By the time she had gotten back to her apartment, Gail had finally calmed down. She had attributed her breakdown to exhaustion from working so much, but deep down she knew that wasn't really the reason. She had wanted to kiss Holly back there, she had wanted to so badly, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She doesn't even have feelings for me, Gail thought. I just need to focus on my career and not on Holly. I need to stop thinking about her brown eyes, and her nerdy science facts she shares at the oddest times. The way my stomach drops to my feet when she smiles at me- Jesus! What the hell is wrong with me? Gail didn't know how to feel about the situation. She didn't know how to be this person. A person who feels such warmth and protection and care for another person. For a woman, at that.

She sighed, dragging herself through the apartment to her bedroom. She was so mentally and physically drained that she simply kicked her shoes off and crawled into bed in the clothes she had worn to the batting cages. Within minutes, she had drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

The following night, Gail decided that she needed to get out of her apartment, and more importantly, get her mind off of Holly. She agreed to go to The Penny for drinks and dork trivia with King Dork, Minnie Mouse, and Diaz. Twenty minutes into the game, she was regretting her decision to come. Dov and Chloe were being mushy and gross and it was making her stomach knot itself when she thought about who she wished would look at her the way Dov looked at Chloe. Almost as if summoned by Gail's thoughts, Holly walked through the door to the turning of many heads.

Without thinking, Gail stood up, claimed that she was retiring the champion of the world, and sidled up alongside Holly at the bar. "Helloooo," she said to Holly, adding to the bartender, "can you make it two?"

Holly whirled around to find the source of the greeting, eyes widening when she saw Gail's icy blue eyes and platinum blond hair. "Hey, I didn't know you'd be here," she said, flashing Gail her best smile.

Gail explained the trivia trip Dov had been on, and suggested that she buy the first round, and Holly could get the next.

Holly suddenly wondered momentarily if she couldn't just ditch the girl she was supposed to be meeting. "Actually, I'm meeting someone." She looked into Gail's eyes, searching for some sign as to whether she'd be bothered by this or not.

"Oh. Sorry." Gail averted her eyes, foiling Holly's plan to search them for an answer.

"Don't be sorry."

"Is it like, someone someone, or just someone?" Gail was fighting to appear detached, like she was simply asking as a friend who was interested in a friend's life, and not like a woman who was desperately trying to figure out if she had missed her chance.

"I'm not sure yet," Holly said off-handedly, though she was positive that she wasn't really interested in seeing anyone but Gail. She spotted the girl as she walked into the bar. "Oh. Thanks for the drink." She raised her glass to Gail and walked over to her date, hugging her in greeting.

Gail watched this unfold, as she did her best to ignore the aching she felt inside. She sulked back to the table and made fun of Dov and Chloe to try to make herself feel better, but to no avail. Every few minutes, she glanced over toward where Holly and her admittedly beautiful date were sitting. Holly was throwing her head back in laughter and Gail was burning with jealousy. When Chris stood up and announced that he was getting another drink, she instructed him to make hers a double as she slammed her now empty glass down on the table, readying herself for a long night of drinking.

Had she known what would transpire the following day, she probably would have drank herself into a permanent stupor. Being hunted by a madman wasn't exactly on her to-conquer list, and she was on edge every second of the day. After seeing Chloe completely covered in blood and then being shot at while answering a 911 with Oliver, she was the jumpiest she'd ever been. Though she would never admit it to anyone, she was scared. Terrified, really, but Gail Peck would never let this be known.

The only thing taking her mind off the fact that her life was seriously in danger were the consistent thoughts of Holly. She tried to reason with herself. Who cares if she was out on a date with some girl? She and Holly weren't dating. Nothing had even happened between them, really. The short kiss in the coat room didn't really count, and she still wasn't sure whether the batting cage fiasco constituted as a date. As the finished adjusting her uniform, getting ready to find Oliver and head out, she looked up to find Holly walking up the hallway toward her. Her heart started beating faster and she cursed herself for being such a loser.

"Hey..? What are you doing here?" Holly never came to the station; it was always the officers that went to her if they needed something.

"Oh! I just.. had to drop off a report.. it's..murder case from a couple weeks ago." She fumbled over the excuse she had quickly formulated on her way over.

"Doesn't the courier usually bring that stuff over?" Gail asked, sensing that something was up.

"Yeah.. he was.. sick.. or something," Holly lied, realizing that Gail could see right through her.

Gail gave her the trademark "knock-off-the-bullshit-and-tell-me-the-truth" look.

"Hey, come here," Holly started, as she took Gail by the arm and dragged her into an interrogation room off of the hallway. She took one look at her and decided to drop the act and let her know why she was really there. "Is it true? I just- I heard a rumor that there's some freak out there hunting you guys." She looked genuinely concerned.

"Holly," Gail said, shaking her head, "I'm not allowed to talk about this.." Holly gave her the no-bullshit look right back, urging her to tell her what was going on.

She gave in. After all, this was Holly. "There's an officer that was shot, she's in the hospital, and.." she hesitated, glanced away, and licked her lips. "A few other officers took fire." Holly could read Gail like a book and immediately understood that when she said "a few other officers", Gail was included in that few. She began to panic.

"You mean you.. Someone shot at you?!" Her voice was rising and she knew she sounded irrational and crazy, but she couldn't help it. "And, wh- and you're gonna go back out there?!"

"Yeah Holly.. I- I'm a police officer.." Gail said slowly, confused as to why Holly didn't understand that this was what her job entailed.

"That doesn't mean that you have to go out there and put yourself in danger!" She hated that she sounded ridiculous. She knew that Gail was only doing her job, but she was afraid for her, afraid of losing this amazing person that had just recently come into her life.

"Yeah. Kinda does." Gail stated in a near whisper.

Holly just stared at her for a second, not knowing what to say. "Oh. Okay, well.." she wiped her hand across her forehead and knocked her glasses slightly askew. "Fine. But lis- listen." She decided now may be her only chance to come clean about her date last night. "That girl last night," she swallowed nervously, hoping that she would be able to get her point across, "I barely know her, okay? It was- it was a stupid setup." Gail gave her a look like she didn't understand why she was telling her this, but she pressed on. "Well anyway, I just- I just thought you should know. I don't know why I didn't tell you, I mean, we tell each other stuff, right? That's what's so great, is us hanging out, and I.." It was beginning to dawn on Gail that Holly was trying to tell her that the girl at the bar didn't mean anything to her, it was just coming out in a jumbled mess. Gail's eyes began flicking from Holly's eyes to her lips and back up. "I guess that's why when I heard what was going on, I just thought I should come down here, and, I don't know, just make sure you're okay or something-"

She was cut off by Gail grabbing both sides of her face and pulling her into a kiss that scorched her lips. This time, it wasn't a small peck, and mouths opened and moved together urgently. After a few seconds, Gail pulled away, staying in close proximity, and looked into Holly's eyes. "I'm sorry, you just- you just had to stop talking," she breathed, in complete disbelief that she had actually just kissed Holly.

"I won't say another word," Holly whispered. At this, Gail leaned back in for another kiss, hands still cupping Holly's face in an attempt to feel in control of a situation which she had zero control over.

After saying goodbye to Holly and telling her not to worry, she stumbled out of the interrogation room in a daze.

Oliver spotted her and stopped her in her tracks. "Peck, uhh.. gonna roll outta here in about ten minutes, you cool with that?"

She hadn't really caught what he said, but she shrugged voiced her agreement anyway. Behind him, Holly waltzed out of the interrogation room and greeted Oliver with a bright smile before walking the opposite way up the hall. A few seconds too late, he realized where he knew the gorgeous brunette from.

"That's your friend from the forensics lab," he needlessly pointed out, gesturing up the hallway toward Holly. Gail panicked. Did he know?

"The courier was sick, Oliver.. IF YOU REALLY MUST KNOW," she snapped, rushing away.

Oliver stood there dumbfounded, as he watched Gail turn the corner and disappear.


A/N: Keep those reviews coming, guys! Thanks for your support and feedback.