I haven't seen the last episode so if Nick's character has been established differently it's not my fault ;)

Picks up right where the last chapter left off (outside the Penny).

ETA: Even though this wasn't really ready this morning I posted anyway because I wanted to watch the episode and I knew if I did I wouldn't post after. And then I realized I hated how it came out. So I touched up a few things. Nothing major but just some little things that were bothering me. There's still stuff that's bothering me but I could keep tweaking forever at that rate. And I'll stop now :)


Nick came to a stop in front of Gail, her crossed arms and disinterested expression telling him that any progress he'd made had somehow been lost in the minute they'd been apart. "Do you want to go back to the bar? Get a drink?"

"You really don't want me to have a drink in my hand…" Gail deflected, the real reason she wanted to avoid the Penny having nothing at all to do with the associated temptation of dousing him with something flammable. As great a temptation as that was…

Making a show of it he copied her stance and lifted a pointed eyebrow. "Maybe I just want to get a drink in you so you'll chill out some…"

Evidently four years in a war zone hadn't done anything for his survival instincts… "Alcohol doesn't work miracles, Collins," she informed him sharply. "It won't make me think you're any less of an ass…"

She wasn't nearly as intimidating as she thought she was; at least not to him… "If I recall correctly," he smirked, moving in until their folded arms were touching, "you used to think very highly of my ass…"

Gail was torn between wanting to slap him for being so damned cheeky and herself for the way her heart had sped up; settled for putting a hand on his chest and easing him out of her personal space. "I just don't want anyone knowing about us, okay?" Realizing she'd made it sound like they were together presently she clarified, "Then. That we knew each other before…"

Why she couldn't have just said that to begin with he had no idea, but her tongue darting out to swipe her bottom lip had totally been worth the detour… "Uh, I got the impression your staff sergeant already knows…"

She waved an unconcerned hand. "He's only assuming because he knows who your dad is…" And who her parents were, obviously.

Clearly not getting it Nick pointed out, "But he's right…"

"So? Not everyone knows and I'd like to keep it that way." For whatever reason Frank was keeping Nick's parentage close to the vest and it was fine by Gail; with Andy's return McSwarek had unseated Deckstein as the favored topic of speculation and she'd really rather not take back the title with Peckins. God, but she hated cutesy couple names…

Her having so little faith in her coworkers wasn't a big shocker but it was shortsighted, even for her… "I'm going to be trusting these people with my life, Gilly; I really hope they're smart enough to put two and two together…"

Ugh. Couldn't he just say 'agreed' and move along? Running a hand through her hair she conceded, "Fine – I don't want anyone knowing we were more than just buddy blue brats…"

Nick read between the lines and wasn't sure he liked what he came away with. "Are you ashamed of me?"

"No, I just…" Gail looked away; shrugged dismissively. "It's complicated."

"You're seeing someone…" he deduced, the realization making him feel strangely threatened. It shouldn't have come as a surprise – she'd always been magnetic, drawing people in even as she pushed them away – but part of not thinking about her was never having to imagine she would move on…

Gail didn't care to analyze the emotion that had seeped into his voice, or set him straight on something that was absolutely none of his business… "Like I said…" Meeting his eyes she repeated evenly, "It's complicated."

If she'd said 'yes' he could have reasoned she was trying to make him jealous; that she was dodging the question told him it was just an unintended side effect. "Which one of them is it then?"

Even if Gail had wanted to answer she wouldn't have known how to, the only upside to that being neither would anyone else should he decide to ask around… "Either agree to my condition or we're done here…"

Nick tensed up, his crossed arms no longer just a mocking reflection. "So that's it? I'm your dirty little secret?" Without thinking he bit off, "You just act like nothing ever happened between us?"

It took every ounce of restraint Gail had to put a hand on his face instead of her fist through it. "Aw – you should take it as a compliment, Nicky," she condescended, emphasizing the words with a none-too-gentle pat to his cheek. "If it weren't for you I wouldn't be so damned good at it…"

More than the contact or tone – though they were each painful in their own right – it was the accusation that made Nick flinch. "Gail, that's not…"

"Fair?" she guessed, unmoved by the guilt written on his features. "I agree completely…" As would any of the other guys she'd been with (or hadn't been with, as the case may be), she was sure… "Or were you going to go with 'true'? 'Cause I gotta say, deserting me to join the army doesn't exactly scream 'emotionally invested'…"

For his part Nick didn't know what to say. It had always been 'them against the world;' this new 'her against him (and the world)' attitude unsettled him as much as it cut him deeply. "I told you why I had to leave… "

Gail scoffed. "Yeah, I'd be more inclined to believe it if you'd told me then." Now it just seemed like a convenient excuse, especially after how he'd made light of it at the Penny…

"I wanted to, Gail," he promised. "You don't know how many times I started to…" The last thing he'd ever wanted to do was lie to her, even by omission.

A heavy pit formed in Gail's stomach. "For how long?" She'd convinced herself he'd gotten cold feet; taken off on a whim

Nick saw her jaw clench and knew he'd slipped up. "It doesn't…"

"How. Long," she growled from deep in the back of her throat. "How long did you let me go on about my plans knowing you weren't going to be sticking around to be part of them?" Knowing none of it would happen at all

Taking a breath he admitted, "A month…"

"A month…" she repeated quietly. Disbelievingly. A month that he'd been telling her he loved her – making love to her – knowing he'd be abandoning her…

"Gail…" He panicked when she started walking away; grabbed her arm.

Gail spun around blindly, her palm somehow connecting with his face even though her vision was blurry. "Don't touch me!"

Ignoring the stinging in his cheek (and his own eyes) Nick took hold of her shoulders to whisper, "I couldn't tell you, okay? You would have asked me to stay…" He didn't need to specify that he would have; she was well aware of the hold she had.

Just because he was right didn't make it right… Knocking his hands away she spat, "And after? It never crossed your mind to pick up the phone for a 'Hey, babe, just FYI, it's not you; it's our crazy-ass parents'?"

"You know it wasn't you," Nick argued, brow furrowed.

"Don't," Gail warned with a vicious shake of her head. "Don't you dare tell me what I know… I spent God knows how long hearing that I'd chased you – the best thing that would ever happen to me, by the way – off by not being nice enough or dedicated enough. That it had to be my fault because you were a good son and you would never do something so irresponsible unless I'd driven you to it. Because you would never be that kind of disappointment…"

Nick didn't need to ask who had been doing the talking; his parents loved her as if she was their own and her father worshiped the ground she walked on. "She can't blame you for something I did, Gail…"

Apparently he'd forgotten 'can't' was not part of Elaine Peck's vocabulary… "What did you think she'd do, Nick? Pull out a pint of Rocky Road and let me cry on her shoulder? Declare you an undeserving fool?" It didn't matter that everyone else had rallied around Gail – her mother's voice had a way of drowning out all others.

Elaine's feelings were the last ones Nick had been worried about, though he probably should have realized they were the ones that affected Gail most. "You know you could have gone to my mom," he offered lamely, more to cover for his lack of forethought than because he believed she actually would have.

The implication made Gail want to hit him again. "I didn't need to go running to your mother; I was fine. I am still fine…" It would take a hell of a lot more than losing a man to break her; though she would be lying if she'd said losing him wasn't the closest she'd ever come… Poking him in the chest she growled, "But that doesn't give you the right to just show up here acting like I didn't have a reason to not be fine; like I should just shrug off what you did because it didn't destroy me…" 'No harm, no foul' seemed to be the justification of choice when it came to people turning her life upside-down and she was beyond fed up of it.

Nick had no doubt she'd managed to convince herself she was fine – it was what had made it so easy for him to believe she was – but the tears brimming in her eyes told a different story. He gently took hold of her wrist, partly to get her to cease the poking but mostly to keep her from taking off. "Gail, I'm sorry…"

"I don't care," she brusquely countered, the vehemence of the statement sadly ruined by the cracking of her voice. Still, she forged ahead: "'Sorry' doesn't change the fact that I waited far longer than I should have for you to come home. Or that I had to find out from Steve when you finally did…" Or that, once again, she'd started waiting for a call that never came…

All he could do was try to explain because he had no good defense. Leaning back against the hood of her car he pulled her to stand in front of him. "I was only going to clear my head, okay?"

"Well, that accounts for maybe one week of the two hundred you were gone," Gail remarked dryly, feeling the need to compensate for not putting up a fight.

Far from insulting the comment was actually encouraging. "I never meant to be gone that long…" He released her wrist to properly take her hand; resisted the urge to entwine their fingers. "But I was doing something good, babe – something that had nothing to do with my dad – and suddenly one year had become two and the longer I was there the easier it was to stay…"

Gail felt her ire rise at the admission that she hadn't been enough to bring him home; tamped down on it because if there was one thing she could understand it was not wanting everything you did held up against someone else's accomplishments. "And when you did come back?"

"It was like too much time had passed," he sighed, remembering. "Like I was back but there was still an ocean between us…" It seemed silly now, with her standing in front of him and him wishing he could reclaim the last year. "This wasn't how I wanted it to be, Gail."

"But that's how it is." Whether she wanted it to be that way or not. "You can't just erase five years…"

Nick shook his head. "Maybe not, but we're here now." Assuming his most charming grin he Bogarted, "Of all the divisions in all the towns in all the world I walked into yours…"

"More like 'sauntered into it like the big pretentious jerk you are,'" Gail easily corrected, suppressing her own smile. "Besides, I get the feeling it was more 'parental interference' than 'divine intervention'…"

Oh, there wasn't a doubt in Nick's mind that it was some sort of conspiracy between the Chief and the Superintendent… "I guess we should just be happy they finally learned how to use their power for good rather than evil…"

Gail raised an eyebrow. "Don't go getting all proud of them just yet; they're probably updating the guest list as we speak…" She'd been kidding (mostly) but her mood suddenly turned somber. "Should I let Frank know you might be pulling a 'Swarek' on us?"

Nick gave her a confused look. "Pulling a what now?"

The boy had so much to learn, provided he was sticking around… "Absconding into the night," she clarified, forcing a glib tone. "Are you going to be going AWOL at the first mention of picking a venue?"

Hearing the question behind the question Nick cupped her cheek with his other hand; made like he didn't notice when she (just barely) leaned into him. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised quietly. "You're stuck with me…"

The knot in Gail's chest loosened enough for her to chastise, "You're getting ahead of yourself there, Romeo; you still have a ton of groveling to do before you even see my good graces much less be in them…"

Nick feigned confusion. "So you don't want to elope tonight just to screw with them…"

It was clearly facetious but that didn't stop Gail from rolling her eyes. "Don't be an idiot." This time around she planned on putting her foot down.

"Aw – come on, Gilly," he teased, tilting her face up to him. "We can use dad's name to requisition a 'copter from York and be at the Falls in no time…"

Gail scoffed over the rapid beating of her heart. "I won't trust you with my car but you think I'm gonna trust you with a helicopter?"

It probably should have worried him that she took more issue with that than being party to fraud and grand larceny… "We'll requisition a pilot, too; they can double as witness…"

That Gail actually (briefly) considered it was testament to how difficult the last couple of months had been. Well, that, and how much she'd missed him… Resting her free hand on his ribcage she marveled, "How our parents can think I'm the bad influence I have no idea…"

"You're the only one I ever do stupid shit to impress," Nick supplied without hesitation, watching as he trailed his thumb over her bottom lip.

Gail's breath hitched – both from the matter-of-fact words and the intimacy of the action – and she grabbed his chin to force him to meet her eyes. "If you even think about leaving again I will kill you, Collins…" And in that moment she truly meant it…

Taking the threat for what it really was Nick just smiled and tugged her into him. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Glad we understand each other," Gail whispered, closing the remaining distance to seal it with a tentative kiss.