AN: Hey there! So I have this habit of starting things and then never finishing them... However, I got this one planned out with achievable goals so yay! I just finished writing my thesis and am at a loss as to what to do in my life right now. It's been awhile since I wrote anything that wasn't serious and science-y so if you enjoy it, review it, heck - even if you read it, I'm happy. Feel free to give feedback, I'd greatly appreciate it :)
The characters aren't mine, I don't own anything. Just a poor student with crushing debt. All errors, however, are mine. Do feel free to point them out to me xox
Chapter 1.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
Love was potentially the most complicated, abstract idea in the world. How on Earth could anyone make it simple enough to understand but not detract from its complexity?
For a certain blonde police officer, love was messy.
Love was her Mother buying her a gym subscription at the age of 10 because she'd "put a little bit on over the summer and Peck's needed to stay in peak physical condition".
Love was coming first in her class at Police Academy, only to have her parents' critique every part of her performance.
Love was her boyfriend leaving her to join the Army without any warning or explanation. Oh, and here was the kicker: come back, work in the same building as her, become engaged and then fall in love with her friend.
Suffice to say, Gail Peck could not easily define love. It represented a myriad of different feelings, most of which weren't exactly pleasant. It wasn't all bad though, perhaps Gail's fondest definition of love was her brother Steve. The man who would literally do anything for his sister as she would for him. They had grown up as a team and although their interaction suggested an unhealthy amount of sibling rivalry, Steve was maybe Gail's favourite person in the world.
Love was NOT however, sitting on her best friend's couch watching a God-awful romcom on her only day off for the week.
"Ugh. Traci, I'm not watching this shit anymore." Gail threw a scrunched up cheese puff bag at the screen where two protagonists were currently engaged in what Traci would call 'love-making' and Gail would refer to as 'gross, sweaty humping'.
The darker haired woman smirked, "I thought it'd would've taken a lot longer for you to cave, I'm impressed Peck."
Gail dropped her head slightly, embarrassed. "You were out of cheese puffs, I couldn't handle it."
"So what's up Gail? You've been moodier than normal lately, I found a rookie crying in the lockers last week about 'some ice blonde bitch'. It's Nick and Andy am I right?" Traci flicked off the movie and settled back into the cushions, waiting for the blonde to start speaking.
"Nope. No idea what you're talking about, totally over G.I Joe and 'she who must not be named'." Her tone was nonchalant but Traci knew that Gail was more hurt than she let on. She cocked her head slightly and waited patiently.
True to form, if Traci held out long enough, Gail would blurt out everything on her mind. "I don't even care about the Nick thing. Everyone thinks it's that, but it isn't. I'm pissed at Andy, Trace. She broke the code and I'm just … argh." Gail buried her head into the cushion beside her and groaned.
Traci nodded, not wanting to push the subject. "You should come out with me tonight. I've been dying for a night off and we haven't hung out in ages."
"Gee, as appealing as that sounds, I'm going with no. I'm not going to the Penny to watch Ken and Barbie make out like horny teenagers." Her voice was muffled but Traci could hear the growling undertones.
Still, Traci was persistent. One needed to be if they were going to get anywhere with Gail Peck. "What if we go somewhere new? Pleeeeeease Gail?"
"Fine. You owe me Trace." Gail couldn't stop the niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her she was going to regret giving in to Traci's demands.
"Hey, what's a nice girl like you doing by yourself?" A well-dressed but clearly inebriated man had decided to attempt to charm his way into Gail's pants. Although there were no outwardly noticeable signs, he clearly had to be somewhat intoxicated to try and woo her. Gail had her best 'don't fuck with me' face on the entire night and Traci was feeling slightly guilty for pressuring her into coming out tonight. So the woman had decided to quickly use the bathroom before calling it a night. It had been mere seconds since Traci had upped and left her and this would-be Casanova had occupied her vacant seat.
Gail raised a brow slightly and gave the man a once-over before rolling her eyes, internally begging Traci to hurry up in the bathroom. "Leave. Your presence is like the cherry on top of my shit sundae and I'd quite like to enjoy this tequila without you." She turned her attention back to her drink, effectively ending any further conversation.
Somehow, this was lost on the drunken man and he didn't quite seem to get the hint. He tried a different tack, "Can I buy you a drink?"
A sweaty palm had found its way onto Gail's upper thigh and was moving steadily higher, Gail could smell the alcohol on his breath. Ice blue eyes flashed dangerously as Gail grabbed his thumb and bent it back viciously with a sweet smile on her face. But before she could rip the man apart, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The blonde relaxed considerably and dropped the thumb, assuming it was Traci to her rescue.
"Hey hun, sorry I took so long." Gail's eyes widened as a strange brunette woman slid into the booth next to her. Why was this happening? She was never going out with Traci again. A long slender arm slid across her shoulders and pulled her in for brief peck on the cheek. This stranger had some nerve and Gail tried to quell the rising butterflies that had started stirring in their close proximity. "This guy bothering you? I think you'd better leave mate, this lovely lady's accounted for."
"Sorry. Fuck me, you two are hot." The drunken man mumbled some semblance of an apology and left, swaying slightly as he stumbled away. Gail shuddered, not at all sorry to see him leave. However, now she had another problem.
"I can handle myself, you know." It came out a lot snappier than Gail intended and she felt bad as soon as the words left her mouth.
If the mysterious brunette was offended, she didn't show it. Her smile only widened and made Gail's stomach flutter again. "I don't doubt it but I thought the guy would appreciate the use of his thumb in the morning."
"Nice to know you're so concerned about his well-being." Gail scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying to maintain her cool demeanour.
The brunette held her hands up in mock surrender, "Okay, you caught me. Maybe I just really wanted to talk to you?"
A single brow was raised again, "That's seriously weird. Maybe you should get some friends?"
"I have friends, they decided to take me out on my first night here. 'It'll be fun!' they said. I needed a quick break so I offered to get drinks and then managed to start to talking to an attractive woman on my travels." The woman was rambling a little and it was nothing, if not adorable. Gail couldn't help but feel torn between feeling indebted to her and pissed off that she needed rescuing.
"You know what frustrates me the most? The fact that I need to be 'accounted for' in order for him to leave." The words had left her mouth, a continuation of Gail's thoughts but completely random given the conversation.
The woman seemed unfazed by the sudden change in subject, "Oh? Maybe we should have a discussion on patriarchy and gender stereotypes in our society over a drink?"
There was a small part of Gail that really wouldn't have minded getting a drink with this woman. However, the larger part of her was screaming 'even if something did happen, it would never last'. "Yeah, no. Too nerdy for me. Maybe your friends will appreciate it more."
"Maybe you're right, it was nice to meet you…?" The woman was disappointed, it was evident in her dark brown depths.
"Gail."
The woman waited for a beat before speaking, "You aren't gonna ask me for my name?"
"Nope, already know it." Gail smirked.
"And what's that?" Her eyes were twinkling, unsure what to expect.
"Nerd. Duh." The blonde winked. She didn't normally wink, ever. This woman was somehow managing to elicit the most un-Gail responses without even trying.
It caught the brunette off-guard and she laughed before standing to leave. Gail took in the other woman's appearance for the first time and her breath hitched. Undoubtedly gorgeous, legs forever and essentially the epitome of beauty. No heavy make-up, flash dresses or expensive wear. This woman was simply naturally and effortlessly stunning.
"Oh, hey nerd?" She turned to look back at Gail questioningly. "Uhh… thanks for earlier." It was obvious the blonde wasn't accustomed to giving gratitude so she took it in her stride and placed a lingering kiss on the blonde's cheek. "Anytime, Gail."
No sooner than the mysterious woman had disappeared, yet another person sat down opposite Gail.
"Okay, who the hell was that?" Traci demanded excitedly.
"Nice of you to finally grace me with your presence. Where were you 5 minutes ago when I needed you?" Gail shot back, understandably annoyed.
Traci shrugged her off, "She seemed like she had it covered and you were practically eye fucking her. Since when are you gay?"
"Traci. I'm not 'anything'." Gail frowned, "She's weird and interesting and I like her. She also happens to be extremely good looking. That doesn't make me gay."
She was right. Traci felt guilty, "I'm sorry, that was a dick thing to say. Wanna head out?"
Gail snorted, "Thank God, yes. You do realise that some of us beat cops have to get up in the morning?"
Traci pinched Gail's side, "Yes, and some of us detectives also have to get up in the mornings too."
Dried branches snapped under heavy boots as Gail strode towards the two people standing idle in the clearing. She savoured the satisfying crunch they made underneath her, it felt good to let out her aggression on the poor forestry. Bright blue eyes surveyed the sight in front of her while her partner followed closely behind. Pine needles and twigs littered the ground and Gail huffed exasperatedly, she was not an outdoorsy person.
"Alright! What's going on here?" Marlo took charge of the situation and approached the two young witnesses who were obviously in shock. They looked at the brunette officer blankly but neither elected to speak first.
"Okay, I'm Officer Cruz and this is my partner Officer Peck. Do you wanna tell me what happened here?" Marlo softened her voice and tried a different tack. Pulling out her notebook, she waved her hand and gestured for Gail to look at the scene in more detail.
"We were just messing around, I swear. I didn't mean to…" The dark haired boy took several deep shaky breaths and shook his head in disbelief. He wrapped his arm around his smaller friend protectively, the girl had leaves strewn in her mussed up hair and dried mud and tear streaks down her cheeks.
"I fell on top of it, it was so gross and omigod … and it was WET. Ughhhh it was disguuuusting …" Her ramblings trailed off as she became uncertain on how best to describe what she had just seen so she simply pointed towards a spot several metres away. Marlo felt bad for them but 'it was so gross' wasn't exactly the sort of information that would solve mysteries. She held up her hands to calm them down, "Okay, okay. Just take a deep breath and how about we start from the beginning?"
"Hey Cruz? I think I know what the problem is." Gail interrupted. She had just found the source of the two teenagers' angst. A decomposed pile of bones, face down and half concealed amongst the foliage. The mottled bones looked like they'd been there for a long time but other than that, she couldn't tell much more just by looking at them until forensics tore the place apart for evidence. Marlo came over towards her partner's location to see for herself, "Great, looks like our day just got that much more exciting. Peck, call it in and get forensics out here will you?" The blonde nodded and made the call before stepping away from the scene to give her some space with the witnesses.
Gail decided to walk back up to the squad car and wait for the cavalry to arrive. It didn't take long before a familiar car pulled up next to their own. The occupants stepped out revealing Detectives Sam Swarek and Traci Nash. "Gail, hey. What have we got here?" The darker haired woman flashed an impossibly white smile at Gail.
The blonde returned the smile with her first genuine grin of the day, "Dead body. Could be a possible homicide, that'd be exciting. We won't know anything else until forensics turn up." Sam nodded and they fell into step as they walked back down to the scene. He wasn't as familiar with Gail as he was with her brother Steve but he knew her well enough to understand her dark sense of humour. Traci, however decided to appease Gail's twisted musings. "Any severed heads there to keep you interested?"
Gail rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Unfortunately, no. That was the first thing I checked for, there's a head but it's still attached to the rest of the body. Stupid place to hide a severed head anyway." Traci chuckled and shook her head, Gail had the strangest thought patterns but she knew better than to try figure them out.
"Okay, how 'bout you stick around and brief forensics when they turn up and Nash and I will check in with Marlo." Gail nodded and watched the edge of the crime scene while Sam and Traci continued without her.
She decided to let her thoughts wander aimlessly before they somehow settled on Nick. Her ex-boyfriend was refusing to talk to her and to be perfectly honest, she wasn't all the interested in talking to him either. Well not since he'd brushed her off and left her standing in the middle of the corridor like an idiot. It increased the unresolved tension and issues between them tenfold and it hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone else in the division. Everything about the situation was infuriating her. Gail Peck was not one for being the centre of attention and she could feel people's eyes burning into her when they were being briefed at parade this morning.
"Hey Gail, are you, uh… okay?" Andy looked at her with equal parts concern and apprehension that Gail would say something cutting. There was a definite possibility of something cutting, considering Andy was possibly the last person Gail wanted to talk to.
"I have cramps, McNally. Cramps in my foot." Gail said dangerously, her eyes narrowed at the other woman. Andy nodded slowly, like one would to a rabid dog about to bite. She was used to Gail-isms but it still didn't make conversing any easier.
Thankfully, the awkwardness didn't last long. "You should go, I think Nick is waiting for you." Andy sensed the passive-aggressive undertones but she wasn't going to engage the blonde in a verbal sparring match. She knew she was in the wrong so decided to leave it for now. Gail watched the brunette walk out the door, her eyes were burning holes into the back of Andy's jacket.
"Hey Gail!" Chloe had a container of homemade muffins and thrust them under Gail's nose. "Wanna muffin before you head out? They're fresh!"
Gail took one look at them before stating coolly, "If they're not doughnuts, I'm not interested."
Chloe's face fell slightly, so the blonde rolled her eyes and took the offered muffin. "If I die, you're the first person I'm haunting. You know that right?"
She spun on her heel and took for the exit before Chloe could respond but not before glimpsing the wide smile on her features. Gail sniffed the muffin before taking a bite and immediately spat it back out, wondering who decided that putting Zucchini in perfectly good chocolate muffins was a good idea? As soon as Gail rounded the corner and out of sight, she dropped the muffin into the metal bin and sauntered outside.
Forensics had finally arrived on the scene. About damn time, Gail couldn't wait to get back to somewhere urban. Or at least somewhere with access to decent caffeine beverages. "Can I leave now?"
"We're just waiting on Doctor Stewart." One of the men stammered out, not wanting to face the intimidating woman's ire.
"Well, where the hell is this Doctor Stewart and why is he late?" The blonde demanded.
"Umm.. it's actually Doctor Stewart's first day and they're…" He bravely continued to defend the absent doctor.
"Save it, I really don't care. Just tell him to hurry up and you guys can get started." Gail watched them in their weird scrub outfits as they went about their work, taking photos and bagging items. A tall brunette woman brushed past her, swinging a red bag loosely by her side. Irritated her already shitty day was getting that much better, Gail called out after her, "Hey lunchbox! You're not allowed down there."
She half expected the woman to call her out on the name jibe or at the very least stop and comply with her request. However, this woman did neither. "Thanks, appreciate it." Her tone was dismissive and she continued towards the skeleton without any intention of acknowledging Gail further. Gail frowned, she wasn't used to anybody ignoring her least of all while she was in uniform. "Hey. No, I said you're not allowed down there." Her ice blue eyes were trained intently on the woman who had finally turned around. Gail's stomach plummeted, oh shit.
"Uh yeah, I am actually. I'm Doctor Stewart, the forensic pathologist. It seemed pretty obvious, Officer Gail." She smirked at Gail and looked her up and down. Evidently, the woman from last night remembered her as well.
"Oh." She felt incredibly stupid now. However there was no way she letting this woman have that satisfaction, her smug grin was already annoying enough. Gail quirked an eyebrow, "Obvious to nerds maybe. Can you come back later?"
The pathologist smirked at the reference, If the woman was taken aback by Gail's abrasiveness, she did a good job hiding it. She decided to challenge the rather attractive officer with some snark of her own, "You ought to up your medical jurisprudence. We need to determine the cause of death. I test the water for diatoms, and if we find diatoms in the bone marrow… oh, did you notice if the femur is still intact?"
Gail stopped listening, instead preferring to focus on the brunette's facial features instead. God, she had an incredible smile. Much better than that damn smug smile from before. This one quirked up on one side more than the other, showing off just the right amount of tooth. Not one of those conservative closed mouth smiles but a wide open grin that made her seem funny and genuine. Even though Gail knew the doctor was only smiling because she was making fun of her, it surprisingly didn't bother her as much as it normally would. But this pathologist really needed to stop talking, immediately.
"Why are you saying all these words." Every word was enunciated slowly and deliberately, but the brunette was undeterred, her grin only got wider and dark eyes glinted mischievously behind thick rimmed glasses. Something inside Gail involuntarily lurched under her gaze, that damn smile again.
"Alright, I need somebody to stay here and someone else to go to the morgue!" Swarek called out. "I'll stay here." Cruz looked up briefly towards Gail before going back to taking the witness' statements.
Gail shrugged, resigned. How much worse could her day get? "Alright, I'll head to the morgue. It's never too late to learn about medical jurisprudence." She deadpanned, glancing at the doctor who smirked back in return. "Hey Cruz, you're going to have to ride back with Swarek and Nash. Hurry up nerd, you're riding with me."
"Yeah, let me grab what I need and I'll meet you by the car. I'll get Jason to take the car back." She was still rummaging for leaves and dirt in plastic bags for analysis later.
"Well hurry up. Or you can sit in the back." Gail walked off without waiting for a reply, her blonde ponytail bouncing with every step.
The woman took a moment to let her eyes rake across the blonde's figure unabashedly, she was undoubtedly stunning and definitely something else. The doctor shook her head, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. She hurried to collect all the samples she needed and head towards the car, something telling her that the officer was liable to drive off without her and not think twice about it. Yep, this woman was definitely something else.
"Took you long enough, nerd." A perfectly arched eyebrow indicating that she was silently judging the doctor's every movement. The officer regarded the brunette with a mixture of nonchalance and amusement, hoping she would bite.
"You can't rush the evidence. Oh, and it's Holly by the way. Holly Stewart." After setting the bag in the back seat, she settled in the front and held her hand out towards Gail.
"Nice to meet you again, nerd." Gail took the proffered hand and smirked before she started the car and pulled away from the curb. Gail knew she'd been rude and abrasive, it was 'typical Gail' as her friends liked to point out so they expected nothing less than endless sarcasm every time she opened her mouth to say something. Holly wasn't familiar with Gail's personality but instead of being offended like most people would be, she found herself fascinated and intrigued by the officer sitting next to her. It also didn't hurt that the blonde was incredibly easy on the eyes.
"So, you wanted to up your medical jurisprudence huh?"
"Oh Gosh Holly, of course! It sounds fascinating. In fact, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do." The blonde's expression was unreadable, her eyes were trained directly on the road in front but Holly was fairly sure she was being sarcastic and smiled in spite of herself. This woman was unlike anyone else she'd ever met. Gail glanced over, catching traces of Holly's smile still lingering on her lips and felt the beginnings of a smile forming on her lips in response. She quickly cleared her throat and reverted her face back to its default bored expression. She, Gail Peck, did not make people smile and yet here was this doctor not only failing to be put off by her manners but also responding with her own level of snark straight back. It was strange, but Gail decided she liked it. This woman was different and maybe she needed different right now. After all, it wasn't like the rest of her life was shaping up that well.
Gail pulled into the station and waited for Holly to get out. "Right doc, lead the way."
Holly flashed her another crooked smile, "It is literally my first day here. You're trusting me on this?" Gail rolled her eyes, but allowed herself the smallest of grins once Holly's back was turned. There was something about the way Holly smiled at her, Gail couldn't quite put her finger on it but it made her insides melt a little. It wasn't those awkwardly polite smiles that people gave her simply because they didn't know how else to respond. When Holly smiled, her whole face lit up. It made Gail oddly happy, knowing that she was the cause of such a smile. She was still confused by her insides responses to the Holly-smiles but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling so she let it slide.
"I have a feeling it's going to take at least a few hours. How about you grab something to eat and come back later? I should have some results by then." Holly set to work analysing the samples she'd collected and laying bones out on her workspace.
"It's fine. I'll grab something later, might as well wait for the magic to happen." Gail shrugged and casually helped herself to Holly's journals that lined the shelf behind her before settling on top of the counter to read it. The blonde lasted all of two minutes before she opened her mouth, "What are you doing down there anyway?"
It appeared the magic wasn't happening fast enough and Holly huffed good-naturedly. Gail had the patience of a five year old. "Putting together a puzzle."
"What can you tell?" Gail was actually interested in what the woman had to say. Holly knew Gail well enough by now to realise that the officer wasn't the type of person to bother initiating conversation if she had no interest in the subject or person. "I can tell he's a full grown male, probably in his early 20's. Not archaeological, and his bones are still greasy. A bit smelly, I find."
"Oh, I just thought that was you." Gail shot back coolly. Holly ignored the dig but smiled into the lens of the microscope. She continued to tell Gail what she knew, knowing the officer was going to write everything down. "We'll need to carbon date it, but I'd say he's been dead for about 10 years."
Sam and Traci walked in, breaking up the easy banter. "Any ID on the vic yet?"
"Normally it would take longer but luckily, buddy here has a metal plate in his humerus. All metal plates have a serial number."
Gail pulled out her notebook and quickly scanned what she'd written earlier, "Vic's name is Robert Robbins. He was born in 1979…"
"Robert Robbins? Been there for say, uh 10 years?" Sam interrupted, his eyes were wide.
Holly nodded, "Yeah, that'd be my estimate…"
"How did he die?"
"Don't know yet." Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Robbie Robbins. I worked this case 10 years ago when he went missing. Let's go Nash, I got a debt to collect." Sam left the lab without saying anything further. It was clear that there was something burning about this particular case but they wouldn't know until Sam had sorted out whatever debt this was.
There was a peaceful tranquillity in the lab, save for the hum of the various machines but it made for a vastly different atmosphere than working the desks at the station. For once, Gail didn't mind hanging out in the labs, at least she was safe from the nosy stares from her colleagues. Gail resumed thumbing through Holly's journals until one would pique her interest for more than a minute. The titles of the articles she was flicking through had about a million syllables and all the letters in the alphabet. Was it even English? "Coronary Atherosclerosis: An analysis of an autopsy. Do you actually read this stuff?"
"I wrote that stuff." Jesus. The doctor was much smarter than Gail had first thought.
"I knew you were a nerd." Gail teased.
"Your cop instincts tell you that? Nothing wrong with being a nerd anyway." Again, with the smirking. Gail's snark was rolling off the doctor's back and not riling her up in the slightest. The doctor was good, Gail would give her that.
She decided to try and one-up the doctor, "I heard that some fancy science journals are more likely to publish a paper if the title is witty and contains a colon like yours."
"I hear that's a rumour buuuuut I have no doubt some editors love that stuff. I'm impressed officer, who knew you were such an academic." It wasn't a lie either, it was the last thing Holly had expected to come out of the cop's mouth. She paused momentarily to give the cop an appreciative nod. "They make the article seem more interesting and provocative but I kinda just let my research speak for itself. How did you know that anyway?" Holly was slightly bashful talking about her research papers in front of Gail and tried to change the subject. Nothing slipped past the blonde but she let it pass just this once because the doctor's expression was just too damn cute.
"My family are … pretty well-connected. My mother made it her business to know a lot of smart or important people." Gail looked disdainful, "It's not something I really like to associate with."
Holly nodded, that was fair enough. The officer was not only stunning but intelligent and modest. Gail Peck was an enigma, and as a scientist, this was one puzzle she wanted to solve. But that would have to wait until later, she had a job to do first.
"Oh woah Nellie…" Holly breathed, peering closely at the bones in front of her.
Gail was by her side in an instant, brows furrowed in concern. "What's wrong Holly?"
"His left pelvic bones, his left femur and his left ribcage… This isn't deterioration, he's suffered a major impact trauma. Here, take a look." She shuffled over and invited Gail to look into the lens.
"Yeah, no. I just see bones." Holly knew full well Gail wouldn't know what she was looking at but used it as an excuse to get slightly closer to the officer. Their faces were mere inches apart and they stayed like that for a few beats until Holly broke the silence, "Well this guy was hit by a vehicle, you can tell by the consistency of the breaks. You should call Traci or Sam back, they'll want to have a look at this."
Gail was distracted by the closeness of their faces, she nodded absently not really registering Holly's words. It would be so easy to just lean over and… The doctor gave her nudge, "Cop? Go call the detectives."
"Huh? Yeah, I'll do that." Gail pulled out her phone and stepped outside, wanting to hide the blush she was sure would give her away. "Hey Trace? It's me, we found something."
After the call ended, she dropped her arm loosely at her side and leant against the wall. The coolness of the glass left goosebumps along her back and Gail welcomed the sensation, a stark contrast to the burning of her cheeks. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" The blonde tipped her head back and sighed. She was operating on autopilot, reacting to Holly's actions without any thought to her own feelings. Partially because she couldn't figure out what she was feeling but mostly because the Doctor was so intriguing, she was pulled into the Holly's gravity and had absolutely no control over her own trajectory. It was terrifying, quite frankly. To be this caught up over someone she literally only just met? Maybe she was overthinking things again. Eugh. Gail rubbed her temples and groaned in frustration before quietly padding back into the lab. She needed to give herself some space otherwise there was a good chance she'd do something that could ruin any form of relationship with this woman after this case was over.
Traci nodded before she thanked Gail and hung up, Sam was busy rifling through the papers on his desk. "That was Gail. Robbie Robbins was hit by a car that night."
"You're kidding me." He put the papers down and turned his attention fully towards Traci.
"There was major blunt force trauma to the left side of his body."
"Hit by a car though? We found him in the woods, that's like a quarter mile from any road." Sam frowned, lost in thought. "Maybe he didn't kill himself."
Traci filled in the blanks, "Maybe somebody ran him over and dragged him into the ravine."
They had reached mutual understanding. "Then I got my homicide."
It didn't take long for Sam to get back to the lab and as soon as he stepped inside the doors, he was full of questions. "Did you find any traces of codeine in his remains?"
Holly shook her head, "Not sure yet. We're doing some analyses on some strands of hair."
"Okay, right. Anything else you got?"
Holly motioned for Sam to follow her towards the table. She gestured towards a few bones in particular. "This guy has had a lifetime of broken bones, look at this one; an improperly healed orbital bone. His clavicle was broken, his humerus, both his scaphoid bones and this is from before he was fully grown." Holly was clinical in her explanation of the extent of injuries but she felt disgusted at what had happened to this boy. She really hoped they caught the guy that did this to him, she'd seen far too many cases like these and they always broke her heart.
"All by the hand of his father from the sounds of things. Any chance you can tell what kinda car hit him?" Sam was scribbling quickly into his notepad.
"You can tell from the impact here along the pelvic bone and ribcage here, that the driver was in a larger vehicle." Holly traced the length of the bones, pausing to show both officers the extent of the breaks.
Sam frowned, "What? Like a bus?"
"Mmmm more like a truck. I'll see if I can narrow it down, find some paint particles somewhere…" Holly nodded thoughtfully.
"Thanks, call me if you find anything else. You having fun there Peck?" Sam called over his shoulder, the blonde had stayed silent throughout the entire conversation.
"You told me to be here." They exchanged smiles, Sam knew she would have made a lot more fuss if she really didn't want to hang around the morgue. He knew she was only there because of Holly and he grinned because it was completely out of character for her to actually like someone straight off the bat.
"Hey Peck, you know you can leave the morgue now right? We're done for the day."
"Yeah, Holly and I just got back from coffee." Sam couldn't help the smirk, he tried to disguise it as best he could. "First names already, Peck? You guys move fast."
Gail blushed and tried to change the subject hastily, "Did you catch the guy?"
Sam sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "The evidence was inconclusive. We're shutting it down."
The blonde's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "But Traci said…"
"Gail. You're going to have to trust me on this okay?" Sam's eyes were imploring, he looked tired. Gail's eyes narrowed, she knew what that meant. His pick and choose approach to the rules annoyed her despite knowing it was for the right reasons. "Okay."
She turned away from him and leant back into the office chair, using her feet to kick off the desk and spin around. The day's events had taken their toll on her. 'To serve and protect', that was their motto. In cases like these, serving and protecting took on a slightly murkier definition. She felt angry at Sam and sorry for Robbie. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing she could forget about everything. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, it was from Nick. Gail deleted the text without reading it, when she wanted to talk earlier he had brushed her off. There was no way she was agreeing to talk to him now that he was good and ready. Nick could wait. She was petty like that.
"Something tells me you must really like it in here." Holly had finished for the day and was tidying up the last of her things.
"I could live here." Gail sighed and stopped spinning.
"Holly?" She glanced everywhere but into Holly's dark brown orbs. She knew that if she did, then everything would come spilling out and she wasn't quite ready to scare Holly off yet. "I'm like a cat. I'm very good at climbing trees. And then the minute I get up there, I have no idea what to do. I wanna get down, but I don't know how to do that." She took a breath, "Sooo I create an emergency situation to get out of it."
There was a small pause as Holly took in Gail's words. "Of the tree?" She drew out uncertainly.
"Of relationships." Ah. The penny had dropped.
Despite having absolutely no idea what brought about the sudden shift in mood, Holly finally seemed to be following Gail's metaphor and nodded in sympathy, "Yeah I was like that too, until I realised I just didn't like men."
Nick briefly popped into Gail's mind and she replied automatically, "I don't like men either."
Holly laughed, surely it was obvious, "No, I mean I'm a lesbian."
Gail didn't falter in the slightest, "Oh, no. I mean I just hate people."
Holly's smile only widened, clearly amused by the response. It wasn't exactly what she'd expected, but then this blonde was breaking every one of her expectations. Gail couldn't meet Holly's eyes for much longer without bursting into laughter and not a chance she was going to let Holly see that yet so she shrugged on her jacket and left the office. Gail was renowned for her mean, sarcastic persona, it would take longer than one day for the doctor to break through her exterior. But it was obvious she already felt more comfortable with this woman than anyone else in her unit. Holly seemed to understand her ramblings and odd sense of humour that no one else got. Gail sighed and made a snap decision, opening her mouth before her brain could convince her to stop. "Hey nerd? Wanna grab a beer?"
Holly's head popped out of the office, that ever present smile lighting up her face. "Is that a direct order officer? Two drinking nights in a row, aren't we responsible?" There it was again, that weird melty feeling. Like Gail's insides were squirming around inside her of their own accord but not in a bad way. She couldn't work out how the doctor managed to do it. Gail sighed and leaned against the wall waiting for Holly to catch up. "I want alcohol. Lots of it."
The atmosphere was buzzed in the bar which was exactly how Gail was feeling after her fourth drink. Or was it her fifth? She leaned back into her chair and threw her head back with uninhibited laughter. Holly seemed to have that effect on her, from her infectious smile to the way her eyes glinted with mirth behind her glasses. But that was normal right? To be drawn to this woman Gail hardly knew. Her sarcasm and bitchiness was being taken in full stride by the doctor and given straight back. The blonde was relishing being able to throw anything she could at the doctor, there were very few people with the ability to handle Gail Peck.
"Sooooo Holly, dead people huh?"
"Yeah, they don't talk back." Holly smirked. She had declined Gail's offer to try and drink her under the table. The prospect of working hungover the next morning wasn't all that appealing. "No, but seriously? When I started off in med school and it was great but it just wasn't as … exciting. There was something about having the ability to tell a person's last story, to find things that they might have hidden or didn't even know. It's like uncovering a mystery, you know?"
Gail rolled her eyes, unsatisfied with the response. "You are seriously weird, lunchbox. You know that right?"
"Unsurprisingly, I did already know that. My family and friends said the exact same thing, Mom especially. She cried and threatened to cut me off if I didn't become a successful surgeon like the rest of the family. It's like a legacy or something." Holly let the words fall out, a distasteful expression on her face.
Gail nodded, intimately familiar with the concept of pushy families and the family legacy. "Sounds like my mother. The ever-delightful light in my life that she thinks knows what I need better than I do.
"Nightmare?"
"Beyond anything you could ever imagine, trust me." Gail knocked back the rest of her drink, "I don't want to talk about my mother and her warped ideas of parenthood. I want more drinks." Holly doubted they needed more alcohol but it seemed futile to argue with the blonde.
"Two Jack and cokes, Paul" Gail muttered to the bartender, "and make mine a double." Paul chuckled, he was familiar with her drinking habits and had a soft spot for the blonde. The Penny was a bit of dive bar, certainly not the classiest of bars in town but it was the main hangout for off duty Police officers. Turns out cops liked their liquor, this blonde officer especially. "On the house, Gail. You look like you could use it."
"Thanks Paul." And Gail meant it. There were perks to befriending the bartender but Paul wasn't just a free drink. Gail actually appreciated the way he never pushed, unlike the other bartenders always trying to coax the especially gory work stories out of her.
"Just don't get used to it." He grinned but he said that every time and they both knew it was a lie. Gail took both drinks and glanced over at their table.
"Thanks for the drink." Holly , "I am going to be ruined in the morning."
Gail shrugged, "I'm on an afternoon shift tomorrow."
Holly groaned again and slumped back into her chair.
"Jealous nerd?" There was that Gail smirk, complete with the single arched brow.
"You knew this was going to happen? And still led me astray?" Holly gasped in mock horror.
"What can I say? I have that effect on people." Gail was smug, it was driving Holly insane but she indulged the blonde. "You most certainly do."
"Yeah, Holly? Not a lesbian."
"Well Gail, I don't date straight women as a rule." Holly raised her eyebrows as if to challenge Gail and the blonde gulped.
"Good. Wouldn't want you to break any rules, I am an officer of the law after all." Satisfied with her response, Gail leant back in her chair. Any feelings she might have had needed to be quelled, now. Before they got too big for her to contain and she ruined their potential friendship.
Holly bit back her retort, unsure of how far she could go before Gail became too uncomfortable. Were they bordering on flirting territory? It felt like it. She scanned Gail's face for any indication that she was taking their joking too far but found none.
Gail looked at her phone, it was well past midnight. "Hey lunchbox, have you seen the time? Maybe we should head off soon?" Holly glanced down at her phone and balked. "Gail, it's 2 in the morning. I need to be at work at 8.30. And I'm pretty sure neither of us will be able to drive home. Don't even get me started on the hangover."
"Then potentially we may have to cab it." Gail wasn't fazed by Holly's panic.
"Well how do you propose I get to work in the morning?" Yep. Holly was starting to get pretty frustrated, it amused Gail a lot more than it should have but she decided to test the brunette a little more. "I dunno, you should've thought of that before you decided to drink."
"Maybe we shouldn't be drinking on work nights." Holly bit back scathingly.
"You decided to come out and witness Peck charm in full flight. Plus you're a smart doctor, so who are you really blaming here Holly?" The brunette's tone was amusing Gail, she hadn't yet witnessed anything other than cool, collected doctor. It was rather fun to meet frazzled Holly.
Holly nodded and conceded, Gail was right. And she wasn't sorry that she'd decided to drink with Gail tonight although she would reassess that once she woke up in the morning faced with a whole day of lab work. They mused for a little longer, before Gail took pity on the poor doctor. "Stay at my place then. I'll get Dov to drop you off at work and then you can grab your car after work or something."
Holly wasn't sure whether the invite was genuine or if it was the alcohol talking, "Wow Gail, inviting me to your house already? And I thought lesbians moved fast."
"Fine nerd, just for that you can sleep on the couch."
"Where else would I stay?"
Gail stared at her impassively and without missing a beat, "My bed."
Holly's stomach flipped under Gail's gaze, surely she hadn't meant that the way it sounded. They'd only just met.
Gail stood to leave, she swatted Holly's arm on the way to the door. "Not like that lunchbox. God, you are too easy."
Holly scrambled to gather her things and catch up with Gail. Final assessment; she was drunk and was probably going to sleep in the same bed as a very attractive blonde Police officer that she had just met. Holly sighed and surmised that there was very little chance she was going to get the sleep she needed to get through the following day.
"Welcome to my humble abode, casa de Peckstein!" Gail pronounced proudly, stumbling through the front door with about as much grace as one would expect after enough alcohol to put a horse to sleep. Holly giggled, "Shhhhhh Gail! Dov will be asleep."
"Do you want the tour or not, nerd?" Gail whined impatiently tugging at Holly's sleeve.
"How about in the morning if you're still alive." Holly smiled and poured large glasses of water for them both, "Drink this, it'll make your head slightly less volatile in the morning."
The blonde giggled as half the water didn't quite make it into her mouth. Holly just sighed, partly because Gail was so damn adorable but also because Gail was straight. And she wasn't going there again, ever. "Alright, champ. Now where's the bedroom? I'm going to be absolutely fucked for work in the morning, so let's get some sleep."
"Ooooh Holly, the smart and wonderful doctor has a potty mouth. So dirty, annnnd I like it."
They reached Gail's bedroom and the blonde proceeded to collapse on the bed. "Gail? You need to get changed. I'm not doing it for you."
"Why not Holly? Don't you like taking girl's clothes off?" Gail slurred innocently, before a pile of clothes landed with a soft thump on her face. "Alright, alright. I'm moving. Lesbians are so pushy." Gail grumbled and changed quickly, Holly turned away as it was clear that the blonde had no qualms about showing off her body. To be fair, from what the doctor saw briefly, the officer's body was definitely worth showing off. Holly swallowed, instead concentrating on changing into an old t-shirt she'd found on Gail's floor. It was a soft, baby blue academy t-shirt, worn and faded and it smelt like something uniquely Gail. The brunette closed her eyes for a second, briefly imagining what it would be like to come home to this every night and if Holly were being perfectly honest with herself, she was smitten. When she turned back around she found Gail staring at her, her face expressionless save for her eyes. They were focused on hers, the intensity was almost overwhelming. It seemed that the blonde also had no issue staring at other people while they changed, not that Holly minded at all. Not in the slightest. She flipped off the lights and scooted into bed beside Gail, making sure her alarm was set before she settled down under the covers.
"Hey nerd?" Gail's voice was soft, almost tickling her ear.
"Yes Gail?" The close proximity was making Holly's stomach churn.
"This was fun right?" The blonde was fiddling with the loose threads on Holly's t-shirt and certainly not helping Holly's sleepiness.
The doctor smiled into the darkness, she'd never met anyone quite like Gail Peck. "Yes, Gail. Now do me a favour and shut up okay?"