn't know about the whole Pride thing, this was really just supposed to be an apology for being work-on-a-holiday Gail. She's annoying, by the way. I didn't know she even existed." Gail huffed. "Usually I cram things into my brain when I'm trying to avoid problems. Now I'm doing it and making problems. Is that grown up?"

"Not sure," Holly replied slowly. "Are you avoiding anything?"

"Just my mother. She's starting to email me again. Wants to know why I'm taking classes."

"Why are you taking classes?" There was an uncomfortable silence across the table that surprised Holly. "Something wrong?"

"No, just complicated." Gail ran her finger around the base of her wine glass. "I don't want to be a beat cop forever."

Holly blinked and then smiled. "Oh." She reached across the table and covered Gail's fingers with her own. "Honey, when I called you that, I was kind of being irrational and angry."

"I know. That was a shitty day." Gail waited and when Holly said nothing more, looked surprised. "That's it?"

"Well. I think I know why, but if you're nervous and don't want to tell me, I'll get it out of you later. We tell each other stuff." Holly grinned and leaned back as their salads arrived. "Eventually."

Gail exhaled and tucked her napkin into place. "Can I spend the weekend at your place?" She sounded so shy, Holly laughed. "Or not, geeze."

"You can always spend your free time with me."

Rolling her eyes, Gail pointed at Holly with her fork. "Sometimes you have to work."

"Not this weekend," promised Holly. "But you can stay even if I have to work."

They smiled at each other and ate the salads. When the main courses arrived, Gail finally asked her real question. "What's the Parade really like?"

Watching Holly was the best part of the awkward dinner. Gail hadn't realized how many police officers were gay until that night, and they hadn't known she was until the Commissioner introduced her. Officer Jen Luck was there of course, surprising Gail not a bit, though Luck did a double take when she realized Gail was there with Holly.

"Wish you'd told me that before, Peck."

"Bad luck, eh?" That won her a smirk from Luck, who graciously welcomed her to the club and introduced her around.

But every time she glanced at Holly, she caught her girlfriend eying her. "Your woman's checking out your ass," confirmed Jen, who insisted on being called that.

"She hasn't seen me in my dress uniform before," replied Gail. "I'm damn hot."

Jen snorted. "Swelled head. So how do you like it?" When Gail didn't reply, Jen gestured at the room. "The big gay dinner?"

"Meh," replied Gail. "Too happy."

"Oh is that why you've skipped the parade all these years?"

Gail frowned and eyed Jen, "Yes." What was the woman getting at? She rummaged through her head, trying to remember who Jen worked for and that was when the clue dropped. "Ah, I get it." Smiling, she patted Jen's shoulder. "You can stop quizzing me. Tell him I'm very much committed to my girlfriend, he'll tell my mother, and we can all stop playing spy."

"Him?" Jen tried to look innocent, but it came out sheepish.

"Your Staff Sergeant is one of my mother's minions," sighed Gail, rescuing two flutes of champagne from a waiter. "I've been playing this game since before you knew how to spell cop, Jen. Don't even bother."

With that, Gail wove through the crowd to where Holly was talking to an RMCP fellow. She slipped into the conversation by handing Holly a drink. "Oh, and this is my girlfriend, Officer Peck."

The man smiled and introduced himself, his accent marvelously thick. Gail replied in French and they cheerfully chatted about their work for a moment. It did not escape Gail's notice that Holly was positively beaming. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Stewart, Officer Peck," smiled the officer, shaking their hands and leaving to go meet new people.

Gail turned to Holly and tilted her head. "He's okay."

But Holly just devoured Gail with her eyes. "You hate it here," she said softly.

"True," allowed Gail, smiling. She sipped her champagne and tried for an innocent look. "They're all too happy."

Holly reached over to straighten Gail's lapel, and then let the hand trail down Gail's arm to her clasp her fingers. "I would like to be happy right now." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Can we leave?"

Glancing at the group, Gail caught the eye of her godfather and gave him a slight wave. He looked at Holly, then Gail, and smirked. He really was much nicer than her parents, in many ways. With the sole important goodbye completed, Gail laced her fingers through Holly's and led her out a side door.

The next morning, Gail yawned her way through meetings and glad hands. She ran into Jen again, who held out a coffee. "Peace?"

"If you want to fake spy to keep your cover I won't tell." Gail was too tired to want to fight.

Jen snorted. "Nah, I told him you were stupid in love with the doc." Now Gail was awake and she glared. "Woah, okay no jokes about the doctor. Yikes." Jen shoved her hands in her pockets. "This is your first gay rodeo, huh?"

"If you're still poking the bear, I will break your fingers," growled Gail.

But Jen laughed. "I meant Pride Week. I know she's your first girlfriend." Gail did not want to know how Jen knew that but nodded. "So listen, I've been out since I was born, practically. I've been doing the parade, marching, since I was sixteen. The float's no big deal. We sit and wave at people, they shoot water guns at us and cheer. You can get out and walk if you want. Usually we get the highest ranker to do it, but you being a Peck might make the font page."

"And ruin my chances of undercover work," grumbled Gail. Though she doubted that people would recognize her. Rarely did anyone pay attention anymore.

"With that face, I'm surprised more people don't recognize you daily."

Was Jen still hitting on her? Weird. "I don't try to be noticed." Gail pushed her hair out of her face. "S'good coffee."

"Gail!" The strident voice of her godfather broke through the room.

"Commissioner Santana," she smiled back.

"Officer Peck." He smiled more. "I saw you and your young lady skip out early. You've never liked those parties." When Gail shrugged, he squeezed her shoulder. "Your mother said you haven't been around lately."

Gail winced a little. "Can you blame me?"

"Ah, Bill. He's very traditional." The Commissioner frowned, "Maybe we should have a side dinner one of these days. You barely know my wife, and I'd like to know your young lady. A doctor, even."

"You freaked Holly out a little, last time."

"Hmm, well. Thank you for that." He was sincere and Gail just nodded. "Ah! Officer Luck. You'll show Gail the ropes?"

Truthfully, Gail had forgotten Jen was standing there and grinned when she saw the confusion on the other officer's face. "Sir! Yes, of course, sir."

The Commissioner clapped Gail on the shoulder. "Good. Learn it all, Gail. I'll need you to take over in a few years." She'd expected that and nodded. The hand on her shoulder squeezed and the chief walked away.

"What the fuck?" Jen hissed at Gail. "The Commissioner invited you over for dinner? With your girlfriend?"

Gail finished the coffee. "It's not a big deal, Jen." The glare from the other officer was actually amusing. "He's my godfather." He was also her mother's T.O. and Gail was actually named for Al's first wife. The other Gail, also a cop, had died in uniform, hit by a car at a routine traffic check when Steve was in diapers.

The rest of the personal drama was more than she cared to get into with a relative stranger. That Gail had called the chief 'Uncle Al' until she entered the academy was not anyone else's business.

"How did I not know that?"

"Same way you didn't know you were being pushed by my mom to spy on me, Jen. You're a good cop." She smiled thinly, and walked past Jen, fairly sure that the implication might never be caught. Jen was a good cop, she'd never be a great cop.

When Pride Week was finally over, Gail was relieved to get back to her normal routine. She'd managed to avoid a sunburn on the float and hadn't run into her parents once. Practically a perfect event, if you ignored the fact that she spent half the day on a float surrounded by thousands of happy people.

Holly and Traci had come to cheer her on, as had Steve, and before Gail realized it, it became an affair with all the 'grown ups' of Fifteen. She wondered when that had happened, that she had more in common with the Old Guard and less with her classmates. Maybe it was Holly, but more likely it was just that unlike Chris, Dov, or Andy, she could see her future and went for it.

So she grinned and waved at her girlfriend, her friends, and indeed, Sophie, who was perched on Frank's shoulder, cheering. Gail threw beads at Holly, smirking, but ended up with quite a lot herself from various attendees. While all the officers were invited to parties all night long, Gail bounced between three before getting a ride back to fifteen with a cruiser and going to Holly's to fall face first on the bed. And not in the fun way.

But now it was back to work, and Gail and her rookie Samantha the Snowflake had the beginnings of an easy day, monitoring speed traps. It was boring, but she needed a dull day after the week of super gayness. They were the first car on the line, and Gail had Snowflake on the scanner while she radio'd Noelle and Gerald down the line.

"This really help?" Snowflake was clearly getting bored.

"Boosts numbers and tickets, which makes Ollie look good. And what do we think about Oliver?"

"Oliver's the best boss we could ever have. We do anything for Oliver. He loves all of us. Even me." The recitation felt more honest than the first few times she'd made the rookie say it, and Gail smiled. "He can't like Duncan, though. I mean, he screwed up and taped Andy. That's breaking the code."

"It was," agreed Gail. "But he understands why now." Gail sipped her soda, "Why do you know about that?"

"Oh! Everyone knows. We all got warned how not to get in trouble. Duncan's the poster boy for how to screw up."

Gail sighed and made a note to warn Ollie and Noelle later. "He's learned."

The rookie glanced back at her, "Yes ma'am, you taught him. That's why I'm really happy you're my T.O." The what now? She made a noise and Snowflake focused on the scanner. "Everyone said you're the best, ma'am. You're tough, but you can make people great cops."

Well, that was alright, decided Gail, and she smiled. "You can drive back, rookie," she informed Snowflake and sat on the hood of the car.

They called in a couple speedsters before a car pulled up beside them and rolled down the window. An older man, maybe her father's age, leaned over. "Hey, how come you aren't at the rolled over ambulance?"

"Sorry, what?" Gail popped to her feet and listened carefully to the man before nodding. It wasn't too far away. "Sir, do you mind pulling over here and walking with me?" He did not and as he pulled in, Gail tapped Snowflake's shoulder. "You keep doing this. Keep the radio on, do to anything Officer Williams tells you. Got it?" Her rookie nodded and Gail called in her check to the group.

They walked through the hillside beside the check point, cutting around the normal traffic, until they were almost out of sight of Snowflake. Gail casually rested her hand by her weapon, and looked around. "S'right there," the man pointed, and walked in front of her.

Habit. Gail checked the surrounding area before following his gaze to an ambulance, lying on it's side. "Well shit," she muttered. "Dispatch, 8727. I have an ambulance rollover, no plates. We lose one?"

"Copy 8727. What's the number?"

"429. It's the neon yellow, green vomit color."

There was a pause. "8727, can you confirm the numbers are four, two, niner?"

"Confirm, requesting backup." She turned to the man, "Sir, I'm going to need you to stand up there where my partner can see you." He nodded and Gail pinged her rookie. "Gagnon, can you see our Samaritan?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Eyes on him until I tell you otherwise, even if replacements come." Gail turned down her radio and drew her gun. Very slowly she walked up to the ambulance. A pause. She heard nothing and walked closer until she could see in the driver's window. Empty. The keys dangled in the ignition and the dash was a mess from the rolling. "Cab is empty," she said softly into her radio and stepped to the back. "Rear door is ajar."

Very slowly, very calmly, Gail eased the door open. Nothing. She pulled out her flashlight and held it up to her gun before looking in. What a mess. There was medical equipment everywhere, all over the damn interior. She sighed and carefully checked every visible corner until she saw a head. "Shit!" Gail jumped back and waited for movement but, seeing none, stepped forward and took a closer look. Maybe it was a mannequin.

The congealed blood was real, though, and Gail swore. "Dispatch, I need that backup and tell forensics to bring a doctor. There's a body in the back."

"Copy that. Confirm he's dead?"

Gail looked at the interior and carefully moved the gurney, only to have the head roll off to the side, completely disconnected from the body. "Yep," she replied drolly. "He's dead."

While she knew Gail gave a special talk to the rookies on their first day, a talk she'd inherited and evolved from Oliver, Holly was interested in the one they got in the morgue even more. Gail'd told her about the first day talk and Holly found it entertaining. This one just had more to do with her, so she lingered outside the room to listen.

"Do you remember our talk, Samantha?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"It's our job to make this city safe, and when we fail, we come here. This place means we've failed, and all we can do is bring closure to someone. Out there, I'm in charge. Here, the doctors and lab techs are your boss. Whatever they tell you to do, you do without question. You touch nothing unless told to, you treat everyone with respect, including the dead. They're humans, and never forget that. If you're here alone, you sit in a corner and keep out of trouble, which will not happen until you make it through an autopsy without puking or passing out. You do not speak until spoken to, and above all, you remember that you are a police officer and our job is to listen and learn here." Gail huffed. "And remember. Do as I say, not as I do. I have more privileges here than you do."

That was her Gail and Holly smiled. She bumped the door open with her hip, "Officer Peck, Officer ..."

"Gagnon, ma'am. Doctor. Ma'am."

"Doctor Stewart," corrected Holly. She hadn't officially met Samantha yet and Gail rarely talked about her. "Gagnon... That's Québécois?"

The girl, practically a child, nodded. "My father. He's from Val-d'Or."

While Holly could translate it she had no idea about the town and glanced at Gail. "It's about as far up as Timmins. North of Réserve faunique La Vérendrye." The rookie gaped at Gail and Holly hid a smile. "Meanwhile, back in Ontario."

"The head was removed postmortem," noted Holly, pulling on her gloves.

"I figured," replied Gail. She turned to her rookie, "Lack of blood at the scene. He was probably dead and beheaded before the ambulance was rolled down the ravine." The rookie nodded, her face set but her eyes wide.

Settling her face guard in place, Holly gave Gail a look and the officer stepped back, tugging her rookie with her. "Is the detective coming?" Holly pulled over the tools and prepared for the Y-incision.

"They asked us to watch, since it's my head." Gail shot her a toothy grin, the one of the cop who was delighted in her finding. She smiled like that when shopping for shoes, or guns weirdly enough, and when just plain happy. Holly would melt over that grin and move mountains to see it again.

Trying not to smile, Holly nodded. "So I heard." She pressed the scalpel to the skin and heard a noise from the side.

"Out. Turn left. Third door," instructed Gail, and the thudding steps of her rookie left the room. "Puking. Not a single one of them pass a first autopsy."

"Oh and you did?"

"Of course," sighed Gail, perching on her favorite stool. "My first in uniform wasn't anything new."

Holly glanced over at her girlfriend and sighed a little. "Your mother..." And Gail shrugged a little. "Didn't you have an ambulance theory?"

"Nah," laughed Gail. "I have an ambulance coincidence, that's all." Gail spun the stool around, "Headless guy in a junky only ambulance. Old gloves, too," she added. "Box said with cornstarch." Gail was looking up at the lights. When Holly hadn't known Gail as well, she thought the behavior nothing more than a feckless, childish, flash of ADD. In the year she'd known and worked with Gail, Holly came to realize her brain was always working, always whirling.

The anger against stupid people and childishness was nothing more than a lack of understanding. The aloofness was an inability to connect. And the distractions were some odd attempt of Gail to seem less off. But Holly had noticed the less Gail tried, the more she fit in with people. And the less she drank, the faster she thought in general. Once Holly suggested Gail just be herself all the time, and Gail had looked rather terrified.

So Holly had come to where she let Gail talk freely in this way, just as Gail gave her space and silence when she needed it. "That's familiar," she replied, cracking the chest open.

"Creeps me out, though. Doctors and serial deaths with ambulances." Gail stopped spinning and looked at Holly. "Are you busy tonight?"

"Depends how long this takes me." She regarded the body curiously. "No marks except a really bad tattoo? I think it's a dog. No gunshot, no stabbing, no wounds of any kind."

"Except around the neck region," joked Gail. "Which was ipso post dead-o."

Holly smirked and rolled her eyes. "Funny. I'm leaning towards..." Holly stopped and stared at the body.

When she said nothing, Gail hopped off the stool and leaned over to look. "Pink."

"Cyanide."

"Cyanide?" Gail pulled her phone out and starting typing, "Can I send Steve a photo?"

Holly exhaled slowly. "I think you'd better. What the hell? Who beheads a poison victim? They had to know we'd autopsy!"

"It really makes no sense," agreed Gail. Her tone clearly showed she thought this was great.

Their semi-private conversation ceased when Snowflake returned, pale and shaking. She opened her mouth to speak and Gail held up a hand. "Nuh uh." She pointed to the stool and, as Snowflake walked by, she glanced at the body.

Neither Gail nor Holly were surprised by the thud of her hitting the floor.

Chapter Text

The flu was no joke. When Holly called her and asked if Gail could take her home, of course Gail had rushed over. Finding Holly sweating and looking miserable, she was momentarily terrified. Taking down crazy gunmen was easy. A sick girlfriend was new territory, and Gail's instinct when faced with illness was to run the other way. But … Holly. Holly's assistant pointed out the fever was 39.3 degrees and Gail quickly hauled Holly home, showered, medicated, and in bed.

While Holly was asleep, Gail made (not bought) chicken soup and even managed to feed her girlfriend a bowl in-between naps. When Holly went right back to bed without a complaint, Gail downloaded a new book on her iPad and settled in the bed to read and babysit.

After hours of silence, Gail was startled out of her book by Holly asking her a question. "What did you want to be when you grew up?" Holly was half asleep when she asked it and Gail looked at her girlfriend with surprise.

"A cop, Holly, go back to sleep."

Holly opened her eyes and sighed. "I wanted to be a fire engine."

"I think you mean fireman, baby." Gail put the ebook down and caressed Holly's hair. Her skin felt less hot, but not normal. "You want me to check your temperature again?" That got a little nod from Holly and Gail went to get the thermometer.

Leave it to Holly to have an in-ear sensor. She let the doctor press it in and waited for the beep. "I don't want to put on my glasses."

"38 and change ... More fever reducers for you." Holly sighed and told Gail exactly what bottles to get and what pills. She took the thermometer back to the bathroom, cleaned it off, and came back with pills. Two were painkillers, two were cold and flu specialties Gail had never heard of. "You're such a hypochondriac, I swear you have pills for everything."

"You can catch everything in my job," noted Holly and she popped the four pills in one go. "Water?"

"Bottle on the nightstand."

Holly chugged half and sighed. "Did you make me soup?"

Sitting on the bed, Gail nodded. "You had a whole bowl."

"Must be why I feel better." She looked a little better, but absolutely drained. "I meant fire engine," added Holly. "I wanted to drive around and do cool things. Then I wanted to be a baseball player, or a hockey star... God, your Peckspectations suck."

Gail raised her eyebrows. "Ex-Peck-tations. They're not all bad."

"I don't know any that aren't crappy and overbearing." Holly lay back down. "They take away all your decisions and get mad when you don't make the right ones. Emotionally stunted."

"You," sighed Gail, "sound drunk."

"Fever. Stops my brain from editing what I say."

Oh dear. "You mean you're always like this when you're sick?"

"Mmhmm. Another reason I was single. Too honest." Holly looked forlorn. "I think you're brave."

Gail laughed and stretched out beside Holly. "Oh really?" It was strangely fun to listen to unfiltered thoughts from her girlfriend.

"And strong. And really, really, bad at sports." Holly smiled. "What happened to the headless dumped man?"

"We've been running down the tattoo, but it's a dead end." Gail and Snowflake, who was a pretty decent rookie as they went, had visited all the tattoo parlors in the area, and faxed it to other divisions, but it was no good. "Steve's making me go through the cyanide poisoning cases."

"Steve's mean. He sides with your mom."

Gail smiled tiredly. Her brother wanted Gail to start coming to the family dinners again. "He didn't side with mother. He just doesn't understand... It's fine."

"It's not." Holly reached over to grab Gail's hand. "It's not fine."

The hand was hot and Gail frowned. "Holly, should I get you an ice pack or ... Something? A cool bath?"

Holly sighed and rolled to her back, touching her own head. "Can you turn the fan on?"

"Of course." Gail hopped out of bed and set it on low before getting a glass of ice and a bottle of coconut water. "Want to try something else?"

It took a little work to get Holly to sit up again, but she obediently sipped the cool coconut water. When Gail had asked why she had it at all, Holly confessed to being a marathon runner and it was good for electrolyte and potassium. Running was not really Gail's cup of tea, she left that distance to Holly. Of course, in their time dating, Gail had learned far more about sports than she'd ever intended. She'd actually gotten good at softball much to Oliver's delight, and been conscripted to the division's team. Holly had called it a psychological problem.

But the food and the diet had all changed. They made healthy food, ate differently after a run, and more differently before and after the long ones. Gail was tricked into longer distances just by that goofy side smile, and complained the whole way but ran anyway because she'd do anything for that smile. She practically lived at Holly's and any night she was at her apartment she wished she wasn't.

And because of all that time here, with the most amazing person in her life, Gail knew why you ate bananas and toast when sick and why the coconut water would help Holly get in nutrients she wasn't up for eating just then. As Holly drank, she leaned into Gail's arm which easily wrapped around the doctor, and Gail went back to her book.

"You gonna be a detective you think?" Holly held the empty drink bottle in her lap, eyes closed, looking like the act of drinking was all she had energy for.

The way Holly asked it was so unassuming, without pressure and just wondering, that it was easy to answer. "Probably." When Gail's mother asked the same question, it was always with a bite, or a push. The more her mother pushed, the less Gail wanted to decide. It was one of the few methods of rebellion she had left.

"Why's Steve a detective?"

"He likes drug busts and gun running." Holly made a 'huh' sound. "It's in the Organized Crime Enforcement group, and it's kinda the boring stuff. He has to sit and watch losers a lot. Our father's there too, in ROPE."

"Rope?" Holly sounded sleepy. "Ties people up?" Taking the bottle away from her girlfriend, Gail nudged her to lie down. There was no argument and the sleepy eyed doctor just waited to hear what ROPE meant.

"Repeat Offenders Parole Enforcement. Catches people who break parole. So ... Yeah, he ties people up. It's a lot of boring work, though, reading papers and talking to people about why they did stupid things like drive to Niagara Falls when their parole said they had to stay in North Bay." As if the answer of 'Because North Bay!' wasn't enough.

Holly made a 'huh' sound. "Isn't driving around all day boring?"

"Sometimes. But stakeouts are more boring, just sitting there watching people. And I don't like being shot at enough to try ETF." Gail looked at the wall absently. "I used to say I wanted a cushy desk job, but I'm just really lazy. I like using my head, seeing stuff. I think faster than lots of people, and ... It's silly, but I had this idea about it. Work on the big crimes, with lots of impact. So I can't hide behind my name anymore, it'd all be public. And I could get a little of everything, too, so guns and death but not so much the oogy sex crimes or kids." Gail paused and waited to hear if Holly had a thought. Silence. Gail looked down and smiled to see Holly sound asleep. "But it can wait."

Gail turned off the lights and got under the covers. It would keep.

"So you don't like it when I come to your work but it's okay to come to mine and escort me here," teased Holly, walking down the hallway with Gail.

"We have crazy people here." Gail carried the box, out of some odd moment of chivalry that she had been unable to explain. "Besides, brother mine ordered me to get the information from the lab."

Holly humphed. "As opposed to dead bodies. I promised to stay in the lab if there were reports of anything dangerous."

"So pretty much all the time then." Gail smirked and Holly smacked her arm with the folder in her hand.

As they dropped off the box and folder on Steve's desk, Gail stole her brother's chair and readjusted it. "You do that all the time?"

"Nah, just often enough to piss him off. Hey, I get off shift at 6. Want to come by the Penny for trivia night?" Gail gave her a puppy dog smile, the kind Holly had a hard time saying no to.

"You really want me to hang with your friends," sighed Holly.

"Hey, I sucked it up with BitchTits and Co." That won a smile. Gail had also hauled them over to Holly's house to hang out. "Look, your friends are like family to you, right? Well … I like mine better than my family, but if you tell them that, I'll tell them all about how you drool in your sleep."

That was a solid threat. "Woah, okay, no admitting that Gail has feelings. I get it."

Gail's voice dropped a little, sounding more like the private Gail that Holly liked. "You can say no. I understand." Then she added, "I promise not to get drunk."

"Oh well there's an offer." When she laughed, Gail's face lit up and Holly knew that her girlfriend really wanted her to come. "Okay, fine, trivia. And finish up, your brother's coming with some brass." Maybe she could beat the others at trivia and get Gail to her place early-ish before she had to get back to that article.

When Gail glanced over to see her brother, her pale skin went even more white. Holly hadn't known that was possible. "Shit... Why is she here." Popping to her feet, she looked around the room in a mild state of panic. It was totally different than the time she chopped off her hair too.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Holly touched her arm and Gail went stiff. This wasn't good at all, and Holly backed off. They both watched Steve walk in with a woman in uniform. A fancy uniform. With insignia Holly knew she was supposed to recognize… and a name tag... Oh. Shit.

"Superintendent Peck," said Gail, her face the tightest Holly had ever seen, her voice even and flat in a way Holly recognized as deadly.

"Constable Peck." The reply was equally taut.

Holly looked between the two women. Gail's mother, Elaine, had the same pale skin as her children, but looked more like Steve. Her hair was red, clearly bottled which made Gail's snide remark about the crap she got for her hair dye to be rather amusing. Elaine had a somewhat gentler face than Gail. Maybe that was because Holly found Gail so striking that the shorter, older, woman just looked off. She looked fake, and the word stuck in Holly's mind strangely.

Behind the Superintendent, Steve was giving Holly a look that implied she should run while she still could. He was also moving his hands, signing at Gail. Did their mother not know ASL?

"Gail," sighed the Pecks' mother. She was smiling at Gail, and for a moment Holly wondered if Gail had just been over-exaggerating everything. "Sweetheart." Wow. That was a tone Holly had heard before. Sickeningly sweet and entirely insincere. Lisa did that voice wonderfully. Well that explained a lot about Gail. "What's this?" Her eyes flicked in Holly's direction.

For a moment, Holly thought she meant her, but Gail tapped the box. "Delivery from forensics. All the cyanid poisonings in the last decade, Detective." The last word was clearly aimed at Steve. "It's probably as much a dead end as the tattoo."

Superintendent Peck eyed her daughter. "Playing errand girl, Gail?"

"I'm assisting guns and gangs with the dead body found in the ambulance. The one with his head cut off."

"A dead end case? Surely you could come up with a better use of your time than these pointless cases, Gail." Wincing, Holly tried not to be noticed. Weren't the dead end cases the ones that nagged you the most? Gail did not reply, she just looked at her mother who in turn looked at Holly. Uh oh. "Excuse me... I don't believe we've met."

As she met Elaine's eyes, Holly saw there was no smile within them. The one on her lips was a smile for camera and interviews, where people couldn't see the lack of warmth. Holly felt a chill run down her spine. "Dr. Stewart. Forensics." She smiled sincerely, trying to pretend nothing was abnormal about this moment. Except now she understood why Gail had no wish to hang out with her own mother. People said Gail was cold. They clearly had no idea how icy her mother could be.

There was no offer of a handshake, just a nod. The older woman looked back at her children, effector ignoring Holly. "Is there someplace we can talk more ... Privately?"

Gail looked like she was about to snap out one of her more caustic remarks, but Steve cut in, "Sgt. Shaw's office... Or interrogation. It's the whole open floor plan." Of course other than the Pecks only Holly was in the bullpen.

"Actually, I'm done, Detective, unless you need anything else." Holly gestured, pointing at the door.

"I'll let you know, thanks." Steve really looked sincerely grateful, and Holly scooted out of the room. Gail's face didn't change an inch through that, she just kept fixing her mother with a blank, level, gaze. The invisible wall between Gail and Elaine was terrifying. The walls around Gail were locked and unbreachable.

As Holly rounded the corner, she was not surprised to find Dov and Chloe listening in. "Is the Darth Vader theme louder if you stand next to her," asked Chloe, sotto voice, her eyes wide. Dov hushed her and pulled Holly around the corner to hide with them.

"She was nice the last time she was here. All smiles. Called Gail 'sweetheart,' and everything." Dov's voice was barely above a breath. "Freaked Gail out."

For the third time, Elaine Peck repeated her daughter's name. "Gail." There was a pause. "I was starting to forget what you looked like. Your hair has grown."

"It does that."

"You stopped dying it."

"I did." Terse, Gail was clearly not giving an inch to her mother.

"You didn't come by for dinner."

"I didn't want to." Gail's voice was tight and while Holly picked out anger in the tone, she didn't actually snap. Gail was pissed. "I didn't feel like hearing that crap from Dad again."

"Is that how you want to do this?" Disappointment dripped off Superintendent Peck's voice.

Gail had a short laugh, "Do what? I don't even know why you're here."

"Five years, Gail." The words hit like a bomb and Holly frowned. There was no reason that should have scared her, but she found herself tense and worried. "You asked for five years and I respected that. But it's time to stop this."

Steve's voice cut in, "Mom, there's nothing wrong with-"

"A Peck isn't going to stay a blue-shirt for another five years." This was not a suggestion, this was an order. Everyone shuddered.

"She's a constable third class, Mom," continued Steve. It was very odd to not hear Gail say anything. "She was the first from this division for that."

Beside her, Dov muttered, "By a month." This time, Chloe shushed him.

"Yes, but she can't stay that forever. Now. There is an opening for a new sergeant at 27—"

"No." Gail's voice was still even, as if that could imply she was calm. Holly felt otherwise. Her girlfriend wanted to shout at her own mother. "I'm not going to apply for the sergeants exam. I don't want it and ... God." She laughed a little. "I'd be horrible at it. Epstein, he'd be good and you like him."

Dov stiffened beside Holly. "Me?" Now both Chloe and Holly shushed him.

"Epstein is as ready as that Craig boy," dismissed Elaine.

"She means Chris," whispered Dov. No one hushed him this time.

Gail snorted. "I'm not ready either."

"You should be ready. What else are all those classes for?"

There was a pause. "My future," Gail spoke and Holly swore it was through gritted teeth.

"Yes, your usual hodgepodge of unrelated courses. Interrogation, advanced driving. A forensics refresher. What are you thinking?" When Gail did not reply, Elaine scoffed. "What were you doing all this time? Fooling around and playing with friends?"

Holly wished she could see Gail's face, especially when the too sweet reply came. "I was getting my shit together, Mother."

The stifled laugh had to be Steve. "You were... What?" Her mother sounded confused, as if the conversation had taken an abrupt and unexpected turn.

"Wow, I guess hands-off was code for 'ignore everything your daughter has to say.' Good to know," groused Gail in her most bitter. "Did you just completely ignore everything that's gone on in my life for the last two years?"

"Not ... Everything."

"You sure? I thought I made it pretty clear I didn't want to be a white shirt. And sure as hell not by your call. If Oliver asked me, that's different, but you don't even know what kind of cop I am. At least he knows what crap I've gone through."

"I trust we're not just talking about Perik."

"No, we're not." Gail still didn't sound angry, which was probably good, but talking about Perik and the kidnapping was still a tough topic. That she'd managed to talk about it to Holly once was astounding. When Holly mentioned that to Steve, he pointed out Gail never talked to him about it. "I fell in love."

Now it was Chloe who made a noise and Dov covered her mouth with his hand.

"That's hardly a reason-"

"With a woman." And the silence was suddenly heavy. "I wasn't kidding and it's not a phase. All- all that crap I'm working through? Nearly lost her because I wasn't dealing with it. So I did, and you know I know I'm a damn good cop. But I don't want to look back in 30 years and regret missing a single moment with her, because I was too busy with my career."

Holly was a little impressed. "Wow," she whispered. She wasn't sure how she, personally, felt about being prioritized like that. It was odd to hear out loud, since Gail rarely talked about her dreams for her career.

"You don't have goals, Gail."

"You don't even know what I want."

"You haven't made a single move towards a career beyond patrol."

"Excuse me, but I've busted my ass in classes, and rocked being a training officer."

"And applied for nothing, so I'm making arrangements-"

"Oh, right. Because I'm a Peck, and I'll do what I'm told? No."

"Stop being so naive. You haven't even introduced us and here you are making declarations that love is a reason to bury ambition. That's as intelligent as your adoption plan."

What now? Holly blinked and tried to figure out what her mother meant. Was she saying that Gail couldn't possibly have a career and a relationship at family at the same time?

"Why would I introduce you to her? Dad thinks I'm torpedoing my life with the lesbian thing, and you seem to think its a phase. Nice that you actually care about anything but your own dreams."

"That isn't what I said, sweetie." Elaine sounded weary.

"No, you said when I work girls out of my system, you'd introduce me to some appropriate men." Now Gail's tone was bitter. "I told you, I told dad. I'm a lesbian."

There was silence. "Alright. You're serious?" There was no verbal reply. "Gail... What are we going to do with you?"

"Asking if my girlfriend is nice would have been a great start. Asking me why I wanted to adopt Sophie would have worked. Or maybe even talking to me about what kind of cop I want to be, instead of making me do what you and Dad want just because my last name is Peck." Gail sighed loudly, "But hey, I'm going to figure that out myself. You're not even this division's Super since you took over Professional Standards, Staff Superintendent. This is not your business. Butt. Out."

The aforementioned Superintendent said something low, which made Gail laugh in a very snippy way. "I would like to talk to you about this... As your mother."

"Sure, let me know when you figure out how to do that instead of being a Peck."

Dov abruptly grabbed Holly and Chloe by the upper arm, "Quick!" He tugged them away and down the hall. "Act casual. Holly, tell me something sciency." When Holly looked blank, he added, "Work related! Cool bodies?"

"Um. Oh, did you hear about the frozen body that 27 found? He was in a deep cooler in a BBQ shop, so we've been running samples on pretty much everything for human trace."

"That ... Is disgusting," Chloe cringed. "Find anything cool?"

"Human teeth in the chili. Nearly made Officer Luck puke." Normally Holly would entertain Gail with these sorts of stories. It was the oddest pillow talk ever, but they both found the macabre to be entertaining. Officer Jen Luck tended to flirt with Holly, and that only would make Gail annoyed. Holly knew Jen knew about her and Gail, but that didn't seem to make much difference to the other officer. She was just the sort who flirted, Holly had explained. Gail remarked she'd just be the sort who got punched.

The Superintendent walked past them, storming, pulling her phone out, and looking entirely pissed off. Holly hesitated and Dov prompted her, "Teeth in chili? That's not very edible."

Teeth! "Well that's for the detectives to sort out, really. They said the owner confessed. But what really broke my brain was when we found cat and dog remains."

"It's official. I'm never eating BBQ again," sighed Dov. They watched Gail's mother leave the area and Dov nudged Holly, "Go."

"Yeah... I'm not sure I should," sighed Holly, glancing back towards the detective bullpen. They could see Steve and Gail, sitting side by side on Steve's desk, not saying anything. Their hands were moving, which meant they were probably signing to each other. Girlfriend Holly wanted to check on Gail, but Dr. Stewart would have been livid if her mother had done something like that at work. Gail likely needed time to cool down.

Dov looked after Elaine Peck. "She was way nicer last time. Wow. It's like, the two faces of a super villain."

"Maybe she was always like this," suggested Chloe, chewing her thumbnail. "It would explain a lot about Gail. And why Uncle Frank gets so weird about her. The Superintendent, not Gail. Uncle Frank likes Gail, he thinks she's really turned out amazing, which I guess he didn't know what to expect."

"Chloe, please shut up," snapped Holly and she turned away from them, heading to the parking lot. Chloe had no idea of what Gail had been through, dragged herself through, to get to this place. Perhaps Dov knew and could help explain, but Holly would be too cruel just then. She knew Gail would call her. They were definitely at that point in the relationship. But this was not where one pushed one's girlfriend.

"Dr. Stewart." The voice scared the hell out of her, and she spun around to look at Superintendent Peck. "I admit, you don't look like I thought you would. Photographs don't do you justice."

Holly had no idea how to react. "I'm ... Sorry?" Though her back brain noted that nearly all of Gail's friends and family seemed to think her more attractive in person, and she should ask Gail about that.

"You don't really think I don't know who my daughter's dating, especially when she works here, do you?" The expression was the same Gail wore when stating the obvious. The implication was that Holly was in the slow lane. Of course, when Gail made that face to Holly, she was always smiling and there was no rancor behind it. With Elaine Peck, Holly wasn't so sure. Elaine held her hand out to Holly now, "Elaine Peck."

"Holly Stewart." They shook hands. Holly really wasn't surprised that Elaine knew, but she couldn't help but feel offended that she had just been ignored and asked to leave. If Elaine knew, why not let Holly stay? Though that also meant that Gail had never told her mother who was coming to the family dinner, and just that she was bringing her girlfriend. That sounded like Gail, alright. "I thought you were staying out of Gail's life."

"For five years, which was technically up when she was promoted."

Holly remembered that night, just a few months ago, though not for reasons she'd want to share with Gail's mother. "Not very nice though." Glancing at the door back to the station, Holly asked, "Why do you try to make her do what you want?"

Elaine Peck looked at Holly and frowned. "You're dating her. She care barely bestir herself to make a decision about her life. She'd still be kicking around the world with black hair, moping, if we hadn't enrolled her in the academy." Elaine shook her head, "She's bratty, immature, and ... Frankly I'm surprised you and she are still seeing each other, given how she loves to destroy anything serious."

Yeah, no wonder Gail had issues. "I think she referred to that as 'working through her shit.' And maybe," Holly replied, "that's because you never ask her about what she wants." Of course Gail wasn't perfect, but she was working very hard not to be the immature brat she had been.

"Well, I suppose it's for the best that you stayed in Canada," said the older woman, dismissively. Holly heard warning bells but couldn't place why. "Gail is still impulsive. Look at her foolhardy idea to adopt."

"Wow. You really haven't seen Gail change at all. You just see what you want to see and try to make her be what you want. She'll be a great parent one say, no thanks to your shining example." Holly thumbed her car's unlock button. "Excuse me, I have work waiting for me at the lab. If you want to talk more, I suggest starting by listening to your daughter."

As she drove back to her lab, Holly couldn't help but feel Gail would be livid about the conversation more than the eavesdropping.

Chapter Text

"Of course you were listening," Gail noted. She wasn't surprised or upset, which seemed to weird Holly out.

"Really?"

"Really, it's fine. I may kill Dov and Chloe."

"That would be messy," sighed Holly.

Really, Gail had expected Holly to eavesdrop, as well anyone else who was in earshot, and had kept some of her thoughts out of the conversation with her mother with that in mind. She and Holly were holding hands, walking down the street to the Penny when Holly confessed to being a bad spy. And to being waylaid by Elaine. "Sorry about Superintendent Mom, though." That annoyed Gail more than anything else. And Holly's recap of the conversation worried her. Why would her mother bring up Sophie? Or Holly moving to the States?

Holly stopped at the corner and chewed her lip. "Is this weird? This is weird, your mom is weird and pushy and ... Wow, no wonder you're saying you're messed up. If that's what the family dinners are like, I don't think I ever want to go. She just pushes you and- I'm rambling."

It was adorable. "Yeah. You're cute when you do that." She grinned at Holly, but that faded as she reflected on her mother. "It is weird. It's weirder that ... I think I'm okay with it. I mean, I actually do have a clue what I want to be as a cop." Gail took Holly's other hand and swung them. It was stupid, but the idea had hit her watching her brother organize drug stings, and then again when Holly had been freaking out about Gail getting hurt at work. They were all aiming too low. She'd been kicking it around for months, though Gail had forgotten about the five year deal with her mother.

Brightening, Holly beamed at her. While she hadn't been pushy about it, she had been interested in Gail's future outside of them. Even if you discounted the time Holly had been sick, they'd talked around it a few times. "You do? That's great! I mean, if you want to stay a patrol cop forever, I'll still love you, but..."

"But goals are good and blah blah maturity?" Gail smirked as Holly blushed. Bingo. "Organized Crime." She'd nearly mentioned it to Holly before, though never in those words.

That stopped Holly's giddy, nervous rambling, "Mobsters?"

"More like major crimes. Lots of cool losers to bust. Little undercover now and then... I could stay in 15 too." She tried to read Holly's expression and failed. "It's less dangerous than patrol cop, in a different way... Steve's in a subdivision of it, and so's our Dad, but it's the way more fun stuff. Interesting stuff, lots of different crimes."

"You could be Sharon Raydor!"

Gail paused. "What? Who's that?"

"Mary McDonnell, total hottie. I'd frack her... She was the president of the colonies and then took over The Closer from Kyra Sedgwick." Was Holly talking about TV shows? Before she could ask, Holly sighed, explosively, "That's cool."

"I did not expect that reaction," muttered Gail, but Holly leaned in to kiss her. "So you're okay with that idea?"

There was another kiss and Holly leaned back so their noses were touching, "You're excited about it."

"It covers biker gangs too," grinned Gail, going in for another kiss.

Holly made a throaty growl type sound. "Oh, now that's a sexy idea." They kissed again and probably would have continued had someone not wolf whistled.

Breaking apart, and ready to break someone's face, Gail saw Nick smirking at them from across the street. "Asshole!" She shook a fist at him and laughed.

Sighing, Holly leaned into Gail's shoulder. "Let's talk about that later," Holly whispered. "Anything I can do to help..."

Gail smiled and kissed her cheek. "You're probably better at studying."

"One of us finished medical school."

Dodging traffic, Nick ran across the road to join them. "Jaywalking's a crime, Collins," smiled Gail. "Who're you teaming with tonight?"

"Oh, you're bringing in a ringer on sci-fi night?"

Looking indignant, Holly dropped Gail's hand. "You want me to help rip off your friends!" She didn't sound actually mad and there was a smile on the edge of her lips. "I could be at home working on my article."

"Or," drawled Gail, walking past Holly towards the bar, "You could help me hustle all of them and become a living legend and co-champion of the universe." She knew Holly would follow her.

They indeed proceeded to clean up the trivia night. While Dov and Chloe each took the time to apologize for eavesdropping, Gail actually enjoyed the game for a change. When they did retire, Champion Team of the World, Holly was all giggles. "Okay, you were right. That was fun."

"I know, who knew those losers would be fun?" She caught Holly's arm and looped it through her own. "Dork games." Holly had cleaned the floor with them, even correcting one of the cards and proving it. Gail held her own, answering a question about Hobbits and making Holly blush.

"You say that, but you had fun too." Holly leaned in and sighed. "They're nice people." Gail didn't reply, but had to agree. In so far as people went. "You going to walk me to my car?"

Gail glanced down the road to where her apartment was. It was entirely unappealing. "Can I stay over?" She rarely asked that question, not wanting to invade Holly's space or push her too much.

With a soft groan, Holly shook her head. "Honey, I have to finish the article."

"I know, I just..." Gail sighed. "I like being with you. And we don't have to have sex every time I stay over." Blushing a little, Holly leaned into her more, giving in. "Is that a yes?"

"Fine." She sighed and kissed Gail softly. "I meant to leave earlier."

Gail smirked, "Oh you wanted a booty call. Let's swing by my place so I can get stuff for tomorrow."

"It would be easier if you just kept more things at my place," lamented Holly, turning towards her car.

Without thinking, Gail replied, "It'd be a lot easier if I moved in with you." There was silence as soon as she said it. Whoops. That probably wasn't very funny. "Sorry that was—"

"That's not an overreaction because your mother's insane, is it?"

Gail blinked and shook her head. "Wasn't even thinking about her." She hesitated. Okay, great, now she was thinking about how her mother might react. Poorly, no doubt.

"Do you want to?" Holly sounded incredibly thoughtful.

"Do you want me to?"

"Oh no, we're not doing that one, Gail," laughed Holly. "Are you serious?"

"About us? Yes, incredibly serious, would do anything for you serious." She tilted her head, "About moving in with you? Um, it's … scary." Holly looked at Gail with a strange, questioning expression on her face. "I've never actually lived with anyone I've been dating," admitted Gail. "I always wanted an out. Kept stuff at home. But I don't feel like I need a fall back escape or anything with you. I just … I just want to be with you more, and not have to go sleep in an empty bed all the time if our shifts are different." The longer Holly watched her, making that thoughtful face, the more every single, possible, excuse fell away. "Holly, can I move in with you?"

And Holly leaned in to kiss her softly, "Gail Peck, yes, you may move in with me."

"Well if you're going to be all grammar snobby about it ..."

Watching Gail study was cute. She was sprawled on Holly's living room floor with three glasses of drinks (water, ice coffee, juice), odd snack foods (cheesy puffs, untouched), multiple books and a laptop. Gail would read for a while, switch to the laptop to write something, and then go back. Every once in a while she'd stop and do yoga poses, which Holly hadn't quite sorted out yet. A detective Holly barely knew, Rosati, had dropped off piles of information for Gail to study, and mentioned a promise of babysitting. Which Holly had yet to ask about.

But as Gail often gave her room when working on an article, Holly just quietly went about her day, avoiding interfering with Gail. Most of Holly's day was sorting out where to move things so Gail would have enough room. It had been a good excuse to get rid of clothes she never wore, and to finally clean out the garage. Gail insisted on helping with the heavy lifting, saying it would clear her brain.

It wasn't a study pattern Holly would have used, but when she quizzed Gail at dinner one night (at Gail's request), she'd been impressed. Her girlfriend was pretty damn sharp. As Holly dropped the last box of donations in the foyer, her stomach growled. It had to be feeding time.

"I heard that, baby," Gail remarked, typing away. "Lemme finish this paragraph."

"Okay." Holly washed up and when she came back, Gail was at the kitchen island eyeing her phone as if it was evil. "That doesn't look good. Did you get called in to work."

"Checking Yelp reviews. Is there anywhere good we haven't eaten at yet?"

"On the planet? I hear there are amazing restaurants in Paris."

"Steve's French sucks," remarked Gail. "But I was thinking in this area." She made a circle with one finger. "I mean, I should know more than the Vietnamese place you didn't know about if I'm gonna live here."

There it was again. Holly smiled a dopey smile. At Gail's suggestion they started with a couple longer sleepovers. First a weekend, then a whole week, and as of today four weeks, with Gail having a shift change in the middle. It wasn't a stupid idea, Holly realized after the first call in Gail had. While her girlfriend had a schedule, there were strange aspects of it that she hadn't really anticipated. There had been a couple fights, arguments really about who was doing what and sharing what, but they'd been mild. The worst part was Gail coming home banged up, but they'd been working on that for a while.

"Did we pass all your tests?" Holly poked her head over Gail's shoulder to study the Yelp list of restaurants.

"Yep, told the boys I'm moving out at the end of the month. Hey, this Greek place looks okay." She pulled up a listing.

Holly vetoed. "They have an open salad bar." She refused to eat at those.

"You don't have to have salad, baby," sighed Gail. They'd had the argument before, though. Any restaurant that was lazy enough to have a salad bar, and worse an open one with no sneeze guard, could not possibly be sanitary. "I don't want Asian... Burgers? Gourmet joint just opened."

Holly eyed Gail. "Honey, look at me. Do I look like gourmet dinner is on my list?" She was sweaty, filthy, and tired. "And damn it, now I want a burger."

Smiling, Gail handed her phone over. "Tell me what you want, I'll get it to go and feed you."

"You," sighed Holly, "are the best girlfriend ever." She skimmed the menu until she hit a burger with turkey bacon, crushed avocado, green sprouts, and Parmesan cheese. "What on god's green earth is Poutine Style?"

"Hell if I know, but I'm having that on the beer battered bacon with smoked salt onions." Gail took her phone back and made the order online. "Thirty minutes says the text." She beamed at Holly. "Just enough time."

"For ...?" They'd had quickies before, but thirty minutes was not enough time for Holly and Gail to shower, have sex, and then go get dinner.

"For cleaning up all my crap?" Gail claimed to be a slob but was insanely immaculate at Holly's. Actually her room was clean at her apartment. Gail also claimed to be lazy and hated exercise, but went running every morning. She hated working out, but had been going to the cop gym three to four times a week. The only thing that was accurate was Gail's absolute ineptitude at organized sports. Anything she could do solo, like golf or skiing, where the other person competed without her right there, she was amazingly good. Holly told her it was psychological.

She watched Gail put the books and laptop in a pile, clean up her glasses, and put the cheese puffs back in the cabinet. "I cleared off the smaller desk in the office," she noted.

"Cool. I'll put this up there." When Gail came back down, she was confused. "You emptied the desk."

"I thought you might need it."

Gail snorted, "Only if I pass and get the job." Holly knew she would but didn't press. "Okay, burgers, anything else? Drinks?"

"We're good." Holly went to get her purse, to give Gail money, but the blonde was already out the door and the garage was opening. That was another conversation that they needed to have. While Gail was gone, Holly showered and changed and got dishes ready.

They hadn't talked about money before. When they went out to eat as friends, things had been traded back and forth, with no thoughts given to who paid what. As they transitioned into dating, that hadn't changed. Holly had originally borne the opinion that Gail lived with the boys to save money, but when later she learned it was for sanity and safety, she'd managed to never rethink the idea that Gail was of moderate income.

But... She had expensive hobbies as a kid. Shooting. Horseback riding. Competitive at that. It was possible her family had struggled to make ends meet for that, but given the dearth of familial love, Holly doubted that. That all implied that Gail came from some moderate to well off people.

It wasn't long before Gail was back, announcing herself with an expletive. "Holy shit. You are lucky I love you, Lunchbox. This stuff smells so good." The smell was intense, and Holly shelved her thoughts about money to dig in.

"Oh my god..." She stared at Gail, mouth partly crammed with burger. "This is amazing!"

"Yours too?" They traded bites, unable to determine who had a better meal. Gail had actually not gone for Poutine style, instead getting a serving of traditional Poutine fries to split. There was even something for desert.

Holly groaned. "You're trying to kill me."

"We go running every morning," argued Gail, having no problem chowing down.

"I don't have your metabolism!" She looked at the second half of her burger in agony. She wanted it. But if she left it in the fridge Gail would eat it. Leftovers were, as Gail argued, fair game to whomever was hungry. The first time Gail had come back at three AM, Holly learned that her leftovers were not her own anymore. They'd fought, since Holly planned to eat the gourmet mac and cheese for lunch, but Gail won by pointing out the food wasn't labeled.

Holly smiled evilly and got a Tupperware box for her leftovers. Then she got a sticky note and a marker, writing 'Holly Stewart's Lunch' in bold letters. "I get the point," laughed Gail. She had actually finished her burger, but split out half the fries in another container. Kissing Holly's cheek, Gail stacked the boxes together. "Dr. Stewart's lunch shall not be touched."

That was interesting, in a good way. Holly watched as Gail started to clean the dishes when her eyes fell on the receipt. "Hey, honey, can I ask you something awkward."

Gail glanced over, loading the dishwasher. "Sure. But if it's about the underpants, I wear those cause they don't ride up when I'm chasing perps."

Cute. "No, I figured the boring shorts had a reason. It's about money." Looking slightly perplexed, Gail closed and started the dishwasher, but waited patiently. "I don't... You know I own this place, right?" And Gail nodded. "And, you're paying rent with the guys."

"Oh, yeah, I meant to ask you about that." Gail did not sound distressed or awkward. "I was thinking it'd make sense to just split it down the middle, but then I realized if you're still paying the loan, I could match that and then you'd be done twice as fast." She beamed, clearly delighted by her idea.

"Gail... How... That's a lot of money."

"Can't be," scoffed Gail. "You wouldn't be paying more than two grand a month on your mortgage. You're too smart." That was true, thought Holly. "Baby, are you trying to find out if I can afford living with you?"

Holly exhaled, "God! Yes. I have no idea. This is not a fun conversation."

"I make $76 a year," remarked Gail and Holly stared. "Good insurance too, because cop. I'll get a bump if I transfer. Add in my trust fund, I think we'll be okay."

"Your trust fund."

"Yeah, oodles of money. In my name too, so Mother can't get at me through it. It's all invested and shit. I don't touch it, except to buy my car. Didn't really want to get stuck with a loan." Gail did not drive an ostentatious car either. It was a modest Kia that Gail had bought shortly before they'd starting dating the first time but after they'd met.

Holly felt her voice go a little thin, "Oodles." She sat on the couch and tried to reassess her judgements. She was as bad as Lisa had been, assuming Gail was average. How stupid was that?

With a sigh, Gail sat down next to Holly. "What's wrong?"

"I think I'm an elitist ass."

Gail side-eyed Holly, incredulous. "Because you thought your house was out of my price range?" Holly nodded, guiltily. "Geeze, and here I was feeling weird because I thought you'd be all funny about not having my name on the lease or something..."

"I ... Okay, there's that too."

"Baby, I'm just moving in." She patted Holly's leg. "Tell you what, if we're still here, doing good, in six months, we can talk about that and joint bank accounts and all the grown up stuff. I'll write you a check, you tell me how much, and we can have lots of sex."

Holly blustered, "Sex."

"Sex. Like the thing we could be doing right now." Gail smiled winningly. "No stinky boy roommates, no work tomorrow..."

She couldn't help but smile at Gail. "You need a shower."

"Okay," agreed Gail. "But I expect you to be naked and on that bed when I'm done."

Getting Sophie not to play the video games was hard. Until Chris sobered up enough for Gail's taste, Gail had flat out refused to bring Sophie over and saved their 'home' hangouts to Holly's place. That just became a thing they did, and Sophie simply asked when Gail was going to stay forever. When she told Sophie that she'd be moving in with Holly, the girl had cheered and ran through her own home to tell Noelle and Frank. Then she demanded getting to help Gail pack.

Somehow Gail managed to negotiate that to unpacking of select items. Not that Gail had much of anything the kid wouldn't be okay seeing (maybe the vibrator...), but there were limits to how familiar she wanted any child to be with her underthings. Also snooping in the bedroom might turn out to be to a little too educational.

That left them downstairs or in the office, putting Gail's books away and sorting her video games. At this rate, Gail wasn't going to have much to move over. Instead of unpacking, this time Sophie was helping Gail frame pictures of herself and put them up in the office and hallway. It was Sophie's idea, saying that for every picture of Holly and her family, there should be one of Gail and hers.

"You and Holly and my friends are my family, kiddo!"

While Sophie was delighted to hear that, she was still skeptical of Gail's lack of parental photos. "Then you have to have one of me and my new family." The fostering was going well, thank god, and Gail happily framed a photo of the bemused Frank and his three girls.

The photo of Gail at graduation, with Steve, was also put up, next to the one of Holly and her mother at her college graduation. "Look at him, such a dork."

"You look all stiff."

"I was scared," she admitted. "My parents are really important police officers."

Sophie looked up, surprised. "How come you don't talk about them?"

"That's a big question, Sophie." Gail walked into the kitchen, where all the photos were strewn. "My parents care a lot about how I make them look, because they're so important."

Screwing up her face, Sophie sat down at the table. "I don't get it," she finally said.

"I don't either, most of the time." But Gail sat with her. How could she explain this simply? "My whole family are cops, Sophie. And being a cop, a Peck cop, is really important to them. So my whole life, I was always going to be a cop. And that was more important to them than me doing what I wanted."

"Oh." Sophie looked at the photos and frowned. "But you always tell me I should be what I want to be. So does Noelle."

Gail made a mental note to ask Frank what he was saying. Probably whatever Noelle said. "Because we want you to be happy."

"I thought you liked being a cop?"

"I do. I love it." Gail smiled, honestly certain she could never be anything else. "But I didn't want to be a cop as a kid, I had to be one." The puzzlement on Sophie's face was somewhat heartening. "It's confusing, I know. My mother and I don't get along. She's really nice when we're in public, but when it's just family, she tells me everything I'm doing wrong. A lot."

And now Sophie scowled, "She's mean."

"Yeah, she is."

The girl scooted out of her chair and hugged Gail tightly. "I'm sorry."

It took a lot not to cry, "Thanks." That was all she trusted her voice with.

"What about your dad?" Sophie wasn't budging from her spot, and she wasn't letting go of Gail just yet.

"My father. Doesn't like the fact that I'm dating Holly. He doesn't like it when boys date boys, or girls date girls."

Sophie loosened her hold and looked up at Gail, absolutely stunned. "How come you're so nice if they're mean and dumb?"

The laughter bubbled out, unexpectedly. "Oh, cutie, if anyone else heard you say that." She squeezed Sophie close. "Come on. Help me find the best picture of me with black hair, and we'll put it some place to surprise Holly."

Holly was absolutely terrified. "What do I do?"

"You hold him," Gail repeated, pulling on her coat. "Sweetheart, I'll be fifteen minutes okay? Stop panicking."

"But- what do I do if he starts crying?" On cue, the creature started making noises.

Crossing the room, Gail moved Holly's arms. "He's a baby, not a monster. You're holding him too far away, Holly. One hand there, the other here, okay, now lean him against your chest."

Very slowly, the baby was settled into Holly's body. She felt her heart pounding but the baby just nestled in and yawned. "Now what?"

"Now you go back to reading. You'll be fine, Holly," Gail kissed her lips lightly, stroked the baby's cheek, and bounced out the front door to run to the store.

And Holly was terrified. They had handed her a baby. Jo Rosati, a detective Gail enlisted to help her prepare for the detective test, was still on maternity leave and had agreed to help Gail in exchange for babysitting. Of course Gail had agreed, but that had ended up with them running out of diapers and Gail running out to the store, with Holly holding the baby.

Why was Holly holding the baby at all? She didn't have any idea what to so with one?! They were small and fragile and didn't speak. Holly had enough problems understanding people who could talk, let alone infants. But Gail swore it would be fine and since Holly had the baby on her lap at the moment anyway, she'd just pop out. It was better than Holly taking an hour to figure out the right brand. Since Gail had also put the baby in Holly's arms after the diaper change, Holly suspected it was actually a setup.

Damn it.

The baby yawned and squirmed a little, beginning to fuss. "Okay, um, what do I do?" The fussing stopped. When Holly didn't say anything else, it picked up again. "Oh, okay. Right. Talk to the baby. Um. Do you like forensics? I'm reading about rehydrating tissues." The baby made a noise, a gurgle, that wasn't upset. So Holly started reading the article aloud.

Fifteen minutes later, when Gail arrived back with diapers, Holly was cradling the baby in one arm and reading. "You teaching him forensics?" laughed Gail.

"He fussed. I didn't know what else to do." Holly bit her lip. "Is this okay?"

"It's perfect, baby." Gail scooted Holly until she could sit behind her, making a trio of spoons. "See? Fits just fine." Her arms looped around Holly's waist, one hand caressing the baby's face. "And he's about to conk out."

"How can you tell?" Studying the tiny face in her arm, all Holly saw was a miniature Winston Churchill, looking a little grumpy.

"Keep reading, you'll see."

So Holly kept reading, and was startled to hear soft snores coming from the baby in mere moments. "Now what?"

"Now we relax, Holly. Lean back."

The soft weight of the baby was comforting, in the same way a kitten or a puppy could be, and Holly felt her eyes close. She could hear Gail's heartbeat and let that sooth her into a doze. It was, she reflected later, the best nap she'd had in years.

Chapter Text

There were two ways to tell her parents she was moving in with Holly and Gail didn't really like either. One was less stressful now, the other later. Gail sighed and picked up the phone. "This is Gail Peck. Is my mother in?" Not Officer Peck asking for the Staff Superintendent. Gail wanted her mother right now, deal with the stress now.

She waited on hold for a short while, before her mother's voice picked up. "Constable."

Of course, "Mother." There was no reply. Right. "I thought you should know I'm moving."

"You're moving. Out of the apartment with those boys?"

"Yes." She hesitated and got up, walking the length of the deck. "I'm moving in with Holly." There, that was said.

Her mother was quiet for a moment. "I see." This time, Gail waited her out. "Have you given thought to how this may impact your life?"

"I did." She had, actually, talked to Holly and Oliver about it. "I thought this was dad's beef."

Her mother snorted. "Your father is exceedingly nearsighted when it comes to the impact of your sexuality on your career. Your sexuality is not an issue. A lesbian staff officer would give Toronto the diversity it needs."

Gail cringed. Great. She'd have to fight about that later when they got into jobs, no doubt. "Then what's the problem?"

"Do you remember nothing we've talked about? Pecks don't move in with lovers."

Oh. That. The whole reason she was supposed to marry. "That worked out so well with Nicholas," she sighed.

"Having children out of-"

"Woah! One of us needs to go back to school, cause I'm pretty sure Holly can't knock me up." Her mother paused and Gail realized how much of her mother's advice ran on Peck-auto-pilot. "Do you even care, as my mother, how I feel about any of this?" She didn't let her voice rise or get angry. She didn't feel angry.

The hesitation on the phone spoke volumes. "You haven't talked to me about how you feel in years."

Gail looked out over the city. "You never asked." There was more silence. Clearly her mother wasn't going to start now. Gail could easily fall into her old patterns and be a brat or attack. Instead, she changed tactics. "Why did you marry Dad?"

Her mother hesitated. "Bill was reasonably attractive, nice, and I saw him as a way to further my career." The brutally honest answer was not very surprising when Gail gave it a thought. "The Peck name is more powerful than Armstrong in political circles."

The money in Gail's life came from her mother's side, the Armstrongs. Her mother's ambitions had always been naked to the family, though. Police Chief if possible, though as she aged that was becoming less likely, so a staff position and then the mayorship. She couldn't be worse than Rob Ford, Steve had quipped once. Elaine had always said that power through service was more sustainable than through money.

When Gail didn't reply, her mother asked, "Does that sound cold to you?"

To lie or to be honest. "Yes," she decided. Honesty won. "Dad knows?"

"Your father knows. It was part of our agreement. He lacks the investigative abilities you and your brother are graced with and saw it as a way to provide for the Peck future."

Backhanded compliments? Par for the course. Of course she and Steve were investments. "I don't feel about Holly that way." Holly was an investment in happiness.

She could hear her mother's teeth gritting. "How ... How do you feel about her?"

Words she never expected to hear for her mother, and Gail smirked. "She makes me a better person. More human." She sat down and stretched out her legs. Gail was still the same caustic person, but softer, which conversely made her feel like she was doing her job better. That said, she didn't think her mother would understand.

"She makes you feel human."

"Shockingly, yes." Gail sighed.

"And. How does ... How do you think she feel about this?"

Part of Gail was having way too much fun with making her mother uncomfortable. "As strange a concept as this may be, mother dearest, we talk. She's nervous, for good reasons. My job scares her sometimes." She sighed. They had talked, argued, about the dangers. That Gail had talked Holly into therapy was both good and horrid. She felt guilty about being the reason Holly had a therapist.

"Dating someone who isn't a police officer is difficult. They won't understand, dear, and they won't be alright with you being in danger-"

"Really? You're okay with me being shot at, even though I'm you're daughter, just because you're a cop?" Utter silence. The fact that her mother had to even think about the answer was enough. "Right. This is why we don't talk."

Her mother exhaled loudly, "Don't be unreasonable."

"You don't worry about me getting hurt."

"You're a police office."

"I'm a person. I'm your daughter."

Now her mother snapped. "You're a Peck."

"Oh good, here it comes. Do what your told. Don't embarrass the Peck name."

"That isn't what this is about at all, Gail."

Huffing, Gail asked the obvious, "Then tell me. What is this about?"

Elaine was quiet for a moment, "You're our future. Toronto's future." Gail squeezed her eyes shut. "Your antipathy at your own career, your insistence at chasing cheap thrills over something of useful substance is ruining any chance you could have. And hitching your life to a woman who nearly left the country, without you I may add, is the same thing as Nicholas all over again."

The words stuck in Gail's head for a reason and she felt her blood run cold. "Did you tell Nick to join the army?"

"Suggested," demurred her mother. "He already had the idea."

"And the job in San Francisco, Holly's miracle job. Did you find that or- or did you kill her Visa?" Both options were horrible.

"I had nothing to do with her job offer."

This time, Gail was silent for a while. Her mother, her mother got Holly's Visa spiked. "What the hell? Why the hell would you do that!? What the hell did Holly ever do to you?"

There was a pause and her mother sighed. "Dr. Stewart doesn't want children. I admit I didn't see this happening."

Squeezing her eyes shut, everything started to make sense. Her mother wanted Holly to talk Gail out of fostering. But when Holly staying hadn't changed Gail's mind, Elaine made damn sure social services would reject her. Hell, she probably made Gail look worse. Gail tried not to shout, "You don't — Do you have any idea how messed up that is, Mother? You don't want me to have a kid and you don't want me to be with Holly, so you screw up both our futures and … what? Are you shocked we looked to each other for comfort? That I'd look to anyone for that? You wanted me to run back to your arms like I did after Perik? 'Cause look at how good that worked out for us."

"Gail, you're being unreasonable. I think Dr. Stewart is a nice woman, but you won't last. You're too different."

Gail's mind was spinning. Her mother had gone far beyond what even Gail would consider tolerable. "I have decided something," she said firmly, sadly. "You don't care about what I want, or how I feel. And I actually don't care what you think about this. I don't care what you think about anything, but you can stay the hell out of my personal life." Gail stabbed at the hang-up button, wishing for a handset to slam down.

She wasn't disappointed. You had to have some expectations before you could have them crushed. That her mother had no idea about her life was expected. She was the little Peck Monkey who should play her cymbals and dance appropriately. And Gail ... Wasn't going to play that game. But holy hell, that Elaine had done this much and gone so far... Could she even tell Holly?

Absently she sent a text to her brother, warning him to run to the hills.

Instead of waiting for a reply, Gail switched her phone to silent and lay down on the bench. She wanted to say she loved her parents, but she really wasn't sure at all. She did what they wanted, behaved as they said, and they were disappointed. Then she she everything but what they wanted, and got the same reaction.

She remembered too clearly sitting in the bridal suite, having some relative stranger help her out of her wedding dress, when her mother walked in to inform her that it wasn't too late to join the academy. They didn't even need to pull strings, Gail could simply apply and let the Peck Power take it's course.

Out of nowhere, Gail asked for five years. No more pressure, no more orders. She'd go to the academy, she'd become a police officer, and for five years her mother would step out and let her find her place. And they did, albeit unwillingly, and not without slip ups. She'd known the time was nearly up when her mother started setting up blind dates. Desperate enough for happiness, Gail allowed it, but in opening up her mind to the possibilities, she'd found Holly. The joke was on Elaine there.

"Gail, are you out here?" Holly's voice drifted out as she stepped onto the deck.

"Yep," sighed Gail, raising one hand.

She heard a door close, and Holly's voice was nearer. "Steve said you had a bad day?"

The footsteps were soft on the wood deck and Gail turned her head to look at Holly's feet. "You have cute toes," she informed her girlfriend's bare feet.

Holly sighed. "Are you drunk?"

"That would be more fun, and probably more maudlin." She looked up at Holly's concerned face. "I have informed my mother than we will be cohabiting lesbians."

Holly's face softened. "Pick up your head, honey." When Gail did, Holly scooted in so her lap could serve as a pillow. She played with Gail's hair as the sun started to set. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Decision time. Gail decided not to tell her about the Visa until she was sure. "She said being gay would make me desirable for the brass. Good PR to have a lesbo on staff." The bitterness she felt was starting to show. "Mostly she just reminded me why we don't talk." Holly was silent. She'd clearly been learning from Gail, who had told her the best way to get someone to crack was to wait. "She doesn't care."

"Gail, that can't be right." Holly's voice was filled with disbelief.

Reaching up, Gail took Holly's hand. "I am a means to an end. So's Steve." She looked at Holly's hand carefully. "I'm a Peck, but I'm not going to be like them." Kissing Holly's hand she said, firmly, "I love you."

"I love you too," sighed Holly, stroking Gail's hair. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Gail closed her eyes. "On the plus side, no more family dinners for me!" Holly's hand twitched, squeezing Gail's. She didn't say anything, but then again she didn't have to.

For all Gail had so few boxes, she had a lot of beer and friends. "Honey, you have more people than things to move." Holly stared at the bevy of police officers in her home, their home, with growing dismay.

"That's why we ordered pizza, baby," grinned Gail. She held a beer out to Holly, apologetically.

Well. At least Gail did have friends willing to help her move. Holly sighed and kissed her girlfriend. It had only taken one trip with Chris's truck to move Gail in, since none of the furniture came with her. The bed and dresser in Gail's room were handed down to Oliver's eldest, who was getting her own room at Oliver's. The cookware was left with the boys, though Gail swore they'd never use it. That left boxes of books, clothes, and weapons. And video games. Apparently the video games at the apartment had been Gail's, which made sense when she thought about Gail's sleeping problems.

Even when Gail stayed over, there were nights that Holly would wake up and find Gail sitting in the living room, watching the TV on low, or reading a book. The first time it happened, Holly asked if everything was okay and Gail had brushed it off. By the fourth time, they talked about how sometimes Gail's brain just didn't turn off. After that, Holly established a routine. If she woke up without Gail in bed she'd go downstairs, get a drink of water, and tell Gail she was going back to bed. Most of the time Gail would get up right away and go with her back upstairs to sleep. Any time she didn't, Holly would sit with Gail and either talk or just be there. Most of the time it was talking these days.

Of all the people she met, though, Holly liked Celery the most. She was funny, smart, and while she was a total health freak and Wiccan, she actually understood what she was talking about. They chatted about food and exercise while Oliver and Gail played some game that involved shooting each other. Chloe and Chris were cheering on Oliver, and Nick and Dov were arguing about sports while finishing the last of the pizza.

The first to leave had been Frank, Noelle, Sophie and baby Olivia. Sophie had run around with Leo for most of the day, the two hogging the video games. They'd had enough joint play days with Gail to be friendly enough, and both wanted Gail's attention the whole time they were there. It was the first time all of Gail's friends had seen her that that wrapped up in children. Noelle plied Holly with Olivia, insisting she hold the year old baby all day. Normally Gail confiscated the child but Holly gave it a whirl.

Andy had come and gone, leaving Holly with a warning that Gail walked around other people's homes in the buff. Gail pointed out it was once, from the shower to the couch, and normal people provided their guests with towels. Also Holly had already seen her naked, and there were no complaints. Steve and Traci had also left, hauling a sound asleep Leo. Steve brought them a housewarming gift of tickets to the ballet and a garbage pail. Always surprising, Gail confessed she'd wanted to see the show.

Still, the hordes were getting wearing and Holly mentioned as much to Celery. In turn, Celery whispered to Oliver and he quickly died in the game. "Okay, my Petulant Peck! It's time for us to get out of here! Come on everyone, clean up before you make forensics worry about crime scene contamination."

The group cleaned up, even taking the trash with them, remarkably fast. "Thanks, Oliver," smiled Gail. She had a strange fondness for the man who then hugged her. Holly could not imagine Gail allowing that from anyone else.

"Anything for you, darling. You're serious, huh?" He held her at arms length, studying her face. Holly blinked. He was asking Gail if she was serious about Holly after they moved in together?

"I think I'll be good at it." The answer didn't match what Holly thought the question was, and she frowned. They must be talking about the job.

"No, you'll be great at it." He clapped her shoulders. "Holly! Keep her home till Wednesday. Then we have work and excellence to create." There was another hug.

This time Gail laughed, "You're going to make me proofread your letter, aren't you?"

"Yes, because you write prettier. Okay! I'm out."

The last to leave were Dov and Chris. "So." Dov looked around. "I'm actually going to miss you around the apartment."

"Oh shut up," replied Gail. It wasn't quite snappish. "Like I've even been there lately."

"Can I hug you?" Chris was wistful.

"Jesus, it's not like I won't see you on Wednesday, idiots." And of all things, Gail grabbed both boys around their necks and hugged them. "Thanks," she said, incredibly quietly. "I know." Before Dov or Chris could reply, she knocked their heads together. "Now go away." Gail closed the door behind her friends and made a frustrated noise. "Oh my god, they're gone."

Holly smirked. "So? You sound very excited."

Leaning against the door, Gail looked giddy. "I don't have to go anywhere." She bounced. "I can walk around in my underpants and not have to think about what time it is, and if I should go back early to do laundry because my uniforms are all here and clean."

"You're excited about your laundry?"

"Come with me to the laundromat and you would be too."

"No," laughed Holly. "I'm going to think about you wandering around in your underpants."

Gail got a cocky look on her face, "I have five days off. You have four."

"What will you do with yourself that last day," teased Holly. Gail didn't answer. She simply locked the door and smiled. Without a word, Gail walked past Holly, pulling her shirt off on the way. "Oh," blinked Holly, watching Gail step out of her shorts and, in nothing but underwear, climb the steps.

This living together stuff had it's benefits.

The idea of getting drunk was so, so appealing to Gail right now. Still, she nursed her first Jack and Coke at the bar and confused the hell out of the bartender by not asking for shots. "Hey, stranger!" Dov dropped onto the stool beside her. "Where's your better half?"

"Out," muttered Gail, carefully sipping the drink. Dov ordered a drink and Gail felt him staring at her. "What?" she snapped.

"I'm trying to figure what you did."

Groaning, Gail put her head on the counter. "I'm in the doghouse."

"Come on, it couldn't be that bad."

"Her mother's in town."

"This sounds like a table conversation," announced Dov, and he took Gail by the arm over to one of their regular tables. "Do I need to call Andy or Traci?"

Gail scowled at Dov, but sat down, "You're girly enough for me." They shared an awkward look, and Gail wondered if Dov remembered when he was high on painkillers and confessed his feelings to her. Really, she probably would have been happy with Dov, on many levels. And then killed him in his sleep for being Dov.

"I'll take that as a compliment," decided Dov. "What's her mom like? Or is that the problem?"

"She's awesome. The opposite of Superintendent Mom. Funny, smart..." Holly's mother was very much like Holly. Not a people doctor, Lily Stewart was a PhD in botany who worked in biotechnology. She had come to visit the Toronto Botanical Gardens, and used the business trip as an excuse to meet her daughter's live in girlfriend.

So Gail recounted the story of the lunch, and how Lily had been fun to talk to until she started making veiled comments about kids. "You guys don't want kids?" Dov's question was innocent.

"Holly kinda doesn't." Maybe. They still talked around and about it a little, but Gail agreed to not press the matter until she turned thirty. She wanted kids very much but was alright with borrowing Leo or Sophie or the baby. And Holly was still super-hesitant about the idea. It was okay to give it time. "And it was getting... You know how parents push?"

Dov was about as close with his parents as Gail and Chris were (and that was much of why the three had lasted so long as roommates). "Yeah, especially when they don't understand."

"Right so ... I ... Was me."

"Yikes." Dov had once told her she made a horrible first impression and he wasn't wrong. "What did you say?"

Gail sighed. "She started it." She knew it was petulant. "She asked when Holly was going to have a baby, since my job was too high risk. So ... I said I was trying my hardest but it hadn't stuck yet."

The damned thing was Holly had smirked. The second half of the joke was the problem, as while the first part was amusing the second was crass. She told Dov the rest of the joke. He winced.

"You make a joke about dildos to your girlfriend's mother?"

"I might be insane." Gail sipped the Jack and Coke again. She didn't want to actually get drunk, as that would probably end with a very unhappy Holly when she went home. "Holly suggested dinner should be just her and her mother with ... She has this look."

Dov scratched his chin. "Need to crash at my place?"

"No, I'm not climbing trees again." While Dov didn't get the joke he nodded. "I'm waiting to hear the all clear so I can go home and not embarrass my girlfriend anymore." Thank god Lily was staying at a hotel.

They both drank slowly. Dov finally got out the trivia cards and they played one on one for a little while until he stopped and jerked his chin. "Hey, go apologize."

Gail glanced over her shoulder and blinked as Holly, sans mother, was walking towards them. "Maybe I can melt into the table." The look on Holly's face was firm. Muttering he was out, Dov left the cards on the table and vanished. "You chicken shit," growled Gail at his back.

Without asking, Holly sat down in Dov's seat. "How many?" She pointed at the glass in Gail's hand, which still had some remnants.

"Just this." She slid the glass away, not interested anymore. "Your mom at the hotel?" Holly nodded.

The cop in Gail was patient. She knew to wait. The girlfriend wanted to grovel. "My mother," sighed Holly, "asked me if you were satisfying me." Gail blinked and Holly added, "In bed. Sexually."

"God I hope so," Gail replied, not thinking before the words came out of her mouth. Holly quirked a grin. "Wait. Does that mean I'm not in trouble for the not-funny joke?"

"Not with her, no," admitted Holly. Gail sighed and started to form an apology about how she knew it was inappropriate. "I, on the other hand, am." All the words died on her lips and Gail stared at her girlfriend. "I... May not have previously mentioned I was your first girlfriend."

A series of emotions went through Gail's mind, from horror to amusement and back to embarrassment. "Wait a second. You told your mother I was a- a-" Gail lowered her voice, "You told her I was a lesbian virgin?"

"Not in so many words," cringed Holly. "She figured you were nervous, and I said she was the first parent that you'd met." That much was true. The meeting with Nick's parents had been non-existent, as they were dead long before the wedding, though nothing yet topped a wedding reception dinner with your very angry family and no one else. Steve still counted it as the worst family dinner ever.

"That could mean a lot of things."

Holly sighed, "Saying you hadn't had a girlfriend before was a give away." Looking at the table, Holly grumbled, "She led me right into her trap. Sneaky parents."

"I suppose that could be worse," Gail sighed and signaled the bartender to bring Holly her usual. "Is your mom mad about all the other straight girls you dated?" Only one had been really serious, or so Holly said. The morose nod made Gail feel a lot better.

Holly ran her finger around the rim of Gail's empty glass. "It's like Lisa and Rachel, you know? She doesn't want me to get hurt. And from her perspective, it's sudden. I was all elated about you, then I didn't talk about you, then I wanted you to run away with me, and now we moved in together..."

"When you put it that way, I sound like a terrible idea," agreed Gail. The waitress brought two drinks but Gail's had a cherry. Roy Rogers. Perfect. "On the bright side, she doesn't live here." Avoiding Gail's mother was relatively easy, since she worked in the big building and neither Gail nor Holly did. "Man, I was worried she'd be mad about the cop thing."

Smiling, Holly sipped her drink. "Oh there's that too." She ticked off the issues on her fingers, "I've allowed a previously straight cop to live with me, who broke up with me once, and while you are very sweet, you are a disaster waiting to happen."

No one called Gail 'sweet' except Holly, and generally that was after sex, but she snorted. "Joke's on her. I'm already a disaster."

"Well, you're my disaster." Holly wore that awkward half smile. She leaned in and kissed Gail. "I told her she didn't have to come by if she didn't like you."

Gail winced. "Holly-"

"And she apologized, said I was a grown up, and then asked about the sex thing."

"I have no reference to this, Holly ... Is that good?" Parents, in Gail's experience, were not to be joked with.

"It is." Holly leaned across the drinks and kissed Gail. "We're having dinner again tomorrow, at home. No sex jokes. No baby talk."

Gail chewed her lip. "I thought you wanted to watch the game tomorrow."

Holly looked perplexed. "I do. You don't think I got my love of sports from my dad, do you?"

Chapter Text

There was a luxurious feeling to waking up late, when the sun was already closer to its peak than the beginning. When Holly had a lazy, slow, roll into consciousness and her awareness first touched on the little, soft, things in life. The mornings when first color Holly's eyes saw was the various shades of blonde that topped the head of the most complicated and wonderful person in her life. When she felt warm skin against her own and the soft air of someone else's breath. A start where Holly could observe the sleeping form of her girlfriend in absolute relaxation and calm, and Gail looked delicate and gentle.

This was not one of those mornings.

This was the fifth morning in a row where Gail had been gone when Holly woke up. Perhaps the better way was to say Gail was not yet back. More accurate at least. She'd been stuck working a case with Dov, a sting operation that the two were apparently good at. Holly vaguely remembered Gail doing that before, in the time when they were just friends, but it hadn't bothered her as much as it did now.

When the person you spent your nights with was absent, it was strange and uncomfortable. Sounds you'd ignore with her there were startling and distressing. The bed was colder and needed an extra blanket. Worst, you had to be extra quiet the rest of the day, when she was home, so she could sleep.

So there she lay, far too early to want to be up, listening to the rain and thunder pounding the house and thinking about her girlfriend. The rest of the visit with her mother had actually gone well. Holly had been terrified since the last girlfriend who met her parents was straight now. She had made a choice not to mention that Gail had never dated women before Holly, only to have her mother wheedle it out the way that mothers did.

Gail didn't really mind, but then again, Holly hadn't given her the details of her serious ex-girlfriends. At the dinner with just her and her mother, Holly had divulged the whole story, including the part with her Visa and how Gail had been the only friend to help her and support her on both ends of that move.

Her mother, sternly, had informed her that Gail was in love and under no circumstances was Holly to run away. Lily knew her too well. There had been other, lesser relationships in the last six years, but none had lasted past the other woman falling in love. Always the other woman, never Holly. Holly kept herself away from that investment.

So she told her mother the truth. She was in love with Gail and had said so to her. Holly Stewart was growing, trying new things, and self-honesty about emotions was one of them. That didn't stop her mother from taking her emotional temperature, but it did mean Lily was more inclined to listen and believe her. That this time felt different and special and she was in it for the long haul.

Which was when her mother asked if the straight girl was good in bed. Because mothers. Holly blurted the answer (yes) and felt insanely embarrassed to even have that conversation at all.

The storm picked up, distracting Holly. The rain was up to pouring and the lightning made it seem like midday. Then there was the thunder. Ugh. Holly curled up under the blankets and wished Gail was there. While she wasn't afraid of the storm, having a soft, warm body to curl up with while it raged was one of the most peaceful things in the universe. Instead, she was stuck inside, alone, listening to the tree branches shake and the windows rattle.

Atop those sounds, the familiar one of the garage door rumbled through the house. Holly glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was four in the morning. The garage rumbled again and she closed her eyes to concentrate on the noises. A door opened and closed, Gail coughed and took off her boots. A moment of silence passed and then the softer sound of socked feet could be heard. Gail went right for the office and then bathroom, only coming into the bedroom after a rather long shower.

When Gail sat heavily on the bed, Holly opened her eyes and saw Gail's entire body looking exhausted. "Hey," she said softly, reaching over to touch Gail's bare back.

"Hey," Gail sounded surprised and turned around to smile at her. That wonderfully goofy smile, incredibly soft and tender, gave Holly a thrill. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, storm did." Holly ran her fingers over Gail's back and side. "I like this look," she grinned.

Gail looked down, confused. "Oh, I was trying to remember what comes next," she sighed.

"Shirt, underpants. Or not."

Smiling, Gail got up and dug in her dresser for underpants and then raided Holly's for a sports shirt. "I'm way too tired, Holly."

When Gail joined her under the covers, Holly wrapped herself around the blonde. "I only meant I don't care what you wear, as long as you're here." She closed her eyes and settled in, listening to Gail's breathing.

"Romantic," yawned Gail, her body relaxing quickly.

Storm or not, it was much easier to fall asleep for two more hours now than it should be and Holly woke up hours later to Gail's alarm and a cursing Gail. There was much slapping at the nightstand before the sound stopped and Gail lay still on her stomach. "Honey," whispered Holly.

"Fuck no." The words were clear and pained and tired and Ice Queen.

Holly ran a soothing hand over Gail's back. "Do you have to get up?"

"No," she replied, surly, her back tense with frustration. Holly smiled and rubbed Gail's back. It was more of a caress, intending to be soothing. As Gail's back loosened, Holly stretched out and rested her cheek on Gail's shoulder blade.

Trusting her girlfriend not to skip work, Holly assumed Gail had the afternoon off and closed her eyes to breath in the scent of the woman she used as a pillow. "I love you," she said softly, barely above a breath.

She felt, more than heard, Gail's reply. "Me too."

"Good." Holly smiled and let herself fall into a light doze.

When she drifted back into awareness, the storm had gotten louder and Gail was moving in her sleep. After a moment, Holly recognized the motions. They were tight and controlled. Gail was just barely moving her arms, the hands clenching and loosening, her mouth opening. This was not the first time Holly had seen the beginnings of Gail reacting to her dreams.

She shifted, still draped over Gail's side, and squeezed her gently. "It's Holly," she said, in as clear a voice as she could muster. Gail stiffened and Holly repeated herself. "Gail, it's me, Holly."

It was Holly's therapist who had come up with the idea. At Gail's request, the two therapists had compared notes when Holly had asked about what would actually help when Gail had a nightmare. The directions were simple. If they were already touching, deepen it. Otherwise, don't try to touch her. In either case, tell Gail she was there, she was Holly, and where they were. Thankfully, Gail wasn't prone to lashing out when she had a nightmare. Like so many other things, Gail just kept her pain bottled up inside.

"Gail, wake up." Holly moved slowly, easing her weight off of Gail but keeping her hand in place. "You're at home with me. It's just a dream."

Gail stopped moving and her eyes opened. "Oh," she sighed and scrunched her face up. "What... What time is it?"

"Little after eight."

Nodding, Gail pushed herself up. "Well. Shit, there goes catching up on sleep." She sat cross legged and stared at the windows above the bed. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Some," yawned Holly. "Do you remember what you were dreaming?"

"No." Sometimes she did, sometimes she didn't. To Gail, the ones she didn't remember were the most annoying. "I'm okay."

Taking Gail at her word, Holly nodded. "Breakfast." She swung her legs out of bed, stretching as she sat up. Gail's hand on her shoulder stayed her. "It's Saturday, honey."

"I know." Gail moved around and sat behind Holly, resting her head on the shoulder with her hand. "Thanks for waking me up." Her free hand wrapped around Holly's waist.

Holly pressed her weight against Gail, trying to be comforting. "Do you have to work today?"

"No, we made the bust last night. Right before the rain started." Gail didn't let her go though. "Why did you stay with me that night?"

"Which night?"

"The first time. When I was on Oxy and freaked out in your guest room."

Squeezing Gail's hand, Holly sighed. "Because you shouldn't be alone."

Gail made a soft noise into her shoulder. "I used to never want to touch anyone. After a nightmare." Her voice was quiet but not a whisper. "I wanted everyone to leave me alone and ... When we were not dating, all I wanted was for you to be there." She paused, "That sounds really needy."

"Its allowed, honey."

"Not a fairytale," sighed Gail.

Smiling, Holly turned her head so her cheek pressed against Gail. "Still. We're pretty beautiful." There was a mirthful laugh into her shoulder and Gail kissed it. "Come on, I'll make french toast."

With one more kiss, Gail let go and followed Holly downstairs. "I'll make coffee. Lots of coffee." There was flash of light and the house seemed to shudder a second later when the thunder echoed. "Shut up, no one asked you," she growled at the weather and Holly laughed.

"If you manage control over the weather, I'll be impressed," she teased her girlfriend. "I have a proposal." Starting the coffees, Gail just made a noise to indicate a question. "After breakfast, we curl up on the couch and watch a movie, or read, or something horribly mundane that everyone else will think is boring."

She glanced over at Gail who looked thoughtful. "That's the best offer I've had all week, Holly."

Drunk people were annoying. The less Gail drank, the more annoying drunk people had become. So Nick, who could be very annoying on the best of times, was rubbing her last nerve at the Penny. The only reason she hadn't gone over and popped him one was that Chloe and Traci were bracketing her, keeping her trapped.

"Can I just go home?" Gail really didn't want to be there, hanging out with her cop family, on a Friday night.

"No," smiled Traci. "Because you will just go home and mope."

Growling, Gail sipped her beer. "I will not. I'm a grown woman."

"She means she'll watch reality TV." Chloe winked and Gail begrudged her a smile. "When's Holly back?"

Gail sighed. "Thursday." Seven days. Seven days of kicking around Holly's house alone. Okay, their house. Gail paid rent, as it were, but she still felt like it was Holly's. And with Holly in Victoria for a conference, the house was all Gail. And she disliked it.

Chloe tapped her glass. "I think we should go to Gail's and drink where there are no stupid boys."

And without Gail actually having a say in the matter, she found herself drinking beers in her own living room with Chloe and Traci and no stupid boys. The last part of that was okay by Gail, but she was less keen on a hen party. When Holly called, Gail went to the stairs for some privacy.

"Hi, how's Victoria?"

"Wet. I don't think it's stopped raining since I got here," grumped Holly. They'd texted when Holly was in transit, but had not had the chance to talk.

"I don't think I'm going to like this," Gail admitted.

That got a laugh from her girlfriend, the weird laugh when Holly felt multiple emotions but couldn't express any in words. "Well." Holly cleared her throat. "I just got out of the shower and I'm naked."

Gail's mouth went dry. "Jesus, Holly, no we can't do that." She closed her eyes, picturing naked Holly on their bed.

"Gail," sighed Holly, exasperated.

Quickly, Gail cut in. "No, I mean not tonight." The idea of phone sex was curiously appealing. She tried to picture it with Nick and almost gagged.

"Why? I don't have anything till brunch tomorrow, and I know you're off till second-"

"Traci and Chloe are here, drinking all our beer." Silence. "Right. So I could go to the bedroom, but that would be, um ..."

"Rude and crass."

"Yeah." Gail exhaled loudly. "I didn't know you were in to that," she teased.

"Neither did I." There was a breathless laugh. "I don't know if I am, but hey, I'm all about new experiences." Both women paused and then laughed. "Why are you entertaining guests? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just Nick being a dick. He was digging me about being bi and got all weird when I said I wasn't."

"Honey, you did date men."

"Sure, so did you. I'm not bi," Gail said firmly. And she knew in her heart she wasn't. There was just no way she was bisexual because men, even men she'd slept with, stopped looking attractive. No. That wasn't it. Nick and Chris, for example, looked exactly as attractive as they always had. They just didn't turn her on.

Once Holly had kissed her in the coat room, Gail started thinking about what it meant. As their friendship grew, Gail realized how much Holly meant to her in a way no one else had. It was that silly setup Holly had at the Penny that told Gail what she needed to know on no uncertain terms. Since that moment, men stopped being attractive in the same way. They looked nice, but they didn't flip her switches. The idea of kissing them didn't make her feel warm inside.

When they'd broken up, Gail had been so loathe to admit it that she still never looked at anyone else. She wanted Holly and for once it was just that simple. Why couldn't everyone else see that?

"I didn't get engaged to men," joked Holly.

"Hey." She wasn't really annoyed that Holly gave her crap about Nick. Holly did not like Nick very much, though she tolerated his existence as well as Gail tolerated Lisa. She liked Rachel, Rachel was cool. Lisa was shallow and elitist and bitchy and reflected most of Holly's worst traits. Rachel was an overprotective momma bear friend, like Traci. "No more men. This is a man free body," she informed Holly, firmly.

"That is good to know." There was a rustle of cloth and Holly's voice was muffled, "There's a dinner tomorrow. It's over at nine."

Which meant midnight in Toronto. "Call me anyway, okay? I want to hear your voice." Gail was glad she was sitting away from her friends and they could neither hear her voice nor see her blush.

"I will. I love you, honey. Don't stay up all night with the girls."

"Don't try to make it sound fun, Chloe's here." That made Holly laugh softly. "I love you too, you nerd. Night."

After hanging up, Gail sat in the dark for a moment more. She could hear Traci and Chloe laughing about something and sighed. There was a funny ache in her chest, a hole where Holly usually sat. Even though they were just apart for a week, it was painful. She wanted Holly to just be around. But instead she had friends in the living room and Gail hauled herself to her feet to join them.

"Hey, she's back," cheered Chloe. "How's Holly?"

"Fine." Gail dropped onto the easy chair.

With a glance at Gail, Chloe turned to Traci, "Is she always like this? Or is it just me?"

"Pretty much always," Traci confirmed. "She's sulky when she can't have what she wants. Wait till you're on a stakeout with her and there's no coffee."

Gail picked up her beer, joining the conversation. "I'm cutting down on coffee."

Both her friends stared at her. "You?" Traci was agog. "Wow, Holly's totally got you whipped."

Actually her therapist had suggested she cut down on the coffee, to try and sleep more. Or better. The list of things she was supposed to do was long and crazy and impossible. One of the items was to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. That wasn't possible given her job. So she started with cutting out hard alcohol and back on coffee.

"She doesn't drink hard liquor anymore either," pointed out Chloe.

Ever the shrewd one, Traci didn't say why out loud but asked, "Doing okay?" Gail shrugged and nodded. "Holly's good for you."

Gail looked down at her hands and sighed, "I think so."

"She's cute like this," Chloe remarked. "Are you still jealous?"

Rewinding multiple conversations in her head, Gail found the right one when she'd told Chloe she was jealous of being able to be herself all the time. "Less. You just know, though, and it's really annoying. Not fake."

"Thank you." They clinked their beer bottles together. "Do I get to ask personal questions? I mean, I'm kind of drunk in your living room and Traci's your friend..."

Gail rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She wasn't about to tell Chloe that she thought of her as a friend as well.

Traci was amused, "Its so cute, you're making friends." When Gail shook her fist, Traci laughed. "At least Andy's not here. She has this pathological obsession with 'I Never' and Gail threatened to use pepper spray on her if she brought it up again."

"Never have I ever used pepper spray on McNally's person. Intentionally." Hoisting her bottle, Gail smirked and took a sip.

"See that isn't fair! I sprayed her when we were cadets," complained Traci.

"We're not playing!" They all laughed though. "How're things with Steve?"

Traci's skin darkened. "Fine," she said too quickly. "Good... Gail I don't want to talk to you about your brother!"

"So I shouldn't ask if he's pleasing you-" Traci launched over from the couch and covered Gail's mouth, shrieking a no. Not that Gail and Steve talked about sex, ever. Pecks didn't. Gail wasn't even sure other Pecks actually had sex, except there were enough of them around to assure that they must.

Once the tussle was over, and Gail promised not to talk about Steve, Chloe remarked that Steve was cute. "But if I was going to date a Peck, it'd be Gail."

Silence. Both Traci and Gail stared at Chloe. "Me?"

"Gail?"

Chloe looked between them. "Well. Yeah. You're hot, Gail. That skin and the hair. And I bet you're great in bed."

"Oooooookay, how drunk are you?" Gail forced herself to laugh, as if Chloe had said the most ridiculous thing ever.

"Not that drunk," grinned Chloe. "Besides, just because you're a lesbian doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be bi."

Gail blinked. "Oh." She thought about it for a moment and decided it made some sense. "Well. Dov is practically a woman," she allowed. "But I'm not drunk enough to talk about your sex life either, Princess." They moved on to other topics thankfully.

The second night on her own, Gail was presented with Chris, Dov, and pizza. They played video games for hours, which was fun enough. When Holly called at two AM, Gail was too sleepy to hold up her own conversation and they promised to call earlier on Sunday. That didn't happen, as Gail was called in to cover when the flu ran through the division. She ended up working doubles and collapsing in the bed at the end of the day.

At least the sheer exhaustion kept the nightmares at bay, even though she broke the rule about no more than three cups of coffee a day.

Tuesday night was different. Her phone rang at nine and Gail brightened to see Holly was FaceTiming her. "Hello, sexy," she grinned, turning off the TV. Holly's face was free of makeup, clearly freshly showered.

"Hello yourself. You look like you slept."

"I did." Gail felt any tension she'd had leftover from covering shifts drift away as she studied the tiny, pixelated face of the woman she lived with. "God, you're beautiful, Holly," Gail exhaled.

"You're just saying that because I'm thousands of miles away."

"I'm saying it because it's true." Gail rubbed her thumb along the side of her phone, wishing she could touch and kiss Holly right now.

There must have been something in her face making that obvious as Holly blushed. "Stop looking at me like that, honey. I'm supposed to go back out."

"Sorry." She wasn't sorry at all but in deference to Holly's plans, Gail changed the subject. "This place is weird without you here."

Holly laughed softly. "I feel the same way when you're working the night shift."

"I need to stop that," sighed Gail. "I like being a cop. You just make me want to stop screwing around."

With a smirk, Holly asked, "You sure about that?"

"I'm not screwing around with you, Stewart," laughed Gail. "Wouldn't mind some sweet lady loving, though."

Holly burst out laughing. "Who said that?"

"Bisexual Chloe Price, who says I'm hotter than my brother. She's just leapfrogged over Andy and Chris on my friend list."

Still laughing, Holly asked, "You rank them?"

"Of course. Ollie, Traci, Dov, Chloe, Chris, Andy."

"What about me, Steve, and Nick?"

Gail stuck her tongue out. "You are my best friend and my girlfriend. You aren't on the list. Steve is right up there with Oliver, and Nicholas can fuck himself. He's being weird again."

"That's never a good sign. Did he break up with that IA woman?"

"I'm not sure they we're actually dating," Gail grumbled. "Tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow."

"Technically I'll be home before Thursday night. I have a direct flight."

"I know, I may have to pick you up in the cruiser."

"Kinky," smile Holly. "I could take a..." Her voice trailed off and her face fell.

"Taxi, Holly, you can say the word, but snowball in hell you're taking a taxi when I'm around." She knew on an intellectual level that Holly had taken a taxi to the hotel from the airport, but she didn't really want to think about it. It had been Holly's idea to turn on the 'Find My Friends' apps on their phone and track each other that way. That had helped as long as she didn't think about the phone not being with her.

Holly studied Gail's face in the phone. "I'm fine, honey. Don't worry." When Gail scowled Holly looked guilty. "Tall order. I know. Sorry."

"Stop being so Canadian," smiled Gail. "I love you."

They talked for an hour before Gail started to yawn and Holly ordered her to bed. Wednesday was Holly's turn to be drained, having spent the day running around Victoria meeting people. But Thursday...

Oliver got both edges of Gail's tongue at its sharpest when he asked her to stay later. As soon as the words 'pick up Holly' left her mouth, he relented but said he'd need her tomorrow. That wasn't Gail's plan. Her plan, her careful plan, was for picking up her girlfriend, eating, and then having three days where the world could take care of itself for a change. But Oliver made her a deal. She worked Friday, she stayed on days for the next two weeks instead of second shift.

That was a deal and Gail took it with both hands. There wasn't enough time to change after the argument, so Gail chucked her gear into the trunk and picked up Holly still wearing her uniform. The look on Holly's face seeing Gail in the uniform was worth the drive. Between the short hair and the uniform, Holly's buttons were clearly pushed in all the right ways.

Holly wanted to leave the luggage in the car, but Gail pointed out they both needed showers. That just made Holly complain she wasn't going to get to undress Gail, but she agreed to at least bring the luggage into the house. Food waited though. Definitely. Gail knew it was a little crazy, missing someone so much and craving their touch so much after just a week. But everything about this, about them, felt so right when they were together that the week dragged painfully.

Sweaty and satiated, Gail let her head rest on Holly's chest. Their legs were still threaded together, the sheets an absolute mess.

"I missed you too," Holly exhaled into Gail's hair, her hands lightly drifting up and down Gail's back. "I used to love those trips. See new places, eat new foods."

"Have sex with random people?" Holly pinched her side and Gail laughed, sliding off to lie on her side. "I'm kidding." She kissed Holly's arm, then shoulder, and then neck. With a pleased sigh, Holly slipped her arm under Gail and pulled her close.

Gail didn't care about who Holly had slept with before. They both had pasts and histories, but right now they had each other. And being here, being happy with her personal life, was still wonderful and novel to Gail. She never wanted to let it, or Holly, go.

Chapter Text

"Hey, officers ..." Holly glanced over at her uniformed girlfriend, who was busy giving her rookie a short dress down about how to properly clear a scene. When Gail didn't answer, Holly checked again. Yep. "Officer Peck, can you call an ambulance?"

That got Gail's attention, "Dispatch, Peck 8727. We need an ambulance on scene."

"Copy. Status?"

At the reply, Gail looked at Holly, clearly lost. "This one's alive," Holly explained, pointing to the second body.

"Son of a ... Damn it, Gerald! Again?" She snarled and slapped her radio, "Dispatch, looks like one of our DBs is still alive. Dr. Stewart's on scene."

Even Holly could hear the laugh from dispatch. "Copy. We have Officer Moore's call at clearing the scene."

"Yeah, he missed one," snarled Gail. "You are really pissing me off, Gerald."

Even Holly knew the kid's name was Duncan, but Gail only called him that when he did something right. Which meant very rarely. It had become a joke at the lab, with everyone blaming 'Gerald' for all sorts of mishaps. "His pulse is very slow, Gail," demurred Holly, as Gail squatted beside her.

Gail pulled off her leather gloves and pulled on a rubber one to check the pulse herself. "Wow, okay, Duncan, it's not that bad." She had to move her hand around twice, and finally put an ear to his chest.

"He's not not-dead?" The rookie (Gail insisted he would always be a rookie, even if he was out of probation and a real, full, officer) walked up, confused.

"The word is alive, you moron," Gail corrected. "He's alive, but his heart and breathing are low..." She trailed off and stared at the younger man.

"Oh! He was probably drugged!"

A smile crossed Gail's face. "Better. Okay, you can pick lunch. Sandwiches or burgers?"

"Aren't burgers a sandwich, ma'am?"

Holly covered her mouth as Gail explained, laboriously, that they were not at all the same. While she chastised Duncan, Gail's attention remained on the not-dead guy, keeping track of his pulse and respiratory reactions.

The EMTs did not take overly long, in fact, they were surprisingly fast. They quickly loaded up the guy into their ambulance, entirely non chatty. Holly gave them all the information she could think of and was delighted (and turned on a bit) when Gail recited his vital stats. "Impressive, Officer," she smiled at Gail.

But Gail was staring at the EMTs. She'd gotten that way before at crime scenes, sometimes just when dealing with people. It was never her gut, Gail would tell Holly repeatedly, it was her observation skills. "Counting's easy," replied Gail, eyes on the ambulance. "Duncan, ask dispatch what number was the ambulance they sent."

The younger officer, fear of Gail well and truly placed in his heart, did so. "What's wrong," asked Holly, stepping behind Gail out of reflex.

"How do you load a body into an ambulance, Dr. Stewart? Head or feet first?"

What? The question was odd. "Head first. All the equipment is up there."

"Right." Her hand went to her gun. "Duncan."

"Ambulance 1321." All three looked at the ambulance. 973. Duncan reached for his gun, but Gail stayed him with a hand. "Do I ... Am I backup?"

"Yes. And you are staying with Dr. Stewart and her nerds, who are going to go behind their van until I draw my gun. If any one of them gets hurt, I will take it out on you personally. If anyone hits the ground, cuff them." Without looking back, without drawing her gun, Gail walked up to the ambulance. The driver's door was open. "Hey, quick question," she said, smiling far too brightly.

Beside her, Duncan called in a request for backup, stumbling over an explanation that the ambulance on scene was not the one sent. "License plate," Holly whispered, and he quickly read that off.

"Doctor ma'am, you need to go back to your van," he said, carefully. Duncan was slow to learn, but he was also terrified of Gail.

Stepping back, slowly, Holly looked at the ambulance and saw Gail's hand wrap slowly around the handle of her gun. Oh dear god. She inched back to forensics. "Everyone needs to step behind the van," she said, as calmly as possible.

When Gail's very loud cop voice cut into the air, everyone moved. "Hands. On your head. Now!"

Holly couldn't help but watch as Gail, gun out, was shouting at the driver. She was a step away from the door, out of his arm's reach, and he lunged to close the door. Gail was faster, jamming her shoulder in and lashing out with her left hand. It was over in an instant. Gail threw the man twice her size out of the ambulance and onto the ground. Her partner did as he'd been told and grabbed the man and cuffed him. Holly knew it was all momentum and angles, but damn it was impressive.

Gail was in the ambulance, gun still out, before Holly could blink. "Don't even think about it. Hands up." The keys flew out of the van. "Open the back. Hands on your head. That's it. Step out easy..." The second fake EMT laboriously climbed out of the ambulance. "On your knees." He complied, and a moment later, Gail emerged from the back of the ambulance to cuff him.

It was amazing.

That night, after making sure Gail was physically fine, Holly intended to shower her with what she decided was 'appreciation sex.' After a while of kissing rather frantically on the bed, Gail trapped Holly in a hug, "Hey, baby, I'm not knocking the sex, but hang on a minute." She exhaled, catching her breath. "You okay?"

Holly put her head on Gail's chest. "I'm not freaking out," she promised. "I ... Wasn't scared at all. You had everything under control. It was..." Holly looked up. "You are a fucking bad ass, Gail Peck!"

"Oh. Yes." Gail looked like this was anything but news to her.

Holly swatted Gail's arm. "Moron. I mean you were amazing. You saw everything! You got Duncan to do the right things, which is a miracle, and you arrested those guys! It's crazy!" She squirmed until she could sit up on Gail's thighs. "My girlfriend is a hero."

"You're not scared because you saw me be a cop?" Gail sounded incredulous.

"Well. Yes. No. I'm scared in a different way, I guess." Holly tried to take measure of her thoughts. "Parlay."

Gail screwed up her face. "Are we pirates?"

Right, she'd not used that with Gail before. "I'm going to think this out loud, okay, so don't freak out and climb up a tree."

Dryly, Gail pointed out the obvious. "You're sitting on my legs, Holly. No trees."

"Hush." Holly smiled and pushed her hair back. "Parlay means I get to talk without you judging me or interrupting. And you have to let me work it out, out loud, without getting mad." Gail quirked her eyebrows but nodded. "Okay. I was... I am afraid of you getting hurt. I'm afraid of you ending up in the hospital or dying. You have an insanely dangerous job. But." Holly exhaled. "You are careful. You're meticulous. You think things through, you make plans, and you achieve goals. I've never seen anyone sort out things like that, especially crime like that. You saw what was wrong, you fixed it. It was amazing and smart and I'm not afraid of you doing something stupid." She paused and added, "Now Duncan..."

"Gerald has the IQ of a turnip," grumbled Gail.

"That's unkind to turnips." They giggled. "Seeing you be a cop makes me less worried about you being a cop."

Gail rubbed her hands on Holly's thighs, looking thoughtful. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. I get it." She smiled and reached up to grab Holly's shirt. "I am a fucking badass cop who is super smart, and you think it's sexy. Just wait'll I'm in Major Crimes."

Holly let herself be pulled onto Gail. "But I like how you look in your uniform," she faux pouted, moving her hands up Gail's shirt.

"I like you in your glasses," Gail noted, and took them off Holly's face. "But I like you out of them too."

"There's a problem," Oliver said slowly. "You can't go."

"I failed?" Gail was horrified and angry. There was no way she possibly failed. She studied her ass off. She'd scored her second highest personal score on the damn target shoot. She'd nailed the stupid skills assessment where she had to pretend the fake situation was real, and she did it without using her gun.

"No!" Oliver held up his hands. "Are you kidding? Darling, I watched your practical test. Everyone said you were amazing!"

Gail growled, "For a Peck, I bet." That caused Oliver to hesitate. "I'd change my damn name if that would do anything." According to her family, anything less than perfect was a failure.

"No, no. They ... You. Okay, don't hit me." He fidgeted with the paper on his desk. "They said you were better than the other Pecks and wondered if you guys have a mock up at home."

That was different. "Yes, Oliver." She kept her voice deadpan. "I built a smaller version in the bathroom." God, people were idiots. "So what's actually wrong?"

"I'm not supposed to have this so you never saw it, alright?" He held out the paper. Pending review... What the hell? Gail's eyes went to the letterhead and she felt her blood pressure rise. From the desk of Peck. Her mother's desk. Her mother was calling for a review of personal skills. "Now, Gail, don't do something reckless." She didn't. She stared at the letter and re-read it again. "I already called her office and her secretary will get her to call me back-"

"Not until at least two. Probably later." It was one PM, on Wednesday. Elaine was in the staff meeting with the west side stations. She put the paper down on Oliver's desk. After the meetings, Elaine was going to have a late lunch at her desk and catch up, remembered Gail. She'd be in her office until a quarter after two, unless something came up. Then Elaine had meetings until four. "Thank you."

"Darling, I know you want this. You'll get it. Don't worry, I'm in your corner."

"It's fine, Oliver." She could feel her walls growing taller. But yelling at Oliver wouldn't help. Gail pushed her hair out of her face. "Can I go? Price is waiting for me."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, fine, it'll get sorted out," she tried to put an acceptable smile on her face and walked out, forming her plan. She would start after shift.

There was a text from Oliver, which she hadn't been able to answer let alone read, and another from Gail (ditto), which really demonstrated how busy she was today. So when someone knocked on the door, Holly felt her snap should have been excused. "If you're here about the Crenshaw case, I am still processing the bodies, and no, I cannot possibly make it go any faster."

The male voice replied, "I'm not here about a case."

That was weird enough that Holly looked up at the man. An officer. No, an Inspector. Her eyes drifted to his name tag. Peck. Oh shit. She looked up and saw a hauntingly familiar facial shape. Unlike Elaine, this man was entirely soft. Craggier, with beard and hair already gone to grey, she saw Gail at her tiredest in this man's face. That said, Holly hoped she'd never see Gail look as distant as her father looked now.

She cleared her voice. "Inspector Peck." Bill. William H. Peck. She knew his name. His middle name, even, was Harold.

"Dr. Stewart." Unlike Elaine, Bill wore his discomfort openly. He did not wish to be here and had no interest in befriending Holly or getting to know her. Holly had never seen anyone look that soft and that aloof before. "I'll make this brief. This Thursday is our normal family dinner. It would be ... good if you could perhaps persuade Gail to come." He paused. "With you."

Every time Holly thought she understood Peck drama they went and changed it. That was impressively awkward. "Uh huh, that's not... Why are you asking me this?" It was surprisingly hard not to call him 'sir' but Holly had no intention of deferring to this man. Not now.

"Because my daughter hasn't replied to my phone calls since she moved in with you." How he managed to make that sound like an insult, Holly had no idea. It was a skill Gail shared, turning the mundane into something bitchy, but never like this. Gail was crabby and snarky, but you got the impression she was entertained by everything. Her father looked like he quite honestly hated everyone.

But Gail had coached Holly on dealing with her parents, telling her to be firm and tell them she wasn't getting involved. Elaine was power hungry, Bill was angry at not living up to his ex-Peck-tations (sometimes called Peckspectations), and both should be avoided. Gail's advice, which Steve supported, was to let the Pecks be Pecks and not pick a fight.

Of course, Gail wasn't the only one who didn't follow orders well. "Then maybe you'd better hunt her down. I'm not your errand girl." It was possible that Gail would be elated at the comeback. Holly knew Gail wasn't talking to her parents at the moment, and said she wouldn't until they apologized and accepted her making her own life choices.

Inspector Peck huffed, much the same way his children did when they were frustrated and uncomfortable. "I apologize." He didn't sound sorry at all and Holly filed the tone away as matching the one Gail made when she wasn't sorry at all for calling people by insulting nicknames. "Can we talk?" He gestured at her office.

Holly frowned and did not remove her gloves. "This is where I work, Inspector. While you and your wife seem to be cavalier about blurring the lines, I am not. You can talk to your own daughter. I'll tell her you're looking for her, but if you can't tell, I'm busy."

The Inspector lingered a moment, and then nodded. "I see. Excuse me, Doctor."

After he left, and after she actually finished her work, Holly picked up her phone. The text from Oliver was a warning that Gail would be in a bad mood. The one from Gail was that she'd be home late. Holly hesitated and sent Gail a text.

Everything okay?

There was no reply right away but she knew Gail was on patrol today. That meant Gail's phone was often off or set to silent. Holly went back to her samples until the phone buzzed again.

Peck stuff

Oh. Good. Maybe she was talking to her father already and Holly could conveniently forget the conversation. She tapped out three words.

I love you

The reply was two words.

That helps

Holly smiled and went back to work. When she got home the garage was empty. True to her word, Gail didn't arrive home until almost two hours later. Holly had already made pasta and was contemplating the pasta sauce when Gail walked in from the garage.

"Perfect timing, honey. Alfredo or tomato?" When Gail explained her allergy only extended to raw tomatoes, Holly called it a sensitivity and quickly cut uncooked tomatoes from her repertoire. The one time she'd had a salad with raw tomatoes and kissed Gail, the rash had taken two days to stop itching and Gail had been exceptionally grumpy the whole time. But cooked tomatoes, in sauce, were generally safe.

"Alfredo," sighed Gail. Holly looked over and saw her girlfriend wearing a rundown expression. She fell onto the couch, leaving her work bag by the door.

Bad day. "How did it go with your father?"

Gail blinked. "Dad? I haven't talked to him in months... Actually I'm avoiding his judgmental homophobia." She looked nervous for a moment, "I swear I'm not up a tree with it, I'm just mad at him and I don't want to talk until I can figure out how to do it and not shout at him."

"Oh." Holly frowned. "He came by my lab."

And Gail's face tightened. "What did dear old Dad want?"

"Me to get you to come to dinner on Thursday." A pause. "Us."

Gail snorted and sunk into the couch, "Don't worry about it, girlfriend. That offer is about to be rescinded."

Holly frowned, but served up two plates of pasta. "Come here, eat, explain this to me."

Sluggishly, Gail rolled off the couch and sat at the island. They rarely ate at the table. "I aced the exam," she started, picking up her fork.

"That's great news!" Holly beamed at her girlfriend, knowing better than anyone how hard Gail had worked. Hours of running, studying, target practice, reading, and exercising. Once Gail had explained there was a practical part to the exam, Holly had understood the shift in exercise priority. There could be no screw ups, Gail insisted, if she was going to do this. It had to be done right, it had to be done cleanly, and above all, publicly. So why was Gail looking so pained. "Not great?"

"My mother spiked me."

Cold water splashed over the room. "Sorry, she what?"

Gail took a bite, swallowed, and said, "Approval pending review. From the desk of Staff Superintendent Elaine Peck." She resumed eating, as if this horrifying fact had been expected.

"She can do that?"

"Apparently so." Gail paused and tapped Holly's plate with her fork. "Hey. Eat. I'm even eating your zucchini things." She stole one off Holly's plate for good measure.

Eating gave her time to think about the situation. Gail's father wanted Gail (and Holly) to come to the Peck Monthly dinner. Both Peck siblings had skipped the last one, with Gail simply telling her mother she wasn't going and taking Holly on a double date with Steve and Traci instead. That had been surprisingly fun. There was no talk about parents, though the Pecks had used ASL at the table a couple times until Holly threatened to withhold sex.

One could assume then that Inspector Dad Peck wanted Gail to come over in order to discuss things. And one could also assume that Gail had something happen in-between the time her father talked to Holly and the time she came home that would make that unnecessary. That would mean Gail talked to her mother. Probably in person. And probably about the whole turfing of Gail's transfer.

"What did you say to your mother?"

"Nothing, I went to IA," Gail said calmly.

Internal Affairs. Holly dropped her fork. "You did what?"

"I talked to Frank first." Gail's old sergeant had been transferred and found a home in Major Crimes, which Gail had noted could only help her. He knew what kind of cop and person she was. "He and I talked to his Inspector and they said there wasn't anything they could do." She ate more pasta, "Sounded familiar, right?"

"Disturbingly."

"Well. Then I called in some favors, made sure this was just Mother, and filed a complaint with IA that she was impeding my career needlessly and with unfounded allegations as to my abilities." With that, Gail finished her pasta.

"Jesus," whispered Holly. "Are you insane? You just sic'd IA on your own mother!"

"Just cause." Gail was insane. Insane and calm. "I should probably warn Steve..." She pulled her phone out and started texting.

Holly gibbered. She actually exploded with nonexistent words. "Gail!"

Looking up from her phone, Gail frowned, "I know what I did, Holly. Either she gets suspended or I do." The phone went down onto the counter and Gail sighed, "I did think about this. All day. They weren't going to tell me about it till Friday. Frank slipped Oliver the note, so ... I got a jump on it. It's going to be fine."

There was no universe where a daughter essentially suing her mother was fine. Holly wanted to scream. "How is this fine? What if they fire you?"

Her phone buzzed and Gail glanced at it briefly. "I found out why Social Services watched the Perik interview," she said flatly.

Holly felt herself pale. No. Screwing up her face in a very Gail expression of annoyance, Holly said two words. "Your mother?"

Her girlfriend confirmed Holly's fears, "Apparently she said I'd be unfit due to trauma. Spiked that too."

Holly blurted, "Why the hell would she do that?"

Gail looked beyond sad and torn about what she was about to say, "It gets worse." When Holly was unable to speak, Gail went on looking at the table and Holly knew this was about to be way worse. "She turfed your Visa, in part because you don't want kids and she thought you'd stop me. Having a kid alone would throw off her master plan. When that didn't stop me, and I guess when we didn't get back together right away, she pushed the trauma angle."

Rage. This was what rage felt like. Her hands, her whole body, was shaking. "She had my Visa pulled... How-" that someone would go this far to force her daughter to her own path was nearly incomprehensible to Holly. But now little conversations made more sense. "How long have you known?"

"I suspected when she waylaid you," confessed Gail. "She dropped hints when I told her I was moving in, but I couldn't be sure until I talked to IA."

So Gail kept this a secret from before they'd moved in together. "I don't know who I'm more pissed at, Gail," whispered Holly, closing her eyes. She was shaking. How was Gail not shaking, or raging?

"Sorry." And Gail actually did sound sorry. "I should have talked to you. I just— I had this moment, this window where I could get in front of her stupid…"

"Machinations," offered Holly, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"That," agreed Gail. "I should have told you about the Visa thing when I suspected it."

"I think I might punch your mother if I saw her."

"Don't hold off on my account." Gail sighed. "I don't know why I'm not mad at my mother, to be honest." When Holly didn't say anything, Gail went on. "I should be mad at her, but I'm not. I'm just ... I'm sad, Holly." And Gail sounded intensely depressed.

Opening her eyes, Holly saw Gail was silently crying. It was a strange ability Gail had, the silent cry. The first time it had happened was at a crime scene where a police officer Gail knew had died. Her voice had been perfectly normal, but Holly saw the tears pouring down her face. They hadn't even been dating then and had just been at the batting cages level of a relationship.

Since then, Gail had cried a few more times. The only time it had been audible was the time in the living room when the panic attack swallowed her whole. Even then, it was remarkably quiet for someone wracked with sobs. Most of Gail's freak outs were quiet. Even the nightmares were, generally, quiet. Gail had explained the one in Holly's guest room was because it was a strange place, combined with the Oxy. Waking up fuzzy headed, in the dark, in a strange room was synergistic.

It hurt Holly to think about, because she made a logical inference. Her girlfriend had never once felt safe enough to express emotion. What the hell had happened to Elaine Peck? Or Bill Peck? Gail smiled softly at Holly and touched her hand. "I know what you're thinking, Doctor."

"Oh?" Holly bit her lip.

"If I'm this repressed, what's wrong with my parents."

Holly sighed and squeezed Gail's hand. "How do you do that? The mind reading and memorizing what I say is creepy."

"I can only read your mind." She lifted Holly's hand to her mouth and kissed it lightly. "And I don't know why she's like this. But she's always been power hungry."

"Power mad," muttered Holly and she slid off her stool to hug Gail. "What she did was illegal as hell." Which explained why Gail took it to IA. It was the only way.

After a moment, Gail coughed. "Baby, my face is in your boobs."

Pursing her lips, Holly let go. "This better be the only time you say that like its a bad thing."

"Yes, ma'am." Gail kept her hands on Holly's hips. "This is gonna suck, you know."

"I know."

"You may get pulled in..."

"Honey, your father already showed up at my lab." She kissed Gail's forehead. "Jesus, your mother killed a job for me already!" Holly closed her eyes and put her cheek to Gail's head, finding her words. "I actually thought about all this before we got back together. The way I see it, Toronto can't function without me but if they screw with you, we can move to Montréal, or Vancouver. Or ... Calgary!" Babbling. She was babbling again.

"If you're looking for the most murders, it's Winnipeg."

Holly paused and opened her eyes, "Winnipeg?"

"Canada's murder and violent crime capital. Montréal is good, though. More like Toronto and Steve's French sucks so we can make fun of him a lot."

"You," smiled Holly, "Are an impressive fountain of police knowledge." Gail returned the smile and Holly cupped her face with her hands. "We will make it through this. But." Gail arched her eyebrows. "Next time you decide to do something like this, please talk to me first."

She leaned in and kissed Gail softly. "I promise," whispered Gail, her hands tightening on Holly's hips. They kissed again, a little deeper. "Just one thing." Holly made a questioning noise before kissing Gail again. "Are you going to finish your pasta?"

Chapter Text

Gail had been wrong about her or her mother being suspended. Both Peck women were suspended, with pay, pending allegations. Gail was cleared first but required to stay on desk duty. Her mother was not allowed to return to work, taking a forced vacation, and Gail was permitted to work the streets again though not as a T.O. which was fine. With her future in mind, she'd planned to take a break from that.

The silence from her family was deafening. Only Steve would talk to her at first. Surprisingly, her godfather had asked to come over and meet Holly, and had been nice about everything. He apologized for her parents, which Gail told him not to do. They were adults. Stupid adults. Al thanked her for helping with Duncan, which Gail accepted. Then he apologized to Holly for the impending storm. The Peck-Storm, as Gail put it, had been large and loud, but not many drops landed anywhere near Holly. Even Gail was at a loss as to why that was the case, but suggested they take advantage of it.

The division was a mess. No one knew what to say to Gail, or to Holly, and most people just avoided them or pretended they knew nothing. As more information trickled out, however, Gail found herself the unwilling recipient of apologies. So many people had just assumed she'd ridden on Peck coattails, the truth of her situation, that five years had been 100% Gail, won her friends.

She didn't really like it but she accepted it for what it was. They needed a Peck hero and it was her. Her mother had not been loved, which Gail knew, but it was a shock to find out that she was appreciated. Liked, even. That was decidedly less fun, as Gail didn't like people well enough to want to socialize.

Finally though, it was settled. Surprisingly quietly, the war just stopped. Elaine stepped down as Staff Superintendent. It was a demotion, everyone knew it, but to the news it was an inspiring move to let fresh, young, blood take over the duties. To have the person in charge of ethics and professionalism investigated for meddling with her own daughter's career as well as the international scandal of Holly's Visa would have been a bloodbath, and hurt the entirety of police in Toronto.

Of course, so would have having her daughter be fired. And while everyone acted like it was all over, Gail knew there was one fight left. She didn't look forward to SIU poking the bear again but this time she knew it was fine for her. Gail took it in stride, as well as the news that she'd have to wait at least three months to start with Major Crimes as a uniformed assignee. It wasn't quite what she'd wanted but it was better than the alternatives. And no more Peck dinners.

Oliver had been impressed at her maturity. "I thought you were going to shoot your own mother," he admitted over an illicit lamb schwarma lunch. Celery had been on his case about red meat and enlisted Gail's help. In response, Gail continued to feed Oliver real food. And candy.

"Can you imagine the paperwork?" Gail smirked.

"All I'm saying, darling, is I'm proud of you." When Gail eyed him skeptically, he shrugged. "You did it right. You did it smart. And it's okay."

Gail sighed and swirled a fry in the ketchup aioli sauce. "I thought everyone would take her side, you know."

"Not a chance. Not Fifteen." He smiled at her and stole a fry. "You, Gail Peck, are awesome."

"You, Oliver Shaw, are a fry thief!"

But he was also right.

Steve was elated on many levels too. "Gail," he cheerfully bounded up to her a week later. "Do you know what today is, my most dearest sister in the universe?"

"Thursday?" She slung her bag onto her shoulder, walking out of the changing room with Andy. Sam was out of town for most of the week and Gail had felt a small amount of sympathy for the chronically lovelorn McNally. A quick check with Holly and a legit girls night was on.

"Third Thursday of the month."

They shared a look and laughed. "Steven Peck, I am fairly confident that I will never be invited to another family dinner again. You on the other hand, have the possibility of being a productive breeder."

"Not gonna happen. Least wanted number two pointed out having Dad in the same building might be construed as mommy trying to pressure us through him. He's over in 27 now. Ba-bam! Captain of the Universe delivers!"

Gail smirked, "If you can get Dad investigated, I'm sure you'll win the top spot, brother of mine." Andy looked worried. "Don't worry, McNally, this is normal for us."

"I should go," Andy started and Gail looped her arm through her friend's.

"Absolutely not. You, missy, are putting your shit in my car and we are going to have drinks and then you're spending the night in my guest room." She wiggled her fingers at Steve and hauled Andy off.

When Holly got home, Gail and Andy were tipsy, but laughing. Gail hadn't been drunk in a rather long time and found she didn't miss it. Two drinks was her limit, depending on the drink, and if everyone wanted to blame it on Holly and not Gail growing up, well, that was okay.

Holly had a sour look on her face, alas, and both Andy and Gail noticed. "How quiet is the guest room?" Andy's voice was low.

"If we start shouting, you'll hear it," sighed Gail, and she traipsed upstairs to check on her girlfriend. "Holly?"

"I'm fine," replied Holly from the bathroom. "I'll be down in a minute."

Gail hesitated and listened to the noises. Crying. "I'm coming in."

The door opened and a frustrated Holly scowled. "Seriously Gail, what if I was on the toilet?" She was sitting on the edge of the tub, having been crying into a towel.

"News flash, I've seen you pee before." The scowl stayed in place. "I'm sure Andy will have no problem going to read in the guest room, baby. Or you can come downstairs and pick a movie for us to watch." She reached out and brushed the back of her hand on Holly's cheek. "Or you can come talk to us or stay here and talk to me."

Holly looked down, "Work sucks." She did not want to talk.

"Bad case?"

But Holly shook her head. "Peck Storm." Gail winced and tentatively reached over to Holly, who fell into her arms. Okay. Good. "I have to talk to SIU."

"Yeah, I kinda expected that." In fact she'd warned Holly about the likelihood.

"I know, but I was hoping." Holly sighed.

"It's okay, Holly. Just tell them the truth."

Holly sighed again and pressed her face into Gail's shoulder. "Can I sit on the couch with you?"

Gail smiled, "Baby, this is our home. If you want to sit on the couch naked and eat ice cream, Andy will just have to cope."

While they did sit on the couch, they ate popcorn and were fully clothed.

She had known, they had both known, that Holly was going to be called in about the Peck Storm. Neither had been looking forward to it but Holly was thankful they called her in first. The waiting had made her start eating antacids like candy. Gail had explained that since, technically, Holly was a civilian, SIU was going to be involved and the odds were that they all had worked with a Peck at least once.

Even though IA had cleared Gail and soft-suspended Elaine, the investigation went right to hell because of Sophie and Holly. Gail had been very apologetic, to the point of not sounding like Gail at all. She swore she never meant to hurt Holly with this and would move anywhere if they had to. With more bravado than she felt, Holly told Gail it would be fine.

She checked her clothes one last time before knocking on the office door in her own building. Gail warned her that SIU didn't have their own offices and liked you to feel at home. She'd also explained that her own last experience with SIU ended with her being suspended and nearly losing her badge for improperly searching someone, resulting in a death.

Holly didn't find it comforting.

"Come in." The woman sat at the desk as if it was her own and not Holly's boss's.

"I'm Dr. Stewart," offered Holly, and found herself gestured to sit in the chair.

"Under most other circumstances, I would say it's a pleasure." The woman did not seem to be lying, "I'm Sarah Mills." She looked at the papers and frowned a little. "You're living with Officer Peck?"

Holly swallowed and nodded. "Yes."

Sarah sighed, "Please tell her I say hello."

"Uh, sure," agreed Holly, highly confused.

Sarah flipped on her camera, focusing it on Holly. "This is Sarah Mills, investigating allegations of misconduct and abuse of power of Staff- excuse me, of Superintendent Elaine Marie Peck. Please state your full name and profession for the record."

"Dr. Holly Stewart." She paused. "I don't have a middle name. I'm a senior forensic pathologist for the Toronto Police Department."

Sarah smiled thinly. "Dr. Stewart, last April you put in notice to leave this job. Is that correct?"

"Yes," confirmed Holly. There was silence so she elaborated. "I had a job offer to be a assistant chief pathologist in San Francisco, which never happens to someone my age, so I took the job." She bit her lip, realizing she was rambling. Gail warned her not to do that.

"You don't have to be afraid, Dr. Stewart," Sarah said, calmly. "You're not being investigated, you're just a witness."

But Gail was being investigated. As was her mother. "I'm sorry," Holly tried not to laugh nervously. "I'm just... Not used to this."

"Count yourself lucky." The dry humor made Holly feel better. This woman was like the SIU version of Gail. Or maybe what Gail wanted to be on some level. "You took the job in San Francisco in April but it was rescinded. Can you explain what happened?"

Holly nodded. "They called me a week after I took the job, and told me there was a hang up with my Visa application. I thought it was just something silly, paperwork with a crossed 'i' or something. Dotted 't' you know? We both thought it would be fine and went on with the whole process. But then the consulate called and said my application was rejected. I didn't understand why, since I haven't committed any crimes. I never even shoplifted." It was still frustrating.

"Did you find out why?"

"Labor certification." Holly had felt it was bullshit at the time, since she had a very specialized job. But all her appeals and arguments had been shot down.

They discussed the semantics of that, briefly, and Sarah took notes. "In the investigation regarding Superintendent Peck, it came to light that she used her ties with a resource in immigration to raise concerns to your viability." Holly winced. "You're aware of this?"

Holly nodded. Gail had put it more baldly, stating her mother asked a family friend to do a deep background check on Holly, which had sent up red flags. When the US had asked for information, Canada simply denied access to some of the records and that scared them off. "Yes, Gail- Officer Peck told me. She asked."

With that, Sarah moved on to ask about their relationship. She determined Holly had wanted Gail to move with her, to get away from the Pecks. They talked about how much Holly knew about the IA case. While Holly had been at many a trial, this was the first time she'd been nervous about anything work related.

But Sarah made it pretty easy, as much as it could be, to talk about the very odd situation. Had Holly felt pressured by Pecks other than Elaine? When Holly said yes, she'd had to run down the list, which included Gail's father and a few cousins. Who had been more on her side? Gail had, of course, and so had Steve, but so had the chief of police. That made Sarah smirk. The other aspects of the case were just facts Holly had known. Sarah had no new revelations, just confirmation as to what Gail had suspected and theorized.

When it was over, Sarah turned off the video and studied Holly thoughtfully. "This is the first time I've had to investigate a pathologist," she mused. "Police officers are usually more defensive."

"Gail prepped me." She still wasn't sure exactly how good this was. How well it went was a mystery to Holly.

"She's grown a great deal in two years," smiled Sarah. "Did she tell you I was her investigator?" When Holly's eyes widened, the smile grew. "But you know the case?" That Holly nodded at, dumbfounded. "I asked to interview you. I thought, since I knew Gail and used to work with her mother, I'd know if you were..." Sarah pursed her lips. "I worried you were Elaine's plant. Sabotage. Make sure Gail did what she wanted."

"Never," snapped Holly. Her constant anger at Elaine surprised her. The woman nearly ruined her career and while she was grateful to have Gail back, it had come at a price for both of them.

Sarah closed her notebook. "So I see. Thank you, Dr. Stewart."

Letting herself out, Holly exhaled so hard she shuddered. She pulled her phone out and smiled, seeing Gail had texted her an 'I love you' at some point. She tapped a reply.

I survived.

I knew you would. I'm on patrol.

Fun. I'm going to try and actually get work done.

I'll try find you a dead body. Chloe okay for you?

Holly laughed, feeling tension ebb from her body, and pulled on her lab coat.

Eight year olds didn't really understand life. "You promised!"

"I know I did, but I have to go to the hearing."

"But you promised to take me to the game!"

Gail sighed and squatted by Sophie. "Sophie, I'm really sorry. They changed the date and I have to go."

"So make them change it back!"

"I can't. We can go to another game-"

"There won't be another game! This is the only time they play all year, and it's the last game! I hate you!" And Sophie sprinted up the stairs to her room, slamming the door.

That was a first for Gail and she was stunned. "She's eight, Gail, it's okay." Noelle shook her head at the mess. "She'll get over it and feel bad later."

"I still feel like an ass," grumbled Gail and she stood up.

"For what? Having to sort out your mother's insanity? I can't believe it's going to trial."

"It's all going to be internal." The volume of people who had to recuse themselves from the investigation and deliberation was insanely high. Gail was shocked they had enough people to convene an internal tribunal.

Noelle touched Gail's shoulder. "I'll talk to her."

That actually hurt. Gail kept her face together, but those four words pummeled her hard. She had worked so hard to keep Sophie in her life, she'd forgotten that she'd given the girl a family with parents who cared about her, cared for her. Loved her. And now Gail wasn't needed the same way anymore.

"Thanks," she nodded at Noelle, and went to her car.

One of the few wise things her mother had ever told her was that she shouldn't look back on her life in 30 years and think that she hadn't done enough. Of course, Elaine was talking about her career, but Gail thought about it with Holly and with Sophie. Would she look back in another 29 years to think she should have had children? That Holly wasn't enough?

Holly did not want children now, possibly ever. She'd made that plain. And Gail chose Holly. Or more, she fell back into Holly, just as she'd fallen into her orbit before. Falling for Holly was an accident. It changed her life and her very being. It changed how she saw the world and opened it up for things she never thought could be. Even when she thought she'd lost Holly, she didn't stop changing and growing. It was late, but Gail finally understood what everyone else was about when it came to liking people.

But was that enough? And was it fair that she hadn't chosen this? They'd fallen together because of Gail's mother's idiocy. Her delusional ideas of grandeur and misguided machinations ruined their original plans and yet...

Gail pulled into the garage. Her garage. Their garage. Once they planned for Gail to move in, Holly had sorted through miles of sports junk to make actual room. Anything Holly still played stayed, but the skis and kayak went. The house itself had pictures of both of them, alone and together. The office had been repainted and reorganized to make room for Gail's gun collection, locked safely away. The downstairs had been moved around, bringing the TV out of the back room and making that an actual guest room, to keep people away from the guns. The living room and dining room were so spacious, it hardly mattered. Gail's video games were organized onto shelves, while her DVDs sorted with Holly's; Gail had the original Star Wars and the remastered, Holly the HD, and they kept all three sets.

But. But. Gail put her head on the steering wheel and sighed. Why was life so complicated? Was there even a right or wrong choice to be made here? She wanted to be with Holly, she knew that beyond a doubt. She wanted this life with her, and a career, and there would be sacrifices. If that meant a choice between no children or raising children like her parents had done, then so be it. There would be no children. She wanted to walk to her future with Holly beside her.

The darkness suddenly lifted, literally, when the garage door went back up and Holly pulled in. Gail waved a hand, but kept her head on the steering wheel.

Holly put her bag inside the house and then opened the passenger door to sit with Gail, not even asking what was wrong. Turning to look at Holly, Gail smiled. "I love you," she told her girlfriend.

"I love you too." When Gail held a hand out, Holly took it and caressed Gail's knuckles with her thumb. And she did not ask what happened.

So Gail told her about Sophie and how it felt to have been replaced. "It's right next to when you said you were seeing someone else," sighed Gail. "Only this is a good thing for her."

Holly's hand remained in hers, and the woman looked thoughtful. "But you're thinking of maybes and being replaced."

"I was never going to be her mom."

"And neither is Noelle, honey."

Gail sighed. "I know." She squeezed Holly's fingers. "I want to be here forever." And the truth hit her. This was the right choice, the right decision. To be with Holly was right for Gail and she would regret nothing in 30 or 50 years.

"In the garage?" Holly looked around dubiously and Gail smiled.

"Nerd. I want to be here, with you, forever. If you get a job in Winnipeg or Montréal or Budapest, I want to be with you."

Holly smiled that crooked grin of hers. "Is this a Greys Anatomy 'pick me' moment?"

"Only if you're about to tell me you have a secret wife."

"Hm. No." Holly brought Gail's hand to her lips and kissed them. "No trees, huh?"

Gail shook her head. "I want to build a treehouse, so we can hide up there from everyone forever." She finally lifted her head up and leaned across the gear shift to kiss Holly.

"I'll bring a rope ladder," smiled Holly.

"I don't get how resigning fixes everything. Or anything."

"Early retirement in a year. And it doesn't," replied Steve. "It doesn't even mean a damn thing, but it gets it away."

Holly grumbled and tasted the frosting. It needed more tequila. "And that's it? She retires or resigns or whatever and I let it go and it's over?"

"Pretty much."

"I hate it."

The snort from the man in her kitchen showed he shared her feelings on the matter. "Holly, I know it's crazy and weird, but ... What else can we do? Sue for damages? Mom's losing everything. Me, Gail, her career." He paused, seeming to know something more but leaving it out. "She'll never get to know you or Traci, and if any of us have kids, she won't get them either."

"I guess," sighed Holly. "She could have ruined my life. Gail could have been fired."

"Never gonna happen. Too many people like the cop Gail's becoming." He was so firm about it, it was startling.

Holly looked at the cake batter Steve was working on and stuck a finger in. "Salt, Steve. It needs a tablespoon."

"Crap, thanks." He carefully added the amount, looking as concerned as Gail did when trying some thing new. "Thanks for letting me do this here. I want to surprise Traci."

It was Traci's thirty-second birthday. Steve, following the daunting move by his kid sister to move in with her girlfriend, had begun to broach the topic with his slightly more reserved one. Seeing as the last man Traci lived with had died saving Gail, Holly found it downright weird that she was even considering it with Steve. But love was love, she admitted, and when Steve enlisted her help to make lollipop cakes to spell out 'move in with me' she'd found it romantic.

Neither of them had told Gail, who was working anyway. Holly had felt Gail had enough on her plate and would just grumble about a party. "When's Gail due back? I don't want her to drink the frosting."

"She left ten minutes before you got here. Why aren't we doing this at your place?"

"Because Traci has a key, and she'd think something was up if I asked her not to come over. It was you or Andy for baking, and Andy cooks worse than Gail does."

It wasn't the first time she'd heard one of their friends tease Gail about drinking or not being a decent cook. And maybe it was because of the crap with Elaine, but Holly no longer felt like the proud secret keeper of Gail's amazing skills. She was annoyed. "Steve," growled Holly. "What the hell?"

The man startled and looked at Holly, confused. "What?"

"Gail can cook. She doesn't get wasted. Why does everyone treat her like she's some irresponsible child?"

Steve put the bowl down and was honestly surprised. "I don't know why they do it..." His face tightened and he seemed to skip over an explanation. "Gail scared our parents, I picked up on that."

"What? With all this? Come on, Steve. They started this shit!"

"No, when she was in kindergarten. I don't know what happened, but ... Before then, Mom doted on Gail. She was this perfect kid who never did anything wrong. And it was cool to me. I had this awesome kid sister and she and I were gonna be champions of the universe." He hesitated, "I really remember this … I came home from school and they were sitting around the table looking all serious. Dad looked scared. Actually scared. So I figured it was a case. That happened sometimes. When I went to find Gail, she was hiding in my room and told me that Mom didn't talk to her after picking her up from school."

When Steve paused, Holly got out bottles of water. "What had she done?"

"I don't know. I just remember that was when Mom stepped back. She stopped being so fawning over Gail. It was like something freaked her out. And I knew it wasn't the cat, which was my fault too. We never told them. But something really freaked them out. And ... When your parents are distant, you kind of are too. And I stopped seeing what Gail did." He sighed. "So ... All I see is Gail at a bar, or avoiding me at work. And all I hear is she can't cook from Nick, though I know I should ignore him." Steve looked at Holly seriously. "You're the only person who gets the Gail I remember."

Holly frowned. That didn't make much sense. She knew about the cat thing, of course. Gail told her pretty much any secret these days, saying they were Holly's for the taking. And this was nothing Gail had mentioned so she likely didn't remember it herself. "She hasn't gotten drunk since she cut off all her hair," Holly pointed out.

"Do you know why?"

"Not really. She just said she didn't want not be a part time binge drinker anymore."

"And ... My sister can cook?"

"Jesus, Steve, did you know she can speak eight languages?" Probably nine, now. Holly had heard Gail asking Chloe about Portuguese recently at the Penny. "She can memorize anything she hears, which is really annoying sometimes. She's a fucking genius. And she's funny and sweet. How the hell do you never see it?"

Steve smiled tiredly. "She won't show me. Once mom stopped fawning, she shut me out too. Became that bitchy ice queen."

Truthfully, Gail was still pretty snide and brittle. But Holly saw the shield for what it was and, being someone let in behind it, found it charming. She liked prickly people, though. "Why does Nick think she's not girlfriend material?"

"Jesus, Nicholas." Steve rolled his eyes. "Because she's cold."

More than once, Gail had said as much to Holly. She was cold. Unfeeling. "No she's not," marveled Holly. How did they not see?

"Right, not to you. Or kids."

"Or Oliver, or Andy or Dov or any of them. She just ... Doesn't say what she feels."

"Nick can't read that." Steve tilted his head and studied Holly's face. "You can."

This time Holly looked away. Damn it, detectives were smart. "I like solving puzzles," she muttered. And Steve didn't press.

"I like you, Holly," he grinned, and held out a drop of batter on a spoon. "Help me with this, please."

It was hard to turn Pecks down. At least, these two Pecks. Holly sighed and took the batter. "Baking soda?" She rolled her eyes when he looked confused.

Chapter Text

In light of everything that happened in the United States recently, Inspector Jarvis insisted they have an open house at Fifteen Division. Gail though it was stupid and said as much all week long. But as the day arrived, she was not surprised to find herself assigned to meet and greet the kids that afternoon.

She could handle the kids at least and most of them just wanted their prints taken or fake mug shots. That was, at least, entertaining, even if it meant hanging with Chloe all day. Anything was better than the last day of her stupid IA case. The tension from sitting in a room with her parents and lawyers for ten hours had been so stressful, Holly had dragged Gail to a spa for a professional massage.

The last day of the case had been the most painful. Her father hadn't even looked at her while her mother actually looked apologetic. The three of them, in their best uniforms, sat in a room listening to an inspector review everything, clarify the arguments, and finally announce that Officer Peck's claims were upheld. Her mother had crossed a line and all that was left was to determine punishments.

Her mother changed the game in that moment, saying she'd retire. It was better for the division and the department if she retired, less of a media shit storm in a city struggling with a mayor who made international news. Part of Gail wanted to see her taken down, ripped apart and stripped of rank and power. The other part knew her mother wanted to have Uncle Al's job. And that would never happen now, no matter what.

Gail finally looked at her mother, not the Staff Superintendent, and saw the agony and pain in her eyes. Her mother lost it all. Everything. The amount of meddling she'd done, not just for Gail but Steve and other Pecks, would have retributions for years. Other relatives would find their careers stalled. Gail would be a Peck pariah along with her mother. And she nodded. She took the deal. Let her mother step away with some grace, some dignity, and let Gail be the better man.

It was downright depressing.

It became much better when the young boy's voice cut through the crowd. "Aunt Gail!"

"Hey, Leo," replied Gail, not really smiling but still happy to see him. "Need to update your credentials of evil?"

"Yeah, and Sophie needs hers!"

There was a practical aspect to the finger printing, Gail had to admit. With their parents permissions, all the children were entered in a database in case they ever went missing. While Gail had to explain that this was not related to the MasoniCHIP program run by the Free Masons more times than she wanted too, most of the parents were alright with the process.

Gail tilted her head as Leo dragged Sophie into the room, the girl clearly didn't want to be there. "So what'd they get you for, Sophie?" She gave the girl her toothiest smile, and got an awkward one in return.

"Bein' mean," muttered Sophie, kicking the ground.

Behind Gail, Chloe laughed. "If that was a crime, Officer Peck would be behind bars forever."

"Bite me, Officer Price," replied Gail and the gathered children laughed. "Okay, who's next?"

There were a few kids in the room and they ran them all first before Leo and Sophie, and Leo shoved her up first. Chloe took the fingerprints, explaining they rarely used actual ink anymore, and showed Sophie her prints, including a scar that ran across her right ring finger. That brightened her mood up a bit until she faced Gail for her mug shot. "Okay, no smiling. Look mean," instructed Chloe, chipper.

Sophie did not smile. "I'm still mad," she told Gail, looking embarrassed but also firm.

Catching Chloe's eyes, Gail jerked her chin. "Você está bem?" Of course Chloe would do that. Gail's understanding of Portuguese was better than her speaking.

"Yeah," confirmed Gail and she took Sophie's photo. It made an adorable grumpy mug shot. "Okay, Criminal Sophie, come here." Gail toed the stool over and Sophie climbed up to look at her photo choices.

"I don't care," she muttered. "What'd Chloe say?"

"She asked if I was okay. In Portuguese."

Sophie blinked and looked at Gail, "You speak French."

"I speak lots of languages," Gail noted, picking her favorite shot and printing up three copies. "You ever going to forgive me?"

"Yeah," muttered Sophie, looking away. That was promising. "Noelle said that being a cop meant sometimes you had to do stuff you didn't want to do. Sometimes she or Frank were gonna have to work and not see me even when they promised to. And … it wasn't fair to be mad at you about it." Deciding that explaining the inherent unfairness of life to an eight year-old wasn't a great idea tonight, Gail nodded. "But … she didn't say what you were doing."

Gail sighed and sat down on a stool beside Sophie. "Normally," she said slowly, "I'm out there. In a car, driving around, fighting crime. But for a while I've had to be in here, working in the station the whole time."

Leo spoke up, "That sounds mega boring."

"It's ultra boring," agreed Gail.

"How come?" Sophie looked confused. "How come you had to stay here the whole time?"

"Because I was suspended." She paused. "Do you guys know what that means?"

Nodding, Leo explained, "It means you're in trouble for doing something really wrong and can't go to school and your mom grounds you." Well aware that Leo had been suspended after getting into a fight with a classmate over a video game, Gail smiled and nodded. "Who'd you hit?"

"I didn't hit anyone," she said sternly. "Someone was bullying me and I told on her." That was the simplest way to explain it, but the look on Sophie and Leo's faces was hilarious. The concept that even grownups got bullied and had to appeal to other grownups had, clearly, never crossed their minds as remotely possible.

Sophie blinked a lot. "You told?"

That aspect of childhood, tattle-telling, was one Gail had never really subscribed to. "I did. Because she wouldn't stop when I asked. I went and found someone who could help, and they did. But since we're both cops, they had to suspend us both until they could figure out if I was lying."

"Another cop was being mean?" Leo was aghast, but Sophie narrowed her eyes. "That isn't fair they suspended both of you. What happened?"

Children were artless. They didn't always connect the people with the story, even when the people were telling the story. "I got back to work, and she quit her job. But we had to talk to a lot of people before that and I missed the game with Sophie because we were talking all day. I didn't get home until real late."

Leo looked impressed. "Uncle Steve said you were going to be a detective soon." When Gail nodded, he asked, "You gonna work with my mom?"

"No, Traci's a homicide detective. I want to work with on big cases."

"Like Frank?" asked Sophie carefully.

"Yep, just like Frank."

When the afternoon was finally done, Gail was not surprised that Holly was waiting for her, though the appearance of her brother was odd. He and Holly had been very friendly since she'd helped him ask Traci to move in with him, though that had yet to happen. The moving. Traci was arguing that neither of their apartments was big enough for three, which was bringing up other arguments. "Hey, Gail," Steve looked stiff. "Can I steal you before you guys go?"

"Make it fast, brother mine," she smiled and allowed him to lead her towards the bullpen.

"I need a favor," he said quietly, going right to his desk. "You're still keeping eyes on weird stuff with ambulances, right?"

"Oh god, you're not going to give me crap too, are you?" Everyone, from Oliver and Noelle to Traci and Andy thought she was a little daft about the whole obsession with weird EMT things. It was at the point where she didn't tell anyone about it, not even Holly, who was the most accepting.

"No." There was something in Steve's voice that surprised her and Gail regarded her brother carefully. "Can you keep an eye on someone for me?" He held out a folder and Gail flipped it open, looking at the face and name. Pale, though not as pale as the Pecks, with dusty brown hair that looked like he didn't eat enough vegetables. Drug user, probably. Baines, Timothy. A nurse. "I'm working on flipping him but since you're already showing up around there, I was hoping you could keep tabs on him. In case he spooks."

Gail scanned the notes. "Smuggling for Two Lakes? When did they expand?" She paused and looked up at her brother, clues sliding into place. "Shit." Steve nodded at her. "Coincidence?"

And her brother looked away. "No. I was thinking about what you said and something Holly told me. You're smart, Gail. I should have listened to you before. I think you're on to something."

Part of Gail wanted to cheer. Finally someone was listening. The other part was annoyed that Steve would probably be getting the credit for the case. Telling herself to shut up because she was a cop and that was what mattered, she just nodded. "Okay," she said slowly.

"I'm going to ask Oliver to borrow you for this." When she looked up at him, surprised, he smiled. "I can't just say 'gimme Gail' without it looking like favoritism. And after that shit with Herr Peck…" They both grimaced. "Memorize it, will you?"

"Sure, no problem," Gail replied absently and read through the short folder. She couldn't make sense of Steve's weird look as they walked back to Holly, but accepted his one-armed hug before she took Holly's hand to leave.

"What was that about?" asked Holly, leaning in to bump shoulders with Gail.

Gail smiled, falling in to the comfortable ease of being with her girlfriend. "The hug or the talk?"

"The look."

"Beats me. He asked me to read something." Gail sighed. She did have an idea of what weirded him out, but couldn't really wrap her head around it. He'd asked her to memorize something and then got odd when she did. So did he not expect it to be a possibility? Brothers were so annoying. And it wasn't like to memorized the whole thing, just enough to fill in the rest, like their father had taught them.

Holly made a thoughtful sound. "I'm glad I don't have siblings," she said firmly.

"You can borrow mine, any time," grinned Gail.

They stumbled through the door from the garage, intent on nothing more than each other. Holly struggled with Gail's shawl/wrap, which her girlfriend had looped around her arms to hang off her shoulders. "Why did you think this was a good idea," grumbled Holly. She had to actually stop kissing Gail to figure out how to undo the wrap.

"You like how it makes my arms look," laughed Gail and she simply shook her arms to loosen and drop the wrap thingy onto the ground, kicking it away.

"Color. I like the color," growled Holly and she returned to kissing, lingering on Gail's neck. "It's inconvenient."

Gail made an appreciative noise and started on Holly's shirt buttons. "At least I can get out of my shoes," she teased, stepping out of them as if to prove it. Holly's shirt hung open and Gail ran her hands across Holly's stomach, her purse dangling from a shoulder. Holly shuddered at the touch, her body heating up everywhere Gail touched. "God, I love the way your skin feels," Gail sighed and her thumbs traced Holly's ribs.

As distracting as the sensation was, Holly desperately wanted to feel more of Gail's skin on hers. The dress zipper was not complying, which was Holly's current problem, shoes be dammed. "I swear, I'm going to pull this dress off with my teeth," she growled. Women's clothing was such a damn trial, but god did Gail look amazing. Holly hadn't wanted to pay attention to the ballet, as amazing as it was, because her inner-nerd was jumping up and down wanting everyone to look at the amazing, sexy, woman with her… and perhaps also get that woman home and naked in her bed. "Finally!" With a pop, the zipper agreed to move.

Someone coughed.

It wasn't Gail.

Holly froze, trying to process the sound. Before she could peg it, Gail spun around, pushing Holly behind her with one hand and producing a small gun out of nowhere. "Stay back here," hissed Gail, lowering slightly and stepping towards the living room.

Nodding, Holly scooted back, away from the direction Gail headed, and back to the door to the garage. Someone was in her house? Her eyes very slowly adjusted to the change in the light from the garage. The house was dark, just as they'd left it, and Gail was also taking her time. Clutching her shirt, Holly quickly buttoned it together, a row off and not caring. But damned if she was going to call 911 with her top off.

Then she heard Gail curse and turn a light on in the kitchen. "Steve, you asshole."

"Nice dress," coughed Steve. He didn't sound great.

"Shit, Holly! Get the first aid kit."

The doctor in Holly kicked into gear and she bolted up the stairs without looking at what was going on. When she got back down, Gail was kneeling on the floor of the kitchen, holding a towel to her brother's back and berating him for not going to a hospital.

"Potato, tomato," he grumbled.

"What's going on?" Holly pushed her glasses up and squatted by Steve. He looked terrible, like he'd been beaten and rolled. With Gail's help, he leaned forward and Holly hissed as a broken scalpel stuck out of his back.

"My CI stabbed me," explained Steve. He said it like it happened every day, and Holly frowned.

Without being prompted, Gail gave Holly clear access to the back wound, which was bleeding through the towel quite a bit. The very filthy towel. Holly pulled on gloves and took the towel off. It was not long, but it looked deep. "Steve, you need a doctor."

He laughed weakly. "I though you were one."

"I'm a pathologist," Holly pointed out. "Dead people doctor."

"I hurt too much to be dead."

Holly chewed her lip. "Gail, I need fresh towels. Can you get the ones my aunt sent us?" With the gun still in her hand, Gail nodded and rushed off to get the ugly towels with the grape embroidery. "You need stitches, Steve."

"I'm sure I do," he sighed. "I can't go to the ER right now."

Holly sighed. "That's stupid," she told him, and Steve nodded, ruefully.

When Gail came back, she had jeans and a shirt on as well as the towels in hand, but the gun was still evident. "Who's your drop, Steve?"

"Blackstone." The towels went down and Gail tucked the gun into a holster before putting it on the counter. "Where the hell did you have your gun in that dress?"

"It was in my purse, you moron," she growled and starting tapping on her phone. "And because tonight couldn't get more awkward..."

Steve hissed as Holly probed his back. "You're supposed to wear it on your thigh," he told her through gritted teeth. Clearly the bantering was to take his mind off the pain. Gail flipped him off and stepped out of the room.

"Stay still," ordered Holly. "Gail, we need to take him to a hospital. He needs stitches."

Pausing in the archway, Gail asked the phone, "Did you hear that? Yeah. Well I don't know." She nodded, hand on hip, head down. Holly knew that pose. Gail was about to do something, "Well, no. I don't think so." She exhaled. "Steve, where's your car?"

"Bastard took it. I walked." No wonder he was so tired.

Wiping off Steve's face, Holly tried to think of how to treat it. If Steve was lucky, it didn't cut a muscle. "That seems short sighted," muttered Holly. He'd walked this far, so he was probably not in serious danger, though Gail had a remarkable ability to downplay injuries. It was either a cop or a Peck thing.

"He probably ditched it."

Gail was still on the phone with whomever Blackstone was. "Jacob, he's my brother. Don't fuck with me about this." She exhaled and listened. "Actually..." A pause and Gail turned to look at Holly, "Hang on." Gail held the phone a little away from her face. "Can you take care of him here?"

"Are you all insane?" Holly snapped and glared at Gail. "He needs a hospital. If this cut his muscles-"

"Holly, I know," sighed Gail. "He can't go to the ER right now." Gail looked sympathetic. "It's okay if you say no, but can you?"

Seriously? They were crazy. "I can," she allowed. "This is a bad idea, he could bleed out. I have no idea what I'm getting into, or ..."

"I know, it's okay." Steve's pale skin was waxen in pain.

"Gail?" Holly looked up at her girlfriend, seriously. "Why?"

"His CI works at Toronto General. It's too dangerous, especially if he's double crossed Steve," she said slowly. "You didn't tell me you were officially on that case, Steve."

"I bounced it off Jacob and we picked it up."

Gail frowned. "How long has he worked for Lapointe?" The answer came over the phone and Gail nodded. "Yeah, I know, shut up, I'm not ... Okay. Holly, yes or no?"

Biting her lip, Holly asked, "If I say no, you're going to put him in your car and drive somewhere else, aren't you?" And Gail nodded. Damn it. "Yes. But I need your help."

Nodding again, Gail spoke into the phone. "Call me when you know." She hung up and squatted by Steve. "Blackstone's got a BOLO out for your car."

"I hate that car—" Steve hissed as Holly moved him a little. "Jesus, why does it burn like that?"

"You were stabbed, Steve," sighed Holly. "I hope this isn't your favorite suit." She pulled out the scissors.

"It was," he grumbled. "Cut it off, I don't care." Gail held his hands and he cringed. "I take back everything, Garbage Pail."

With quick snips, Holly cut the shirt and vest off. She took a deep breath, "Steve, just breath normally for me, okay?" With her stethoscope, Holly listened to his lungs. No fluid sounds. The scalpel had cut down over an inch, dragged down probably. "If I take this out and he spurts, we go to the ER."

Gail agreed right away, though Steve did not. "Fine. Shut up Steve, you don't get a vote."

"Let's get him to a bed. He won't be able to get up after."

"And you said cleaning out the downstairs was silly." Gail's humor was clearly self defense against fear and Holly let it go. It took both of them to get Steve up and down the hall to the guest bed. Gail just threw a top sheet down for him, forgoing with actually making the bed, and towels layered under where he'd lie.

They lay Steve down on his stomach carefully, another towel under his head. "I haven't done this since I was in med school, Gail," hissed Holly, handing Gail gloves.

"Hey, I saved Chris' life when he was stabbed," Gail smiled thinly. Holly handed her a tampon. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Get it open and ready."

Steve asked cautiously, "Do I want to know?"

"Maybe," allowed Gail, smirking but also looking serious and scared. This was her brother after all.

Holly slowly took another breath and then drew the scalpel out. Steve gasped, not a great sound, and the blood began to flow. "Gail, give it here." The tampon went onto the cut, and Holly pressed sterile gauze to it. "I swear, if I have to put goddamn HemCon in my house," she growled, and fell into the rhythm of medicine.

Remarkably, Steve stayed still as Holly debrided the cut and stitched it up. Gail held his hands and neither Peck said a thing until Holly asked Gail to get a damp towel. "You're gonna live, Steve," she told her brother.

"I'll never play the violin again," he wheezed.

"Thank god," Gail muttered.

After cleaning his back and applying bandages, Holly collected her tools and shakily took them upstairs, leaving Gail to monitor her brother. She wanted to vomit. She hated treating live people, but there was no choice. It was this or something worse.

Taking advantage of the distance, Holly showered and changed before coming back downstairs. Gail was perched, cross-legged, beside Steve, holding his hand. The small pistol was clipped to her waist. Holly hadn't really noticed the gun had come with them. "I really owe her one, huh?"

"Yeah, you do, moron." Gail brushed his hair from his face. "You're going to owe her a hell of a lot more when I tell her who Blackstone is."

"Shit, she's going to hate him. Holly's right. You're insane. Or brave."

"Both." There was a hiss sound and Gail sighed loudly. "Sorry all we have is regular pain killers."

"Just promise me it'll be a cool scar."

"Better looking than the rest of you." Gail paused and looked up, seeing Holly. "I'll be right back, Steve. Don't move." Steve grunted. Crossing the room, Gail touched Holly's arm. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault," sighed Holly. She started to move to hug Gail, but her eyes dropped to the gun. "Do you always bring that when we go out?"

Following the gaze, Gail sighed. "Almost always, yes."

Not sure how that made her feel, Holly wrapped her arms tight around herself. "Now what?"

"Blackstone's coming over with someone to guard you and Steve tonight." Gail chewed her lip and paused.

"Me and Steve." Not Gail. The blonde nodded. "Where are you going?"

There was the briefest pause before Gail replied, "To collar his CI."

"You're— The guy who stabbed your brother!?"

"I know who he is, Holly. And I know the case. It'll be faster. I can pick him up and I'll have backup. We've got uniformed looking for him right now. Soon as they spot him, Blackstone and I'll go in."

Holly looked at the man sprawled on her guest bed and scowled. "Who is Blackstone, and why won't I like him?"

Flinching, Gail pushed both hands through her hair. "Nick... He's the guy I slept with."

The guy Gail slept with? What did that have to do with Nick... Then she remembered the conversation. Steve was right, Holly did hate him right away. "And you're going with him tonight?" She knew she sounded bitter and angry, and she was not able to nor cared to tamp it down. Seriously, Gail was going to hang out with the guy she cheated on Nick with?

"Be realistic, Holly," Gail said calmly. "Would you rather be here with him?"

"No." Holly glowered. "I don't like that you're working with him."

Gail reached over and touched Holly's face, gently cradling it, "Holly. I know this is not the night I planned." Her voice was soft, the tender tone that Holly never heard anywhere else. "I'm sorry I even had to ask you."

Leaning a little into the hand, Holly closed her eyes. "What would you have done if I wasn't here?"

"Less sterile, more swearing, no stitches, and a fuck ton of bandages." In other words, the same thing, less safely. Holly sighed and Gail's thumb brushed her cheekbone. "I totally get why you're mad."

Holly shook her head and stepped closer to Gail, unfolding her arms and grabbing Gail's shirt hem. "I'm not. I'm terrified, Gail. This … this is not me. This is not what I know. This is—" Holly paused and pressed her head to Gail's shoulder. "Remember when I said I was all about trying new things?"

"Yeah," replied Gail, one hand gently rubbing Holly's back.

"I did not mean this," Holly said firmly and Gail coughed a dry laugh. They stayed like that for a little while, until Gail's phone beeped. "Do you have to go now?"

Gail nodded. "I do." She pressed her lips to Holly's forehead.

"Wash your face," sighed Holly. Without another word, Gail jogged upstairs and, moments later, returned with a scrubbed face and a black jacket and watch cap. It was summer, but that blonde hair would stand out. She paused to give Holly an apologetic look before opening the door to let in Detective Luke Callaghan and a confused Nick.

"Jesus, what is this? You couldn't bring Chris too?" Gail was snappish and it was somehow very comforting.

"Jacob's used us before," Callaghan pointed out. "And Nick's the best shot, so it was him or Andy."

Gail scowled, "If anything happens to her..." The threat was so low, Holly was certain she wasn't supposed to hear it, but Nick just nodded. There were no more hugs, just one last look from Gail, impossible to read, and Holly was left alone with three policemen.

"So. Uh. Are you okay, Holly?" Nick looked nervous.

"I've had worse dates," she muttered. That was a lie, though. This was now, officially, the worst date she'd ever had with Gail. Holly sighed and turned to the detective, "Now what?"

Callaghan nodded. "Now we wait. Can I talk to Peck? Steve..."

"Yes," sighed Holly and she led him into the room. Nick stayed out, walking around the house as if on patrol. Would this ever get any easier?

Chapter Text

Sitting in the car with Jacob Blackstone, on an impromptu stakeout for an ER nurse who was helping a gang smuggle medical supplies, and had shanked her brother with a scalpel, was so incredibly far from how she'd wanted to spend her night, Gail could barely process it. At least he'd picked up good coffee. She propped her feet on the dash and watched the man pace in his apartment.

"So," Blackstone said slowly, as if certain Gail was going to lash out at him. "You live with her?"

"Yep." Gail frowned as Tim Baines paused at the window and looked out. He didn't seem to see them. "Jesus, is he ever going to leave?" She slouched in the seat and kept watching.

Blackstone didn't reply to that and scratched on his notepad. "When did that happen?"

Gail eyed him, "Why does everyone want to ask me about that? Yes, I bang chicks now. I'm living with my girlfriend." She turned back to the window and watched stupid Tim pace back and forth. "Can we tap his phone?"

"You ever tried to wake up a judge at 2am on a Saturday?"

That would be a no. "You filed anyway?"

"Of course." Blackstone sounded offended. He squinted. "Is he on the phone now?"

"Third time," confirmed Gail.

"Three calls. Times?" As Gail recited the times, Blackstone jotted them down. "Didn't answer when though."

Gail blinked and sighed. "After Nick... And no, it had nothing to do with you." As Gail said that she wondered how true it was. He'd been a strange part of it. "Well. Maybe the back hair," she added aloud, as a dig.

And Blackstone smiled. He liked it when people gave him crap. "Good. You've got to know this stuff before you get in to undercover work."

"Mm, no. I'm not doing that."

"Major Crimes, I know." He grinned. "Steve told me this was all because you saw something. That right?"

Gail hesitated. Fuck it. Blackstone used people, but he was also a good cop. "Kid dumped in a lake after being picked up by a non-existent ambulance, body dumped in the woods with an IV stuck in wrong, fake EMTs picking up a non-dead body for god knows why, a headless guy in an ambulance rolled down a hill."

To her surprise, Blackstone added to her list with three more oddities. "And you're wondering why Guns and Gangs is interested?"

"They're part of a cover up," she suggested, not phrasing it as a question on purpose. A question made it sound like you doubted yourself. A statement made you seem certain.

Blackstone nodded. "You nabbed Bobby Zanaro, right?"

"Oliver and I did, yeah."

"He got ousted from Two Lakes." Gail remembered that and nodded, encouraging Blackstone to go on. "A lot of the older lieutenants and old school guys have been showing up dead. Including the ones on your list."

Gail tore her eyes away from Tim in the window. "They're all members of Two Lakes?"

"Some more than others, but they're all old school. We think it's a takeover."

She chewed on that for a while watching Tim put the phone down. Was he on the move yet? "But why the ambulances?"

"That's where Tim comes in. He's been feeding Two Lakes for almost five years, supplies. But there's got to be a reason they're using ambulances."

Without thinking Gail replied, "Easy way to move drugs. We'd never pull 'em over. And great for body dumps." She took her feet off the dash as Tim started moving in the bedroom. "The kid in the lake was an accident. Wrong place, wrong time. The guy who was alive was a dump and they were still in the area. Heard our call. Right place right time." Yeah, Tim was definitely on the move.

Her hand was on the door handle when Blackstone spoke, "Take the front."

They'd already disabled his car so Gail knew he'd be making a run for it. Blackstone went to the back, by the car, while Gail tried to decide if Tim would run from the alley or the street. She moved to the alley right as she heard the shout. Tim tripped on to Blackstone and Gail crouched, waiting.

The crash sound was garbage bins probably intended to delay Blackstone. The clatter was Tim slipping. She heard his breathing and tensed.

Now.

Gail threw herself at him the moment he was clear of the alley and slammed Tim into the pavement hard. Probably harder than was necessary, truth be told. "Hi, you're under arrest," she said brightly.

Struggling, Tim tried to evade the cuffs. "What the hell for?"

"Assault and attempted murder of a police officer for starters," she growled and yanked his arm up to cuff.

"Nice tackle, Peck," smiled Blackstone holding his hand to his face. Tim had clearly gotten a swing in.

The name Peck made Tim stop moving and Gail hauled him to his feet. "Are ... You ..."

"I'm your arresting officer, moron." She frog marched him to the car and tossed him in the back. "This is why I don't want guns and gangs. Your criminals are stupid."

Her neck was killing her. That was Holly's first thought as awareness crept in. Her legs too. "Ow," she muttered and tried to move her limbs, wincing at the pins and needles stabbing her. An afghan slipped from her shoulders, slithering down to the ground as Holly sorted out where she was.

She had fallen asleep in the (comfortable) reading chair in the guest room. Why was she asleep in the guest room? Holly rubbed her eyes, realizing why the pattern on the chair was so damn fuzzy. Where were her glasses? She looked around, spotting a shape on the guest bed, and memory flooded back. Worst. Date. Ever.

"I promise."

A voice from outside the room was familiar. Male. Nick! Holly sat bolt upright and winced. Jesus everything hurt. She was too old to be sleeping in chairs and was feeling every inch of her 'closer to 40 than 35' right now. The little coffee table held her glasses and Holly fumbled, pushing them on to her face. Ahhh, focus. God bless glasses. The distance to the bed was right on the edge of her ever increasing fuzzy zone. Getting old sucked.

Steve was asleep or seemingly so. "Steve?" she asked softly. It was possible he, like Gail, had that distressing ability to fake-sleep through anything. She slowly stretched her muscles until, certain she wasn't about to topple, Holly could move to the bed and check on her girlfriend's brother.

No, Steve was soundly asleep, his face screwed up in pain. He really needed a hospital, with an IV and some damn good painkillers. Pressing one hand, gently, to his face, Holly did not find his temperature to be too abnormal. She carefully pulled the sheet back and peeked at the bandages. That was warm to the touch but not painfully so. It didn't seem like an infection had cropped up in the night.

Was it night? She looked at the window and saw the light of not early dawn but well towards morning. The clock told her it was nearly seven in the morning. The last time she remembered was around three when Gail texted her to say she'd arrested the CI. Had Holly really slept for four-ish hours? Had Gail slept at all? And where the hell was her phone?

Leaving Steve to sleep as much as he could, Holly slipped out into the living room where Nick was pacing nervously. He looked like an anxious father. "Do you want coffee?" she asked him, feeling the desperate need herself.

"Oh! You're awake. Gail just called." He held the phone out. "You slept through it ringing, she said to let you rest."

Holly took her phone and blinked at the list of calls from Gail which she had, totally, slept right through. "I see. Thank you." Hesitating with her thumb over the call back button, Holly looked up at Nick. "Who were you promising?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Gail. She said if I woke you up, she'd … er …"

"Do something anatomically impossible to your reproductive parts?"

"She's really inventive when she's mad." When Holly smiled, he grinned back. "Oh, and they're sending people to pick up Steve and take him to the hospital, under guard."

Holly frowned, "So you're leaving?"

"You're coming with … I mean … Uh, Gail…" He blinked and rubbed his head. "She said you should go if you wanted. Woke up. I'm sorry."

"Coffee," Holly said firmly, not entirely clear on all this herself, and she made two cups of espresso, passing one to Nick. "Yes, I'm going with Steve to the hospital," she said firmly. "How are we going to explain this?" Holly was struck by a crazy fear of loosing her license over the mess. After she'd just sorted her job out again, too!

When Nick didn't know, Holly sighed and called Gail. The phone rang three times before Gail picked up. "Please tell me Nicholas didn't wake you up."

Holly smiled. Gail sounded frustrated and cranky, and she was clearly annoyed at Nick quite a bit. She generally called him Nicholas only when she was angry with him. "No. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," sighed Gail. "Tired as hell. We're interrogating the dumb ass loser."

"Now? Sorry, did I interrupt?" She sipped her coffee and felt life flowing back in her. So they had caught the man who stabbed Steve. That was good.

"Nah, we're letting him sweat for a bit anyway." Gail's flippant reply was ruined by the yawn. "God, I would kill for your espresso."

"Come home?"

"Can't yet. Is Steve doing okay?"

Holly was a little miffed Gail didn't ask how she was doing, but then again she was on the phone chatting so Gail probably presumed she was fine. "He needs a—"

"Hospital, yeah, didn't Nick tell you? Callaghan's going to take him in. You don't have to go but I thought you might want to. Explain what happened."

The name Callaghan reminded her and Holly looked around. Where was he? "God, I'm going to be in so much shit for this," she groaned.

"For … what?"

"Illegal medical procedures?"

"Good Samaritan laws were invented for a reason. Don't worry, Blackstone'll clear it. Right?" The last bit was said away from the phone. "Yeah, you are going to do that right now, thank you." Then more clearly to Holly, Gail added, "All good. Sorry."

Holly shook her head. "Why do I get the feeling you're breaking the law."

"Never," Gail said, surprisingly firmly. Then she sighed again, "What can I do?"

"For me?" The real answer was rewind time and undo everything. "Nothing, honey. It's … well no, it's not fine." Holly exhaled. "I want to get away from all of this." Nick, catching her words, looked away but did not leave earshot. Damn it.

"That's not a stupid idea," agreed Gail. "After. I'll come meet you at the ER?"

"Oh, so I'm going?" There was no reply and Holly was sure Gail was grinning. "Yes, fine, I'm going. Eat something, will you?"

"I will. I love you."

Shyly, Holly turned away from Nick and whispered, "I love you too."

"Oh, Nick's there, eh?"

"Yeah, and I seem to have lost your detective."

"Probably on the deck being all detectivey. I'm going to find something to eat and then play good cop, bad cop."

Another whispered endearment and Holly hung up. She did not turn around to look at Nick, pretending he wasn't there for a moment longer. When her back door opened, Callaghan walked in and looked surprised to see her awake. "Good. The ambulance will be here in 10 minutes. Coming?"

"Ambulance?" She felt suddenly nervous.

"EMTs we know," he assured her. "Can I have some coffee?"

Coffee. Yes. Holly made another cup for the police officers and then excused herself to go upstairs. Taking the time to freshen up, Holly pulled on a clean shirt, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. She felt a little more human and went back down to get Steve ready, as well as packing her purse.

She ended up riding in the ambulance with Callaghan, Nick taking their car. Wide awake, Steve grimaced with every bump and bounce on the drive but he didn't curse. He did complain that everyone else had coffee and he didn't, but it was the same sort of tone Gail used when she was just annoyed and cranky. So Holly held his hand and smiled fondly. All the Pecks were cats in trees sometimes.

The ER was prepared for them, asking Holly only the important questions and letting her tag along with them as the doctor inspected her work. When she explained about the tampon Callaghan laughed and Steve looked offended but the doctors agreed it was a good idea. In less time than Holly expected, Steve was in a private room with an IV pumping him with fluids, antibiotics, and pain killers. Just like his sister, he got loopy fast. Pecks could hold their alcohol but not the good drugs.

Holly felt infinitely calmer, now that Steve was under professional care. "Is anyone going to tell Traci- Um, Detective Nash?"

The question surprised Callaghan but he nodded. "Oh. Yes." He ducked out to make a call and Holly rolled her eyes. They were all the same, cops. Brilliant in their fields, dense as planks with people in their personal lives. Not that she thought Callaghan fell under the brilliant category, mind. He was more average and annoying when compared to Steve or Traci.

She took a seat next to Steve's bed and leaned back. God, the stress of this sort of thing was unimaginable. And Gail lived with this daily? She pulled her phone out and texted Gail, telling her she was safe at the hospital and please make sure someone actually does tell Traci.

And then she waited. At least she'd brought a book.

"You ready to go in?" Blackstone looked only slightly more awake and aware than she did, and for that Gail felt pleased.

"Alone," she replied and he nodded. She sighed and stood up. "Right. Give me a minute." Gail went to the bathroom to wash her face and bumped into Andy, looking grumpy as one might expect for anyone who worked on weekends. "Hey," she muttered, turning on cold water.

Absently, Andy replied in kind and then did a double take. "Hey, why are you in street clothes? Parade is in 5!" Gail opened her mouth to reply when Andy corrected herself, "Why are you here at all!? We swapped shifts so you could do that dance!"

"Ballet, Andy, I was at the ballet." She splashed her face again and winced. Not really helping. She wanted to be back there, at the ballet or the part where Holly was threatening to bite Gail's dress off, instead of the place where here brother was in the hospital. "I got called in last night. This morning. Whatever."

Gail tried to think of how many consecutive hours she'd been up. It was past eight. She'd been up twenty six hours, with a work day and a show in the middle. No wonder she felt like absolute crap. The adrenaline rush had clearly worn off. "Wow, that sucks," muttered Andy and she grabbed Gail's elbow.

"Hey, what the hell, McNally?"

"Sit," ordered Andy, pushing Gail into a seat and grabbing a brush. "You're doing something important, right? You need to not look like death warmed over. You need to be bad-ass Peck."

Out came a brush and makeup from Gail's locker. In a moment, Andy cleaned Gail up far better than she could do herself. "Thank you," muttered Gail, uncomfortable.

"If you hug me, I know the world is ending."

So Gail rolled her eyes and went back to interrogation. Blackstone did a small double take on seeing her but grinned in a way Gail understood well. War paint. She'd have shaved if she was her brother. She picked up the folder and let herself in.

"Tim," she sighed, tossing the folder down and sitting, as if she did this every single day of her life. The weaselly CI winced. "Here's the thing, Tim. My partner, that hairy guy? He doesn't like you."

"You don't like me either," muttered Tim. "Peck, right?" She nodded and he looked away. "That guy was Peck. The guy I stabbed."

"Oh my brother?" Gail was as flippant as she could be. "Yeah, I should thank you. He's been a pain in my ass for years. Maybe he'll be more humble now." Tim latched on to her words and looked up, surprised. "He's alive. You're a pretty shitty murderer."

"I didn't mean…" Tim looked away. "Good. I didn't want to kill him."

"And yet you stole his car, his phone, and his gun. Why'd you stab him?" No answer. "Right. So you've been supplying Two Lakes for, what, over a decade now? Drug crap, screwing up records so your guys don't get tracked when they get hurt. What we kind of expect. But … two years ago it changed to something else."

Tim's hands twitched. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure do," smiled Gail. She glanced at the door and got up. "You hungry? Thirsty?" Gail knocked on the door and Blackstone handed her two granola bars and two water bottles. He mouthed 'doing good' and the door closed. "I'm starving, but I'm always hungry."

Taking the offered food and drink, Tim chewed on the granola bar. "Thanks."

"You ever watch SciFi stuff, Tim?" When he blinked, Gail went on, editing herself somewhat to avoid mentioning she was dating anyone. You never gave a perp real information, she learned that from Perik. "I know this total nerd, so I end up watching some weird crap with her. There's this show, right, called Firefly. Whole episode's based on them breaking into a hospital as EMTs and stealing a tonne of supplies. Black Market stuff." She paused, "It's a really good show, actually." Gail sipped her water, "Anyway, you guys aren't doing the black market, which is weird, right? Why do you need a fleet of fake ambulances?"

Tim's eyes widened. "We don't…" He trailed off and then clammed up.

"Don't need a fleet right, bad choice of words. You had five, though. Three still working. We've got the other two." She scratched her cheek. "How long have you been in Two Lakes now, Timbo? Fifteen years? Twenty? Bobby Zanaro was your old boss, right?"

The more Gail spoke, the paler Tim looked. "Bobby's gone," he whispered.

That was not news to her, having arrested him. Gail was pretty sure Bobby was out in Alberta or Vancouver under a new identity, and she tapped her folder. "Lots of guys from your generation are at loose ends theses days. Funny thing. Times are changing."

Tim looked up at her slowly. "I'm dead. The minute I walk out the doors, I'm dead." Tilting her head slowly, Gail said nothing.

She was tired. No, she was exhausted. Every minute awake wore on her, and she wanted a nap, in her own bed, with Holly. "What am I gonna do with you, Tim?" She sighed and leaned back.

"I can tell you everything." She tilted her head again. Silence. She was too tired to speak. "Okay, I know it won't get me out of- of what I did, but we can cut a deal right? I tell you everything you move me to Saskatchewan or Yellow Knife. Someplace way the hell away, and I marry an Eskimo and it's okay, right?" Gail frowned a little. She had no power to make a deal. Pursing her lips she looked over his shoulder, trying to think of an answer.

And a miracle happened.

Tim began to talk. It wasn't his idea, he stressed. He'd just noticed that no one stopped the ambulances, no matter where they went. Even the druggies and gangs, they all left them alone, unless they were transporting the enemy. One day Tim mentioned it to someone else and he fell under the aegis of Bobby.

Bobby became his mentor, listening to his ideas, taking them further. They turned a drug using doctor into a resource. They learned how to fake an ambulance safely and used it to transport drugs. Illegal drugs, just like you'd expect. No one pulled over an ambulance, after all. And they'd been doing that for almost a decade. Bobby ran the show, and even made Tim go to nursing school, making him use his smarts to be their inside guy.

But the last few years it changed. The new kids were expanding past just drugs. There was more killing, outright killing. Bobby was against it and they threw him out. Cut his ties, disowned him, whatever you wanted to call it, Bobby was persona non gratis in the Two Lakes family. Tim was sure he'd be next, being Bobby's golden boy, but these new guys had a new plan.

The turf wars escalated, quietly. Instead of shoot outs, they assassinated each other. One at a time, over long periods of time. And those drug mule ambulances had a new purpose. They were transporting dead bodies, they were clean up. They followed the killers to make sure the bodies were dead and dropped them off in new locations. Some were left at the hospitals, some were dumped in parks.

Quietly, Gail opened the folder and slid over photos of the bodies they knew about. Tim gave them names and jobs. The kid in the lake was a confirmed accident. And the morons arrested by Gail and Gerald flubbed the drop. They were supposed to make sure he was dead. Of course, that guy was still in a coma so it didn't really matter to the gang. Tim was supposed to keep tabs on him, kill him if he woke up.

And that was when Tim started having second thoughts. That was when he turned to Steve and started the whole CI crap. But last night he'd panicked. The rumor was there was going to be a hit on him and when Steve offered to take him some place safe, he freaked. It was a mistake, Tim admitted. It was stupid.

The door opened and Blackstone jerked his chin at Gail. They had enough. "Sit tight, Timmy," she told him, handing him her uneaten granola bar, and left the room.

To her surprise, the observation room was filled with detectives from guns and gangs. Their voices overlapped as they told her how impressed they were, how thrilled. How this broke open everything. And how Gail had been right. Praise like that, praise she'd always craved, was falling over her and her brain barely processed it all. She'd waited him out, given him the rope and let him hang himself. Giving him the room to talk. She'd bonded, apparently.

Blackstone put a meaty hand on her shoulder. "You got enough? Kid hasn't seen her own brother since he got to the hospital. And I need a week of sleep."

Inspector Jarvis was in a pressed suit, Saturday be damned, and nodded. "Impressive work, Peck. You'll do."

"Sir," she replied, not entirely sure where that was going. But Jarvis didn't explain anything else and Blackstone hauled Gail out of the room, pushing her phone into her hand. There were texts from Holly and Gail smiled. Her brother was just fine.

"Hope you're ready for the big leagues, kid," Blackstone told her, looking pleased and smug.

Gail blinked and looked back at the room. In that moment she abruptly knew, even though it was months too soon, she wasn't going to be doing patrol any longer. "Huh. Am I supposed to thank you? Because you're still an ass who uses people."

"Damn right I used you. Your brother said you had raw talent, I thought he was being a brother." Blackstone tossed Gail her jacket. "I figured you could bridge the rapport he'd had with that idiot. You broke him."

She really wasn't entirely sure how that happened either. They eased into Blackstone's car and Gail shook her head. "That was luck."

"That was luck and being prepared for this your whole life. Jarvis is greasing your transfer."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I figured." Closing her eyes, Gail slumped in the seat and put her head against the window. Dimly she was aware of Blackstone telling her to be more excited, but Gail let the car sooth her into a light doze. It was the first time her eyes had shut for more than a blink in hours and they burned too much to let her sleep. She did try to ignore Blackstone but when he said Holly's name, she tuned back in. "What about Holly?" Gail was not embarrassed to be caught out.

"I was saying your girlfriend, it is girlfriend, right? Your girlfriend handled that situation really well. If there's anything I can do ..."

"No offense, Jacob, but the last thing I want from you is your nose in my personal life again." He snorted and she smiled. "She knows about you, anyway. I'll sort it out."

"You told her about us?" He sounded surprised.

"Rip off the bandaid, they say." Gail tried to keep her eyes closed, but they hurt more to be closed than open. Dry. They'd have eye drops at the hospital. "She knows everything about me, Jacob."

"I can totally see flipping for her," he mused thoughtfully. "She's got a sexy librarian thing going on."

"Just stop," winced Gail. "Do not ruin that for me, or I will duct tape your back hair to your ass hair." It worked and Blackstone dropped her off. "You're not coming in?"

"Nah, I'm going to write up how the damn Peck siblings saved my ass."

Gail went right to Steve's room, finding him alone. The nurse explained that Holly and Traci (aka two cute women, one with a badge) had gone to find food. Steve was stoned out of his mind and cheerful. He was as much a lightweight with painkillers as she was, though right now Gail would have murdered him for the Oxy. As she listened to him singing "Hit Me Baby" there was a noise behind her.

There was Holly. Gail offered as much of an energetic smile as she could muster. Hesitating a moment, Holly ruthlessly handed Traci her coffee and bag of food before rushing to hug Gail tightly. "Hey, I'm okay," whispered Gail, her hands landing on Holly's waist.

But Holly had to look for herself. She always had to look closely when she was worried about Gail and cupped her face with both hands. "Good," whispered Holly and leaned in to kiss her.

Oh if only Gail had a little more energy. The kiss was not a simple peck nor a friendly warm reminder. This was a kiss to insist that Gail was very much alive. Holly snaked a hand to the back of Gail's head, pulling her even closer, winding her fingers in the short hair. It was breathless. Gail hated to back away. "Traci's right here," Gail muttered into Holly's lips.

"Don't care," replied Holly, pressing into Gail again.

"Don't stop on my account, Holly, but blondie looks like she's going to fall over." God bless Traci. Holly did cease her onslaught and sighed, making Gail sit down on the couch. "Don't worry, Gail. We got food for you too."

Handed a breakfast burrito, Gail cautiously took a bite before groaning. "I'm leaving you for Traci." No eggs, no tomatoes.

"That's okay," smiled Holly. "Steve has professed his undying love for me. Peck swap?"

Traci looked seriously between Gail and her brother. "No, I like the goofy one. You keep the bitchy one."

Miffed, Gail let Holly draw her back against the couch, sighing as Holly draped a long arm around her shoulders. "I retract my offer and now I'm not going to tell you how I saved the world and am champion of the universe."

The threat was empty and Gail gave them the rundown. Traci looked chagrined as Gail's theory was confirmed and did apologize for calling her crazy. Holly squeezed Gail closer when she explained about the likelihood of being transferred by Monday. They stayed for a while longer in the hospital, until Gail nearly fell asleep twice and Holly finally dragged her out, taking them home in their own car.

Gail wanted to tell Holly more about the day, but was pushed into the shower first. All Gail remembered after that was sitting on the bed for a minute to pull on socks, waking up in the afternoon with Holly's arm around her waist, and going back to sleep. It would keep.

Chapter Text

"Officer Peck reporting, sir," Gail tried to keep any trace of a smile off her face. She was dressed in her normal uniform, complete with tie (clip on) and kit as requested.

Inspector David Butler looked up from his computer and smiled. "Don't look so serious, Peck." He stood up and extended a hand. "Welcome to Major Crimes. You already know Sergeant Best."

Shaking her new boss's hand, Gail nodded at the man to the side. "Hi, Frank."

"Hi, Gail, welcome to the third floor." The twinkle in Frank's eyes was comforting. "Nice job last weekend. That guy folded fast. I saw the tapes."

"Guess I put the fear of god in him," she grinned, gesturing at herself.

She was introduced around to the rest of the staff. The regular detectives worked on the first floor, with overflow and special crimes like Steve's work on two (she never understood why Steve insisted on working on the main floor). The third floor, Fifteen's top floor, was for major crimes and staff like her parents. Her mother's office when Gail was in school had been up here. Thankfully it was not Butler's office. Her father had once held a desk here as well, recently even.

Butler had converted the office into an interview room, preferring to sit in the open with everyone else. "You'll sit with Frank for now. I was going to have you start with a case you knew, but you wrapped that up for guns and drugs." Shaking his head, Butler gestured at the board at the end of the room.

Both of Gail's eyebrows rose and she looked at the board. The ambulance cases. "Sorry about that," she smirked.

"Don't be. I was going to have to wait another couple months for you without it." Butler put his hands in his pockets, like an overgrown schoolboy. "How's your brother?"

"Fine. He's got a sling to stop moving his arm around, but he's healing. Went home yesterday."

"Good," nodded Butler. "He's a good kid. Needs a steady partner." The Inspector, her Inspector, grinned. "His boss wanted Double Peck. I had to fight for you."

Gail quirked a grin, but held it tight. "Beat out a Staff Inspector?"

"Jarvis said you'd be better here. Two versus one." Someone called Butler's name and he nodded. "Best, get Peck dialed in."

Frank brought Gail to his desk and they sat down. There was an awkward pause before he chuckled and slid over a blotter. "For later." With intense sincerity, Frank ran her down on the crimes they'd be working on as well as a quick briefing on three task forces they were running in coordination with other divisions. For now, Gail's duties were to follow Frank and watch and learn.

While Frank was demoted from Staff Sergeant to Sergeant, the lateral shift to Detective Sergeant had done him well. Not that he'd been a bad boss, but the last two years had been especially rough. He was a good leader of masses, better than most, and Butler was wise to assign Frank to onboard new people. Not that Gail was really new. Frank knew it too, which made the day speed by.

Gail was home first, even with a trip to the gym with Traci, and spread her copy of the recent blotter over the kitchen island while cooking dinner.

"Oh you're all professional," laughed Holly, coming in from the garage. "Already got a case?" She swooped around to kiss Gail's cheek and look over her shoulder.

"No, just memorizing everything on the blotter. Frank wants me to look for patterns." She stretched her arms over her head and laughed as Holly's arms wrapped around her waist.

"So first day was good?" Holly smiled, looking as pleased as if she'd done it herself.

That was an odd question, Gail realized. "Weird. It's just ... Strange being upstairs all day. And I'm the only one in uniform," she grumbled. That part she hated. She wasn't a detective yet. That would have to wait until her mother had officially retired. A whole damn year unless she did something epic, something amazing.

Holly, however, pointed out a flaw. "Having seen your wardrobe, honey, it's probably better this way." Gail did not want to shopping for work clothes. "Maybe when you're in charge, you can get everyone to wear jeans and your slouchy blouses."

"In a million years," she complained. Gail leaned back into Holly and sighed, drinking in her presence.

Resting her chin on Gail's shoulder, Holly sighed and her hands drifted down to Gail's thighs. "You like it."

"I spent my day reading about robberies," Gail muttered. The hands on her legs squeezed and one moved up Gail's shirt, slipping under it, resting on her stomach.

"Major Crimes sounds a little petty." Holly's breath was distractingly pleasant on her neck.

"There's been swarming."

"Like bees?" Holly brushed a thumb across Gail's inner thigh.

Gail sighed, covering that hand with her own and bringing it up to her lips. "When groups, usually kids, crowd someone to rob them." Gail turned Holly's hand, kissing the palm. "I like it."

"I like how you caught your ambulance guy because I made you watch the greatest sci-fi show in the last 10 years."

"Neeeeerrrrd," smirked Gail.

"You watch reality TV," snapped Holly without any venom in her voice. The hand under Gail's shirt poked her, however.

"Hey, I watched that Lost Girl show with you. Didn't even have a single sexy librarian," she lamented and won a neck kiss from her girlfriend. "And it wasn't like the Firefly episode. Baby, you know real crime isn't like TV."

Holly sighed. "Well if it was they'd have caught the guys faster."

Letting go of Holly's hand, Gail spun the stool around. She tugged Holly by the waist so they were somewhat more entangled. Pressing her face into Holly's neck, she asked, "Would you go to the ballet with me again?"

"Will you wear that shawl thing again?"

"Maybe," grinned Gail. "Maybe something you don't have to use your teeth to unzip."

Holly groaned. "I hate zippers." Leaning back however, Holly smiled and kissed Gail gently. "I'll think about it. Just ... Bring Steve. Or make Traci promise to sit on him."

"I don't want to know what Steve and Traci do in their free time," winced Gail. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." But she let go and asked, "What is for dinner?"

"Cheese puff crusted chicken." Holly made a surprised face and Gail smirked. "I made a broccoli salad thing too, shallots and onions and all that. I promise, it's good."

"Well... The mac and cheese thing was awesome," allowed Holly. "But Gail, just how many recipes do you know with cheese puffs?"

With a smile, Gail did not answer.

Holly liked the new routine. Gail had a normal kind of schedule, which meant they regularly had time together. There were now weekends, whole weekends which were consistently theirs. As summer ended, Holly dragged Gail to a baseball game and the lake, and lamented not having a summer cottage to hide in. That was when Gail mentioned that her family did have a cottage, or a cabin, she was unclear as to which, and that Gail actually had the keys.

"Will your parents be there?"

"Dunno... So yeah, there is that."

They decided not to risk it, which turned out to be providential when Gail found herself the unwilling recipient of an award for saving Steve's life and breaking open the Two Lakes little crime ring. Privately Holly though the name was dumb but Gail said criminals weren't always known for their smarts. Then she told Holly a hilarious story about a robber who had a custom license plate on his getaway car.

At the award ceremony, which was in public and outside, Gail was withdrawn and quiet on stage. She hated it and Holly knew it, so watching her girlfriend retreat into her comfortable angry shell was not unexpected. Getting a medal for doing her job had, per Gail, been stupid. If anyone deserved a medal for that crap it was Holly, and she threatened to submit Holly's name for an order of merit.

It hadn't taken much to talk Gail out of that idea as soon as Holly pointed out they'd make Gail give a speech.

With the new medal pinned to her jacket, Gail grumbled, "Can I just get drunk?"

Her brother slung his good arm around her shoulders, showing off his own medal (a reward for being stabbed apparently). "Yes, sister dear. I think tonight calls for drinks at the Penny with our beautiful women. Women we will go home with."

Since Steve had needed a little extra care and help after being stabbed, Traci and Leo de facto moved in early. That sped up the search for a larger place, which turned out to be close to where Traci already lived. Gail had been enlisted to help move and did not complain too much about it, though she and Holly gave the couple sports tickets. But now both Pecks were well and truly healed and happy, which they admitted was a strange place to be.

The Penny was packed with people who wanted to buy Gail a drink, most of whom were her former patrol mates though Detective Blackstone only stopped by briefly, getting weird looks from Nick and Andy. Both of Gail's rookies made an adorable honor guard, keeping track of everyone who bought a drink.

"This is cute," Holly informed Gail. "Gerald and Snowflake are getting along."

Gail squinted at them for a long moment. "Ah crap, they're boning." Holly nearly shot her beer out her nose much to Gail's delight.

Alas, Gail had not been joking and Holly was aghast when she spotted the two making out in a corner an hour later. Gail had sighed knowingly and complained about people in general being far too happy and perky. This led to Gail and Chloe arguing across at least four languages about happiness.

"It's disturbing, isn't it?" Dov sighed and handed Holly another beer.

"Mm, no thanks, I'm driving. Do they both speak a bajillion languages?"

"Chloe said Gail was cheating by not teaching her Punjabi I think, and Gail called her a snob for not teaching Swahili. Who even knows Swahili?" They shook their heads. "She's just going to go on and on, isn't she?"

"I'm afraid so." Holly smiled fondly at her girlfriend and her limitless future.

Dov sighed. "I miss the old days sometimes, when we were all rookies and she was just the bitchy, cold one who stabbed us in the back."

It was hard for Holly to see that Gail in her mind. She knew the other Gail, the sweet and sensitive one who was sarcastic and witty and defensive. "Which came first," wondered Holly aloud.

"Huh?" Dov looked confused. "You mean were we mean or was she? God, I don't even know. If she hadn't been dating Chris, maybe we'd never know." He paused and changed the topic, "Hey, what are you guys doing for the holiday weekend?"

Holly blinked. "Nothing," she realized. Gail had taken the long weekend off, since her new boss didn't like how much unspent holiday time she'd acquired. Holly liked Butler for that alone, though she had not yet met him.

And Dov smiled. "Do you like camping? We all go, it's like a tradition. Only we've never gotten Gail to come..." Dov gestured at their arguing girlfriends and frowned. "Crap."

Sweet and kind Chloe snapped. "Você é um saco!"

The argument looked like it was getting serious. "Let me think about it," Holly replied and stood up. She tapped Gail on the shoulder and as soon as the blonde turned to look at her, kissed her. The words stopped and Gail melted into Holly for the moment. "Let people be happy, honey," whispered Holly, taking Gail by the hand and sauntering back to the table.

Dov was slack jawed. "How did you do that?"

"Shut up," grumbled Gail, but she smiled at Holly.

But Dov was delighted. "You made Gail be nice! That's like a super power. You should, I don't know, get an award or something." When Gail raised her fist, Dov stopped. "Just ask her later."

"Ask me what?" Gail sounded suspicious and Holly kissed her again.

Kissing was a fast way to hush Gail up. "It's not later."

The odds of Gail wanting to go camping voluntarily were slim to none, but Holly felt it might be fun. She hadn't been camping in a very long time. Holly knew she would enjoy it, and she was pretty sure she could make sure Gail had a good time as well.

That day, today, was for Gail and her medal and Holly made sure she didn't suffer too much at the smiles and congratulations from her friends. Detective Rosati showed up, sans child or husband, to offer her congratulations to Gail and Holly had never seen Andy so mad. Gail promised to explain later. At that point, it was clear Gail's ability to tolerate the masses was wearing thin. Holly waved off many people who wanted to hug Gail, warning them in advance, and finally they made it to the car.

They didn't talk about anything on the way home. Gail tuned in the radio to Disney pop music and sang along, making Holly laugh. She even did a little shimmy in her seat. "You are insane, Gail," laughed Holly.

"I'm a little tipsy," admitted Gail. "But I'm happy. I love you and I'm happy."

In the last few months, Gail had taken to dropping the 'I love you' phrase more often. In public even. It still made Holly's body heat up and she shuddered. There was a thrill to hearing that from Gail. "Gail," she sighed, looking fondly at her girlfriend's reflection in the windshield, "Don't ever change."

Gail looked surprised. "I will. Change, I mean. It's inevitable." Reaching over, Gail rested a hand on Holly's thigh. "Am I changing in bad ways?"

"What? No! I love the way you, um, grow. I don't think I'm saying this right at all. Don't stop being you, Gail. I love you as sarcastic, and snarky, and ... and bitchy. I like your attitude." She took a hand off the steering wheel and covered Gail's hand with her own. "I like you very much, Gail."

"So you're not mad I told Chloe her roots were showing?"

"When did you say that?" Holly bubbled with laughter. "Also so are yours!"

"I'll have you know, this is my natural hair color," sassed Gail. "She started it, calling me a tucha and caminhoneira. Then I told her Dov was a broxa... It went downhill. She knows more dirty words than I do."

Holly rolled her eyes. "You like Chloe."

"I don't hate her." Gail sighed. "She's very good at being Chloe. I envy that." Holly just grinned. "Oh fine. I like her. She's not fake, she's actually really nice and awkward and god, she drives me up the wall with her perky optimism."

Good enough. "What was the sack thing she called you?"

"Huh? Você é um saco... She said I sucked." Gail shrugged. "We weren't being serious, you know. I mean... No one else speaks Portuguese in Fifteen."

"You two really are sides of the same coin," laughed Holly.

She laughed even more at Gail's absolutely horrified and offended expression.

She was supposed to be quiet and still and listen which wasn't a set of skills Gail really had a talent for. The listening sure, she was good. The sitting still and being quiet not too much. That was the worse part of her job. Gail rarely sat still at Parade let alone for a whole day. But she listened while fidgeting and reading, which Frank said was close enough.

When she heard them ask for Nemov, twice, she started paying closer attention.

"He's still on paternity leave, sir," explained one of the detectives.

"Damn it, doesn't anyone around here speak Russian besides Nemov?"

As Gail stood up, Frank hissed at her. "Not the time, Peck!"

But she ignored him. "Inspector Butler," she said directly.

"Not now, Peck," snapped her boss. "What about that guy in 27? He knows a little." The group started to argue about how much Russian needed to be understood, and was it Russian or a dialect.

Right. So she said a bit loudly, in Russian, that she spoke Russian.

The room fell silent. "What?" Butler put his phone down.

"I said I speak Russian. Nemov taught me."

"Your file says you speak French and Italian." Butler paused and looked thoughtful. "And Spanish and German. Are you holding out on me, Peck?"

"I speak Russian. And Punjabi. Officer Price is teaching me Portuguese." Gail had never bothered to add anything to her file because her mother would see it as a waste of time. Anything that wasn't directly cop related was a waste. Privately Gail didn't agree that multiple languages was a waste of her time, but her mother's opinion of her skills didn't matter much anymore.

Butler pointed at the chair at his desk and pushed over papers. "Can you read it?"

"A little slowly," she admitted and scanned the paper. "They're... They have the women captive." Her stomach turned and Gail read the letter aloud. They, whomever they were, had women. Girls practically, whom they smuggled into the country to be brides. As soon as she read it, Gail knew Butler would ask her to conduct the interviews. The letter was a plea, from someone to her family, to please take her back. Save her.

But they didn't have the brides, or anyone alive yet. They had two dead women, one of whom had the note on her person. The autopsy results, which did not have Holly's name on them, included photos with tattoos that Gail translated for them. She then found herself listening to phone conversations and putting her fluency to the test, translating on the fly. The hard part was when they used a couple colloquialisms she didn't know well.

The more she listened, the more she got used to their tone and dialect and cadence, the easier it got to understand. Once in school she'd played translator for some visiting deaf students, sitting beside them and real-time translating. That was easier than this, but she had been more familiar with ASL at the time. At last, she was able to get practical information. An address. And quickly following that they had a warrant.

"Grab your vest, Peck, you're coming with me," declared Butler, pulling his own on.

Finally! She was pleased to be tossed the keys as well, which would let her boss call in various things on the way. She shot a fast text to Holly, telling her that she was going out with Butler on a case and they'd have to skip lunch, before turning her phone to silent.

Frank was holding her vest up. "You impress the hell out of me daily, Peck."

Gail blinked, "Oh?" She didn't have a reply for that.

"I remember Rookie Peck. Detective Peck is going to be a hella impressive."

Compliments. Weird. Especially from Frank who had been rough on her in the beginning. "Doing my best, Sir," she said without sharing the grin she felt and pulled the vest on carefully. Then she hesitated. "Can I ask a favor?" Frank nodded. "Normally, when I go out, Holly calls Oliver if, um, she hears about stuff and freaks... But he won't know..."

Frank smirked, "I do the same thing about Noelle. Tell you what, unless we're both on site, you do the same?"

"Deal," agreed Gail and she tugged her phone out to tell Holly to ping Frank in case of emergency.

Butler shouted across the room, "Peck! Let's go, you're driving! You know how to get there fast?"

Gail looked at the address again and closed her eyes. "Yes," she said firmly, thinking up three ways to get around traffic. "Sir, it's okay that I'm in uniform?"

"Makes it more officially police to the losers," he grinned and Gail felt her happiest smile cross her face. Her boss called them losers too. Oh this was going to be as fun as working with Oliver.

She half listened to Butler on the phone, talking to the other detectives who would meet them there, and Oliver, who would arrange for backup to be on hand and possibly EMS. Hopefully EMS, Gail though privately. The alternative was a lot of dead women.

When she'd been twelve, her mother made her map out the city by hand, with all the major streets and as many minor as possible. When Gail was twenty, and the advent of Google Maps happened, she tried to argue that her mother's stupid tests were, in fact, ridiculous. Now that she was 28 (two months from 29) and there was GPS in every phone on the planet with real time traffic, she felt the memorization was stupid and brilliant.

They knew where the accidents were and the way the GPS wanted them to be routed, which was fine, but Gail knew shortcuts and cheats. And Butler was impressed. "Here's the deal, Peck," he told her. "I'm going to serve the warrant, you're my backup. Simple. We're going to walk around. You don't let on you know Russian, but if you hear anything or see anything, you tell me."

"Do we use code words?" Gail couldn't help the sarcastic quip as she parked the car. This was not her first time at the rodeo after all.

Butler smirked. "Funny." He adjusted his badge, hanging it around his neck. "The odds of this being the right place on the first go is slim to none, Peck." He got out of the car and looked around. "You're a good luck charm, though."

"Tell my partners that," joked Gail.

"Late bloomer," Butler declared, and motioned for Gail to follow him. She turned on the video camera and checked her gun. Here they go.

The door was answered by someone who barely spoke English, but understood 'police' and 'warrant' enough to let them in. Butler had explained he didn't think they'd absolutely need to have backup, but it was just a good idea. So as he argued with the men, Gail took the time to look around the room and pretend she didn't understand a word they were saying.

Four men, all compact and gruff, glowered. The one talked to Butler, while the other three argued if the cops knew anything. Gail absently picked up a book from the table. Russian smut. Awesome. She tossed it back down, keeping her face schooled to confusion, as if none of it made sense.

Butler continued to talk to the main guy, and one of his minions followed Gail into the kitchen. "What are you doing?" His accent was thick and clipped.

"Looking," she said plainly.

The man turned to the door and told his boss that the skinny blonde was in the kitchen. Could be worse. Gail popped open the fridge and looked at the inside. Beers, crappy takeout. The freezer, predictably, held vodka. Seriously, were they even trying?

The boss growled back that one of them should keep an eye on Gail, he would stay with the man. They argued who had to watch Gail, clearly underestimating her, which was fine. If you can't be strong, be clever. Gail looked around at the dirty sink and the mess. It only looked like the four men, no five, lived here. Keeping that in mind, that there was another man, Gail walked into the dining room. Used for storage. Most of the downstairs rooms seemed to be that way.

She glanced at the door to the basement and sighed. Gail didn't want to go down there but she noticed how the man following her didn't seem to react. Maybe no one was here.

"Peck, check upstairs," called Butler.

"Sir," she replied, and immediately the men started to argue. Nyet, a word everyone knew, was used loudly and Gail froze with one foot on the stairs. Her man, the one following her, grabbed her arm.

Not good. She turned slowly and glared at him. The hand loosened reflexively and Gail shook it off. "Hey, hey," shouted Butler. "Police! We can go upstairs." He waved the paper at them. "We have a warrant."

As two men moved to surround them, Gail listened carefully. They were talking about taking targets. "Sir," she said slowly, and reached to her shoulder, thumbing her radio on. "10-35." He'd been right, they didn't need a code. They had a code. They had hundreds of codes. They were the goddamned police.

She let go of the radio, stopping transmissions. Butler's eyes met hers, widening slightly, and they both put their hands on their belts as casually as humanly possible.

"Gentlemen," Butler said carefully. "What could possibly be upstairs?"

The men argued in Russian. The women were upstairs. Gail glanced up and took a step. All the men moved, their boss shouting. "No, not upstairs." Then he called a man's name.

Gail looked at Butler. His hand wrapped around the butt of his gun as did hers. "Okay, let's calm down. Peck, come on." They needed backup, clearly. Gail nodded and took a step back down the stairs.

There was a sound behind her. The name made sense. Oh shit. "There are five," she said loudly, drawing her gun and pivoting to look up. There was number five. The sound of a footstep and the sound of a larger caliber shotgun than she wanted to see.

Praying it was buckshot and not a 12-gauge, Gail's gun was up and centered. "Put the gun down," she said loudly, repeating it in Russian. Secrecy be damned. The man froze and told her to put the gun down instead. Gail repeated she was police and he should put the gun down.

Of all the things she'd done in her life, in her career, shooting someone was not an aspect of police work she'd ever wanted to do nor had she yet done. Most officers went their entire careers without ever firing at a person. Nick, the aberration amongst her friends, had killed before when he was in Afghanistan, but that was something else entirely. He hadn't wanted to talk about it much.

But right now she wasn't terribly concerned with what it would be like to shoot a man. The memory in Gail's head was the day she got her driver's license. That was the day her father had her drive them to the range and let her use the larger guns for the first (official) time. And that was the day her father demonstrated what happened to a bulletproof vest when you had a shotgun. More than a decade had passed since then and yet Gail knew the Level II vest she wore wasn't enough to stop that damn gun pointed at her.

As clearly and calmly as she could possibly be, she repeated the words. "Put. The gun. Down."

Chapter Text

When Gail's number and face lit up her screen, Holly beamed. Her doofy girlfriend had put an exceptionally silly face on Holly's phone for her contact information. "Hey, sexy. How was the streets?"

"Exciting. You still at work?"

"Just finishing up. You?" The phone beeped, disconnecting, and Holly looked at it curiously. "The hell?"

"Hey." That was Gail in person, smiling, already in her street clothes.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here," grinned Holly. "Exciting day? More robberies and under thefts?"

Gail perched on the edge of the desk. "Something like that," she allowed. "International human trafficking and selling. Wives from Russia and Ukraine." She picked up Holly's phone and tabbed through it, taking a new selfie.

"Well, that's new and different. And you're not staying late?"

"Eh, they make you go home when they think you're stressed." Holly narrowed her eyes, and Gail folded amazingly fast. "The bad guys had guns, no one shot anything. I talked them out of it." She waved a hand.

Holly sighed and closed her eyes. "Please tell me you wore your vest."

Indignant, Gail scoffed. "Of course."

The whole story waited until they were at the Penny, where Gail's friends demanded to hear everything. From Gail, the story was simple. She'd shouted at the guys, in Russian, to stand down, told them that more police were coming and they should put their guns down. From Butler, who came to introduce himself to Holly and have a drink, it was more impressive and dangerous. Gail had done that with a man pointing a 12-gauge shotgun at her. Even Holly knew the odds of a 12-gauge versus a vest.

Butler was nice, Holly had to admit. While Gail was arguing about drinks with someone, he sat down by Holly. "Dr. Stewart," he smiled, holding out a hand.

"Inspector Butler."

"You can call me David," he suggested.

"Holly," she grinned. "Gail calls you Butler."

David Butler laughed, "She's only called me 'Sir' since she got upstairs. Never expected that out of her. Everyone said she was more ..."

"Reckless?"

"Direct."

Holly smothered a smirk, "She really wanted this job."

Butler smiled, lifting his beer. "I wanted her." This was, Holly decided, a strange conversation. "Ah, this is weird, right? I like to know who my people are tied to, that's all. How long have you two been together?"

"Since spring." She toyed with the bottle before her. "She moved in just four months ago."

"Busy four months. Two rookies and a gang. She's impressive."

Holly grinned and felt the blush on her face, "Gerald— Duncan only needed polishing up." The name slip was not lost on Butler who laughed. "I'm impressed, but I'm biased."

"Good," declared Butler. He clapped Holly's shoulder. "That's what I wanted to know." He finished the beer in one go. "Good to meet you, Holly." He nodded and went to say a goodbye to Gail before leaving.

A confused Gail sat back done with Holly. "What'd he want?"

"I think he wanted to make sure I loved you." Gail smiled and leaned in to kiss her fondly. "I do, you know. Even if you do crazy things."

Any further depth of conversation was put on hold as Dov came to join them at their table. "What I don't get," remarked Dov, "is the part where you know Russian."

"Toma," replied Gail, eyeing Dov suspiciously. "Remember the kid we found?"

Dov blinked, "Gail, that was a couple years ago!"

"Yeah. So? I didn't start learning it until Nick went under cover."

Holly coughed and took Gail's hand. "Honey, I think he means that was really fast to get that good."

"Oh," muttered Gail, and she sipped her beer.

The conversation wound around a few times, before Chloe sat in Dov's lap. "Are you coming camping?"

And Holly flinched. She hadn't forgotten, not exactly, she'd just not mentioned it yet. Things had been busy. "Camping? It's almost October, don't you guys do that in spring or summer?" Gail leaned against Holly, looking amused.

Dov was surprised, "With everything else, we put it off. But we were thinking, hey, let's have one more." He fidgeted a bit.

"They never invite me," Gail pointed out.

"Oh but you were going to come last time!" Chloe looked honestly shocked.

"I was dating Nick. Andy invited him, you got stuck with me." Gail's hand slipped onto Holly's thigh, squeezing it gently. "I've never been camping."

Holly tilted her head, "But you said your family had a cabin."

"Yeah and a car," laughed Gail. "You want to go, don't you, Holly." It wasn't a question, and Holly gnawed her lip. "Oh, don't do that," sighed Gail, leaning in and kissing her. She seemed just not to care about public displays of affection at the moment and Holly didn't object.

"Camping on the long weekend," Holly murmured against Gail's lips. "It'll be fun." Gail whinged a little but capitulated and went to get the next round.

"That is amazing," sighed Dov. "I will never get over how you just wrap her around your fingers."

Holly startled and caught Chloe's eyes. They both started laughing horribly inappropriately, and kept laughing even when Dov tried to retract the statement.

It was not surprising that Holly had camping equipment. Since Gail did not, Holly dragged her and Steve shopping for the right clothes and shoes and backpacks. By unspoken agreement, Gail and Steve did not speak of what they did know about the outdoors. Tents, sleeping bags, and supplies. Those were new.

The children were not coming which Gail was pleased about. Sometimes a big kids only trip was needed, even if it was going to be in the woods. Leo was staying over with Frank and Noelle, the latter of whom had promised to put up a tent in the backyard. Sophie, mildly put out, told Gail not to be eaten by a moose. Gail assured her that moose didn't eat people while Holly explained that moose was the plural of moose.

Finally the day arrived and they drove out to the middle of ass-nowhere. Gail and Holly had Chris in their car, Holly having decided he was the least objectionable of Gail's exes. Andy, flying solo with Swarek working a case in Niagara, was in Traci's car with Steve. Her brother texted her repeatedly, telling Gail how annoying Andy was. They definitely came out ahead since Chris just wanted to sleep.

They were the first to pull in to the parking lot and Gail sighed. "I hate it already," she told Holly, leaving Chris asleep on the backseat.

"No you don't, you big baby." Holly grinned and slid her arms around Gail's waist, under the puffy vest.

"I'm wearing fleece and I have a backpack," Gail whinged and pulled Holly up against her. "It's not too late. There's a B&B down the road. We could totally skip out and spend the weekend in bed."

Holly laughed and kissed her. It was so hard to think when she did that and Gail leaned back against the car, keeping her close. "Never made out under the stars, Officer Peck?" teased Holly, mercilessly.

With a sigh, Gail put one hand on the back of Holly's hair and the other on her ass. "I was thinking a little more than making out," she whispered. "Four days and I really wanted to do more than get hot and bothered."

"Maybe you'll have to learn to be quiet," teased Holly, but she moulded herself against Gail quite contentedly.

The honking of Nick's truck snapped them out of it. Both he and Traci pulled up, one after the other. "Ew, get a room, sister," called Steve, leaning out the window.

"Bite me, brother." She sighed and let Holly go to get their bags out of the trunk. "I hate all of you," Gail grumbled and saw Chris was still asleep. Ruthlessly, she opened the door. "Chris! Wake up!" Chris yelped and Gail smiled, feeling slightly better.

"Stop being mean," advised Holly, handing her a backpack.

"Never," grinned Gail, and she pulled it on. "You like me mean." Steve came over to shove Gail's shoulder and they scuffled for a moment, shoving each other.

Holly rolled her eyes, "Why do two call each other that?"

Pointing at himself and then Gail, Steve tilted his head. "Call each other what? Captains of the Universe?"

"That too, but you always call each other brother and sister."

"We are related," Gail smirked. She started messing with the straps on her pack and checked that everything on the waist band was where she wanted it. The waist strap was cinched over her hips, the weight lifting off her shoulders.

"I mean you always use the whole word."

Traci snapped her fingers, "She's right! Never big bro or little sis. What's up with that?"

Looking at each other, the Peck siblings hesitated. Steve shrugged and signed that he didn't want to get into it. Gail huffed and snapped the chest bit into place. Fine, leave it on her. "Just because mere mortals can't fathom the depth that is our awesomeness doesn't mean we'll explain it."

As one, Holly and Traci muttered, "Pecks."

The subject was dropped, however, and everyone suited up to hike. You couldn't hold hands while hiking, so Gail settled for trudging near Holly and listening to her girlfriend natter on with Chris about the foliage.

It surprised Gail, how many times everyone wanted to stop for water and pee breaks, and she signed as much to her brother. He shrugged and said he didn't know, which finally made Dov ask about the sign language. This time Steve pointed out it wasn't his fault they weren't as cool as he was.

"Forget it, Dov," grumbled Nick. "They'll never tell anyone."

As everyone else pulled their packs on (Gail had been firmly instructed by Holly to never take it off unless you had to, it was too hard to get them back on), Holly grabbed Gail's shoulder straps and tugged her close for a moment. "Hey. I know..." She wiggled one hand.

"You do," agreed Gail, kissing Holly lightly. "Gonna tell on me?"

Holly shook her head and smiled, "Fine, keep your secrets from your friends. Just stop signing faster than I can read."

Gail grinned. "Read faster next time," she suggested and got swatted in the arm.

The group tromped over the next hill, which was when Andy started whinging it was taking forever. "But look at the weather," sang Chloe and Gail winced. "It's sunshiny, it's not too cold, there are beautiful people!" Chloe threw her arms out and spun around, like a Disney Princess. Unlike a princess, Chloe slipped and fell on her ass.

Everyone laughed, which made Gail feel better that she found it hilarious. Dov helped her up, "Andy has a point. How far to the campground?"

"Another four miles," Nick said, looking at the map.

Gail leaned over his arm, "Six."

"What? No, it's four. See, we're here," Nick pointed at the paper. "And we're going here..."

"Yeah, and this trail follows switchbacks." She reached over and pointed. "Steve, c'mere." Her brother complied and leaned over Nick's other arm. "That's faster, right?"

Steve nodded, "Or this way." He traced his finger around another path that went more uphill.

"Not even," snapped Gail. "I'm not going over that." She patted Nick's arm, watching him try to math out the switchbacks. "Come on, Nicholas, shortcut." And Steve and Gail started down the fastest route.

She heard an argument but ignored it when Holly caught up with her. "Nick doesn't believe you two." Holly sounded like she was about to have the giggles. "He thinks you two don't know how to read topographical maps."

Looking past Gail, Steve grinned, "You believe us, though."

"I am familiar with the mysteries that the Peck name carries along," laughed Holly.

Apparently so was Traci, who was the next to catch up, Andy trotting behind her. While Nick complained the whole time, Gail's shortcut had them at the campsite in just under three hours, and finally the backpacks came off.

"That was fun, right?" Dov grinned in his stupid way. "That was fun. I've never hiked in before!"

Gail rubbed her hips, sore and a little chafed. "What? You losers don't hike in every year?" She glared at them.

Sitting down, pulling her boots off, Andy scowled. "No, we usually drive to this other place. I think I have blisters. Holly, are these blisters?"

"I'm not that kind of doctor," Holly pointed out, but she put her pack next to Gail's and leaned over to eyeball Andy's feet. "Nope, just sore. Go stick them in the stream."

While people with sore feet addressed that, Gail took the tent out of her pack and stared at it. Hiking in weird places, reading maps, those she knew. The tent was something new and she frowned at it. "You're a Peck," she muttered and pulled out the directions, studying them.

"When did you learn to read a map?"

"Years ago, Nicholas," she sighed. Pulling out the poles, Gail scowled. What the actual hell?

Nick squatted by her and untangled the poles. "Can't erect a tent, though," he teased.

Sometimes, Nick really pissed her off. Gail turned to him with a snarl, when Holly cracked a joke. "Here I thought the best part about being a lesbian was no more erection problems." She wedged in between Nick and Gail. "Nick, why don't you help Steve and Traci."

After a moment Nick took the hint and left. "He knows how to push my buttons," grumbled Gail, holding the bits Holly held out for her.

"I seem to scare him off still." Holly smiled that goofy side smile and Gail felt herself relax. "Come on, I'll teach you how to pitch a tent."

"And we're back to penis jokes," smirked Gail, getting another swat from Holly but also a laugh.

It didn't take too long to get everyone set up, with Nick and Chris sharing a tent, Andy on her own, and the couples sorted out. Privately, Gail wondered if Nick would tip toe over to Andy's tent, but decided it wasn't her business, and sat by the fire pit, pulling off her own shoes to feel the breeze.

Closing her eyes to relax in the sunlight, Gail was startled to hear her brother complain, "How long does it take to start a fire, Chris? I'm hungry."

"The wood's too wet," explained Chris, sounding defensive.

"That's what you said last time," Dov interjected. "When we were at Oliver's cabin. I don't think you actually know anything."

The boys squabbled and Gail cracked an eye to watch her brother carefully building the means for a fire. He ignored them and took out a knife to create wood shavings. "That's new," she remarked to her brother.

"Traci gave it to me."

"As a warning?" Gail grinned and sat up, watching her brother idly. "Going okay?"

Steve smiled at the blade. "I think so." He glanced at Gail and then at his pile of shavings. "Okay, been a while..."

"I won't tell if you use a match. Not like I talk to them at all." Gail wedged her feet back in her boots and drew her knees up to be hugged.

"Have you ever...? I mean since...?"

"God, no. Why would I?" She rested her chin on her knees and was not terribly surprised when Holly sat down on a log behind her, wrapping her arms around Gail and resting her own chin on Gail's shoulder.

"I didn't know you could make a fire, Steve," Holly remarked, not so much in a tone of surprise as one of interest.

Crap, he was going to tell. "Didn't Gail tell you? Fifteenth birthday, Pecks get dropped off in the woods at sunset, find your way home. Nice counterpart to the store, I thought. That was only a day hike."

Holly startled and murmured in Gail's ear, "Really?" Gail nodded a little. "Your parents absolutely suck," Holly said, loud enough for Steve to hear.

"Can we not talk about them?" She let Holly's fingers work to twine with hers and they watched Steve actually make a fire by rubbing sticks together.

The show attracted attention and everyone came to watch Steve. Traci cheerfully pointed out that was her man, and Nick eyed Steve and Gail curiously. The incongruity of their woods skills was creeping up on him and Gail expected an awkward conversation later on. But Steve had a nice fire going soon enough and food was brought out to cook and eat.

The boys talked about fishing tomorrow and Nick explained how he'd made a cooler in the stream. Gail made herself comfortable against a log, keeping beside Holly and sharing a plate. For all it was dirty and grubby out, Gail would have to admit that it was nice. Chloe managed to keep the singing to a minimum and Andy's suggestion of 'I Never' was shot down by everyone.

Finally they washed up, as best anyone could in the woods. People drifted off to their tents, promising a sunrise morning, and arguing about who would watch the fire.

"I'll watch it," volunteered Holly. "I'm not tired yet."

Gail sighed and went to their tent, fetching the wool blanket Holly had hauled in, and joined her by the fire. "I hate you," she informed Holly. "You made me come out camping. I'm wearing fleece and I have a backpack."

Smiling, Holly fixed the watch cap on Gail's head. "You play softball too." She kissed Gail lightly. "And you drag me to the opera and ballet and fancy dinners." Smiling, Holly took the blanket. "This is exactly why I brought the blanket."

They wrapped it around themselves, getting cuddly by the fire, Holly claiming her spot as big spoon, the log serving as a backrest. "So what? We just watch the fire till it dies out?"

"Until it's low enough to toss dirt over safely," Holly replied softly. "Didn't you... Never mind."

"You mean when I tromped through the woods to get home?" Gail managed to keep the bitterness out of her voice. Often it felt like her childhood was a story told by others. "My birthday's in November, I walked all night."

The arms around her squeezed and Holly sighed. "You should have said. We didn't have to come."

Gail leaned back against Holly's warmth. "They never invited me before," Gail noted, looking at the other tents. There were giggles from Chloe and Dov's. "We didn't really get along." She caught Holly's hands in her own. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, honey." Holly fell silent and they sat listening to the crackle of the wood die down. The fire became wisps of flame and Holly nudged Gail to sit next to her instead of in her arms. "Look up," she whispered.

Sighing, Gail looked up and blinked. "Oh." The sky was full of stars. Not the one or two you saw in Toronto, but millions. She'd never looked up at them at the cottage, preferring to sleep in the quiet, and now regretted that. Suddenly she wondered if it would be possible to ever visit that cottage again. "What's the fuzzy bit?"

Holly laughed softly, "That's the edge of the Milky Way." Muttering her surprise, Gail made Holly point out all the constellations she knew and they admired the sky until there were no more noises from tents and the fire was almost coals.

Turning slightly, Gail caressed Holly's face. "This doesn't totally suck," she noted and drew Holly's face closer to kiss. Maybe camping wasn't all bad.

The food had been chancy at best, which Gail had complained about. They had packed in food to cook, but Chris and Nick swore they could fish and so it meant a long second day watching the boys attempt to catch a fish, growing more wet and cold. Holly offered to help and was rebuffed, so she took Traci upstream with a pole and taught her how to fish. Seven fish later, Gail was in hysterics when they showed up.

Surprising the others, Gail took over the grilling of the fish while Nick and Chris shivered by the fire. The second night ended with most everyone getting drunk, as they decided the idea of drinking the night before they hiked home was foolish. That led to a delightful moment of levity, with Steve, Gail, and Chloe singing a bawdy cop drinking song they'd learned from their families.

It even had a slapping routine and stomping.

Come morning, hangovers led to Gail threatening to break the coffee pot until she'd been caffeinated. Exhausted enough from the night, they all spent a quiet day, walking around and figuring out what else to make of the food leftovers. Holly pointed out all the plants, remembering her mother's lessons and teaching anyone who would listen. Which pretty much meant Chloe and Chris.

Chris managed to make a nice meal of the odds and ends they still had, and as the darkness swallowed up the night they all sat around the fire, chatting.

"I can't believe you're not a detective, Gail," sighed Andy.

Seated behind Holly, Gail sighed but did not reply. "She can't until the Superintendent retires," Traci pointed out. "That's such a stupid thing. I can't believe her."

Of course Traci knew but the others didn't. Chloe looked confused. "What does your mom have to do with anything? I thought she wanted you to be a detective, Gail."

"On her terms," Gail replied. "She wanted me to do homicide, or guns and gangs." There was a nervous tension in Gail's arms and Holly wanted to kiss her to make it better.

"So what's that have to do with her retiring?" Dov looked absolutely perplexed.

So Holly explained, "Her mother tried to refuse her transfer to Major Crimes." The others clamored their disbelief, but Gail just whispered a thank you. "Should I tell them the rest?" Holly kept her voice low, but she caught Andy looking at her suspiciously.

"Mother also killed a job offer Holly had in the States," Gail added.

"Don't forget she got your adoption thing rejected." Steve, ever helpful, lifted his cocoa. "Three cheers to mom."

Stone, stunned, silence followed.

"Thanks, Steven," grumbled Gail.

"Sophie?" asked Chloe, who knew the girl through Frank.

"I can believe it," Chris decided, at length.

"So can I," agreed Nick. "No offense, Gail, but your mother is evil."

Steve snorted. "You don't know the half of it."

Feeling Gail tense up, Holly frowned, "That's enough, Steve."

It looked like Steve was about to say more when Traci wrapped a hand around Steve's arm. "It's more than enough," agreed Traci. "It sucks you have to wait a year before they'll think about you being detective."

Dov coughed. "Remember when I said I wish I was a Peck?" Behind her, Gail nodded. "Yeah, I take that back. I didn't even think about how that could go bad with them, just us." Silent, Chloe all but curled up in Dov's arms.

"Well... That was a mood killer," decided Andy. "I'm sorry."

The group fell silent again until Gail asked, "Didn't any of you dorks bring s'mores?"

The calm was back and indeed Chloe had brought the fixings of s'mores for the group. Holly let Gail make her one, giggling as Gail explained the perfect toasting method. Things were light and fun again, which Holly enjoyed more than the annoying personal discussions.

A year. She'd known Gail just over a year, been dating for eight months, even if you counted breaking up. It was a whirlwind year that Holly would not give up for anything at all. Gail was a wild storm of incongruence. Aloof and caring, mean and tender, distant and comforting. And while she claimed to be scared to death of hitching herself with anyone, Gail had wound herself into Holly's life, with a few false starts.

In many ways they were the same. Holly was terrified about life with someone else. She knew she wanted to be with Gail and that it felt empty when they'd been apart, but the whole idea of this being a long term commitment was novel. Even with her other serious girlfriends, even with the only other relationship she'd thought was love, Holly hadn't lived with her. Gail made her different. Better and braver, certainly, but unafraid most of all. She could do anything with Gail beside her.

When Gail returned from making her third or fourth s'more, she flopped onto the blanket with Holly. "You're thinking too hard. What's in that brain?"

"You, and how hopped up on sugar you're going to be tonight. How many of those have you had?"

Gail snorted and kissed Holly, tasting of marshmallow and chocolate. "Four and this is my last one, I promise." With that, Gail shoved the whole mess into her mouth and grinned.

"That's gross," laughed Holly, shoving Gail away as she attempted to press a gooey, crumby, kiss on her. All joking stopped when a loud noise rang out. Holly frowned, not recognizing it, but cognizant that everyone else around her did. "What-"

Covering Holly's mouth with a hand, Gail held a finger up to her own lips. Oh. Kay. There was another sound, a bang, with a reverberating echo. "Shit," muttered Chris, getting to his feet.

"Rifle," whispered Nick.

"Hunter?" That was Chloe, her voice impossibly serious.

Holly swallowed. Gail took her hand away and signed for Holly to stay put, before scrambling to their tent. What the hell? A third shot went off. Someone was shooting at them? Around them?

"Traci, stay here," instructed Steve, handing her a small object. There was the sound of guns being checked and Holly realized Steve and Gail were in dark shirts, each with a watch cap pulled over their pale hair.

Nodding, Traci buckled her gun on. "Who the hell brings a gun camping," hissed Dov, sounding like he wished he had thought of it.

"Shut up," growled Gail. "Traci..."

"I know." Traci came to stand by Holly. "Watch his back."

And just like that, the Peck siblings vanished into the woods.

Holly exhaled and muttered, "Why can't I have a normal date?"

Chapter Text

"Peck!"

Oliver was loud and excited to see her, even at six in the morning, bounding around uniforms to clap Gail on the arms. He clearly wanted to hug her but, as they were both in uniform (and Gail held coffee and donuts), held himself up short. There was stifled laughter from someone by the desks.

"Hi, Ollie," she rolled her eyes at him as if this display of affection was embarrassing.

He smirked. "To what do I owe the consummate pleasure of your petulance this day?"

Gail arched an eyebrow, "Clearly you need to check your email. Butler needs me to borrow a uni for a ride along."

"Can't convince any of those hoity detective to dress down for a day?" Oliver let go and gestured for Gail to follow him to his office. "You're lucky I haven't sorted out assignments yet."

"Luck had nothing to do with it and you know it." Gail dropped onto Oliver's spare chair and separated the food while he sorted through his email.

Oliver made a couple noises and then asked, "You have your very own case?"

Not exactly. "Frank asked me to look at all the robberies near the university. It's his case, I'm just his feet." She slid over his coffee (non fat triple chai latte) and donut (Hawaiian).

"I love you," he beamed at her. "You love me."

"I'm bribing you for anyone but Chloe or Nick," refuted Gail.

"Done." He room a bite and groaned. "So good. So amazing. Such sugar!"

Gail snorted, "Do you need some private time?"

Swallowing his bite, Oliver grinned. "Tell me about camping."

God, had everyone heard? "Nick can't read a map, Chris can't make a fire, neither of them can catch fish, and Chloe actually may be cool but if you tell her I said that, I'll tell Celery you eat lamb when she's not looking."

Oliver frowned, "Don't be mean to me, you love me." She smirked and took a bite of her own Boston Creme donut. "Don't lie to me, Gail. You could have cheaped out and gotten timbits, but you, you sprung for fancy donuts that your girl won't let you have at home." He waggled a bit of his donut at her. "Traci told me how you and Steve caught the drunk guy."

"He was shooting at stray animals, Oliver." Running into the woods, at night, going up against a guy with a rifle was probably not one of the smartest ideas ever, but Gail and Steve reacted before they really thought about what they were doing. Peck training kicked in at the weirdest times. They'd found the drunk idiot shooting at random things, mostly strays, bemoaning his breakup. Just the act of shouting that they were the police caused him to drop the gun.

The rangers had been delighted to find the guy, and happily took him off their hands. They even came back with breakfast and a ride back to their cars, which after being up all night the group had readily accepted, piling into the back of the two trucks. Holly accused Gail of orchestrating the entire mess just to get a ride back so they wouldn't be exhausted when they got home.

With the exception of that last bit, Gail did tell Oliver the story.

He was amused and chastised Gail for running off. "Look, I know I'm not your parents, but... In light of them being actual, you know, parents, Uncle Ollie is going to make you remember that your girl will come crying to him, me, if you do stupid things. Don't freak her out."

Gail rolled her eyes, but accepted the dressing down from Oliver, probably better than she might have if her parents tried it. "Okay," she replied, simply.

"Okay. Good. Come sit in parade, it'll be fun. You know you miss it."

"It's hasn't even been two months," she whinged, but let him usher her in.

"It's an early birthday present."

As she took a seat at the back of the room, she told Oliver loudly, "My birthday is in 11 days, Oliver! I demand a real present!"

That caught the attention of her friends, who cheerfully said hello and asked how things were on the top floor until Oliver called them to attention. Gail half listened to the patrol orders of the day, filing away various orders, until Oliver called out a word she hadn't heard in a while. "Peckstein, you good with that?"

She shot Oliver a thumbs up and tossed her coffee cup. Working with Dov would be relatively easy. "You can drive, Dov," she informed him. Oliver took a moment to tell Dov that Gail was in charge, and effectively outranked him.

"I'm helping Major Crimes?" Dov bounced like the puppy he was. He seemed like he could care less about Gail being in charge.

"You're driving Major Crimes." Gail stretched her arms up and yawned.

Dov didn't argue and pulled his vest and camera on. "How come you never wear short sleeves?"

"At work?" She blinked, surprised he'd even noticed. "Sunburns. I'd rather be overheated than crispy." Gail pulled her phone out to text Frank that she was working with Dov, and then sent the same message to Holly, with an 'I love you' added on. "Take me to UToronto, minion," she instructed.

The drive was mostly quiet. Dov eager to drive but not bothering Gail, who was reading from her iPad. "So ... Um. What are we looking for?"

"Just drive around, patrolling, Dov," she muttered. Gail tabbed through the reports again. "Three blocks around the university, try to stick near the frats." She turned off the device and tucked it into the side of the door. "Swarming."

"You're covering swarming? In a cruiser?"

Gail smiled softly. "I'm scoping the lay of the land in a cruiser." She looked out the window at the students. "Did you go to university, Dov?" There was no answer and Gail turned to look at him, confused.

To her surprise, Dov was eying her. "You've never asked me a thing about my life."

"Sorry," she muttered and looked back out the window.

After a block he replied, "No. I did some junior college stuff, but not much." More silence. "You?"

"Four years," she told him. Traci knew, they'd talked about it for those horrible six months without Nick or Andy. And Traci had told Holly, which was fine. It wasn't a secret after all.

"Finish?"

"Yep. Criminal Justice." She frowned at the crowd of kids. "I don't remember looking that young," she told Dov.

Laconically, Dov noted, "You probably didn't. I bet you looked all snooty and mean."

"Shut up," she told him, without any real rancor to her snap. That was why she liked riding with Dov and had missed it. They got along on so many levels.

"College degree. So ... Wait how old are you?"

"Almost 29."

"No wonder you're pushing for detective."

Gail snorted. "Age is the least of my worries, Dov. I just ... I really like the job, okay?" She glanced at the time on the cruiser and looked at a group of kids. "Do I look older or younger with my hair short?"

A long pause proceeded Dov's cautious reply. "Is that a trick question?"

"No, it's not a does-the-dress-make-my-ass-look-big question," she laughed. "Park over there. I want to watch the lawn."

Dov obliged. "You looked younger with the, uh, pixie cut. Before it grew out. But you look softer with this." He shrugged, as if expecting a verbal blow.

But Gail just nodded, thinking she'd have to go somewhere in between if she was right. "Thanks."

"See, now you're freaking me out. Everything okay with you and Holly?"

Rolling her eyes, Gail watched the classes come and go. "Yep, and please don't think about her anymore. It's disturbing. And creepy."

"Right." He turned to watch what she watched. "It's just... You touch her a lot."

"What?" Gail turned, surprised. "Dov, I live with her."

Dov looked worried as he backpedaled, "It's just that I saw you with Chris and Nick, and you've never been … touchy-feely before. You're almost like Chloe—"

"No I am not," snapped Gail. "Just stop." She turned back to the lawn and watched how the groups of students tended to congregate.

But he didn't stop. "You touch her a lot. Way more than you did Nick or Chris and what I'm trying to say is … I think you like her. A lot."

Sometimes his little itty bitty hamster on a wheel wasn't stupid. "I'm in love with her, Dov. That's kinda why I'm living with her." Gail frowned. "These losers are stupid. Don't any of them have an inkling of public safety?" She gestured with a hand. "Headphones, books, I think that guy's watching a movie."

Dov coughed. "Well they're kids, Gail."

"They're idiots, Dov." Gail popped the door open.

"Where are we going?" Dov scrambled behind her, locking the car and following as she walked up to one of the student billboards.

She ignored him, skimming over the various announcements. Clubs, groups, parties, a declaration of love (did people really still do that?), lost items, wanted items, selling items. She paused. Selling? Pulling out her phone, Gail ignored the texts and snapped photos of the lost items. Maybe they were the stolen items. They were already checking Craigslist and ebay, but Gail wondered if the school had some sort of covert, underground, way to sell things.

The IT nerds would know. And she had Dov to translate. She smiled and pulled up the map on her phone.

"I know that smile," Dov interjected, warily. "That smile is dangerous. That smile is right before you make me dive in a dumpster."

"Nah, we're just going slumming with the web geeks. You'll like this one."

And she wasn't wrong.

It was payback, clearly, for softball, but Holly sighed and went over everything Gail had told her. Point it down range and away from people. Load it carefully. Check it again. Stand in a triangle position. Raise her arms, sight down the top. Aim. And gently squeeze the trigger.

The recoil jerked her arms up again and Holly winced. She glanced back and saw Gail just watching her, silently. Right, keep shooting. Holly took a deep breath and concentrated. Breath. Shoot.

One clip later, she put the gun down on the shelf and stepped back. The shooting rounds all died off and the light changed, a buzzer rang loudly. Ear protectors off, Gail pressed the button to pull in the target.

"So?" Holly chewed her lip.

"I've seen worse," Gail deadpanned and hung a new target after checking the time. "One more."

Holly groaned and rubbed her wrists. "I hate you."

"How's she doing?" Dov appeared from one side, looking interested. When Gail held up the target, he winced. "It's your first time! You'll get better."

They all sucked. Gail had told her that Dov once scored the highest for their rookie class on the range, though that was about it for his high scores. When asked, Traci told her that Gail had the highest average overall. No one beat her on the competition shoots. "I didn't throw the gun at it," muttered Holly and Gail shot her a look.

"It's my birthday," Gail pointed out. "You said anything, I don't want a party. Shoot."

"Fine, but you shoot after me."

"Fine, but I'm not shooting silly designs," she smirked and stepped back.

Ugh. How the hell noodle arm Gail managed to shoot regularly was beyond her, but Holly put her ear protection back on and her shooting glasses. Then she checked her gun. The buzzer sounded, holy crap that was loud, and Holly loaded the pistol.

She knew she was angry. It was Gail's birthday and, after multiple promises to not throw a party, Holly had simply asked what Gail wanted to do. Hearing she wanted to teach Holly how to shoot and then go out to a non-fancy dinner was not what Holly expected. But Gail did not want to make a fuss about her birthday at all. This was something Holly was going to have to ask Steve about, clearly, and he might clam up. While Gail's brother was pretty forthcoming with Gail's secrets, some things were Peck problems and not to be discussed.

The gun was comfortable for some reason. Gail had picked it from her own collection, saying it would do for a first timer, and Holly had hated the feel earlier. But now it felt right in her hand, the right weight and pressure. She wrapped her fingers around the butt properly, both hands supporting the weight, and fired.

Damn it, her girlfriend was annoying. Didn't Gail know that birthdays were for fancy clothes and sex? A party for your friends who probably needed a party anyway. God knows they'd drink over anything. A celebration of another year around the sun. Not for doing something totally mundane that Gail did at least every week anyway. Frustrated, Holly poured her annoyance into the gun and fired until the clip was empty. Checking it, she put it down and turned to look at Gail.

Who was smirking.

Nice job. Gail's hands moved in slowly so Holly could read them. Narrowing her eyes, Holly waited for the buzzer and pulled off the ear protectors. "Good shooting, Annie Oakley." Gail wrapped one arm around Holly's waist and reached past her to reel in the target.

Compared to Dov's it was terrible. Compared to her first try, it was amazing. "Hey..." Holly blinked and stared at it.

"Were you thinking about anything I taught you, or just bitching that I made you do this?"

"I plead the fifth," muttered Holly and stepped out of the booth. "Can I be done?"

She bumped right into Oliver, "Ooooh, lookit!" He grabbed the target and held it up. "Dr. Stewart's dangerous!"

Holly blinked and looked at a crowd who hadn't been there before. Everyone from Fifteen, including Steve. "What the hell?"

Standing on a chair, Dov spoke loudly. "Okay, she hasn't warmed up. You know the rules. One round to warm up, then it's for real." He grinned. "As last year's winner, I am running the show. Everyone who's in, tip the hat."

A hat was shoved into Holly's hands and twenty dollar bills were dropped in. Gail, ignoring all of that, picked up Holly's gun and packed it away. Then she pulled out her own case, just smiling.

"What are we shooting?" That was Andy.

Dov held up two fingers. "22s, so Steve and Traci, you'll need to borrow."

"Hardly," scoffed Steve. He and Traci took up booths, unpacking their own. Quickly the entire line was sorted.

Then Dov vanished for a moment, leaving Holly holding the money and feeling entirely confused. Gail left her gun on the counter and sauntered over. "Did every one pay?"

"I have no idea... What's going on?"

Gail reached in and counted the money. "Hey, someone stiffed. Steven?"

"I put in a fifty," he replied.

"Sorry, I was getting change." Oliver popped back over, Celery following him with her own ear protection. "You ready to lose, Gail?"

And Gail sassed at her former sergeant. "In the history of ever, when have you made the top four?" Taking the $20 from his hand, Gail dropped it in the hat and then smiled at Holly, "Kiss me for luck?"

"Only if you tell me what's going on," Holly complained.

"Annual Gail Birthday Competition Shoot Challenge." Gail took the hat and put it on the chair. "When we were rookies, I didn't tell them it was my birthday, I just challenged them at the range. Best score won the pot. Couple years later, Nicholas let on it was my birthday. Now it's a thing."

Holly huh'd and looped her arms around Gail's neck. "You hustled them?"

"Maybe." They smiled at each other and Holly leaned in to kiss Gail very suggestively. Someone wolf whistled.

"Next time just tell me," Holly whispered. "Go shoot in my honor, or whatever."

With a broad grin, the toothy one that was Gail at her happiest, the cop bounced back to her cubicle. Dov returned momentarily, collecting the money. "Buzzer coming." Everyone put their ear protection on, even Celery who sat beside Holly.

This was the warm up, Dov had said, and everyone emptied a clip into their paper targets far faster than Holly had. She'd watched Gail shoot before, mostly perving on Gail's ass as Gail had mentioned, but also admiring her form. Gail, the non-athlete, had power and grace and skill, and it was damn sexy. There in her boots and skinny jeans and over-sized shirt, Gail looked like anything except the cop she was.

The buzzer sounded again, everyone reloaded and hung fresh targets. "For all the marbles," shouted Dov. There was laughter, another sound of the buzzer, and this time the shots were steady. They still were faster than Holly, getting a whole round done amazingly fast, and the guns were down. Gail was done in the middle of the pack, clearly not rushing. The buzzer went off again and everyone laughed, pulling off their ear protection.

A brief (two beer) stop at the Penny and they went home, Holly giggling. "So you win every year and they fight for second?"

"Nick gives me a run for my money," admitted Gail. "He can beat me at most single long distance shots. So can Dov. And none of us come close to Nick at rifles. But I win at consistency. ... I mean, it's a competition shoot. I've been doing that since before I got my first gun."

"When was that?"

"Eighteen." Gail pulled into the garage. Holly swatted her arm. "Ow! What? Even a Peck can't own a gun as a minor. I used one of my mother's." Smirking, Gail reached over and took the police baseball cap off of Holly's head and kissed her. "I've been shooting a gun at least once a week for seventeen years," she allowed.

That was somewhat disturbing. "I cannot imagine doing anything for seventeen years," Holly decided, watching Gail grab the gun cases.

"Well," sighed Gail. "If you want to go shooting again, I'll help you get a provisional license. You probably should have one anyway, since I keep them in the house."

Holly frowned, "No, I don't want to, if that's okay. Didn't enjoy it."

"I tried." Gail smiled and held the door for Holly. "I still hate playing soccer."

"You liked softball," teased Holly, reaching to trace a finger along Gail's neckline as she passed by.

"I also am a total fan of lesbian sex. Which makes it two points in your favor." Like a puppy, Gail loped behind Holly. "Let me put these away and we can take up something we both like."

As Gail ran up the stairs, Holly shouted, "I was promised dinner, Gail!"

"Skipping to desert!"

The last time her hair had been that short, and that blonde, it had been a very, very bad day. This time she actually went to a salon with a photo of herself with the pixie cut and directions. Holly had done a great job that drunken night, of course, and Gail loved her for it, but this was time for a professional.

She slipped into the office on Saturday afternoon and took over Frank's desk, pulling up her account and notes on his computer. She had asked for a laptop. The plan was simple but Butler had liked it when she suggested it. Of course, he had intended her to oversee it until she showed him the small problems. Stakeouts were fine, this would be good for the rookies to learn. They needed students. And they needed them out of experienced officers.

And the idea she had was too right and perfect, and Butler liked it and gave her permission to set it up. Step on was to get herself right. Step two was to get a team. Dov could work for the van, but Chris was looking too scruffy lately and wouldn't be good for the street, and she didn't want to stress him overly. Also Gail really wanted a detective in the van, and Chloe for the street, so it was Gerald in the van with one of the detectives on her team. Snowflake could work with Frank and get experience at the station monitoring the feeds.

That left Chloe and Gail.

She knew Chloe was scheduled for Saturday and, after finishing her list for her team, went downstairs to find her working at a desk. So Gail just walked up and sat beside her.

"Gail! Why are you here? Oh! I bet you have a case. Are you allowed cases? You're not a detective, which sucks."

God, the woman was tiring. She didn't babble half as attractively as Holly did. "Actually, I do have a case." Stretching her legs out, Gail scratched her head through the black watch cap. "How old are you?"

"Wow. That's personal."

Gail rolled her eyes, "I could look it up, you ninny."

"25. And you need to buy me a drink."

"Huh, you look younger." Gail rubbed her lower lip. "Ever gone to college?"

Chloe narrowed her gaze. "Did you break up with Holly?"

Everyone had such little faith in her. "No, and I'm not hitting on you. I need someone for backup." She arched a eyebrow at Chloe.

Like her, Chloe was smart. She was driven. Chloe came from cop people and she knew what being a cop meant. Chloe's hippy dippy parents were the only non-cops in her family, even though her mother had graduated the academy. Apparently she'd quit her second day on the job and went into social work. That still gave Chloe an edge, making her like Gail in that they both went for what they wanted, with stumbles on the way, but they knew. The nice part about Chloe, the part Gail actually liked and would never in a million years tell anyone, was that she understood when things weren't said.

"Buy me lunch and tell me," decided Chloe.

They got hot dogs, Chloe's idea, and sat in a park so Gail could explain. They would be casually undercover. Not weeks and months away from home, but just pretending to be college students to draw out the criminals. The robbery victims were women, not super young, but TAs and grad students with enough money to be attractive and enough familiarity with college to be careless. None of the women drank or partied, they just tended to walk in smaller groups. Ones and twos, not gaggles and packs.

The women had all be surrounded, by five or six men, all looking like college students, and relieved of their technology. No money, no assault. Just phones and tablets and laptops. It had taken a while to connect the crimes, since they'd slowed down over the summer, but with November coming to a close, they were more frequent and Gail had narrowed down things even more. She had an idea of the classes and areas. Hell, Gail had even found a couple professors willing to work with them.

All she needed from Chloe was an agreement and a haircut. They had to look younger, after all. Chloe though about it for all of a minute and then smiled. She was in. After all, Chloe didn't want to be a patrol cop forever either. They went over what they could and could not talk about to others, how much people would be involved. Who was backing up Gail at the office (and Chloe demanded to know if Uncle Frank picked her, fearing the same favoritism Gail used to). But this was on the up and up. A chance for the legacies.

When Gail got home, the sun had set and Holly was in the middle of cleaning the kitchen. "You're late. I thought you were going to get your hair done."

Gail pulled the watch cap off and hung up her jacket. "Had some work to do. How much will you hate me if I have to go undercover during the days?"

There was a pause in Holly's scrubbing and she didn't look over. "I don't like it." Holly sounded tense.

That was good to know. "Why not?"

"Because the last time you were undercover?" Holly stopped scrubbing but did not turn around. "It scares the shit out of me, Gail."

With a loud sigh, Gail leaned against the island. "Well. It's not the same. I'm not looking for a serial killer, just some idiot robbers."

After a longer pause, she asked, "Do you come back here at night?" Holly still didn't look at Gail. She resumed scrubbing the stovetop and making it whimper in agony.

"Weekday gig only, nights and weekends at home." It was the most cushy op ever, Gail had to admit.

Holly huffed and straightened up. "I guess I can't be all mad-" She turned around and stared at Gail's head. "Oh, oh. So that happened?"

"It's just hair, right?"

Pressing her lips together, Holly resumed scrubbing, her ponytail bouncing with the ferocity. "Undercover Gail needs that haircut?"

Gail sighed. "It makes me look younger, Holly." There was a grunt from the kitchen.

"Can you tell me what you're doing?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about it," drawled Gail and Holly shot her a look over her shoulder. Right. That never worked. "It's at UToronto. Butler's letting me run with an op about a robbery ring. Too small for gangs."

Holly turned around and leaned on the counter. "You know, every time you tell me about what you actually work on upstairs, Major Crimes works on some really petty and minor stuff."

It was complicated. "I'm gonna be a TA. Languages." She smiled softly and sheepishly.

"Huh." Holly put the scrubber down. Her eyes roamed over Gail's head and then body. "I forgot how you looked like that." Holly's voice was breathy.

Blinking, Gail recognized that look. She had long suspected Holly gave her this haircut in the first place because she found it sexy. And if that also cleverly distracted Holly from any fears about Gail being undercover, so much the better. "Is that a hint I should keep my hair short?"

With a blush, Holly turned to wash her hands off. "Well if you like it short, that's okay."

Gail laughed and shook her head. "We're not doing it this way, Holly. You're totally getting hot and bothered over my haircut." And Holly kept her back to Gail, drying her hands. So Gail walked around the kitchen island and put her hands on Holly's hips. "You like my short hair."

As Gail pressed her lips to Holly's shoulder, a shudder ran through Holly's body. "How dangerous is the op?"

Gail did not stop kissing Holly's neck and shoulder. "They might rob me," she admitted. "The tech nerds are trying to find an underground tech sales ring." It was totally safe, in so far as any op was safe.

Sensing that, perhaps, Holly leaned back, pressing into Gail's body. "I really like you with short hair," exhaled Holly, turning her head and giving Gail a little more access. "You won't vanish for six months like Nick, right?"

"Hey," Gail growled. "This house is a Nicholas free zone." She hooked her thumbs through Holly's belt loops and tugged her closer. "This neck is a Gail-only zone." She brushed her cheek against Holly's neck and got another full body shiver out of it.

Holly sighed and turned around, loosening Gail's hold on her. "My stomach is a food free zone, honey." She cupped Gail's face in her hands and kissed her. "As beautiful as you are with that haircut, I'm starving."

That was something Gail could understand. She half glanced at the stove top. "What were you making before the stove needed a bath?"

"Ugh! Why am I dating a detective?" Holly kissed her again and wormed out of Gail's hands. "Tell me you have a dinner idea."

"I had a desert idea," drawled Gail, but as she was never one to skip a meal, addressed herself to that pressing need, before allowing them to attend other pressing needs.

Chapter Text

While Holly had no idea why people from 15 gave Detective Rosati such odd looks, she was happy enough to see a familiar face when she came to the scene of the crime. "He looks fresh," said the detective, gesturing for Holly to follow her.

"Glad you found him before it started snowing," Holly grinned and walked down the stairs to the parking garage. Officer Cole (only memorable for being Chloe's ex husband, something Holly learned on the camping trip) stood guard and waved them on through to where his partner, Officer Luck (aka the officer Gail tolerated with snide comments), was stationed by the body.

"Does that really matter when the body is inside?" Rosati asked in a casual way, as if she knew the answer but was making polite conversation.

"It always matters, Detective." Holly put down her kit and took in the scene. A car, door open, a man on the ground. Not a whole lot. Pulling on gloves, she asked, "Photos?"

"CSI took them of the body and placement. There's blood on the top of the door."

Holly leaned over and muttered her interest. Squatting, Holly checked the body for a pulse out of habit. You find one not-dead guy and you worry about it forever. "He's cold," she noted, glancing at Rodney who was writing that down. "Broken nose, before he died. The gash there may match the door, have CSI check for mucus."

Making a face, Officer Luck peered at the body. "Choked on the blood from his nose?"

Reflexively, Holly shook her head. "Not enough blood on the ground for that." She carefully picked up the head and turned it, or started to. "Oh. Well that'll wait till we get the body in," she muttered to herself.

Rosati coughed gently. "Anything important?"

"His skull is loose," Holly replied without thinking. "Bashed in pretty good, possibly perimortem."

"In English?" That was Officer Luck. Gail didn't have a high regard for the woman, calling her a reliable cop. In Peck verbiage that meant average and Holly now understood why. This was a woman who would be on patrol her whole life. She was probably a very good patrol cop, just not imaginative.

"At or near time of death." Holly poked the winter hat and felt it smush a little. "Not as much blood as I'd expect, unless it's all in his clothes." It reminded Holly of the Jell-o salad she'd made as a young girl, complete with her favorite snacks: walnuts, chocolate chips, and marshmallows. It had been crunchy and disgusting.

The detective spoke again, "Any ID?"

They always wanted to get to the meat of the case. That was the problem with cops, they had no sense of foreplay. Okay, that wasn't totally true. They just didn't like the anticipation of science. Holly prodded pockets and found a wallet in the front pocket of the jeans. "You're in luck, Rosati." She handed the wallet to Rodney, who flipped open the ID and read off the details to Rosati before bagging the evidence.

It didn't take long to clear the body and Holly stretched as her assistants and CSI took over the onerous duty of transport. She watched, interested, as they put the body into a bag and it dripped. The blood was probably all soaked into his winter clothes. He was a little over dressed now that Holly thought about it. The puffy jacket.

What was it Gail had said? The kids believed that a puffy jacket would stop a hollow point round from expanding as fast. Of course that just let it penetrate more. Better not to get shot at all, Gail had dryly remarked. She was not a fan and Holly chuckled.

"Something funny?" Jen Luck smiled at her, suggestively.

And that was why Gail didn't like Luck. "The jacket. He probably thought he might get shot."

Rosati looked over, surprised. "Most likely," she agreed. "What brought the thought on?"

"He's over dressed." Winter had yet to really get downright cold, which Holly appreciated. That said, cold winter nights with Gail sounded rather appealing. Skiing? Gail probably didn't. "Maybe he expected to be shot at."

Officer Luck made a noise of surprise. "Wow." She shook her head.

"Luck, you take Cole and canvas the area." Rosati started to give orders, and Holly turned to make sure her own assistants handled everything properly. She beat them to the morgue and had time to suit up and prep beforehand. Rosati did not tag along, no one from 27 did that.

It made it quieter and easier on many levels to work unimpeded, but Holly did miss the attitude you got with 15. When she got home, she told Gail as much. "You miss my nattering? Should I record it so you can listen when I'm stuck in classes?"

"How's that going?"

"Five days so far, so good." Gail stretched, "One of the other students found her phone on a private black market website. Can you believe they have that for universities? We're using that to track them back. Oh and Chloe got followed today, so that's good."

"Not you?"

"No, not yet. I'm going to make my copious TA wealth more obvious soon."

Holly smiled at her girlfriend. "Running your own op."

"Technically it's not mine, I'm just on site." Gail dropped onto the end of the couch and picked up a game controller.

Because Gail wasn't a detective. Because Gail wasn't allowed to be a detective yet. "I hate your mother."

"Join the club," sighed Gail, flipping through screens until she found Netflix. "Okay, so what are we watching?"

"Doctor Who," smiled Holly, sitting down on the couch. "We're going to start with Nine."

Gail looked up, suspicious. "Nine? Holly, I can understand Star Wars and Star Trek, but all this weird stuff..." She tabbed through the screens to the one Holly indicated and hovered over the play button.

"Oh fine, there are thirteen Doctors. I'm not making you watch all of them."

Grumbling, Gail settled beside Holly and watched the first episode. Allowing as it didn't suck, she watched a second before they went to bed, but Holly knew she had another convert.

When her phone buzzed, Gail knew it was Gerald in the van. She glanced at it and frowned. This was not good timing. The tricky part of her cover was acting as a TA. Gail had no problem with the work, it was the people kept crowding her office. Her professor's office. Gail was just stationed in the front.

"Is something wrong?" The student, a woman who was incapable of reliable conjugation without assistance, and had no business in this level of class, was nervous.

"I have to cut this short, sorry. My boyfriend locked himself out. Again." She rolled her eyes and stood up.

Ushering the girl out, Gail locked the door and hustled, screwing in the earbuds that were really her radio. "Gerald, talk to me."

"It's four now. Four. They're the same guys who scoped her out yesterday."

"Frank?"

The sergeant replied quickly, "She knows you're coming."

Gail cut through the quad. Two weeks to lure them. That was it. These idiots weren't high level criminals, they were just organized and ordered. That made it hard to catch them at all, but six days ago had been their break. Chloe had been followed 'home' to the small student apartment that was 'hers.'

Really it was just another surveillance point, and Chloe had only spent one night there. But six days ago a guy followed her. And then four days ago the same loser followed Gail to the car where her boyfriend, played by the over earnest Gerald, waited for her. Gerald had been more nervous about being under cover, and Gail promptly dumped him back in the van, her bumbling but big hearted puppy.

The students joked and said she was taking advantage of his youthful stamina. If it hadn't been so gross, it might have been hilarious.

Once they had the one guy marked, it had been child's play. They followed him, carefully, and watched how he interacted. The communication was all done on cell phones, which they could not track without a warrant (and Frank insisted they didn't have enough evidence for that), but the discovery of the black market site for student supplies gave them the next clue.

The losers were using Twitter. Fucking Twitter! Public damn tweets about nothing were all a series of coded communiques. Idiots. Dov had cracked their code in an hour, pointing out how simple it was and they had the code explained on their secret website, which had been no trouble to break into. Serious criminals these were not. This is what happened when people played at being criminals because it was easier on TV. Morons.

Between the remarks, they organized their little attacks, and it was clear Chloe and Gail were on their list.

Making Chloe the first target was intentional. She was younger, easier to buy as a rich transfer from McGill. Gail was the last minute TA, filling in while the actual TA healed up from a skating accident. That part was somewhat real; Gail did the TA classes, the actual TA did the paperwork from home as he healed two broken legs (the skating incident was 100% truth - the man was not a skater). They set up Chloe in a nice apartment, well off, and she portrayed the role of an ingenue, rich and bored and could care less about passing French Language Literature.

Gail even got to call her names in public. It was great.

In addition, Chloe also played absentminded, leaving an expensive laptop in class on the second day. She 'lost' her phone twice, and laughed it off. The point was to quickly, believably, establish her as an airhead with money. Someone who would get lost on a walk because she wasn't paying attention, and wouldn't notice she was missing things, or care.

"Gerald, tell me you have eyes on her," hissed Gail, nearly caroming off the whole damn basketball team. What the hell? She could see the Zipcar parking on Pond and Sentinel, but not Chloe.

"I'm losing her in the crowd. She's supposed to be on Pond." He paused. "Should I get out of the van?"

The echoing shout of "No!" from all quarters nearly blasted Gail's ear out. Good. Frank's firm voice cut in, "Duncan, just keep your eyes on her. Gail, what's your status?"

Crowded, Gail snarled and turned her shoulder, forcing herself through the crowd. "I can see the van..." She dodged around a couple and finally spotted Chloe's dyed head turning on Passy Crescent. Dov had hated the hair dye, but Gail wanted to be able to spot the red haired annoying person from afar, so she'd talked Chloe into a tint that was just off of normal.

Damned if she hadn't been right to do that. "I have eyes on you, Peck," said the detective in the van with Gerald. "Go."

Gail paused to make sure her hair was covered and tugged her jacket open just enough to have the gun holstered in the small of her back accessible. Black hat, navy blue coat, she looked like everyone else. She slowed to a walk and ambled in the general direction.

They knew what the swarm looked like. It was caught on camera once, the CCTV camera across the street had proven useful, and Gail used that information to wait until the group started to combine. "Gonna need two more," she said softly.

Frank replied quickly that Nick and his partner were nearby and McNally was on the way. Once again, Gerald offered and was shot down. It was funny. "Which way you think they'll go?"

"To the crowd," mused Gail, looking at the layout quickly. "Uniforms can grab 'em if they go down to Assiniboine. One'll make us run."

"Copy, they can back up Price."

One of the men around Chloe moved, his hand on her arm. He pulled. There was the move. "Go, go, go!" The detective in her ear shouted, and Gail was on the run.

Just like she was taught, Chloe twisted her arm out of the grasp of the robber and stepped back, slipping between two of her wanna-be assailants. "… and you're under arrest," she said, firmly and loudly, grabbing the one who'd manhandled her and twisting his arm up.

Perfect timing. The second Chloe did that, the other three started to move. One went right where Gail thought he would, right to the street where Nick flew out of the car before it stopped and grabbed him. Show off. Gail grinned as she caught one fleeing before he got more than five steps and swung him around, slapping a cuff on one wrist. "Hi! Nice try. You're under arrest," she said, unkindly to him, but with great glee.

Then there was the one who went into the crowd, headed back through campus. Nick's partner was there and Gail made a snap decision. This was her damn op, titles be damned. "You got this one?" she asked, letting the uniform take hold of the very confused robber.

"Yeah, but—"

Gail didn't let him finish, grabbing his cuffs out of his hand, and took off through the crowd. "Eyes on our runner?"

"Lost him when he went through the archway!" That was Nick.

A very excited Gerald cut in, "I see him! Should I get out of the—"

A "NO" echoed in Gail's ear again. At least he asked, she mused. "Spot him, Gerald."

"He dumped his jacket, it was black with a dark red stripe. Blue UoT hoodie, orange shoulder thingies, cutting through towards Atkinson."

If the loser took to the walks and lanes, she might loose him. Hustle time. "I hate when they make me run," she grouched into the mic, not caring that it was on.

Frank cut in, "Campus security is on the lookout but he's in a school hoodie. Gail, do you think he saw you?"

"Nope," she huffed, concentrating on speed and not tripping as she looked across the walks for the someone running in a school hoodie. Smart kid, wearing the school colors. In her haste, Gail nearly tumbled over the jacket on the ground.

Which way would she have tossed it? Assuming the loser was right handed, she mimed tossing her jacket and looked at the dirt. That way. Gail took off at a dead sprint, and damn it, she was going to have to tell Holly that all that stupid running, which really started when they broke up, was helpful. Stupid running. Running sucked. Head up, Gail kept sweeping the area looking for someone running. What if he stopped? There was a group of kids… What the hell. She pulled her badge out, took a breath, and yelled, "Police! Stop!"

Everyone stopped and snapped their heads at her. One guy, in a blue UoT hoodie looked right at her, face pale. He started to scramble backwards. Jesus, they were idiots. "Got him, Peck?"

She pushed through a crowd more than willing to let her through to grab the guy by the hoodie itself. That was probably a little too rough, but … well he made her run! "Hey, what part of 'Stop' was unclear, dumb ass?"

He acked and tried to get away, but Gail, far too used to handling idiots like this, had him cuffed before he got too far, jerking him nearly off his feet. "I didn't do anything!"

"You're under arrest for attempted robbery," snapped Gail. She was breathing louder than she really wanted to be. "Why did you have to run? You're so annoying when you run," she growled. "Got him, Best."

"Sure it's him?" She could hear Frank laughing softly over the wire, and ignored the question.

As Gail hauled the guy back over to the parking lot where the uniforms were pulling up, they passed the jacket. "Hey, can I grab my coat?"

If Gail's hands had been empty, she would have face palmed. "Your coat, huh?" She heard Frank groan over the wire. "Sure." Gail pulled a latex glove out of the baggie in her pocket (thank you, Holly), and picked up the coat. "Can't forget your coat, can we," she drawled and led the idiot back to the uniforms.

This was going to be way easier than she thought.

Watching Noelle behind the counter of the Penny was an experience Holly had never thought to enjoy, but there she was, in uniform, cheerfully reading off the names of four rookies who were having their faces pressed into the bartop. Dov, Chris, Andy, and Nick were holding the rookies to their places, cuffing them tightly.

Holly leaned into Gail's arm and asked, "This is normal?"

"Yep, any time we get an actual group of them, and not the one-offs, we do this." Gail sipped her beer, looking very pleased with herself.

Oliver was sitting beside them, sans Celery, and confided, "Gail won her year."

Traci laughed, "Gail cheated her year. She used Steve's key."

"They said by any means. Steve was here." Gail had absolutely zero shame about her methods, which was normal. An arm looped around the back of Holly's chair, gently tugging her closer as the rookies struggled to get themselves free.

Holly smiled. She enjoyed hanging out with the boisterous cops now and then, and often wondered if Gail missed it. It was clearly by her own choice that Gail had stopped coming every single night and certainly her own choice to stop drinking so much. A beer was common, but they'd both slowly cut back on the hard stuff. Holly had decided that for herself, waking up the morning after her Visa had been revoked. The hangover had been so intense, she never wanted to feel that way again.

Getting drunk had lost it's magic, she realized, and Holly abruptly felt old. A breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine. "You're thinking to hard, Lunchbox," whispered Gail softly.

"I think I'm getting old," sighed Holly.

"No, Oliver is old."

That was a disturbing thought. "How old is Oliver?" Holly lowered her voice and leaned in to ask.

Naturally Gail took the opportunity to kiss her. "45." And Gail turned her attention to the rookies, none of whom seemed to know that both Pecks carried cuff keys all the time.

At 45, Oliver was 16 years Gail's senior, but only 8 or so older than Holly, which was horribly sobering. He had a newly 16 year-old daughter (Izzy had proudly shown Gail her provisional license and somehow convinced Gail to teach her, though Holly was sure Gail enjoyed it). That meant that at around Gail's age, Oliver was already a parent. And what had Holly done?

How absolutely depressing.

Finally one of the rookie's won, using lock picks he kept in his bag. Gail announced she liked that one and went to help uncuff the other rookies and talk to that one. Sitting alone for a moment, Holly kept looking at Oliver and Traci. They were both parents. She could be if she wanted. Hell, Gail would have been if things had not been shot to .. Hell. Too much hell in her thoughts. Too many possibilities.

"Gail's right, you do overthink a lot," Steve informed her, taking Gail's seat and putting down a basket of fries.

Perfect. Delay with a fry. "Oh?"

"You're feeling old." He pointed at Gail, who was now arguing about something with Traci at the bar. The rat fink.

"I'm almost 40, Steve," she sighed. "She's not even 30... She wants kids. I don't." Holly starting waving her hands around in mild distress. She was feeling very panicked at the moment. "I know she's getting started on a career, but I'm already in the middle, and what if I get another job offer and move to, to Budapest?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Putting his beer down, Steve grabbed her hands. "Holly, calm down a second, okay?" She swallowed and nodded. "Good. My sister is in love with you."

Holly waited for more and blinked a few times. "That's it?"

"No, ok but I want you to hold on to that thought. You like my sister."

"Steve," she groaned and started to look away.

His voice was surprisingly firm, "Hey." She blinked and looked at his eyes and startled more. They were the same sort of blue as Gail's, but somehow gentler. Gail's eyes reminded her of the tempest and storm that was Gale Peck. But Steve was the sea and sky after the storm. Potentially just as life changing, but vastly different. Where his eyes were calm and gentle, Gail's spoke of passion.

Looking at those eyes, thinking of Gail's eyes, she felt her lips curve into a smile. One side of her face came up, in a look Gail called 'that adorable side smile.' Holly couldn't help but blush a little. "Yes, I like your sister very much, Steve," she whispered, certain he couldn't hear her over the din of the room. "I love her."

"Then tell her what you want."

Holly's eyes fell to the table. "If I knew that..." She pulled her hands back and wrapped them around her beer. "I always know what I want. You have to, to make it through med school."

"That's professionally," Steve noted, leaning back somewhat. "I get it. So does Gail, even if she pretends she doesn't."

Pecks. Of course. Holly sighed. "Gail's the first person I've ever dated and lived with." The admission surprised Steve. "And I have a phenomenal track record with dating straight girls. Like ... Amazingly awful. I've driven two women back to men," she added, morosely. And she'd run after that. Running was easy.

Steve looked at his sister and chuckled, "Given that she's telling me if I try to kiss you, she will ... Peel back the skin on my balls and hook it over my head, I'm pretty sure she's not all that straight." He shook his head and his hands moved too fast for Holly to read, even if she had known the words. "Actually, I think she just dated men because that's what our mom expected."

That was new. "You thought Gail was gay?"

"Yeah, always did. Something about it..." He shrugged. "I want to say it's my gut, but that particular method of deduction was beat out of my head before I could drive." Steve picked up his drink. "Stop thinking so hard. You love her. She loves you. She actually is doing a hell of a job breaking the Peck Self Sabotage Cycle because she thinks you're the most incredible person she's ever met. She literally cannot stop talking about you. Even when you broke up, you were all she thought about." He clapped a hand to Holly's shoulder. "She's all in, Holly." And he left her at the table.

If Holly thought that was going to be the weirdest part of her night, she was wrong.

"I have a talk," announced Oliver, sitting in the now empty Peck seat.

Reflexively, Holly asked, "For whom?" She glanced over to where Gail was and saw her lighting something alcoholic on fire. Oh Jesus.

Oliver followed the look. "She's fine. She's not drinking that. The talk is for my rookies." He gestured at Andy, who was awkwardly talking to Sam, and god knew what was up with that. Gail said she liked the McSwarek relationship because it made her feel normal. "Gail stole it."

That distracted Holly sufficiently from the fear of her girlfriend playing with fire. Stolen talk? "Oh! I know that one. The one about not touching things without permission?"

"That's the one." He smiled. "I have another one. She doesn't know it." He hesitated and then said, "Actually, she kind of gave it to Celery once."

The incongruity was giving Holly a headache. "I have no idea what that talk is, then. The only other one I know is the one about not puking in my lab and how Gail has special privileges." They also had a no making out at work rule right now, especially in interrogation. Kissing was allowed but not making out, just the PG kind of kisses. Sex was not up for discussion.

Oliver put a hand gently on Holly's arm. "A lot of cops have relationship problems. And this job, it scares people off. Frank got divorced, three times. I got divorced. You've seen Andy and Sammy screw up a million times." The older man sighed. "But. Sometimes, once in a while, we get really lucky. We fall in love with someone we can't explain. It doesn't make any sense and our friends think we're crazy. And ... And something changes us. We don't care about that so much, we care about this wonderful person." Oliver gestured with one hand. "I'm gonna ask Celery to marry me."

What? Holly blinked a few times and wished she had Gail's knack for instant recall of conversations. At the start, she thought that Oliver was going to give her some kind of talk about dealing with Gail, and then dealing with dating a cop. After almost a year, Holly was pretty sure she understood all the woes and pitfalls, but maybe not. This ... This had not been expected.

"Oh! I think, um, congratulations?"

"If she says yes," admitted Oliver. "You and my petulant Peck must attend, darling."

Holly nodded and the question popped out, "Why do you call her that?"

"Petulant? She's very pouty." Oliver grinned, broadly. "But she holds a very special place in my heart. She's my favorite. But don't tell her."

Holly grinned back, feeling the easy comfort that came with being with Oliver, and realized why Gail liked him so much. It was impossible not to like him. Letting go of her beer, Holly wrapped her arms around Oliver and squeezed him in a hug. "You're a very good man, Oliver," she whispered in his ear.

Squeezing her back, Oliver whispered back. "You're a great person, Holly. You don't need my talk. You love her, and you know she loves you. Keep that in your heart every day you worry about her out there."

Chapter Text

Sitting by the robbery victim, Gail held the shirt to his head and listened to him tell her all about the guy who'd cracked him on the head, hard. He was the fifth person that month, all of whom had been walloped hard on the head and lifted of their wallets. It was a hell of a way to mug someone in a parking garage, Gail had to admit, but effective.

When the EMTs came, Gail had a moment of concern and called back to dispatch, verifying who they were before letting her victim go. She frowned as they left and dusted her pants off. "That's weird, right?" She looked at the detective she was assigned to, and he shrugged.

He was not Gail's favorite partner. The silent act alone was frustrating. His lack of imagination and interest was mind boggling. Gail knew Butler liked him because he was solid, dependable, and intelligent. He did a good job and followed a case to a logical end every time. But that reminded her of Callaghan, and how he didn't always think beyond the obvious.

Obvious, right now, was that someone was a total asshole when it came to mugging. She pulled her phone out and tapped in a text to Holly.

If I hit a bunch of people with the same thing the same way, would there be a way to verify that?

On the detective's order, Gail went around getting statements and collecting CCTV tapes for evidence before going back to the station. It was the boring, legwork, portion of the cases that she hated. If she was a real detective, she could make Chris or Andy do her bidding. Instead, she was stuck in an uncomfortable in-between that she hated.

When her phone chimed, she dug it out at a stop light.

If you had the object, theoretically it could be matched to the wounds.

That was an idea.

Can you get impressions from living skulls?

She was honestly surprised she didn't get a lecture about how bones were alive out of that. Instead she got a phone call. "Honey, please tell me these are legit work questions," sighed Holly. A pause. "Am I on speaker?"

"I'm driving. It's just me in the cruiser."

"There's a relief. What's going on?"

Explaining the case, broadly, Gail touched on the meat of her issue. "I was thinking if I could get something like dental impressions from their head wounds, maybe we could reconstruct the weapon and look for that. The foot part of detectiving is coming up short."

Holly made a thoughtful noise on the phone and didn't answer. This wasn't weird. When she was thinking hard, Holly often made funny sounds. "Did they all have CT scans and X-rays?"

"Probably. I can check."

"That's where you need to start, then. The problem with making a mould is the skull will want to go back to it's normal shape. The brain is squishy."

Gail laughed, "That's a medical term, right? Squishy."

"Shut up," laughed Holly. "If you get the scans, I can take a look, Officer Peck."

"Thanks, Dr. Stewart. You're the best."

Getting the scans proved to be easy. Gail explained she wanted to follow up and Butler just hand-waved his permission. Between the Russians and the robbery swarming gang, she was his golden child and could do no wrong.

Looking at the scans, Gail hesitated about bringing them home. She didn't really want work to intrude their personal life any more than it already did, but this might save her some headaches later. It was always so damn complicated. Gail threw the images onto her official thumb drive and shoved the device into her bag.

Holly hadn't been satisfied with shooting and drinking as a birthday, and got Gail a leather shoulder bag for her work. Now that she was actually toting files home occasionally (though Gail preferred to put them on her iPad), she had a need for something that wouldn't crunch them up. It hadn't replaced a purse, but she now had a much smaller purse that she could stash in the bag when needed.

"Still here, Peck?"

Gail blinked and looked up at Butler walking back in. "Sir?"

"It's almost eight. I know you're eager, but …"

Shit, Holly was going to be annoyed. Gail grabbed her phone. "I was just going." She pointed at the door.

"Good," smiled Butler, going to his desk for something and turning right back around. "Don't you hate when you get home and realize you forgot something?"

Gail grinned, "I don't live that far away. It's not so bad."

"But you still have that street cop mentality. Check your bag before you walk out a door."

Looking at her bag, Gail realized he was right. She sighed and slung the bag to her shoulder, walking with him out to the stairs. "I'm still not used to not locking my gun up here every night."

"Oh that took me forever to get used to," agreed her boss. "But you have guns at home anyway."

Gail shrugged, "It's not the same thing. Those are mine. This is … work." Butler made a noise of understanding and they went downstairs.

It was still weird to her, not being on the main floor for work, and being inside most of the days. She went out on rendezvous more than patrol, though Butler had said if the uniforms were short handed, to expect to have to help out.

Just before she turned to the locker room, Butler cleared his throat. "You're friends with Frank, right?"

"Yes," Gail replied slowly, trying to think of where this was going.

Butler studied her face, "He's applied for a transfer to the main building. There's been a lot of overturn." His lips quirked slightly, indicating that Gail's guess was exactly why there'd been changes. Every day it seemed like her mother had less and less to do.

But Frank hadn't mentioned that to her and she frowned a little, "Oh. I didn't know."

"I asked him not to tell you," explained Butler. "He's kind of been my connection, between Sgt. Shaw and our guys. Greasing the wheel and making sure we get unis when we need them." Butler glanced at Oliver's office. "I wanted to ask you about taking that over."

Ask. Not an order. "Do I have to take the sergeants exam?"

"God, no, you'd be a terrible sergeant," laughed Butler. "You're better out there then half the rookies we get." He jerked his chin to the street. "If you were a detective…"

There was a moment of tense awkwardness and Gail sighed. "Well that's not your fault, sir." It was hers, in many ways, but more it was her mother's for screwing up everything. That was still funny to Gail, thinking about how much time her mother spent trying to make her to things the Peck way, and now Gail's assignment was screwed up because of Elaine's meddling.

"No, but I'd push more it if I could, Peck. Think about it, will you?"

"Don't need to, sir." She grinned broadly at her Inspector. "I can keep Oliver in check."

With a final clap to her shoulder, Butler headed out and Gail went to change out of her uniform. Hanging it up in her locker, Gail looked over at Andy and Chloe's. She never thought she'd miss hanging out with them, giving them crap about their lives, harassing them, but now that she didn't see them as often, it was starting to be weird.

Her life was slowly but inexorably moving away from bar life. There was no reason to get drunk after shift, because she had nothing to avoid. It was really freeing, not having to worry about the Peck crap most of the time. She didn't have the Damoclean sword dangling over her head at every life choice she made. The cost had been insanely high, admittedly, and it wasn't something Gail would readily suggest to anyone.

However. She texted Holly as she tossed her bags into her car.

You suck, Stewart.

At least I'm not late.

Sorry.

Why do I suck and where are you?

Just leaving. And because I know it's Damoclean and not Damocleseian.

I'm impressed autocorrect didn't duck that up.

Gail grinned and put the phone in the car's dock. At this hour, there was no traffic and getting home was speedy enough that it was barely after eight. Gail parked and bounded into the house, "Sorry, Holly. I got wrapped up."

"That's okay, I think I figured out what was wrong with the bacon." Her girlfriend was in the kitchen, based on the noise.

This might be bad. Gail dropped her bags by the stairs and hung up her coat. "London Broil again?"

"One more try. If I screw it up, we are done."

"I hope that's to your cooking and not me," teased Gail, and she leaned on the counter to watch Holly watch the oven.

"Shut up," laughed Holly. "I watched Alton Brown a dozen times."

"He makes it American style, Holly!"

Holly waved a hand, dismissive, "And I substituted lamb instead of veal, because baby cows make me cry."

Covering her face with her hands, Gail groaned. "This is why you can't get it right, Holly. You substitute after you have a successful recipe."

For the last few months, Holly had been experimenting with cooking she saw on the Food Network. Gail blamed it on the fact that she'd worked that college op, and wasn't as much at home, but Holly said she liked to cook. She wasn't great at it, was the problem. Simple stuff Holly could do wonderfully, way better than Gail, but the complicated cooking with braising and searing and frying in multiple steps, she was abysmal. And yet she kept on trying, no matter how Gail tried to talk her out of it.

Like tonight, Holly blithely ignored her and went on with the rest of her prep, which naturally included a salad. "How did you find out you were allergic to tomatoes?"

Gail blinked and eyed the salad. "You're not going to start with the whole desensitizing treatment idea, are you?"

"God, no! Steve told me you tried that once."

Thank god for Steve. "I think I was six or seven, Mother wanted me to eat a salad. I ended up in the ER." Gail had only a vague memory of that particular event. "My lips got all puffy and I was throwing up. Lots of fun."

Holly looked thoughtful, "That explains why you eat so much junk food."

"Who asked you anyway," laughed Gail. "Can I have a drink, or will I upset the precious balance of your kitchening ways?"

"You may. Why were you late?"

Gail walked past Holly to get a glass, pausing to kiss her shoulder. "I was getting those scans I asked you about."

"Oh, I worried you were going to go around hitting Dov and Chris." Holly grinned and diced bell peppers for the salad.

"Tempting. No, we've had five guys get mugged and whacked in the head."

That caught Holly's attention, surprisingly. "Back of the head?" When Gail nodded, Holly ordered her to stay and rushed upstairs to get her laptop. "Where's your scan?"

Knowing better than to get between Holly and science, Gail fetched the thumb drive and watched her girlfriend pull up the images and start comparing things. The smell of meat caressed her nose and Gail eyed the timer. Twenty minutes would be too long. She let Holly study and took the food out of the oven and set it to rest on the cutting board. It smelled good at least.

"Huh," muttered Holly and Gail took that as a cue to lean over and look.

"What does 'huh' mean?" She peered at the screen and frowned. "Wait a second." Even to her untrained eye, the cracks looked similar, but the comparison x-ray was not one Gail had brought in.

"That," Holly pointed to the left, "is a victim I picked up from 27. Rosati's case." She stabbed at the rightmost image, "That's your guy from last week." Beaming, Holly gestured with both hands.

"Can you break that down a bit for me, Holly," sighed Gail. "They look really similar—"

Holly cut her off, "Yes, they look really similar. If they were the same height, they'd look damn near identical."

Blinking, Gail regarded Holly's ecstatic face. "A serial head-cracker?"

"Same type of weapon. You find the weapon, CSI will confirm."

"Well now you've pointed at my other problem, Dr. Stewart," sighed Gail, and she pushed her sleeves up. "That's going to be tomorrow's problem, though. Come on, let's see how bad you cooked the meat."

Holly groaned. "Wait, why is it out of the oven?"

"Because you were going to over cook it. Carryover heat, we'll be fine. You just can't handle cooking meat, Holly, when will you give up?" Gail carefully cut into the meat and was pleased to see the right amount of pink.

"Is this where you make a joke about how the lesbian can't handle meat," complained Holly, but she was smiling.

It was cold. Surprisingly cold. Holly wrinkled her face and opened her eyes in the darkness of the winter morning. Why was she cold? Holly sat up and realized Gail had all the blankets. Something that hadn't been a problem in spring or summer was now, suddenly, very annoying. Holly managed to free the sheet and recover some warmth, but the quiet of the morning was disturbed.

In this early morning, with blowing snow and the only sounds were the heater and humidifier, Gail was soundly asleep, her back visible as she'd cuddled the comforter around so it was in front of her. Sometimes her favorite moments were when Gail was still like this, eyes closed, faced relaxed and calm. It was rare to see her this quiet and peaceful. Gail was a tempest in her waking hours, always moving and whirling. Of course Holly adored her for it, for her passion and sarcasm and wit, but also for this.

Holly smiled and gently tugged the comforter closer to her, but Gail hunkered down even more. The only way to keep warm enough was to cuddle up against her girlfriend, body to body. Early on, Gail had always woken up when Holly tried to cuddle her in the mornings. Some time before they'd moved in, Gail started to sleep through Holly getting up and after a while she dozed through morning snuggling.

That was another thing Holly absolutely adored about life at this moment. Curling around Gail, Holly sighed and sunk into the bed further, inhaling the scent of Gail and feeling her soft skin. The wind wailed around the house, snow pelting the windows. December was going to be a shit kicker, realized Holly. She pressed her lips to Gail's shoulder blade and tried to be still and quiet.

Eventually Gail's death grip on the comforter slacked and Holly eased more towards herself, getting her back covered over. But she was too awake now. Holly sighed and reached for her glasses, pulling them on to study the shapes of the master bedroom in the gloom. The blue comforter was dark against Gail's skin and Holly lost herself in the smooth expanse.

"Beautiful," sighed Holly, and she ran her hand across Gail's shoulder and back, pulling the comforter up.

Gail sighed and squirmed, getting more of her body back under the covers. But she didn't wake for a while, allowing Holly to lay there watching her. Slowly the innocent face of relaxation eased into the quiet sleepy expression of wakefulness. Gail rolled to her back and opened her eyes, smiling. "Hey," she grinned at Holly. "Why are you awake?"

Reaching over, Holly traced her fingers down Gail's face. "You stole the blankets."

"Sorry," yawned Gail and she snuggled under the blankets more. "If you're cold, you could come here."

Obliging, Holly curled back up with Gail, settling in the middle of the bed, as was her favorite spot. The wind picked up and Gail looked up, surprised. "The storm hit."

"Damn," sighed Gail. "Early storms."

"Long winters." The wind howled and Gail reached a hand out for her phone, checking it. "Do you have any cases?" Holly let her hand wander over the available skin.

"Nothing that can't be worked at home." She tapped in something and tossed the phone back onto the nightstand. "You?"

Holly thought about it for a moment, her hand pausing on Gail's ribs briefly. "Nothing. Cleared my list, and I doubt anyone will come in for a few days." After the storms were always busier for the labs.

With a sleepy smile, Gail stretched out. "Good," she decided. Her eyes drifted closed as Holly's hand smoothed over her stomach and arms. "I used to hate storms. Stuck inside with people."

Scooting closer, Holly kissed Gail's shoulder. "I'm not people?"

"No." Gail grinned. "You're not."

"I think that was a compliment." Holly let her hand drift higher, suggestively, and was pleased that Gail turned towards her with that soft smile Holly knew was hers and hers alone.

Gail reached up and took Holly's glasses off, "Its early. We should go back to sleep."

And they did, a while later. When Holly woke up again, the light hadn't changed but the bed was empty. The wind was still howling and the pelting of the snow beat the window. It was going to be a long, cold, winter. Holly fumbled for her glasses and looked out the door. There was light in the hallway and Holly considered going back to sleep. She had no reason to be up after all. Stretching, she felt wonderfully sore and languid.

"Coffee?" Gail was in the doorway holding two mugs. She wore a long shirt and sweatpants.

"Please." Holly wriggling to sitting up, keeping the sheet covering her and holding out a hand.

Handing over the mug, Gail scooted in next to her. "Modest? I've seen your boobs, Holly," teased the blonde.

"It's cold." She stuck her tongue out and sipped the coffee, which was doctored the way she liked it.

"You should try the garage." Gail made a face. "Found your sled. We can go be silly and romantic when it lets up."

"That sounds fun." Holly leaned into Gail. "Won't be till tomorrow at this rate." They sipped the coffee in comfort. "You're thinking about work?"

"I have to finish writing up the robber bashing heads case. And now that Frank's gone, I've got to check on what cases we might need uniforms for." With a grumble, Gail pointed out, "I have a real job."

Holly giggled, "Honey, you've always had a real job. Now you have responsibility too." She turned and kissed Gail's cheek. "Go finish your work. I'll make some breakfast." Gail sighed and turned to kiss Holly. Coffee and morning breath did not lead to a desire for making out, and the chaste kiss was brief.

Once Gail was done working, they could enjoy a nice, lazy, snowed in day.

Late. Damn it. Gail rushed through the division, yanking at her coat as she did. "I know I'm late, Ollie, they didn't plow my street." She caught sight of her brother frantically signing at her from the bullpen and pointing towards Oliver's office. The Commissioner was there. Shit, Uncle Al did not need to see Gail being late the one time in the month she was supposed to be there for parade.

"You missed parade," said Commissioner Santana, aka Uncle Al, smirking. "Didn't I tell you to get a car with All-Wheel-Drive, Gail?"

If he was teasing her, Gail didn't need to be too worried. "I did and heated seats too. Holly's car lacks these wonderful inventions. I had to drop her off." Gail took her coat off, "Do you know anyone in snow removal I can complain to?"

"I'll check. I need to see you in Sgt. Shaw's office." The phrasing grabbed Gail's attention in a bad way. He needed to see her? He still wore the smile Gail knew from growing up, so she wasn't too worried, but...

Gail glanced at herself. Skinny jeans, boots, slouchy sweater under her leather jacket. It had become a uniform of sorts before changing into her uniform. "Should I change first, sir?"

Her godfather noted the emphasis and shook his head, "No. Not today." He had a cryptic look and gestured for Gail to follow him.

Both Oliver and Inspector Butler sat in Oliver's office, a box of donuts and cups of coffee on the coffee table. "Peck," grinned Oliver, his eyes bright. He held out a cup, and Gail took it, because it was always going to be better than the division brew.

"How many cases was it, David?" Commissioner Santana picked up his own cup and sat on the couch.

David. It was weird to think of Butler having a first name. Gail supposed his wife used it. "Depends on if we count the one." They briefly dithered, but decided to. "Then four. In five months."

"I told you she used resources to her advantage," noted Oliver, sitting behind his desk.

No one talked to Gail, so she stood there, watching then men discuss... Her. She frowned as they pointed out how long she'd poked at the ambulance case, and Ollie was the one to argue no one had believed her. The Russians wasn't her case, Butler agreed, but she'd been instrumental. The college robberies were all her, as was solving the basher, and Butler got to the meat of his argument.

"It's no good. Having her in uniform messes the chain of command. Officers don't know where she fits, because she's not a sergeant, detectives ignore her because she's in uniform."

Gail held her breath for a moment. This was not the year she'd been told to wait. This was four months. "Sirs... I'm sorry, but I thought, because of the Superintendent..."

"Good lord, your mother," groaned the Commissioner. "Elaine has been remarkably trouble free lately. It's like she's an inspector again." He picked up a donut and waggled it at Gail. "This has nothing to do with her or Bill. They no longer have a say in this." He took a very decisive bite from his donut.

She swallowed a dry throat. "You're my godfather."

To her surprise, Inspector Butler startled. "You are? You didn't say-"

"The fact that I changed Gail's diapers has no bearing on any of this, any more than Oliver being her partner once, and you being her Inspector, Dave." He frowned, "I wasn't wrong about Steve."

Oliver spoke up, however, "Duncan."

The wince was funny and Gail covered her face with the cup of coffee. "He did most of that on his own, but he wasn't going to sort himself out without you, Oliver. I owe you." Santana pointed at Gail, "And she did that. Gail, what do you call him? Gary?"

"Gerald, sir."

"Gerald. She took it out with style and made him learn. She'd be a great T.O. as well, but ... Understand me, gentleman, I see no reason to make her wait when the one black mark on her career is understandable. And this is entirely her mother's fault. I don't want to punish her for it."

Butler held up his hands, "I'm not arguing, sir!"

The door opened again and Inspector Jarvis walked in, solemn faced. "Are you done arguing?" He glanced at Gail, "You were late. And that's not what detectives wear."

"Give it a rest, Jarvis," grumbled Butler. "There isn't a detective mould."

"Peck- other Peck wears a three piece suit every day." He frowned somewhat, "There's that too, what do we call them?"

From his desk, Oliver suggested, "Detective Peck from guns and gangs, and Detective Peck from major crimes."

"Too long." But Jarvis pulled out a badge case and held it out to Gail. "I'm just going with Detective Gail Peck."

The shouting was crazy, but Holly found the sheer happiness of the group to be more fun than any sports game she'd attended in her life. Gail's friends were cheering and hugging her, way more than Gail would ever normally allow.

Traci had picked Holly up at the end of her work day, too excited to even consider keeping anything a secret. "She did it," Traci had sang, all but dancing. "Detective Gail Peck."

After Holly got over the shock and the annoyance that Gail hadn't texted her or called, she understood what was coming next. Unlike the promotion party, or the one for Gail being transferred, this was a relief. A changing of the guards was complete. The reign of Herr Peck, as the Peck siblings might have said, was clearly over, and the new guard was rolling in to take over.

Even Sam Swarek, who was not one of Gail's biggest fans, was there to celebrate (and apparently apologize to Andy about something involving Detective Cruz). Gail had tried to diagram out Andy's relationship tree for Holly, but it had proven to be more confusing than Lisa's Lesbian Sex Web. Duncan arrived with a present, a donut cake, which actually meant Gail called him 'Duncan' for a change.

Some of the higher ups also arrived, Pecks and Peck-adjacents whom Holly had heard of but never met. They were polite, as much as could be expected. Neither of Gail's parents showed, but Holly hadn't thought they would. Steve, in his suit, ribbed his sister about her clothes for much of the night, telling her to wear a suit, until Gail's boss told Steve that the newest detective didn't need to wear one to look like captain of the universe, she just was.

"I think your boss has a man-crush on you," Steve muttered after Butler left.

"A bro-mance?" Gail laughed and shoved Steve.

Traci leaned in, "What are you going to wear? I can't imagine you dressing like me."

Teasing, Gail suggested, "Jenny from the block?" That seemed to be an old joke. "Jeans, shirt, probably a jacket. I'll figure it out."

"Mom would shit herself if you went to work in that leather jacket every day."

"Don't care, Steve."

Holly smiled, "We'll take her shopping, Traci. Don't worry."

Gail turned to her and kissed her lightly, "Says the woman who wears boob shirts to work all the time." They shared a smile and kissed again, this time getting a hoot from someone to the side. "Bite me, Nicholas!" Of course Gail knew.

The uniforms of fifteen seemed equal parts sad and thrilled, except for Chris who looked morose. "This doesn't mean you get to boss me around," Dov stated firmly.

Coming to Gail's defense, Nick pointed out, "Actually, that is what it means."

"No it's not!" Dov scowled. "Tell me it's not?"

"That's exactly what it means," smirked Gail, winding her fingers with Holly's. "You're all my bitches now. Except Traci." Gail lifted her glass in that direction and Traci's clinked in a quiet cheers.

Chris looked away, "I'm getting another round."

As he left, Gail sighed, "What's wrong with your son?"

"You broke up the band, Casper," grumbled Dov. "That's what he thinks at least. I'll talk to him tonight."

The strange relationship between those three confused Holly, but she rested her head against Gail and whispered, "Should Chris be drinking?"

"Shirley Temple," replied Gail, equally quietly and then kissed her again. "How's it feel to date a detective?"

Smiling, Holly's eyes darted to Gail's lips and that toothy grin. "Depends on if you can still get me out of parking tickets." Muttering that was an abuse of power, Gail's lips brushed hers again and she leaned away, accepting the next round of congratulations from a group of people in white shirts.

But if she asked again, Holly had an answer. It felt great to date a detective.

Chapter Text

Gail stared at her closet. "Shit," she muttered for the tenth time. "Fuck!" The bellow magically summoned her girlfriend and the brunette popped her head in first, followed by Traci. "No, no, I am not having a girl intervention."

But Traci ignored her and eyed Gail's closet. "Wow, all the girly Peck stuff is missing. Where are your ruffled shirts?"

"Bite me," snarled Gail, moving to shove Traci out of the bedroom. Holly intercepted the move and pulled Gail into a hug. "Holly, what the hell am I going to wear to work?"

For six years, almost seven, Gail had worn her uniform. She knew what to wear when she got up every day, rain or shine. The times she'd been undercover, similarly, were simple. Wear what the op runner told you. Before that, she'd lived and home and her mother both bought her clothes and told her what to wear.

This was the first time Gail ever had to dress herself for success.

She was having a freakout.

"Sit down, honey," soothed Holly, kissing her gently.

Gail all but collapsed on the bed with a groan. "Those shirts were Herr Peck's," she told Traci, covering her face with her hands.

"Your mother dressed you?" Traci was seconds from laughing.

Before Gail could reply, Holly coughed. "Traci, all her guns are in the next room. And her tazer. Don't poke my bear, please."

With an apology, Traci went back to the closet and she and Holly went over the clothes, pulling out shirts and pants. They quickly determined most of the pants would work, but the shirts were a problem. Too many slouchy, oversized overshirts. Not enough jackets.

They managed to find two good jackets, a green and a grey, but were stumped on the shirts. "Jeans, she's got to wear jeans," decided Traci.

"In Organized Crimes?"

"I've seen her boss, he has that math teacher vibe with the jackets and his jeans and his boots."

Holly made a 'huh' sound and pulled out the black T-shirts that Gail had a million of. "She could get away with this."

But Traci wasn't sold. "A nice button down. Can't she borrow one of yours?"

"Too much flannel," grumbled Gail and Holly snorted a laugh. "I have button downs. They're behind the red dress."

Moving the dress aside, Traci exhaled. "Okay, this can work. Why don't you wear these?"

"I do. I wore the blue one when we went to the musical." She glanced at Holly who was blushing. That might be a problem, she realized. Or maybe it would be less of a problem. Gail had worried that since Holly found her uniform so sexy that there would be less appeal of her in a suit. Apparently not.

Traci put together three outfit choices before pulling out one that would work with Gail's leather jacket. "In two months, you can wear leather and boots, not before."

Nodding, Gail looked at the three choices and picked the dark shirt with green jacket. "Right. I know we're casual but not too casual. And have good things for big cases." She was going to have to go shopping for shirts. "The non chunky boots."

"Yeah, that'll work," agreed Traci and she hung up the outfit in front.

Holly fingered one of the discarded tops. "Why not the white shirts?"

Together, Traci and Gail replied, "Targets."

That surprised Holly. "But ... Oliver wears a white shirt."

"Not in the field, not without a vest on," Gail explained, sitting on the edge of the bed. "A white shirt makes your center of mass an easy target. Stands out."

Thoughtful, Holly hung the shirt back up. "That brings a new level of terrifying to your work," grumbled the doctor and Gail winced. "There is not a single job you could have where I won't worry."

"SIU," suggested Traci.

Gail shook her head, "Ask Mills about the time the guy she was investigating tried to choke her." She held her hands out to Holly who stepped between her legs and let Gail hug her.

"You guys are cute," smiled Traci.

"The tazer is in my nightstand, Nash," growled Gail. It wasn't. It had been, until Holly almost made a horrible mistake one night. Other things were also kept in nightstands, after all.

Holly sighed and leaned down to kiss Gail lightly. "Stop." She kissed Gail again and sighed. "Dinner. I'm going to order in?"

"Or make some rice. There's leftovers from the baingan I made yesterday." Holly nodded and headed down to do that.

"Gail Peck cooks?" Traci looked thrilled. "I know you can bake. Chris bragged to everyone that you knew how to make bread. I don't even know what a bang an is, but I want to try it."

Gail rolled her eyes and stood up. "Of course I know how to cook. I like cooking. And it's a baingan, it's eggplant and vegetables and stuff." She shoved Traci out of the bedroom, "Thank you, but get out. This room is for sex."

Of course Traci mimed gagging, but she stayed for dinner and agreed that the food was awesome. Holly gave her a hug, thanking her for helping and then walking her to her car. Without being asked, Gail cleaned the kitchen and started the dishwasher. They had that healthy, comfortable life now. A life where they could be themselves and achieve a future.

Catching sight of herself in a mirror, Gail smiled. "Detective Gail Peck." It sounded right. She felt like this was a real thing, that she was a real success now. "Detective Gail Peck, Organized Crimes." That just sounded like a fucking badass.

"Detective Gail Peck, raging narcissist." Holly's voice was way too close and Gail flinched. Cool hands rested on her hips and Holly nuzzled the back of Gail's neck. "I totally snuck up on you," she teased.

Gail sighed. "Yes, yes you did." The hands moved forward and Holly hooked her thumbs through Gail's belt loops.

"Say it again," murmured Holly, breath warm against Gail's neck.

"What? Detective Gail Peck?" She could feel Holly's smile, the lips curving. "I know why I like hearing it, but what got you so eager?"

Holly made a soft noise and kissed her neck again. "I'm in love with you."

"I know that," laughed Gail.

The lips on her neck moved to behind her ear. "You're happy. And you're excited. And you're going to be amazing. And I get to see you, this happy, every day. It's ..." Holly stopped and leaned back, putting her chin on Gail's shoulder. "You're complicated, Gail."

Leaning back against her lover, Gail smiled. "Thank you." Simple was boring.

"You are complicated and deep and brilliant."

"Keep saying nice things and I'll let you have your way with me."

Holly pinched her. "I'm trying to say something deep here. Shut it." Holly paused and only continued when Gail said nothing. "I love your complicated. I love that I get to see this secret you under all that snark and bite. And every day I learn a little more about you. About your dreams and passions and layers and ... You're a puzzle I could spend the rest of my life with."

Involuntarily, Gail stiffened. The rest of her life? She tried to keep her voice light. "Is that a proposal?"

"What?" Holly sounded startled. "No! I mean, yes, if you, uh... Okay so it's the whole we tell each other stuff, and I was thinking aloud about why I love you and wow, yeah, I totally sound like a psycho girlfriend stalker." Carefully removing Holly's hands from her belt loops, Gail turned around to kiss her. It was a long, slow kiss. Like they had years to kiss. When they stopped, Holly's eyes were closed and she was calmer. "No, I'm not asking you to marry me at this moment."

"Okay," replied Gail, kissing her again. "I love you. I don't know if I want to get married at this moment." She wasn't sure she'd ever want to get married. She knew the idea of a wedding was absolutely abhorrent, which was another drama.

Squinting her eyes open, Holly chewed her lip. "How did Nick propose?" When Gail's eyebrows jumped, Holly explained. "When I do propose to you, I want to make sure I get it right. White horse, bended knee..."

Gail laughed softly. "We were drunk, I thought he was kidding until the next day when my mother asked him if there was anything new and he said we were getting married. Next thing I knew, Mother was planning a wedding." She sighed and kissed Holly again.

"Would you have married him?"

"And divorced in a year probably, yeah. I didn't stand up for myself then. Not to my mother at least." She sighed and leaned against Holly again, drawing her in to hug tightly.

"It's easier," agreed Holly. "Not making the choices and letting things happen." She kissed Gail's cheek. Holly had once called herself the queen of letting things happen and then jumping on impulse. It was amusing and infuriating. Gail wondered if her parents felt that way about her.

"Can we not talk about Nicholas? I want this to be a Nick free zone." She smiled softly and was surprised to see Holly blush.

The doctor leaned in and kissed her. "That smile made me love you."

What an odd confession. "My smile? Not my sunshiney personality?" Gail grinned broadly.

"That soft smile. The first time you made it at me, I was a goner," sighed Holly. "Took me right from mad crush to weak in the knees."

Words Gail could remember. She frowned, trying to think of when she'd smiled like that, and how she'd smiled. Holly's lips touched her own again, a brief kiss of promise. "I don't remember that..."

"In bed. The morning after your hair. You woke up and looked at me with this absolutely tender face." Holly looked fondly at Gail. "And I remember that I just stopped freaking out about having a made out with a straight girl in my bathtub. Because you looked at me like that and you wanted me for me. Not just sex."

Gail felt awkward. She felt exposed and timid, actually. "I wanted the sex too," she pointed out. "But you... You're the first person I felt like I could have more from."

Now Holly went a little stiff, but she smiled shyly. "I want to give you more." And she tucked her head against Gail's. They stood like that, holding each other in a small bubble of ... Love. Not that Gail would say that out loud. Actually, they didn't have to say anything out loud for a while. They could just be with each other and in peace.

Paperwork was going to be the death of her thought Holly as it invaded her dreams. It came with the new role, which Gail called a promotion but really wasn't. Holly had responsibilities, duties, and no change to her pay or title. She was one of the senior pathologists in the lab which gave her a lot of freedom, but now she was a shift supervisor as well. And worst of all, a night shift contact.

When Holly had been promoted and assigned to work the cases on the East side of Toronto, she'd reveled in the fact that night calls were no longer hers to suffer. Then she'd met Fifteen division and after almost a year, Gail Peck, and Holly thanked a God she didn't really believe in for keeping her nights free for that amazing woman. Not that Gail's schedule was so set in stone in the beginning.

Now, though. Now they both had semi regular hours which meant semi regular schedules which meant a sort of complacency in life that Holly never realized she'd craved before. Actually she was certain she'd never wanted it with anyone else before. None of her exes ripped at her heart the way Gail did. Maybe it was because Gail's initial unattainability wasn't just her unknown sexuality but her walls. The desire to pull back Gail's layers, to learn more about someone who was so different struck Holly early on.

That feeling had quickly turned from desire to outright lust when she spent more than an hour in Gail's presence. Beautiful, smart, sassy, and absolutely unflappable. Also Gail was a great kisser. Gail picked up new skills insanely fast, much to Holly's delight, and she didn't actually have any hang ups about being with a woman. Sure, there had been some practical considerations to take in, a lack of experience in certain matters, but nothing deal breaking. Gail was, in a word, amazing.

And also really bratty when woken up at three AM. "Holly, answer your phone or I swear I'll shoot it."

"Dr. Stewart," she slurred into her phone, memories of being chased by sheafs of paper floating away.

"Sorry," began Rodney. He had been assigned the night shift as the new lead pathologist for that shift. That had been a promotion. "We got a body in cement. Half in, half out. I'm getting the slab brought in as whole as possible, but how do I make sure the vibrations don't destroy evidence?"

Holly's brain kicked in and she walked Rodney through how to most safely collect the evidence, but also to feel free to leave the body for her in the morning. In general, his evidence collection skills were beyond reproach. Rodney just had a tendency to be skittish when presented with something new that he had not yet personally experienced.

As she hung up and curled back under the blanket, the surly voice behind her complained. "Not even a sorry for me."

"You threatened to shoot my phone," Holly yawned, trying to relax. Her eyes were heavy and droopy but her brain was working.

A warm arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. "If thy phone doth offend me, shoot it out," Gail said, weirdly poetically. It made Holly laugh. "Do you need to go in?"

Scooting back to touch more of Gail's warmth, Holly muttered a no. "I want to sleep," she added, feeling petulant.

"Is that brain of yours up?"

Clearly Gail knew her too well. "I'm going to go read," she sighed, but the arm on her waist did not let go. "Gail, I know you can sleep with the lights on but I'll just keep you up."

Gail did not reply with words, instead she ghosted her lips on Holly's neck before snuggling back up against her to try and sleep. Normally it was Holly who was raring for morning sex. There was something about the morning that got her engine running and definitely something about Gail in her bed that encouraged it. This didn't feel the kind of frisky that Holly often succumbed to, looking at the blonde in the bed. This felt like the slow burning desire Gail swore Holly built up for her.

What Gail had said was that Holly drove her crazy like no one else before. That was about as deep into her feelings about them that Gail would get early on. Before moving in, on their second chance, Gail had been more forthcoming about her emotions and how she wanted Holly. Definitely there was want. Gail had been passionate before but not romantic, driven by wants.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. Except the part where you didn't think about what things meant and how that ended you up having a stupid fight after your friends said dumb things.

"Holly, you really need to learn to stop thinking." Gail's words interrupted her train of thought.

That had been a complaint of many a girlfriend. Holly sighed. "Sorry." She rolled towards Gail, lying on her back. "It's just ... On."

Gail propped herself up on one elbow. "Okay, what are you thinking about?"

"Us," sighed Holly, reaching up to caress Gail's cheek. "Sex instead of talking."

"We talk," Gail replied, a little offended. When Holly gave her a wry look, Gail coughed. "Now. And we talked before we went out. We tell each other stuff." With a smirk, Gail kissed Holly's forehead.

Holly groaned, "You remember exactly what I said, word for word, don't you?"

"Can't help it." Gail snugged up against her. "You can't turn off your brain either."

It was a simple statement. For as different as they were, Gail and Holly were very similar. They ran away from relationships when they were scared, they were defensive, they were impulsive, and they had brains they couldn't turn off. And Gail understood that. She understood the obsessive nature of Holly's work, the incessant need to solve the puzzles and research and everything else.

Smiling, Holly closed her eyes and lay still in the dark. Someone who understood her. That was the part that was missing from all the rest, all the failures. She didn't have to change to be with Gail. Gail didn't have to change to be with her. While they did, it wasn't because the other demanded it but because they wanted to change to be better for each other.

Gail quickly slipped off into sleep, her body weight growing heavier as she did. Eventually she rolled to her other side, breathing deeply in a near snore. Holly followed her, wrapping her arm around Gail's waist to hold her close. Her hand toyed with the edge of the T-shirt Gail wore. It was one of Holly's. Most of what Gail wore to bed was Holly's, and had been since they started dating.

When Gail had moved in, there was a bevy of boxes with clothes Holly had never seen. They had been the clothes Gail hadn't worn but her mother continued to buy for her, and they were all girly. It was a stark contrast to what Gail wore in her day to day life. In fact, most everything in those boxes had been donated to charity. The exception had been some surprisingly slinky sleepwear that Gail did put on from time to time.

It was with thoughts of that attire that Holly drifted back into the comfort of sleep.

"He's checking out your ass," muttered Dov, clearly offended on her behalf.

"Flashlight," Gail ordered. That the cop from 27 was checking out her ass wasn't a big deal. That it happened to be Chloe's ex-husband sent Dov a little off the rails. They were on the dividing line between the divisions, in contested territory. Dov and Snowflake had tumbled onto motorcycle chop shop while arguing with Wes and some dimwit Gail didn't know.

A moment later, Dov's hand appeared in her line of sight with his big mag light. "Don't you have your own?"

"Yup," she replied, popping the P loudly. "Tell Griggs he was right, would you?"

Dov turned and told Snowflake to do that, and extended his hand again to help Gail out from under the lift. "Is that your partner?"

Dusting off her pants, Gail sighed. "For now." Butler had made sure Gail understood she was not anyone's partner, yet. She was loaned to anyone who was short a partner for whatever reason. Like Griggs' regular partner was taking a personal day, so Gail filled in. She didn't mind. It got her out, working on cases, and learning new things.

"Can I shoot Wes?"

"No."

Scowling, Dov clipped his flashlight back into place. "What was Griggs right about?"

"There's blood under the lift. He's got a good eye for that." Gail stood with her back to the lift, thinking up the spatter pattern. The shape of the drops. Holly had told her about that. They weren't cast off, though, they were drips. That didn't make sense. Why would there be drips on the underside of the lift? Gravity was a constant.

After a glance to see that Griggs was on their half of the floor, she looked up slowly. "Hey, Griggs. They hosed the place down." Never phrase it as a question.

"How's that?" The burly man waddled over to her and followed her look.

"Floor's clean." She aimed her flashlight to the chains above them. "Blood's a splash back. Bounced off the ground and back up."

"So- oh."

She and Griggs stared up at the ceiling. After a moment, Dov and Snowflake joined them, staring up. There. "Got it," grinned Gail and Griggs snorted. He saw it at the same time. "Hey, nerd squad. We got a body."

Of course Gail was still there when Holly showed up for the body. At the silent question, Gail pointed up and enjoyed watching Holly's confounded expression. "How the hell did it get there?" Rarely did Holly swear at work, but today called for it.

"I'm trying to figure out how we get it down," muttered the forensic tech.

"There's a mobile lift," Gail suggested, pointing over to the side. "This one has blood spatter under it, so they probably used it to hoist our victim up there." She caught a smirk from her girlfriend and smiled. She had to be a professional at work.

It was hours before they managed to get the body down. Gail was disappointed to find the case insanely simple. The dead man was a mechanic who got into a fight with the owner, who hit him over the head with a wrench. He confessed to everything before Holly even got to the autopsy, which frustrated the pathologist. Even with a confession Gail was stuck at work late because Griggs dumped the paperwork on her. The rookie.

By the time she got home, Holly had dinner sorted out. The food smelled alright though Holly had a gift at overcooking the meat. With that in mind, Gail called upstairs that she was home and promptly checked the oven. Holly's timer had eleven minutes left, but the fish was done. Always with the extra time.

"Hey, I'm cooking dinner!"

"Over cooking!" Gail smiled and turned to tease her girlfriend, only to have thought chased from her head. Holly was wearing her button down shirt, half unbuttoned, and running shorts. "Uh. You were not wearing that at work," she managed.

"Well spotted, detective," laughed Holly. "I spilled tea on my pants." She sauntered into the kitchen to look at the fish.

Gail gestured with a hand, motioning up and down. "Shirt?"

Looking down, Holly sighed. "Okay. I had this idea about being all super sexy librarian when you got home." She started to fix the buttons on her shirt and Gail swatted her hands away.

"No no, I want to know what I did to get super sexy scientist," she growled, running her hands up Holly's shirt to her collar. The bra was fancy too.

Holly blushed. "You know how I think you're totally hot in uniform?" Nodding, Gail leaned in to kiss Holly's throat and was thwarted momentarily. "Wait," sighed Holly. "What did you tell me about being a detective?"

Blinking, Gail tried to think through all their conversations. "It'd be fun, I wanted this, uh, I'd be good at it-" She stuttered to a stop as Holly removed her glasses. God, she was stunning in and out of the glasses. "That me being a badass cop who was smart would totally turn you on?"

And Holly nodded. "You were right," she said softly and kissed Gail. "Detective Gail Peck is sexy. I knew women in uniforms with short hair was my thing," she added, running her fingers through Gail's hair to emphasis her point. "I did not know that brilliant detectives solving crimes in front of me was so fucking hot."

Her throat went dry and Gail felt her skin heat up. That was the most unexpected fringe benefit of her job that she had ever heard.

They ended up reheating the fish a few hours later.

Chapter Text

In her years of being a police officer, Gail thought she'd seen every slice of life to be had in Toronto. Even before she was a cop, there'd been so many diverse people, it was like a who's who of losers in the Province. But in the near year she'd lived with Holly Stewart, her world had broadened more to encompass the most terrifying group of people known to exist. A motley collection of freaks and geeks and cosplaying nerds.

Fans.

Looking up at the banner over the convention center, Gail frowned, "What does ToSCon stand for?"

"Toronto Science and Fantasy Convention," smiled Holly, looking like she was deep in her element.

"Wouldn't that be TSF Con?"

Tugging Gail's hand, Holly dragged her to the door. "No negative Nancy today, Peck. You promised."

Gail snorted, "I did not! I said you could pick whatever you wanted to do Friday, if I got to pick Saturday."

"And I want to go to a geeky nerdy convention." Holly started to chew on her lower lip and Gail sighed as her walls crumbled. She was never able to win a fight when Holly pulled out the sexy/cute pout like that.

The moment she let her shoulders droop, Holly hauled her inside to get their badges. The entry was filled with people, top to bottom, all over. "You didn't say there'd be this many people."

A trio of Japanese schoolgirls, with hair far longer than was humanly possible tied in ways that wasn't at all practical, rushed passed them. Coming another direction was a Jedi Knight and six Stormtroopers, talking about lunch plans. Four men, shaved bald, in identical black suits with hats, marched by, crossing paths with a manic man in a bow tie and a tweed jacket with elbow protectors which simply screamed Math Professor, who wanted to know if anyone had found his fez. A weird conversation about 'wolf penises' could be heard, overlapped by comments about how the 'new fangs' felt weird, and jokes about a bilious green sports bra, while two men with sideways mohawks laughed loudly.

Gail was in her own private hell, and she was using a vacation day to be there.

"It's the third biggest science fiction and fantasy convention in the Province," explained Holly. "I like it better, there's less mass media and more fun."

Fun, right. Gail sighed. "You have a strange idea of fun, Holly."

"It's all that formaldehyde," quipped Holly. But she was happy, excessively so, and Gail would put up with anything like this for a few hours. Saturday was her night. Early dinner at a fancy restaurant, followed by a show. While she wore casual jeans and jackets most of the time, Gail did still love to dress up to the nines and squire Holly on a night on the town. After all, the woman was just drop dead sexy and officially the coolest person Gail knew, especially when she was threatening to undress Gail with her teeth.

With thoughts of Holly dressed up (and undressed) in her mind, Gail followed her girlfriend around from stall to stall, looking at wares that Gail couldn't possibly fathom showing up at their home. Their home. They'd just finished the process of getting Gail's name on the house, which meant renegotiating the mortgage. Those were such grown up things that Gail never in a million years would have seen coming, but she delighted in them none the less.

The look on Steve's face when she told him had been epic. Gail Peck, owning a house with her girlfriend. He'd warned her that they'd be common law spouses if she didn't watch out and Gail scoffed at the idea. She was never going through another wedding, ever again.

"Earth to Gail, please confirm existence," Holly said, appearing at Gail's elbow.

"Sorry, what?"

"Do you think Sophie would like this?" It was a Wonder Woman tiara. "She was all over my Lynda Carter DVDs, so I thought... No good, right. You're right. No good at all. The tiara is a silly idea, she's too big for this, and the current comics are weird." The babbling was adorable and Holly stopped as she saw Gail's smile.

It worked almost as well as kissing, sometimes. "How much is it?" Gail took the tiara and turned it over. "Are you kidding me? $250! What's it made of? Platinum?"

The booth runner looked disgruntled. "That's hand crafted. I made the mould myself exactly to the specifications of the TV show."

"It's for a nine year old girl!" Holly covered her mouth but did not jump in as Gail yelled. "This is not age-appropriate."

"You want plastic and pleather, you can go to the HeroWear booth. You want real, artesian, craft, this is the booth."

Oh come on, Gail rolled her eyes and snapped, "It's artisan, you moron." Holly's hand touched her arm. "I'm sorry, but his grasp on English is worse than Chris when he's drunk!" Putting the tiara back down, Gail tugged Holly away.

A few booths down, Holly broke into giggles. "Okay, so not that vendor."

"Seriously, Holly, they're ripping you off!"

Eyes sparkling with merriment, Holly explained, "The booth fee is tremendous. So they charge more, but you can never find these things anywhere else!" Gail opened her mouth to comment and Holly kissed her. "How about you haggle for me."

"Pretty sure I've got you already," teased Gail. But she had to allow as how Holly had a point. She could probably get better prices, after all.

Holly put away the last of her swag and smiled. She probably would have spent much more, if she'd been there alone or with Rachel. Once, back in school, they'd brought Lisa and she'd scorned her way through the entire place. Never again. Usually Rachel only went because there were cute boys and she was a huge fan of the Hawkeye Initiative.

Getting Gail to go was easy, if you asked at the right moment. In the last year, Holly had figured out exactly how to get the prickly woman to do her bidding. It wasn't a skill to use lightly, or in non-meaningful moments. When Dov called it a super power, Holly had just smiled, but she knew how true it was. The trade off was going out to a show with Gail the next night, and Holly was just fine with that. She'd taken Gail out to things her girlfriend loved and Gail had taken Holly out to sporting events. It was all a trade off.

Collecting the trash, Holly brought it downstairs where Gail was talking on the phone. "Uh huh. Okay, thanks Chloe." She paused and tilted her head back, looking at the ceiling, "Sorry, you're right. Bite me, Price." Gail's shoulders shook in mirth. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do... Yes, I know, but when has that stopped me? ... Right, night."

"Are you following up on the crime, Detective Peck?"

While they'd been at the convention a few of the artisan stalls had been robbed. They'd been in a room, watching the Doctor Who and Torchwood bloopers with Kai Owen presiding when it happened. They didn't even know about it till after the q&a, when Gail's head snapped up like a hunting dog. She spotted the police and dragged Holly to see what was going on.

That the vendor who tried to sell them an overpriced tiara had been robbed cheered Gail up considerably.

"I was just wondering." Gail put her phone down and pulled the trash from under the sink. "Can we order in for dinner? I'm tired."

"Sure. Thai or Italian?" They haggled over food for a little bit, settling on Thai, and Holly took the garbage out. When she came back in, Gail was making their usual order, and asking if there was anything new they should try.

Holly washed her hands and smiled when Gail slid up behind her for a hug. "Did you have fun nerd?"

"I did." She turned around to push her wet hands through Gail's short hair, getting a wry face from her girlfriend, but no move away. The color was back to Gail's natural red-blonde hue, darker than the platinum she liked but healthier. No doubt Gail would get bored and dye it again sometime soon, but she kept it on the short end now, in deference to Holly's taste.

They kissed briefly. "Good. Lot of nerds out there for a Friday day."

"It's running through Monday, too."

"How horrifying," laughed Gail. "Why did you want to go today and not the weekend?"

Holly sighed and headed to the living room to put her new DVDs on the shelf. "You never would have lasted a weekend there without shooting someone." Holly put the box set of The Guild on the TV shelf. She contemplating moving it to a new shelf for internet television like Orange Is The New Black when she remembered something. "Thank you for not bringing your gun."

Knowing Gail was carrying a weapon most of the time was daunting and not something Holly was comfortable with at the moment. "Well, I'm not on call till tomorrow." That had been Gail's concession. She would only carry a weapon to a date when on call, or if they happened to be in the woods again.

"Speaking of tomorrow, what are you wearing," grinned Holly. That had been the trade for the convention.

Gail fell onto the couch. "Either the black halter dress or the burgundy red one with the neckline you like. Depends on the weather."

Definitely needed a new shelf, Holly decided, and pulled the internet shows off to re-file. "Not the blue one? With the deep V?"

"And the nearly bare back? No, not to the opera," laughed Gail. "But I'll keep that in mind."

Holly pouted and glanced over. "You're going to wear one of those shawls anyway aren't you?"

"Yes." Gail sat up, amused. "But you'll spend the whole night touching my back and neither of us will pay any attention to the show. And I'd actually like to see this one, it's new to me."

It never ceased to amaze Holly that Gail actually liked things like classical music, opera, and the ballet. After all, Gail liked loud music and tequila and all sorts of silly, gritty things. She just also liked fancy things. Holly's initial cultural depth was musicals and sports, and as she introduced Gail to pop culture and science fiction, Gail demonstrated the fun of dressing up for a night listening to music. And it was, indeed, fun.

But Holly did often (always) get distracted with dressy Gail. Be it her dress uniform or her fancy shirts or the incredibly sexy dresses, it always melted Holly's brain a little. She just got so used to Gail in jeans, which was heart stopping enough, that seeing her put in the effort for sexy was going to kill her one day.

"You went to a dirty, dirty place, nerd."

"I'll be in my bunk," sighed Holly, looking back at the video shelves. "I think the best TV in years has been online first."

Gail made a thumping noise, probably flopping back onto the couch. "Still not watching the orange thing. I am not obligated to watch everything just because a lesbian is in it."

The initial argument was that Gail refused to watch comedy about anything police related. That was the reason she'd flat out refused to consider the 21 Jump Street movie.

"Gail," Holly looked over, thoughtful. "Why am I the nerd?"

"Glasses, degrees, technical medical job. A hundred fantasy and make believe books. And I'm pretty sure you and Dov are the only people I know who can read Elvish."

Holly decided not to point out the language was called Quenya. "You have three copies of the Star Wars movies."

"Which is perfectly socially acceptable," giggled Gail.

Rolling her eyes, Holly got up and sat down on Gail's legs on the couch. "Somehow I think you're changing the rules based on whim, Ms. Peck."

There was a squirm as Gail freed her legs and put them on Holly's lap, making herself comfortable. "That's Detective Peck, Dr. Stewart." Holly tickled Gail's foot briefly, but quickly changed to rubbing it.

On her feet nearly all day, even as a detective, a faster way to Gail's heart than her stomach was to massage her feet. Gail's head tilted back, sighing with absolute relaxation. "Thank you for coming with me, honey."

"Welcome," smiled Gail, eyes closed. "How are your feet?"

"Tired." Holly was less used to the walking than Gail was. "Are you going in tomorrow?"

"At least for the morning. Have to talk to Oliver about patrol rotations." Holly nodded. She wasn't entirely sure what Gail did with regards to Oliver and rotations, but she did regularly meet with him about getting people sorted for something.

Holly was burdened with getting back to her old position again and that had been complicated enough. Her boss was still grumpy and distrusting since her 'defection' but had recently given her all her old responsibilities back. No more scut work but she was saddled with a new assistant replacing Rodney. He had finally made it to a full fledged pathologist.

Dinner came promptly and for a change was eaten at the table. The attempt at adultness was spoiled as they ate from the takeout cartons, sharing bites and sampling the new appetizer. It was no good being grown ups all the time, no matter how close you were to 40.

Leaning against the back of the room, beside Gail, Traci smirked, "Are you ever going to dress nicely?"

"These are my nice jeans," replied Gail, sipping her coffee innocently.

"And your chunky boots and leather jacket. You actually make Swarek look like a well dressed detective."

Gail smiled, "You say the sweetest things." At Traci's laugh, Gail added, "Holly picked up something for Leo yesterday. We went to a total nerd thing, but she swears he'll love it."

Neither Gail nor Holly liked working weekends, but sometimes you had to make concessions. Traci was putting in extra time to take off Monday and Gail was paying back time for Friday's adventure. It all worked out. They made plans for a dinner, with the kid, and Traci noted, "You cut your hair again."

"I have a hot date tonight, and she likes it short." Gail had been keeping it somewhere between the pixie cut and the floppy bangs for a year now, and it was always clear that Holly loved the shorter do. Hell, she lost her ability to speak on occasion when Gail came back from the salon, just staring with her mouth open.

"Dinner and a movie?"

"Opera. Got box tickets from Uncle Al."

Traci looked jealous. "Steve could do that too, right?"

"Sure," agreed Gail. "Where do you think he got the court side seats for the Raptors game?"

"I am so proud you actually know what that means," Traci laughed. "I'll talk to him. Meanwhile, why are you slumming it?" With a nod, Traci gestured to the room of uniforms.

The coffee was empty, so Gail tossed out her cup. "Monthly review with Oliver. Gotta make my pool." Since taking over Frank's role as liaison between Major Crimes and the uniforms, Gail had set up a system where she and Oliver checked in and picked the best people to work with for the month. She tried to rotate them through, get more people involved, and it made it easier to grab unis when a crime hit. So far everyone was happy about it.

The conversation paused as Oliver walked in, "Okay boys and girls, it's spring and you know what that means."

Whispering "Assless Chaps" to Traci, Gail looked at the rest of the room. There were new rookies, including someone named Jones working with Chris, and her little Snowflake was with Dov. Nothing really important or new that she had to concern herself with. The robbery at the convention was mentioned, being worked by robbery obviously.

As Oliver wrapped up, he slapped the table. "Okay, assignments are on the board!" Spotting Gail in the back, Oliver beamed.

"Gotta go, my boyfriend misses me."

"Try dressing nicer," teased Traci, affectionately patting Gail on the arm.

Grinning toothily, Gail leered, "Oh I will tonight. You should get Steve to take you someplace fancy."

As she wove her way through the group of uniforms, Gail marveled at the faces she didn't know. "Detective," greeted Oliver.

"Sergeant," replied Gail. Her eyes fell on the pairing of Collins/Moore. "Ouch, what'd Nick do?"

"Asked for him. He thinks he can be a good role model for the kid."

Gail pondered that and realized she wasn't sure who she felt more sorry for, Nick or Gerald. "Good luck," she finally said, feeling ambiguous.

"When I had Epstein and Moore, Duncan called them the Double Ds."

They walked to Oliver's office, talking of little more than Oliver's daughters. Gail had been the one to teach Izzy to drive, much to Oliver's relief and concern, and while the girl had passed with flying colors, she was begging to let Aunt Gail take her on the police course. While Gail thought it was fine, considering she'd memorized it at fourteen, Oliver was more of a stick in the mud.

Ensconced in his office, Oliver sighed and fell into his chair. "I love my girls, but they are making me old, Gail."

"You have three, they would."

"You and Holly should have one."

God, Gail looked heavenward. "Drop it, Oliver." The situation was still complicated. Holly was slowly getting to a point where she wasn't opposed to the idea of children, but she still balked. For now, if it came down to Holly or children, Gail realized she was okay with being children-adjacent. She regularly borrowed Leo and Sophie, or any of the others, when she needed kid time. It worked out well. Pretty soon, McSwarek was going to give up and churn out a couple, or maybe even Dov and Chloe. Gail feared for the Dork Children.

Oliver held his hands up. "Okay, okay, business time. We have some new kids. The rookies from before are all real cops now."

"I saw Chris had a new one. Jones."

"Oh you don't want her. Take the worst of Dov and you and Chris combined." When Gail gave him a skeptical look, Oliver grew serious. "Know-it-all super-cop wannabe. Oh and toss in Andy's absolute earnestness. She's Noelle's rookie, and thinks I'm punishing her for Frank leaving." Oliver grimaced.

Trying not to smile, Gail asked "That totally would've been my rookie, huh?" At the nod, she did grin, "Look, the problem is I can't keep picking people from my rookie class. We are the best, but it's not fair."

"What about Nick? He's not from your class and getting Nicklepeck back in action-"

"Jesus, Oliver, I nearly married him."

"Right!" He beamed as if that meant it would be okay. Gail glared and he sighed, "Duncan? He did okay on that college case."

"Maybe. If I can get someone to sit on him." She liked the kid, now that he had decided to be a real cop and not just fill in space. They went over the rest of the list of people and came up with a handful that Gail would be able to use.

A day home alone was relaxing. She called Gail a force of nature, but the comparison of her girlfriend to the storm which shared a similar name was very apropos. Getting to have one day, alone, in the quiet of the house, was like a spa day. Quiet, calm, and with space to read a book Gail might tease her about, Holly stretched out on the deck chairs to enjoy her day.

The damned thing was that, by noon, she was dead bored. This was clearly Gail's fault, having thrown her life topsy turvy. Not to say they didn't have quiet days at home together, but generally there was something going on besides just work. Considering starting a new article, Holly put the book down and wondered what she could write about that was new.

It was almost a relief when her phone rang, and Holly grinned when she saw the caller ID, "Hi, Mom!"

"Hi, sweetie," replied her mother, Lily. "How's are you? Unthawed yet?"

The winter had been exceptionally long and cold. "I'm actually sitting outside."

"In fleece, I presume." Once Gail had made the fleece joke to Holly's mother, the Stewart Matron had used it mercilessly.

Holly looked at the fleece deck shoes Gail had bought her for Christmas and said nothing about it. "Thank you for the new comforter," she said instead.

"How's your little blanket thief?"

"Good, she'd say hi, but she's still at work. Actually…" Holly eyed the time, "She should be home any minute."

Lily clucked her tongue, "Why is she the only one working on a weekend?"

"We're going out tonight." Not that she hadn't done a little work, but that was hardly the point. "Gail's taking me to the opera."

There was a pause while her mother processed that. "You're missing ToSCon?" Her mother knew her very well. "For the opera?"

Smiling, Holly pulled a knee up to hug. "We went yesterday. I found that watch you wanted for Dad."

Her mother sounded elated, "The Master's? Not the Doctor's? Really classic?"

"No batteries, no lightups. All 100% hand-made, silver. It's gorgeous, Mom." Gail had been aghast at the price, but once the artisan explained that it really was silver with gold gears, she'd clammed up and been impressed. "Do you want me to mail it to your office?"

"I suppose now's a good time to tell you we'll be in town next week," Lily mused.

"Oh. That would work too. Both of you?" Holly's father rarely left Vancouver once they'd moved. He hated travel.

Lily made a 'hmm' sound. "He's a last second speaker at University of Toronto."

"How did they talk him in to that?" Holly couldn't help but laugh.

"Tenure." That would do it, Holly had to agree. "He's speaking a week from Tuesday, so we thought we'd come in early, see you two. He hasn't met Gail, after all. Maybe we could all have a nice dinner? Both families?"

Holly winced. "Her brother might be free," she temporized.

"Holly, you've been living together for almost a year. I think it's fine to meet her parents."

"They're really busy, Mom. I'll ask her, but I really doubt it."

This did not please Lily Stewart, who believed a parent should be involved in her children's lives. "Have you met them?"

How the hell was Holly going to get around that? "Well. Yes, but we live in the same city, Mom."

That worked well enough and Holly wrote down the details of her parents' upcoming visit, hoping Gail would enjoy meeting her father.

Chapter Text

The phone in her purse vibrated and Gail scowled. It was only the first half of the show and she was enjoying both the show and being out with her girlfriend. It was a damn sight better than the stupid convention, she felt. But technically she was on call so she eased her phone out of the purse pocket.

Holly leaned in, "What is it?"

"Phone," sighed Gail and she peeked at the face of her phone. The name 'Simmons' was on her screen. Shit. After a few months flying solo, being assigned to whomever needed a sidekick, Butler finally assigned her to a partner. It was a strange pairing, as John Simmons had been a detective for years, since longer than Gail had been a police officer at all. But he was brand new to both Fifteen and the Major Crimes unit so Butler felt the balance of experience would work well.

She didn't dislike Simmons, but it wasn't quite as fun as working with Oliver, or even Dov. He had a far calmer sense of humor than Gail, for one. He was able to take a hit, when she'd slung some of her better insults at him he'd returned in kind. Butler found that odd, as most of Simmons' other partners had complained about him being a bit of a cold fish. Like or dislike, she didn't want to have to work right now.

Poking her ribs, Holly hissed, "Go answer it."

It was rude, but Gail slipped out as quietly as possible. Once she was in the hallway, she dialed John back. "Did I interrupt anything fun?"

"I'm out, John," she sighed. "What's wrong?"

"Death at a hotel convention. It might make the front page, so it's us."

Wonderful, Gail groaned. There went her night. "Where are you?"

"Just leaving the house, Butler told me to call you. You?"

Gail looked up at the beautiful ceiling, "At the opera."

"The Opera House? Who's playing?"

"Blackbeard and Erwartung." There was silence on the phone. "The actual opera, Simmons. Pick me up at the Four Seasons Center, will you?"

"I'm ruining date night. You sure you want me to get you? I can fly solo."

"Butler has a hard enough time with how we do things already, John," laughed Gail, forcing the levity where she didn't really feel it.

His car started up in the background, "Need a gun?"

"Nah, I'll just use yours. I shoot better anyway." Gail hung up and chewed her lip, trying to think of the right way to explain this to Holly. And they had fantastic box seats too. She sighed and slipped back in.

Holly looked up and tilted her head slightly. "You have to go?" Her voice was low enough that the other couples in the box didn't stare much.

Nodding, Gail pressed her lips to Holly's cheek. "Crime calls. Stay and watch." Holly reached up and touched Gail's chin, drawing her in for a proper kiss. Pressing the car keys into Holly's hand, Gail fixed her shawl over her shoulders and went to wait for John out front.

"Damn, Peck," laughed her partner as he pulled up. "You clean up good."

"Bite me, Simmons." She buckled in.

"You really have a gun in that outfit?"

"Purse." She pulled out her badge, hanging it around her neck. Her parents always told her to never go out without being prepared to be called in, and Steve had told her stories about dates interrupted by work. He was in a suit at least when that happened. Gail could tell already that her feet were going to be screaming when she got home. Next time she was loading the car with a change of clothes.

They parked with the police officers and headed in. Immediately, two people in strange flightsuits with octagonal decals, stopped right in front of them and said, apropos of nothing, "Awesome costume!" to Gail. "You're totally Six! Just need longer hair!"

"I'm a ten, not that it's any of your business," snapped Gail, feeling her mood go from sour to worse.

Their reply did not help. "There's no such thing as ten," said the woman, a fake cigar clamped between her teeth. Because that was sexy and phallic.

"Yeah," said the fellow next to her. "There's the seven and the final five, but there's no ten." Then he looked Gail's partner up and down. "Who are you supposed to be? Zak?"

Before Simmons could make a comment, Gail pulled out her cop voice, "We're both detectives. Toronto police." On cue, they held up their badges. "It's not a toy. Where's the Wellington Room?" demanded Gail.

Both flyboys looked stunned. "Wow. I thought it was a rumor... Uh, straight down this aisle, turn right at the Wonder Woman booth."

Letting the losers go, Gail sighed. John smirked, "It's your own fault for wearing the dress."

"Some of us have lives outside of work, John." She rubbed her arms, wishing she'd had a warmer shawl. She'd left her coat in the car and, of course, Holly had the car, having not been called in to pick up the body. "Come on, Wonder Woman's halfway down."

With a surprised look, John followed her. "And how do you know that?"

"I was here on Friday." Not that she was much for sharing her personal life with her new partner, Steve reminded her that a connection between partners could mean life or death. Gail chose not to remind her brother that one of his partners had been fired.

"Oh. Holly, huh?"

"That's Dr. Stewart to you," corrected Gail. "The nerd fest is her thing. I can only spot Trekkies and Jedis." Gail shifted her purse to her shoulder. "You know… there was a robbery here this on Friday," she remarked, passing by a booth she remembered as having captured Holly's interest with the overpriced tiara.

"Think it's related?" That was one thing Gail truly appreciated of John, he trusted her intuition and observations.

"No idea," admitted Gail.

Even though it was nearly ten at night, the convention was going strong. They passed a hastily written sign on a door, saying that various events have been moved around, and a group of robed people stood by the sign, complaining. As they reached the Wonder Woman booth, they almost ran into a man dressed in Jedi robes, who was hustling down to get somewhere.

Frustrated, he shouted, "These aren't the droids your looking for! Move along!" Everyone around him laughed and suddenly made a path for him to get wherever he was going.

Finally, for Gail's sanity, they reached the Wellington Room. The sign, reading 'Reenactment Fight Scenes - ToSCon Exclusive!', was marred by the big red 'canceled' notice. Outside the door, more people, now dressed as Trekkies, Gail was pleased to note, were complaining about how they knew it wasn't going to happen. Beside them were two similarly dressed men in pointy ears with blue shirts, arguing as to which Spock was better, the 'ToS' one or the 'Reboot' one. The argument got heated when one shouted, "Zachary Quinto can suck it!"

"I think we should get inside," muttered John, opening the door for Gail.

"Are you sure? There might be another homicide out here."

"We'll risk it."

It was a relief to step inside the Wellington Room, Gail felt, as it was filled with her people. Police officers, crime scene techs, and a dead body. "Lookin' good, Peck," announced Salvador. "Is that a new detective thing? Dressing up for crime scenes?"

"That's more than I can say for this guy," Gail remarked, ignoring the jibe and walking to where Rodney was poised by the dead man. "Bright red onesie? Did he lose a bet?"

Lying on the floor, dead as a doornail, was fit, powerful looking man, clean shaven, with longish black hair swept back into a tight ponytail. He looked like an MMA fighter, except for the fact he was on his back with a knife sticking out of his gut. The clothes were, to Gail, the weirdest part. A jumpsuit with a belt and gold accents wasn't cool by anyone's book.

"That's a lot of blood," John commented, carefully stepping around it. "And what the hell kind of knife is that?" It looked familiar, but Gail couldn't place it.

A very disgusted sigh came from a blue-skinned guy wearing a staff badge, with small blue … horns. "It's a Klingon prop knife. And it's not even the right one!"

Multiple heads swiveled to look at the man. "I'm sorry, what?" asked John, sticking his pinky in his ear, as if that would cause the sentences to make more sense. Gail's eyes widened and she started to think that perhaps the robbery was related. Who had been the victims again?

The blue guy had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry, but the knife's from the movie, The Undiscovered Country, which was just terrible." Pointing at the dead man, he continued, "He's from the original TV series, and while the first set of movies were the same generation, it's gauche to movie-cross with the original series because of the Klingon Ridge effect."

Gail did a double take at the man and the memories clicked into place. "Andorian?" Shit, she looked at the jump suit. "I really only watched DS9," she muttered. Why had she watched it at all? Oh, right. Insomnia. "But that makes this guy Khan." She caught a look from Rodney and rolled her eyes at the man.

John frowned, "No he's not. I saw that movie, Khan's played by that Sherlock guy. Benedict Cummerbund."

"Cumberbatch," corrected Gail, having been subjected to the movies with Holly, as well as the TV show. In so far as police related shows went, it wasn't as horrible as most.

Rodney piped in, "Original series Khan. Kahn Noonian Singh."

"Todd Noonian Mitchell," added the Andorian. "He's a professional Khan impersonator. Part time. Lives in Toronto. He goes to all the conventions on the Eastern Seaboard, including DragonCon, and yes, he plays Khan Noonian Singh."

Squatting by the body, Rodney now joined in with his own opinions. "Khan's the most famous Star Trek villain of all time, from the best movie, hands down. It's too bad that Cumberbatch isn't going to be back in the next movie."

To this, the Andorian disagreed. "No way, he doesn't look like the embodiment of human physical perfection. Mental, I'll give you, but he looks like a stiff wind would blow him away."

"Did you even see him in that fight with Quinto?" countered Rodney, clearly the same level of nerd as Holly. Gail wondered if it was a requirement for the lab, and made a note to ask Holly later.

"So he can hold his own against a half-Vulcan, big whoop." The staffer paused and looked around. "Don't let the Spock Factions hear you, by the way. If I was going to pick a murder at the con, I'd have said one of them. Old versus new versus prime? Man, it's worse than listening to people complain about Jar-Jar!"

"At least Quinto's Spock is interesting. Nobody likes Jar-Jar," pointed out Rodney.

Gail pinched the bridge of her nose. "Hey, Trekkies? You can geek out later. Are you telling me you can make a living playing this guy?"

The Andorian nodded so hard, his horn thingies bobbled. "He could. He was really amazing. But that's not all he does. He was also a freelance web designer. I printed up all our stuff on him."

The papers were handed over to John, who flipped through them. "Wife's in the hotel upstairs?"

"Yes," replied the staffer. "The room came with the gig, so, I guess they wanted a weekend away from the kids. No one's told her yet."

Gail turned to Officer Andrews, "Go up and watch her door."

John folded the papers and put them in his suit pocket, "Who was the last person to see him alive?"

"His fight partner, Kirk."

"Are you kidding me?" asked Gail, who knew this one. "James Kirk is the name of the character who's Khan's mortal enemy."

The Andorian sighed, "That's coincidence. Todd changed his name about seven years ago. Kirk Hale was born Kirk. And yes, he plays Kirk, but he also does other roles."

Looking between them, John shook his head. "And where's Kirk Hale?"

"Sitting with the security guard over there." He pointed to the far end of the room, where a haggard man in jeans looked despondent.

They walked across the room and John leaned in. "What do you think? Crier?"

"Drama queen," replied Gail thoughtfully.

She was right. It took two questions before he burst like a balloon.

"We rehearsed last night, it was the first time we could get the room to do a rehearsal in the space, which is always really tricky." Kirk looked frustrated and went on without prompting, "We've been working on this new fight sequence for months, it's a perfect reenactment of the scene from 'Space Seed.' We were going to be showing it for the first time today at one, so after we rehearsed, I went to bed to rest up. Khan, I mean Todd, he stuck around to make notes where we were going to put our set props. Boxes, you know, that sort of thing." Kirk paused and looked away. Then he said in a low, stilted voice, "Those damned Klingon bastards. First they killed my son, now they stole Khan from me! KHAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

As the man shook his fists at the sky, John looked concernedly at Gail. She had seen the movies at least, and once reminded of the plot, the entire story rushed back into her brain. "In the third movie, it's Khan's actions that caused Kirk's son, Marcus, to be on the planet Genesis, which is where the Klingons killed him."

"Movie? You mean his son's not dead?" blinked John. "How the hell do you know this, Peck?"

"I saw the movie," she sighed. She'd watched a lot of terrible movies on nights when she couldn't sleep, and living with Dov, she'd made it through his entire Star Trek collection. "So none of that was real?"

The staff alien shook his head. "Not— No, Kirk's not even married, not that it stopped the real Kirk. I mean, he gets really into his role and forgets."

Kirk Hale had the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry. I really loved Todd, he was my best friend. I don't know any way to… express what I'm feeling except as Kirk."

Gail counted to ten before she replied. "Salvador, you get statements down here. We're going up to talk to the wife. And call for backup. You're going to need it to round up all the Klingons."

Leaving the policemen to do their work, and being pleased she didn't have to handle the hordes, Gail and John took the elevator up the hotel itself. "Do they always have these things in hotels?"

"I'd have to ask Holly," admitted Gail. "I've never been to one before."

"How come you get to call her Holly?"

Gail eyed John, "At work she's Dr. Stewart, even to me. You know that." He smirked. "What?"

"I'm just saying if I worked with my wife, I'd call her by her name."

"If you worked with your wife, you'd be an actor," quipped Gail. Her partner was, currently, single. There had been a string of unsuccessful first dates before he'd come to Fifteen, and when their coworkers asked about setting him up, he declined. "Comedy." The elevator door opened, "And besides, she's not my wife."

"How long have you two been living together anyway?"

Gail grimaced. "Can we not have private life conversations at crime scenes?"

John held up his hands. Frankly, Gail had no interest in another wedding. They were to happy and perky. Not Gail's thing at all and thankfully not really Holly's either. "Sorry."

"Its fine, whatever," muttered Gail. "Eight months. I moved in last April."

Her partner did a double take. "Oh." The doors dinged open and he held the button for her.

Gail sighed. "Come on, let's just get this over with."

They relieved Andrews at the door, telling him about the incoming backup and to go help poor Salvador. John rapped on the door. No answer. He knocked again, louder, "Becky Mitchell?"

There was a sound from inside. "Jesus, can't someone sleep? Todd's not here."

John sighed and said firmly, in a tone that would carry without being too loud, "Mrs. Mitchell, it's the police. We need to speak with you."

The door opened to a rather pregnant woman, "What?" Her eyes were wide.

"I'm Detective Peck, this is Detective Simmons. May we come in?" Gail took the role of gentler cop in this moment, not needing to ask John which part was hers. That much, working with him, went easily.

Becky Mitchell nodded and let them into the small room. It had a chair, which Gail gestured for Becky to sit in. "What happened to Todd?" Her voice was thin.

Sharing a glance at John, Gail sat at the edge of the bed. "When did you last see your husband?"

"Six or seven… No, six. I was watching Entertainment Tonight." She wiped her face, seeming to know exactly what having two detectives come to your hotel room in the middle of the night meant. Gail studied her quickly and found her eyes drawn to the dots on the neck. The only Star Trek series she'd watched much of was DS9, but she knew those dots indicated a Trill. The woman had fucking Trill marks in henna on her neck. At least she hoped it was henna. If those were tattoos, the world was an evil place.

"Mrs. Mitchell, your husband was found dead, earlier tonight, in one of the meeting rooms."

The woman's eyes filled with tears and she nodded. "How?"

"He was stabbed. By a Klingon knife. Do you recognize it?" Gail held out her phone and was bemused to see Becky's distaste. The knife, Becky pointed out, was the wrong era. "That's not the knife used in the fight?"

"The fight? You mean with Kirk? No, there's no knife at all. It's just Khan and Kirk in the engine room." She started to cry a little. "They worked so hard on that scene. When Todd came up with it, Kirk was so happy. They're best friends." John went to the bathroom and returned with a box of tissues for her.

Gail hesitated, "I'm sorry, but it sounds a little…"

With a sad laugh, Becky nodded and blew her nose. "Kirk and Khan, I know. Everyone laughs. Kirk lives with us, though. He bought half the townhouse when the market crashed, but we knew him through an acting class."

The story matched much of what Kirk had told them, though Becky added on that he was the godfather to the children. Gail sighed, "Mrs. Mitchell, can you think of anyone here who might want to kill your husband?"

"No, no one. I don't know of anyone at all."

Well that was it for now. John gently asked, "Is there anyone we can call for you?"

"No. I'll call my parents. The children are with them." She wiped her face and gave the name of her children unasked for, Montgomery Scott "Scotty" Mitchell and JoAnne Uhura Mitchell. "The baby was going to be James Tiberius Mitchell or Leonard McCoy Mitchell. James for Kirk, or Leonard for Todd's father. And Bones."

"What if it was a girl?" wondered John, clearly finding the whole thing hilarious.

"Lawaxana Chapel Mitchell. After both of Majel Barett's most famous characters. I was thinking of 'Lawaxana Number Two' but that's just silly."

The detectives nodded in agreement, but as they left the room, shared a look. "Peck, if you and Dr. Stewart have kids, don't let her name them."

"Clearly not safe," agreed Gail, smiling as she thought of her nerdy girlfriend who probably spoke Klingon. Where Gail enjoyed nerdy things, Holly loved them passionately. Gail's phone beeped and she eyed the text from Chris.

"What the hell does 'I have four eggless' mean?" John asked, peering over her shoulder.

"I think he has some witnesses," Gail decided, and called Chris. "Hey, what've you got?"

"Gail! I mean Detective Peck. Hi, we talked to the security guards who found the body."

"We who, Chris?"

"Oh, sorry. Me and Andy. She's getting the Kingons."

"Klingons," corrected Gail. "And who, exactly, do you have? Autocorrect thinks it's four eggless."

Chris sounded startled, "I didn't know how to… Hang on, what are you guys called?" He paused and repeated, "Ferengi. And I have two. They were bugging the security guards and staff about the signs being wrong. The guard walked in and found the body. Do you want to talk to them or should I just take their statement?"

Given how poorly Chris was doing with the names, Gail decided it would be better if she and John talked to them. "No, get Andrews to watch them and go help Andy with the Klingons. She'll need it."

When they got downstairs, the Ferengi were horribly bouncy. One was overly excited to help them, which promoted them to copy his ID information. "The sign said 'Room off limits till 9AM' which didn't make any sense, since the Klingon Opera demonstration was supposed to be there at 8:00 AM. Which is an ungodly hour for Klingon opera, if you ask me."

His friend, also a Ferengi, joked, "There's a good time for Klingon Opera?"

The first Ferengi rolled his eyes. "Anyway! We noticed the font was wrong. It was Verdana, but all the other signs are Trebuchet MS. They're not even that similar! So I finally got that guy to go look and I saw Khan, dead, over his shoulder! Can you believe that? I mean, it's Khaaaaan!" He even did them all the disservice of trying, and failing, to imitate the Kirk intonation. "Who's bad-ass enough to kill Khan?"

Not having an answer for that, John took that down quickly. He knew shorthand, and Gail cheerfully let him do the writing while she checked in with Andy. They had found all the Klingons, even some who were asleep. Andy even sent a photo of Chris being flirted with by a group of women in full regalia.

"We better go back and help." She showed John the photo and he snorted a laugh. "After I send this to everyone I know..."

"Oliver's gonna love it."

Back at the Franklin Room, Andy and Chris had brought in all the Klingons they could find. Most were still in some degree of costume. "You want this, John?"

He nodded and cleared his throat. "Hello, I'm Detective Simmons, this is Detective Peck. We're looking for someone who's lost a knife -" As soon as he said that, John found himself cut off by growling and hissing Klingons.

"It is a matter of honor!" shouted one. "No Klingon would lose a knife!"

There was no one on the planet who would believe this conversation, thought Gail, rolling her eyes. Maybe Holly. John pushed on, "Maybe it was stolen."

Another Klingon, this one female (or so Gail presumed, it didn't have a mustache) asked, "Is this about Khan?"

Well that was out of the box. "Yes," said Gail. "He was stabbed with a Klingon style knife. It's a replica of the knives used in 'The Undiscovered Country.' So if you can check your gear, that'd help."

There was a heavy silence as everyone stared at Gail. Finally one small Klingon stated, "Our honor demands it, we must clear our names. tlhIngan maH! My fellow Klingons, inspect your weapons."

That seemed to be the magic cue, and all the Klingons inspected their weapons. None were missing anything. Of course. The small Klingon walked up to Gail and John as the others kept checking, "You know, we don't actually carry sharp weapons."

Both detectives nodded. "I wouldn't think so," Gail sighed, holding back a yawn. "Still, anything with enough force, so."

"Did you check out all the vendors? Some of them sell replicas, but I don't think they're edged. You can order them special, though. I've got a functional bat'leth."

Gail half listened as the man droned on and on about his collection, and glanced down the showroom floors. There were hundreds of vendors, and she was going to have to check all of them. No. Wait. She slowly turned to Andy and Chris and felt a wicked smile cross her face. John caught the look and shared it.

When CSU came in to swab all the weapons on the Klingons, John touched Andy on the arm and explained the situation. It was delightful to watch Chris and Andy's faces fall, as they saw their night fly away on brokenhearted wings.

Chapter Text

The sound of the shower turning off was what woke her up. Holly had slept lightly anyway, keeping an ear tuned for a text from Gail, though that hadn't come since near 11pm when Gail sent her a photo of Chris surrounded by Klingon women and a note saying it would be a long night. Forgoing her glasses, Holly brought the phone on her nightstand close to her face and squinted at the time. It was only 2am, which wasn't that bad, and there was a text from half an hour ago saying Gail was on her way home.

Whoops. Maybe she had been sleeping harder than she thought. Holly turned a light on and sat up, hugging her knees and looking at the doorway until Gail came in, wearing only a towel. Her hair stuck up adorably, having only been towel dried, and Gail looked surprised to see Holly awake.

"Shit, I'm sorry."

It was endearing, the way she hated imposing on Holly's sleep schedule. "It's okay, I planned to be up late anyway."

Gail smirked and sat on Holly's side of the bed, kissing her warmly. "And I'm ruining another fancy date night with a stabbing."

"If this becomes our 'thing' we're going to have to rethink date night," teased Holly, running her fingers through Gail's hair to smooth it down a little. "You okay?"

Nodding, Gail leaned in again, kissing the side of Holly's neck. "Just promise me you won't name any hypothetical children 'Lawaxana' or 'Cosima.' Okay?"

Holly blinked, "That's oddly specific."

"It's been a very odd day." She rested her head on Holly's shoulder. "I had to interview Klingons and Ferengi."

"You went back to the con?" Holly felt hurt. She had wanted to see the con at night. Two years ago, she'd spent the night at the hotel.

"Oh my god, Stewart," laughed Gail. "Focus!"

"I am! The con is so fun at night," pouted Holly. "Lucky."

Gail sighed and brushed her cheek against Holly's, her lips ghosting a kiss by Holly's ear. "Can I make up for ditching you?" The whisper tickled Holly's ear, sending shivers down her spine. Clearly Gail had something other than talking about the con on her mind.

It was hard to play coy, but Holly tried, "I don't know. You seem to have some firm ideas about the names of our future progeny." But further thoughts along the topic were derailed when Gail loosened the towel.

At least the evening wasn't a total loss, decided Holly, pulling the sheet back and dragging Gail onto the bed properly. The towel proved less problematic than Gail's wrap things, though it did get caught between them for a short while. Gail more than made up for abandoning Holly at the opera.

Come the morning, which was far too early for Holly's tastes (up at 7 on Sunday was even against Gail's religion), Gail explained the nature of the case over breakfast, and Holly was agog. "I think your lab will kill me when they get all the knives in, though," Gail mused, making another espresso.

"How many Klingons?"

"Twenty something," shrugged Gail. "Refill?"

"Please." Cups were exchanged and Holly smiled fondly as Gail gave her the first cup. "What's the collective noun for a band of Klingons, I wonder."

Making her own coffee, Gail offered, "A pain in the ass."

The term 'army' came to mind and Holly would have to look it up later. "Did Rodney stay?"

"He went back with the body." Gail yawned deeply. "I'm going to have to go back today."

"Think you can solve it in a day?"

"Real glad I don't have to," smiled Gail. "Never thought I'd be glad for two more days of this crap."

Holly toyed with her cup. "Is now a good or a bad time to tell you my parents are coming over?"

Gail startled, "Now? Holly, your parents live in Vancouver!"

"No, next week," grinned Holly. "Dad has to do a thing, so they thought they'd come early and meet you… your parents…"

The wince was predicted. "I told you to just tell them if they asked."

Poking her napkin, Holly sighed. "I really don't want to, honey. They're your parents." Gail shot her a look and Holly went with her other suggestion, "Steve and Traci?"

"That's not a bad idea, actually," mused Gail. "I'll ask when they're free. Though I have a real case now, so …"

"A real case with a fantasy cast. I know. They'll understand." Early in Holly's career, she'd had to break plans with her family to get work done. Her parents were both dedicated workaholics, so they understood that kind of passion.

Gail sighed but nodded. "Okay. I trust you, baby." She kissed Holly's cheek and finished her coffee. When her phone rang, Gail did not look surprised but took the call upstairs. Holly heard the name 'Simmons' and smiled.

She'd met John outside of work twice. The first time was at the Penny, when Gail made him meet her friends and the locals to Fifteen. John had been stuck across town for the last four years, so Holly somewhat knew him. At least, she knew him as well as she knew any other detective. The second time, Gail actually invited him out for a non-work dinner with her and Holly.

In their time together, Holly had gotten used to Gail not bringing people over or really going out just to hang out with her co-workers unless it was for drinks at the Penny. Besides just being generally misanthropic, Gail explained she liked to keep Holly to herself, something private and cherished. But since John was going to be a large part of Gail's life, her work-husband as Dov called it, it seemed important to forge some sort of kinship. John was nice enough, far more experienced than Gail when it came to being a detective. But there was something lacking about his drive which balanced out Gail's newfound passion for work.

He'd been polite and friendly, but Holly didn't really have much of a bead on him besides him being pretty attractive as men went. Gail certainly tolerated him and said he wasn't as awesome as working with Oliver, but he'd do. She tended to describe him as less annoying than Steve, with less annoying of a sense of humor, but she was working on that. Once or twice Holly had caught Gail giving him her bitchiest mood and he hadn't run off, so that was alright.

Holly cleaned up the kitchen and startled when her own phone rang. Why was Rodney calling at this hour? Technically she was the emergency night shift supervisor, a veritable punishment for quitting, but the lab tried not to call her often. Also it was seven in the morning. "Everything okay?"

"Your girlfriend is evil," he growled, sounding pissed. That was new. Rodney never got mad, even when Gail did her best to make him uncomfortable.

Of course Rodney had recently started being the lead on the night shift, which meant he was likely the one stuck with Gail. Oh dear. "How bad is it?"

"Forty-seven Klingon knives! And we had to get samples of all the blades. Do you know that all those stupid knives have three blades? And the stupid Mayor's lighting a fire because his niece was there."

Holly sighed. "Let me guess, they want me to do the autopsy?"

"I'd be mad," grumbled Rodney. "I can handle the lab work, but I can't... I'm in over my head, Holly."

She smiled, "It's okay, Rodney, that's why you ask for help. What kind of time table am I working with?" She knew he'd understand the heart of the question. Come in now, or come in tomorrow.

"It'll keep for a day. I may actually see the end of the stupid knives by then."

Promising to take over the body on Monday, Holly pondered the amusing fact that she and Gail were now working on the same case. Maybe they could finish it before her parents arrived.

One thing Gail hated was losing her Sundays. Sunday was a lazy day, with no running and no pressure, where she could curl up with Holly and read, or watch something stupid on TV, or sleep. Or not sleep. Sometimes Gail dreamed of having a house with a fireplace and spending lazy winter Sundays on a fur rug in front of the fire with Holly's head in her lap, reading. Or not reading.

What Sunday was not for, was getting up early and then going with John to the stupid convention again. And yet that was precisely where she was going.

This time she was driving, and had just downloaded Khan's record to her iPad before picking up her partner, so he read the highlights for them as she drove. "Two arrests, assault and battery," mused John. "Mitchell was a bad, bad, boy."

"Anything juicy? Like he punched the son of a marine?"

"No, just stupid college shit, it looks like. He got in a bar fight and crippled a guy's hand, slamming it in a car door."

That didn't sound like just college shit. "Did you even go to college, Simmons?"

"Does two weeks count?" He didn't wait for Gail to diss him and asked, "You mean that's not normal?"

"Only on TV," Gail shook her head. "How much time did he serve?"

"Nada," replied John. "Judge sent him to anger management. The kid he crippled didn't want to press charges, and kept trying to back out."

"That sounds juicy."

"He started the fight, it looks like. People are messed up, Peck." They alternated calling each other by their family and given names based on whims, and neither one minded it. One more of the reasons she liked Simmons.

"How'd he end up acting?"

"Therapy!" John laughed. "His anger management therapist told him to get out his demons fighting on stage, so he became a professional stage fighter."

Gail frowned. Okay. That was weird. "Creepy." Clearly they were going to have double check on that therapist later.

Her partner agreed and they headed into the convention. Gail felt much better being in her normal street clothes. True, she was in boots, jeans and a nice jacket, but she felt armored. Also her gun was on her hip this time, which was way better. She had felt horribly under-dressed last night, which admittedly had been the point of the outfit. It was easy enough for Holly to unzip without wanting to curse, and slinky enough to distract her.

Two women getting dressed was still as much fun as a man and a woman.

Dov and Nick were on site, canvassing the crowd, and collecting people that Gail and John would probably want to talk to. "I have a list of people who signed up for the show," explained Dov, holding it out to Gail with a grin.

"It's a free show," she replied, surprised.

"They like to try and get good seats, so they wait to sign up all day. Apparently these people waited in line all day Friday. Some of 'em are working here."

The patience of nerds was astounding. "Split the list?" She held it out to John who tore it in half and took the non-vendors. "Dov, you're with me."

"Come on, soldier boy, let's go talk to some geeks." John clapped his shoulder and they started off to hunt down the people who were simply attendees. He was much better at that sort of thing, finding random people. It was a gift that had made him insanely valuable to missing persons for the last six years.

Studying the list, Gail sighed. "We need a map." Dov whipped a piece of paper out and grinned, all the booths marked off with numbers that matched the list. God bless that precious, geeky, boy.

After five hours, they had a whole lot of confusion and went back to the station to draw out their thoughts on a white board. John, with better handwriting, stood up front while Gail slouched in her desk chair, both leaving Dov and Nick to their own devices back on the main floor. The uniformed boys were less than used to being on the third floor, and it showed.

"Time line," Gail started, propping her feet on her desk and reading off her iPad. "Six PM, Todd Mitchell leaves the room to do a final dress rehearsal on site with Kirk Hale. Becky Mitchell, didn't hear back from him by seven and went to sleep." She paused so John could scribble that down. "Kirk Hale is seen on the elevators at 5:45, headed down to the floor for that rehearsal. Kirk is seen again on the elevators at 7:23, alone. About nine PM, the Ferengi notice the sign, security guard goes in, calls us."

John capped his pen. "Did we get any information on the sign?"

"Printed in the hotel's business suite," Gail noted. "Dov checked the logs and it was printed at 8:39. Nothing on the cameras, which are just for show." The number of places using fake cameras was annoying, but this hotel was not particularly high priced. "Probably printed after the murder," mused Gail. "75 minutes to kill someone. And we don't know why."

"My interviews were a bust," John sighed. He started to write down reasons why anyone might kill Todd Mitchell. Other than the record, he was insanely clean cut. No affairs, no arguments. They worst anyone had to say was that he was too campy when he played Khan. Of course other people said that's what made him awesome. "Did you get anything good?"

"Just one. He had a crew. Some of them came in for the show, too."

"A crew?" John looked surprised.

"Yeah, in the series, Khan and his whole crew are woken up. So these guys play some of the crew. They're all in town till Wednesday, so I thought we could talk to them after the autopsy tomorrow. Maybe we'll know what we're looking for."

"When's the autopsy?"

Gail pulled her phone out to double check. "8am."

Nodding, John stretched. "I say we call it a night, meet up at the lab at 7:30?"

It was already eight at night and Gail abruptly was aware of her stomach gnawing on her spine, "Sounds good. Maybe I'll get some sleep."

John smirked. "Really? Stayed up all night?"

Flipping off her partner, Gail shoved her iPad and laptop into a bag and headed home. At least she could get a meal and some sleep with her girlfriend.

When Holly left the house at five AM, Gail was so soundly asleep that not even the accidental drop and clatter of Holly's laptop made her twitch. It was so rare for Gail to sleep that hard, Holly made extra certain to be quieter the rest of her morning, only taking time to ensure Gail's alarm was set for half past six. An hour was enough time for the detective to get ready for work, and Holly gently kissed her girlfriend's cheek before heading in to the lab. Let her have the next 90 minutes to sleep and rest, she'd need it.

The lab was the opposite of her peaceful home. The techs were in an uproar, having rushed as many samples as possible, by bumping the Klingon knives to the front of the queue. They'd done a wonderful job in triage, sorting the knifes with no blood traces from the ones with any trace, but the number was daunting.

As Gail would say, stupid Klingons.

"Who's got my murder weapon?" Holly started from there, pulling her lab coat on and tying her hair back.

One of the techs held up the bag. "It's not even sharp," he announced with disdain.

Holly took the bag and blinked. "So you have the report?"

"In your inbox ten minutes ago, Dr. Stewart. So far none of the samples have come up positive to his blood type."

Eying the mountain of knives, Holly made a decision that Rodney should have. "Put that on hold." The lab looked at her like she was a goddess. "We have the murder weapon, there's no point in looking for more. I need someone to run the tox on Mr. Mitchell, and trace on his clothes. Did they bring in samples of Klingon clothes?"

One of the techs nodded, "Yes, they all used the same kind of fibers. Looks like most of the local Klingons use the same costumers and fabric. I guess it's a consistency thing."

"Check for makeup transfer. And adhesive. Those ridges have to stick on somehow. Oh and wigs." She frowned and studied the output. "I need one person to compare metals. Just sort out what knives have the same source batch in case they need to find the makers."

The techs, much relieved, split up and started their new orders with much more excitement. They'd been processing blood on knives for a day and had to be bushed. Holly retreated to her office to read what had been processed so far, and to study the knife. It didn't make much sense to kill someone with a knife less sharp than a kitchen knife, but maybe it was just the weapon on hand. The Klingon Opera had a performance at the con and Holly had been sad to miss it, but that would have been asking a lot for Gail to suffer through.

By a quarter to eight, she was caught up and had the preliminary results of the tox screen, as well as most trace processed (or in some some stage thereof), and Gail and John showed up with fresh coffee. While there was a twinkle in her eyes, Gail greeted Holly as 'Dr. Stewart.' John rolled his eyes but repeated the greeting similarly.

"Tell me you have something juicy," Gail pleaded, holding a coffee out for Holly, in her favorite ceramic travel mug.

One sip and Holly grinned. They'd even stopped at her favorite coffee shop. "Your murder weapon isn't very sharp. Literally."

Both detectives blinked, eyebrows lifting in similar expressions of disbelief. "He was stabbed in the gut," John pointed out. "You've got to push hard for that."

"If you go through the abdominal muscles, yes," agreed Holly. She held over the sketch she'd made earlier. "And with a core as tough as Mr. Mitchell, it's a reasonable assumption to make. Either your killer knew what they were doing or they were insanely lucky. If they nailed the kidney, that'd take him out pretty fast."

Gail mimed stabbing a couple times and frowned, "Isn't it easier to get the kidneys from behind?"

"Shorter distance," Holly nodded. "The back muscles are stronger and thicker though, so that would be a lot harder. This was actually more effective."

"Slow death?"

"We're about to find out." Holly finished half the coffee and handed it back to Gail to suit up and start the autopsy. Many detectives had started to come watch the entire autopsy, citing it helped them better understand the scene of the crime. Gail had always watched them, respectfully. She'd always been more respectful of the dead, insisting on calling them humans.

As Holly cracked the chest, Gail flipped through the preliminary trace report. "I can't believe he didn't fight back," she mused. "No defensive wounds at all."

John grunted a reply. "Given everything else, it's out of character. He must have known the killer and not expected it."

They'd clearly done some more legwork since Holly had seen Gail last, or talked to about the case. "There are no hesitation marks," Holly pointed out.

"Cheerful," drawled Gail. "One shot and dead."

"Huh," muttered Holly, surprised.

"Huh what?" That was John and Gail hushed him.

Ignoring them both, Holly checked her theory and nodded. "Transacted the abdominal aorta," she said firmly. "Killer came up from below and hit him perfectly."

Now Gail asked a question. "Did it take a lot of strength?"

"Yes," Holly replied slowly. "Mind, I think I could do it, if I was three inches shorter."

"That's oddly specific." Looking over the body, Holly saw Gail's smirk and returned a smile she knew made Gail happy; she called it that 'Stewart Side Smile.' Incorrigible flirt.

John seemed to agree, "Really? Over a dead body?"

"Just because you can't get a second date even with a dead body," replied Gail, but she did give Holly an apologetic smile. "Why three inches, Doc?"

Holly held her hand out at an angle. "The knife is seven inches long, so to get through the aorta and up into the kidney it takes a specific angle. This was an underarm stab, up and to the victim's right." She continued to describe the exact angle and method of stabbing, and Gail simply took notes.

"How tall?" John sounded tired.

"5'4" to 5'6" depending on shoes," replied Gail. Holly looked up just in time to see Gail and John smirking and glaring at each other. How very weird. "Gut wounds take forever to die, and he didn't move around a lot, Doc."

That was a bold statement. "Generally true. But with a kidney wound, it's seconds rather than minutes. What's your evidence that he didn't thrash?"

Holding up her iPad, Gail showed a photo of the crime scene. "Pretty clear he died where he fell. No drag marks, no thrashing. Just a guy in a gross jumpsuit and a puddle of blood." Well done, smiled Holly. Badass Detective Gail Peck was always a charmer.

Leaving John to follow up on the evidence, Gail went down and to grab a uniform for backup. Butler had commented on it before, that he found it odd they always split the load like that and separated, but since it was still working he'd let it go. It suited Gail fine, since she liked John well enough but they often worked at different speeds.

That was also part of why she had a handy short list with Oliver. The only one free was one of her friends, which always made things equal parts interesting and complicated. "Chloe, grab your gear, I need backup."

Rarely was Chloe her first choice, but she'd realized that the woman had a knack for undercover and had been encouraging it lately. It was most likely the next to leave the beat cop nest would be Chloe over to Blackstone and Callaghan's arena. Gail had been putting in a good word for her as much as possible.

"Where are we going?" Chloe had on long sleeves and her body armor, but no jacket. Sometimes Gail felt a little naked without it every day.

"Therapy." Gail gestured for Chloe to get in the passenger seat of Gail's car. "Dr. Joyce Klein." She handed the iPad with her notes over to Chloe, the page with the information on Joyce loaded first. Unlike Dov or Nick, Chloe could be trusted not to snoop on Gail's iPad.

Chloe read carefully and frowned as Gail drove to the offices. "If I'm just backup, why are you letting me read this about her?"

Smiling, Gail slowed at a stop sign, "People ignore the uniforms when you flash a detective badge at them. That's what Butler used me for when I was new to the unit, so I like to haul you guys around. Keep your eyes open, tell me what you think about this stuff."

A very thoughtful Chloe nodded and accepted that. They pulled up outside the building and headed inside. It was a matter of moments to get to see Dr. Klein, who was expecting them.

"Detective Peck, thank you for calling first. So few police have been so considerate."

Frankly, Gail had just wanted to be sure the woman would be there. Hands were shaken, and Chloe drifted to the back of the room by the door, out of sight and mind to the doctor. "This shouldn't take long, Dr. Klein. You were treating Todd Mitchell?"

The doctor held up her hands, "You know I can't tell you confidential information about a patient. Not even for court mandated therapy."

Gail held up her iPad, showing a photo of the deceased Todd Mitchell. "Mr. Mitchell was murdered late Saturday night. We're following up on some leads, and I was hoping you could tell me about the acting troupe you connected him with."

Sitting down, Joyce Klein looked stunned. "Todd's dead?"

"I'm afraid so." And Gail waited.

After a moment, the doctor exhaled, shakily. "What was he doing?"

"Portraying Khan at ToSCon. He was murdered after his dress rehearsal."

Joyce lowered her eyes for a moment. "Of course. He was with Kirk?" When she looked up, Gail nodded, letting the doctor feed on the silence. "He and Kirk met at Todd's second group," she said slowly. "The first group was where he found Star Trek. I found it through Allison Roan, and she was so nice to Todd, getting him involved. When he told me he wanted to start Cosplaying as Khan, and changed his name, it was a turning point to his whole life. He suddenly had an outlet for the self he never felt comfortable with."

Frowning, Gail felt sympathy with Todd in that moment. She'd never felt comfortable with herself, and envied Chloe for her own ability to just be who she was. Gail only became at ease with herself as a person when she'd met Holly and changed the entire direction of her life. "Allison Roan?" The name was familiar.

"She's an actor and prop maker. She usually goes to these things, the cons, with Todd. Was she not there?"

Gail arched an eyebrow. "No, his wife Becky was there."

"Oh it's not like that!" Dr. Klein waved a hand and then wrote down some information on a piece of paper. "Allison and Todd are just friends, like Kirk. She plays Marla McGivers."

"Who?"

From behind, Chloe spoke, "Khan's wife."

Of course she knew that. Gail tapped on her iPad for a moment and found Allison Roan listed as a merchant. She had not attended the show. Gail high-lit the name and made a note to look into her after this. "Dr. Klein, why did you encourage him to portray Khan?"

"I thought that channelling his anger into a character with fervent passion would help him control his urges," she sighed. "It seemed to work. He turned into a vegetarian, he married, had children… I thought it was all behind him."

"Weren't you afraid that playing a killer would inspire him to become one?"

The doctor looked away. "It was a remote possibility."

Too bad he was the victim, not the killer.

Chapter Text

Monday was the last day of the con and Holly knew Gail was going to be in a rush. That was why she was not surprised that Gail sent Chloe to her lab instead of coming by herself. "We have a courier," joked Holly, holding the report up for Chloe.

"That's what I said, but Gail said this would be faster. Why can't you just email it?"

"Hard to email a knife." She held up the evidence bag and Chloe looked impressed.

Taking the bag, Chloe turned it in her hand. "That doesn't match anything in the series, that's a movie knife." Holly laughed and Chloe looked offended, "You knew that, didn't you?"

Holly nodded, "I did. Everyone's figured that out." She rubbed her own shoulder and wondered what the chance was to get a massage from Gail. Assuming she even got to see Gail again today. "Sadly that knife doesn't match samples from any of the vendors. Or the Klingons. And the style's wrong."

"How's that?" Chloe peeked at the report, and Holly didn't stop her.

"Well the form doesn't match most of them. Here…" Holly pulled another of the knives out from the box to be returned. "Look at the left blade. The angle's all wrong."

Chloe huh'd softly. "A one off, handmade, knife?"

"I'd imagine so. It's a pretty big mistake to make, though, and it's a newer blade, or at least one that wasn't used ever. You can tell by the seams from the casting, how they're still burred. Whomever made it didn't bother to clean it up and fine tune it, just cast and sold. So they're either really lazy, or it was some early craft work that never sold before. I can't see why anyone would try to sell less than their best, but then again, I'm not really into the whole cosplay thing. I'd rather be outside, as much as I love a con…"

She noticed, at this point, that Chloe was looking at her with wide eyes. That was why Holly had trouble keeping many friends. "That is so cute," bubbled Chloe, absolutely delighted.

"Thank you?"

"You're so into your work, it's got to be why Gail's just got a fire under her to be this totally bad ass detective. And," continued Chloe, picking up the evidence and report and placing it on top of the evidence box of knives. "And you're pretty. I mean, super sexy, great skin, and you're so fit. You have this hot librarian thing, like Lynda Carter, going on. Which isn't my thing, but I can totally see it."

Holly covered her mouth and hide a smile. Did Chloe know that Holly knew she was bi? This had the potential to be awkward. "Thank you, Chloe."

"And you're nice," added Chloe. "Gail's still bitchy, but she's a nicer bitchy." She picked up the box and smiled. "Next year, you and I are totally going to the con." And Chloe swept out of the room.

Shaking her head, Holly went back to her computer to work on her report and the formality aspects of it. She knew Gail would be fine with the bare bones report and be able to make enough of a decision and get warrants when needed. It was much the same with Traci and Steve and even Swarek. Callaghan, on the other hand, wanted things to be precise and complete, and was a bit of an ass when he didn't get things fast enough.

Her phone rang, shattering her fantastic description of the wound to the kidney, and Holly groaned. "Hi, Dad."

"Your mother wants me to get on a plane," he complained.

This was going to be one of those conversations. "Dad, you already agreed to do the lecture."

"We have enough time to drive."

"If you leave today, sure." She took her glasses off and pressed the bridge of her nose. "Gail's starting to think you don't want to meet her, Dad." This was a lie. Gail had such a broken concept of family that the idea of family actually wanting to meet her was entirely foreign.

Her father groaned. "Please don't tell me you're siding with your mother."

"I always side with Mom, you know that," she grinned. "Please, Daddy?"

"Oh, don't do that," he pleaded.

"Daaaaddy."

"I hate when you do that." He didn't, and she knew it. "I want to see you here next winter. We need to go hiking. Gail hikes right?"

"No, she's not really into sports, Dad."

"Thank god for that," he muttered. Holly's father had never really been into sports either, and tolerated Lily and Holly's passion. "Hiking isn't sport. Pack her boots for her."

"She doesn't own winter hiking boots, Dad." Aghast, her father demanded to know how Gail patrolled in winter. "In a car. She made detective last year, though. Now she sends minions into the snow."

"I like that. That's clever." He sighed, "Fine. I'll come. But I want that that tomato soup you make." Holly's lengthy pause seemed to surprise her father. "You forgot how to make it?"

"Gail's allergic to tomatoes."

"So? You can eat it!"

"I'm kind of fond of kissing her, Dad," she pointed out and her father laughed. "How about I let her make this amazing baked mac and cheese dish?" Now her father paused. He was a sucker for a good mac and cheese.

"Now I'm interested. Alright, sweetie. Go back to work cutting up dead things and saving Toronto. I love you."

"Love you too, Dad."

Hanging up, she rubbed her face and texted her mother to note that Dad was having second thoughts about flying, and she'd tried. Sometimes parents were such a trial and needed such looking after. But she'd rather have parents like hers, who wanted to be involved and wanted to talk to her, than ones like Gail's, who wanted to be involved for their own reasons.

There was no time to waste. Monday was still crowded at the convention, even though it wasn't a holiday, and most of the vendors were still there making the last of their sales. Sunday, they'd made sure to check out when each vendor who sold weapons (prop or otherwise) were leaving, and prioritized the ones who left Sunday night first. Blissfully, Allison Roan was of the lot to leave last, as she lived in Mississauga, which meant she was going to be available to meet with.

"What time is she leaving?" John pulled his coat on as he got out of his car.

"After closing at six, so we have three hours minimum."

The day had sped by and Gail wished she had a TARDIS to go back and interview more people. Holly would probably lecture her about crossing her own time stream, though, and Gail kept the thoughts to herself.

"We should give the Klingons their knives back," muttered John, as a horde (army?) stormed past them in a rush.

"Once we close the case." Gail stifled a yawn. The commissioner had called her an hour before, letting her know exactly how important it was to have someone in custody today. At that point, Gail expected Butler to yank the case from them, but he'd just promised them anything they needed.

Right now, Gail needed an IV of espresso.

John shared the yawn, looking just as tired. "Maybe you can use your magic silent treatment and break 'em down."

They found Allison Roan's stall right away and Gail stared at the weapons on display. "Wow," she muttered, and leaned to pick up a round circle with Greekish engraving.

"Hey, can't you read?" The brunette with a surprisingly poofy hairstyle snapped, angry. "Sign says no touching without staff."

Gail held up her badge, "Allison Roan?" She introduced herself and John. "We'd like to talk to you about Todd Mitchell."

Her face paled slightly and she nodded. "Joey?" Her assistant nodded, squeezing her arm, and Gail and John led her away to a quiet room to talk. John had wanted to take her back to the station, but Gail pointed out that most of their suspects (if they were still in town) would be here.

The hotel had readily given them a small conference room to use for just this sort of thing, and they waved for Allison to sit down. "Todd," she sighed, taking the bottle of water John held out.

"I'm sorry," Gail said, not feeling the words but knowing she had to say it. "I know you were friends."

Allison startled, "Yes. I introduced him to Star Trek."

"You're a life long Trekkie?" Gail was leading the interview for now, simply because she knew more of the dork lingo.

And Allison nodded. "My Dad got me hooked."

This one wasn't going to be a crier, or a drama queen, so Gail led her on. "The weapons I saw were pretty cool. Did your dad teach you that?"

"He did. We used to make costumes together." At the 'used to' comment, Gail arched her eyebrow. "He died two years ago, cancer." Murmuring another sorry, Gail asked if Allison did cosplay as well. "Oh yes, when we do a bigger group, I play Marla, Khan's wife."

Flicking her eyes at John, Gail let him take the next question. "Bigger group?"

"Normally we do the whole Botany Bay crew, but this time Todd and Kirk wanted to do something special, and they thought it would dilute too much if we were all there."

Gail nodded and pulled out a photo of the murder weapon. "I know it's a rough time, and you were close, but we need some help. You're a weapons maker, maybe you can identify this?" She put the photo down and slid it forward.

The startled expression was quickly masked, but Gail knew both she and John caught it. So did Allison who looked at them, chagrined. "It's mine. One of mine." She touched the side blade, the one Holly insisted was wrong. "I screwed that up about eight years ago."

That was not an admission Gail had seen coming. John leaned forward, equally surprised, "Do you still sell it?"

"Not that particular blade, no. I don't even have the mould anymore, I shredded it for filler in a padded costumes. I stopped five years ago, when I started selling at cons. I only do replicas from the original series and the reboot movie now."

"Benedict Cumberbatch," beamed John.

Gail rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him. He was calling him Cummerbund yesterday."

"I've heard that before," smiled Allison, wearily.

Shooting Gail an annoyed look, John asked "Do you have records of the older sales?"

After a short pause, Allison shook her head. "No, I was cash only then. I'm sorry."

They thanked her for that and let her go back to her booth, but lingered. "She's hiding something," muttered John.

"Ya think?" Gail put her head on the table, resting on cheek on the cool material, and closed her eyes. "She's short enough, too."

John sounded surprised, "She's your height!"

"She was in heels boots with chunky heels." Gail opened one eye. "Becky Mitchell's still around, right?"

After tapping on his phone, John nodded. "Yep. I had her and Kirk pegged as a romance gone wrong, y'know."

Gail snorted and closed her eyes again. "No, she was in love with Todd." Letting her mind wander back to Becky, Gail frowned. "Allison plays Todd's wife."

"Jealousy?"

"Holly wasn't exactly keen on you being my work husband," admitted Gail. Especially not when she'd seen the recent photo. John was pretty, in a severe sort of way. Very intense. Even when she'd been dating men, he wasn't her type. She'd preferred Boy Scouts. Though it was hard to look at men and remember why she'd ever found them attractive at all. They no longer did anything for her. Neither did most women, with the exception of sexy librarians and Anna Silk.

There was silence from her partner, so Gail opened her eyes again to see him confused and embarrassed. "Gail, I like you, but … You're not my type."

Smiling, Gail rested her hands under her chin. "Too much fleece? Too many backpacks?"

He laughed, having heard that story from Holly. "I was thinking the bitchy blonde spitfire. I like my ladies curvy and sweet." But there was a strange way to his words that Gail probably wouldn't have even noticed if it wasn't for some of Holly's friends.

The last thing Gail enjoyed doing was sharing her personal life, however this felt like the right moment. Steve had nagged her that she needed to bond with someone, especially if she was going to spend hours and weeks and years working in close quarters. "John, you know Nick, right?"

"Soldier Boy Collins? Sure."

"We were engaged once." John's eyes widened in thinly veiled amusement. "We actually went to Vegas to get married, and he left me at the alter."

"Please don't tell me your parents were there." She nodded and he winced. "Wow. I'm amazed he's still alive," he laughed.

She smiled and sat up straight, stretching her back. "Between me and my mother, yeah, it's pretty impressive." Her lower back popped and Gail sighed. "Course I hooked up with him again when he joined Fifteen, a monumentally dumb ass decision."

"Sex was probably good," mused John. "I mean, he looks fit."

"Wasn't bad." Gail smirked. "Problem is now they all get compared to Holly, and I gotta tell you, there is no comparison." While John laughed and nodded his understanding, he didn't come clean to what he was holding back. Well. There was time. Gail slapped the table. "Okay, let's go find Becky."

The busy work of the lab was sometimes incredibly stressful. Having handed off everything to the police, including her collection of Klingon knives, Holly ended up putting in scut work time to help try and catch up from their frantic change of plans. There were other murders around, after all. She left work at four, arguably early though she'd been at work since six, and planned to finish up reports from home, but desperately wanted a run in to calm herself down.

Most if her problem right now was that she thought the conclusions on the murder weapon were wrong. The initial thought was, based on the style, it was a scrap knife. But the more Holly thought about the quality of the metal and the handle, the more she started to think that maybe the knife was brand new. That would explain much about it's look, like the unfinished parts, though none about why someone would let poor quality like that out into the world.

Those thoughts meant that her run hadn't really helped, and she was home, and grumpy, at five when her phone rang again. "Hey, sweetheart," smiled Holly, feeling her blood pressure lower just by knowing Gail was on the line.

"Hi," came the familiar, crabby, voice of an overworked Gail Peck. "Lab said you already left."

"I've been there since six, Gail." Holly knew she sounded snippy, but Gail's mood fed hers.

"Oh! That wasn't a complaint, sorry. I'm still at the stupid con."

Somehow it wasn't fair that Gail, who didn't even want to be there, was stuck. "I'm sorry. Any luck on the case?"

"That's why I'm calling, actually, Dr. Stewart."

Holly grinned and walked upstairs to the office. "Do I need my laptop?"

"Only if that steel trap of yours can't remember anything about the knife"

"I've been calling it the dichotomy knife," admitted Holly, pulling up the file anyway. It was still fresh in her mind, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Gail was silent for a moment. "The whole of the sum is divided into two parts?" How she loved that woman's mind.

"Okay, I think our initial conclusion was premature."

"Huh," replied Gail. There was no judgement in her tone, just acceptance of science and how theories changed. "What's the new one?"

Full on science nerd kicked in. "There's no metal fatigue, which means it's new. But the mould used has to be old because the edges aren't as sharp. The constant casting and use wore them down. I think it looks better from an aesthetic perspective, but it's strange when you consider it's a poorly designed blade in the first place." She stopped rambling and sighed, "This is normally the part where you tell me I needed to stop talking."

"The knife's new? The report said unused."

Holly cringed, "I thought it was unused, but the more I looked at the photos, the more I thought it was weird. It was definitely a rush job, though. There were flakes of metal all in his gut."

"Hang on!" Gail was excited and sounding far more chipper. "John, it's new." In the background, Holly heard a started John ask how new. "I don't think she can tell that."

"I'm not a miracle worker," joked Holly, and Gail snorted. She knew the old Trek pretty well.

"The mould's about eight years old."

Now Holly was surprised. "How'd you figure that?"

"We found the maker. She said the knife was from a batch she made five years ago, and she never used that mould anymore."

"If you had the mould—"

"Destroyed, of course."

Of course, Holly sighed. "Well. It's just not probable, unless all the metal in all her knives uses a new blend. Hang on, which vendor?"

"Allison Roan, Heartblade Weaponry."

Holly skimmed through the database and pulled up the specifications on the knife metal sample, side by side with the murder weapon. "It's the same metal batch, and that would hold up in court."

"Damn it! Why didn't we check that before?"

That sounded like it was shouted at John and not her, but Holly still had an answer. "We were looking for blood and individual weapons. I put a stop to that before you came in for the autopsy." She scratched the back of her neck. "And they all used the same few vendors. Maybe they got a group rate or something."

"You're a genius, I love you."

Never once in their dating life had Gail ever said that while working and Holly felt her face heat up. "Go arrest someone, Gail."

Her girlfriend agreed to do so and hung up. Holly spun her chair around, smiling. It was nice to date someone who got her humor, admired her work, and still loved her when she got obsessive over things. They didn't share everything in common. Actually they had very little in common outside of work. But that gave them so much more to talk about and share with each other.

She stopped the chair and looked at the wall. Her college and medical degrees were framed next to Gail's from college and the academy. In the corner, Gail's gun locker stood next to the bookcase filled with Holly's medical journals. The other bookcase had all sorts of books, non-fiction of course, but everything from history and costuming to music and geography. Holly had no idea which books were hers anymore.

They were integrated.

It was pretty nice.

Chapter Text

The prospect of making an arrest had Gail wide awake. It was also the prospect of being done with a very long day and getting to go home and sleep and relax. She was due a day off, hopefully before Holly's parents showed up, but really she was too busy to seriously concern herself with that.

Interviewing Becky about Allison had proven surprisingly enlightening. To put it simply, Becky hated Allison. They'd been friends up until Becky and Todd met at a Halloween party, dressed as Classic Trek Klingons, and Todd asked her out. She always felt Allison had wanted to be with Todd, but when she asked, to make sure she didn't break the friend code, Allison had said it was fine.

When the dating became serious, Becky found herself the recipient if petty sniping and was ostracized from two of their groups. Since that also impacted Todd's life, he switched to a new acting troupe, which as where he met Kirk.

"Why didn't you mention her before, when we asked if someone wanted to hurt Todd?" John was a little flabbergasted.

"She'd never hurt Todd. Me, maybe, but she's not even here." When neither detective said anything, Becky paled. "She's here? She's not supposed to ... She's not playing Marla is she? Todd stopped that after our second child."

Gail took a moment to miss having her radio, where it would be so much faster to get someone to guard Becky, but she'd have to make do. "Mrs. Mitchell, she's had ample opportunity to get to you all weekend." Frankly Gail didn't understand why Becky was still there, but to each their own. "However you should stay in your room until we call you."

Nodding, Becky accepted this and Gail called Oliver to get a protection detail, for peace of mind. They made Becky promise to check the badges, and gave her the names of the officers to expect. You could never be too sure.

"You think Allison's going to try to kill her?" John stabbed the button for the elevator.

"I think Allison was never okay with Todd dating Becky, but murder..." Gail shook her head. "Ever done anything weird on impulse, John?"

They stepped into the elevator and John looked thoughtful, "Dropped out of college and joined the academy. That's about it."

Gail nodded, "You thought about it for a long time, right? About how to do it, how to break it to people, how it was going to change your life forever. And then that one day, you just snapped and did it. And it was kinda insane, you felt like you were crazy reckless, even though you'd thought about it for days."

"Yeah," breathed John, seemingly startled at the explanation.

Not saying anything else, Gail waited for the elevator to stop. "Think it's enough to bring her in?"

"Invite." John pushed his short hair back and up, smoothing it out. He tilted his head and Gail nodded, gesturing for him to go first.

They quickly found their way back to Allison's booth, where she was starting to box up. "Detectives, is everything okay?" She looked stressed, though Gail could come up with a hundred reasons why.

"Actually, we'd like you to come with us, back to the station. Answer a few more questions," said John, his voice pitched to a casual tone, as if this was perfectly normal.

Normal people, innocent people, tended to spook when you asked them that. It was human nature, the fear of unknown and simple cop fear. There was a big difference between that tension and the one they saw in Allison. People told her you couldn't see guilt in a person, and Gail just felt they didn't see enough guilty people.

Allison looked between them and frowned, mental walls going up immediately. In her head, Gail could hear Holly making a joke about shields being at full strength. "I'm busy. Can this wait?" Deferring the conversation was a common tactic.

"We can talk about it here, if you'd like," John offered, making it seem like no big thing. While Gail had a weird knack for interrogation (anything was easier than Perik), John had that calm vibe that put a person at ease. Clearly if they wanted to talk in public, it couldn't be that bad.

"Oh." Allison looked at Gail again and then nodded. "I guess that's alright."

John smiled. "We just wanted to check something. You said you played Khan's wife?"

"Marla McGivers," nodded Allison. "It's something argued in canon. The original script for Star Trek II references her as Khan's 'beloved' wife, but the life was cut from the final version. Most of her characterization is drawn from the book To Reign in Hell, which has its own issues, of course, but what doesn't."

Her partner gave her a look and Gail nodded. "We were told that your, ah, Botany Bay crew had disbanded," Gail explained, slowly.

Allison stiffened. "Who told you that?"

"Becky Mitchell."

The look on Allison's face was pure anger. "She's just jealous that the best she can do is play a trill. She can't even do the classic Trek with those cow legs."

This was Gail's turf now, the indignant anger. John had put Allison in a place where she would want to talk, and Gail had the knack to make her talk. "You don't get along," she said, not asked, and tilted her head.

"Becky? Perfect princess Becky?" Allison scoffed and folded her arms. "It was the knife, wasn't it?" Gail nodded. "Damn it, I should have lied." Allison's eyes went wide, "It wasn't… I didn't mean to… Can I change my mind?"

Taking out her cuffs, Gail took hold of Allison's upper arm. "Allison Roan, you're under arrest for the murder of Todd Mitchell, do you understand?" When Allison muttered her understanding, she continued through the charter.

"Tell Kirk I'm sorry," she whispered as the loaded her into the car.

That was unexpected, and Gail frowned. "Kirk?"

"That's what she said." As the uniforms drove her to the station, John shook his head. "Think you can break her for the whole story?"

Gail snorted, "Please." She looked after the car, "Come on, let's let her sit and go tell Becky."

Upstairs in the hotel room, Kirk was sitting with Becky, holding her hand. Unable to tell if there was something going on, Gail let John take the lead again. "We thought you should know, we have a tentative confession from Allison Roan."

Both Trekkies exhaled, looking pained.

"She wanted to tell you she was sorry, Kirk."

And the man didn't look surprised, he just nodded sadly. "I should have known," muttered Kirk. "It's the curse."

"Curse?" Gail blinked a few times.

"Allison used to play Lois Lane in stage productions of Superman." He shook his head. "We never should have kept her in the group," said Kirk. "She used to do a great Lois Lane, and everyone knows they're all crazy!"

The party was loud and drinks were paid for by the mayor, which was weird and hilarious. Once Gail called her to tell her about the arrest and confession, Holly had been impressed that it ended that fast. But Gail assured her, most criminals weren't hardened killers with a stonewall defense, but regular people making terrible decisions. An hour later, Chris showed up in Gail's car to drive Holly to a surprise party at the Penny, explaining that there was no way Gail or John were leaving any time soon, and he was their chauffeur.

As soon as Holly walked in, Traci grabbed her and hauled her to the bar, where Gail and John were holding an embarrassed court, John standing by the bar while Gail was perched on it. Gail's look of perpetual disdain and annoyance faded as she spotted Holly. Hopping off the bar, they managed to get in a quick hug and brief kiss before another drink was pressed into Gail's hand.

"They're trying to kill me," complained Gail, handing the Jack and Coke to Holly.

"How drunk are you?"

Defensively, Gail replied, "I ate a burger."

It was John who leaned in to provide a drink count, "She's on number five. She really holds her lick... Her booze. I, however, am on three or floor." He was definitely drunk already.

"Lightweight." Gail wrapped an arm around Holly, keeping her close by. "Don't worry, Snowflake'll drive him home tonight."

"And Chris is our ride… How does that work if he has your car?"

"Dov has his car." Gail shrugged and Holly just sipped the drink. It was surprisingly strong. "So how was your day?" There was a nearly British level of absurdity in the statement and Holly nearly snorted her drink out of her nose.

Laughing, Gail guided Holly to a table. "I'd like a burger," Holly declared. "And I want to hear what the motive was."

John made the order before joining them. "Boring. Jealousy," he announced, sitting across from Gail and Holly. "She wanted Kirk to leave Becky."

That was mundane, and Holly felt disappointed until the name kicked in. "Kirk? Not Todd?"

"Yep, she was in love with Kirk, had been for years," sighed Gail, accepting another drink and the appetizers. "Numb-nut didn't even realize Kirk loves Becky like a sister. Who ordered potato skins?"

"I like them," grumbled John, taking one.

"You're so gross. I told you to order the fries."

"They're coming!"

Holly smiled at the bantering. "So she killed Khan to get to Kirk?"

"She was trying to make it look like the Klingons did it," Gail explained, an arm winding around Holly's waist. "So … the plan was to hurt Todd and Becky. The Klingons would clearly be an attack on Kirk, because Kirk and Klingons. And Becky would be so upset, she wouldn't want to see Kirk anymore, so Allison would have a free path to, ah, comfort him."

The fries finally made an appearance, and Gail grinned, grabbing one to eat right away. "See? I didn't forget you." John slid the vinegar over for Gail. "Does that make any sense, Dr. Stewart? Framing Klingons?"

"John, you can call me Holly."

But he looked at Gail. "Technically it's not work," he said slowly.

"Technically," agreed Gail, putting fries on her plate and doctoring them with vinegar.

Clearly Holly was going to have to ask about that later. "It makes sense," she told John, taking some non-vinegar coated fries. "The third movie, after Khan, is about the Klingons. They kill Kirk's son."

John snapped his fingers, "Oh! Right! That's what he said, the killed his son and then they took his Khan!"

"Seriously?"

Gail nodded, "He had a whole rant." Taking a breath, Gail was just about to recite it when Holly leaned in to kiss her. No. She didn't need to hear that. Someone hooted and Gail growled as she leaned away. "Shut up!"

Mouthing a thank-you to Holly, John cleared his throat. "So the Klingon thing makes sense. We're going to need to find a Trekkie in the Crown's office."

"Won't be hard," Gail said thoughtfully. "Getting a jury to understand it is the hard part. So glad I'm just a cop."

After dinner and more drinks, Chris drove a very tipsy Holly and totally drunk Gail home. It was the first time in about a year that Holly had seen Gail that drunk and she wasn't surprised when the blonde dozed off halfway home.

"Thanks for the ride, Chris," smiled Holly, easing Gail's head onto her shoulder.

"No problem. Just make Gail delete the photo about the Kingons." Holly bit back a smirk and nodded. Gail might delete the photo but Holly wasn't going to. Besides which, Gail thought it would make a good Christmas card for the division, and had already sent it to Oliver. "Should I park in the garage?"

"Please, just go around the back."

Chris eased Gail's car into the empty spot. "Need help getting her in?"

"Maybe." She gently nudged Gail, "Hey, honey, wake up. We're home." Unbuckling herself and Gail, Holly scooted to push Gail into sitting on her own.

With a complaining groan, Gail opened her eyes. "Why am I in the back?" She rubbed her face sleepily. "Oh. Hi, Chrisikins," she sighed, and reached for the door.

"I think we're good, Chris. Thanks again." Holly accepted a hug from the tall, teddy bear, officer while Gail muttered something that might have been a thank you, but more likely was a suggestion to get out of her house. Holly made sure Chris safely got into the car driven by Dov before closing the garage and following Gail.

As tired as Gail was, she had already locked away her gun and badge before starting the shower. Some things were just engrained in her brain, Holly had come to learn, and putting everything away and getting clean before bed was one of them. Plugging in her phone was not and Holly made sure to turn off both their alarms before docking them to charge.

Gail went to sleep right away, though Holly stayed up to read a little and wind down. She couldn't say it was nice that Gail still needed to sleep with some light on, but she did enjoy being able to read in bed without bothering her girlfriend. It didn't take long for Holly to feel her eyelids droop and she turned off her light, making sure the nightlight was still working, and curled up next to Gail to sleep.

For the second morning in a row, she woke up first and smiled at the (blurry) sleeping detective in her bed. Gail's face was scrunched up in concentration, sleeping hard, and Holly reached over to caress her cheek. The face relaxed and Gail stirred. "Go back to sleep," she muttered to Holly, not opening her eyes.

"There's a beautiful woman in my bed," whispered Holly, leaning forward to kiss Gail's cheek.

The blonde grumbled and rolled over, scooting back to take the little spoon spot. "I have a hangover, Holly," she complained.

"Poor baby." Holly propped herself up on one elbow and gently stroked Gail's hair. She'd told Gail to drink more water, but given how tired she was beforehand, it wasn't going to matter much.

The grumpy face faded a little as Holly kept running her fingers through Gail's hair. "The sun's up?" Gail's eyes were still tightly closed.

"Yes." Holly brushed her fingers across Gail's shoulder and arm. "You don't have to be at work till noon." Gail muttered an 'ah' sound and managed to smile and look annoyed. "What's that about?" Grinning, Holly put her chin on Gail's shoulder, her hand roaming a little.

There was a pause before the reply. "You're awake and frisky," yawned Gail, clearly not fully up yet, but not moving away. Grumbling, Gail stretched her arms out in front of herself, "Why did I move in with a morning person?"

With a smile, Holly pressed her lips to Gail's shoulder. "Because morning sex is fun?"

"Sex with you in general is fun," allowed Gail, catching hold of Holly's roaming hand. "But I really have a hangover, Holly."

"Sex is great for headaches," Holly suggested, moving to nuzzle the back of Gail's neck.

Grumpy Gail was winning, however. "Really?" She nudged Holly away from her neck, "Not helping."

Thwarted. Holly sighed and settled for just cuddling, and felt Gail relax quickly. "How hungover?"

Gail groaned and pulled her pillow into her face. "No sex, and believe me this is the only time in the history of the universe I'm ever going to say that, Holly."

With a laugh, Holly reached up to push the pillow away. "No sex right now, fine. But I want sex before my parents get here." There was a soft 'oh' from Gail and she scooted to roll over and actually look at Holly. She repeated the question, "How hungover?"

"Uh, headache, cotton mouth, nauseated." A pause. "Tired." The symptom rundown was concise. "You're going to make me get up, aren't you?"

"No," promised Holly, kissing Gail's forehead. "I'm going to get you water, painkillers, and a banana. Stay." Holly also decided to get her coconut water, on the chance Gail was willing to drink the stuff.

Gail sighed, "You're the coolest chick ever, Holly."

"I know," smirked Holly, and went to fetch supplies for a hangover cure. The only hangover cure. Science.

After her first case, Gail had gotten so snippy with people interrupting her while she wrote her reports, someone had made her a sign: Don't Poke The Bear. Most of the time she kept it in her drawer, but as she worked on writing up the stupid Khan case, she put it on the desk and put on her headphones to concentrate. The headphones also let her ignore the sound of the shoes in her head.

It wasn't anyone's fault. It was just one of those days where one of the lawyers came by, in his wingtip shoes, and they echoed on the tile in the lobby. Gail just happened to be downstairs getting a donut when he walked by. There was a sound, like nails on a chalkboard to her soul. And this was not the day, the place, or the time for dealing with crap like that.

They were expecting Holly's parents on Thursday, which meant Gail needed to be done with everything by then, and there was a lot to record. The only person who survived bothering her was John, who sometimes asked for clarification on terms, or spelling. Neither was done when Butler came over with the news.

"Plea bargain."

Gail read his lips and tugged her earbuds out. "Already?" It astounded her that a plea bargain was even an option in a murder case, but she wasn't a lawyer.

Nodding, Butler took the free chair near their desks. "She could hardly have plead innocent after confessing to you two," he smiled.

Angry, John slapped his laptop closed. "She's insane."

"That's probably the point," Gail mused, leaning back.

Butler nodded, "The lawyers started to argue it wasn't murder, since she didn't plan on killing him."

Both Gail and John expressed their disbelief at that claim. "Intimidation," snapped Gail, having memorized the nature of murder years ago. "And she came with a goddamn knife!"

Raising his voice a little, Butler continued. "Which is why the Crown's office is leaning to a plea. Cop to murder, take life with parole in 30-plus, keep her crazy ass off the street and away from … what did you call them?"

"Cosplayers," sighed Gail.

The Inspector nodded. "That. Look. You guys did great, okay? No complaints from anyone. Hell, you actually closed the case in two days."

As Butler started to get up, Gail cleared her throat. "Sir, can I ask a quick favor?"

That was rare, she knew. She tried like hell not to ask for favors, and certainly not for special treatment. Butler raised his eyebrows and looked over at John, who quickly opened his laptop again and started typing studiously. Still, Butler offered, "My office?"

He didn't have an office, but when people needed a private word, they always went to one of the smaller rooms. "No, I just may need some time off. My… Holly's parents are coming in town on Thursday." Gail wasn't quite sure what to call them. Were you supposed to call them your girlfriend's parents?

"Oh! If you finish that report, you can have the rest of the week, Peck." Butler smirked. "First time meeting them?"

She shook her head. "I've met her mother. I guess her father doesn't like to travel, or something."

"Sounds like fun," laughed Butler, leaving them be.

Gail put her earbuds back in and went back to her report, until she became aware of her partner's eyes, watching her. "What?" she sighed, not taking the earbuds out.

Shaking his head, John replied. "Nothing."

"Men," muttered Gail and she went back to work. She knew he had something to say about himself, but he could take his time and it didn't really bother Gail all that much. It wasn't as if she was the most welcoming person in the world.

Near noon, John waved a hand at her, mouthing 'lunch?' Gail nodded and saved her progress. She was getting to a better point in the report. They were much longer than when she'd been a uniform and far more intricate. The worst part was as you went over things and felt stupid for not seeing the clues before hand. She did include photos, however, for Butler's amusement, like the one of Chris and the Klingon women.

"I need meat," John groaned as they went to the elevator.

"TMI." Gail checked her phone and smiled at a text from Holly telling her that Gerald had been dumpster diving, complete with a photo of Gerald in the dumpster with an amused Chloe watching.

They picked a Moroccan restaurant near the division, each ordering a large dish. "So listen," John said, looking nervous. "I want to tell you something and it's probably going to piss you off."

Gail shrugged, "I've probably heard it before." She was too bitchy, too cold, too cynical.

"I like you as a partner."

That wasn't expected. "Sorry, what?"

John smirked, "You. I think you're a cool partner. You're smart, you say what you think, you don't say what you don't mean, and you give me shit. I like you."

"Oh." Gail tore off a hunk of bread and dipped it in the bean paste.

"See? That's what I mean." Pouring them both some mint tea, John explained. "You don't just say crap like you like me too or whatever because I said it. You actually process it."

Gail shook her head, "You are very strange, John Simmons."

He shrugged. "I get that a lot."

"So… that's it? You wanted to eat lunch so you could tell me you like me?" There was more, she knew it, but she didn't feel like treating him like a suspect. Just ask, that's what Holly told her. If you have a question, you can just ask people.

And now John looked nervous. "What do you know about Missing Persons?"

Gail sipped the tea, which was amazingly good and sweet and she was going to have to have it again. "It's the second shittiest department, on the soul sucking scale of people interaction. Right behind kids... That shit would eat you alive."

"Well that makes it easier," muttered John. "I went into Missing Persons because my fiancé vanished. We got engaged and four days later … Gone."

"Okay, that is officially worse than being dumped at the altar in front of your family," Gail informed him. "Did you find her?"

"No." He took some bread. "Last year they declared her legally dead. I'd already given up, though." John looked at Gail, apologetic, "That's such a fucking downer. Tragic guy, lost his fiancé to a mystery. And everyone always tries to tell me it sucks and they're sorry for me and baby me."

Smirking, Gail gestured at him. "I am not the shoulder to cry on."

"And I don't want one," he confirmed. The appetizers came and they both chowed down. "Thank god you're not what I expected," admitted John, watching Gail put an entire Briouat in her mouth at once.

Gail swallowed. "Because I'm a woman?"

But her partner shook his head. "Because you're a Peck. I've met your mother."

"Who hasn't?" snorted Gail. The back of her brain told her that this was where she was supposed to tell him something about herself. "I don't do this well, John, this people thing," she finally said.

"That's okay," he replied. "You have this weird ability to make people confess. I can cover the people crap if you do that." They clinked their tea cups and Gail felt a growing level of comfort with John. This would work.

Chapter Text

She felt panic. It had been a long time since Holly had seen both her parents and even longer since she'd introduced a girlfriend to them. In fact, Holly was pretty sure that her parents hadn't met a girlfriend since they'd moved to Vancouver while Holly was in medical school. Things had been tense enough when just her mom met Gail.

The Doctors Stewart, as Gail had taken to calling them, were due to land in less than 24 hours, and Holly rushed home to give the house a good scrub from top to bottom. When she pulled into the garage, she knew something was wrong.

First of all, the garage was organized again. Everything was where Holly wanted it, where she'd put labels for it, cleaned off, and put away. The camping gear was hanging off the pegs and the movable clothes rack with all the winter hiking clothes was tucked to the side where it was no longer at risk of being hit by a car. Speaking of cars, Gail's was cleaned and looked like it had been detailed.

While Gail wasn't a slob, she wasn't fond of cleaning. In order to not face the wrath of Holly, Gail's simple tactic was to clean as she did things. If they watched a movie, Gail cleaned up the living room right after. If she cooked dinner, she cleaned while things were at a hands off stage, and loaded the dishwasher. If she did laundry, by gum, that laundry was folded and away. The bathroom? She cleaned it before she showered.

So to walk in the house and see Gail in the process of mopping was enough to make Holly wonder if she'd fallen into a time warp or an alternate universe. When you added in the heavenly smell of meat and fruit, Holly was agog at the Susie Homemaker world.

"Shoes!"

Holly froze. "What?" She looked at Gail, who was pointing at her. No, Gail was pointing at her feet. Shoes! Holly stepped out of her shoes and, in her socked feet, went to the stairs. "What's happening?"

"It's called cleaning, nerd." Gail took her mop back over to where Holly had been and she re-mopped the path from garage to stairs.

"Yes, but why are you cleaning?"

Leaning on the mop, Gail eyed Holly. "Because your parents are coming tomorrow and you're about to have a full blown nerd panic attack? There's also dinner in the oven."

Holly exhaled, "Oh my god, Gail, I love you."

"I know, I'm awesome," grinned the blonde, her smile broad and toothy. "Go take a shower. I'll be done down here in a minute." She waved Holly up the stairs and went back to mopping the hallway.

This was not the time to argue her luck, and Holly did as ordered, only finding one thing odd. She took the time to wash her hair, and was not surprised to hear a knock at the door. "Come in."

"Hey," announced Gail. "Leave the water on, I'll hop right in." There was, as one might have predicted, a quick kiss shared as they swapped places and Gail yelped under the water. It was always too cold for her tastes and Gail swore as she cranked the temperature.

Reluctant to get in her pajamas just yet, Holly wound her hair into a monument and watched Gail through the gap in the curtain. "Can I ask a question, honey?"

"Only if you hand me a washcloth."

Holly pulled her robe on and handed a cloth to Gail, getting another kiss in the process. Much better. "How come you call other people nicknames but not me?"

There was a moment of silence. "Nerd? Lunchbox? Baby? Those aren't nicknames?"

"I meant… You called Chris 'Chrisikins' the other night."

Gail stuck her head out of the shower. "You want me to call you Hollikins? That sounds stupid…"

"Some people call me Holl, or Holls." Including her parents.

"I like calling you Holly," Gail replied, confused. "You call me Gail all the time." Holly grimaced, the conversation not going where she thought it was. "You can't really make Gail shorter. Unless you make it Gay, which is redundant." Pleased with herself, Gail pulled her head back into the shower.

"Do you ever call Chris 'Christopher' though?"

There was a lengthy silence and Gail turned off the water. "Rarely," she replied. "Towel please?"

Holly handed over a towel. "Other people you've dated get ... Longer names when you're annoyed. And I call you honey, and sweetheart, and ... You just call me Holly. Which I like but ..."

Rough drying her hair, Gail stepped out of the tub. "I like your name, Holly. It suits you and it makes me smile." She let the towel hang around her neck, otherwise bare ass naked. "Holly," she whispered, softly, and leaned in to kiss her.

Okay. Maybe there was a point. Hearing Gail whisper (or moan) her name was a crazy turn on. And while she never heard Gail use an endearment in bed, maybe that wasn't a bad thing. "Oh, my sweet, sweet, Gail," sighed Holly, gripping both ends of the towel and pulling Gail closer.

They kept kissing, reminding Holly of the time in the shower where they felt like they had all the time in the world and yet they had to touch each other. This time they were both nearly naked, and Gail's hands eased inside the robe.

Abruptly a beeping started and Holly jerked her head back. "What was that?"

"Dinner," sighed Gail, somewhat breathless. She exhaled softly and kissed Holly's nose. "Food. Come on, I know you didn't eat." Gail brought the towel back up to her hair and gave it another go at for drying, before heading to the bedroom.

As much as she'd rather be kissing more, Holly's stomach growled loudly. "I hate you," she shouted after Gail, following to get some clothes on. She got another, brief, kiss as they passed by, Gail already in sweats and t-shirt.

"You don't have to eat the lamb tagine," noted Gail, heading back down the stairs.

Holly's mouth watered and she picked up a tank top. Her hand paused at her sleep shorts and she stared at the bed. Of all the things Gail had done, which even included vacuuming the upstairs, where her parents were unlikely to go, she had not changed the sheets. There was an implication that Holly decided she liked. She left her sleepwear on the bed. Dinner. Relaxing. Then maybe...

Leaving her robe on, Holly tied it and put on nothing else. Not even panties. "How early did you get off work?"

When she got downstairs, Gail was at the laundry machine, folding the last of the latest load. "That was fast," Gail remarked, quickly finishing the change of loads, but not taking the clean ones upstairs. "I got home at four. Butler said as long as I have my report in by Friday, he doesn't care."

That was nice. "I keep getting more and more work," complained Holly, joining her to serve up couscous in the bowls on the counter. She didn't mind, except for the uptick of being on call at night.

"I'm sure my caseload will pick up, now that I'm the golden child." Gail brought the lamb over and ladled it in.

"You are amazing." The smell was amazing and Holly sighed. "This is seriously fancy for a weeknight, baby."

Gail shook her head. "The hardest part is waiting an hour and a half for the stuff to cook. Everything else is pretty fast."

For some reason, even Holly harbored the thought that Gail didn't cook. She did, at least as often as Holly did, and she was actually good at experimenting and making new things. Gail liked weird foods and weird combinations, and once told Holly that she loved her simply because Holly would eat the experiments too.

"Patience isn't one of your virtues," teased Holly, and she took a bite. "Apricots?"

"Good, isn't it?" Gail grinned.

They ate on the couch, watching a reality show about mining for gold, and Holly finally felt like she could dare to relax a little. She was fed, her house was clean, and she had a totally awesome girlfriend. Gail even took the plates away and brought back tea. When she sat back down, Holly leaned into her. "Hey."

"Hey," replied Gail, amused.

Holly turned to look at Gail better, "Hey."

"You said that before." Grinning, Gail brushed her lips on Holly's forehead.

"It sounded familiar." She leaned more into Gail, and the blonde almost absently adjusted, slinging an arm around Holly's shoulders and pulling her in. It was comfortable and soft to nestle against Gail on the couch.

Eventually the tea mugs were left on the coffee table and Gail wound both arms around Holly's waist, holding her close. "Feeling calmer?" Gail's cheek rested against Holly's head.

Being settled between Gail's legs like that was rarely calming, but in that moment, with the soft warmth of the detective against her back, it really was relaxing. "Getting there," admitted Holly.

"Good." Gail's form relaxed behind her, and Holly took one hand in her own, gently stroking the back of Gail's hand.

Gail's free hand ended up on Holly's thigh, her thumb absently rubbing back and forth on top of the robe. After another segment of the show, Holly spoke up, "You didn't change the sheets."

The thumb paused. "I didn't. Yet." Gail moved her hand to the edge of the robe, fingertips easing under.

"Yet," repeated Holly, and she bent her knee up, letting the robe slide off her leg and giving Gail's roaming hand access to her skin.

There was a soft intake of breath as Gail realized Holly wasn't wearing anything under the robe. "You know, I did promise to make up for my hangover." Her breath was warm and inviting against Holly's ear.

"You did," agreed Holly, and she tilted her head to give Gail more access to her neck. Soft kisses led down to the collar of the robe, and Gail freed her hands to untie and ease it down Holly's shoulder. "I think we should go upstairs," she huffed, her skin warming.

Upstairs, Gail more than made up for spurning Holly's advances two nights (mornings) before. Lying in the bed afterwards, smiling, Holly swore she could feel the earth slowly rotating. Gail lay alongside her, caressing her face and arm. "You look relaxed now," she said, smugly.

Holly closed her eyes and smiled. "I think you're a liar."

"Oh?"

"I'm not possibly the first woman you ever slept with."

Gail laughed and kissed Holly's shoulder. "First and only," she confirmed. "You've ruined me for anyone else." A soft, roaming, hand drifted across Holly's abdomen. "Definitely ruined me for men, never ever going there again."

Turning her head, Holly frowned but did not open her eyes. "Better not. I know where to hide your body, Peck."

There was soft laughter from Gail, and she moved closer to Holly, kissing her neck and collar bone. The kissing started to drift south and Holly sucked in her breath, but then Gail continued across until she came up and found Holly's lips. That was good in a different way and Holly groaned slightly as Gail's weight settled on her. "Never," Gail promised, and started to move down Holly's body again.

After that, Holly's brain was empty. Gail had completely wiped her mind of thought and was drawing the sheet up to cover them. The comfortable and familiar weight and warmth of Gail pressed against her side, the darkness and quiet of the room soothing Holly into absolute relaxation.

She came alert rather abruptly, hours later in the darkness of early morning, in an empty bed with her t-shirt on. That wasn't too terribly odd and Holly had sleep-dressed herself many times before, but she frowned. Gail hadn't had a nightmare that took her out of bed in months. Getting out of bed, Holly found her robe and tugged it on, calling out "Gail?"

There wasn't a reply and Holly poked her head out of the bedroom. The light from the office was barely visible from the closed door. That was somewhat better than the nights Gail played mindless video games to get her mind off things. Holly paused at the door and gently rapped it, "Gail, please confirm existence."

The door opened and Gail looked surprised. "Hey, sorry I didn't mean to wake you." Her hair was damp, the blonde strands standing up like a porcupine. It must have been a hell of a dream for Gail to shower when she woke up. And Holly must have been insanely wiped to have slept through that.

Holly wrapped her arms around Gail and squeezed her. "You okay?"

With a sigh, Gail returned the hug. "There was a … sound. Something outside." She pressed her face into Holly's shoulder. "It was nothing but then I was awake so..."

The sentence didn't make a lot of sense, but Holly generally got the story of Gail's abduction in dribs and drabs. The one time she'd gotten a large chunk of it had been a rather horrible evening. "Sit down?"

The office had gone through multiple rearrangements until they'd sorted out the best way to fit two desks and a couch and a gun safe in the room, along with all the science books. But it worked now and Gail enjoyed reading on the couch while Holly worked.

Looking at the couch, Gail shook her head. "No." She took one of Holly's hands and started for the door, flicking off the light on the way.

There were night lights in the office, and the hallway. Holly had installed them when she and Gail were just friends. Sometimes, like tonight, she felt a pang of guilt for having ripped them out when they broke up. These lights were new, low energy, and the first things Holly had bought after the disastrous visa debacle. She squeezed Gail's hand and followed her back to the bedroom, curling back up in bed.

"Skipping the pajama bottoms?" Gail sounded tired, but amused.

"Figured it's a better chance of keeping you in bed," smiled Holly, and she watched Gail slide under the covers in just a t-shirt as well.

Gail kissed her forehead, "You never chase me out of bed."

They settled into their usual positions, Gail on her stomach, hugging a pillow, while Holly was curled on her side. "Shitty night for it," decided Holly and Gail snorted a laugh.

They both knew that Gail didn't have to talk about it. And Holly would never push. But Gail had once said the trick to a fast confession, or any sort of connection with a suspect or victim, was to lower the bar. So Holly simply tried to do that, to make it easier for Gail.

"If I tell you why, then you won't sleep either," Gail pointed out.

Reaching over, Holly ran her fingers through Gail's hair. She knew it was soothing to her girlfriend and more than once had taken an over-tired and cranky Gail right into sleep. She didn't say anything and didn't really have to, as Gail's eyes slowly drifted closed. It was still hard to tell when Gail was asleep and when she wasn't, unless she was flat out exhausted, but Holly would settle for calm and composed.

Eventually her arm felt too heavy to move, and it stopped of it's own volition. And Holly fell asleep.

Thursday morning came sooner than Gail wanted. Of course it would have to be a night where she wouldn't get half the sleep she wanted when she'd already planned to be a little short on sleep. At least Holly had gotten rest, though, and woke up chipper and, as normal for many mornings, frisky. Which was probably the best reason as to why Gail looked as tired as she felt.

"Man, your eyes are all slitty," remarked John, meeting her at the elevator with coffee.

Grouchy, Gail growled, "Is one of those mine?"

A cup was handed over quickly. "Aren't your in-laws due today?" When Gail nodded, he muttered, "You picked a hell of a day to stop smoking crack."

Gail arched an eyebrow. "That's from a movie."

One of John's odder traits was his movie knowledge. "Airplane, you'd like it." They stepped onto the elevator. "Holly keep you up all night?"

And Gail glared. "Shut up."

"Technically we aren't at work."

"Technically it's illegal to taze you."

"My my, we are grumpy."

She flipped him off. "Thank you for the coffee, asshole."

"Welcome, hoser," he replied, cheerfully, and they went to their desks to catch up on paperwork. Butler had assigned them some more, small, cases. Mostly follow up and backup work to other detectives. That suited Gail fine, since if every case had to be as fast as the Khan one, she'd be more of a mess than normal.

After a morning following up on leads, Gail tackled her reports. The last of her paperwork was filed when the phone rang. "Peck," she answered without looking at the display.

"Help!" Holly sounded stressed, nearly frantic. "I'm stuck."

"Oookay. Do you need a crowbar?" Across the table, John snorted.

"My parents! They're landing at the airport in an hour and I'm elbow deep in a-"

"Ah, Holly, is this a request to pick your parents up from the airport?" It was adorable when Holly panicked, but Gail didn't really think now was a good time to let her ramble. "I can get them."

Holly exhaled, "Thank you, I hate throwing you at them but Dad would just pitch a fit about a taxi."

That sounded like a story. "Not a problem. Go run the gut or whatever you're up to. I'll get them to the hotel and play driver." With a rushed goodbye, Holly hung up and Gail glanced across the desks at her partner. "I'm done anyway."

"Lucky you. Where did you learn to type that fast?"

Gail shook her head, "Where do you think? Call me if you need me, but-"

"But don't need you, yeah I know." John smiled and stretched his arms up and over his head. "Good luck meeting the in-laws."

Everyone kept telling her that, and Gail couldn't understand why. She'd already met Holly's mother and, after that first horrible joke, they'd gotten along fine. Meeting her father couldn't be half as bad; Gail was a lot more comfortable with herself, her sexuality, and her relationship with Holly, so it would be easier. Right?

She made it to the airport with time to spare and found good parking without having to consider the ethical implications of using her badge. She could had easily used it to skip the TSA line, but chose to wait by baggage claim and read from her iPad until the Vancouver flight started filing in.

It was easy to spot Dr. Lily Stewart, PhD. She looked a lot like Holly, with the dusky Spanish skin and hair. The height came from Dr. Brian Stewart, also PhD. He looked annoyed and frustrated with the entire day, as if travel had been invented to piss him off. Gail had a feeling she'd like him right away. She shoved her iPad into her shoulder bag and walked over to meet them.

"Hey, Drs. Stewarts," she greeted.

Lily, as expected, hugged her. "Gail! I love the hair. Is that your natural color?"

The last time they'd seen each other, Gail's hair was some variation of growing-out blonde. "Afraid so. It's nice to see you again."

Smiling happily, Lily held Gail at arms length to look her over. "You look good." Behind her, her husband coughed. "Oh, stop it, Brian." Lily let go of Gail to tug the man closer. "Brian, this is Gail Peck, Holly's girlfriend. Gail, this is my husband, Brian."

Extending a hand, Gail put her best smile on. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Sir," he repeated. "She's polite. I like her."

Gail wondered a little just how many of Holly's girlfriends they'd met, but did not ask. "Did you check bags? Holly didn't say."

"She didn't, eh?" Lily shook her head. "I thought she was coming, actually..."

"She's mid autopsy."

Brian sighed loudly, "Of course. We did check luggage."

It didn't take long to collect the luggage and get everyone loaded in the car. Brian sat in back, sulking about everything, and Lily cheerfully took the passenger seat. As they drove to the hotel, Lily explained that Brian would be giving a lecture at University of Toronto. When Gail mentioned she'd graduated from there, Brian sat up and asked what she studied. That gave them enough conversation to take them to the hotel.

At Lily's request, Gail stuck around, making sure to text Holly that everyone was safe and sound, and went with them to the rather nice hotel room by the university. "We're eating out tonight, I gather," Brian said loudly, falling into the easy chair.

Taking the desk chair, Gail nodded. "Italian. It's a tiny little place, but they have a good fresh tomato soup."

Brian narrowed his eyes. "My progeny informed me you were allergic."

"To tomatoes? Uh, yeah. Yes. But she said the soup was good." Gail shrugged.

"She said she didn't eat it anymore."

He was rather pushy and Gail frowned, thinking about that. Holly hadn't ordered anything with fresh tomatoes ever since she accidentally ate one and kissed Gail, giving her a rash in some rather annoying places. "True, but we were friends before we dated."

If pressed, Gail would admit wasn't so sure about that. There had always been some sexual tension between them. From the moment Holly sassed her back at the crime scene, she knew she was going to like the strange nerd. All that silly kiss in the coat room had done was make Gail wake up to the fact that gender didn't matter all that much.

Brian studied her face. "So a cop."

"Detective," Lily said from the bathroom. "Holly said you might not be able to spend much time with us, that you had a case?"

"I did. We closed it this morning." Gail paused, "Sorry, that probably doesn't make sense to you. We solved it Monday, got a good confession and finished the paperwork today. Now it's all lawyers."

"You sure you got the right person?" Brian looked suspicious.

Awesome. Holly's dad wasn't a fan of cops. Or he was just poking the bear to see what kind of woman his daughter was dating. But again, Lily stepped in. "Brian. Stop." He held up his hands, defeated quickly. "What about your parents?"

Oh good. "My parents?"

"Will we get to meet them? Holly said they had important jobs."

"No," sighed Gail. "I'm sorry, I told Holly she could tell you but... My parents and I aren't on speaking terms right now."

Both Brian and Lily looked surprised. "Because of Holly?" Brian's face was set in stone.

Shaking her head, Gail explained it as simply as she could. "My mother used to be Staff Superintendent, and she used her job to push me around. When I applied for the detective slot, she decided I should be in a different department. Short version, she messed with my application. I found out and, ah, reported her to internal affairs."

Every time she'd talked about it, it sounded horribly cold and unfeeling. Even Steve, who had grown up in the same house, said it was harsh. Gail realized she didn't know how her father felt about the whole thing, and had only seen him in passing when her mother left the last IA meeting.

"She sounds like a piece of work," Brian announced. Gail studied his dour expression and grinned, toothily, at the man. In a heartbeat, he returned the smile. "I like her, Lily, she's spunky. Bet she keeps Holls on her toes."

Lily sighed, "Spunky. He thinks that's a compliment." But she too was smiling, fondly, at her husband.

"Could be worse," smiled Gail, feeling as comfortable with Holly's parents as she had, initially, with Holly. Less weird tension of course, since she was dating their daughter.

Brian snorted, "Since we have her alone... Holly said you met at a crime scene."

Uh oh. "That's true," confirmed Gail. "I thought she was crashing the scene." And Gail told her version of 'How Gail met Holly' and won smiles from the parents. This might work.

Chapter Text

The first serious girlfriend Holly had introduced to her parents had, unceremoniously, broke up with her six days later for a job in Vancouver, then Montréal, and after that Holly lost track. She had a vague memory of her moving to New York. Her parents had been comforting at the break up, Lily being a shoulder to cry on. When the second girlfriend announced she was in love with someone else, it had also been shortly after meeting the parents. The last girlfriend her parents met actually realized she was straight when she met Holly's parents, dumping her on the way home.

So from then on, Holly stopped introducing her parents to her girlfriends. She called her parents and would talk about them, but rarely would they meet. It wasn't like Holly had a lot of serious girlfriends anyway. After the straight girl broke her heart, she entered residency and her parents moved to Vancouver for a teaching job. It had been a lot of casual dating, falling for unavailable girls, and then Gail Peck, ice queen extraordinaire.

Having Gail meet her mother, after they moved in together, was daunting. With that in mind, it was just a casual meet and the embarrassing baby questions aside (and damn it, the joke about dildos was funny), Gail had gotten along with Lily and nothing bad had happened. Her mother had been suspicious, since there had been a break up before, she said it was clear Gail was entirely besotted with Holly.

But Lily adored just about everyone on the planet. She was friendly, she hugged people, she could tell when people didn't want to hug, and she was nice. Gail remarked that Lily was the non-annoying version of Chloe. Someone who was actually nice and funny. Lily was also involved in Holly's life, wanting to be sure she was cared for and loved.

And then there was Brian Stewart. Her father was the epitome of a grumpy old man professor. He'd not really liked anyone Holly had dated, saying none of them were good enough for his little girl. He'd liked the boys she'd brought home in high school less, and was initially the more encouraging of her parents when she'd come out. That had been funny, in retrospect. Her mother walked in on her with her hand up another girl's shirt, making out like the messy teens they were, and immediately closed the door. Her father reopened it a moment later and just asked if they were dating. When Holly nodded, he repeated the rules about no closed doors, left it open and went back downstairs.

Her daddy loved her to pieces and was protective and liberal, grumpy and sweet, hostile and huggable. The more she thought about it, the more she found her favorite traits of her father in Gail. Her mother had found that amusing and fitting, since Holly was so much like her (Lily loved to tell the story about how she'd sworn off dating when Brian showed up at her conservatory to look into plants to use for making paper, called her a nerd, and then asked her out).

Meeting everyone at the restaurant (having stopped for a shower and clean clothes), Holly's fear was that she would find Gail sitting there with a forced smile, her parents dead silent. Or worse, Gail abandoned her parents and hid somewhere.

She found them all laughing over some story involving Duncan, which Holly only figured out because Gail said, "Damn it, Gerald!" as a punch line and her father nearly laughed his drink out his nose. "Hey, Holly," grinned Gail, looking up at her. "We're on appetizers. Your dad's got the bruschetta."

Holly blinked and saw her spot, between Gail and her mother, had a glass of sparkling wine and some garlic bread. "Prosecco?" Gail nodded and sipped her own. She ceded first greeting to the parents, as Lily was already on her feet.

"You have a hickey," muttered her mother as they hugged hello.

Blushing, Holly tugged her shirt up more. "Nice to see you too, Mom."

Her father didn't get up and Holly gave him a quick, awkward, hug before sitting down and getting a soft kiss hello from Gail. "It's all good," Gail said softly. "Brian was telling me about how you got kicked off the baseball team."

"Seriously, Dad?!" Holly grimaced and picked up her drink. "The whole idea of making me wear a cup was ridiculous."

"You could have been the first Mo'Ne Davis," complained Lily. "She had the most amazing curve ball."

"And I would have thrown out my elbow by fifteen and gone into medicine anyways, Mom."

Grinning way too much, Gail took a piece of bread, "You're still mad I scored the winning runs at the one game you made me play."

Brian nodded, "Of course she is. She'll be mad about that for years, Gail, you watch."

"I appreciate the warning."

The quartet bantered like they'd known each other for decades. Gail's dark humor was appreciated by both Holly's parents, which seemed to surprise Gail and she blushed at one point. It took a while for Gail to accept a compliment and longer to ensure she didn't think they were being sarcastic. Years of self esteem damage from the Pecks still left their mark and Gail never expected to be admired or appreciated for what she was. The bluster of being awesome aside, having Holly's parents be impressed that Gail was already a detective who solved a big case clearly confused her.

After dinner, Holly took her parents to the hotel, insisting Gail get some rest. That led to her mother teasing her about keeping Gail up all night before.

"We're consenting adults, Mom," laughed Holly, buckling in.

"And they don't even need to keep the door open." Her father took the passenger spot, "By the way. Should you actually make it over for Christmas, you can keep the bedroom door locked."

Holly snorted, "We're getting a hotel, Dad." Though that reminded her to bring the topic up with Gail soon. The week had flown by.

Her mother made a disapproving noise in the back seat. "I told you you'd like her, Brian."

Glancing at her father, Holly held back a smile. "Do you, Daddy?"

"Oh don't start that again," he groaned. "One 'daddy' out of you and I'm on a plane. I hate planes."

She caught her mother's eye in the rear view mirror and grinned. "My one regret about moving back to Vancouver," lamented her mother. "He won't fly and you're so busy with work. I'm glad you didn't move to San Francisco."

Holly winced. "It was a great offer," she pointed out. "Assistant chief medical examiner."

"You'll get there," her father said, patting her leg. "Remember when I almost took that position in Australia when you were seven?"

"I remember crying when you didn't get it," laughed Holly. She'd been so excited about moving.

"It was for the best."

"Brian," muttered her mother. "Holly, dear, did you ever find out why your Visa was rejected?"

She hesitated. "Yes," Holly replied softly. "It's fine now." An amusing apology from the consulate had come in the mail, where the Department of Homeland Security in the states simply told her she was permitted to travel to and work in the United States.

Both her parents were quiet for a moment, picking up in her unease. "You can tell us anything," her mother pointed out.

"I know, Mom. It's complicated." She exhaled slowly. "We're not going to see Gail's parents."

Her father nodded, "So Gail said. Her mother sounds like quite the bully."

"But it explains the little wall she has," pointed out her mother.

"Oh yes, very much," agreed her father. "Self esteem issues, no doubt. You're very lucky she didn't have issues with her sexuality too, Holls."

It was strange to think that talking about sexuality was safer then trying to explain the drama that was the Peck family. "No, that wasn't an issue."

"Did that bother her family-"

"Brian!" Her mother actually leaned forward to slap his arm and Holly burst out laughing at her parents. "Honestly, you have no filter sometimes."

Holly smiled. "I'm glad you like her."

"She's prickly, but I don't think I'm qualified to judge anyone for that," sighed her father. In the back, her mother muttered how true that was. "She really likes you, Holls."

"I really like her too, Dad."

Pulling up at the hotel, Holly got out to hug her parents. Her father took the moment to tell her she had a hickey, and Holly grimaced.

While she could have taken Friday off, Holly's parents insisted that they had plans all day and night, but wanted to come over for dinner Saturday. Having a normal day and a quiet night was going to be far more restorative that a day off. Gail had learned she didn't like days off. Not going to work, doing her job, made her feel incomplete. Neither her boss nor her partner (nor her girlfriend) found that odd, thankfully. If she could actually sleep through the night while they were in town, that would be perfect.

"Hey, do you rent a place?" John asked the question out of nowhere.

"Own, why? Need a new place?"

John turned his laptop around and showed a report. "We have a couple very angry landlords."

Squinting, Gail skimmed the report. "People fake subleasing apartments?"

"Luxury ones. I'll send you the links." As he typed, John explained, "So these people put in ads online, like Craigslist, and say they have a fancy apartment they own, but need to sublease because they're moving to the states, or whatever. So they'll give you a great deal, just fill in a form. Boom, you're approved, they show the place and you sign the lease."

Gail blinked, "Same day?" She'd never actually rented her own place, though in the gap between when she tried to adopt Sophie and when Holly's move was turfed, she had started looking into her own apartment. The credit check was a pain in the ass, since it was going to be her first place on her own, but she knew no one gave you the lease without the check.

"Pretty much," he nodded.

"Jesus, what happens when the real owners find out?"

"They complain to the cops. We've got four big shots now, bitching loudly." John looked very interested. "Ever searched for people who don't exist?"

The files showed up on her laptop and Gail opened one. "They vanish, huh. Fake names and burner phones. Did Butler give this to you because you're Mr. Missing Person?"

John looked sheepish, "I was going to ask, actually. It's sitting in the queue."

"Cherry picker," she joked. "Sounds interesting. Oh, will we get to fake being a couple trying to rent an apartment in a rush?"

"See now you're just giving me an idea!" But John was ecstatic and hyped up, which was new for him (or new for him with Gail) and she waved him on to talk to the Inspector.

From the outside, the case looked simple. Find the scammers, make sure they matched the descriptions from the losers who fell for it, arrest them. Boom. Simple. Gail pulled up Craigslist, and the three other sites John had listed, and started hunting for similarities. By the end of the day, she had a headache and a growing list of possible scams.

Gail slapped her laptop closed, "Is anyone on Craigslist not a liar? Free dirt, pick it up. Free wood, take my fence down. It's a damn loser convention."

"Glad you're interested too, Peck," grinned John and Gail flipped him off. "Take the weekend off, we can start Monday."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Gail groaned and stretched. When her partner showed no signs of stopping work, Gail frowned. "John, what are you doing tomorrow night?" The question felt impulsive and weird.

He looked up, surprised. "Nothing. Why?"

Wondering if Holly would be mad, Gail cleared her throat. "Holly's parents are having dinner at our place. My brother and his girlfriend will be there..." She trailed off.

"So don't call?"

"God. You're an idiot, do you want to come?" When John startled, she added, brusquely, "You just look like you're going to spend your weekend working like a total loser nerd, and I should let you see how the other half lives."

John smirked, "I don't want your pity, Peck. Who's cooking?"

"Me."

"Oh hell no, you just want to poison me!"

Gail snorted and put her laptop in her bag. "Fine, but if you change your mind about the best mac and cheese known to man, you come by."

John grinned. "Nice try, Peck. I'd rather eat sewage."

"Bite me, asshole."

"Temping, but your girlfriend knows what to do with bodies." John stretched his arms up over his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. Maybe next time?"

She paused with her bag on her shoulder. "I haven't seen you interested in a case, John." Gail hoped he understood her meaning.

The man nodded. "Maybe it's your fault. You get so driven to solve things, it's rubbing off."

"Better be the only thing," she smirked, and headed home.

"Are you sure it's edible?"

"You can go the hell home, brother."

The Peck siblings were arguing in the kitchen, much to the amusement of everyone else. Traci and Steve had come over early to 'help' since they knew Gail was cooking, but Gail had quickly volun-told her brother that he was her sous chef and left Traci to enjoy the rest of an evening without Leo. The only thing Holly had really worried about was desert. Gail's ability to make deserts was rather limited compared to Holly, who saw it just as another science experiment.

When Holly went to pick up her parents, she made Traci promise to keep the duo out of trouble. Her parents walked in on Gail holding her brother in a headlock and they promptly found the sibling bantering hilarious. Holly's indignant expression only fueled her parents laughter.

"Traci," sighed Holly. "You were supposed to keep them out of trouble."

Traci just smiled. "Given the alternatives they can get up to, I think this is the least trouble possible. Hi, Dr. and Dr. Stewart. I'm Traci Nash."

"Lily, please." And Holly's mother swept Traci into a hug. "It's nice to meet you. This is Brian, he's grumpy. You can ignore him." Her father rolled his eyes and held out his hand for Traci.

The kitchen argument had stopped at some point and Steve walked in with two glasses of wine. "Steve, Gail's brother and captain of the universe."

"I like him," announced Brian, taking the wine and shaking Steve's hand.

"Traci picked the wine," Gail shouted from the kitchen.

"Then I like her more," Brian shouted back.

Holly sighed and tried to remember why she thought that inviting Steve over was a good idea. Half the time, the siblings engaged in a battle that had clearly begun at birth. "Sometimes I wish you had a brother or sister, Holls," her mother announced, after taking her wine from Steve.

"Having seen them at their worst, I'm glad you didn't."

"You wouldn't have been so lonely growing up." Lily squeezed Holly's arm.

This caught Traci's attention. "Holly was lonely?"

"She was always nose in books," lamented Lily. "But tell me about you, Traci! How did you meet Steve?"

When Traci looked nervous, Gail called over, "At our initiation, Traci. He totally had a crush on you." The blonder Peck came over with a glass of wine for Holly and kissed her cheek. "We're all cops, Lily. Traci and I were in the same rookie class."

Steve made a sign for 'thank you' at Gail. "Traci made detective first," he noted, and got a glare from Gail.

"Oh, all three of you are detectives?" Holly's father looked impressed. "Is it a family business for you too, Traci?"

"No, I'm the first."

Steve looped an arm around her waist, "And probably only. Leo wants to be a hockey star."

"He also wanted to be a race car driver," laughed Traci. "Leo's my son." She pulled out her phone to show photos, including some of Gail horsing around with the boy.

"Shit," muttered Holly. "Here it comes."

Lily fawned over the photos and asked, "Are you and Steve planning on having any?"

Both Steve and Traci looked like deer in headlights. Gail covered her mouth to avoid laughing, but the snort leaked out. "Lily, they just moved in together a few months ago," explained Gail. Steve signed something fast and Gail looked surprised.

Brian frowned, "What's all that with the hands?"

"Sign language," sighed Traci. "The Captain and Champion of the universe like to do that to speak privately. So annoying." She cleared her throat. "We haven't talked about children. Yet. Maybe..."

"More than time enough. You're not almost forty, after all," smiled Lily in the way in a way a parent could. "Holly's been clear about not wanting children forever... Unless...?"

Ugh, why did she have to do that. "Steve is. Almost 40," pointed out Gail, ruthlessly defending Holly the only way she could.

"Thanks, Garbage Pail."

"Shut up, Ginger."

And Brian laughed. "It's like watching you and your sister, Lil. Gail, why Garbage Pail?"

Steve seemed happy to steer the conversation away from children. "She'll eat anything. Why you let her cook, I'll never know, Holly."

"She's good. She made lamb tagine the other day." Holly beamed at Gail, who shrugged awkwardly. Compliments still made her look suspicious and Holly kissed her to reinforce the remark.

Besides the sibling bantering, dinner went off without a hitch. Gail's mac and cheese was perfect, Brian calling it gourmet until Steve told him it was made with cheese puffs. Then it was genius. Her parents both wanted to know how Gail came up with the shallot and broccoli side dish and Gail admitted it was from a recipe she found online. That led to a discussion that you could use cheese puffs in place of breadcrumbs for almost anything.

Which led to the amusing desert of cheese puff flavored rice crispy treats, dipped in chocolate. It was a recipe even Gail couldn't screw up, thanks to it's simplicity. Traci laid claim to some for Leo.

The evening ended with Gail and Lily tidying up, and Steve offering to drive the Stewarts home. Gail said her goodbye politely, while Holly squeezed her parents in tight hugs and promised to see them again before they left.

"That was okay, right?" Gail loaded up the dishwasher. "I'm no expert with the parents... Actually yours are the only ones I've met."

Holly smiled, "They like you, honey."

"I mean the dinner."

"They liked that too." As Gail walked back around the kitchen island, Holly caught her hand. "Hey."

"Hey." Gail leaned in and kissed her. "I like them. They're nice. Weird like you."

With a little laugh, Holly pulled Gail in and intruded in her personal space. "That's a compliment, I suppose. Thanks for deflect the age and baby stuff."

Another kiss, "Welcome. It was fun to see Steve squirm." Gail's arms draped over Holly's shoulders, her fingers lacing to make a little loop, holding Holly in place before her. And she just smiled, looking at Holly.

"What?"

"I love you."

Three words. Simple words. Small, one syllable ones. Comforting ones. Holly grinned and put her hands on Gail's waist. "I love you, too, honey." They kissed gently, not hurried at all, just a regular kiss for people who were there for each other every day. "Why was Traci spooked?"

"About what?" Gail let go and stretched, walking into the living room and checking for anything left out.

"When Mom asked how they met?"

Gail paused and sighed. "Traci remembers meeting him at Jerry's funeral, and then at the case where I had to go interview Perik." She said the words softly, faster than normal, with a push to just get them out.

And Holly wondered if tonight would be a repeat of Thursday, when Gail struggled for sanity and normalcy after a night of little to no sleep. "Sorry," she sighed. She wanted to sweep Gail into a comforting, safe, hug, but Gail was moving around restlessly.

Holly's therapist had said Gail's tendency to just push the issue away and ignore it wasn't the best, long term, solution. When Holly mentioned it, Gail said she knew that, and it was the whole reason she kept going to therapy. You don't magically get over things, just because someone loves you. You don't magically get used to people being nice to you, loving you, after years of never being the one.

Part of Holly wished she could go back in time and be there for Gail when it all happened. That she could have been a friend to give Gail a safe place to talk to about things, and not the stupid avoidance 'help' from her parents. Making her go to a therapist far from home so people didn't see and know meant that Gail felt she couldn't talk to people, which led to not talking to people.

That said, Gail had said it was fine if Holly wanted to talk to her own parents about it. In fact, she thought it would be a good thing. For all her faults, Gail was self-aware enough to recognize that while the Pecks were useless, most people did have a support structure of family and friends. So Holly tried to encourage Gail to use her own friends. They were too close, was Gail's excuse, but slowly she'd started to bring it up with Traci and sometimes her brother. And Oliver, recently. They had a weird bond that had always been friendship and was now something a little more. Something a little tighter and sadder.

It still scared Holly. While as a detective, Gail was far safer than she had been as a patrol cop, there were still days where Gail got in to tussles. She went undercover, she got crazy Russians to aim shotguns at her, she was still a cop and still at risk. When Gail went out with her partner, Holly worried they'd be hurt.

Monday afternoon, Holly picked up her mother for lunch while her father spent his day with 'boring intellectuals.' The last time she'd seen just her mother in person, they'd talked about Gail, and the fact that Holly was, in essence, living with a girl who had been straight up till then, and was she sure she knew what she was doing.

"Mom, can I tell you something without you getting judgmental?"

Lily looked surprised. "Honey, when have I ever judged you?"

"And not tell Daddy?"

With a frown, Lily nodded, "Alright, honey. I promise not to judge you or tell your father."

Sighing, Holly poked at the napkin on the table. "I've been seeing a therapist for a while."

And that did entirely surprise her mother. "Did something happen at work? Are you okay?"

Bless her mother for that, Holly smiled a little. "Yes and no." Holly fiddled with the napkin more. "Gail has a really dangerous job, she gets hurt a lot. Used to be a lot more, when she was a patrol cop. And I freaked out about it." She glanced at her mother, who studied her face with a frown. "Because... Gail's got PTSD and I really worry about her being hurt again."

Her mother's eyebrows lifted to her hairline. "I see why you don't want your father to know," she muttered. "From being a police officer?" Holly nodded. "And she still does the job? Every day? I'm not sure if I'm impressed with her bravery or she's crazy."

"A little of both, Mom," admitted Holly, shredding the napkin.

And her mother reached over to take Holly's hands, stilling them. "Are you okay? It's not easy to live with." Nodding, Holly squeezed her mother's hands. "You really love her."

"I do, I really do."

"Do you want to tell me what scares you, honey?"