Author's Note: Thanks for all the support! This fandom is amazing! Again, I own nothing except any grammatical errors. This story is gonna get dark, but I promise, there's a happy ending.
Chapter Two:
The following day began similar to the previous one. Gail awoke with the room spinning and an empty bottle next to her. She noticed that it didn't seem that bright outside her window and her suspicions were confirmed by a check of the time. Gail had enough time to make it to parade if she left within the next twenty minutes. She quickly showered, brushed her teeth and found her duty bag. She made it to the station and changed into her uniform with one minute to spare.
Gail took a seat in the back of the room and listened to Oliver speak about the latest trends in crime. She tried to focus but found that her head was pounding so loudly it was hard to make sense of any of the words. At the end of his spiel Oliver went over assignments, Gail received front desk duty. Gail sighed as Oliver made his way over to the blonde.
"You feelin better today?" Gail could hear the concern dripping from Oliver's words. Her heart constricted a bit in the realisation of how her actions affected those around her, she quickly shoved the feeling down and turned on the classic Peck.
"I'm fine. Probably something I ate." Gail tried her best to look annoyed but Oliver could tell when his favourite rookie was a bit off, he know something was seriously wrong. He pushed the thought away though, as he knew Gail didn't tell you what she didn't want you to know. She had to come to him, he would wait for that moment and then he would try his hardest to fix whatever it was.
"Okay, well I can get Celery to make you some tea if you're still feeling sick later. I'm sure she'd love to help."
"Ugh. Sorry Oliver but I don't know how you can drink that stuff, I'll stick with my Cheetos thanks."
"Your loss Peck. Actually what am I saying, I would kill for some Cheetos right now."
"Get your own. I'm sick, remember." Gail smirked and Oliver threw up his hands. As Oliver walked away he couldn't help but think Gail wasn't completely broken. If he had only known.
For the next week Gail repeated her work-drink-pass out cycle with none of the other officers the wiser. Most of them were too wrapped up in their own drama to notice that the Ice Queen of 15 Division was coming completely apart. Even Gail's own brother hadn't noticed the increased frequency of Gail coming to the station hung over or still drunk. It wasn't until Chloe made a comment to Andy about Gail's lack of hygiene as of late that anyone started to poke their heads in Gail's direction. It wasn't for yet another week that people really started to notice.
The day Gail was partnered with Gerald was the day cracks in the walls around Gail Peck started to appear. Gail had shown up to parade just in time, yet again, and sat in the back, as was becoming her normal. Once assignments were handed out she walked past the rookie and headed towards the vehicle pool, not even waiting for the newest recruit. Gail got into the drivers seat and was just about to leave the garage when Gerald yanked opened the passenger door of the moving car.
As he hurried to get into the car before it started to move faster Gerald asked, "Hey um Officer Peck, you know I'm riding with you today?"
Gail didn't even respond to the clown, she just made some sort of grunting noise and continued driving from the garage. The first call they received was a domestic case. A small child had called 911 stating her daddy was hurting her mommy. When the officers arrived on the scene they found a man had beaten his wife so badly she was sprawled out in a corner bleeding profusely. The girl that had called was curled up in her room crying, when Gail had approached her she noticed facial injuries to the girl as well. That's when Gail saw red. She immediately stomped back into the room where the man was handcuffed and began punching him. It took Gerald and two other officers to pull Gail off of the man.
Oliver showed up on the scene ten minutes after Gail had been placed in a room in the house to cool down. When he opened the door what he saw scared him. Gail sat on a chair, her hands covered in blood, tears running down her face and sobs escaping her mouth uncontrollably. Oliver slipped into the room making sure none of the other officers saw the broken women. He sat down next to her on the tub and before he managed to utter one word the blonde cop crawled into his arms. "I lost her Oliie. I lost her." Oliver assumed that Gail meant Holly with the confession.
"Gail, look at me." He watched as her teary eyes eventually found his . They looked so dim and broken. Oliver almost gasped. How had he missed this.
"Gail, darling. I know you miss her, have you tried texting her. I'd suggest calling her but Zoe tells me no one does that these days."
"I lost her. I lost Sophie." The last word was spoken so quietly Oliver almost didn't hear the name mentioned. His heart broke for the woman in his arms, he of course knew about the little girl and had given Gail some push in bettering her living situation in hopes it would better her chances for adopting the child. He couldn't understand why anyone would reject Gail, they way she lit up when she talked about the small girl was like she had actually given life to child herself. The only other time Oliver had heard Gail speak with such love and admiration about another soul was Holly Stewart. Oliver knew there was nothing he could say that would fix the situation, so he simply held Gail until she finished crying.
Upon returning to the station Gail was required to give a statement to internal affairs about the use of force against the subject. She was immediately suspended pending the investigation, a process not even her mother could help avoid. Gail had fucked up badly, she knew she'd be lucky if she didn't lose her badge over the incident. She didn't care, she just wanted to go home and get drunk, to forget all of the shit life was throwing at her. Holly had left, Sophie was snatched from her, and her job was most likely next in the chopping block. Gail didn't really see much going for her. That's what lead her to the Penny and the bottle of tequila.