Everything Old is New Again

by ChapstickLez

Sequel to OWtO: Youthful ambition meets experience when Gail and Holly face the next great challenge. Their daughter, the cop. The Old Guard is still there to help the new batch of rookies through the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of police work, but there are some things a rookie has to learn on their own. (Updated regularly)

1. 01-01 Fresh Paint

01.01 - Fresh Paint

This is a sequel to "Out With The Old," my 100 chapter marathon fic. You will be very confused if you don't read that first. If you haven't read "Old Habits Die Hard" don't worry too much, that just has some fill in stories.

There will be 10 chapters for season one, each about this long, and while the plot line is a bit Vivian centric, Gail and Holly are still here, still working, and so are many of your old favorites. There are also some new surprises working at Fifteen, and some surprises for people who aren't. Let's find out what became of everyone, fifteen years after the end of OWtO.

---

Their faces were pressed into somewhat gross bar top at the Penny.

Andy McNally stood behind the bar, reading off the names from their drivers licenses. "Jenny Aronson. Christian Fuller. Rich Hanford. Vivian Peck. Lara Volk. You have the right to shut the hell up!"

The crowd laughed and her fellow rookies struggled. Not Vivian, though. Vivian had expected this. Everyone had warned her about the hazing ritual and she'd actually seen it a few times, coming to the Penny once as a child, and then a few times while in college and actually allowed to have a drink while it happened. Having it done to you was a little different. Having it done to you while your mother was shouting at her friend and training officer, Andy McNally, to search your pockets for keys was the cause for laughter.

Andy leaned over to ask the woman holding Viv down to check her pockets. A quick search later and they had her spare key from the clip on her back belt-loop. "Seriously?" Andy held the key up and the room laughed. "A universal key?"

"Told you," laughed Gail and Vivian heard Traci's familiar voice commenting that Gail had cheated her year. Vivian's key was actually a birthday present from her mother, earlier that year. "Its not cheating," Gail argued and she and Traci bickered good naturedly.

But they didn't really fight this time, not even in good faith, as Andy went on. "Okay, first person to get free gets drinks on the house. Ready. Set. Go!"

The crowd was loud and Vivian sighed. Everyone else was in a rush. She just walked over to her mother. "Give," she scowled.

"Nope, not doing it," grinned Gail, sipping her beer.

"Come on! I know you have a spare key!"

"And I know that the one they pulled from your belt wasn't the one I gave you," she countered.

"Seriously? Don't make me ask Steve." Beside Gail, Steve held his hands up and looked innocent. Viv glowered at him.

Mother and daughter stared at each other for a while and Gail finally sighed. "Fine." She reached for her belt and unclipped her own spare key from the buckle. With a cheerful grin, she clipped it to Vivian's. "Good luck."

Vivian stared down at her belt buckle. "You suck," she informed her mother, and promptly squirmed to get her hands in front.

They'd cuffed her with her palms facing each other, which made it easier to do that particular move. The lock was facing up, which was harder to unlock, but once she had her key in hand, Vivian used her teeth to turn it and tossed the cuffs in Noelle's lap.

"Winner, Vivian Peck!" Andy laughed as Noelle dangled the keys above her head.

She used her first free drinks to get a round for the other rookies, but then brought tequila over to sit with her mother. Gail was grinning. "That is now an unbroken chain of Pecks winning this one, Viv," she explained. "Even Elaine won."

"I still think you suck," growled Vivian, downing the tequila in one go while Gail did the same.

"Oh she's a Peck," laughed Traci. "Cheats and drinks tequila."

As one, Gail and Vivian shouted, "It's not cheating!"

The old guard lingered for a while more, mostly chatting it up with each other. Vivian sat with them for a while before joining some of the younger officers she'd known for a while. At ten, Gail caught up with Vivian again. "I'm headed out, kiddo. You good on your own?"

"Yeah, C said he'd drop me off." She gestured at the man with her beer. He was sitting over by their rookie class.

Gail nodded and glanced over at the other rookies. "I did not see that one coming," she sighed. "Thanks for keeping an eye out for him."

Vivian nodded. Before the academy, she'd met Christian at his father's funeral... Well. Not his father, but close enough. She always wondered why Christian hadn't taken Diaz as his surname. They'd remained in contact ever since, sharing pain that others wouldn't understand, not even Gail or Holly. Speaking of… "I wish Mom could've come."

"She'll be back tomorrow or the day after," sighed Gail. "But don't worry, I sent her the video of you uncuffing yourself."

"Awesome," Vivian laughed.

"Go hang out with your rookie class, kiddo. It'll come in handy later." They didn't hug. That still wasn't their thing except when really important. Gail tapped the beer bottle with her finger and headed out.

In an instant, Rich was at her side. "Who's that?"

"Who's what?"

"The hot Cougar you were hanging with? Rwaaaar. Both of them, actually!" He paused. "Mostly the brunette. The blonde looks like she'd kill me..."

Vivian stared at him. "Oh my god. Those are your senior officers. And they're old enough to be your mother!" One of them actually being hers. Ugh. She shoved him aside and looked for Christian. "Please God save me, C."

Smiling, Christian scooted over so Viv could sit down. "Do I want to know?"

"Rich wanted to know who the hotties were I was hanging with."

Christian looked gratifyingly horrified. "Seriously?" When she nodded, he gagged. "Rich, you're a moron. Don't call Inspector Peck a cougar."

Rich looked between Vivian, whom he knew was a Peck, and Gail, who was punching Nick in the arm before leaving. "Wait, you're related to her? Which one?"

She and Christian shared a look. He knew and he wasn't going to explain, clearly. "I'm related to both of them," sighed Vivian.

Now Christian explained, "They're both Pecks. Our Pecks. Traci Peck is the lead D for homicide and Gail Peck heads up the Major Case Squad."

As of late, Gail was also the point for all of Organized Crime for Fifteen, TwentySeven, and ThirtyFour, following a massive blowout led by Uncle Frank a couple years ago. Taking over the mess at TwentySeven had not been Gail's favorite thing. She didn't mind being the boss of all of OC in Fifteen, since that let her lord it over her brother, but the constant hassle of managing people took her away from the part of police work she loved. Traci was the Inspector of Homicide and was angling for a role with more teeth. Currently she oversaw any homicide in the three divisions, but if Steve ever made good on his threat to retire, Vivian was sure Traci would take over Guns and Gangs.

"Gail's the blonde," muttered Vivian. And yes, she would take him apart and laugh about it. But Vivian wasn't going to warn Rich. It would be more fun to watch.

Rich, the idiot, craned his neck to eye Traci, who was leaning at the bar. "And how are you related?"

"Well Rich, when two people love each other very much—" The guffaws at the table drowned her out and Vivian smiled. "There are two more in Fifteen. Steve, who heads up Guns and Gangs, and Ryan, who's quartermaster right now, but he'll go to Marine when I'm cut loose for the donut fine." As she sipped her beer, she was surprised to see most of her rookie class staring at her. "What?"

"That is the most you have ever talked about yourself, Peck," explained Jenny.

"I'm not very interesting." That was her shield. If she wasn't interesting then people didn't dig into her life and her past and she could just be.

"Donut fine?" Lara looked delighted at that news.

In her most deadpan, Vivian replied, "There has to be a Peck on patrol in all divisions at all times."

There was a brief pause before they all started laughing and telling Vivian she was hilarious.

This was actually the first time she'd actually hung out with her classmates. They didn't have a whole lot in common and Vivian was oft called a 'tough nut to crack.' Gail found it amusing when Vivian had told her, and pointed out she'd been the bitchy ice queen. The difference between them, of course, was Gail's mask of indifference was from a fear of failure, while Vivian… just kept to herself.

Since Olivia had moved to Montréal and Matty went to college in the States, it had gotten worse.

Holly would sometimes remind her that it was okay to be quiet, but it was also good to talk to people. Her therapist suggested that she was just out of practice at making friends, which made sense. Matty and Olivia, literally, had been the only friends she had made as a kid. Everyone else was someone one of those two had brought into the crowd. And with the exception of the one party she threw at the house while her Moms were at a conference/vacation, Viv was just pretty quiet and, god help her, boring.

But boring was good and safe. Boring was left alone. Boring meant her classmates didn't make a fuss when she was called on more often to know the right answers at the academy. Boring meant they just felt she was a weird nerd with brown hair and hazel-brown eyes and tan skin, who happened to share a last name with a crop of pale, pale, blue eyed blondes. Boring meant no questions.

As Christian drove her home at the end of the drinks, he mentioned the drawback to her plan. "You know, we have to trust these guys."

"Come on, C," she muttered, slouching in her seat.

"You should get to know them."

"I do know them. They're simple." She sighed. "Rich is a dude bro who thinks being a cop is cool, Lara's way too perceptive and will be our first D, Jenny thinks life will keep handing her things like it always has, you think you know the job because of Chris, I'm the ice princess who has to succeed."

The car fell silent.

Christian eyed her. "It shouldn't be weird that you just said a long sentence."

"Well. That's what you get."

"I think you'd have a better time, that's all. You're smart, you're a good person. Just open up."

Vivian looked out the side window of the car. Sure. Like that was easy. "Why are you nice, Christian? To me?" He was quiet as he pulled up to the sidewalk. No answer. "Right. Thanks for the ride, C." She got out of the car and shoved her hands in her pockets, heading up the stairs.

Suddenly the car door opened and Christian shouted, "You know and you don't treat me any different." She paused and turned. "Everyone who knows, back in Timmins, they all treat me like a freak. My dad's in jail for kidnapping me. My mom's crazy. And the guy I wish had been my dad is dead. And you treat me normal."

The sad fact was, in her world that was normal. But she knew everything about him. All he knew was she was adopted. And that was all she wanted him to know about her. "You treat me normal too, C," she pointed out and he grinned.

But it seemed to be the right answer.

---

Gail listened carefully for her daughter's return home. It was harder to be the only mom home today of all days, but Holly couldn't speed up the case and everyone knew that. It had been a case she worked with John's old Missing Persons unit, a kidnapper who took a young boy across the country. They found them only because of Holly's work on the case, which meant since it was being tried in Alberta, off she went for the trial in Calgary. Gail asked for a hat as a present.

And thus their daughter would begin her first day of work with only one, very nervous, mother in the house.

Really Gail wondered how the hell her parents had done it. Guilt and fear of normal growing up had nothing on this. As a child, Vivian had been self-contained and not adventurous, which didn't make it any less stressful to watch her go out and play sports or just hang out with her friends. She was always far too grown up and mature about her feelings, to the point of being ... Well in a lot of ways she was like Gail's father.

Not the asshole bigot part, but Bill was always cool and calm and collected. He didn't wear his heart on his sleeve like Gail and Steve often did. He was aloof, yes, but in a way that made you want to live up to it. And God, he was great at letting you know he was disappointed in you. Vivian had a similarly droll expression to let you know when you weren't fooling her. At seven, the look had been hilarious. At twenty-three years old, it was a little sad.

Her baby girl was twenty-three. Sometimes Gail wished they had gotten her as a baby, or had a baby, just to savor those early days a little more. More strongly, she was thankful for the grace of the girl in their life at all. She loved Vivian in a way that was terrifying and fulfilling, totally unlike Holly. It was like how she loved Steve, only more. Unconditional.

Her phone buzzed.

Go to bed.

Gail smiled at Holly's text and thumbed a reply.

Can't sleep. Kid goes to work in the morning.

You driving her?

Of course!

Her father drove her to work every day, that first year, and then for a long time after Perik. They didn't talk about things, but it was still one of the few really good memories she had of the man.

Holly texted back a smily face and a heart.

When do you get home?

Tomorrow. Pled out just an hour ago. I'll catch the evening flight.

A weight was lifted off Gail's shoulders. Good. They texted a little while longer, passing endearments before Holly admonished her again to get some sleep, and then Gail put the phone on the charger mat.

Before she could turn off the light, there was a soft knock at the door. "Mom?"

Ah. Gail smiled. "Come on in. I'm still up." Taking off her reading glasses, Gail put them to the side as Vivian opened the door.

"Were you scared?" The girl lingered in the doorway wearing cut off sweat shorts and an old t-shirt. She dressed far more like Holly most of the time. It was amusing to see what parts of her were Gail, what were Holly, and what were all the uniqueness of Vivian.

"Totally," smiled Gail. "Want to crash here?"

Vivian rolled her eyes. There was that droll look. "Mom, come on. You didn't."

"Yes, but as we've pointed out, my parents were assholes."

That Vivian had grown up with the nicer Elaine meant those comments always brought a little cognitive dissonance. But Vivian grinned. "Did you sneak into Steve's room?"

"He'd already moved out." But in fact, yes. Gail had snuck into her big brother's room across the hall and spent the night there. Her mother had found her in the morning but said nothing. "What's got you worried?"

Her daughter kicked the doorframe with her bare foot. "What if I screw up and embarrass everyone?"

Everyone meant everyone Peck probably. "No matter how bad you screw up, as long as you listen to your TO, you'll do fine." Vivian didn't look up. "Hey, you could tell me tomorrow morning that you can't do it, and I will still love you, Viv. I don't care what you do."

"I won't." The words come out in a rush. "I want this. This job. Ever since the thing with the Prince."

That had been what Holly suspected all along. Gail had her doubts, but she'd not been home when the change in their daughter began. "Really? That was it?" Gail smiled. "And here I thought it's because you had a crush on Sue."

Bingo. Vivian blushed. "Jesus, Mom, you're an asshole."

"Tell me something new," sassed Gail.

Vivian rolled her eyes again, smiling now. "I'm going to bed."

"Night, kiddo. First shift is at 8."

"I know, Mom," called Vivian as she closed the door.

Gail raised her voice so it would be heard through the door. "Love you!"

"Love you too, Mom!"

Switching off the light, Gail curled up and looked at Holly's pillow. "Love you, Holly. See you soon."

---

"You ready?" Gail pulled up the car in the garage, looking over curiously.

"I've been ready for ages, Inspector."

Her mother sighed. "I never realized how hard this was for my Dad. He used to drive me..." They got out of the car, Vivian ducking into the back to get her uniform. "You know I'm right upstairs."

"Mom, seriously." Vivian ran a hand over her uniform. 4727. A lower number, as Fifteen had rolled around their badges again. Her mother's 8727 was locked in her memory. She hadn't known Gail when she was a uniformed officer, but the badge she knew like the back of her hand. Her theory was they both ended in 727 on purpose, even though Gail swore it was coincidence. Peck was synonymous, she'd learned, with things just happening.

"I am serious. Not nepotism, Monkey, just... I'm here. Okay?"

Vivian looked up and blinked. "Yeah, okay. But... Look I haven't told anyone you're my Mom is all." Gail arched her eyebrows in surprise. "They already know about Pecks, just not how I fit in. I don't want them to get all weird." The academy had been weird enough with instructors being tough on her, and the other Pecks being ... Pecks.

They paused at the stairs and Gail smiled. It was that evil, evil smile. "This should be fun. Don't tell them about Holly either. I bet that dude-bro in your class buys her a drink."

"Oh, no doubt. Rich is a dick."

Gail smirked. "Go out there. Protect Toronto. Don't pull a McNally." And Gail headed up the back stairs, giving Vivian a clear, solo path to the locker room. What a great Mom.

As she pulled on her uniform, her phone beeped. It was the other woman she called Mom, texting from her business trip.

Good luck on your first day. I'll be home tonight. Don't screw up like Andy.

Vivian giggled and texted Holly back, telling her she loved her.

"Wow, Peck laughs." Lara Volk, the smart one, leaned over to peer at the phone. While Gail was listed as 'Best Mom of the Universe' in Viv's phone, Holly's read 'Dr. Mom.' They were both entries done by Gail. "Mom wishing you luck?"

"She's out of town," Vivian explained, turning the phone to mute and tucking it into her thigh pocket. "Get your tie on," she noted, clipping hers into place.

Lara yipped and scampered to her locker, snagging her tie. "I can't believe we get guns. Can you?"

"Hard to be a cop without one," smiled Vivian, settling her belt on. Gail had given her the run down on exactly how to wear the uniform the first week. Traci had shown her how to position her gun so her TO couldn't grab it. Oliver showed her how to grab it anyway. Andy and Nick told her they wouldn't be easy on her. Dov hadn't opened his mouth, probably because Gail threatened him to treat her daughter like everyone else, or she'd show them all photos of what he used to sleep in. Noelle just looked inscrutable and smiled.

Picking up her gun from the locker, she conscientiously checked and holstered it. "All set, Peck?"

She looked up at the speaker behind the quartermaster's counter and half smiled at her cousin Ryan. "Right and tight, Peck," she replied.

"Donut fine rests on you, kid. I'm going to the marine unit, once you're cut loose."

"You are welcome to be all wet."

"Least I'm not wet behind the ears. Don't screw it up, Peck."

That was the same song and dance everyone named Peck gave her. She sighed and eased into a seat for Parade, pulling out her pad to take notes. "Look at that, Peck. All eager," smiled Andy, sitting down across the aisle. It was still new to have Andy back on patrol, though it had been a half year. While never ascending the ranks, Andy had an incredible breadth of experience, having worked in more fields than anyone else at Fifteen. Vivian wondered if Andy was back as the lead TO because of her. Would Andy be her TO?

"McNally," she smiled. "I've been warned twice."

Andy blinked and then groaned. "You tackle one undercover cop..."

"I still think it meant you did your job right," mused Vivian, spinning her pen in her hand. The pen was a matte black space pen with a stylus. Holly's idea of a safe gift for her cop child. She'd put up with no end of weird cop training. Like how Noelle and Gail made sure Vivian could use a baton, which meant a lot of practice snapping it out in the backyard.

"Wish anyone else had," sighed Andy. "You'll be good today. Don't worry."

The others filed in, all the rookies lining up at Vivian's table. Dov was the last in, starched white shirt. He read the roll and then looked at the row of five greenhorns. "We have five new rooks today. You five have a long and proud tradition to live up to. Fifteen has a reputation, unbroken and untarnished, of excellence. Of service. Of sacrifice." Dov looked at Vivian and then Christian before continuing. "You were top of your class in the academy. We don't care anymore. You may be a legacy, you think you know this job inside and out. We don't care. Maybe you think because you're street smart, or that because you can shoot a paper target that you're ready. You're not. None of that matters to today. There is absolutely no training that prepares you for life on the street. And on that cautionary note, welcome to 15. Serve, protect, and don't screw up. Assignments are on the board."

---

The knock at the door surprised her. Gail had taken over an office in the last few years, something Butler never had. Her argument was that since she was in charge of so much more, she needed the space. Not that anyone had cared. But she rarely closed the door. Most people didn't knock either, they just started talking as they walked in. Dov was knocking today.

"Well?" She looked at her former roommate with a sneer.

"Nick," said Dov, and he sat on her couch.

So. It was Nick. Gail leaned back and nodded. "Nick's good. We need another Oliver, though."

"She doesn't need one."

"Still."

"If I had one," he sighed. "They don't make them like that anymore. When Oliver retired, shit I was never more scared in my life. Not even holding my son for the first time."

Of course, they did have another Oliver once, but they lost him years ago. Gail changed the subject a little. "And Christian?"

"Desk this week. Viv's one of the only ones I'm comfortable sending out right away. She knows the job."

Gail snorted. "She thinks she does." Vivian was twenty-three, immortal, the daughter of a police officer, who grew up with cops all her life.

"Jon Snow," drawled Dov. "You know nothing."

"Dork King," sassed Gail, but she smiled. "Who else did you send out?"

Dov leaned back. "Lara Volk. She was second in their class."

The name Gail knew. She'd kept tabs on Vivian's class and picked Volk out as the first one who'd try for the Ds. Volk had the most useful intellect of the lot. Not a huge amount of school, but enough life experiences. Vivian was actually third in her class, over all. First had gone to another Peck, over at TwentySeven by his own request. "She's good. With McNally?"

"Nah, Moore."

Jesus. "Gerald. You gave Gerald more rookies?"

"Hey! He grew up!"

Gail grimaced. "Why not McNally?"

"She gets Rich, who I have heard thinks you and Traci are total Cougars."

With that thought, yes, Andy would do well with him. She could handle the dude-bro better than Gerald. "I guess," grumbled Gail. "This is terrifying, by the way."

"No kidding," sighed Dov. "Chris is fifteen, Gail. How the hell do you deal with fifteen year olds?"

At fifteen, Vivian had been pretty easy to deal with. "My kid's awesome, Dov. At sixteen she took on homophobic bullies, remember?"

Dov grimaced. His relationship with his family was wildly, weirdly, different than Gail's was. Gail did it in the normal order. Meet someone, date, move in, marry, have a kid. Dov and Chloe had a strange state where they'd had a kid years before they finally got married. Little Chris was seven, and objecting to being called Little Chris, when they'd had the ceremony.

But where Vivian was incredibly close and honest with her parents, Chris was a little more distant. He was a normal teenager, basically. He'd even been busted for possession. That flipped Dov out, and he shouted that he'd lost a brother to drugs and he wasn't loosing a son. It did scare Chris straight at least, but they'd had to bring in Oliver to calm everyone down.

"That's why she's on the streets, you know. She's good people, Gail." Dov paused. "Holly's influence, right?"

"Totally," smiled Gail.

"When's good influence getting home?"

"Tonight. She's on the noon flight so she'll be home by five."

"Nice. Taking tomorrow off?"

Gail shook her head. "Nope. Peck Force One flies again, now with 100% less homophobes and bigots."

It was Dov who coined that phrase. He looked apologetic, which was only fair given how everything played out with Bill. And then he grinned. "Maybe she'll pull a McNally and I'll have to bench her tomorrow."

"Really," snorted Gail. "Two things, for your little hamster brain, Epstein. First, my kid will never pull a McNally. Second, do you really think I want her home all day with me and Holly?"

Dov smirked. "I thought I wasn't supposed to think about you and Holly."

With a scowl that belied her actual feelings of amusement, Gail pointed at the door. "Out! Some of us have real work!"

And Dov did leave, but he laughed the whole way.

---

"So there's a talk," explained Nick, sliding into the driver's seat.

"Okay." Vivian buckled herself in and eyed her TO.

That it was someone she knew was a given. That it was someone her mother used to date was weird, but sort of expected. There were only a few options for TO anyway. While Olivia had joked that her mom would be Viv's TO, Noelle was edging up on retirement and didn't have any rookies anymore. In fact, only weeks after Olivia had joked about it, Noelle became Inspector. Everyone reported to Noelle. Even Gail, who had no problems with Noelle getting bumped over her like that and had pointed out it had been weird to technically outrank Noelle anyway. The fact that Noelle and Frank were still working at all was weird though.

The other good options for a TO who wouldn't have issues with Vivian and her name were Andy, Gerald, or one of the new group. With that in mind, Nick made perfect sense. Gail might have shot Gerald and god knew what she'd do to Andy. Actually, Vivian might have shot Gerald.

Nick cleared his throat. "So. I'm Nick, Nick Collins."

Nope. She couldn't do it. Vivian smothered a laugh. "Nick, come on," she laughed. She'd known him for 18 years. When he fell asleep on the back deck at the cottage, Gail had used an air horn to wake him up. He was family. And he scowled. It took a moment, but Vivian pressed her lips together. "Sorry."

When she was silent long enough, he went on. "I'm your training officer until further notice. You don't touch anything in the car until I tell you to. You don't write anything down in your memo book until I tell you to. You don't talk to other people, you look at me first. You do as I "say" not as I "do"."

Vivian nodded. She'd heard this one before. Her mother had given it to a new detective under her wing once, and it never failed to make her have the giggles. Gerald once said Gail had given it to him. "Yes, sir."

Nick sighed, eyeing Vivian like she was a lost cause. "Look, you probably think right now I'm being a bit of a hard ass. If things gets stressed out there… If I get stressed… Peck, my job is to keep you safe. This crest on my shoulder, this represents you, Peck, and we're both going home today. Okay?"

Her mother never did that half of the talk and Vivian blinked. She was sure that she'd heard it before, though. Gail had promised her that the crest on her badge meant she was always going to come home to her. It didn't sound like Gail or Nick, though. "Oh. That's Oliver," she said aloud, not really meaning to.

"Yeah," sighed Nick. "He didn't give it to me my first day—"

"And you jumped off a bridge," finished Vivian. "Andy told me last week."

Rolling his eyes, Nick started the car. "I don't know why I thought you'd be different than Gail," he grumbled.

Vivian cheerfully stretched her legs out. "Me neither."

They drove in silence for a while. "You know I'm going to make sure you're the best cop you can be, right?"

"I do." And she did.

"Okay. So I can't be Uncle Nick anymore."

When Gail entered the academy, she said she stopped calling Al Santana 'Uncle Al.' "I know, Nick." She hesitated. "Should I call you Collins?"

"When we're out there, yes. You call me Officer Collins. In here and at the station you can call me Nick. I call you Peck, though."

"Yeah, okay, that's weird."

He laughed. "Regretting ditching the Green? Or not taking Stewart?"

She flipped him off, which only made him laugh more. But it did make her start thinking more about her birth parents than normal. Frankly, she never thought about them much at all, but it had kind of been that sort of weird recently. The last few weeks as they'd wrapped things up at the academy had become unsettling.

It had started with her fellow rookies, Rich and Lara, chatting about how Vivian was treated differently. She got chastised more than they did, as if all the instructors expected more from her. Which they probably did. Conversely, she had also gotten away with a hell of a lot more, being the first to get to drive on the course and take lead in training exercises. She suddenly understood why Gail had some weird damage from growing up Peck. Vivian could not fail. It wasn't an option. You fail as a Peck, you fail for everyone to see.

Vivian now understood why her grandmother had been so set against Vivian changing her name. The wall in front of her was insanely high, and she'd put it there herself. Worse, she was seen as a brown-noser by her cousins for having taken the name in the first place.

And it wasn't that she wasn't friends with her classmates. They just didn't have a lot in common besides the job. Rich was stuck up and arrogant, Lara was way too perceptive, Jenny was a princess, and Christian... Well. They were in the dead parents club. And Vivian was private.

"You know why you got to go out your first day?"

"No, sir." She knew Gail had been stuck on desk with Dov the first week.

"Dov said you were the least likely to pull a McNally."

Vivian snorted. "And that's three. Moms said the same thing today." No one was telling her not to pull a Collins though. Interesting. Of course she knew that story too. Oliver told her about all the rookies, even her mother.

Nick smirked. "When's Holly getting back anyway?"

"Tonight or tomorrow. Whenever the trial's over." Vivian watched the streets roll by carefully. She paid attention to where they were. Gail liked to play a game of naming the next cross street. Elaine called it the 'quick, your partner was shot!' game. Holly thought they were both idiots.

The radio squawked, announcing shots fired at 1504. Shots fired. Lara Volk was with (God help her) Duncan Moore in 1504. "Fastest way to the address?" Nick was calm. How could he be calm? Her heart was pounding in her chest. Suddenly it was real.

"Uh, construction on Dunn, take a right at the second street, up four, a left, end of the lane we can cut up the alley."

"Call it in," nodded Nick.

She fumbled the radio, nearly getting the wrong button. "1519 responding. 5 out."

"1519, Dispatch, received."

After a moment, Nick cleared his throat. "Siren."

"Right!" She flicked it on and looked sheepish. Every single thought about what she was supposed to do felt jumbled in her head.

"You stay by me, Peck," he said gently. Calmly.

She nodded so hard it hurt. "Yes. Yes, sir."

Had it been this terrifying for Gail? The story of Snakeface spun to the front of Vivian's brain. Even the amazing Gail Peck had fucked up as a rook. She took a deep breath. She could do this.

In retrospect, no one was ever really ready. And she understood why it was so easy for Andy to have done what she did. It was everything like class and, at the same time, nothing at all like what she'd practiced. There was a druggie yelling at Nick and Vivian's brain knew, it knew, she was supposed to step in and do something. No, this was right. She was the backup. Look serious. The guy was yelling about how he didn't even have a gun and then another guy, with a gun, burst out of the alley.

While her brain struggled to process everything, her body was in motion. As the yelling druggie grabbed the backpack at his feet and made a run for it, Nick yelled… Nick yelled something. Her brain was fuzzy but her body remembered everything. Holster the gun, sprint after the druggie holding the backpack. Nick's got the guy with the gun. The alley cut through an apartment parking lot. The street mapped itself in her head. Vivian cut across, sliding over the hood of a parked car, only to have him cut back.

God no wonder Gail always bitched about chasing criminals! They were unpredictable! No... No, Gail said they were totally predictable. What would Gail do? If the guy was headed back, he forgot something. But he wouldn't just rush the crime scene. No, he'd go around the side and try to get in the building.

"4727, in pursuit of, uh, perp. He's playing alley maze." Vivian took off at a sprint, not waiting for a reply from dispatch, praying she was right. The alleyway merged and she took the fence at full speed, swinging over it easily. Fine! That stupid obstacle course made sense. It was easier for her than most because of her hobby was running around on the weekends with ETF, and they liked American Ninja Warrior.

Landing easily, Vivian skidded as she rounded the corner and drew her gun, bringing it up to bear on the druggie as he came around the opposite side. "Freeze!"

He did.

Holy crap. It worked!

"Put the bag down."

"You don't understand," he whined. "They want me dead."

"We can protect you," she bluffed. She had no idea if that was the case. "Put the bag down."

He hesitated. He was going to run. Vivian knew it. Had she remembered to switch her radio on? Could she call for backup? Had she pulled a Gerald?! Panic started to swim in her head.

"The officer said put the gun down." The voice was calm and strong and familiar. How was Andy so calm? It washed over her like one of Gail's cocoas on a winter day, warming the edges of her soul. For a moment, she felt safe, something she thought she'd never feel around McNally, who was still the butt of many jokes.

They both stood there, guns trained on the man, until the bag went down. "Please, I need protection! Asylum!"

"We're not a church," grumbled Andy, stepping up and pushing the bag away with her foot. "Cuff him."

Vivian's eyes went wide. Andy was giving her the collar? "Uh, yes, yes, ma'am." She holstered her gun and pulled out her cuffs, quickly securing the perp and reading him his rights.

That shut him up good, and Vivian glanced over at Andy, who was chatting on the radio. She unzipped the bag and blinked. "Well hell, Peck. You've got your grandmother's luck. This is a guns and gangs special."

She wanted to look over, but kept a firm hold on her perp. Cuffed or not, she'd heard the stories. "Ma'am?"

Andy smirked and held up the bag. "On your first day you just chased down a lieutenant in one of the major crack dealing gangs in the city."

The perp in her hand blustered. "First day?"

"Yeah. You got busted by a rook," sang Andy.

---

The two police officers in her life were talking about nothing but the case Vivian had accidentally burst open. Steve, who was in charge of Guns and Gangs now, had been looking for a way to tie in the gang to the drugs, and Vivian all but handed it to him on a silver platter.

Gail was delighted, proud, and told Vivian that repeatedly. Vivian kept looking embarrassed and quiet.

Finally, Holly cut into the conversation. "You know, when I asked what I missed, I was expected a little more about how much you missed me, Pecks."

Her wife looked abashed and put down the spatula. "I missed you terribly," she said quietly. The blue eyes were dark and apologetic.

"I barely even got a kiss hello."

"Hmm, I'm failing there. Viv, would you...?" Gail waved a hand a the food.

"You guys are so gross," teased Vivian, taking the spatula up and stirring the meat. "Did you even make the guac yet?"

"Hush." Gail wrapped her hands on Holly's waist, leaning in to kiss her properly. "Missed you," she whispered.

Holly smiled. "Better." They kissed again. "She's feeling shy, lay off," Holly whispered in Gail's ear before kissing her jawline. Gail made a noise of agreement and sighed happily. The hands moved, hauling Holly into a good, proper, hug. Those hugs felt so good.

Vivian cleared her throat. "Can you tell us about your case, Mom?"

Letting go of her with a kiss, Gail took over the cooking duties, mixing up the guacamole. "Not much," admitted Holly, watching Gail. She loved watching Gail cook, when the constant nagging in her head faded away and she was just a person. The look on Gail's face was serene and more beautiful than anything else. Holly knew how to get that face in other ways, that relaxation, but this too was good. "I can tell you he pled out in the face of my awesome science."

Both cops laughed at that. "She's not kidding, Viv," chortled Gail. "Nerds win more cases now, thanks to TV."

"We are awesome," smiled Holly, leaning on the counter. "How come you're not celebrating at the Penny tonight?"

"Friday," shrugged Vivian. "I think some of the rooks are there tonight though."

"And you are not because..."

Vivian looked surprised. "Well. You're home." She tossed the vegetables onto the pan. "And when have I ever been the party girl?"

With a dramatic sigh, Gail hung her head. "I've raised a woman who believes in moderation." Gail sounded mournful, but Holly laughed.

"And tequila," giggled Vivian.

"Shaddup," snapped Gail, smirking. "Get me a beer, child."

"I'm working the meat here!" There was a pause and all three women cackled. "Mom, one for me too?"

Holly sighed and got three bottles. "You both suck."

They ate the fajitas on the deck, talking about normal things. Vivian brought up some of the news about a possible Ebola cure. Holly had read about it on the plane and gave her some medical tidbits. They then talked about the sports games they liked. While Gail had never seemed to mind it, Holly always worried when they talked about things they enjoyed that excluded her.

She'd long since given up trying to understand what mom roles they each fell into. Vivian called her, as a child, when she'd had a panic attack sleeping over at Olivia's. But then at eleven, when a camp out had proven too painful, it was Gail who got the call and drove hours to pick her up. Holly was the first to be told about the crush on Olivia, Gail was the shoulder when they broke up, and weirdly Elaine was the confidant about how Vivian worried about how that would affect things with Noelle and Frank when she became a cop.

The conversation turned a little, without her noticing, and now Gail was asking about the girl Vivian had been sort of seeing at the Police Academy. "Oh my god, Mom, shut up," scowled Vivian, looking away.

Gail was smiling. "So that would be a no, not serious?"

Vivian screwed her face up into a look of Gail's that, for a long time, Holly hated. It was the look of disdain Gail had thrown at her at the Penny years ago. "Mom, seriously? No, we weren't serious. She wasn't. She was nice, but... Y'know, no. Not gonna be a thing."

Glancing at Holly, Gail reached over and took her hand. "Well, even if you have adventures like Dr. Slutty BitchTits, we'll love you. Just be safe."

Another eye roll from the daughter. "You do realize that Lisa has been exclusively seeing Kate for, like, ever, right? I mean not everyone gets to be married almost twenty years."

Both Gail and Holly stared in silence. "Shit," muttered Gail.

"Seriously, you forgot?" Holly smirked.

"No, it's just... We're old, Holly!"

The look of horror on Gail's face was hilarious and Holly laughed until she was crying, "You're going to be fifty, Gail!"

Gail looked positively stricken. "No no no! No I'm not!" Covering her face with her hands, Gail faux-wailed as Vivian and Holly laughed.

"Come here, you idiot," smiled Holly, moving the hands away and cupping Gail's face in her own. "I love you, fifty and god knows what color your hair really is." She leaned in and kissed Gail slowly. God, Gail kissed so wonderfully. Her lips were soft and tender, curved into a shy smile as they kissed.

The click of a camera phone stopped them. "This is why I'm still in therapy," muttered Vivian, smirking.

"You're the one who took a photo," Gail sassed, scooted her chair around, and draped an arm over Holly's shoulders. "Wanna clean up the dishes so your old mams can make out?"

Vivian pointed at Holly. "Technically that's her chore, since we cooked."

With a laugh, Holly kissed Gail's cheek. "I will load the dishwasher," she smiled.

Of course, everyone brought in their own dishes, which made clean up incredibly fast and easy. Gail tidied up the mess of a living room and Vivian took care of the deck. Everyone cooked, everyone cleaned, and it just worked out. It had been Vivian's chore, as a child, to set the table, though since she liked to cook with Gail, that hadn't lasted long.

Vivian just liked doing whatever the grownups had been doing. Play sports with Holly, play video games with Gail, math and science with Holly, cooking with Gail, running with Holly, shooting with Gail... She was their kid.

"What's going on in that noggin, Stewart?" Gail's breath was a soft puff from behind her ear.

"We raised a pretty awesome kid, Peck," replied Holly. She leaned back and smiled as Gail wound her arms around Holly's waist. "I'm sorry I missed her first day."

"She understands." Gail kissed Holly's shoulder. "I understand." Another kiss. "Did you bring us presents?"

Holly laughed and playfully shoved Gail away. "Really? Is that all I'm good for? Science and presents?"

"And sex," teased Gail.

"God, Moms." Vivian stuck her tongue out. But the kid was smiling. "Go to your room."

Holly was about to say it was early when she caught Gail's look. "I did bring a present," she noted. "I got you a Flames shirt, Viv."

Her daughter the hockey fan grinned. "Cool. Did you get Mom a cowboy hat?"

"Do you see a cowboy hat?"

Gail smirked and headed to the stairs. "You were home when we got back. Come on, shower. We can watch something on the tube if you want."

By the time Holly was done with her shower, though, she lay across the bed in her robe and groaned. "I'm too old," she muttered.

Her wife kissed her forehead. "Hey, if I'm about to be fifty, you're looking up at sixty," she teased.

"Not funny, Gail." But the blonde went to the bathroom for her own shower. Holly shook her head and smiled. From the sound of it, Gail was shaving and washing her hair, so Holly got up and pulled out the presents from the closet. Vivian's shirt and a pair of fuzzy slippers went by the door. Gail, though... Well it was no secret her wife had wanted the hat. Of course she got it.

Putting the hat on her own head and shedding the robe, Holly stretched out on the bed in her birthday suit.

It was good timing. The water went off. Gail was singing softly, a romantic ditty from some new musician about love and stars and laughter, and drying her hair. "Hey, are you throwing me a big party? Because I'm okay with just something small."

"You hate parties, Gail."

"I hate people making a fuss."

"I know. It's right up on our twentieth, and you know we have to do that big."

Gail made a noise. "Mine will make Mom feel old."

Frankly it made Holly feel old. "I'll talk to her. Any requests?"

"A nice hotel," laughed Gail and then she went silent.

Holly glanced over and saw her wife standing in the doorway to the bathroom, blinking. "Like the hat?" She grinned and pushed the brim up with one finger.

Nodding, Gail took the towel off her shoulders and tried to hang it up on the hook. She missed twice. Then she swore, tore her eyes away, and carefully hung up her towel. "So you're not tired?"

"Not that tired, no," smiled Holly, patting the bed beside her.

Gail smiled and climbed up to the bed. "Keep the hat on," she grinned, kissing Holly.

The hat stayed on for a while, about as long as Holly's glasses normally stayed on, but it did eventually get in the way. When the hat got tossed to the side, Gail didn't complain, though that probably had to do with what Holly was doing with her tongue at the time.

Afterwards, Holly hung the hat up after she dug out a shirt to wear. Gail watched, sleepily, smiling. Holly smiled back and asked, "Are you really going to work tomorrow?"

"Mm. Yeah, I've got to follow up on the guy Viv arrested. Might be a big break for Steve's group."

Holly snuggled up against Gail, breathing her scent in. "That sucks."

With a snort and a laugh, Gail reached over and turned her light off. "Can't be helped. Crime waits for no one." They settled into the easy relaxation of being in bed together. "I hate this bed when you're not in it."

"I hate hotels when you're not in them with me," murmured Holly. Her body grew heavy quickly.

It was good to be home.

---

The bad thing about being a rookie, Vivian realized, was that she couldn't keep working the case she'd broken open. She'd complained to Matty about that on the phone, and he reminded her that she actually had it better off than her fellow rookies. Because unlike them, Vivian was a Peck and was therefore in the Peck Fold. She had access to resources. When she and Nick got back from patrol, Vivian went up to the second floor to find Uncle Steve. It was easy. He was at the coffee maker.

"Hey, who let the rookie up here?" Steve, balding and greying, was grinning ear to ear.

"They have these things called stairs, Inspector Peck." She smiled back.

"Oh do they, Constable Peck?" But he waved her in. "Your mom make it home okay?"

Vivian nodded. "She did. Got me a Flames shirt and some fuzzy slippers."

"We'll be over for Sunday dinner." The Peck dinners had moved to her house at some point in her teen years. Probably because Gail was the better cook. "Out of curiosity, why's Gail wearing a cowboy hat today?"

"Because she's a pervert," sighed Vivian.

Steve, to his credit, looked thoughtful. "Ew." They both laughed. "Come on, let me show you the headache you left me."

She grinned and walked to Steve's office at the end of the hall. They didn't hug or otherwise show any indication they were more than a random pair of people with the same last name. Everyone upstairs knew, though. Most of the detectives knew her from her childhood, and certainly from when she was eighteen and up.

That had been when Gail had conceded to Vivian's pleading and let her hang out upstairs when she came by the station. Prior, she'd only been allowed downstairs in Oliver or Dov's offices. Once she was in the Police Academy, though, she'd not come by as often. Most of her time was spent in school or driving to and from Alymer. Four hours each way, every weekend, in a crappy car had not been fun, but of all the horrible things to find out in her adult life, she still did not sleep well outside the home.

Gail had theorized that if Vivian thought of her place as 'home' or 'her space' she would be fine. So far that seemed to work. Camping in her own tent was fine. Her own, single, dorm was fine. Getting that single dorm had been a trick that Vivian suspected was Pecked out for her. Gail argued it was cause by the declining applications to the force.

The last week of the course, Holly and Gail had both come to stay in town since they were each teaching a class. That had helped, and Vivian had gotten permission to stay with family. It was a strange thing, she knew, and a weird exception to the norm. But somehow, no one on the force really knew about it, and she was planning to keep it that way. Gail had pointed out that undercover work might be tricky, though not everyone did that sort of thing. And it wasn't that she didn't try to overcome her fears, she just... Woke up worried. Or worse, panicking. Stupid irrational fears.

Her uncle knew, though.

"You like it," she teased him, looking at the board he'd set up for the case. "Three Rivers is a really stupid name for a-" She stopped abruptly and stared. "Wait, no way!"

Steve chuckled. "Yeah, the sons of bitches who stabbed me."

"I thought you and Mom took 'em down!"

"We did, but there's down and there's down. Most gangs come and go. Especially old ones like this." Steve pulled up a file on his computer and showed it to her. The history of this gang was pretty impressive. "They switched to medical grade drugs for a while, then killing, then we broke them, and they've been rebuilding since. Now it's back to drugs."

Steve lectured Vivian on the gang for the majority of her break, ending only when he got a call from a CI. She took the information back downstairs, thinking about the layers of the case.

"Peck, I was looking for you. We roll in ten," said Nick as he bumped into her in the hallway.

"Yes, sir," she nodded.

Nick eyed her. "You up on three?"

"Nah, talking to the Ds on two. Apparently we busted Three Rivers."

The older officer looked confused. "Why do I know that name?"

Vivian grinned. "Well it was most of my life ago."

That clued him in. "No shit... Well. Don't get a swelled head thinking we'll get to work on that, Peck. We get to patrol. Day in and out."

She knew that. Better than most rookies, probably, she understood that the most junior members of Fifteen didn't get the fun stuff. She didn't get to follow a cool case that her mother and uncle were working on, just because it was them. She didn't even get to tell her classmates because they had no idea who she was. And she wasn't anyone special.

When she met Nick by their cruiser, 1507 today, she asked, "Can I drive?"

"Hah, not gonna happen."

She didn't think so, but it was worth asking. "You know I beat out her top score as a rook," noted Vivian as she buckled in. "On the course."

"Who? Gail's?" When Vivian nodded, Nick looked impressed. "Still not driving."

"Your loss."

"You are so like your mother," he chortled. "Hey, why don't your rookie friends know that?"

Vivian hesitated. She knew exactly what Nick meant. "It's stupid."

"Try me."

She sighed and looked out the window. "I don't want them thinking I got here because I'm her kid." There was a weird smirk on Nick's face. "What?" She snarled at him in her best Gail.

"You should tell her that. She'd get a kick out of it."

Vivian snorted. "She knows. Anyway, she wants to see which one hits on Holly first."

Nick thought about it for all of a second. "Rich."

"No bet," smiled Vivian.

"Is any of that related to why Gail was wearing a cowboy hat today?"

Oh Jesus. That hat. "Mom— Holly got home last night. Apparently that's her present." Vivian really didn't want to know the specifics of what else the hat involved, but Gail was certainly in a good mood. She could do without details of her parents' sex life and was just thankful the house had good soundproofing.

Her TO had the grace to look embarrassed. "Man." He shook his head.

Did Nick know Vivian knew he had been engaged to Gail? Vivian hadn't found out until she was a teenager, though it didn't really seem to matter much. It did explain why Gail was generally more herself around Nick, though. He was pretty much family.

They drove through the city, Nick quizzing her like all the rookies complained about, until the radio sent them to the edge of Fifteen, right by TwentySeven, for a robbery related to their Three Rivers case. Vivian perked up.

"Down girl," muttered Nick, turning the car towards the destination. "It's just going to be standing around."

"Steve said they working on medical grade pharmaceuticals now."

Nick snorted. "That's Detective Inspector Peck to you, Peck."

Rolling her eyes, Vivian pointed out the obvious. "We have five Pecks at fifteen, Collins. I gotta differentiate them somehow, and I don't think I can get away calling Uncle Steve 'Keystone Peck' at work."

At least Nick smirked. "God, I'm too old for this, kid," he laughed.

He was two years younger than Gail, as Vivian recalled. Gail had been the oldest in her class by a couple years, just like Vivian was, because Pecks went to school and got degrees before joining the force. Unlike Gail, who'd majored in criminal justice, Vivian had gone for an engineering bend with a minor in criminal studies. She had always liked seeing how things ticked.

As they pulled up, Nick swore when he saw the truck. Vivian blinked at it, confused, but a moment later figured out why Nick was so annoyed. "Swarek," Nick said to the swarthy man.

"Collins... Peck." He did a double take, looking at Vivian for a long moment. "No shit?"

Vivian nodded, griping her belt carefully. "Sir," she said respectfully. She never liked Sam. He had always rubbed her the wrong way, especially as a kid. Something was odd about him. But it was worse for Nick because of his long term ... whatever the hell he and Andy were. Girlfriend. But it was Sam whom Andy had actually married at one point. Vivian hadn't been around for the marriage, but she remembered the divorce involved cheating. Or something.

Sam Swarek had not aged well. On his best days, in his younger days, he looked like a leathery basset hound. Now, over a decade later, he was haggard and paunchy and his skin looked saggy. He looked older than Oliver, who was actually quite a bit older than Sam. What the hell had Andy seen in him? Of course Swarek was still with Marlo, though, and they had a daughter. So he wasn't a total asshole.

"You sure that's your Peck's kid?" Sam jerked his thumb at Vivian while looking at Nick.

"Oh yeah," sighed Nick. "So what've we got?"

Apparently Sam knew better than to banter with the man dating his ex-wife or the daughter of Gail Peck, and frankly Vivian wasn't sure which made him wiser. "Not much special, but Guns and Gangs has a request to keep an eye out for these guys." He gestured for the two to follow. "So guess who owns the bar?"

Vivian looked up at the name of the place. The Fork. "Seriously? Just when I thought they couldn't get dumber than calling themselves Three Rivers."

Sam snorted. "There's the Peck," he laughed. "Watch the door, rookie. Collins, c'mere."

Of course. Vivian knew she had to pay her dues and didn't argue as she took a guard outside the door. Another rookie was already there, looking a hell of a lot more nervous than she was. She recognized him from their class. "Hey, Garcia."

"Hey, Peck. You know Swarek?"

"Afraid so. Who'd you draw?"

"Trevor. He's okay. You?"

"Collins."

Garcia craned his head and looked inside. "Man, I wanna get in and see. This is a total gang hangout."

"See what? It's just another bar." When Garcia sighed, she asked, "Has forensics been by?"

"Not yet. Swarek called 'em when he got here." Garcia eyed her. "You got here fast."

She smiled. What she wanted to do was brag she'd gotten on of the gang members the day before. Instead, she just shrugged. "Collins is good."

With a grunt, Garcia looked around. "He looks old."

"He's 46."

"See? That's more than double my age."

It was double Vivian's, certainly. "Best TOs are the ones who've been on the street forever." But there was a point. Sam was in his fifties. So was Holly. There was a time when they'd be gone, and it was coming soon. It was coming fast. Well. Out with the old, as Gail might say.

The forensic geeks rolled up and Vivian grinned at them. "Hey! It's the little Peck," beamed LaFaire, one of Holly's favorite techs.

"Hey, LaFaire. Up for some work?"

"You bet. Your mom home yet?"

"Yesterday. You'll see her tomorrow." Vivian turned and stuck her head inside. "Detective? Forensics is here."

It was Nick who replied. "Bring 'em in, Peck. Trevor, take over watch?"

A second voice, presumably Trevor, grumbled. "Just because it's your case..." But the man gave Vivian a polite nod as he came out.

The bar was dark and smelly. "Jesus, do they ever clean?"

"I think this is clean," muttered LaFaire. He set up and started directing people to take photos and collect evidence, one going over to the man seated in front of Nick and Sam.

The bartender, Vivian presumed, was a weedy, pale, skittish man. His skin had the pallor Vivian associated with constant drug use. When he talked, his teeth looked horrific. Meth. She looked around carefully. Garcia and Trevor would have cleared the place before Sam went in, certainly before forensics was let in.

Well. That's how Fifteen did it. Vivian had heard Gail tell that TwentySeven had, historically, been trouble. Holly had said the same. Uncle Frank had investigated them and that was why Gail was supervising them from OC.

With a nod at Nick, Vivian made a hand sign to indicate she was going to walk around the room. Her TO flashed back an okay sign. Nick had taught her his hand signals one summer when he and Andy had come up to the cottage for Holly's birthday. Hand signs, like ASL and Canadian ASL, were easy for Vivian. A hell of a lot easier than French. But just fuck LSQ.

She quietly made her way around the room, listening to the continuing discussion with the bartender. His story was simple. He was setting up, leaving the door unlocked because he was expecting a new beer sampler from a local home brew. The door opened and he was robbed by a guy in a ski mask. He hadn't even called the cops, Garcia and Trevor just happened to be nearby. They'd lost the thief, but there was an APB out on the car.

Vivian leaned over the bar. His story made some sense, except for the part about someone robbing a bar in the daylight. Who the hell did that? She looked up. No cameras. The till was untouched.

Three Rivers ran drugs. Where would Gail look? Where would Steve or Elaine look? Where would Traci look? She'd grown up with their stories about how they just knew where to look. But that wasn't it at all. They knew how to read a scene. They knew how to see what was wrong because it was different.

Okay then, Rookie Peck. What looked different? What was she looking at? What would Gail ask her about at dinner?

The blood and damage in the bar was isolated. The tables that were overturned were only a few. Three. So someone came in the front... She looked down and saw forensics marking the tracks. "LaFaire, did someone stand there?" Vivian pointed at where a tech was positioned.

"Yeah, so check this out." And he walked her through the fight. It matched (mostly) what Vivian had assumed. Guy came in, guy talked for a while (handprints on a table), guy walked up to the pool table and took a cue to beat on their bartender.

"He went all the way across the room to get a pool stick?" Vivian frowned.

"Go check it out," said Nick. "No touching."

She probably knew forensics and medical jurisprudence better than he did, but Vivian just smiled. "Yes, sir." Vivian heard Sam tell the bartender to calm down, that she was a rookie but she wouldn't screw anything up. So she was being used to spook him, to drive out the truth. Alright then. Vivian walked around the table and kept an eye on the bartender. He got more tense when she neared one table.

What was so special about it? "LaFaire," said Sam absently. "Go check that table, will ya?"

The tech didn't look a whit confused and came over with his ALS to check for trace. "Hey, Peck. Ever done a real field test?"

She brightened. "No, sir." A look at Nick gave her a nod and Vivian cheerfully followed LaFaire's directions to take a sample and use the test strip.

"Well how'd'ya like that," grinned Sam. "We got drugs."

---

Watching her daughter put her uniform in the car, Gail smiled. "So. Week one and you had two drug busts."

"One bust, two locations." Vivian grinned, pushing her bangs out of her face. She should cut her hair again, thought Gail. Short. It was so thick though, unlike Gail's, that short needed constant maintenance.

"Steve's happy."

Vivian nodded. "Looks like Three Rivers is back with drugs, so that's something for him and Chloe to work on."

Her staff was working a bit overtime to sort it out, but Gail didn't mind. "Could be worse," she mused. "Nick said you're doing good."

Her daughter gave her the best droll look Vivian knew, which was pretty impressive. "It's creepy you're checking up on me."

"I am not," laughed Gail. "My friend, Nicholas, happens to be your TO. I didn't have a thing to do with it, kiddo." Vivian looked skeptical. "Promise, I didn't even get you to Fifteen. That was all you."

Vivian smiled shyly. "I like it here."

"Yeah? You sure you don't want to change your mind and go back to engineering?" For the life of her, Gail couldn't fathom why Viv had taken that major. Holly had floated the faint hope that it meant Vivian was changing her mind about her future.

The rookie shook her head. "You said you'd back me up on this, no matter what."

"I did," smiled Gail. "How're you getting home?"

"I'll get a ride from C."

"Sure you don't want to come home and get your car?"

"Nah, it's good." Vivian paused. "You sure you're not coming to the Penny?"

Gail rolled her eyes. "You don't need me there hanging out and hovering. Go make some friends with these idiots. You'll need them later on."

Vivian grinned. "I'm going to tell Andy you said that. See you later, Mom."

She watched Vivian head back into the station and sighed. It wasn't going to get easier. She'd thought it was hard letting her go to school. Letting her go, armed, into this situation was even more terrifying. Gail pulled her phone out and tapped her favorite number. "Hey, beautiful. What're you doing tonight?"

The chief medical examiner of Toronto laughed. "I was thinking about hitting up the batting cages."

"Eh, I don't do sports, Stewart."

"Our mini-human does."

"Our mini-human is taller than we are, and off to the Penny to celebrate a week of work."

Holly was quiet for a moment. "Well now I feel old. You're not going?"

"I'd spoil her fun. Besides, she hasn't told them who I am."

Her wife laughed. "Your daughter."

Gail grinned. "Your daughter." She was very much both of them. "Someone impressed forensics this week with her adherence to crime scene protocol and knowledge of medical jurisprudence."

She could actually hear Holly puff with pride. "How about I pick you up at home and we go to the batting cages and then dinner?"

"Fine, I want that Ethiopian place," Gail said firmly, getting into her car.

"Oh? You're not cooking?" Holly was teasing her now and Gail laughed. "I love you, Peck. See you in a bit."

At home, she ruminated on the fact that she was now the parent of a police officer. It had seemed to theoretical and far away, even when Viv was in college and at the academy, that she didn't really worry about it. But now it was all very real. Her kid was Officer Peck. One of about eight right now, depending on what her cousins were up to, but she was a Peck and she was a police officer.

They'd only had Vivian with them for 17 years. Was that enough to give her a good, stable, family? God knew they'd given her enough trauma and drama. Like Holly having Ebola, or Gail vanishing off the planet for a month, or all the times their jobs sucked them away from being able to be there. They'd missed sports games, plays, all sorts of things. But they'd tried.

And it wasn't like Vivian didn't know the reality of the job. She was just as aware as Gail had been at that age. Maybe more so, since Gail didn't keep any of the Peck secrets away from Vivian. Vivian had been 'Peckified' at nine. Gail remembered when she was roughly the same age and her mother sat her down to explain where her father's brother was. Uncle Gary had been undercover with the drug unit and there was a good chance he wouldn't come back alive. He did, as it happened, but they were all seriously concerned and wanted to talk about it at the house. So they asked the kid if she wanted to know.

It was always a tough burden to bear. Early in their friendship, Dov was jealous of Gail's inside track. The more he knew, like now, about how much of a cost that came at, the more apologetic he was for his behavior. The price was a loss of her childhood and innocence. She knew the reality of the world.

So did her daughter. And it was entirely her fault.

"Uh oh," muttered Holly as she came in. "I'm going to pee and you're going to tell me why you're in a tree, Peck."

Gail sighed and followed Holly up stairs. She should at least change her shoes before they went out. When she heard the flush and the sink, she asked, "Am I too old to wear my boots?"

"No," said Holly firmly.

"You're just saying that because you think I'm sexy in them," sighed Gail, staring into her side of the closet.

She was not surprised when Holly's arms wrapped around her. "Doesn't make it not true." Holly's head rested on her shoulder. "What's up?"

"Guilt and fear." Both of their mothers had said parenthood ran on those. Which meant all Gail had to do was say that for Holly to understand what she was having the feels about.

Her wife sighed, understandingly, and squeezed Gail. "How hard is the first week?"

Gail leant back against Holly and frowned. "I was constantly terrified I was going to fuck up. And I did. I totally choked. Viv's doing way better than I am."

"Ah," exhaled Holly. "That's because you're an awesome mom."

"I don't feel like one," muttered Gail. "By the way, you were right. It was about the Crown Prince."

Holly hummed an understanding. "King Wills. Good. We'll blame him. Can I become an anti-royalist?" When Gail chuckled, Holly went on. "Down with the King. He nearly killed my sex life, too."

"You're horrible," laughed Gail.

Kissing her shoulder, Holly let go and sang out, "You love it."

She did. "God help me, I do."

"Atheist!"

Gail giggled. "Stop saying it like it's a dirty word!" Religion had been much of a non-topic for them. Pecks were, in general, atheists by necessity. People who lived their lives in service often only believed in god when they were being shot at. But a Peck was raised to know that there was no higher power who would save you. And Gail knew not even her name could save her.

"Change your boots and hit a ball with me. I promise it'll make you feel better." Holly was already changing her work shirt for something more comfortable. Like Gail's Fifteen Division softball jersey.

Frowning, Gail changed her shoes. "It's only taken us 20 years, but you're wearing my clothes."

Her wife looked down and then turned to try and see her back in the mirror. It said G. Peck rather clearly with the number fifteen. "It was bound to happen," she sighed dramatically.

---

It was actually nice that her moms weren't there. On the other hand, Uncle Steve was holding court with the Old Guard in the back. When Vivian went to pick up the next round, her uncle waved her over.

"Pitchers of beer, huh?"

She looked at the two in her hands. "I'm sure you don't remember this long ago, but they don't pay us that much."

Her aunt Traci chortled. "You deserved that, Steve." Then to Vivian, "I'm hearing good things."

Vivian blushed a little. "Thanks. I think I'm doing okay."

"Just wait till you work a week on the desk," sighed Traci. "What are your folks up to?"

"Shenanigans, no doubt," smirked Vivian. "You guys coming by for Sunday dinner?"

Steve nodded. "We are. This lovely case you dumped in my lap will be a long unravel." When Vivian opened her mouth, her uncle went on. "No, I will not be requesting you to work patrol on it."

She shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"She is so like her mother," chortled Traci. "Pick Peck, right?"

"A little nepotism's healthy," she grinned back. Her rookie class shouted at her to bring the beer. "Gotta go. We're trying to figure out who had the best week."

"You'll win," Steve declared, lifting his bottle.

She probably would if she told them her whole week. Vivian shrugged again and went back to her class' table. "Beers. Rich, next round is you."

"You took forever, Peck!" But Rich poured drinks for everyone. "What'd the Cougar want?"

Vivian gagged. "Okay, see the pale guy next to her? That's her husband."

The conversation quickly went away from that, however, as Christian pulled out Trivia Cards. Memories of Dov playing that with her mothers came to mind and Vivian grinned, joining in. Between rounds, the others bragged about their first week.

Christian, stuck on desk duty, talked about how his great adventure was cleaning up vomit. Rich was also on desk, and had basically run errands and gotten drinks for Noelle all week. Jenny had worked in processing and had an entertaining issue with a woman arrested for holding. No one wanted the details on that one.

However that meant Lara and Viv, who were actually out in the field, had the most interesting weeks. They'd worked the same cases, Lara with Andy, and Lara had nothing but praise for Andy. "McNally's cool, you know? She's like, she's real. She knows the city, too."

As they talked, Vivian leaned back and scanned the room. Neither Andy nor Nick were around. "What about you, Peck? Heard you and Collins got the druggies," asked Jenny excitedly.

"Oh, not my case. It's the Ds." Vivian gestured over at Steve's table. "McNally gave me the collar anyway."

Lara snorted. "Peck, I've been working with McNally all week. She's good, but she doesn't give anyone anything. Besides, I heard she totally caught a shooter her first week."

Deciding not to tell the story about how Andy had also blown Sam's cover, Vivian just nodded. "It's true."

"Yeah?" Rich frowned. "Your Pecks tell you?" Vivian just shrugged and smiled. Everyone and their mother had told her that story. Including Andy's mom who'd shown up a couple times since.

With a loud sigh, Lara leaned around Vivian to look at the various old guard. "I thought I was ready for all this, but now that we're out there, I feel like I don't know anything."

Vivian toyed with her pint glass. "We don't. That's what U- That's what Sgt. Epstein said, didn't he? Nothing prepares us for the real world, so serve, protect, and don't screw up."

"Did you memorize it?" Rich looked suspicious.

She had, but only because she heard Dov and Oliver practice it a million times. "Point is, guys, we're going to make mistakes, we don't know anything. But our TOs have our backs. They're going to make is not embarrass them or Fifteen."

The table seemed to accept this. "How was your week, Peck?" Jenny waved the score card. "The collar's worth five."

Vivian rolled her eyes. "I'm not playing that. You guys have fun."

"Too big for it?" Rich was at his most annoying dude-bro ness. "Don't feel like lowering your standards to compete?"

The truth was that there was only one person Vivian felt like she was competing against, and it was herself. "Whatever, Rich." She finished her beer. "I'm out. See you guys Monday."

When she got outside, Vivian realized she wasn't sure how best to get home. Letting Gail drive her had seemed like a great idea at the start. She could take a cab, but like tomatoes, she just tended to avoid them in general. She wasn't allergic, but if you grew up with someone who was, you got used to avoiding.

Looking up at the sky, her thoughts drifted back to drugs. The Rivers idiots were back to smuggling, which was what Steve had been hunting them down for years ago. But why the hell were they calling themselves Three Rivers. Steve didn't seem all that worried about it, nor did Gail, but it niggled at Vivian's mind.

You gave a group a name that made sense.

Toronto was the Nine Rivers City. That would have made more sense. The Don River Triad was the only three river area she could think of. So maybe they started there? Would that give them a lead on where the drugs were really from? Since Steve had implied they didn't really know.

The Penny doors swung again, interrupting her thoughts. "Hey, Junior Peck."

She knew the voice. "Hi, Duncan."

"That's Officer Moore."

Vivian rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Moore." She alone of the new crop knew his nickname, and held onto it in her pocket. "Got a hot date tonight?"

"Nah, my folks are having a politico swing tomorrow, and I gotta go help set up."

"Sounds like fun. Uncle Al running for office?"

"Think so." He stretched. "Night."

Vivian raised her hand to wave and then asked, "Hey, Duncan? Can you give me a lift?"

---

The door to Vivian's room was open a crack. So, even though it was six AM on a Saturday, and her grumpy wife was surly about getting up at all, let alone that early and for a goddamned run, Holly tapped her knuckles to Vivian's door. "You make it home?"

Her daughter's head, now two and half inches over Holly's 5'9", popped out. "Is Mom coming?"

"Begrudgingly," smiled Holly.

"I'll be down in five." The door closed and Holly shook her head.

Gail was in the hallway, holding her shoes. "I hate you all," she sighed, stomping down the stairs in her running gear.

But they did all run. As much as Gail hated it in the morning, or at all, she knew she had to since her job was mostly a desk gig. Vivian, on the other hand, could and did suicide drills with ETF because she found them fun. Even Holly had trouble with the fact that their child was a jock.

As the finished their usual route, Vivian said she was going to do one more and sped off.

"That is really disturbing me," muttered Holly.

"You? You used to run marathons when I met you," teased Gail as she turned on the hose.

Holly had ratcheted down to 5ks now, running the annual police one with Gail (and the pride one without, because Gail claimed to be allergic to more than one a year). "Yeah, but our kid is ... Honey, you remember how you used to tease me for being butch?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, Viv is butch."

Gail snorted, her hair wet from the hose. "Viv's a jock. Which is hilarious, because she's also an awkward nerd and a bitchy ice princess. Come on, I'll make breakfast."

With perfect timing, Vivian came in the side door on her phone just as Gail served up food. "Thanks, Uncle Steve, you're the best. See you tomorrow." Viv tossed the phone onto the counter. "I take it back, Mom, you are the best."

"Hear that, Stewart? I'm the best."

Holly rolled her eyes and kissed Gail's cheek. "I'll thank you privately later," she whispered. "Okay, honey. What's up with you and Uncle Steve?"

"I came up with a theory last night. About the Three Rivers gang," smiled Vivian.

Much to Holly's surprise, Gail scowled. "No. No. You are a rookie, you have been in blue for five days. You aren't allowed theories and plans. That's how you end up pulling a McNally."

Vivian frowned. "Just about the name, Mom. I'm not going to ask Nick to go check it out."

"You better not," scowled Gail. "Look, you have one job, kid. Serve, protect, and don't fuck up."

That was three things, mused Holly, but she didn't say it aloud. Her wife was adamant about their daughter not getting mired in the depth of police work. She listened to Gail argue that Vivian was a rookie, while Vivian protested she had more policing background than anyone there, and besides, she was just doing research. Finally they agreed that if Steve said to back off, Vivian backed off.

Sunday dinner, with Steve and Elaine and Traci, meant that the subject came up again. The last five years of her life had been filled with this. Around their fourth year together, Gail had stopped bringing up work casually at dinner. They did sometimes talk about cases they were stuck on, but they'd found a grove where the crimes from the outside world, the pain and agony, didn't come home with them. But never had Gail gushed about guns, which she knew Holly wasn't a fan of, or how she boxed a car, or anything really about the technical aspects of being a cop. That was something outside, something Gail didn't want to bring Holly into.

And then their kid announced what she wanted to be and Holly found out exactly what 'real' Peck dinners were like. There was technical talk about guns, like which ones shot best in which situations, and what rifles did best at crowd control. Elaine told stories about how she'd used a bean-bag shot gun once to take out a criminal. Steve talked about what kind of guns shot through vests and Holly felt queasy hearing about it.

That had been the last time Gail allowed it at the table. After that, the talk about weapons was done without Holly around because, as Gail pointed out, it was her damn house. Then she apologized to Holly about it. She had, Gail explained, somewhat forgotten in the fifteen years since she'd been to the Peck Dinners of old, what they talked about when they weren't arguing or putting each other down.

Not long after that, Vivian also apologized. She hadn't realized how much Holly didn't like guns. And really, Holly knew that was a bit her fault. She had been taking Vivian shooting all those years, after all. Vivian asked her why, and Holly admitted it was simply because it meant so much to the girl.

Being a parent was very odd sometimes. You did things you hated or had no interest in, just because the kid did. Gail had taken Vivian to sports games, after all, and even helped her practice.

That night was pretty mild. In fact, it reminded Holly of dinners with John and Rachel, back when they'd been an item, talking about cases. Vivian did have an idea and it wasn't terrible. Her simple idea was that the gang's name came from where the Don River split out into three branches, and that's where they must have started. Steve allowed as it wasn't terrible, but unlikely to help at the time.

And then Steve told Vivian to concentrate on her job.

Gail swore she hadn't asked him to say it.

The next week, Vivian was on desk duty. It was something Holly knew Gail had no hand in, since everyone was rotating through people, and Nick came by to complain about Rich being a douche. Vivian didn't complain, saying it gave her time to do some research and studying, which included filing a request to bring her gun home. Pending approval from Holly.

"Why do I have the deciding vote? You have all your guns here," she complained to Gail.

"My guns predated us dating," Gail said as she rubbed lotion into Holly's back.

"And you're okay with it?" Holly hissed. "A little lower on the left..."

Obligingly, Gail applied more pressure. Oh god that felt good. "Mom will get her a small gun safe. She can lock up her badge in there." Gail's fingers were easing all the aches from a four hour autopsy out of her back. It was glorious.

"Why do you lock up your badges?"

"So people can't run around and pretend to be cops." The thumbs pushed up her spine. "I don't see anything wrong with it, but it's normal in my world."

Holly sighed. "It's normal in mine too now," she realized grimly.

The hands stopped. Gail sighed loudly. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Reaching back, Holly found Gail's leg. "I'm okay with it, Gail. She's allowed to make her own choices and live her own life." Gail lay down along side her, gently massaging Holly's shoulder. "She's got that theory..."

Gail groaned. "Nope. Nope. She's a rookie, Holly. She's not allowed to have theories or ideas. She listens to her TOs, she works hard, she learns. In a couple years, she can have an opinion." Gail flopped onto her back and covered her face.

Holly smiled and sat up, pulling on her night shirt. "She can have one at home with her Mom," she pointed out. Her wife grunted. "Come on, be honest. How's she doing?"

"With the exception of Andy and Nick, rookies don't do much their first weeks."

They settled under the blankets. "You had the desk?"

"Yeah, me and Dov." Gail settled around Holly, an arm across her waist. "Thanks for putting up with us."

"There are benefits. I haven't had a speeding ticket in twenty years."

---

Vivian twirled her pen as she listened to the phone. "No, ma'am, it's not illegal for a delivery van to do that." She closed her eyes. "Well, ma'am, I'm pretty sure you'd want your Amazon packages- no, no ma'am, I'm not spying on you. You've called us ten times about missing packages that your neighbor brought in for you... Yes, ma'am, I have access to your ... " Vivian eyed the phone as the lady hung up. "Have a nice day," she grumbled and dropped the phone back into the cradle. "Crap, I'm getting cauliflower ear."

Her desk cohort, Jenny, smirked. "They can't all be collars and drug busts."

As soon as the whole story had made the rounds, Vivian found herself being somewhat hassled by Jenny, who had decided she was making Vivian her personal project. And she was going to get Vivian to hang out with them and play their stupid points game. "I told you, I don't care."

"Don't you have ambitions?"

"Sure," smiled Vivian. "But playing who's better is not something I think will help me. Or you."

"I need a rookie!" The voice from the back was Noelle's.

Jenny and Vivian quickly played rock-paper-scissors. "Damn it, how can you always win that game," snarled Jenny as Vivian's rock beat her scissors.

"You have a tell." Rapping the desk, Vivian trotted back to the group of people. "Noelle- Inspector Williams."

Noelle looked up, amused. She wasn't, officially, in charge of the TOs, but not a single rookie would question her. She was their Inspector. "No coffee, Peck?"

Vivian blinked. "Coffee?"

"The last Peck rookie brought me coffee," teased Noelle. That meant Gail. It was weird to think of Noelle having been Gail's TO. "This one's perfect, detective. She's already done a field test."

The detective smiled and Vivian couldn't help but grin back at Chloe Price. That's the kind of person she was. "Why am I not surprised... Now, I need you to help me play this guy."

"Yes, ma'am."

Noelle shook her head. "You are so earnest, Vivian. I swear it's like having Dov back again. Try so damn hard... Okay, you do what Detective Price asks. Don't screw up. And don't show initiative."

Well that was weird. "I'm sorry... Don't show initiative?"

"I need a nervous rookie to make this take longer than it might," explained Chloe. "Can you do any patented Stewart Nervous Babble?"

Did everyone know Holly did that? "Yes, ma'am. Never done it on command..."

Chloe slapped her shoulder. "First time for everything, Peck. Come on."

Vivian struggled to keep a smile on her face. Her job was simple. Come with Chloe to interrogation, give a couple field tests. It didn't matter that they wouldn't hold up in court, they were just trying to demonstrate how they knew. But Vivian had to keep herself looking nervous (no problem) and babble a little. Make it take at least twenty minutes, Chloe said. The test was meant to be fast, so Vivian stalled by telling the crook about her mother.

Actually she explained how her mom's side of the family was all scientists, and they all loved experiments and rockets and things like that. Holly's cousin the rocket scientist was actually Gail's favorite, since he brought over the best fireworks. But she did manage to babble on command, on demand, and make the criminals insanely skittish and nervous. Once the test was done, she followed Chloe back out.

"Okay, now we let 'em stew," smiled Chloe. "Good job."

"Thanks," grinned Vivian. "He's not on anything."

"Oh I know," nodded the perky red head. "He's a runner, though. And I need him as off kilter to try and get some information. I'm not as good as breaking people by waiting as Gail is."

That was still weird. Gail had no patience, at all, and yet when it came to cracking perps she was the king of waiting them out. "Does it really work?"

"Sometimes." Chloe seemed unconcerned. "Off you go."

Vivian knew the dismissal meant she'd probably not learn anything more about the case. It was the only interesting part about desk duty. Rarely, if ever, did anyone bring anything cool to front desk. Except for Oliver. Just as shift was ending and Vivian was handing off her spot to someone else, she heard his voice. "Officer Peck!"

Vivian turned and grinned. "Hey, Ollie. Jenny, buzz him in will you?"

Jenny eyed her. "Who's that?"

"Only Fifteen's greatest Inspector in the history of, oh, ever. Oliver Shaw, Jenny Aronson."

Happily extending his hand over the desk, Oliver smiled. "Pleased to meet you, rookie. And if that's what my Peckling says about me, listen to everything she says."

Vivian rolled her eyes. "Really? Peckling? Still?"

"Gotta tell you apart from Keystone, Petulant, Nash, and Wet." The fact that her cousin who wanted in on the marine unit was 'wet Peck' would be used against him later.

They let Oliver in and he quickly hugged Vivian. "To what do we owe the pleasure, Uncle Ollie?"

He chuckled. "I'm here to see Noelle. She still in?"

"She's in the downstairs office. D- Sgt. Epstein's at the big building today." Vivian navigated through the desks.

"Good, good. You're done? Want to buy your uncle a drink after?"

"I'm stuck waiting on my ride," she shrugged.

"Aaaaah, Peck Force One flies again? It's a good thing, Peckling. This? That's bonding."

"I know. Just means I'm always bumming rides home."

He grinned at her in that easy, happy way that Oliver always smiled. And reached to her waist. Viv clapped her elbow to her side and glowered. From the stairs someone laughed. "Oliver, do you ever give up? She's not even wearing a gun!"

"Bah, I could always do that to you, darlin.'" Oliver bounced up the stairs and hugged Traci tight. "You never come by anymore. What's up with that? Too big missy lead D?"

"Yes," laughed Traci.

They walked into Dov's office where Noelle laughed to see them and Vivian shook her head, too amused at the trio. As she started to change in the locker room, Jenny and Lara sat down on either side of her. "Sooooooo." Lara was grinning.

"So?" Vivian frowned and kicked her shoes into her locker.

"Sooooo how do you get all chummy with Oliver Shaw?" Lara leaned into Vivian and bumped her shoulder.

Frowning more, Vivian squirmed. "Don't do that."

"He, like, hugged you," pointed out Jenny.

"He's, like, my uncle," grumbled Vivian. "It's different."

Jenny kept on, "You don't hug anyone."

"I hug my moms." The plural seemed to skip their brains as her cohorts gave her a little room and they all changed for end of shift, talking about how Viv was lucky to know all those people.

Leaving in a rush, because she had a date, Jenny breezed out faster than Vivian even changed her pants. "That girl," muttered Lara. "She's had a different boy every night!"

Vivian arched her eyebrows. "She did that at the academy too."

"She did?" Lara grinned. "Okay, Peck, how'd you know?"

"We were neighbors." She also knew Jenny had slept with one of the instructors. Traci admitted she had as well, telling Vivian that was how she met Jerry originally. All the girls had their own dorm rooms. Actually, almost everyone did. Gail had been complaining for years about the drop off in recruits.

Lara grinned evilly. "You're my new best friend. Do you know about the guys?"

Waggling a hand, Vivian pulled on a clean shirt and buttoned it up. "Please just don't tell me you find Rich hot. I might gag."

They both laughed. "God no, but Christian... He's adorable."

Vivian smirked. "He's single. But I would avoid dating at work."

With a big sigh, Lara changed her shoes. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Then she asked, "Wait, he's single?"

"Yeah, he had a girl back in Timmins, but he broke up when he went to college."

Lara stared at her. "You and Christian...?"

Vivian blinked. "What? Oh no, hell no." She laughed. "He's like a brother." She and Christian had been text-buddies since Chris Diaz's funeral, so she had been witness (digitally) to his serious high school girl and their breakup. He really was like a brother, and having him at the academy had been a wonderful thing.

"Oh. Cause... You guys are all ... He drives you back from the Penny."

There were two ways to explain it. One way involved talking about funerals and death and pain. The other was relatively simple. "Yeah, I'm a lesbian, so that ain't happening."

Lara blinked. Then she grinned. "Please tell me no one knows. We can have so much fun with Rich."

Vivian chuckled and shook her head. "No thanks. I don't think I could stomach him hitting on me." She closed her locker and locked it.

"Good point. He hit on me. It was gross." Lara stomped her shoes into place. "You single?"

Hitching her bag to her shoulder, Vivian smiled. "Not looking." Lara sighed but, before she could speak Vivian went on. "See. I know we're rookies. We don't get to follow cases or solve crimes or wipe our asses without our TOs say so. But damn if it's not annoying. They've got no idea about the Three Rivers gang, how they're getting the drugs in, and it's a dead end. It's annoying."

"Okay, how have I never heard you talk more than a couple sentences before?"

"I cultivate an air of introspection."

Her classmate was quiet. "This means a lot to you. This job."

"Yeah. This is... This is the only thing I ever really wanted to be."

Lara sighed. "Yeah." That seemed to be all, so Vivian turned to go. "Hey, Peck? Don't forget we're supposed to be people. Cops, yeah, but people."

She paused at the doorway. "Thanks, Volk. I'll keep that in mind."

But Lara had a point. It was the same point her moms had. Be the girl, not the job. That was funny to say to a Peck, but it was true. She'd have to figure that out, starting tonight. Tonight was a drink with Oliver.

---

Much longer chapters, I know. Think of each one as an episode. This is the end of the first episode, meeting the new rookies. Updates will be monthly. I know, but these chapters are incredibly long and hard to produce.

A massive thank you to my Patrons. You guys are comforting and inspiring.