In the end, the case was simple. A small time dealer attempted to rip off a supplier who was with one of the local gangs. They sent someone to collect, a fight broke out, and the dealer was stabbed and left for dead.

The body hadn't even made it to the forensics lab before the landlord coughed up the security footage from the hallway, giving them all they needed to make the arrest.

Traci, despite the current awkwardness between them, was kind enough to send another crew to the morgue for the autopsy. This allowed Gail to escape, rookie in tow, and head back for the relative safety of traffic duty.

Now Gail sat on her couch at the frathouse, nursing a bottle of tequila and watching Netflix without actually paying attention to what was playing on the screen.

Holly being back was possibly one of the most unexpected things that could have happened. Gail had barely made it through the breakup when Steve blew her life up, killing any last meaningful relationships she had with her family. Then she lost her chance at getting Sophie. And now her friends could barely look at her because of what happened with Steve. And now Holly decides to just stroll back into her life again.

'This world is definitely fucked up.' Gail decided, taking another swig.

She was still trying to put the pieces of her life back together. Hell, she was still trying to even find the pieces. She was trying to find a way to exist in a world where her brother was in jail for blowing up an evidence room, where she couldn't trust family and none of her friends trust her.

All that she had was an almost too-supportive junkie ex, and a puppy-love sick dork who graciously didn't kick her ass to the curb when she showed up with a duffle bag in hand. But she was surviving, day by day, even though getting out of bed in the morning was still an impossible task. But she did it. She did it by throwing up walls and blanketing herself with an air of casual indifference that allowed her to function enough to get back out on the streets. To redeem the Peck name one parking citation at a time. And when her emotions were running too rampant to be bottled up, there was tequila and online shopping and sex with a snarky detective with the lights out.

'I can't let her back in.' Gail decided, gasping a little as the liquor burned her throat on the way down. 'If I do, I'm just going to blow it up again and then I'll be officially ruined forever. Because that's what Pecks do. They blow everything up.'

She hadn't quite stopped grinning at her self-deprecating wit when there was a knock at the door.

"For gods sakes Chloe, Dov isn't here." Gail said loudly, slamming the bottle on the table a little harder than she should and going to the door. "You were supposed to meet him at that stupid trivia tournament…oh."

Holly stood there, holding an LCBO bag and looking slightly flustered. "Gail." Holly said, flashing that stupid side smile. "I'm sorry for just showing up. But I wanted to talk to you and you weren't at the Penny and your friends sent me here." She said breathlessly. "So I brought a bottle of wine and I was wondering if you would want to just catch up. Like we used to."

Gail stood there, taking in her rambling, flustered, ex-girlfriend standing at the door and listened to her little speech without hearing a word at all. Somehow the only emotion coursing through her at that moment was exhaustion. Exhaustion at the entire situation and her life and how much she just wanted everything to return back to normal. And now Holly was rambling at her door like nothing had ever happened.

"Just get inside already." Gail sighed, walking to the kitchen to get glasses.

Holly watched Gail stalk off to the kitchen, releasing a breath that she didn't know she was holding. She let herself in, shutting the door behind her and making her way to the couch. Before she had much time to panic over what she was going to say next, Gail appeared and placed two wine glasses on the table before sitting beside her.

"I see you had a head start on me." Holly gestured at the partially empty tequila bottle. Gail ignored her, opening the bottle to pour the wine into the glasses. Holly wasn't sure how to react, deciding to avoid spooking her and let Gail start the conversation when she was ready. She took the moment to observe Gail.

God, she looked tired. The dark circles under her eyes looked like she hadn't slept for weeks. But what was worse was her demeanour, the general slump that was present from the sagging shoulders to the frown on her face. Gail didn't just look tired. She looked defeated.

Gail interrupted her thoughts, handing Holly her glass before sitting back and appraising her silently.

"You're back." Gail said softly. It wasn't a question.

"They offered me my old job back, with perks." Holly said, taking a sip. "Turns out the FP that replaced me was dirty and they were scrambling to find a replacement. Today was my first shift." Holly brushed her hair back behind her ear. "I'm sorry I ambushed you today, I only got into town two days ago and I haven't had the chance to talk to you properly until now."

Gail's face was completely unreadable. "So you left San Francisco, just like that."

Holly exhaled through her nose. "I hated it there." She admitted. "My boss was a homophobe, and none of my coworkers were willing to back me up when he gave me grief. The cops treated me like I was an idiot, and my landlord was a chronic smoker in the apartment next to mine."

The look in Gail's eyes told her that she wasn't buying it.

"All my friends were here. And I felt from the moment I walked out of your changeroom that I was making a huge mistake." Holly said softly.

Gail stared at her. "You can't do that." She said. "You can't just waltz back into my life without warning and expect to pick up where we left off."

Whoa. Okay. "I don't expect that at all." Holly said somewhat defensively. "But I'm here to stay and I miss you. I miss us. So I wanted the chance to be your friend again."

Gail stared at her flatly, her face in her baseline unimpressed glare before it shifted into something a little more honest. "I think you will find that I'm not the same as I was before."

"That doesn't make me want to know you again any less." Holly gave Gail a small smile, but inside she was more confused than anything. It was clear that something happened, something that made Gail more gun-shy and defensive than she ever was before. It would also explain how much persuading she had to do to fish the address of the place out of Dov at the Penny.

The conversation shifted to more trivial topics, from living arrangements to stories from work. As they talked Gail continued to drink, and three glasses later there was a definite slur to her words.

"And now Traci is just all zombie detective now, pretty much ignoring me at work and just hiding in her office when she's not at scenes. Like it's my fault that Steve blew up Andy."

What? "Gail, what did Steve do?"

Gail stiffened in surprise, her mouth forming a small 'O'. Suddenly and inexplicably, she laughed. "You mean you don't know."

"I don't know what?" Holly asked. She watched Gail take another gulp of wine.

"Turns out my brother planted a bomb at 15 because he was a dirty cop working for Santana, who was also dirty. He also tried to frame Oliver. My father tried to get me to lie on the stand, which I didn't, and now Steve is dodging shanks in prison. None of my family talks to me anymore, and half the division thinks I'm dirty while the other half hated me to begin with."

Holly tried to come up with a reply but couldn't. How do you even respond to that?

Gail curled her legs under her on the couch, staring at the wine glass in her hands. "That's my new normal." She said softly, tracing the rim of the glass with her finger. "Instead of living up to being a Peck, I'm trying to live despite being one. Chances are that I'll be a beat cop for the rest of my life, which would drive my Mother insane if she was talking to me." Gail looked at Holly now, her expression hard. "Are you sure you're okay with hanging out with just a beat cop?"

Holly flinched at the jab. She breathed slowly for a moment, fighting down the caustic retort she had wanted to throw back. This wasn't Gail intentionally trying to poke old wounds. This was Gail who felt she had been too open and had to distance herself to throw the walls back up again. She had changed in a lot of ways, but this was at least familiar.

"You know how everyone has that one family member who sometimes says stupid offensive things?" Holly began slowly. "Like an uncle who makes racist comments or something. You've called them out on it before and it didn't do anything. And they aren't a bad person, they just say really dumb things sometimes and despite that you still love them."

Gail was back to tracing the rim of her glass again and didn't say anything, which Holly took as a sign to continue.

"That's Lisa. She grew up as an inheritance baby with doctors for parents, so snubbing people who weren't in the same tax bracket was practically a family past time for her. I've been trying to break that habit for years, but she still does it."

Holly touched Gail's arm, prompting her to look at her. "I wanted to tell Lisa off the moment she pulled that judgey crap again. But I was going to wait until I was home and could call her without making a scene. Me telling her that I was having fun with you? That wasn't me minimizing our relationship. That was me warning Lisa that I cared about you, in hopes that she would take the hint and back off so we could enjoy the rest of the night… and then I would tear a strip off her later."

Gail set her empty glass on the table, before hugging her torso. "Back then, that was like the hugest fucking deal to me." She breathed. "After a lifetime of having to measure up to expectations from my parents, being shafted by you was the worst thing that you could have done to me." She laughed then, a bitter noise without an ounce of humour present. "Now it's obvious how fucking stupid I was, and how quickly I overreacted."

"We were both idiots." Holly said. "You ignored my calls, and I could have easily tracked you down at work but I didn't. Then I came across that posting in San Francisco and accepted it… just before we decided to try again. And instead of cancelling, I convinced myself that you would pack up and follow me across the continent. Now, that was stupid."

At least that earned a smile from Gail. "Yeah, that was." The blonde muttered sarcastically.

"Since I don't think I ever officially apologized," Holly said, reaching for the tequila bottle and taking a swig. "I am very sorry Gail, for being a shitty girlfriend." She passed the bottle to Gail.

Gail took a gulp. "I don't really do apologies, but I guess I can make an exception." She drawled. "I'm sorry for being an overreactive four year old." Gail stared at the bottle for a moment. "I think I've had too much to drink."

"Should I hide the scissors?"

Gail chuckled. "No, I think I'll be alright. I need to go to bed though."

It was clear that Gail had gone as far as she would for the night. "It's getting late anyways." Holly said, picking up the glasses to bring them to the kitchen. When she returned Gail met her at the door.

"I'm glad that we talked." She said, drawing Gail in for a hug. She had to let go quickly when her body registered just how good it felt to have Gail in her arms again.

"Yeah, that's not really how I communicate." Gail breathed, looking dazed for a moment.

"Too bad. That's how I communicate. Goodnight, officer." Holly smirked, reaching behind her to open the door.

"God, you are such a dork sometimes Lunchbox." Holly laughed as she heard Gail grumble through the closing door. She felt the smile on her face the entire way down the stairs as she exited the building, not caring about her goofy grin when she passed by two guys in the hallway. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even look at them.

"Was that..?" she heard one of them ask as she walked away.

Oliver went all bearded man and canned meat when he was at his lowest. Gail just goes straight for the tequila and occasional episodes of wallowing, like we saw tonight. My kind of girl.

I'm not sure yet how long this fic will be, but I will find out as I write it. The next chapter should be up by the end of this week.

Next chapter: Oliver.