So, I have no experience with Night Terrors except my own. If this doesn't sound right to you, sorry about that, not much I can do. Hope you enjoy it all the same :) Possibly the first of a few teeny drabbles in this pairing and others, I HAVE A LOT OF FEELS RIGHT NOW.

So, enjoy. Or not. Whatever. Please review with any ideas for one shots though :)

Holly awoke to muffled screaming. It wasn't the kind of screaming that sounded like pain, no, this was utter, all encompassing fear, emanating from the body tucked snugly into her front.
Gail was soaked in a cold sweat, clawing at her pillow and scrabbling to fist the bedsheets tightly.

Not a stranger to Gail's night terrors, Holly took a moment to calm her own pulse and unfurled their bodies gently, getting up and quickly padding her way over to the other side of the bed. Laying what she hoped to be a calming hand on her girlfriend's clammy shoulder, Holly moved herself slightly away from Gail's reach (She was not going to work with a black eye) and tried to gently rouse the blonde from sleep.

"Gail? Gail, c'mon babe. Wake up for me."

After a few seconds of coercing, a visibly distraught police officer bolted upright in their bed.


Panic gripped any rational thought. Gail recognised the smell of her girlfriend on their pillows, the familiar pressure of a palm just the right size on her skin, and the quiet comfort of Holly's voice. Recognised, but didn't process. All Gail had room for at the moment was the utter terror at the thought that Holly was bleeding in her arms.

The nightmare was always the same, taking her back to the abandoned warehouse where Chris had almost died in Gail's grip. Sometimes, like tonight, the cast rotated, and anyone that she cared about could be the one bleeding out all over the floor.

There was one more difference tonight. The rest of the force never came, and Gail was forced to watch the woman she loved shuffle off this mortal coil.

Her eyes snapped around to see Holly knelt beside her, and Gail went straight for the bottom of the shirt she was wearing, tearing the fabric up upwards and smoothing rough hands over every inch of skin, relief pouring through the blonde that Holly's abdomen was still perfect, that there was not a freckle out of place.

Holly herself was still talking, holding Gail closer and closer.

"Look, babe, here. Right here. Feel that?"Holly took her girlfriend's shaking palm in hers, and pressed it to the skin just above her left breast. A strong, calm, heartbeat thrummed its cadence into their hands.

"It's okay. We're okay. I'm right here with you, and I'm not going anywhere. You're safe.."

The Doctor kept whispering reassurances as her Officer trembled in her comforting grip, still keeping their joined hands attached to her pulse. A good 15 minutes later, Gail had calmed enough that she started to detach herself from the small cocoon of safety they had constructed.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry Hol. You have that seminar tomorrow and you need sle-"

"Stop that, Gail. You're so much more important than any stupid seminar. I love you."

"I love you too, Lunchbox. Come back to bed?"

Holly shuffled around again, not parting their linked fingers until she rested back where she'd been before, on her side with Gail curled into her, though facing her this time with their legs tangled.

The two lay abreast in silence for a long while, occasionally smiling at just being in the presence of the other woman.

"Why do you put up with me?" The blonde whispered, cocking a half smile.

"Because I'm in love with you," Her doctor replied sleepily, blinking to stay awake.

"And the sex is amazing."

"Oh wow, good to know you use me for my body. Seriously though. Hol. You could have so much better.." Gail trailed off, looking instead at Holly's shoulder instead of meeting her eyes, almost shut from exhaustion at this point. The brunette felt the old insecurities rising in her partner, and even in her half-asleep state knew exactly how to lay them at ease.

"I don't want better, Officer Cheesepuff. I want you, and I want a rock on my finger that you bought me, and I want little sarcastic, smart, blonde kids that look like you and take after me. I'm in love with you, asshole. You're stuck with me."

Gail couldn't quite speak through the smile that slipped across her face, and pulled Holly closer to her body, not shedding a wince at her slightly cold skin.

"I think I can deal with that, Holls."