Thanks for the feedback all! I have/had a client I've been trying to finish up something by the end of May for them and it has been insane. I haven't forgotten about you all.
As always I do not own Rookie Blue, ABC, Global or any portion of the show this is pure fun…and maybe smut.
And as a warning this one is a bit long and wordy but I'm setting up something for chapter three. There really isn't a good "point" to end it before then so I apologize to those who think I'm not planning this out I promise there is a plan.
Chapter Two
The pair broke apart, both a bit bewildered. Gail, because she actually asked to be let into a relationship with someone, and Holly because it's the last thing she was raw and didn't have a clue what to expect. After about a minute of silence, Holly gave Gail a kiss on the lips back and they quickly released, but after that it went back to the awkward silence and eyes darting around the room. Holly couldn't bail and let Gail "figure it out somemore" like the last few times they kissed. There was actual police business.
Holly turned her eyes toward Gail, attempting to figure out what to say and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the door opening. Steve then came back in and the room felt a little claustrophobic. Gail tugged at her sleeve collar while muttering interally This isn't awkward at all….
Her brother cleared his throat and looked down at the ground something he rarely did. The last time he did this, he had the difficult task of explaining he was going into the police force to a younger Gail who had bonded with him and had to get used to not seeing him around so much. Unfortunately, Gail lacking patience, as usual, snapped at him "Out with it already…"
Instead of saying anything, he flipped the light beside him. In her hurry, Gail didn't think to put an occupied sign on the viewing side of the interrogation room. A red light shined behind Holly in one of the four corners behind her. The red made her cringe and she had this feeling she fucked up. Holly gained a much worried view as she didn't see the light only the increasing panic on her quasi-girlfriend's face.
"I …uhm…" Now it was Gail's turn to be stumbling. Instead she pulled up a chair and sat next to Holly, and took her hands. "I…I outed you to the squad." She left the impression there. She didn't want to say she outed herself to the entire squad. She couldn't bring herself to say the words she's a lesbian, or bisexual, or any label really. "That light means I have to go talk to someone in the viewing room now."
Holly immediately chuckled loudly, filling the room. "Hun, they knew that when I was hired on…" Kissing her gently on the forehead, she then replied, "Best not to keep them waiting."
Unfortunately, Holly did not pick up the hidden message in that Gail outed herself. Briefly gathering her courage, she pulled her hands from Holly with a quick "Thanks" and left with Steve to the other room.
Inside was just Frank…She internally breathed a sigh of relief…If he knew Holly was gay it wouldn't be a problem for her and Holly right? She could only hope as she attempted to focus on his words. As much as she tried to focus on individual words she kept focusing on how this would impact her…How would he take to her being whatever she was? Would he be okay with it? Is this how coming out felt every time? A bit of nausea came up as she heard her name…
"Gail you okay with that?" Frank probed when Gail didn't snark back as he had earlier went off subject. He sensed something was off.
Trapped between a rock and a hard place, she didn't want to admit she wasn't listening but didn't want to agree with utter bullshit either. "Is that an order sir?" She tried to hedge her bets.
Frank didn't buy it however. "Really Peck? I'd order you to send a thousand air balloons to China?"
Obviously caught, Gail didn't say a word at first, but then just muttered something about her head being elsewhere, she didn't remember what exactly. Frank nodded as he realized that she must truly like Holly to comfort her with a kiss he saw in the interrogation room and to be this distracted. Other people would probably be giving her a hard enough time soon enough, he should know, he has a gay cousin. He just never talked about it as his cousin didn't want to be out to the world. Instead of razzing Gail for lack of attention skills, he decided she'd be good for the undercover mission he had in mind as it would involve having to talk about your feelings. Maybe then Gail of old would be back. "If you can focus, there's a mission we want you to take on. Steve will fill you and Holly in. "
"Me and Holly? But she's not a cop, she's a pathologist." Gail replied puzzled…Why would Holly have to know about the undercover operation? It was no use, Frank had left the room. Gail guessed he had already explained that.
Steve tapped Gail lightly on the shoulder…"I'll repeat..But you owe me a beer." After a pause he pushed open the door and said, "Come with me back to the room so I don't repeat twice."
When the trio reunited, Steve went over the details. They needed to figure out who was hurting the LGBT professionals in Toronto. They figured it was some networking or some obvious connection to a main LGBT hub. Holly's attack made it obvious which one was likely, "Freedom To Live" also known as FTL. It met here in Toronto and discussed issues LGBT professionals faced and helped to tackle them so they could live with more freedom. Someone had to go undercover and pretend to be LGBT at the next conference. The squad knew Gail was being friends with Holly, but Steve kept Gail's admission close to the vest. Especially since he didn't know if Chris understood.
"But then why are you telling both of us?" Responded Gail a little bit too quickly, like she wanted to run…Why hadn't she paid attention in there?! The last thing she wanted to do was wave a PRIDE flag around.
Holly now finally began to see Gail was frightened and subconsciously didn't want to put the pieces together…She was literally being forced to put a label on things and to figure out how they'd interact. The cops monitoring have to know what to expect. If Gail should go in alone or if Holly would be at her side. If they had to monitor two people instead of one. "Steve...I'm a bit thirsty could you get me a water?"
"You could use clean bandages too…I'll see what I can find." Steve took the hint and excused himself.
Gail had only about fifty million questions running around in her head and her voice sounded almost frantic, very un-Gail. She also kept looking around at the four corners of the room much like a cat. "Is this what coming out is like every time? I usually don't care but this is gossip central and your arm…" She looked down at it, not wanting to get beat up for someone who she was starting to accept who she was.
Bisexual. The word rang in her head like a gong, but really didn't want a label on it at all. I mean what if she's just "experimenting"?
Noticing Gail was back in her head again, Holly said one word "Tree." Gail could run, Holly would understand it, but life gave her an out. There was a ladder to get down from the tree. They only knew each other for about a week or two and it would be way too early to force a label or any sort of relationship on Gail. The one word was her out.
"I don't know." Gail mused…Instantly she was back in the same feeling she had in the hospital. She didn't know what it meant to be a bisexual or lesbian person. Men were easy..It was just sex and very little connection. It was about relieving need rather than true emotion. When it became something more than that, she cheated. She ran from intimacy from men. Gail didn't know why and hated the pressure.
Her eyes roamed Holly's to get her sense of openness and a new feeling of camaraderie and concern washed over her. She wanted nothing to hurt Holly. To have that hurt arm herself. She wanted to touch it slightly and embrace her and instead she said "How about we just be honest about it?" She proposed to the older scientist, "That we just say you're important to me and helping me understand."
It was at that point, all too convenient Steve came in with bandages and water and a camera. "We have to take pictures…" He stated flatly and Holly finally saw the red light in the room and ignored it. Holly knew he watched and waited for a good time to interrupt. A supporter.
"This is gonna hurt, lunchbox." Gail warned her as she held her arm in place. Steve ripped off the bandage and the wound looked rather ugly to Holly. Flashes soon enveloped the next 5 minutes of her life and Holly felt exposed. She had never been a victim before and hated the new feeling. Gail's hand wrapped around hers and thought it was out of pity. She was empowered damn it! Not someone to make raw with pictures in a file for everyone to stare at it. For a moment she thought this was a mistake, but then it was finally over and Gail's hand stayed. "What no snark?" She attempted to bring back the sassy humor that is normally found between the two, to prevent Gail from seeing her somewhat broken.
Gail was more than happy to provide it as she didn't want the nerd to see her wavering on her commitment in her head. "No nerd, not all of us are wordsmiths like you."
Steve held in a smile, these two were trying…A hell of a lot more than Gail tried in her prior relationships. "So shall we get down to business?"
It was eventually decided after the three of them joked around. Gail would end up attending the mini conference as Holly's plus one. Label-less for now, but from a cop perspective they'd enter and leave together.
The hard part was the paperwork. She couldn't figure out what her name would be, her occupation anything. Gail, the snappiest person, who gave the most nicknames was stuck.
After a Steve nor Gail came up with anything, Holly suggested "Katherine Taylor". Soon Steve stole the pen from Gail and wrote it in…Gail was now Katherine. "Look, this way now I can call you Kat." The meaning, not lost on Gail, made any potential words dissolve into laughter. Ms. Taylor was a budding artist. Gail hadn't mentioned her love of art to almost anyone as she thought she was bad at it, but there wasn't enough time to get her an in with a corp and well sports, or other butchy things, were out of the question.
About thirty minutes later they were done, and Steve explained that all three of them would need to leave to set up Katherine fast enough…That meant moving bare necessities to the cramped emergency undercover apartment which hopefully would hold her art supplies. Her fingers ran across the flier that said it welcomed anyone, wondering if that was actually true given the attacks. If she set up her questions to get mocked at and laughed at in front of Division 15.
Gail drove out to her apartment in her big, black Chevy truck, followed by Holly in her sedan and Steve in his SUV. Soon the musketeers ended up at Gail's apartment and she realized she hasn't cleaned. She was a wreck after the hospital and didn't know if she cleaned up too well after the ice cream and rom com fest she had to try to figure out her Holly feelings. Too late for that now. The cop quickly found a parking spot in the apartment complex and rushed to the front door and entered to try to tidy it up as quick as possible. Thankfully she had cleaned up somehow, and there was no need to rush. Although now she was panicking about why she needed to rush as if she had to impress Holly and why did she have to do that…The doorbell brought her out of her menagerie and she opened it to find Holly and Steve standing there in the doorway. "Come in…" She replied.
Steve had been over numerous times before and remembered the minimalistic décor. Holly was not though. It was almost as if Gail didn't want anything concrete. The only personal touches were the art all over the walls. The pub artwork behind the couch drew her attention. It was a realistic painting of the pub that the group usually frequents with everything to scale except for an enlarged chair in the right hand side of the frame extending from the top to the bottom of the frame. The invitation symbolism was not lost. While being minimalistic, Gail wanted an inviting place.
With almost no time lost at all the bed, sheets, some clothes, her TV, and toiletries were packed away. "The computer?" Holly asked.
To which Gail countered, "Leave it. Can't have anything with personal logins. I'm lucky cable and electric are set up at the emergency apartment." Now that the expected stuff was done, Gail encroached on her studio in her apartment. None of her prior boyfriends or even Steve were ever let in here. This was hers and no one ever questioned it. Now she has to let Holly in…Her mind almost went too soon, but she'd be seeing it in the new cramped apartment anyway.
Upon entering, Holly and Steve saw what looked almost to be a collegiate art classroom with a line of art drying on the rack and easels with some charcoal, some pencil sketches on the desk…Like Gail did a lot of art with different mediums and could never find what stuck. All of it was breathtaking. The pencil stuff was the easiest to move, and the stuff she never tried to use in an exhibition, so away it went quickly, but gently into a spare art portfolio.
All was set except for one bit…Her hair. She needed a change since she was going undercover but didn't really know what…What did lesbian look like? She thought she had a clue before she met Holly but now it could be anything. Flipping through the pages, she kept finding a lot of things that weren't "her".
The silence between the two of them was annoying..Steve hated being in a salon and was just playing with his phone and just watching the door so his silence was expected, not Holly's. "Trying to solve all the world's problems nerd?" She poked at Holly to try to break the ice.
"No just enjoying you trying to be femme for once…When was the last time you even had your hair cut anyway?" Holly quipped.
Soon they fell into her their bantery style and then Gail asked what she'd recommend….And Holly got into her deep sexy voice and whispered into Gail's ear…"The sexiest hairstyle is …." She paused to blow on her ear intentionally, "confidence." Leaning back into one of the chairs, Holly grinned at the younger cop.
With those words, Gail had the bravery to try the short cut she wanted for a while. Holly excused herself and Steve to wait outside and about 20 minutes later Gail came out with a bit of a swagger and extremely short hair that framed her face.
Damn she took it to heart. Holly cupped Gail's face and for the first time, really kissed the blonde, the new look stirring something deep within her. Gail reciprocated and pretty soon their tongues danced and Steve just walked back to his car, opting to try not to stare at them. When they needed air, Gail's eyes widened as if that was her first true deep kiss.
"See you Thursday, Kat." Holly then exited just as she had every time before then, and like always Gail didn't chase as she had things to figure out before the conference on Thursday and places to go solo for Kat's alias, even though every bone in her body screamed for her to follow and continue. But since she didn't, the caravan made sure Holly got home safe then Kat to her new address.
