A/N: FYI please. I do not own the characters and some scenes from the show and I'm just "borrowing" them for fluff purposes. No profit or any other pecuniary benefit was derived from this. Thanks.

If you have time, please feel free to drop off any comment, I accept ridicules and stuff, please don't hold back. I'd really like to know what you think so I can improve (hopefully). I have at least the next few chapters of this typed up so I hope I can post them soonish.

~0~0~0~

LOGIC 101. All Peck's are cops. Gail is a Peck. Therefore Gail is a cop.

Gail knew there was no way around it and she also knew what would happen if she tried. She saw it happen when her hippie cousin Ed, who was being herded against his will to join the Force just took off in the middle of the night, never to return. He escaped the dictatorship. Now, they are not allowed to even mention his name and that's why Gail calls him Cousin-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If it was only legally possible to revoke someone's surname, it would have been done to Ed, aww shit, to Cousin-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

However, being the natural rebel that Gail was, instead of going into the Academy after finishing Uni as a Criminal Justice Major, just as her Mother planned and all her family expected, Gail got herself into law school instead. This move not only earned the ire of her mother, which brought Gail such pleasure, but also finally gotten her the official title "black sheep" of the family. Gail just couldn't resist tempting Medusa aka Elaine Peck a little bit more.

~0~0~0~

"Who would have thought that getting a law degree would result to your family disowning you?" Jessie joked after seeing Gail walk through the bar with her usual graceful swagger before hopping into her regular corner barstool. It was amazing how she managed the small feat considering what she was wearing. The woman had this tight pretty little number in maroon which highlighted her beautiful skin making her look almost translucent in the dim bar. The dress wasn't actually too revealing, it could even be described as modest, but the item of clothing accentuated every dip in Gail's body hugging it's every nook and cranny emphasizing her slim and lithe physique. Jess couldn't help but notice the eyes of the other patrons, boys and girls alike follow her trail. Gail just catches attention like that, even in sweats she's a head turner, but when she's wearing that, she's a goddess.

The "goddess" in front of her smiled wickedly showing off perfect white teeth before responding, "That's actually the entire point." She set her arms down on the mahogany bar followed by the loud thud of her head, the girls' long platinum blonde hair falling to curtain her face.

This has been going on for a while and Jessie knew that every last Sunday night of the month just like today, Gail will trudge in, drained from an entire evening of passive aggressive stares and offhanded comments from her Mother to get drunk, well more than usual, Jess thought, while whining about the infamous Peck Family Dinner.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you live to disappoint your Mother," she laughed sarcastically, unloading a shot of tequila in front of the huddled blonde. Jessie didn't have to wait for the order. She knew it's the go to drink for these kinds of occasions.

She never understood that relationship. Usually, parents were excessively proud bordering on crazy when their kid excels in school. That especially holds true when school refers to the toughest law program in the country. Jessie knew her parents were. It was confirmed when she found a banner to this effect literally hanging outside their house when she got home after getting her law school acceptance letter. It read, "Congratulations Attorney". She cringed at the memory, almost wanting to die of humiliation yet again. But no, that does not apply to the Pecks. She couldn't imagine a family favouring police work over becoming a Barrister or a Solicitor. Who would be happy knowing their kids' life is always in danger? It just didn't make sense.

"You know, if you just wanted to rebel against your Mother, you could have gone on the usual alcohol, drugs, sex and throwing your life away route. That would have been easier," Jess points out, "and a hell of a lot more fun," she quickly added with a suggestive smile.

Gail lifted her head just enough to grab her glass and down her shot. She winced as the strong liquor hit her system not bothering with the discarded lime before resuming her post on top of the not so clean bar. "Yeah, been there, done that," the blonde's muffled voice answered matter-of-factly. Jess wondered what her friend meant at that before Gail continued, "That got me raving anger from my Mother, which was, you know, fun for a while. But this, seeing her boiling from the inside because I'm wasting my supposed "potential"," at the word, she raises her arms to make air quotes without lifting her head, "on something else worthwhile, that kind of fury will be for the long haul," her tone lifting a bit at the statement.

Jess chuckled and shook her head at the blondes' antics before pouring her another shot. She got the feeling this was going to be another long night for her friend.

They actually unofficially met there at Gunther's. It's this cramped up bar sitting just off campus known for its cheap alcohol and the most popular watering hole for broke college students. It smelled of stale beer mingled with twice worn jock socks, but it was homey and again, this cannot be stressed enough, had cheap alcohol. The bartender worked there to help pay the bills and hopefully not totally drown in student loans after school. Yeah, she could have taken a more "respectable" part-time job as her parents not so subtly suggested but tending a bar not only gave her a lot more free time to study, it also earned her a decent wage with the added possibility of tips.

Jess first noticed the girl hanging around more nights of the week than not, always drinking alone, heavily. It was hard not to pay attention to this beauty with her platinum blonde hair, exquisite features, and those blue eyes. She tried to describe them using big descriptive words but always just got lost somewhere in the middle and ended up with, "really pretty blue." That's eloquent right? Jess mocked herself.

She wondered what her deal was. The girl wasn't trying to hook up with the usual loitering idiots there. She didn't look like she was a hooker either, though she was more than gorgeous enough to be one of those high end escorts. But then, there would be no business in a college bar. She wasn't a drug dealer and neither was she meeting up or hanging out with friends. This mysterious blonde piqued her interest.

It was a big surprise when she saw the object of her curiosity in the Statutory Construction class where she was the TA.

"Olsen, George," Jess read out during roll call.

"Here," muttered some guy sitting up front with a goofy goatee.

"Peck, Abigail Marie," Jess continued, pausing when no one answered.

"Abigail Marie's not here?" she asked the class starting to mark this one absent when someone from the back muttered loudly, "What the fuck?" The TA directed her gaze up from the list she was holding just as the entire class turned to see the source of the noise and zeroed in on the mystery girl. Apparently, the guy sitting beside her nudged the napping blonde awake, eliciting her anger and the accompanying foul language. The situation would have caused anyone else to be mortified or at least have the decency to blush or stammer, but this particular student just stared back with squinty just woke up eyes and with a bored tone grunted, "here."

Jess blinked. She didn't know if she should be infuriated or impressed with the nerve of this one. "Peck, Abigail Marie?" she repeated, confirming the name.

"Nope, that's not me. My name is Gail Peck," she clarified, and then swiftly added in an offhand but menacing way that could only be pulled off by this snarky student, "Nobody still ALIVE calls me that."

A few of the students sniggered, not sure whether to take the subtle threat seriously but after seeing their classmates' face plastered with that signature scowl quickly quieted down. One look and they knew she was not one to be messed with.

"Oh, ok, right, then Gail Peck it is." The TA shook her head and cleared her throat trying to hide her amusement. She was sure she saw the woman swear under her breath at her failed attempt before she read on and continued with the roll.

~0~0~0~

Gail always seemed like she never paid attention in class, most of the time snoozing softly at the back in her corner seat. No surprise there, seeing how much alcohol she consumed. It was a miracle that this girl made it to class at all. Instead of every other law student's lifeline of coffee and various flavours of energy drinks, this woman's elixir alternated between beer and hard liquor.

The TA was checking the midterm papers fully expecting one Abigail Marie Peck to fail but wonder of wonders, she got passing marks. Not believing her eyes, she checked the test twice.

They became friends a day after one Sunday night, presumably preceding a particularly bad Peck family dinner and Gail took to drowning her torment in alcohol as usual. Jess kept an eye out, observing. After downing her 12th or was that 13th double, Jess couldn't keep count anymore, jeez this woman can hold her liquor, the blonde passed out cold. To this day, Gail cannot recall what happened that night. All she remembers is how she woke up the next morning to cold water being dumped on her face while half sitting - half lying on the corridor outside her classroom with 10 minutes to spare before Finals.

"Fuck me!" Gail swore loudly at the splash of water on her face. She coughed out the liquid that somehow managed to get into her sinus before squinting up to find out who dared incur the wrath of Peck. A series of well thought expletives at the ready, she met the amused black eyes of her TA holding out a cup of coffee. The blonde shook her head like a wet dog before immediately regretting the action as waves of pain crashed into her skull. She groaned resting her head between her knees to make the spinning stop.

"Are you ok?" The TA asked.

"I'll live." The drenched girl answered before grabbing the offered cup and taking a huge gulp ignoring the burn travelling from her mouth to her throat before settling in her stomach. She grumbled something sounding close to "thanks". Not a minute later however, she was already complaining. "You could have at least taken it easy on the water. I'm swimming here!" she muttered, gesturing at her soaked state, the caffeine starting to kick in.

The TA smirked before she sarcastically asked, "You should be happy I used water, maybe it should have been the coffee instead?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Sure about that? The TA's dark almost midnight black eyes sparkled with challenge throwing an obvious side glance at her cup of coffee.

"Yeah," the dripping blonde replied defiantly but held on to the steaming beverage a little bit more just to be sure.

~0~0~0~

Gail never asked how the other woman who stood a good 3 inches shorter than her and who she was sure weighed barely over 110 lbs. managed to haul her ass out of the bar and into school. Her new friend didn't attempt to share and never actually volunteered the information. Whenever they veered close to the topic, Jess always had that "you-don't-want-to-know" look and Gail was happy to keep that one in limbo together with her other countless drunken nights. All she knows is that she found herself a good friend and that's something she didn't have many of. She was much obliged.

They however became really great friends after one night of drunken celebration. It was the end of term and Gail stayed behind to help Jessie close the bar. They took liberty with a bottle or two of Jack, taking turns drinking straight from the bottle not bothering with glasses, two less items to wash they figured.

She's pretty, the tipsy Gail thought eyeing her friend take another drink before resuming putting up chairs. It did not escape her attention that Jess was the object of affection of several boys and not so few girls. It did not help that the TA had that sexy manga school girl look matched by a petite body and flowing straight raven hair thanks to her Asian lineage. She was for all intents and purposes born to be a heartbreaker. People vied for her attention and she shone under it.

That night their curiosity got the better of them. They can blame it on the alcohol or the hormones, or the college experimental phase or all of the above or whatever. They kissed.

Now Jessie knew she liked Gail, well, who wouldn't? She's smokin' hot. There's no denying that. She's been considering making a move for quite some time now and thought this was it, their chance. But upon Gail's lips touching hers, the fireworks she expected never came; even the usual pleasant feeling of lips touching lips was missing. It was weird. The kiss, if you could even call it that, did not just feel wrong, but it felt bad, like kissing your sister bad.

Both women were careful after stepping back, anxious at what happened, at what it meant. They shuffled around and refused to look at the other wary of what they might see but eventually, after a few seconds of embarrassing silence, their eyes met. Seeing the same dismayed and horrified look reflecting their own on the other, they just began to laugh. They laughed until their eyes were filled with tears and their stomachs hurt so bad and they couldn't laugh anymore because after that debacle, they both knew that they were meant to be best buds. Glad to get that out of the way.

~0~0~0~

It seemed that lawschool fitted Gail like a glove. It was uncanny but her natural spunk aka snarky attitude and candour aka brute and unfiltered honesty which normally got her stink-eyes and yells of "bitch" behind her back made her really belong there.

The TA was impressed considering she almost never catches her friend crack open a book. Apparently, Gail had an IQ bordering on genius. She accidentally found out while helping the Professor review the student files for a class project. The blonde hid it well with her child like mannerisms, penchant for crappy tv, mindless movies and undying love for junk food and alcohol. She spent most of her time harnessing her video game skills while perfecting her default form: cold indifference. Sometimes, it was like she was playing the dumb blonde act which was kind of funny considering she was not dumb by any measure or standard.

Jess was pretty sure Gail purposely called people the wrong name to reinforce her carefully placed disguise. She knew Gail had a knack for remembering the most insignificant details, a product of her upbringing the blonde once explained. She was also a 101% sure that Gail deliberately just did enough work not to stand out and just stay smack in the middle of mediocre. The fact that Gail almost didn't let anybody in and pushed everyone else aside made it possible for people not to notice. Mocking and making fun of geeks and nerds with so much enthusiasm and gusto cemented the cover-up.

But Gail was smart; she saw it in the glint of comprehension in her blue eyes whenever they discussed anything and she caught wisps of it when Gail, during very few occasions let her guard down. If the fact that she got into this tough and rigorous program didn't attest to that, then the fact that the blonde was sailing through it should. It was something she tried very hard to keep to herself but being Gail's TA and friend, Jess got a behind the curtain view.

One evening, they were hanging out in Jess' apartment studying; well she was studying while Gail was playing some gory game on her PSP. When midnight struck, Gail got up from her nest of blankets and pillows on the couch like clockwork to rummage through the cupboards then the fridge. It was one of her crazy quirks, observing midnight snacks religiously. When she asked her about it, the blonde simply answered, "its called midnight snack for a reason dum-dum!"

The raven haired girl saw her friend shuffle back to her seat stuffing her mouth full of cheese puffs from a huge bag with a liter of soda in tow. She tried to get back to her game but seeing her orange dusted hands, opted to pick up the newest mock-up law journal from the pile on the coffee table instead. She obviously did not want to mess up her brand new handheld. Jess couldn't help but smile, Gail had the maturity level of a 5 year old. She observed the blonde thumb through the material while snacking, making faces as if it offended her before throwing it back disinterested. Jess was the Editor-In-Chief that year and she knew the material by heart. Curiosity winning over, she decided on a whim to do an experiment.

"Hey, what do you think about that new social legislation bill?" Jess asked knowing there was an article on that topic near the end of the discarded journal.

Gail licks her powdered fingers before looking over and answering, "That bullshit law they're trying to pass off as the solution for the strikes?"

"Yeah, that one." she confirmed.

"It's crap, and don't think just because your stupid staff writer Sawyer something glorifies it like it's the best idea of the century, that people would agree or that it would work." Gail rattled off.

"It's Jeremy Staedler," Jess corrected.

"Huh? What? I really don't care ok? Whoever that Samuel is," the blonde still getting the name wrong. "But you're the Editor-In-Chief, I'm sure you review the material we publish. Or at least I hope you do otherwise we're in deep shit and I give you too much credit." Gail mocked looking repulsed at the discarded journal before proceeding to discuss the errors in each and every point raised in the article while quoting jurisprudence, labor law history and current trends to debunk the conclusion.

Jess knew exactly how long it took for Gail to leaf through a 70 page law journal in size 8 font while eating cheese puffs that is. It was less than 20 minutes. Great! The TA ironically thought to herself. She's a speed reader, had an excellent memory, and superb logic to boot.

"Show off," was all Jess could say. She was already thinking about the work needed to get the article Gail massacred rewritten.

"What now I'm a show off? You asked!" Not realizing what she just confirmed for her friend before going back to her game.

"Why don't you join the journal? You can get in pretty easily." Jess offered thinking it would be great to have her on staff, put that insightful but sarcastic and brutally honest brain into good use. She would make an excellent journalist, one with a ton of enemies, yes, but a great asset nonetheless.

"Are you crazy?!" I'm not gonna join the paper!" She scoffed, her nose flaring. "They're a bunch of over opinionated know-it-all nosy geeks who want to feel superior and impose their crappy views on unsuspecting readers; if there are even any who would read that boring crap!" Gail ranted with her eyes never leaving the small screen. "I don't need that shit in my life, I'm busy!" She spoke with conviction, burying her face closer to the game to highlight that this is much more important than writing about the newest legal updates.

"I'm one of them you know." Jess points out.

"Unfortunate for you, you're being dragged down by their rep, and by being your friend, you're dragging down my rep." Gail pauses her game, looks up, dramatically widening her eyes for effect before continuing, "Oh wait, I think I need to reconsider this whole friendship thing."

"Har di har har." Jess mock laughed. "I'm the best thing that's happened to you in this hell hole called law school. You're lucky I can tolerate you, you royal pain in the ass!"

Gail smirked at that. "Yeah, yeah, I get free alcohol and you get the pleasure of my company, win-win right?!"

The smaller woman grabbed the nearest thing she could get her hands on; unlucky for her it was only a throw pillow but nonetheless hurled it at her now hooting friend. She never confronted Gail or even led on that she actually knew about her little secret. They were friends and whatever the reason or story is behind whatever they did or didn't do, didn't really matter. They respected each other and with that, respected their decisions.

Gail knew that her friend wasn't an idiot, she must have noticed, but it was nice not to have to explain. Sometimes, she didn't even know what she was doing, and that's the beauty of their friendship. They supported each other but there was no pressure to share. If the other wanted to discuss something, then by all means, but if not, well then that's fine too. It suited them well, Jess liked to study and keep to herself and Gail just didn't care about all that normal friend stuff, and they can tolerate each other. For those simple and uncomplicated reasons, they're good friends.

With Gail's Criminal Justice background and "connection" with the Police Department, even with her mediocre grades, she was sought after by the best criminal law offices in the City together with an offer to join the City Prosecutors Office even before passing the bar. All of this before the "closet nerd" turned 24.

~0~0~0~

Gail and Steve were spending the week at their Grandparents cabin up north. They always made sure to visit the senior Pecks every chance they get. As kids, their busy super cop parents left them there every time they were on school break. This set-up was more than ok to the kids since they loved it there. The house although old was comforting and the place stored most of their best memories, well except the times when Elaine stayed behind and made sure the kids went on "Survival Training Mode".

Survival Training is a Peck Family Tradition that both Steve and Gail as Pecks were required to uphold. This basically meant that they were left alone either somewhere in town away from the cabin or somewhere in the middle of the woods to find their way back home, no kit, no money, no phone, just the clothes on their backs and their wits on their heads. It used to be a small harmless exercise meant to teach the kids familiarity with their surroundings and the skill of improvisation. But of course with their Mother there to oversee it, the tradition went from harmless to extreme. Elaine had that pretty wicked skill of turning every fun activity into a gruelling, limb sacrificing, lesson learning experience.

They started off really young. The world is a terrifying place for a 7 year old kid and Gail was scared but she didn't have a choice, she had to survive. The older they got, the farther away they were "dropped off". When Gail was sixteen, it took her three days to get back and ended up in the hospital dehydrated and hallucinating with fever. Instead of worrying as any normal mother would, Superintendent Elaine Peck just brushed it off saying that it was a necessary challenge so they can cope with the changing times, the kids needed to learn more and survive more so they can become the best police officers Toronto has ever seen, just as expected of every Peck. Gail just thought their Mom wanted to get rid of her for good.

The ancestral home with a huge stone fireplace where all family activities centered stood in the middle of a small estate which has been with the Peck Family for several generations. It was almost Christmas and this time of year, the roof is always covered with at least 2 inches of snow matched with perpetual smoke coming out of the chimney and pine trees dotting the landscape. The house looked exactly like one of those cosy winter postcards.

Their Grandparents were great replacements for Parents; they were strict and somewhat traditional but Steve and Gail knew they were loved. Also here, they were allowed to act like their age and be themselves, not like Academy Cadets they're Mother whipped them up to be. Fond memories of summers swimming in the lake and trudging up mud on their imaginary quests inside the forest always made them smile.

Gail being Gail although naturally tough and independent turns to a mush of sweet kid when it comes to her Granddad.

"Kiddo, you know that you're my favourite right?" Gail's Pop says out of the blue. They were sitting comfortably on the leather couch having afternoon coffee admiring the overabundant family pictures lining the mantle of the lit fireplace.

Gail immediately places her mug over the coffee table, slides closer to her Grandfather and tucks herself under the crook of his arm before saying, "Aww, Pops can you put that in your will?" Gail jokes. "I'd love to see Steve's face when he finds out I got your entire gun collection! He's been dreaming about those since puberty!" her voice taking a naughty tone.

Her Pops clears his throat and raises his brows knowingly at his granddaughter. He knew Steve had "better" things to think about.

"We'll, he does whenever he's not dreaming about his girlfriend of the month!" Gail concedes with a chuckle after seeing her Granddads' face.

"That's what I thought," the old guy laughing heartily. After it died down a bit, he kept on, "You know your brother got my name, but I always knew that you're more of a Peck."

Gail's smile widened, putting up a show of puffing out her chest before proudly saying, "Of course Pop's, I'm you reincarnated. Steve's just a loser compared to how awesome we are!"

This brought another round of laughter between them.

Although the siblings bickered and fought relentlessly, their roughhousing sometimes resulting to quick trips to the emergency room for a couple of stitches or x-rays, he knew that Gail worshipped her brother and Steve would do anything for his baby sister. They were brought up to have each other's back, just like what good partners do and they knew that no matter what, no matter when, they will be there for the other. They're all they have, they're family and they love each other.

But then Pops looked thoughtful and continued, "I will always be proud of you regardless of what you do, but you know what I think?

"What Pops?" Gail asks, wondering where this was going.

"I think that you know in your heart that being a Copper is what you're meant to be and you know it in your head but more in your heart to be true."

Gail leaned a bit away, trying to look at her Grandfather. "But Pops, I can also do real good even though I'm not a Cop, right?" She sought the older Pecks' eyes, earnestly looked into them and saw sparkling bright blues so very similar to the ones she owns but somehow different, more knowing, older, wiser.

"Yes sweetheart, I know that," he confirmed. "And you will do wonders and great things especially with that wit and spank; you're a Peck after all! But don't let your rebellion against the expectations of your Mother and our family legacy get in the way of what you really want." Her Granddad spoke with such insight that she was left speechless.

Gail adored her Pops, she idolized him. Even though she tried to resist, she couldn't help it. What did people say? It's in her blood. She knew that being a Cop was something she would be good at, that protecting people would be fulfilling. It was second nature to her, she grew up with it. That's why even though she purposely veered away from the Academy, she pursued something almost akin to policing thinking this might be enough.

"I know you," her Pops continued, "I was there when you were growing up. I brought you to the station so often that you could probably walk around there in blindfold! Whenever I look back, I distinctly remember a Gail that was happy."

Her Grandfather paused, gathering memories before going on.

"Do you remember the first time I drove us around in a squad?" Her Pops asked, tightening his hold on Gail like she was that kid again.

"You couldn't have been more than 6 then but your look of pride was infectious. Everyone was calling you baby cop and you beamed. You even asked for my badge and wore it on your chest all day long. And I promised then that when the time comes, this will be my legacy to you."

Steven Peck Sr. pulled out an old gold badge from his pocket. It was scratched and dented but still shone in that special way that always captivated young Gail. The piece of metal was well used but clearly cared for and treasured, undoubtedly kept for this particular purpose.

The younger Peck took a deep breath before pulling the badge from her Grandfather's hand. She traced the lines on the engraved metal with her fingers before shoving her face on her Grandfathers chest and mumbling, "thanks Pops, I really appreciate this," referring to both the gift and the talk.

"But I still want the gun collection!" she exclaims after a few seconds, eyes glinting.

Her Granddad just laughed and wondered how his pretty little blonde girl with noodle arms and an Imeldific collection of shoes came about to loving weapons. He then whispers to himself, "We'll, she's definitely a Peck."