Story Summary: Strange things happen on Friday the 13th, right? What if it was your birthday on Friday the 13th? In fact, what if it was your 28th birthday on Friday the 13th meaning that you were also born on Friday the 13th? Imagine Groundhog Day meets Rookie Blue.

Notes: I don't own Rookie Blue, Gail, Holly, or any other Rookie Blue characters. I'm not making any money off this.

Notes 2: I will try to do an update about once a week on this. I generally do my writing while at work while my code is compiling or I'm on break and I'm on vacation for the next week so the next update might take a little longer. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Gail groaned as she rolled over, the light sneaking around her curtains making the room too light for her headache. Two corrections to that thought occurred to her almost instantly. First, they weren't curtains; they were old sheets she had stapled up over the windows. Second, her head actually didn't hurt that badly. Not bad at all given the amount of alcohol one officer Gail Peck had enjoyed on her birthday. What the hell? You only turn 28 once, right? She took a deep breath before looking around. The realization that she might not be alone snuck up on her unwanted and she almost hated to look over and see. That guy... Jimmy? Bobby? Something that ended in y. Or maybe ... Something. The detective from 27th. Or maybe 25th. She was pretty sure she'd invited him to let himself out and as she cracked her eyelid, it appeared that he had. No stubbly face on a pillow and glancing around the room, the only clothes lying around were her own. Well that was a relief.

She was just about to reach for her phone and check the time when the door all but exploded inwards. "Happy Birthday!" Dov and Chloe shouted rather than sung but Gail had heard Dov sing before and shouting was probably better. Chloe seemed too chipper for this early in the morning but when didn't she? The cheery duo completed their non-original but two verse rendition of the familiar song before propelling themselves onto the end of the bed and holding out a donut box for her inspection. The array of donuts, each topped with a cheese puff, had been sweet yesterday on her actual birthday but today it just seemed weird and redundant.

Gail grabbed a donut before shoving her roommate. "My birthday was yesterday, Idiot!"

Dov and Chloe looked at each other before bursting out laughing. "Our singing was not that bad, Gail." Each of them grabbed a donut and dug in (not before removing the cheese puffs and tossing them into the box). "So. Penny tonight? Birthday girl drinks free of course."

The blonde grabbed another donut as well as the free-floating cheese puffs the cutsie twins had wasted. "Look, I appreciate the song and the special donuts and if you want to buy my drinks tonight, I'm in but you need to check your calendar."

Finishing off his donut, Dov smiled at Gail and stood up before setting the box on the bed. "I'm on at 7:00 and so are you. Happy Birthday, Gail." Chloe, of course, gave her a big hug and a smile before the couple scampered out the door shaking their heads.

"Close the door!" Gail flopped back on her bed wishing they had left her alone. She wasn't on until 5:00 so she could enjoy breaking up fights and responding to car accidents on this lovely drunken Saturday night. Grabbing her phone she checked the time only to see a calendar pop-up on her screen "Parade 7:00 am." "... the fuck?" She was sure that she wasn't on until 5:00 so she hit the balloon taking her to her calendar. There it was "Today... 7:00 Parade. 6:00 pm - whenever - Penny for Birthday excessive drunken lewdness." The entire day had a note down the side of the day instructing her to "dodge annual birthday call from mom." She shrugged. Well no shit.

Great her phone was clearly fucked up. She didn't consider herself any IT expert but she knew enough to restart it. In the meantime, she could use a shower after her birthday drunken lewdness and spending the day in the lab smelling dead person and disinfectant. She was pretty sure the stench had seeped in and she was going to let it seep right back out. By the time she was out of the shower, her phone had restarted. And she might be losing her mind but it still said that it was the 13th. Add to that, Chloe was still prancing around the living room singing Happy Birthday to You over and over. Hell, even if she wasn't due at work, she figured she should leave the apartment so she didn't have to listen to that any longer.

Gail's day didn't get any less strange when she showed up at the 15th and was greeted by every officer she knew wishing her a Happy Birthday. Ok. Those who knew her wished a happy birthday. The rest gave her a wide berth as usual. More importantly, it appeared that this hoax or mental breakdown or whatever would mean that she was getting another day of free donuts, coffee, and drinks at the Penny later. By the time she left parade and grabbed the keys so she and Cruz could take out 1509 she was almost impressed with the amount of trouble her friends had gone to. How had they even changed the system date and time on her phone? As Cruz came back with their coffees, Gail's phone rang and she sent that call from her mother straight to voice mail. Actually that part was really strange. Elaine Peck had never played a prank in her life and it wasn't like she was going to start now.

The call to the woods with the two freaked out teenagers - and why was he chasing her around anyway - was right on schedule although how were the merry pranksters going to get a fake body back to the ravine? Cruz was really doing a great job acting too. She didn't seem to know about the body in the woods until Gail pointed it out. Huh. Strange and getting stranger. By the time the cute. Wait... cute? Forensic pathologist/nerd in the green jacket bounced her way down the hill Gail was feeling pretty off-kilter and cranky, even for her. Just to see what would happen she followed her same script from the day before "... not allowed down there..." "... yes I am ..." "leaves... bugs... femur... diatoms..." "Why are you saying all these words?" Wow. This girl was good. She followed the script exactly from the day before. Word for word. Grin for grin. Maybe that was the weirdest thing about her. Gail was being... cranky because... Gail and the pathologist didn't seem put off or offended. She seemed almost amused with Gail's snark. This time as soon as Swarek said he needed someone at the ravine and someone at the morgue, Gail claimed the morgue, again for the purpose of brushing up on her medical jurisprudence.

It was hard to know whether to be really impressed with the coordination and commitment Dov or Oliver or whoever had organized this prank had gone through or to rely on the feelings of Deja Vu. Gail spent the afternoon much the same as the last, watching Holly examine the bones, and insulting her to see what she would do. A few smirks and smiles seemed to be the limit of her reactions. A few more calls from her mother went straight to voice mail. Even if it wasn't Gail's birthday really she had no wish to spend part of her Saturday listening to her mother discuss her career/husband/life/family aspirations and actions or lack thereof. She could only guess what age 28 meant to Elaine Peck. Actually she didn't need to guess. Elaine was 28 when she had Gail so by Elaine logic by this age Gail should be married with a school age first child, be pregnant with #2, and have her first detective rotation under her belt or have taken the sergeant's exam (with the highest score in the city).

By late afternoon Gail was feeling somewhat bored with the familiarity of the day. "So, Holly, how long have you been working here? I mean I don't hang out at the lab often but I've never seen you when I dropped by with samples or whatever."

"What time is it?"

Wow way to dodge the question, Doc, Gail thought. "2:45 give or take a few minutes."

Holly barely even seemed like she needed to do a calculation. "Seven hours and 15 minutes."

"Seven hours and 15 minutes what?"

"You asked how long I've been working here. I have been working here 7:15."

Gail smirked as she looked around the lab. "That's probably why the room has such a homey look."

Again the pathologist just laughed. "Homey is not really an advantage or goal working in a forensics lab."

Before Gail could answer, McNally poked her head into the lab. "Happy Birthday, Gail! I left a bag of cheese puffs in the hall. Apparently food in the lab is a major no-no. Some white coat nearly tackled me in the hallway."

Gail nodded at the other officer. "Will you be at the Penny?"

McNally laughed. "Oh, Gail. I didn't know you cared that much."

"Well I'm sure Dov can use help with my bar tab tonight."

The dark-haired officer spun on her heel and waved over her shoulder. "See you then!"

"Can I leave you here for a few?" Gail asked the pathologist.

Holly laughed. "I can't believe you're leaving all this for cheese puffs but you have to set your own priorities, Officer."

Varying her behavior only slightly from the day before, Gail returned a short time later with orange fingertips and a cup of coffee for the other woman. "Can you have this in here?"

The pathologist looked up and narrowed her eyes slightly. "I thought I was supposed to buy you coffee or cheese puffs or gin or whatever. Isn't it your birthday?"

Gail shrugged and followed the other woman's motion as she pointed to a shelf where the blonde assumed she could set the coffee. "Tequila. Yes. It is yet it seems like it was just yesterday." She expected a smile or laugh or some sort of acknowledgement of this bizarre and long running prank but only received a nod with a vague agreement that life passes quickly.

The pathologist returned to her examination of the bones and Gail returned to studying her. She was quite a study. Cute. No beautiful but also smart. Ok really smart. As Gail paged through the journal articles she found a few others written by the doctor. Plus she had a fun sense of humor and didn't seem offended by Gail which was a plus. She'd come out yesterday during Gail's cat analogy but hadn't really flirted which was just as well. Not that Gail was bothered when women flirted with her. It happened often enough. "How old are you?"

Gail realized that she had been starring and not really paying attention to the pathologist's work. "Uh... 28."

Holly nodded her head. "So you were actually born on Friday the 13th. That's sort of cool. I went to medical school with a guy who was born on leap day and he would have a big birthday party every 4 years. I went to his 7th back in 2012."

"What did you get him?"

Again the brunette laughed. "A nerf football and some Doctor Who action figures."

"So he's a nerd too?"

As they bantered Holly finished up her work for the day and filed her report. At some point she had told Gail that she could go but Gail found herself staying as she had the day before. Partially she didn't want to leave because it was so quiet and peaceful and partially she was waiting for the surprise or candid camera announcement that was sure to come soon. Surely she had stayed true enough to yesterday to bring out her friends soon? She didn't even really plan it but when the doctor asked if she liked it in the lab, Gail had disclosed so much about herself: that she could live there and that she was a cat and that she would rather burn down a house than be stuck in a relationship. And again the doctor had handed her her coat and come out and started to walk her to the door.

"Hey, Holly?" The brunette turned around at the door to the look at her and Gail took a step toward her. 'You were awesome today. I mean for a dead people doctor."

"Thanks. I think. Holly looked at the clock. "But they're not paying me enough to work more than four hours of overtime on my first day and don't you have to get to the Penny?"

Gail shrugged and asked for a ride to the station to get her car. Holly dropped at her at the curb and wished her a Happy Birthday again.

By the time the blonde got to the bar, most of her friends were there and after some rousing shouts and birthday songs she found herself again the recipient of a night of free drinking. Increasing levels of alcohol had done nothing to clear up Gail's confusion and sense of deja vu about the day. No one ever jumped up to shout Candid Camera and she started to wonder if the whole thing was a very strange dream or if she might be losing her mind. Highlights of the night included seeing Chris fall off a bar stool into a plate of nachos for the second time, avoiding her mother's calls all night long, a quick and possibly ill-advised encounter with that detective from the 27th (Ricky, it turned out) in the stock room, and hearing Oliver deliver a poem in honor of Gail in iambic pentameter. She fell into bed, dropped off along with Dov and Chloe by Nick after the former soldier was elected safety officer for the evening (an election which Gail made sure he knew was punishment for being a crappy boyfriend).

Gail groaned as she rolled over and was impressed that she hardly had a hangover. She was reaching for her phone to check the time as Dov and Chloe bounced into the room singing Happy Birthday and holding out a box that she already knew contained a dozen donuts topped with cheese puffs.

Friday the 13th indeed.