Title: Falling In
Pairing: Gail Peck/Holly Stewart
Rating: T
Word Count: 3k+
Disclaimer: None of the Rookie Blue characters belong to me; I'm just borrowing them for a bit.
Prompt: onetownthatwontletyoudown answered: Rookie puts Holly in danger, Gail freaks.
Summary: [Post 5x07] - On the morning of Duncan's first shift back after his hearing, Oliver had called her into his office and – with a tired, do-not-give-me-shit-about-this, look on his face – had placed Gail in charge of the rookie, making her his new – and very unwilling – T.O. Oliver's orders had been pretty simple and clear after that; don't let the rookie get killed, and don't let the rookie harm any innocent civilians.
There have been several times throughout Gail Peck's life so far that have well and truly fell under the category of 'worst experiences ever'.
Gail can summarise a few of these experiences as follows:
Falling out of a tree she was climbing in an attempt to impress Steve and his friends when she was eight years old, only to land on her arm and break it. Her mother had been less than impressed with her rough and tumble boyish behaviour, not to mention ripping the new dress she had only just bought for her and forced her to wear despite Gail's fiercest protests – (she's still a little bitter that the ruined dress got more sympathy than she did).
Accidentally killing their three month old kitten Siren – (Although Gail thinks karma is paying her back for that particular incident even to this very day, not only instilling her with an innate fear of the damn furballs, but also for that stupid, coming back to bite her in the ass – yet again – cat in the tree analogy).
Her brief six month period as a waitress. If one thing is certain, it's that Gail Peck was not made to wait on people for crappy tips – (Especially entitled, ungrateful assholes who occasionally called her sweetheart, and even the few brain-dead idiots who dared to cheekily slap her ass as she turned away to place their orders).
A shotgun Vegas wedding... to Nick Collins of all people – (Gail likes to blame this one on the stupidity of young love and gin... definitely gin. Which is why she no longer touches the stuff; the smell alone enough to make her stomach turn. She refuses to ever be that foolish and naive again, even if Nick had actually hightailed it out of there before they managed to make it down the aisle at the Elvis chapel. She guesses in some way she should actually be thankful for Nick for being such a wimp and bailing on her, because heaven knows her life is already messy enough without having 'divorced' added to her list).
Getting kidnapped... (She feels this one is pretty self-explanatory. It's also the one Gail tries her hardest not to think about for fear of any tormenting nightmares returning to her).
More recently added:
Watching Holly walk away from her – (This one, Gail thinks, might actually win the title of 'The worst experience ever'. Even thinking about it now, one week later, still makes her heart ache relentlessly, her mostly self-inflicted wounds remaining raw and refusing to heal).
And now thanks once again to her pal Andy 'supercop' McNally, Gail gets to add yet another thing to her list; Gerald.
On the morning of Duncan's first shift back after his hearing, Oliver had called her into his office and – with a tired, do-not-give-me-shit-about-this, look on his face – had placed Gail in charge of the rookie, making her his new – and very unwilling – T.O. Oliver's orders had been pretty simple and clear after that; don't let the rookie get killed, and don't let the rookie harm any innocent civilians.
(In hindsight, given Andy's warning to her about his performance, and what she'd seen of Gerald herself during her three days of riding with him, Gail really should have known that keeping that simple promise to Oliver was going to be a lot harder than it sounded).
For the most part though, Gerald has been fairly quiet, his eagerness to impress her withering away and perishing with just one of her best icy, warning glares. But even from their short time together, Gail knows exactly why somebody as preppy and positive as Andy had struggled to handle him so much. Duncan Moore was a bumbling, fumbling idiot of epic proportions. He lacked common sense, asking endlessly stupid questions at every turn, and had a poor grasp on even the most basic of law-enforcement protocols. How this guy ever made it through the Academy, Gail doesn't know... well, she does, she just doesn't like it or agree with it.
On the afternoon of her fourth day as Duncan's new T.O. they get called out to a crime scene in a woodland area just outside the city, two eager old gentleman with metal-detectors having stumbled across what appeared to be a burial site. Gail sets Gerald up with questioning them and taking their statements while she goes to investigate the remains a little closer, wanting to be fully prepared on the details for when Nash and Swarek arrive.
From what Gail can see from her position, crouching down at the edge of the large, deep pit, is what looks like pieces of two, or maybe three, fully grown skeletons. Her nose scrunches up at the smell coming off them, and Gail wages that they've been there for a fair while, lost and forgotten beneath the dirt.
It isn't until she hears the sound of footsteps crunching over the leaves and fallen branches, and Gerald's voice calling out for somebody to stop that Gail turns to see Holly trying to pass him. She remembers then, suddenly, feeling a little stupid for not having thought about it earlier, that finding dead people also equals Holly.
Gail feels her lungs constrict tightly, every bit of oxygen in her body suddenly lodging painfully in her chest and making her head spin as her eyes soak Holly in. She hasn't seen her or heard from her since that night at the station, and seeing her now only makes her spine prickle uncomfortably with further sorrow and regret. Holly looks frustrated and tired, her mouth pursed into a tight line as she holds her red lunchbox up at Gerald's face and attempts to explain who she is, and despite how things currently stand between them, Gail feels the corner of her mouth curl up a little as her mind flashes with a familiar memory of how she and Holly first met.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am but this is a crime scene, you can't be here, so I'm gonna have to ask you to back yourself right up outta here," Duncan commands, his hand resting over his gun like he's just about ready to draw it if Holly attempts to pass him again.
Gail inhales deeply, taking a brief moment to steady herself before she heads over towards them. "Gerald, if you don't take your hand off your firearm immediately I swear to God I'll cap you in the ass with my gun," Gail barks, glaring at him until he holds his hands up at her. "This is Dr. Stewart, the forensics pathologist, she's allowed to be here, okay? So let her pass."
Holly greets her quietly in response, not quite meeting her eyes, and lets Gail lead her over towards the pit containing the bodies. She watches Holly pull out a pair of gloves, snapping them on efficiently as she regards the depth of the pit for a second before seating herself down on the edge of it, and using her arms to carefully lower herself down inside.
Gail passes down her forensics-kit wordlessly, and as she watches Holly turn to the bodies and begin to examine them without another word to her, she uses Holly's professional preoccupation as her chance to escape.
"Rookie, you're waiting with the pathologist and doing whatever she asks you to do, and I'm going to finish up questioning these fine gentleman while we wait for the detectives," she orders sternly, snatching the notebook and pen from his hand before he has a chance to object. She turns her head and glares at him a second later when she notices he hasn't left her side. "Why are you still standing here? Shoo already."
He opens his mouth to protest, but quickly changes his mind when Gail narrows her eyes pointedly at him, flicking her hand out and gesturing for him to go away. Not being so near to Holly makes her feel like she can finally breathe a littler better again, and she focuses all of her energy on retaking the statements – not trusting Duncan's version of accounts at all – and makes sure not to miss a single detail.
She's flipping her notebook closed and nodding her head in greeting to Sam and Traci when it actually happens. As she turns to point them towards the burial site, she sees her rookie standing at the edge of the pit, bobbing down slightly and holding his hand out, presumably for Holly to take, offering to help her climb back up. A split-second later a loud thud followed by a surprised and pain filled squeal rings out between the trees, and Duncan is standing empty-handed, staring down into the pit, his face white in a mix shock and horror.
Gail knows exactly what has happened before she even reaches the pit to see Holly sprawled out awkwardly, flat on her back, on top of the remains. Her eyes are clenched tightly shut and her brow is furrowed in obvious discomfort, and all Gail can hear is the spluttered wheezing escaping from between Holly's parted lips as she struggles to regain her breath.
"What the fuck happened, you moron?" Gail demands, her voice lilted with panic as she shoves him out of the way, and hurriedly drops down into the pit. She lets herself fall to her knees at Holly's side, her hands instantly reaching out to brush the hair from Holly's face as she cups her cheek. "Holly? Are you okay? Can you breathe? Say something, Hol."
Holly's eyes open at the sound of her worried voice, and she nods in response, her hand coming up to press against her chest as she coughs deeply. Gail glances up to see Sam forcefully pulling Duncan out of view, while Traci stares down at them, phone pressed tightly to her ear and tells them that an ambulance is on its way.
"I'm fine," Holly stutters breathlessly, her eyes still a little unfocused from the shock of her fall.
Gail feels Holly starting to shift next to her, attempting to try and push herself up onto her elbows, and it instantly springs her back into action. She gently slides her arm beneath Holly's back, trying her best to help her as she grapples to sit upright. When Holly's eyes close tightly shut again, a wince hissing out from between her clenched teeth, Gail quickly manoeuvres herself to slide in behind Holly, using her new position to support most of Holly's weight as she gently guides Holly to lean back against her chest.
"Careful," Gail murmurs soothingly, Holly whimpering and cursing under her breath as she grasps protectively at her left side.
Holly grunts in agony again as she attempts to breathe deeply, and Gail can feel the tension in her muscles as her body stiffens against the action. "Fuck, this hurts," Holly mutters, letting her head fall back onto Gail's shoulder in defeat, knowing that this is as comfortable as she's going to get for now. "Your new rookie is a real ass, Gail," Holly breathes, her voice hitching slightly over the words.
"I know," Gail replies guiltily, letting her palms smooth up and down Holly's arms, desperately wanting to comfort her. "I'm sorry I let that idiot anywhere near you. I really didn't mean for you to get hurt because of me again."
They lapse into a thick silence as Gail's words linger heavily between them, and Gail lets her eyes fall shut as they begin to sting with tears, biting down hard at her bottom lip as she tries to prevent herself from saying anything else to make this even more awkward than it already is.
"Looking on the upside, I guess I can turn this into a funny story and tell my friends that I have, in fact, been well and truly boned now," Holly jokes, breaking the tense silence and gesturing at the bits of bone fragments they're currently sitting on.
It makes Gail remember Izzy's inaccurate comment at the lab, and she feels herself release a sad, breathy laugh in response. Her lack of a more verbal, teasing remark makes Holly tilt her head to search out Gail's eyes questioningly. "What, no silly, sexual innuendo, Peck? Come on, I'm setting your dirty mind up perfectly here," Holly follows up, attempting a small smile.
Gail knows Holly is trying to keep things light between them, bantering familiarly with her like they always used to, but the harder Holly tries to act like they haven't hurt each other deeply, the more Gail's heart clenches in regret, reminding her painfully of all that they've lost.
"Izzy asked me if you and I boned," Gail confesses in a whisper, looking purposefully away from Holly's intense gaze. She feels Holly stiffen against her momentarily, a small breath of surprise rushing from her mouth, even as her eyes refuse to leave Gail's face. "I told her that expression was inaccurate," she adds in a low murmur, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment for even bringing it up, but completely unable to stop herself from explaining fully now that she's started.
She feels Holly's gaze burning into her face as she stares at her quietly for a long, drawn out moment, her curiosity piqued. "What expression did you tell her to use instead?" Holly replies just as softly.
Her inquisitive tone makes Gail slowly and daringly lift her eyes to find Holly's own, and the sad longing she sees in Holly's beautiful dark eyes makes her breath lodge in her throat. "I didn't offer her one," Gail exhales, swallowing thickly, and watching as disappointment etches over Holly's face before she turns forward again, away from Gail's prying eyes. "I didn't know how to explain to a sixteen year old that what we shared wasn't boning, or fucking, or getting down and dirty, or whatever it is that the kids are calling it these days..." she trails off, letting her eyes flutter closed as she lets her nose whisper against Holly's cheek, delicately nuzzling into her soft skin as she breathes her in. "...but that sex with you was so, so much more."
"Gail..." Holly breathes shakily, her head instantly turning back so that she can meet Gail's eyes.
The pleading look on her face makes Gail's eyes sting with tears again, and she doesn't know whether Holly wants her to say more or shut up. "I know you're seeing somebody else now, and that I messed up my chance to be with you," Gail adds hastily, daring to take her chance to finally say what she always should have said but held back on out of fear. "But I want you to know that getting to be with you, and hold you, and make love to you, was the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've never felt so safe or loved with anybody before, Holly, and losing you and what we had is the biggest – worst – mistake I've ever made in my life, and I regret it deeply."
Holly's eyes glimmer wetly in response to her confession, much like they had the last time that Gail dared to open herself up and expose her heart, revealing the true depth of her feelings for her, but before Holly can respond, an EMT is dropping carefully down into the pit with them and asking Holly questions as he begins to examine her head and ribs.
His partner asks Gail to give them some room, supporting Holly as he helps guide Gail out from behind her, and she immediately takes the hand Sam offers down to her. Once she's pulled back up onto solid ground, Gail feels her chest flare with renewed anger as she catches sight of her rookie standing off to the side, can of drink in one hand and what looks like a bag of peanuts in the other, looking completely chilled out and unphased by the whole situation.
She's marching towards him before she even realises that her feet are moving, and as his eyes widen at her sudden approach, his mouth falling open with a series of lame excuses, all Gail can think about is Holly being hurt because of her and another one of this guy's careless mistakes.
With the sound of blood rushing noisily in her ears, Gail lets her fist connect forcefully with his cheekbone. He's stumbling backwards before he even has a chance to react, and even as her hand sears with a white hot, burning pain, watching him hit the ground with a loud grunt of anguish is well worth it.
"You... you hit me!" he bumbles incredulously, reaching up to cradle his cheek in disbelief. "You can't do that to me, I'm-"
"Too late, Gerald, I already did," Gail fires back, glaring down at him, and shaking out her hand. "What are you going to do about it, huh? You gonna go crying to your step-dad again about how the real cops are treating your dumb, useless ass?"
He stares up at her for a second, and she watches as his eyes fall briefly to the name tag stitched across her chest. Being a Peck has always been more of a pain than a gift that earned her any favours, but she knows that this time it will keep this whiney little bitch from daring to report her.
"You're not cop material, Moore," Gail says earnestly, holding his eyes for as long as she can before he's forced to lower his gaze shamefully, knowing that she's speaking the truth. "We all know it and so do you. Be a man about it and hand in your badge already before you actually end up getting somebody seriously injured or even killed."
She hears Traci calling her name then – interrupting Duncan just as he opens his mouth to speak – and she turns just in time to see the EMTs loading Holly into the back of their ambulance. She gives Duncan a final, parting look, before hurrying over towards them. Gail feels a little awkward as she reaches the doors, lingering uncertainly, unsure whether Holly would want her to stay or to climb in and go with her to the hospital, but then Holly softly calls out her name, and just like that the decision is made for her.
Holly reaches for her hand the moment she sits down at her side, turning to look at Gail with a small, thankful smile. "What's the damage then, Doc?" Gail asks gently, letting her eyes run over Holly's body, and taking note of the deep bruising she can see has blossomed up Holly's side, revealed to her eyes for the first time from where Holly's shirt has ridden up slightly.
"You'll probably have some swelling if you don't ice your knuckles soon, and they'll probably be tender for a few days," Holly replies, her eyes glued to Gail's hand as she gently runs her fingertips lightly over Gail's skin.
Gail smiles at the way Holly's brow has furrowed in concern, her gaze meeting Holly's as she flicks her eyes back up to Gail's face. "I meant you," she murmurs in return, nodding her head towards Holly's ribs.
"Oh," Holly breathes bashfully, her mouth curling into her trademark crooked smile. "I'm fine, nothing too serious. It's just a couple of broken ribs, a possible concussion, and I'm guessing my gluteus maximus' will probably be pretty bruised and tender for awhile." Gail smiles in amusement at Holly's nerdiness, quirking her eyebrow and mouthing 'gluteus maximus' playfully back at Holly until she rolls her eyes. Holly's eyes fall to her hand again then, and when she flicks her eyes back up to Gail's this time, Gail can see a variety of conflicting emotions playing out across her face. "You shouldn't have punched your rookie," Holly murmurs gently, her eyebrows knitting together in worry again. "You're going to get into trouble."
"It was worth it," Gail says absently, trying to play it off, and then shrugs in response when Holly raises her eyebrow pointedly at her. "He hurt you, Lunchbox," she adds in a breathy whisper, watching as Holly's eyes soften at the nickname before she lowers her head sadly, still feeling incredibly responsible for all that's happened. "I can't stand seeing you hurt."
Holly sighs heavily, and when Gail dares to glance up at her, Holly is shaking her head at her. "You're so infuriating," she huffs affectionately, her arm shifting awkwardly so that she can reach up to brush her knuckles softly against Gail's cheek.
Gail eyes flutter closed at Holly's loving caress, her touch always so sweet and gentle. "I know," she replies softly, her eyes remaining closed as she allows herself to indulge in the moment for as long as Holly will let her. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not seeing anyone," Holly murmurs gently, smiling a little guiltily when Gail's eyes immediately pop open, her brow furrowing tightly in confusion. "It was just one stupid set up with some woman I barely know. I was trying to get over you... it didn't work."
"It didn't?" Gail breathes out hopefully, her eyes boring into Holly's intensely, imploring her with all her heart to be telling the truth.
Holly shakes her head and smiles softly as she lets her palm slide lovingly against Gail's cheek. "How could it when I've fallen so completely and utterly in love with you, Gail," she admits, her voice filling Gail's ears like a soothing lullaby. "Even if you can be an infuriating, impetuous, self-destructive brat sometimes."
Gail feels her eyes brim with tears, relief flooding through her chest as she turns her face further into Holly's touch, letting her lips whisper endless promises against the warmth of Holly's skin. "I love you," she chokes thickly in response, her heart swelling in her chest and bursting with immeasurable happiness. "I really, really love you, Lunchbox."
Holly just smiles knowingly up at her and tugs gently at her face, encouraging her down into a soft, sweet kiss that makes Gail feel like her world is slowly righting itself again.
(And later that night, when Holly is curled up against her side and sleeping soundly, for the first time in her life, Gail scratches something off her 'worst experiences' list, and decides that maybe Gerald isn't so bad after all; he may have caused some severe bruising to Holly's gluteus maximus, but in the end, his stupid, careless fumbling helped them find their way back to each other, and for that Gail will always be thankful).