A/N: Hello and welcome to the second installment.

Here is the first chapter.

I have kept the title because it just suits them too much; in my opinion.

I hope you all enjoy. And guys, please review and let me know what you think.

It really is too inspiring and works like a charm.

Also, I can't promise the frequency of the updates.

I need to focus on real life too, you know.

Mistakes are mine. Story is mine. Dunno about anything else.

Disclaimer: I really don't know what they want me say. They should just tell me.

Without further delay, I present to you...

Enjoy!

Staggering Along The Way

The Terrifying Inevitability

Gail's palms were pressed into the cold surface of those age-old metal lockers; head hanging down in between her upper arms and eyes fixated upon an insignificant patch of irregularity on the floor. Her heart felt as heavy as lead in her chest cavity. She didn't want to feel like that but damn it...it hurt! It hurt to know that people she called her friends; maybe not called, but considered most definitely, believed that there had to be something wrong with the universe if Gail Peck was smiling and happy! As if she had no right to be happy...or even content for that matter; not even for a day?

That Monday morning when she had walked into the lobby of 15th division, she sported a smile. She didn't know she was smiling. She didn't pay any special attention to her facial expressions but definitely people noticed the change. Really, do they have nothing better to do, she had asked herself. Dov was the first to jump in with a flurry of inquiries and jabs. Chris had donated his share by joining in the fun for a few minutes as they all started to partner off and grab a cruiser to begin the day. She was riding with Chloe, who with some stroke of luck wasn't too irritating or bubbly for once.

Maybe getting shot changed people; would she wake up a better person if she was shot almost fatally? Would she become a sensitive and caring soul and all that she wasn't and chose not to be? She pondered as she stood like that for long minutes in the locker room; left alone with her thoughts. The shift had ended almost an hour ago and it was close to seven in the evening. People were so superficial, she wondered. They only saw what Gail wanted them to see and based on that they dared pass judgments on her life? Who gave them the right? Her breaths shortened and her throat closed. She bent forward and rested her forehead over the cold metal wall in front of her. Next her eyelids draped over the stinging sensation and prevented the moisture from multiplying uncontrollably. As soon as that happened, she traded her tired vision for a bright, smiling, and beautiful face. Holly...unintentionally that name fought through the barrier of her narrowing throat and floated languidly into the quiet of that nearly dark room. It was very illogical and very fantasist of her to feel so but that single whisper spread its mighty wings around her and collected her into its loving embrace. For a second she became so weightless that her knees wobbled and threatened to collapse her body on the ground. She breathed in the comfort surrounding her in that moment. Her lungs filled with air; fresh and crispy, like the first touch of dew drops on a delicate rose petal. Her lips curled up high on their own, seeking no permission from her. And lastly, her heart, thanked her for remembering the one person who turned every single negative notion in her mind into something pleasant, warm, and bright; just like the smile that made her heart flutter, like a leaf fighting a heavy gust of wind, in her chest.

She changed her clothes slowly and sat down to put on her shoes. Giving in to her desire, she suddenly jumped up and grabbed onto her phone that she had placed inside her open locker. Scrolling down to the 'H' section she swiped her thumb on the name. Her right incisor bit into the corner of her bottom lip when that simple, meaningless, day-to-day action somehow felt too intimate. That single swipe, that single stroke, teased the tip of her thumb with promises she didn't dare think about. She blinked out of haze when a sound emanated from the earpiece of her phone. Remembering that she had made a call, she put her phone to her right ear. "Hello?" She heard Holly repeat the greeting on not getting a reply. There was some disturbance and a few other sounds in the background too. But, Gail being the selfish person that she was, she easily erased everything from the milieu and only permitted Holly's voice to reach her ear.

"Hey," Gail greeted in return, albeit a little delayed.

Holly didn't reply instantly. "Hi."

That word, that one word, was so immensely delicate; the tiny hair on the back of Gail's neck stood up in attention. An electric charge blasted down her spine and her blood stream carried the current forward to every nerve ending. From the scalp to the tip of her fingers, even the fingernails, she felt the tingle. She released a silent sigh of plea to her own body to stop reacting so crazily about everything Holly did or said. "Hey," she repeated, not having enough wit to form a sentence or a half as a matter of fact.

Holly's deep throated chuckle from the other side only provided the much needed oxygen to the struggling embers of desire inside Gail. "Should I say 'hi' again?" Holly jested.

Gail was pacing around the locker room, suddenly restless; oh but this restlessness felt too good to curb, too tempting to cease willingly. She stopped in front of a random locker and leaned her back on it. Not trusting her legs, she slid down and buried her head in between her bent knees. "Gail?" Holly called her name.

"I am here," Gail rushed out, fearing Holly would hang up if she kept putting in the bouts of silence in the middle of the call.

"Don't go silent on me, honey," Holly requested in a low tone. "It's been four days since I have heard your voice. Where are you?"

Gail contorted her face in disappointment; angry at herself. She had talked to the older woman but only through texts. She had not initiated anything from her side, thinking she would appear as a clingy and needy bum with nothing better to do than obsess over Holly. Sometimes she could act as an asshole and an idiot at the same time and not even realize. Holly's question registered her overworking mind belatedly. "Where are you?" She counter questioned instead of replying.

Holly stayed silent for a few seconds. "The penny," she supplied shortly, "with colleagues." The brunette seemed to be occupied with something else on the other side. "Why aren't you here? Your friends just walked in some time ago." The deep base and the lilt in Holly's voice decreased a scale. "I looked for you; I wanted to see you, Gail."

Gail had no idea what to do. She wanted to bang her head on the lockers and bleed to death. This was fucking torture; pure and utter torture, worse than the third-degree the police used for criminals sometimes, worse than the lethal injection, or worse than the chair, or whatever form of worst torture existed all around the world. She folded her free left hand across both her bent knees and settled for thumping her forehead over those slightly muscle-covered bones for the time being. "I want to see you too," she whined and increased the frequency of her thumping. If this was the state she would be reduced to with Holly all the time, she was going to have to make reservation in an old age home for the overly premature senile cases!

"Well, then come to The Penny." Holly suggested but her tone was tentative.

They had not been to the pub together after that incident with Holly's stupid friends. She opened her mouth to retort a little irritatingly but her voice box forbade her from making that mistake and rightly so. In its place, she found herself agreeing. "Okay." She breathed in deeply and released it in form of a soft but audible sigh. "Yeah, sure," she muttered and nodded her head a few times. "I will see you in fifteen, Hol."

"Yeah, sure," Holly replied and the police officer could detect the anticipation that was camouflaged as forced casualness. "See you soon, Gail."

Gail exhaled a short, oxygen deficient breath and mumbled a 'see you soon' before disconnecting the call abruptly. "Fuck," she cussed and stood up unsteadily. She felt like she had just finished ten rounds with Mike Tyson and lived to tell the tale of triumph. Her ears were red and burning, her eyes were wide like an addict's in a desperate need of a fix, her palms were sweaty and clammy, her insides felt twisted and were aching faintly, and her heart was metaphorically ten times its original size; it most certainly felt so inside her chest. It had to be to generate so many feelings, so many emotions, so many sensations, and all of that, at the same damn time! No rest, no respite, no break, and definitely no reprieve. Was there something greater than love in the world? Because she had been in love and it was not even close to what she kept feeling with Holly. If what she felt in the past wasn't love, then was this?

"Oh god! Have some fucking mercy," she growled into the empty room and stomped her right foot forcefully. She needed her mind to go numb; absolutely no thinking for a few hours, better yet, no thinking at all for all her life from this moment on, she knew it was a pipe-dream. She pulled the jacket from her locker and slammed it close; the rattle of metal banging against each other echoed through the emptiness of the walls enclosing around her and also yanked her further out of reverie. She forced herself to focus on unpleasant thoughts as she started walking out of the division. Just till she reached The Penny; she knew her brain will be tarn of gooey nonsense when she would reach the pub as Holly would be there, waiting for her. She combed her right hand fingers through her hair and subtly pulled at the short platinum blond strands as she found herself on the verge of thinking about Holly and the absolute, pure awesomeness she possessed.

Holly worriedly eyed the phone that was clutched in her hand. The abrupt manner in which Gail had disconnected the call, summoned her insecurities to surface. She had done nothing but provide the younger woman with as much space and time she needed. Was that not the right move? Four days were certainly enough for Gail to retreat back into her presumed safe place, right? But they had talked...granted through texts only, but the blond woman always replied and in some instances even initiated the back and forth digital conversation. And Gail had just called her, right? What was Holly supposed to think? She felt someone place a hand on her right shoulder. She turned and came face to face with the newest hire of the forensic team, a junior toxicologist; who was overly friendly with her despite knowing of her uninterested sexuality. She liked to address him as Mr. Denial in her mind.

"Who was that? You look worried," Mr. Denial gave his one dime of a very obvious observation with a smug and satisfied look that grated Holly's patience; more so than usual, now that her mind was already a little preoccupied.

She gave him a tight smile and subtly shrugged off his hand. "A friend," she provided tersely.

They were all milling around a pool table. She had stepped aside to receive the call. Without sparing Mr. Denial another thought or look she walked to the table and picked up her the bottle of left-over beer which she had discarded in a hurry earlier. She winced as she swallowed. The beer had become too warm to be soothing. She strangled an irritated groan when she saw Mr. Denial watching her. He gestured to her drink and asked if she wanted another one. She shrugged casually and nodded. "Sure, thanks," fortunately that got rid of him for a few minutes at least.

She denied any request to join the game and assured them that she would rather enjoy watching. As they started playing she found herself distracted with the over-dramatic banter and insults thrown at each other. Her boss, a woman in her late forties, was the one throwing the most comical insults. She laughed out loud when the next derogatory term her boss used was equivalent to a baby who still needed breastfeeding. Mr. Denial walked toward the group with his eyes shamelessly caressing the contours of Holly's body. She was in the midst of the story her boss was telling her about how to come up with interesting belittling insults for macho guys. Mr. Denial came to stand by their side and smiled like he had been enjoying the story from the beginning.

Holly all of a sudden felt liked she was being stared at. Keeping the smile on her face she scanned every face in the pub. Surely enough she was being observed. Gail was standing at the doorway looking at her. She tuned out the story from her boss. The blonde didn't look any different, not physically. But the brunette felt something in the gaze. She saw Gail frown and flick her eyes to her side and walk away.

Holly blinked. Her jaw clenched when she saw that Mr. Denial had taken it upon himself to get the bottle of beer in her hands. While she was busy keeping Gail's gaze, he had brought her hand forward and literally closed her fingers around the sweating bottle. She huffed angrily. She let the bottle go and it crashed on the ground. She didn't even flinch. She glared into Mr. Denial's eyes. "Do not touch me without permission ever again...never," she growled and pushed him away physically; not forcefully but enough to increase the space between them. She flicked her eyes to her boss and muttered a genuine 'sorry' before stomping away; the crushed glass crunching beneath her boots.

Holly had seen Gail enter the dim-lit hallway leading to the restrooms. She proceeded in the same direction hurriedly. She skidded to a stop when she saw the younger woman leaning against the left wall at the far end. The hallway was shining with a very light orange hue. It didn't have any over-head bulbs or tube-lights. In the middle of both the walls, there was a cavity where a high voltage white bulb was fixed. A thick ornamental glass with designs and patterns on it covered the cavity. That glass was painted in orange, red, and yellow. The light that refracted through the glass gave the hallway a very soothing and seductive texture. Holly breathed in relief and took slow, deliberate steps toward the far end of the right wall. Without a word, she dittoed Gail's posture and leaned back.

Holly dropped her eyes. Gail was wearing a pair of slim dark blue jeans; the ends were tucked inside an ankle length black boots. She darted her eyes purposely over those legs and committed every detail into her memory. She lifted her gaze and scanned up the torso. The dark red loose fitting shirt-tails were haphazardly folded inside the jeans, a thin black belt with small, shiny steel off-centre buckle worked as a perfect contrast. The upper two buttons were undone. The expanse of visible pale skin sucked all the moisture from her mouth and her tongue slipped out to soothe her cracking lips. The black leather jacket just completed the ensemble with a flawless finesse. Her eyes fell on the blood red painted lips that were slightly parted. At last she stared into the cerulean eyes she had craved for four days now. They held her heated gaze, unblinking and unmoving.

Holly was itching to touch. She rubbed her palms on the wall behind her. Her breathing shortened and she knew she needed to act soon. She didn't have any power against the magnetism that was Gail. She swallowed and pressed her fingertips into the wall preparing herself and in the next moment her whole body propelled off the wall like a cannonball.

Gail was ready for her. Too many things happened in a very short span of time. She thought she would be the one pushing into the blonde's curves but the result was exactly the opposite of it. Gail had easily used Holly's momentum to swivel them both on the spot. Thus, the brunette was the one with her back pressed into the hard surface behind her. The younger woman was clutching her hips tightly. Holly realized due to her boots, she was slightly towering over the other woman. A slow smirk started to decorate her lips but it turned into a confused frown when she felt the police officer shove her instep to the side and broaden the space between both her legs. Two taps on both her insteps and her legs were wide enough to bring her eyes exactly at Gail's level.

Gail's face was almost blank but the tempest was so freely visible in her indigo eyes. The younger woman took a step forward and exhaled heavily as their curves fitted against each other. Her right hand draped over Holly's back from left to right; her fingers easily curled around the slim waist on the other side. Gail then brought her left hand up and tamed a few wild locks away from Holly's neck. With that taken care of, her now free left hand fingers interlocked with Holly's right ones. The blonde woman caught her dark brown eyes and conveyed a silent message.

Gail then brought their interlaced hands above Holly's head and held it there forcefully. She then began to bend her head and brought her lips a breath away from Holly's. Holly was thrashing in need inside and impatiently she tried to dove down and imprison those blood red lips with her own. But to her dismay, Gail turned slightly at the last possible moment and went directly for the major kill. Just above her jugular, she felt Gail bite into her skin. In the moment she felt those sharp teeth dig into her skin, the blonde increased the sensation a thousand times by pushing her pelvis into Holly's parted legs vehemently enough to lift the older woman off the ground for a second.

Holly's eyes clenched shut as she felt the skin that was being held hostage in between Gail's teeth, getting showered with slimy saliva with the help of the blonde's tongue simultaneously. She shivered, she groaned loudly; not caring if they were making a public spectacle of themselves. Her free left hand went to pull at the short platinum blond hair and fisted them tightly, painfully. The reprieve for the burning patch of skin wasn't for long as Gail repeated the routine with the skin just under the edge of Holly's jaw; including the vigorous push into her pelvis.

Holly groaned again. "Fuck," she hissed as she felt the pressure in between her legs. She tried to rotate her hips and greedily gain the friction against the slight but hard protrusion of Gail's pelvic bone but alas, there was no space available. A warm, wet, tongue soaked a long and languid path over the side of her neck and snaked inside her right ear. She shivered at the feeling of wetness and cold there. "Gail," she helplessly breathed the only coherent thought flickering through her mind. Without delay, she found herself untangled, abandoned, and oddly cold. On instinct, she brought her left hand up and balanced herself on the wall. Gail was panting noisily and was standing across from her. She was staring at Holly with something akin to terror and need; both fighting to govern her senses. Before Holly could right herself the blond woman rushed out of her reach and closed herself inside one of the washrooms. Holly was left behind in pathetic useless bundle of twisted, burning, and over-excited nerves wheezing for full, complete, satisfying breaths.

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Until next time