Disclaimer: Don't own, and not for profit.
Summary – My take from the 5.03 spoiler set after Gail arrives at the Fight Night venue. It's not really Gail/Holly centric and ignores some of what we learned from the ep as I couldn't get this finished until now.
Fight for it
Gail glanced around, now that she had passed off that vile liquid Oliver had given her she needed to find herself a proper drink, maybe a scotch or tequila. Either of those would work well right now, hell even just some mouthwash to rid her of the taste of that putrid drink.
She wasn't sure if she should blame Oliver for handing her the thing or Chris because he was in charge of tonight and had ordered the crap to begin with.
Spotting the bar that had been set up complete with barmen, Gail made her way to the other side of the large space. It looked like some old disused slaughter house, or packing plant, but as she looked around at the boxing ring and the practise area that had been set up, Gail thought Chris hadn't done too bad a job of it. Not that she'd tell him that of course.
"Beer." She ordered when she noticed there wasn't a chance in hell of getting anything else. She'd count herself lucky if it tasted even slightly better than the wine had. A quick look at the rest of the cops milling around she thought it was probably drinkable considering most everyone she could see had cups of beer and not the wine glasses in their hands.
She sniffed the cup she was handed cautiously before taking the tiniest of sips and had to admit, it would definitely do for now.
Traci sidled up beside her and ordered one for herself. "Seen your brother around here yet?" She asked Gail.
Gail looked around at the faces, some she recognised, most she didn't. She took a deep drink then shrugged at her friend. "Don't think so, unless he's over with the white shirts." What she really meant was that Steve was likely with her dad if he was here at all.
Steve was a bit of a wuss and never liked these events. If he came it would be work related, to talk up a recent bust with his boss or their dad and his buddies. There'd be card games after the fighting was done that only a very select few ever got invited to.
Gail had to grin at the thought of Ollie trying to fit in with them. She'd have to find her dad later and put in a good word for him to be included. She'd consider that payback enough for the damn wine.
"No Holly?" Traci asked as she stood beside Gail and watched as two fighters from the south divisions squared up in the ring to much cheer from the onlookers.
"Nope." Was all Gail had to say before she swallowed down more of her beer.
Traci watched her friend closely, wondering what was up. The blonde had mentioned going to meet Holly at the Penny before heading here, now Holly was a no show? Something wasn't right.
"Everything okay with you two?" She asked.
"Peachy." Gail muttered before turning slightly and holding up her empty cup for a refill.
"Why don't you call her, see if she can make it? 15 aren't on until just before 27." And 27 were the main attraction and the closing fight of the whole event. Which meant there was probably another hour and a half before that fight was due to kick off.
Traci wondered if that was enough time to see if Gail would let her in on what was going on between her and Holly.
"I don't think so, she's out with her friends tonight." She supplied grumpily. And it was true, just because Gail thought the pair were a bunch of up themselves elitists, didn't mean the two women weren't people that Holly cared a great deal about. She had called them family after all.
"Oh!" Traci grinned as she watched her friend closely thinking she had a better idea now as to why the blonde wasn't in the best of moods. "Jealous?" She teased. She wasn't sure she had ever seen Gail this into someone before. She looked positively down heartened by Holly's absence.
Gail scoffed. Like hell was she jealous of those two bitches, especially the boob job girl.
Traci gave the blonde a friendly bump with her shoulder. "Come on, you'll see her later I'm sure." Which was probably true given Gail had taken to staying over at Holly's apartment a lot these days.
Gail swallowed down some more beer and shrugged. She didn't really want to talk about Holly and her friends tonight.
Traci rolled her eyes, clearly Gail was in one of her non-talking sulky moods right now.
"Fine, don't talk about it." She told the blonde. "How about we go find Andy then, Chloe said she's freaking out over Nick taking Duncan's place in the fight later." She said tugging on the sleeve of the leather jacket Gail had on.
"What? Since when?" This was news to Gail.
Traci made a face, unsure herself what had actually happened to the rookie. "Couple of hours ago, he hurt himself I think."
Gail snorted and stopped then pointed to the far corner of the disused building they were in. "Yeah, really looks hurt there."
Traci frowned then looked over to where Gail had gestured. "Well damn." Duncan was stood with a bunch of other cops, most likely his graduating classmates, gesturing wildly with his hands before lifting both up into the air and smacking them into the hands some other guy held up for him. "Why that lying little shit."
Gail shook her head when Traci started to move in Duncan's direction, no doubt planning to give him a piece of her mind. And Gail didn't blame her one bit, Traci had been picked for their fight night and had gone up against a ringer and won. But Gail knew more than most that fight night was about so much more than the fight and who had bragging rights by winning.
It was about the new rookies becoming part of the traditions of their police division.
"Go find Andy before she has a meltdown, I'm not nearly drunk enough to deal with that." Gail told her friend. "I'll have a quiet word with our rookie."
Traci eyed Gail suspiciously, Gail hadn't wanted anything to do with Andy's rookie, in fact she went out of her way to avoid them from what Andy had told her. "But you don't even like him." She questioned.
Gail gave her friend a wicked grin. "Oh, I know I don't."
Traci snorted. "Well, okay then!" She wasn't even going to feel sorry for Duncan, maybe a Gail Peck kick up the backside was what he needed. "You go do that, and I will try and track down Andy."
Gail watched Traci disappear into the growing crowd. Her eyes flicked to the fight going on. Ah, two women were up there now. Explained the increased attention from the mostly male crowd.
She downed the rest of her drink and then turned and eyed Duncan and his buddies. They didn't look likely to leave their spot anytime soon so she was going to have to go over there and drag 15's newest rookie away with her for that quiet little chitchat.
As she placed her empty cup down and started to walk away a white shirt suddenly blocked her path. She started to scowl until her eyes flicked to the name tag.
"Hey dad." She got out before she was pulled into a hug.
Bill laughed as he felt Gail squirm in his arms and reluctantly released her. He smiled down at the blonde who was now all out glaring at him. He smiled at her then looked at the faces around her curiously before looking back down at Gail.
Gail sighed and raked her hand through her hair. "She's not here." She muttered, glancing away from her father.
Now it was Bill's turn to frown. His daughter did not look happy. A stark contrast to the young woman that had been fending off his wife's insistence that if Gail didn't introduce her girlfriend at one of their family dinners then Elaine would have little option but to drop by the morgue in an 'official' capacity.
Not wanting to put his daughter on the spot Bill offered a consoling pat on the shoulder. "Some other time then." He told her.
"Maybe." Was all Gail could bring herself to say. She had no idea where she stood with Holly right now. She thought their relationship was so much more than a 'bit of fun' but then Gail had been wrong a lot of times before in relationships. Why should things with Holly go any better?
"Come on, come sit with your old man and keep me company." He told Gail as he put his arm around her.
Gail's eyes went to Duncan but as she was pulled away she figured the rookie wasn't going anywhere anyway so she might as well go sit with her father for a while. "What's the matter, Steve not show?" She snarked at her dad with a glare even though they both knew she wasn't seriously complaining. While Steve was a mommas boy Gail was firmly their father's favourite, even if it only really showed when Elaine wasn't around because for some god awful reason Bill loved that woman and always deferred to her.
Gail blinked suddenly, and if she wasn't being pulled along she probably would have stopped right there and then as a realisation struck her. Love did that to her father. It made him see past all the things that rubbed Gail the wrong way about her mother and made them completely irrelevant to him. How else could you explain why her father, who was a legend in his own right as a police officer and detective with the 27 Division, willing take a back seat in his own career to be there to support Elaine's push for advancements and commendations?
She shook her head not wanting to think too hard on what went on between her parents, not when she still believed a stork brought her to their home one night as a new born. And she's sure they found Steve wandering around the streets somewhere and he just happened to follow them home.
Ugh. Now she needed another drink.
"Hey guys, look who I found wandering around the place?" Bill said as they came to the raised bleachers that he and the rest of the white shirts had been allocated for the night's entertainment viewing.
Faces turned away from the ring and offered smiles before most went back to the drama of the fight going on. A few however knew Gail personally and welcomed her with bigger grins and words of hello.
Gail just moved her hand in a semi wave like motion and sat down beside her father.
"Well if it isn't baby Peck." A voice said from behind Gail as the guy on the other side of Bill drew his attention.
Gail turned her head slightly and spotted one of her father's regular 'boy's night' attendees and the Staff Sergeant over at 27. "Hey Martin." She greeted him with a warm smile.
Martin grinned broadly at his friend's daughter, then leaned closer. "Hope you haven't put any money on your rookie tonight, 34 have got the best of the best this year." He whispered at her then sent her a wink as he chuckled and sat back.
Gail rolled her eyes. "Trust me, even if our rookie was fighting my money wouldn't be on him."
The way Gail saw it Duncan was a few more screw ups away from being an all out embarrassment to 15. She was offended on her divisions behalf that he had even got into 15, there was no way he could have been in the top of his graduating class, if he was then the future of Toronto's police force was looking very bleak indeed.
"Hey listen, I know 15 was your mom's division and all, but if you feel like a change I'm sure we can squeeze you in over on our side of the city. You can TO some of the new bunch, and we've got a couple of spots open for detective rotation if you're interested?" He went on casually.
Gail didn't know what to say, and as she glanced over at her father she saw his face splitting grin and had to wonder if this was his doing. "Um." Martin was still looking expectantly at her and for the life of her, Gail had no idea what to say, she was actually stunned into silence.
Transfer out of 15?
Away from her friends and colleagues?
Could she do that?
And even if she could, why would she want to?
Martin gave her a knowing look, appreciating that his offer had blindsided her and not wanting her to rush her answer. "Think about it and let me know, Gail. We'd love to have you."
Just as Gail started to nod, a voice spoke up and interrupted them.
"No, no. There will be no stealing of my Peck." Oliver said as he came over and waved a finger at Martin. Oliver smiled but his eyes had narrowed dangerously at the other white shirt. He then turned to Gail and pulled her up and away from the bleachers. "She's my officer Martin, and try anything like that again and I might just steal your rookie out from under you." He threw back over his shoulder but Martin just laughed at the threat, completely unconcerned.
Gail sighed as she was yet again pulled around the warehouse. But as she could practically feel the tension radiating from Oliver she let him guide her away from prying eyes and into a corridor off the main room that was empty of people.
"Okay, what was that? Hm?" Oliver demanded as he released Gail.
"Woah, what was what, Oliver?" Gail asked, not expecting her friend to look so angry at her.
"That. Back there." He said, pointing back towards the fight room. "What was that about? Do you want to leave 15 now?" He asked dragging his hand over his face, thinking as he eyed his friend. "I get it, this is about Andy being the TO, isn't it? I knew you were upset about that!" He said making a face like he should have figured that out before, everyone had noticed the way Gail avoided Duncan and Andy around the station. He just never thought Gail was disappointed enough about being passed over to want to transfer out of the station. Dov and Chris had grumbled over it but that had only lasted until they'd spent more than five minutes with Duncan and then they were just fine with Andy having him.
Gail shifted her weight on her feet and glanced around. Yes she had her opinion on Andy's competence as a training officer but really that was Oliver's problem, not hers. She just hoped by the time she had to work a shift with him she wasn't going to have to have him on a tight leash so he didn't compromise crime scenes.
"He shouldn't even be at 15." She complained.
Oliver gave Gail a look, telling her she should know exactly why the Commissioner's son had got 15 Division after he had graduated.
"See! That, that right there," Gail said pointing a finger at Oliver. "Is why I want nothing to do with him. I've been at 15 for four years Oliver. Four." She stressed holding up her hand with her thumb tucked into the palm and her fingers spread out. "And people still think all I am is a god damn Peck!"
Oliver sighed and put his hands on his hips. He understood why she was upset, but assumptions like that never came from anyone that had worked with her. Expect Dov, when he was trying to piss her off and if there was a sure fire way to do that it was to bring up Gail being a Peck.
"No I don't want to be his training officer, Andy's welcome to him." She said with a snort. "But tell me Ollie, are you going to send him back to the Academy for retraining if Andy has to cover for any more of his screw ups?" She wanted to know.
Oliver turned his eyes to the ceiling and let the silence linger as he tried to find the words to explain the situation without touching on Gail and her own family legacy.
"This isn't just about the rookie, it's about Andy and about me, and about the whole of 15." He finally told her softly. "With what happened with Ford, Inspector Jarvis let Frank decide who was going to take the fall. Marlo for going off meds and doing that investigation on her own, or Sam and Andy for covering up for her, or Frank could take the fall himself." Oliver had a lot of sympathy for his friend's decision and while Frank hadn't been fired he had his division taken from him and that might have been worse. "And he did."
"So darling, there you have it. Jarvis put me in this shirt and told me that if I want to keep it I have to prove I'm capable of the position. That means, getting Moore as our new rookie, and Andy, bless her, was just trying to prove something by offering to train him. Right now she'd probably chew your arm off if you offered to take him off her hands, but she can't." He continued to explain to Gail who was watching him carefully. "This is all one big test, to prove that I'm good enough to be the Staff Sergeant, who can lead all of you guys and fail none of you. That Andy, like the rest of you, has been trained to a level where she can now train other rookies, and that means that Duncan will have to pass his probation period with flying colours. No options."
Gail crossed her arms over her chest and snorted. She couldn't see that happening in a million years. Especially not after tonight when everyone worked out that he faked his injury just so he didn't have to get his ass kicked in the ring by someone bigger and better than himself.
"You don't think we can pull it off?" He asked her with a tilt of his head.
"Have you met Duncan?" Gail asked slowly, in case Oliver was confusing him with someone else.
That made Oliver smile. "You guys were all wet behind the ears too once." He smiled and lifted his hands to indicate her standing there in front of him. "And look at you now! Super cops, all of you."
Gail laughed despite herself. "We were never that bad." She insisted with a shake of her head.
Now it was Oliver's turn to snort as he put his arm around her shoulder again, this time leading her back into the fight room more gently. "Oh, please, some of you still are."
"I'll let Andy know you said that."
Oliver grinned at her. "Wise guy."
As they started back Oliver pulled Gail a little closer. "We get 15 through these next few months, then you come see me, we'll talk about what you want to do next Peck. TO, detective rotation, ETF, we'll work it out, okay?" He said, as he brought them to a stop and he held her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. "But no jumping ship. 15 is not sinking, we won't let it, okay?" When she nodded her agreement he smiled at her then let her go to take his place reluctantly back among the white shirts.
Gail watched him go. She almost felt sorry for him. But he had explained a few things that had been bothering Gail in the last few weeks. And right now she was pissed, not just at Duncan but at Jarvis. Who the hell did he think he was coming into 15 and throwing his weight around like that? Giving Oliver the job as Staff Sergeant but telling him he'd be out of it if Andy couldn't train the Academy reject properly.
Power trip or what?
Gail had a good mind to go pull her father aside and have a word about it, there was no way Jarvis should be threatening anyone at 15 after everything the division had been through.
She glanced around with narrowed eyes wondering if she could spot the Inspector in question but she couldn't.
One person she did spot however, was Duncan Moore, still off in the corner she'd first seen him in, trading first day on the job stories with his buddies no doubt.
Or as Gail liked to think of it, bullshitting with each other.
She made her way over slowly, let her eyes find a few of the rookie's facing her and stare them down as she made her way to their little group.
By the time she was standing behind Duncan, almost every set of eyes were on her. Minus Duncan's of course, who was in the middle of a story about busting a Narc case from a routine traffic stop when he spotted white powered near the glove box.
Gail rolled her eyes and then crossed her arms and cleared her throat. Only then did Duncan spin around and notice her.
"Gail!" His eyes went to his friends and took in their stunned expressions. He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders, before adopting a more serious air. "I mean, Officer Peck, how can I help you?" He said, finishing off with a smile, proud that he was coming off as respectful to a senior officer.
Gail saw the nudging between the other guys pause when they heard her name then stare a little harder at her. She was sure they were all wondering if she was related to the Superintendent Peck that was there at their graduating ceremony.
She winked at them with a smirk on her face she knew resembled her mothers.
Some of them paled.
She snorted then turned her attention onto Duncan and the reason she had bothered to come all the way over here in the first place when what she really needed to be doing tonight was propping up a bar and downing her drinks.
"Say goodbye to your buddies and come with me." Gail told him before turning and walking away.
Duncan glanced at his mates then put his hands up and grinned at them. "If you'll excuse me." He said before adjusting his jacket and trailing after the blonde with a few whoops and whistles to cheer him off.
Gail was so angry by the time Duncan caught up to her in a back room that she grabbed him by his jacket and pressed him hard up against the nearest wall.
"Hey! What the-"
Gail pushed him a little harder and got right into his face. "How's the shoulder?"
Duncan's eyes widened.
"Ah, you forget about that? Because you sure didn't look like you had a problem with it when I saw you goofing off with your mates just now." Gail explained.
Swallowing Duncan knew Gail wasn't going to take any of his excuses, not looking as mad as she was. So he took a chance and tried just to be honest.
"Did you see that guy I was supposed to fight?!" He asked, gesturing back towards the main room. "He was huge! Like the Hulk big, all muscle."
Gail gave him a little shake to make him stop with the words. "You really think that's what tonight's all about, a fight?"
He shrugged. "Well yeah." He answered her.
"You are an idiot." She told him then watched him roll his eyes at her. "You're our rookie, 15's rookie. Tonight you were supposed to be up there in that ring-"
"To get my ass kicked? No thanks." He muttered with a snort and looked away from her.
Gail clenched her jaw and gave him another shove against the wall. "You were supposed to be up there fighting and having us back you!" She spat at him. He just didn't get it. "This is you standing up there against the other rookies and saying, this is me, this is my division now, and I'll fight for them, and no matter how hard the fight, and win lose or draw, those guys out there with me will have my back, and I'll have theirs, because they're my family now."
Duncan blinked as he tried to take in what Gail was telling him. He opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out.
"How dare you disrespect that, disrespect us. The people of 15 Division have bled and died for each other!" Gail told him hotly, remembering Jerry's desperate last ditch tackle on Perik, the one that saved her life but cost Jerry his. Or Sam, drawing Ford's attention away from Nick, and taking a bullet to the gut for it.
"You think you're worthy of that yet?" She asked him with narrowed eyes that bore into his. "You think you've earned that? You think Andy should be willing to take a bullet for you? For you?"
Duncan swallowed hard under the intensity of those blue eyes staring him down.
"What you are right now is a joke." Gail told him, finally releasing her hold on his jacket with a final push to keep him there against the wall. She wasn't finished. "I don't care that you are embarrassing yourself, I care that you're making Andy look bad which makes Staff Sergeant Shaw and the rest of us look bad."
Tears gathered at Duncan's eyes. "I'm sorry." He muttered as his shoulders slumped in defeat.
Gail huffed and put her hands at her hips as she shook her head at him.
"What can I do?" Duncan asked her pleadingly, stepping away from the wall towards her. "To fix it, what can I do?" He repeated as Gail just looked at him.
Folding her arms across her chest, Gail finally looked the new rookie over. She hadn't spoken to him in years and what she could remember of him wasn't much.
But maybe she did owe him a piece of advice. His step-dad might have been the Commissioner but Duncan hadn't been brought up to be a cop, not like she was.
"You and your buddies out there, you think you're cops now, just because you graduated and lasted past the first few weeks?" She asked while shaking her head. "You don't know anything." She told him. "Out there on the street it's not just about laws and procedures, it's about people's lives and the shit that happens when it all goes wrong. That's what your TO is for, they're there to show you what's not in the manual and the case files you studied at the Academy."
Duncan gave her a nod, listening closely.
"What you do Duncan, is forget every damn thing you were taught and live and breathe what Andy tells you, she's your teacher for the next few months and take it from me, you can learn everything you need to if you'll just start paying attention." She explained, although why she was bigging up McNally she'll never quite know.
"I can do that." He said to himself.
Gail narrowed her eyes and jabbed a finger into his chest. "You will do that."
Duncan nodded quickly then looked confused. "H-how do I do that?" He asked hesitantly.
Gail rolled her eyes, then found a grin as she considered his question a bit further. "Tomorrow, you turn up at Andy's apartment and you pretend you're attached at the hip, you get up when she does, workout with her, go to the gun range with her, and you listen to everything she tells you. Got that?"
"Yes ma'am." He said, straightening his shoulders and giving her a serious look.
Now Gail gave him a pat on the arm, loving the idea of Andy having to suffer with the rookie even outside the station. The thought alone was maybe even better than alcohol right at this moment.
"But for tonight, just go thank Nick for taking your place."
Duncan nodded and moved to leave only to turn back to the blonde. "Shouldn't I, you know, take his place?"
Gail smirked wickedly and shook her head. "No, I'm sure he's looking forward to it by now." And she couldn't wait to see him get his lights knocked out. She wasn't about to let a guilt ridden moron like Duncan spoil the only bright spot to her night.
He gave her a curious look but then he just nodded his head and took off back out of the room.
A few seconds later Andy appeared from out of the shadows of the corridor. "That was a really nice thing for you to do."
Ew, feelings. Gail almost couldn't take the happy smile on Andy's face as she wondered briefly how much her sort-of-friend had overheard. By the almost proud look she was sporting it was probably a lot.
"I need a drink." She said with a scowl at the brunette.
Andy chuckled and let Gail pass her and move out into the hallway.
Had she really just talked nice about Andy? "Ugh, maybe two drinks, and you're buying."
"It's an open bar." Andy reminded Gail.
Gail just sighed and continued walking, maybe the noise of the fight room would drown Andy's lilting happy chipper out.
"You know, when Traci said you'd gone to talk to Duncan I thought I'd find him in bits on the ground." Andy said in an effort to explain why she'd come to find them.
Gail just kept her eyes forward and made for the nearest bar stationed in the room.
Andy smiled and joined Gail at the bar, signalling to the guy behind it that she'd take two beers. When they arrived she handed one off to the blonde then stood shoulder to shoulder with her as she gazed around looking to spot Traci or Dov and Chloe.
"Is that how you really feel about us? Even me?" Andy finally asked deciding to broach just a little of what she had heard. She knew Gail still carried a lot of guilt over Jerry's death, and she didn't feel right touching on that, not here, not tonight. And not when things with her and Gail were still not back the way they had been once, before Nick.
Gail swallowed as much beer as she could. She really didn't want to have this conversation, hadn't tonight been stressful enough, but as she glanced at Andy and saw her keep her eyes averted she decided maybe a little more honesty couldn't hurt.
"Well, maybe not, but I might try and push you out of the way of a bullet." She said, unable to hide a smirk as Andy looked over at her.
"Really?"
Gail shrugged and glanced around, spotting more than one of 15's cops in the gathering crowd by the ring. Nick must be due on soon she thought.
"In case you hadn't noticed McNally, you guys are pretty much my family." And after what was said with Holly earlier tonight that statement might just be more truthful than Gail was ready to admit.
Andy nodded. "For me too." She told Gail, then she bit her lip before fiddling with her cup. "You know I'm really sorry, for the whole Nick thing."
Gail winced and put her hand up to stop Andy saying anything more. "Not tonight. Really, I can't." She said with a shake of her head. She couldn't have that conversation with Andy right now, especially not right now.
Andy bit her lip and looked at Gail apologetically. "Sorry."
Gail sighed and glanced around, finally spotting Traci near the front of the crowd. "Come on, I wanna see Nick get his ass kicked close up."
Andy scowled but followed along. "It won't be that bad will it?"
Gail snorted as she stopped her passage through the crowd of people and gave Andy a look over her shoulder.
"Have you seen his opponent? Is he big?" Andy asked, having no idea who Nick was up to fight against and only now wondering why she hadn't asked.
"Oh yeah, like big big." Gail replied happily.
Andy stopped and blinked, suddenly really worried about her ex. "Maybe I should…"
Gail chuckled as she watched Andy disappear in the other direction. Nick was going to get slaughtered.
"Hey!" Traci said as Gail was suddenly at her side again. "What took you so long? Need time to bury the body?" She asked with a teasing smirk.
Gail grinned and started to answer only to notice who was stood on the other side of Traci. Her eyes hardened and she scowled. "What are you doing here?" She demanded in a hiss as she leaned around Traci.
Holly licked her lips nervously. "We need to talk." She replied, trying not to take the blonde's attitude personally.
Gail scoffed and turned back to the ring. They were starting to set up for the next fight and she had no idea if it was meant to be Nick's or not.
"Please Gail?" Holly tried again as Traci shifted back to let her step over beside Gail.
Gail kept her eyes forward, not daring to look at Holly right now for fear of breaking down. "Why?" She asked. "Come to give me more reasons why I'm not good enough for you?"
Traci's eyes widened as she watched the pair more closely after that.
"I never said that, and if you'd just give me the chance to explain?" Holly said hopefully as she inched closer. Tentatively she reached out a placed her hand on Gail's forearm but the blonde immediately pulled away from her.
"Don't touch me!"
Holly swallowed past the fear that things with Gail were past the point of return and moved in front of her. Not willing to give up on them yet. "Can we just, go somewhere and talk? Please?" She begged, she knew if she just had the chance to explain properly then they could sort this mess out. She could fix this.
Gail lifted her eyes to stare at Holly. She could also feel Traci's eyes on them and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to be out of here and away from all the prying eyes. She spun on her heel and started making her way through the crowd again, Holly could follow her or not, she really didn't care anymore.
Or at least she was trying her best not to.
As she walked back to the entrance to the building she couldn't help but replay the events at the Penny over and over again. She'd thought everything had been going okay, Holly's friends had been a little up themselves over being doctors but Rachel had seemed nice enough, Lisa on the other hand, not so much.
"Gail?" Holly called out when the blonde stepped out into the parking lot. The weather had turned and a light snow fall was starting to cover the ground again. "Gail!"
"What?" Gail asked as she turned and faced Holly. "What Holly? What do you want from me, huh?" She was so close to falling apart that she had to get this over with as quickly as possible and then she could do all her crying somewhere safe where she was alone.
"Gail, sweetie, you've got this all wrong." Holly tried to explain.
Gail shook her head, there was nothing to get wrong. "I didn't hear you disagree with anything she had to say." She gave Holly a look but the brunette couldn't refute that because she hadn't. "So you must agree with her then? That you're out of my league? But then, what does it matter, you were only in it for the fun anyway, right?" She asked with a scoff.
Holly licked her lips knowing that on some level she deserved Gail's anger. But she was just so used to Lisa making snide comments about people that she never really took in what she was saying, but if she had known at the time that Gail was listening of course she would have acted differently.
"Gail, we both know that if all I was looking for was easy uncomplicated fun, we wouldn't have made it this far together." She told Gail as she stared into her eyes, willing her to believe every word. "Not when I have to let you go to work every day knowing you could get shot at again, or worse." She bit her lip as she noticed Gail's glare soften just a touch. "You think that's my idea of fun?"
Gail blinked remembering Holly turning up at the station all flustered and panicked after hearing about Chloe, and making up that stupid excuse just to come see her. She didn't really think Holly was just with her for a bit of uncomplicated fun, because Gail was the most closed off, hard to understand complicated person at 15. And everyone that knew Gail would have agreed.
Including her therapist.
But it still cut to the bone, having to hear Holly's best friend tell Holly that she wasn't good enough for her.
She closed her eyes against the sting of tears and took a deep breath before looking back at Holly, letting her girlfriend see all of the hurt she was feeling. "Then why'd you let her say all of those things?" She asked softly, no longer able to keep eye contact as her gaze dropped to her feet.
Holly's heart broke a little at seeing Gail like this. She hated that she was responsible for doing this to the blonde, especially after how hard the last few weeks had been for Gail. "Because I'm an idiot?"
Gail snorted and couldn't stop the twitch of her lips as she almost smiled.
Holly didn't bother to hold hers back as she shifted and brought her hands up to cup Gail's face, still hesitant of Gail and unsure if her touch would be allowed. But Gail let her and she forced eye contact with the blonde, her heart clenching as she noticed the gathering tears.
"Lisa is a bit of a snob," She explained, ignoring Gail's derisive snort as she continued. "Most of the time I just let her say what she wants and overlook all the bitchy mean girl comments she makes. It seems to be my talent." She said and when Gail narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her for that last sentence she let her smile blossom into a full grin.
"You're not helping your cause at all right now." Gail warned, but there was something very Holly about that that Gail couldn't completely ignore. It had always surprised her how easily the pathologist just brushed off all of her snide comments or sent them back in her direction.
Lisa was still a bitch though as far as Gail was concerned, and the jury was still out on Rachel.
Holly chuckled and shifted even closer so that their bodies were now almost touching.
"I'm not asking you to suddenly be best friends with Lisa. It might take a few meetings before you two can get along, but that's okay and if you give her another chance I promise she'll be on her best behaviour next time." Holly offered. It wouldn't be easy to get Gail to agree to another meeting with her friends anytime soon but she just hoped they'd eventually be able to put this whole incident behind them.
Gail swallowed and shifted on her feet. She wasn't sure she could taking another night with Holly's friends, no matter how much alcohol was involved. "I don't know." She didn't often care what people thought of her but when that person was supposed to be one of Holly's closet friends? Yeah, then it mattered.
Holly sighed and gave the blonde a sympathetic look, she knew how hard it was for Gail to let people in and she had tried really hard tonight to meet her friends at the Penny. She pulled the blonde into her arms, feeling her tense for a long moment before sinking into her embrace.
"That's okay too." She told her as she hugged her tighter. "There's no rush."
Gail swallowed and looked at Holly as they eased apart. There was no rush? "So I'm more than just a bit of fun?"
Holly wished Gail didn't have to question her commitment to her but she understood that it was going to take her some time to reassure then blonde that she wasn't another Nick Collins or Chris Diaz.
She reached over and took hold of Gail's hand, squeezing it and bringing it up to her lips to press a kiss to the back of the cold fingers. "If I was being totally honest with you right now, I would tell you that this is the most serious I've ever been about someone in a very, very long time." She told Gail before smiling as Gail's eyes softened. "But seeing as you're a cat and have a fear of high places like that, I'll just say that I think you're cute and I'd like to keep dating you, for now anyway." She said with a casual grin.
Gail bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile as her eyes twinkled. If there was one regret in her relationship with Holly it was that damn cat in a tree analogy she had made the first day they had met. She blamed it on fatigue and lack of caffeine at the time. It was so unfair that Holly continued to use that against her.
Holly watched Gail shake her head and chuckled as the blonde lost the battle to hold back her smile.
"I really hate you sometimes." Gail muttered but she gripped Holly's hand tighter to let her know she was partially kidding.
Holly snorted.
Gail smiled and watched the snow fall around Holly.
"Everything okay out here?"
Gail kept her eyes fixed on Holly as she heard the concern in Traci's voice. "Yeah." She replied, raising her voice slightly to reach her friend who was somewhere closer to the building entrance.
There was no response for a while and Gail figured Traci was trying to work out if she should approach them or not.
"Nick's fight is about to start if you're coming back in." Traci called to the pair, her eyes still carrying her worry for the blonde as she studied the pair.
"We'll be there." Gail called out but stayed right where she was with Holly.
Holly grinned as she continued to stare at Gail. "Do you hate me enough to let me buy you a drink at the bar?"
"The drinks are free Holly." Gail said with a shake of her head.
Holly shrugged. "We could go somewhere else if you wanted?" She offered, not sure the blonde wanted to go back inside right now anyway, knowing Traci would no doubt be looking to pull her aside at some point and get an explanation out of her about what was going on with them right now.
Gail opened her mouth to agree then changed her mind. "Nah, I wanna see Nick get his teeth knocked out." She told Holly with a grin then started back inside the disused building as she interlaced their fingers together to tug Holly along with her.
"Okay?" Holly frowned wondering if the fights got that violent.
Gail chuckled and tugged a little more, urging Holly down the ramp and towards one of the bar stands. She stood there and waited for Holly to get served then took the cup handed to her and glanced around.
"So are we okay? I mean we are, right?" Holly asked softly as she shifted to press against Gail's shoulder and look over at the fight ring where she recognised Gail's ex in the ring up against some guy that looked bigger and stronger. Gail might have been right about Nick not standing a chance.
Were they? Gail considered that as she spotted Traci and Andy stood near the edge of the ring. Traci occasionally turned her way and gave her a concerned look.
Sighing she turned back to Holly who was still looking anxious.
She leaned over and kissed her quickly before pulling back. "I don't like your friend but I guess when I make you hang out with Dov and Chloe you won't be able to complain." She told her… girlfriend? Is that what they were now? Holly had told her she was serious about her, then if that was true shouldn't Gail start letting people other than Dov know that she was crazy about the woman beside her.
"Hi." A voice interrupted them.
Gail broke away from the smiling contest she seemed to be having with Holly to turn and was confronted by the figure of her father standing there watching her and Holly. "Hey dad!" She greeted him warmly.
Bill smiled at his daughter briefly but his attention was still being drawn to the woman he had just witnessed his girl kiss. "You must be Holly then?" He asked, then sent Gail a look wondering why she'd told him Holly wasn't going to be here tonight.
"Yes Sir." Holly replied after a quick, very unhelpful, glance at Gail.
Gail grinned into her cup as her dad shook Holly's hand and stood there watching them.
"Dad this is Dr Holly Stewart, Holly, my father, Inspector Bill Peck." Gail finally said, making things a little more official.
"Call me Bill, please." Bill told Holly. He then gave his grinning daughter a disapproving look, wondering what she was up to. "I heard you couldn't make it tonight."
"Change of plans." Holly replied as she pursed her lips, hoping with everything that Gail didn't get upset again over how their evening had started at the Penny.
"Well, I'm just glad to finally meet you, Gail's mother and I have been looking forward to it but this one here keeps putting it off." Bill explained to his daughter's girlfriend with a gentle scold of his daughter's behaviour.
Gail scoffed and drank down more of her beer. But then an idea came to her and she looked from Holly to her father. "We were just saying, weren't we Holly, that we'll have to arrange that dinner with you and mom soon." She told her dad much to Holly's shock.
When Bill glanced at her Holly struggled with her response. "Yeah, that's… right, we'd, we'd love to." She managed to get out as she felt her cheeks flush.
Bill eyed Holly for a moment before grinning at the pair. "Well that's wonderful, your mother will be happy to hear that."
Gail smirked then went in for the payback she thinks Holly deserves. "But maybe you should tell mom to pop down to the morgue later this week and discuss it with Holly, she was just saying that it might be good to meet first before we all have that dinner, break the ice so to speak." She went on.
Holly's mouth dropped open and she had to scramble to fake a grin as Gail's father looked her way.
"That'd be… perfect." She told him with a fake smile plastered to her face.
"Wonderful, I will let Elaine know and I'm sure she'll be around to introduce herself the first chance she gets." Bill told Holly enthusiastically. "Maybe we could even arrange it for this weekend?" He asked looking between the pair.
Gail giggled and nodded at her dad. "We'll let you know."
"Of course." He said then pressed a kiss to Gail's cheek and took his drink from the bar and said his goodbyes as he went to join his friends for the rest of the night.
Holly blinked as she heard Gail continue to chuckle beside her. She was having trouble believing that had actually just happened.
Gail bit her lip and grabbed for Holly's hand and started towards Traci. It took a tug but eventually Holly pulled out of her stupor and followed along.
"Don't worry Hols, it'll be fun."