This is mostly a conversation type of fanfic not much narration in this storyline. Mostly Gail's point of view. I wrote this while I was deployed so I kinda thought now is the time to post this and see what you guys think.
My first fanfic so be gentle…..
Criticisms are welcomed
Gail is a Sgt. In the Marine Corps, comes home after 5 years of being deployed.
I don't own any of the characters.
Enjoy…..
Chapter 1
Gail comes to 15 to visit her God Father Oliver who she hasn't seen for 5 years.
She walked inside the station and asked the tall, dark haired police officer in the front desk.
"Hi ma'am I'm Officer Diaz how can I help you?" Chris asked her with a warm and welcoming smile.
"Hi Officer, is Oliver Shaw on duty today?" Gail answered.
"Yes, hold on one sec I'll tell Staff Sgt. someone is here for him. Chris turned his back but realized he didn't ask who the woman was so he turned his head and ask for the woman's name.
I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Sgt. Peck."
"Okay, Sgt. Peck wait here."
Diaz walked up to Oliver's Office and told him that a certain Sgt. Peck is looking for him. Oliver craned his neck over Diaz's left shoulder and saw a petite blonde woman in a camouflage uniform sitting in the waiting area with a duffle on the floor securely placed between her legs. Oliver immediately got out of his office and marched down the stairs with a grin on his face.
"Oh My God! Gail!" Oliver's voice echoed inside the station that had everyone looking towards Gail's direction as he hugged her so tight, so tight that Gail was actually grasping for air.
"Surprise! Alright, You know I don't do hugs.. Rolls her eyes and felt her face is turning red as she noticed everyone's eyes are on her.
"Still hasn't changed, when did you arrive?" he asked her as his hand was resting on Gail's shoulders
"2 hours ago. I grabbed lunch at the airport then I went straight here."
" Okay, uuhmm I have to get back to work but I will call you later and I want you to eat dinner with me and meet Celery."
"yeah, sure, I just wanna say hi to you real quick. Who's Celery by the way?" Gail asked him with a confused look on her face.
" I'll introduce you to Celery later. Alright kiddo, see you later."
"Are you trying to be a vegan?" She asked him in a monotone voice.
Oliver hugged Gail anyways even though she made it clear she doesn't do hugs and kissed her in the forehead. Oliver watched Gail as she walked away towards the exit. He still couldn't believe she's back. He went back in his office and found inside his office waiting for him.
"Hey Sir here's my report on yesterday's case." Traci handed her paperwork to Oliver
"Very well, thanks. By the way Gail is back, Gail is here Nash!" He excitedly told Traci
"Really?! Wow! I missed her, let's invite her to The Penny tonight, Dov and Chloe are giving free drinks since they got engaged the other day."
"nahh, you guys enjoy. I'll catch up with my girl tonight over dinner." He said as he was trying to flip through the pages of Traci's report.
Celery opened the door and saw a blonde woman awkwardly standing in their porch with a ponytail, a black leather jacket over a v-neck white shirt, a worn out jeans and a pair of boots.
"Hello! You must be Gail… Oliver told me so much about you. Come on in, I'm Celery by the way." Celery invited Gail with a warm smile.
" Yeah, Hi. So you're real? And your real name in Celery?" Gail asked
" Yes".
"ooohhh okay, I hate celery… not you Celery, the celery celery. She replied slowly.
"I get that a lot.. Oliver is in the kitchen." Celery answered still with a smile on her face and led Gail to the kitchen.
Oliver was stirring what looked like a sauce. Gail couldn't help but smile at the sight of Oliver wearing an apron and cooking. The only time she saw him in the kitchen was when she was a teenager unwrapping takeouts for the both of them. She looked around kitchen, still the same.. the same center island, the same fridge, the same stove and the same hard wood floor. Gail took a deep breath and she felt like it was just yesterday that she was here.
Although Oliver noticed that Gail doesn't want to talk about her deployments and the fact that she didn't came home for 5 years dinner was still great. The food was good, he finally got the chance to introduce Celery to Gail, hearing Gail's sarcasm and hate towards the word was actually comforting for him, it made him reminisce about the days he spent with Gail and it made him feel old.
After a few hours of catching up Gail finally decided it's time for her to head home and get some much needed sleep. Oliver walked her towards the cab, gave her a hug and a pat on the shoulder.
"Gnight kiddo, thanks for coming" he leans slightly on the cab window
"night Ollie and…. uuuuhhhmmm I miss you" Gail replied with an almost inaudible voice and gave him a quick smile.
Gail woke up in the middle of the day looking for her buzzing cell phone. She violently tossed her pillows in an effort to find the annoying sound of her phone. She finally sees it, grabs it immediately and clears her throat to answer the incoming call.
"Sgt. Peck" Gail answered with a confident tone in her voice.
"Hey, Gail! Relax.. It's Traci, Oh. My. God… Hi, how are you? Can we hang out tonight? I miss you so so much, are you back for good? Traci bombarded Gail with questions.
"Sure" is all Gail can bring herself to say.
"Meet me around 8:00 at the Penny's and oohhhh some other guys from 15 will be there too" Traci invited her breathlessly.
"Okay".
After talking to Traci she couldn't go back to sleep so she rolled out of bed, combed her hair with her fingers and tied it into a ponytail, continued unpacking her clothes and neatly arranges them inside the walk in closet.
Later, she walked inside The Penny, Traci wasn't there yet so she sat on the bar while waiting for her. After a few minutes, a few shots of tequila and a few guys trying to flirt with her, she saw Traci across the bar waving at her but Gail's eyes suddenly noticed a tall brunette, her skin was a nice tan she had a long, wavy hair, wearing a plaid shirt, skin tight jeans, dark framed glasses and a smile that could lit up a room.
Wow she's stunning! Gail thought to herself, absentmindedly missing Traci's hand signal that she should go to their table. Traci walked up to the bar, ordered beer for her friends and the two women talk for a minute.
"Hey Gail" Traci tapped Gail's shoulder
"Hi Trace" Gail replied with a slight smile
"Come on, Oliver is over there and I'll introduce you to our friends".
Gail sat between Oliver and Traci, she doesn't want to sit beside the red haired girl with a huge grin on her face it actually hurts her eyes. Chloe took the initiative to introduce herself and everybody else on the table.
"Hi Gail, I'm Chloe and I feel like I know you already, Oliver told me lots of things about you earlier when I was helping him out with a report, so…. Anyways this is Dov my boyfriend". Chloe introduced him with a high pitched voice and kissed him on the cheeks which only annoyed Gail.
"This is Chris and his girlfriend Jen". Pointing on the couple sitting on her right side.
"Jen is also a police officer but is assigned in a different division" Chloe explained.
"The front desk guy, yeah, we've met at the station the other day". She answered flatly.
" Sam and Andy". Chloe continued.
" So, let me guess you're together too?" Gail asked Sam with a sarcastic smirk.
"You could be a good detective". Sam nodded and smiled back at Gail.
"and that is Holly, she's the forensic pathologist down at 15, she's super smart and she's actually pretty funny too". Chloe continued babbling until Dov placed his hands over Chloe's mouth.
"Sorry Gail, she's just super excited to meet you". Dov looked at Gail with an apologetic look on his face. Gail just shrugged her shoulders at Dov.
While Chloe gushed about Holly, Gail tried her best not to look up to the woman sitting across her but her curiosity got the better of her. Gail looked up and met the brunette's brown eyes which were highlighted by her hair. She was completely oblivious with what's going on around her, she can't hear any chatter that Chloe was saying, and was completely lost in her thoughts all she was focused on was Holly's face.
"Hey.. I'm Holly, welcome home. How long were you deployed?". Holly looks at Gail and waited for her answer. She noticed that Gail was just staring at her.
"Gail? You okay?" Holly asked with a concerned look on her face.
"I'm sorry, what?" Gail quickly looked at her empty beer bottle hoping that Holly did not caught her staring at her for quite some time.
"I'm Holly, are you okay?" Holly repeated.
"Yeah, Hi. I'm sorry I was… I was uuhmmmm…" Gail can't figure out what excuse she can give her.
" You were staring at me?" Holly jokingly finished Gail's sentence.
" Don't flatter yourself nerd!". Gail answered coldly.
"The gaze is probably the most striking human courting ploy. Eye language. In Western cultures, where eye contact between the sexes is permitted, men and women often stare intently at potential mates for about two to three seconds during which their pupils may dilate a sign of extreme interest. Then the starer drops his or her eyelids and looks away". Holly talked trivially.
" Why are you saying all these words?". Gail glared at her and then she was yawning. Trying to tell Holly that she's boring her with all these information.
"You're staring at the beer by the way".
"What? I've been away for a while and they don't allow people to stare at their beer now? Gail answered with a hint of sarcasm and annoyance on her voice but still not looking at Holly.
"It's called displacement gesture, You may smile and start conversation. You may look away and edge toward the door. But first you will probably yawn, fidget with your eyeglasses, or perform some other meaningless movement to alleviate anxiety while you make up your mind whether to flee the premises or stay and play the courting game".
"Oh my God!, what a nerd! First of all I yawned because the things that are coming out of your mouth are boring me, second, I don't wear glasses because I'm not a nerd and third I'm not even batting for the local softball team". Gail rolled her eyes at Holly, jumps out of her stool, grabs her black leather jacket and tells everybody she's calling it a night.
As Gail was driving, she can't stop thinking about the brunette. It was the first time that someone figured out what she was thinking and she didn't even think twice about telling her after the first minutes of their introduction. Holly was so confident about her observations on Gail that it did impress her but Gail's interest in Holly turned into irritation.
"I what a judgmental nerd! ". Gail muttered to herself.
She was getting ready for bed when she received Traci's text.
"It was nice seeing you tonight".
"nice seeing you too but I hate your friends". She replied.
"Haha.. Why?"
"Because they're so in love, happy and caring!".
"We should find you a hot date next time so you could be all happy and caring too".
"nnnnnooooooo, don't do that, I hate going on dates remember?". Gail protested.
"I have a friend his cute, you will definitely like him". Traci suggested casually.
"No thanks".
Everybody deserves to be happy Gail including you. Try to get back on the dating game again, just have fun nothing serious for now". Traci sincerely replied.
Gail can feel her friend's genuine concern for her.
"You know I don't get attached, I don't do serious relationships but FINE! I'll try and do it for you, happy now?".
"No, I don't trust you..lol".
Gail changed the subject before Traci can suggest any blind dates for her.
"So Holly.. I. HATE. HER." Gail replied in an all caps to make sure Traci gets her point.
"You're Gail Peck you hate everybody, not surprising at all".
" True".
"We should get some sleep, Good night my friend".
"night Trace thanks for tonight". Gail placed her phone on the night stand and drifted off to sleep.
3 days later
There was an irritating knock on the door, she tried to ignore it hoping that whoever it is will just go away but the knock got louder so Gail shuffled her way to the door. Still wearing her pajamas, hair disheveled and her eyes were still half closed. She heard Oliver's voice and opened the door.
" Gail… Gail… wake up I know you're in here somewhere".
"What?" Gail opened the door and yelled.
"I came bearing gifts". Oliver handed her a box of doughnuts.
"Good". She grabbed the doughnuts and started eating one.
She let's Oliver in, he sat on the couch, he let his eyes roam over Gail's apartment.
"nice place".
"Why are you here in the middle of the night Oliver?" Gail glared at Oliver.
"My shift just ended and I just wanted to see what's going on with you".
"I'm good, I'm you know, just doing fine". Gail answered without meeting Oliver's gaze.
"5 years Gail, You were gone for 5 years. Is it because of Nick?"
" No, of course not ". Gail rolled her eyes on Oliver
Gail sucked in a breath and is now picking up her second doughnut.
"I'm here for you, always have and always will be". Oliver moved a little closer to Gail.
Gail looked at him, paused for a bit, tears started to running down her face and hugged Oliver.
"What's wrong darling? Oliver said softly with Gail still in his embrace.
"At first it, I just wanted to get away from this place and forget what happened between me and Nick, the heartbreak, but things happened while I was deployed Oliver,I've seen things that no one should've see in their lifetime, violence, aggression, I lost friends, just…. It took a toll on me and I don't know how to explain it. I'm ashamed of what I have become, I don't want you to see what I have become. I can't turn off my senses, I don't know how to deal with people and I don't know how to be normal again. I'm even colder now, no emotions, I don't really believe in love now, I don't let anybody in because I'm afraid I might lose them to an explosion or IED or a gun fight or something, I'm a damaged good Ollie, I didn't think anybody would accept me. I didn't think you will still be here for me after not showing up for five years". Gail confessed to Oliver with her voice shaking.
After hearing Gail's explanation, Oliver wrapped his arm around Gail fighting back the tears and kissed her on the cheeks.
"Gail Peck I love you. I will accept you with my arms wide open, whatever you are, no matter who you've become". Oliver said looking fixedly on Gail's eyes.
Let me know what you guys think..
I have a solid plot on where this is going.
tell me if any of you is interested in the next chapters.