This story just kept popping into my head, so I went with it. I'll just leave this here…

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


"Excuse me?" Was all Gail heard as she felt a slight tug on her combat pants.

The blonde looked down to find two, very curious brown eyes looking up at her from under brown bangs.

"Hi, my name is Gail. What's yours?" The blonde asked as she knelt down to the little girl's eye level.

"Charlotte." She answered simply with a small smile as she reached out to touch the 'Peck' on Gail's uniform.

"Charlotte? That's a very pretty name."

"I thought you said your name was Gail?" She asked, still running her small fingers over Gail's last name.

"It is. Peck is my last name." The blonde explained gently, looking around the schoolyard for Leo.

School had just finished for the day and Gail was there to pick up Leo on her lunch break and bring him back to hang out at 15 for a few hours until Traci got off work.

"Stewart, that's my last name."

"Really? You have a first name for a last name? That's pretty cool!" The blonde said, now sitting down on the ground in front of Charlotte.

"You're silly, Gail." The little brown-haired girl said with a giggle as she sat cross-legged in front of Gail.

"Did you need something from me, Charlotte? Or you just wanted to say hi?" Gail asked, remembering that the little girl with the ponytail approached her.

"Mommy always says to never talk to strangers, unless it's a police officer or a firefighter. And I saw that you were wearing a police uniform. I just wanted to talk to someone new though."

"Well your mommy is really smart." Gail said with a nod.

"Well, duh, she's a doctor." The little girl said matter-of-factly, causing Gail to laugh at the little girl's frankness.

"You know, kid, you're alright." The blonde said with a grin as Charlotte smiled back.

"So are you, Gail." She said, shrugging at Gail adorably.

"So what grade are you in, Charlotte?"

"I'm in kindergarten. I just turned 5 years old two weeks ago!" She said happily, grinning, showing off a missing tooth.

"That's awesome! Did you have a cool birthday party?"

"Yeah, it was lots of fun! Me and my mommy moved here a few days ago, so I just started this school on Monday."

"Oh yeah? How do you like it so far?"

"It's fine, I guess. Mommy got a new job, so we moved. And I asked if we could bring my best friend Rosie with us, but she said no." The little girl rambled on, sighing heavily, causing Gail to stifle her grin as best she could.

"That's nice that your mommy got a new job, but that's a bummer that Rosie couldn't come with you, huh?"

"Yeah. She said I'd meet a new Rosie, but I haven't met anyone named Rosie yet." Charlotte said as Gail just looked at her amusedly.

"I think your mommy meant you'd meet someone who was like Rosie. Like a new best friend."

"Ohhh." The little girl said, looking slightly alarmed. "That makes sense."

"You know, you're really well spoken for a 5 year old." The blonde said, squinting her eyes at the little girl slightly.

"Keep up, Gail, my mom's a doctor!" The little girl replied, as if that answered everything.

"Right, I'm sorry, Charlotte!"


"Charlotte, there you are! Honey, I hope you're not bothering this nice officer."

"Mommy! Of course not, you said I could talk to police officers." The little girl said as her mom picked her up and squeezed her, allowing Gail time to stand up.

"I meant like if you had a problem, sweetie." Charlotte's mom said, semi-mumbling it as Gail smiled happily.

"It's no problem, ma'am. Charlotte and I had a nice chat for a few minutes."

"Yeah, we did! Mommy, this is my new friend, Gail. She's a police officer!" Charlotte said excitedly as her mom smiled.

"Hi Officer, it's nice to meet you. I'm Holly Stewart." The tall, gorgeous woman said, sticking her hand out to shake Gail's.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Gail Peck."

"Mommy, Gail thinks it's cool that we have a first name for a last name."

"I guess it is pretty cool, munchkin. I hope you didn't bother Officer Peck too much." Holly said, throwing Gail apologetic eyes.

"I didn't. She looked bored earlier, so I started talking to her." Charlotte said honestly as Gail grinned.

"I was very bored before you started talking to me, so thank you." Gail said sincerely as she high-5ed Charlotte.

Holly was about to say something when Leo ran up happily.

"Hey, bud! How are you?" Gail asked Leo happily, giving him a hug.

"I'm good! We did some cool science experiments today!" He said happily before he turned to smile at Holly and Charlotte.

"Leo, this is Charlotte and Miss Stewart. Guys, this is Leo." Gail introduced them all, smiling as Leo went and shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you, Leo." Holly said with a smile as Leo nodded happily.

"I'm sorry, but we have to run. I have to get back to work. You ready, bud?" Gail asked Leo, who nodded happily.

"It was nice to meet you, thank you for keeping my daughter occupied." Holly said with a sweet smile.

"Of course, you've got a good one there." Gail said before she started to walk away.

"Did you bring a cop car today?" Leo asked excitedly as they walked away, causing Holly to chuckle lightly.


"No, I'm telling you, Traci. This woman was so gorgeous. Like beyond gorgeous. Like a model, or a goddess or something."

"Wow, Peck, looks like you're in deep already." Traci said with a smirk as Gail glared at her.

"And her daughter is the cutest, sassiest thing ever." Gail added with a smile.

"I'm really surprised that you're even thinking about this." Traci said seriously.

"Why?"

"Because she has a kid, Gail."

"I'd deal with kids over adults any day." The blonde shrugged slowly.

"Yeah, but do you like them enough to date someone with one? That means weird, shortened date times, probably no sleepovers, potential dates with a kid involved." Traci started listing things off.

"I honestly don't know if it would bother me that much, Trace. Charlotte and Holly both seemed really cool." The blonde reasoned as the detective looked impressed.

"Well then I say go for it. See if this Holly person is gay." Traci said, giving her approval.

"What am I supposed to do? Just look up where they live and go ask her if she likes the ladies?" Gail asked as she swiveled around in one of the chairs in the detective's offices, smiling as she watched Leo getting something from the vending machine.

"Let's not hit stalker potential. Why not pick Leo up again in a few days and maybe you'll see Charlotte again and Holly will be picking her up."

"We'll see."


The next day, Gail was at a crime scene in the woods, thinking about Holly and Charlotte, and not paying super close attention to the barrier when someone passed her quickly.

"Hey, Lunchbox, you're not allowed down there!" Gail shouted after a woman who just appeared out of nowhere.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." The woman said, not looking back.

"I said you're not allowed down there." Gail said loudly, causing the woman to stop and turn around.

"Me? Actually I am." The brunette offered with a lop-sided grin.

"Well, well. If it isn't Holly Stewart traipsing through my crime scene." Gail said as they both took a few steps in towards each other.

"Gail Peck, fancy running into you here." Holly said with a smirk, eyes sparkling.

"I thought Charlotte said you were a doctor?" Gail asked with slightly furrowed brows.

"I am. I'm the new forensic pathologist for 15 division." She said with a smile as Gail nodded.

"Congratulations, then, Dr. Stewart." Gail said with a smirk.

"You know, my daughter is quite taken with you. She would not stop talking about you yesterday." Holly said with a laugh.

"Well that's generally the effect I have on people." She answered with a shrug as Holly smirked and shook her head.

"Why do I not completely believe that?"

"I don't know, Dr. Stewart, you tell me." Gail said, stepping in even closer to Holly.

"You know, your son is very cute." Holly said, wanting to change the subject.

"Thanks, but he's not mine. He's my semi-nephew." She said, trying to find a good way to describe him.

"Semi-nephew?" Holly asked with a chuckle.

"His mom is my best friend, who just so happens to be dating my brother."

"Ahh, gotcha. Well, I've got to go get started on collecting stuff. Am I still not allowed to be here?" She asked with her typical lop-sided grin.

"I'll allow it, but how was I supposed to know that you were the forensic pathologist?" Gail asked with an unimpressed look.

"I thought it was obvious." Holly said, holding up her evidence kit.

"Only to nerds." The blonde said before she turned around and walked back up to the barrier, leaving Holly shaking her head with a smile.


After hours spent in the morgue with Holly, Gail was still wondering how to approach the subject of dating.

"Holly, I'm like a cat. I'm really good at climbing trees but the minute I get up there, I don't…I have no idea what to do. I wanna get down, but I don't know how to do that, so I create an emergency situation to get out of it."

"Of the tree?" The brunette asked adorably confused.

"Of relationships." Gail answered truthfully.

"Yeah, I used to be like that that, but it turns out I didn't like men."

"I don't think I like men, either."

"I mean, I'm a lesbian." Holly said with a smirk.

"Oh, I mean I just hate people." Gail said, starting to walk out of the lab. "Except for you and Charlotte, which is rare. I also find it encouraging that you're a lesbian." Gail said with a smirk as Holly raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really?" The doctor asked, almost stunned.

"Yeah. I'll see you around, Dr. Stewart." Gail said with a wink as she took off back to the station.


"You guys are so not helpful." Holly said with a sigh as she looked to two of her best friends who just shrugged.

"You don't really need our help or advice, Hol. It already seems like you've made up your mind." Her one friend explained as Holly sat at her kitchen table, drinking some wine as she Skyped with her two best friends, who now lived a few hours away.

"Yeah, Hol. She sounds awesome. Good with Charlie, pretty, has a steady job, likes chicks, and doesn't mind dead bodies. She sounds like your perfect woman." Holly's other friend said with a smile, knowing that comment would've earned her a swat on the arm if Holly were physically with them.

"Who's your perfect woman?" Charlotte asked as she came out of nowhere and tugged on Holly's sleeve.

"No one, sweetie. I was just talking to Aunties Monica and Laura."

"Were you talking about Gail? Because Gail is awesome." The little girl said honestly as Holly's two best friends chuckled slightly, causing Holly to shake her head.

"I think it's ready for bed time, huh munchkin?" Holly added, signing off with her friends and picking up her daughter and squeezing her tightly, walking her upstairs.

"Can we hang out with Gail again, mommy?"

"Maybe, baby. I saw her at work today, actually."

"That's awesome! I think she would be fun to hang out with." The little girl said sleepily.

"I think so too, honey." Holly answered softly before she leaned down to leave a soft kiss on Charlotte's forehead.


Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! What did you think? Should I continue?