AN: Yeah, so it's been a while. Life, health and graduation (on a happier note, I'm editing my thesis for a journal publication so wahoo!). My apologies, to make up for it I wrote a slightly longer chapter than I normally would have. I love your reviews, keep 'em coming. Cheers to all of you who took the time to review, favourite and follow :)
The characters aren't mine, I don't own anything. Just a poor student with crushing debt. All errors, however, are mine. Do feel free to point them out to me xox
Chapter 4.
There is a particular enzyme that exists in the stomach lining and liver that breaks down alcohol. With increased consumption of alcohol, your body starts to produce more levels of alcohol dehydrogenase to metabolise the extra alcohol. In essence, a tolerance of sorts, is produced. Throughout the years, Gail had found that while her drinking habits had increased dramatically, the hangovers hadn't worsened. If anything, they had lightened considerably since her first illicit teenage party. Although, maybe Gail had just gotten used to dealing with the aftermath better than her adolescent self.
Last night, at her boss' wedding of all places, Gail had consumed arguably the most alcohol in recent memory. And now, her body was paying for it dearly. Everything felt sluggish; limbs refusing to cooperate, eyes crusted together with leftover bits of sleep and her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. Gail felt like death. Much like a cruel joke, a loud vibrating against the bedside table cut through her brain's fogginess and ignited a stabbing headache. It lasted an agonisingly long twenty seconds and the blonde had no intention of answering it, even if she were physically capable. However, after several missed calls in rapid succession, Gail realised it wasn't going to end until she picked up the damn phone.
"What?" Her voice was rough, the word was almost inaudible and came out as a croak more than anything else.
Traci's voice blasted in her ear, making her head throb painfully. "Fucking finally! I'm standing outside your apartment, let me in. I'll make you breakfast?"
Gail simply hung up and threw the device somewhere in the general vicinity of her room. It landed with a loud clatter and she winced at the sound.
"Whhhhhhhhhhhy?" The blonde moaned pitifully into her pillow about her self-inflicted pain. Traci had better be dying, or close to it, to dare disturb a hungover Gail Peck. It was akin to poking an injured grizzly bear, inherently stupid and extremely ill-advised.
It took a good ten minutes for the blonde to put on a hoodie and, quite literally, crawl to the front door. Standing, unaided, was still precarious at this stage. And with all their junk cluttered around the house, tripping over was practically inevitable.
"What the hell do you want Trace?" The whole situation would have appeared a lot more threatening had the blonde not been on the floor, peering up at her friend through bloodshot eyes.
"Wow, Gail. You look like shit." Traci grinned down at the sorry sight.
"I wouldn't if you'd let me have two more hours sleep." The blonde growled.
"Crawl into the kitchen, I bought an arsenal of hangover cures just in case." Traci stepped over the blonde's unmoving body and made her way towards the kitchen. She pulled out a sports drink, painkillers and placed a tall glass of water on the table. Gail wasn't in the mood to argue so she downed the pills and half the sports drink, her stomach protesting at the sudden intrusion of the flavoured liquid.
The darker woman smirked, enjoying the sight of Gail at her lowest before rummaging through her bag for the food she had bought on her way over. Soon the smell of bacon and hash browns was wafting through the kitchen and loud rumbling sounds erupted from Gail's lower abdomen. Her appetite was coming back, clearly the blonde was feeling a lot better.
Traci took this moment as prime opportunity to engage her friend. "You and Holly, huh?"
After the effort Traci had gone to, the least Gail could do was provide the gossip she knew her friend thrived on. The blonde shrugged noncommittally, "She likes me, Traci."
"No shit, Gail. Do you like her back?" Gail didn't need to see Traci's face to know the darker woman was probably rolling her eyes, prompting information from the blonde was like extracting teeth.
Traci waited for the admission, due to come in three, two … "Yeah, I do. I like her a lot." Gail never failed to deliver.
"So why do I sense there's a 'but' coming?"
"I don't know what to do." Gail said simply.
The darker haired woman blew out an exasperated sigh, "You're doing fine. What's the problem?"
"Yeah. I'm doing fine now, but we both know my track record is pretty shitty. I'm going to fuck this up Traci." She sighed, slumping into the kitchen chair.
"Yeah, you probably will." Gail rolled her eyes, clear indicator for 'really?' Traci continued, ignoring the blonde's glares, "Well I think if Holly's right for you, then she'll stick it out. As long as you're trying, then I think that's all she can ask of you."
It made sense, she hated how Traci was always right. "Is my life seriously that interesting, that you would come over and make me brunch to cure my hangover?"
Traci tipped the food onto a plate and placed in front of the grumpy blonde with a satisfied expression on her face. "Yes, Gail. Believe it or not, there are people that care about you. You deserve to be happy."
"'Kay, you're all weird anyway." The blonde mumbled with her mouth full, eager for the distraction. Being the centre of attention was something Gail despised and her personal life was definitely something she didn't want being discussed amongst her colleagues.
"If it makes you feel better, Steve and I had a 20 buck bet on you two last night. I lost, so you owe me $20." Traci laughed and dished up her own food before sitting down to brunch with her favourite snarky cop.
Gail's hangover felt infinitely better after ingesting the greasy food, Traci's cure had done wonders. The two women were staring at the TV with identical expressions of glazed boredom while their insides digested brunch. Neither were in the mood for extensive conversation, content to simply mull over their own thoughts. After the social whirlwind of Frank's wedding, it was nice to have some peace and quiet. A Star Wars ringtone broke the monotony.
Gail groaned, there was only one person worthy of being assigned the Darth Vader theme song. "Oh God. It's the dragon lady."
Traci whistled, impressed at how quickly Elaine worked. "That was fast. She knows you have the day off, you gotta answer it."
"Mother?" Gail rolled her eyes. Even though the Superintendent couldn't see it, it was more force of habit than anything else.
"Have I woken you? My apologies." Gail huffed, knowing her mother was referring to her post-drunken throatiness. In fact, knowing Elaine Peck, she probably timed her calls when she knew Gail would be at her most vulnerable. It made her more compliant to the Superintendent's requests. "I wasn't sleeping, I'm getting sick. What inspired a call at such a reasonable hour?"
"Gail, 2.30 is hardly inappropriate. I know for a fact that Frank gave you all the day off after his wedding. I heard you took a plus one … would you care to enlighten me?" Elaine ignored the sarcasm, far too used to it by now.
Gail faltered, unsure how to approach the question. She decided to play it safe, at least until she had talked to Holly about it. "A friend, mother. Is that acceptable?"
"Well at least you didn't attend alone, I suppose. I've arranged another date for you this evening, his name is Richard. Promise me you'll be nice to this one? William's mother called the other day, apparently you made an impression. Unfortunately, not one that I had hoped you would." Gail snickered, she remembered that date vividly. The man thought going to a rifle range would be something they could both relate too. However, Gail's competitive streak got the better of her and she far outshot her poor date. William left rather abruptly afterwards claiming, "I've got a headache, I'll call you later okay?" Unsurprisingly, he never did call back.
"If it stops you from calling me for a few weeks, then yes. I'll go on this stupid arranged date. Tell him to meet me at 'Balluchon', 7.30." The blonde sighed, giving in to her mother's demands was the fastest way to get rid of her.
"Richard has just finished his Masters; he has plans and ambitions. Just try for once, will you? It was all well and good when you were younger, but you need to start thinking about your future." Elaine sounded exasperated.
"Mother, I am a person not an asset. This is the last one, I'm not going on any more." Gail ground out irritably.
"Very well. We are having a family dinner in three weeks' time, we can discuss matters then." That was code for 'I'm not arguing about this now but you will hear about it later'.
Gail hung up. Goodbyes were a brusque and abrupt affair between the Peck mother and daughter.
"Another date?" Traci questioned.
Gail left her friend on the couch and headed to her bedroom to rummage for some suitable outfits, calling out down the hallway. "She told me I needed to find someone before my eggs dried up."
She could hear Traci laughing at the Superintendent's absurd views on her children's lives. "God, Gail. You're 26 not 46."
"And let's be honest, nobody is going to want more Peck spawn released into the world. I'm doing you all a favour here." Gail said with a sardonic grin.
Traci returned the sentiment with a sympathetic smile but neglected to say anything further. Gail was brilliant with children, and Traci didn't give out such praise lightly. Out of any of her friends, Gail was the first person she turned to when she needed help with Leo. She knew, without a doubt, if Gail ever chose to have 'spawn' then they couldn't be in better hands. "Okay, I'm gonna say go with the black number. Nice enough for a date but casual enough for coffee, win win right?
"Thanks Trace. Also thanks for coming over this morning."
"It's no problem, you're my friend. Plus, your awful dates are making me feel a hell of a lot better about my own problems." Traci waved her off.
"Glad I could be of service." Gail retorted. With a softer tone, she added, "Is it Leo? Is that why you won't date Steve? Cause I'm just saying I get it. Everything's supposed to be harder when you have a kid. But you should give him a chance, I think he might surprise you."
"Yeah, thanks Gail. I just need some time. I finally sorted out how to run my life and …" Traci trailed off before wistfully stating, "I gotta put Leo first. Maybe one day Steve and I might get there, but for now I'm okay with just me and Leo."
For the millionth time, only a slight exaggeration, Gail wondered why she consented to these set ups. As far as dates went, this one was exceedingly awful and it was getting worse by the minute. Surely Elaine had to be setting Gail up with these men to punish her, there was no way a person like Gail would ever date a person like Richard. At least she could enjoy her 'festive' latte, if nothing else.
"It takes a brave girl to agree to go on a blind date, even if you are on the rebound." Richard started. If he thought that was an adequate conversation opener, then Gail dreaded what was going to follow.
"Who told you that?" The blonde was mildly irritated, she already knew the answer.
"Your mother; my father is her boss. I guess she wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. And when she showed me that picture of you –"
"Oh God." Gail sighed. Of course her mother would show her date the most unflattering picture she had in her arsenal. She tried to change the subject, "What accent is that?"
"I'm from Nottingham." Richard said easily.
"Oooh, did you live in the woods with the band of merry men?" Gail chuckled at her own joke.
"Are you asking me if I'm a homosexual?" Apparently the reference escaped her date and it went down like a proverbial lead balloon.
Gail tried to salvage the conversation, at least until she had finished her coffee. "So what were you doing in Nottingham?"
"I was studying; doing my Masters in medieval languages and literature." He responded with a smarmy look, well chuffed with his achievements.
"That's very random." The blonde nodded politely, pretending to care about her date's life. "How long were you there for?"
"Two years. I was born and bred about 20 minutes from here in Forest Hill."
Gail narrowed her eyes and shook her head briefly, making sure she heard correctly. "Can we recap? You were only in England for two years?"
"Uh, what are you asking me here?" Richard looked confused.
Who the fuck lives in a country for two years and comes back sounding like a native speaker. Two fucking years. Gail suspected the only reason he spoke like Robin Hood was in the hopes of seducing women. Honestly, he didn't have much else going for him, unless the female in question was into medieval poetry. To be fair, there was nothing wrong with his accent. Gail liked different accents. It was just a shame that the accent was also accompanied by the annoying word vomit pouring from his mouth that gave her a massive urge to slap the pompous git.
"Do they have any alcohol here?" Despite still feeling the aftereffects of last night, Gail didn't think she could last another minute sober in the man's company.
Richard lowered his voice suggestively, "I have a fully stocked bar back at my flat. We could leave right now if you wanted."
It had been a grand total of 25 minutes since Gail had arrived and about 20 minutes longer than she had wanted to stay. "Right. Well Richard, let me just tell you this now; this date is not going well for you. I'm going to finish my festive latte and then I'm going to go home. Alone." Gail was reaching her full stride, her voice silky and exuding dangerousness. "Because there isn't enough alcohol in the world to get me in bed with you."
"Can I keep your number in case you should change your mind?" Poor Richard looked hopeful. Had it been any other woman, perhaps they would've taken pity on him. But this was Gail Peck.
The officer lifted a perfect brow and tried her best not to sneer, "Keep the latte, I'm going to leave now."
Fuck Richard. And fuck Elaine Peck's attempts to control her love life. Gail wanted one thing right now and it certainly wasn't a festive English twit with his medieval bollocks.
For the second morning in a row, Traci had come over for breakfast. Thankfully, this time Gail was already up and not afflicted with a blinding hangover. They sat at the table nursing their coffees, eagerly waiting for Dov to arrive with their guests.
"Honey! I'm home!" A tall, dark haired man dumped his bags on the floor and held out his arms expectantly, a giant smile lighting up his features.
"Mort!" Gail ran and leapt into Mort's arms. Luckily the blonde was light enough so that she didn't bowl him over with the sheer force of her momentum.
Mort, also went by 'Chris' occasionally, took everything in stride and swung Gail around. They both laughed, his enthusiasm was infectious. Traci grinned at the sight, to anyone else observing it was impossible to tell that Chris and Gail had once dated. Their previous history didn't affect their current relationship like it had with Nick and Gail's. After a few months of dating, they had both come to realise that they were better off as friends. Now they had a close bond that wasn't unlike her and Steve's relationship.
"How are you?" Gail grinned, finally letting go of Chris. He scooped Traci up and gave her a crushing hug, minus the aerial time.
"I'm great!" Chris' enthusiasm was accompanied by great, swinging hand gestures, "And the place, the place looks great too."
The blonde snorted, "Yeah and it smells better too."
"I told you that smell was your fault." Dov chimed in, their banter fell into a familiar rhythm.
"Thanks so much for letting us stay." Denise piped up, bringing in the last of the bags.
Dov and Chris wore identical expressions of ill-disguised horror. Dov had forgotten to call ahead and give Gail a heads-up. It was well-known that the blonde did not take well to surprises, they had found that out the hard way. Dov never did find out what happened to their pet fish. In retrospect, it was probably better that way.
"You're staying here?" Gail saw both Dov and Chris silently pleading with her behind Denise's back. Her look of incredulousness morphed into something that was meant to be a smile but rather resembled a grimace. "I mean you're staying here."
Dov and Chris let out audible sighs of relief. As the others headed off to put away suitcases and get settled, Gail leant up on her tiptoes next to her ex-boyfriend. While maintaining her cheery façade, she whispered into Chris' ear, "You owe me breakfast, doughnuts and drinks at the Penny now."
"Anything you want. Just don't be yourself." The tall man muttered back, a similarly fake smile adorning his features as well. Gail responded by punching him in the arm, receiving a surprised yelp in return.
Gail's phone rang. "Hey Ollie –"
"No time for chitchat Peck. I need you, Epstein and Price to suit up and get down to Sorauren park." Oliver cut in.
Gail was confused, "What's going on?"
"Child abduction. Christian's been taken."
"On our way." Gail slammed her phone on the table and ran to get her uniform on. Banging on Dov's door as she passed, "We need to get down to the park."
"Gail what happened?" Chris stuck his head out of his former room.
"Okay. Chris, Denise, don't panic." The blonde sucked in a breath, resenting that she had to be the one to break the bad news. "Christian's been abducted and Dov, Chloe and I are going to head down there and help Oliver out."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the flat became a frantic hive of activity. Dov, Chloe and Gail needed to get ready while Traci was left to deal with the upset parents. Chris called Andy's phone, swearing each time it went to voicemail. Traci grimaced, she knew Andy wouldn't be able to answer her phone, she was probably busy being grilled by the D's at the scene.
When they arrived, the park had already been taped off and forensics were collecting samples from the car. A smaller group of civilians were standing to one side looking both curious and fearful that a child abductor was loose in their town. Chris threw open the car door and strode towards the congregation of people, everyone else quickly following behind.
Ollie looked up at the impending footsteps and smiled wearily at his former rookie. "Hey Diaz, good to see you. So Detective Swarek has been kind enough to interview Collins and McNally." The older man threw a foul look at Sam, they must have had an argument prior to their arrival. Chris merely nodded at the greeting, his jaw grimly set shut with barely suppressed fury. His eyes swept across the crime scene until they fixated on two figures standing away from the hubbub.
"What the hell are you even doing here?" Chris burst out angrily at Nick, effectively echoing Gail's sentiments. As much as she felt like yelling at them both, she was still on the job so she left Chris to shred them. The blonde settled for glaring at her former friends before wordlessly leaving to assist Cruz and speak to the remaining witnesses.
"Hold up there Cowboy, I'm gonna need you to head down to the station. We can't have you down here right now, you know that." Ollie threw up his hands apologetically but also making it clear that it wasn't something he was going to budge on.
Traci tugged at his sleeve, "C'mon, I'll take you both down to the station now."
"Collins, McNally! Let's go!" Swarek called out, already leaving.
These witnesses were useless. Cruz had already scribbled down anything of importance and now they were being flooded with more questions than useful answers. "Do you think he'll come back here?" "Are our children safe?" "He just looked so normal! How can people do these kinds of things?"
"Alright! People, I'm going to need you all to quieten down!" Cruz looked fed up, crowd control was the last thing she wanted to do. Gail took the opportunity to wander back to Oliver and see if there was anything else that needed to be done before they wrapped up and headed to the station.
"I got some hair on the car seat, possibly the victims. And some blood on the upholstery." A dark haired forensic worker was hunched over the car seat. Oliver nodded, pleased at the hard evidence they could rely on over shaky witness testimonies.
"Great. Peck, do you wanna take this and get it analysed up at the lab? Hopefully it's our abductors and he's in the system." He handed her the bag of samples and smiled warmly, despite the seriousness of their situation. No matter how dark things seemed, Gail could always count on Ollie, he was her rock.
Gail gave Ollie a rueful smile, "I'll head there now and let you know when I find something."
"Hey, thanks so much for doing this." Gail handed Holly a coffee, it was becoming a habit.
"Well, a kid goes missing, pretty much jumps to the top of the pile." The brunette shrugged it off. Running DNA samples wasn't the high tech work normally run by pathologists, pretty much anyone that worked in the lab could perform the tests but a lack of anything interesting and a desire to see the blonde cop prompted Holly to take on the Diaz case. "What's so important about this case?"
"Chris used to work at 15. He transferred to Timmins with his partner Denise. Their kid, Christian, was abducted today when Andy was supposed to be watching him." Gail had thinly veiled contempt in her voice when she mentioned Andy's name. Holly nodded, making a mental note never to get on the blonde's bad side. It was clear that she held grudges, with little possibility of letting things go in the foreseeable future. Although she'd never met Officer McNally, the doctor was quick to realise that whatever she'd done was enough to warrant the blonde's ire that hadn't abated even slightly in the time since they'd met.
"Woah, crazy. I know I'm just the lab monkey but I feel like all of you guys are too close to work this case."
"Oh, and Chris and I used to date." Gail added casually, like it was no big deal. Holly's eyes widened in surprise at the admission but she said nothing. She was well aware that Gail generally identified as straight and wasn't sure what that meant for their potential relationship. However, now was not the time to bring it up.
"How long until we find out if the DNA is in the system?" The officer stared intently at the computer screen, watching the letters and numbers flash.
"A couple of hours, maybe more?" Holly estimated.
"Can't you make it go faster?" Gail was impatient at the best of times but especially so today.
The doctor rolled her eyes, "Sure, I'll just rush the Polymerase Chain Reaction. It's not like it's important. Maybe you could chip in? How are you at identifying short tandem repeats?"
"You coulda just said no." Gail wrinkled her nose, unimpressed by the unnecessary jargon.
Holly smirked, teasing the blonde was quickly becoming one of her favourite past times. She walked around the blonde to pick up some papers she'd set aside for the officer to take back. "I did find something interesting. The typing came back inconsistent."
Gail looked over the papers briefly and cocked a brow, "In English?"
"The blood sample you bought in? It contained two different types of blood, A and O negative." The brunette clarified.
The cogs were slowly turning in Gail's brain. "So we had two abductors?"
"Or maybe one of them is Christian's." Holly finished. "I'm checking it against the hair and saliva samples from the car and toy."
"Okay, I gotta make a call." Gail stepped outside the lab and relayed Holly's results to Oliver. "I'm gonna head back and follow up on the tips coming in. Let me know when the rest of the results come in?"
Holly nodded at the blonde, "Will do, cop."
"Thanks lunchbox." Gail hesitated briefly, lingering in the doorframe. Did she hug her goodbye? Maybe that was too personal. Although, they'd hooked up in a cloakroom already, so they were probably past the point of friendship boundaries.
While Gail's mind was having its own internal conflict, Holly observed her with keen interest. The doctor couldn't tell what Gail was so torn about but was relatively certain that it was probably about her. She decided to make things easy on the poor officer, "Gail? You're not moving anywhere fast. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"
That snapped the blonde out of her reverie, "You're right. I'll see you soon, Holly." And with that, she departed. There were no hugs, lingering touches or kiss goodbyes. It left Gail with a strange, unfinished feeling, like something was missing. The blonde sighed, she would deal with these feelings after Christian was found.
Gail took the paperwork back to the station, "Hey Ollie, what's new?"
"Parade, now." Oliver didn't stop to make conversation, beckoning the blonde to follow him with a quick wave of his hand.
Once everyone was present and accounted for, Oliver started speaking, "We got a visual ID on our abductor, his name's Gene McKenzie. He's in our system for an aggravated assault in '95."
"He's Christian's soccer coach back in Timmins." Dov explained the connection to the group of officers and handed out papers with all of their abductor's details.
Oliver nodded before continuing, "He's also a swimming instructor and little league coach. Last seen at the movie theatre in Dundas Square, 30 minutes we do know is that Christian seems to be alive and well. We're gonna canvas the entire area. Looking for a green hatchback, licence number 'alpha, yankee, x-ray, lima, 112. Let's go find this boy."
It was a solid lead and it gave them all renewed determination. It also meant that Gail didn't need to answer the phones. A vast bulk of the tips that came in were often a complete waste of time and Gail hated having to sift through the useless information.
Meanwhile, Traci was trying to placate Chris' frustration after the visual confirmation showed that the abductor was in fact known to them the entire time. "I should've known. All that extra attention he'd give Christian ... I'm a cop! I should've known!"
Before he realised what he was doing, a chair had flown through the glass wall and shattered it. A heavy silence hung in the air, the only noise coming from the shards falling from the remnants of the panels. Everyone stared at Chris, shock and concern evident over most of their faces. Chris seemed as stunned as everyone else at his actions and walked over to the chair in an attempt to tidy up his mess.
"Okay, there's a first aid kit in the lounge." Traci told Denise; Chris had cut himself on the broken glass and drops of scarlet were slowly dripping onto the floor. Turning to the remaining officers, Traci took charge of the situation. "You guys get back to work, we've still got a kid to find. Someone get the cleaners to come take care of the glass."
Gail's phone buzzed, it was Holly. "Hey, results have just come in. Do you want me to get someone to run them up to you guys?"
"No, it's fine. I'll come and get them, thanks Holly." Honestly, the tranquillity of the lab was much preferred to the tense atmosphere of the station and Chris' volatile temper.
The receptionist at the front desk when she walked into the lab for the second time that day gave her a knowing smirk, "Nice to see you so soon, Officer."
Gail gave the receptionist an icy glare but said nothing. She weighed up putting the fear of God into the younger woman but frankly, seeing Holly was more important.
"What the …" Holly was focused on the print outs and hadn't noticed Gail arrive. Her expression was steadily becoming grimmer with each line she read.
The blonde was getting anxious, "What the what, Holly?"
"Huh?" Holly's head snapped up in surprise.
Gail snatched the papers out of Holly's hands, assuming it would be faster if she just read the results herself. Unfortunately, everything looked like unintelligible squiggles on the page. "What does it mean?"
The doctor looked slightly awkward, unsure how to approach the results considering how the potential ramifications would affect the officers working the case. "Ah. It's a PCR and essentially we're replicating the DNA you gave us so we can run tests or whatever we want with it." She paused, to make sure Gail was following. The blonde raised her eyebrows and waved her hands, gesturing for Holly to get to the point. "What it's saying here is that the two samples are a genetic match, so I think that whoever took Christian is his biological father."
"Shit." Gail swore, she took the papers and strode out of the lab. Holly sighed, that had gone about as well as she'd thought it would. Not only were all of these officers too close to the case in Holly's opinion, but now Chris was going to find out that he wasn't even Christian's biological father. The doctor sat down at the desk and resumed poring over the DNA results to ensure she hadn't missed anything important.
Gail poked her head around the doorway to Holly's lab, somewhat sheepishly. "Uh, lunchbox? What are you doing tonight?"
Holly lifted her head up from her paperwork, slightly surprised at the question. "I was heading out to the batting cages tonight, you can come join me if you want?"
"Sure, sounds good." The cop nodded eagerly.
That surprised Holly even more, but she wasn't going to question it. "Great! Meet me at the lab when you're done?"
"Okay, sure. And uhh, I forgot to give you this last time." Gail walked over to Holly's desk and shyly leant down and kissed the brunette on the cheek. "Thanks, Holly."
The blonde quickly left so Holly wouldn't notice her flushing cheeks. Gail felt a rush of elation as she strutted down the hall, an extra skip in her step. She had finally found something that made her happy. They hadn't spoken about the kiss at Frank and Noelle's wedding yet. It's not that they were avoiding having 'the talk' but they hadn't managed to find time to talk about it properly. If all went well tonight, then maybe they could find out where they stood with one another and hopefully see where it took them.
Oliver and Traci were going over the evidence in the meeting room. Both were frowning at the information they had; they couldn't explain why Gene would follow Chris and Denise to Toronto to abduct Christian. Logically, it made zero sense. Gail interrupted their discussion, "Guys, I have something."
Everyone in the room looked at her expectantly. "We pulled two DNA samples from the crime scene. One of them was Gene McKenzie's and the other wasn't in the system but it matches the hair we found on the car seat."
"So it's Christian's?" Dov questioned.
The blonde sighed, not relishing having to be the bearer of the worst news possible for the second time that day. "The two samples are a genetic match. Gene McKenzie is Christian's father."
Dov stiffened in surprise and he looked up from the test results in disbelief. The blonde nodded grimly, confirming their worst fears and Dov's face darkened. He headed out to confront Denise and no one else was willing, or wanting, to stop him.
A meeting between Denise and Gene had been set up. Of course Denise had no intention of going and Gene was about to be met with a whole squad of police officers, including Chris. Although the revelation was going to have a profound impact on Chris' life after the case was over, understanding Gene's motives had been the fastest way to get Christian back. He had taken the news surprisingly well, nothing had been broken this time. Although they suspected it was shock more than anything else that kept Chris so calm and level-headed.
"We're heading out to the fair now, you wanna ride with?" Dov stopped by Gail's desk. The blonde shook her head, having no desire to get involved. He gave her a tired smile and left her to finish up for the day. Today had not gone according to plan and Gail seriously doubted she was going to get doughnuts and drinks from Chris now. If anything, it was going to be the other way around.
"Hey, do you know if Chris is still around?" It sounded like Chloe but Gail didn't even bother to acknowledge her presence. After a good hour of writing, Gail had developed a steady rhythm. She was almost finished and eager to get the hell out of the station as fast as she could. "Uh, he and Denise took Christian back to the apartment."
"Okay, have you seen Dov?" Chloe tried again.
"I don't really keep tabs on your boyfriend." She muttered distractedly.
"Well do you know if he's gone home? Because –"
"Chloe?" The blonde sat up and looked at Chloe for the first time. She gestured at her work, "You see all this forensic blah blah blah that I have to add to my notes? I have to be somewhere so if you don't mind, could you just go be somewhere else please?"
"Yeah. Okay, well when you do go home, could you just drop this off for me?" Chloe asked, in a last ditch attempt to get her gift to Christian.
"Do I look like a FedEx box to you?" The brunette looked resigned. She should have known better than to expect a favour from Gail.
"The old one's gonna be in evidence for a while. So…" Chloe held the stuffed puppy out and waved it around limply.
Gail noticed it was exactly the same on that Christian had earlier. She instantly felt like shit. "Where did you get that?"
"I went by the toy store afterwards cause I thought it might help. Especially after a day like Christian's had. Anyways, could you just uh, give that to Chris?" Gail felt guilty about blowing her off earlier. They were so poles apart in terms of their personality that sometimes Gail let her irritation for the other woman overshadow Chloe's actions.
"Yeah sure." Chloe nodded appreciatively and turned to leave.
"Hey." If she was going to have a serious 'feelings' talk with Holly later, it seemed like a good idea to practice now. "You're very wide open and bright-eyed, it's kinda like you belong in The Sound of Music. What that means Chloe, is that you're not afraid to be yourself and it drives me crazy. Because I …"
"I get it, Gail. Apology accepted." She had a small smile curling at the edges of her lips.
The blonde scoffed, "Oh. Yeah, I'm not apologising."
"Yes, you are. Have a good night Gail."
Gail was moderately embarrassed when Holly mentioned the name of the batting cages and she realised she had absolutely no idea where it was. The doctor had lived in the city for a fraction of the time as Gail and the ease with which she navigated the busy streets made her feel vaguely incompetent. When you also factored in the fact that as a Police Officer, she was expected to know the city blind-folded, only fuelled her shame.
"Okay, so I'll watch you hit the tiny piece of leather with a wooden club right?" Gail disguised her apprehension as best she could with her signature brand of sarcasm.
"You make it sound so primitive." Holly scrunched her nose up. "You've never been to the batting cages before?"
The blonde snorted, yeah right. "Uhhh, no. I don't really do sports."
Holly lifted the bat easily behind her shoulder, looking comfortable outfitted in a helmet and boots. She swung the bat in a single fluid motion and Gail watched the ball soar across the pitch. The blonde gaped slightly at Holly's clear athleticism. Multiple hits and every single one was met with a resounding thwack. There was no way Gail could compete with that. She prayed that she could get away without showing off her horrendous batting skills.
"Come on cop. It's cathartic, especially after a day like today." Shit. Gail refused to move.
"It's not going to kill you." The brunette stood in front of the other woman and waved the bat teasingly.
"Fine." Gail yielded, far too quickly. The blonde mentally cursed the hold Holly seemed to have over her. She grabbed the bat and stalked onto the base that marked the spot.
The buzzer sounded; a baseball hurtling towards her general facial area was now imminent. The seconds between the buzzer sounding and a ball being fired couldn't have been more than two, maybe three seconds but it felt like forever. Gail's anxiety peaked and she swung wildly before diving for cover, not even bothering to see if she was close to hitting her target. The bat flew out of her grasp and loudly clanged onto the pitch before rolling out of reach. Holly watched the whole scene unfold and it was the most comical thing she had ever seen. She doubled over, great heaving fits of laughter bursting from her chest.
"Oh, God. I feel so humiliated right now." The top of Gail's ears had reddened significantly.
Holly stopped laughing just enough to quip, "Actually, I take it back. It might kill you."
"I told you I don't do sports!" Gail laughed, ducking her head in embarrassment. It was hard not to find the situation funny and she welcomed the light-hearted change of pace, even if it was at her own expense. But Gail was now relegated to watching Holly smash the balls instead. It seemed safer for everyone involved.
After a few more cracking shots, Holly turned back to her blonde companion. "Come on, try it one more time?"
This time Gail didn't even bother trying to argue. She took the proffered bat and stood with her feet firmly planted on the spot. What she was not expecting, however, was for the doctor to stand behind her and help her swing the bat.
"Okay, we're going to put our hands here," Holly slid one of Gail's hands near the base of the bat, "and here." She gently nudged her other hand just on top of the other.
"You're going to do the swinging right?" There was no way Gail could concentrate on anything other than Holly's body pressing closely against her back. The blonde could feel the doctor's rather supple breasts against her and her mouth went dry. She felt embarrassed at the intensity of the feelings it was stirring inside of her, she wasn't a teenager anymore.
Holly chuckled behind her, tickling the loose wisps of Gail's hair. "Yes, Gail. Just don't go diving anywhere this time."
The buzzer went off and it took all of Gail's willpower not to jerk away and run. Somehow she managed to suppress her instincts and let Holly take control. The blonde felt Holly's arms swing the bat through the air as her body twisted to allow a full range of motion. A loud crack sounded as the bat connected with the ball and the blonde could just make out the small white object flying towards the safety nets.
"Not bad, cop." Holly bumped her on the hip.
"I aim to please." She commented dryly. "That's my talent used up for the night though, I'm retiring."
The night was clear and there was a slight nip in the air but it made everything feel crisp and placed everything into stark focus. "Here, take my jacket. It's getting kinda cold. I wanna have a few more hits and then we can finish up."
Gail put on Holly's jersey and inhaled, grinning like an idiot once the brunette had turned back towards the pitch. After a good half hour, Holly turned back towards Gail, "I'm turning in for the night, I'm knackered."
The exertion had left a light sheen of perspiration across her forehead so she was happy to let Gail keep her jacket. The cop also resembled an adorable critter and Holly was damned if she was going to ruin the sight of a cute Gail Peck. "So we did something that I wanted to do, it's only fair I do something that you pick."
The blonde was silent for a few minutes, pondering the possibilities. "Can we raincheck that? An opportunity to make Holly Stewart do anything I choose is something I need to carefully consider."
"Well we could grab takeout and watch movies at mine?" Holly had a feeling that she was going to regret giving Gail a free pass to anything she wanted to do.
"Sounds like a plan nerd."
Holly's apartment was nice. Maybe nice was an understatement. It was the type of place that screamed 'high-paying job' without throwing it in your face. Gail appreciated how comfortable the space was; modern and inviting, with just the right amount of nerd if you knew where to look. An unsolved Rubik's cube resting atop a stack of medical journals on the coffee table. The Tardis teapot tucked behind the kettle in the kitchen corner. It was all very 'Holly'. Gail smiled as her eyes swept across the open space, determined to memorise as many details as she could.
"So feel free to stay. It's getting late and I really can't be bothered driving at this time of night." Holly placed the food on the counter and started rummaging through the cupboards for some plates.
Gail plopped onto a stool, resting her elbows on the kitchen island. "If you wanted me in your bed, you could've just asked."
Holly paused what she was doing to give the other woman a deftly arched brow accompanied by her crooked grin, "I've got a spare room. Plus, what did you think was going to happen if we hung out this late? You sort the TV out and I'll grab us some plates."
Two minutes later. "Hoooooolly? I need your brain."
The brunette found Gail sitting in front of the TV with a mass of cables tangled on her lap, looking extremely disgruntled. "There wasn't anything good on and I can't make the computer do the thing on the TV. Why don't you have DVDs like normal people?"
Holly rolled her eyes and smiled sympathetically at the blonde's plight. "Gail, lots of people don't own DVDs anymore. And you seriously can't connect a computer to the TV?" She plugged in the cables and pulled up a folder of movies on the computer screen.
"I'm just going to assume all of these were procured legally." Gail frowned, crossing her arms.
"And I am going to use my right to remain silent." Holly winked. "If the crisis is over, I'm going to get the food now. I'm starving."
Gail was already sprawled across the couch when Holly placed two plates on the coffee table. 'The Avengers' opening credits were running on the TV and Holly grimaced briefly but wisely said nothing. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the movie; there was enough action to keep her interest piqued but it was immensely popular with her younger family members and had been far too overplayed.
"Did you get any more food?" Holly was halfway through her plate and Gail had already demolished hers.
Holly frowned, they'd bought enough for three grown men. "Uh no? Did you inhale that?"
"Oh." Gail was disappointed. "Do you have Cheesepuffs?"
"Yeah, someone gave me a bag but I don't really eat junk food." The doctor may as well have been talking to herself. As soon as Gail heard confirmation of existence, she was foraging in the kitchen for the artificial goodness. Holly made a mental note to start buying more junk food. Well, food in general.
About halfway through the movie, Gail was fidgeting and sneaking covert glances at her brunette companion every two minutes. The Cheesepuffs were long gone and she didn't have any more distractions. She couldn't contain herself for much longer. The need to talk about the elephant in the room was almost overwhelming and it rendered the blonde unable to concentrate on anything else. It was time to bite the bullet, for better or worse.
Gail poked the doctor in the ribs, "Hey Holly. I was thinking that we … should talk. About the wedding."
Holly shrugged and gave the blonde a cheeky grin, "Well I really liked Noelle's dress. And the dessert was great. But I'd probably fire the coat check girl, she seemed pretty useless." Of course. Trust Holly to take a perfectly serious moment and make a joke about it. It did make Gail feel slightly more comfortable, which was probably why Holly did it in the first place.
"You know what I meant, lunchbox." The blonde mumbled and turned her head away, flushing with embarrassment.
"Okay, well I'm not sorry I kissed you." Holly's face was resolute, her dark orbs earnest. "I want you Gail. I want all of you; all the good, the bad and the ugly. And if you want me back, then maybe we could see what happens?" It was the most sincere thing anyone had ever said to her. And not for a single moment did Gail think that Holly didn't want every single part of her. This was exactly what Gail wanted, all she had to say was I want you too. But Gail wasn't that brave. She wasn't the type of person to wear their heart on their sleeve and lay themselves bare in front of the one thing that could quite possibly ruin her.
Holly was waiting for a response. She looked so damn hopeful and Gail knew what she was waiting for. But the words constricted in her throat, coming out mangled and twisted. "Holly ... I just … I'm not a good person okay?"
The blonde broke eye contact with Holly, she didn't want to see the crushing disappointment in her normally warm eyes. She lifted herself off the couch and paced back and forth, struggling to put her feelings into words, "I like you, I really fucking like you. But I'm not good at this, like I'm actually really horrible at these things. I'm not the girl people take home to their parents. Or the girl that remembers to buy you things on stupid holidays. I'm moody, unfriendly and kinda weird."
"I know that Gail." Holly's eyes were kind, she'd expected resistance and knew pursuing the cop wouldn't be easy. Gail risked glancing back at the brunette and was confused when she found traces of a smile flit across her lips. Holly wasn't angry at her?
"All that stuff? That's what I like about you. I'm not saying that we should rush into anything crazy. I want to keep hanging out with you. And maybe kiss you and hold your hand occasionally." The doctor was smiling, there was no doubt now. It was honest and sincere and it gave Gail hope.
'As long as you're trying, I think that's all Holly can ask of you.' Traci was right. Well, she usually was, not that Gail was ever going to admit that to her. Holly was different to any other person that had shown romantic interest in her before. She was patient and understanding, somehow intuitively knew what Gail needed. Gail wanted this more than anything else but her old insecurities wouldn't back down without one last push. "But what if something happens? What if I fuck it up and everything turns to shit?"
"Then we deal with it when it happens. I promise you that can have all the space and time you need. Just let me inside that head of yours okay?"
'Breathe, Peck.' Inhale. Exhale. This is simple. "Hanging out huh?"
"Yeah. And hand holding, but we won't even do that if you're not ready. We can take this as slow as you want, there is absolutely no pressure. I just needed to tell you how I felt." The doctor leant back into the cushions, her speech finished. It was up to Gail to decide how they would proceed from here.
Gail tentatively sat back down next to the other woman and brushed her fingers lightly across Holly's cheek. "Is this okay?" The blonde murmured uncertainly.
Holly closed her eyes and sighed contentedly, "This is more than okay, Gail."
Gail cupped Holly's face, her thumbs absently stroking the soft skin they found. As she leant in to close the gap between them, Holly met her halfway and kissed her. This kiss was different to their last one. It wasn't alcohol-fuelled or impulsive, it was nervously anticipated and definitely sober. Holly let Gail set the pace, her tongue running across the doctor's bottom lip before gently biting and tugging it. Holly gasped, her hips thrusting towards Gail's. That seemed to spur the blonde further, pushing her body forward so it lay completely atop the taller woman. Their kisses were reaching a feverish intensity, tongues battling for dominance and moaning increasing in pitch and tempo. It was getting heated, to the point where sex on the couch was becoming an imminent reality.
"Babysteps?" Gail said breathlessly. She felt drunk; her mind was spinning and her thoughts had completely abandoned her. Every inch of her was on fire, it was like a dam had broken and released a tide of feelings that threatened to consume her.
Holly looked equally as dizzied, an unmistakable glint in her eye that Gail was now going to refer to as 'Holly's fuck-me-eyes'. But as aroused as the doctor was, she was determined to make Gail as comfortable as she could. "As long as you need, cop."
"Can I still sleep in your bed though?" If it were possible, Holly's smile grew even bigger. Gail wondered if her cheeks ever started aching with the amount of smiling she seemed to do.
"Well how about we cuddle and finish watching this movie? Then I am going to find you some pyjamas and I'm going to cuddle you some more in bed while we sleep before I wake up and make you breakfast." The plan sounded perfect, except for one minor detail. While she appreciated the breakfast touch, Gail failed to mention that she never cuddled, ever.
"Do I look like a cuddler?" The blonde deadpanned.
"No, definitely not. But you do look like the kind of person that would make an exception for me." Holly scooted to the end of the couch so they could both lie on the couch comfortably. She held out her arms and waited for the blonde to give in. It took about a minute of glaring on the cop's part before she growled and clambered into Holly's outstretched arms.
Gail huffed, "This is going to happen a lot, isn't it."
"Yeah pretty much." Holly had a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. "So tell me you don't like it."
"I don't. Cuddling is for babies and animals." Gail was pouting, doing her best to remain stiff and rigid.
"Okay, I'm gonna let go…"
"No!" The blonde blurted out. "Fine. It's not as bad as I thought it would be."
She could feel Holly's chest moving with her barely suppressed chuckles. Gail relaxed in Holly's embrace, her head tucking perfectly underneath the doctor's chin. "I hate you."
"You like me." The brunette teased.
Gail sighed irritably before conceding, "I like you."
"Good. I like you too." Holly beamed and squeezed her arms tightly. Gail closed her eyes and smiled, trying to contain the warmth spreading throughout her body. She couldn't remember feeling this happy in a long time.
By time the movie had finished, it was well past midnight. Holly was lightly dozing and awoke to see the credits silently rolling on the screen. She craned her neck forward to see why Gail hadn't stopped the movie and was quickly to realise why she was so quiet. The cop was fast asleep on Holly's chest, her breathing rose and fell in a deep, even rhythm. Smiling, Holly let her head fall back onto the armrest and sighed contentedly. There really wasn't anything better than being able to hold the woman she was slowly falling for. Holly couldn't deny it. Despite only knowing Gail Peck for just shy of a few weeks, with each subsequent interaction, Holly was finding herself increasingly drawn to the blonde enigma. And the fact that the self-professed ice queen felt the same way made Holly's heart soar. Everything was falling into place, the move to Toronto had been good for her.
After some time, Holly decided that if they continued to sleep on the couch for much longer, then it would be hellish on her neck and back in the morning. Plus it seemed silly to stay where they were when she had a perfectly comfortable bed just up the stairs.
"Gail? We're gonna head up to my room now, is that okay? You gotta wake up for me, hun." She nudged the small cop. No response. Great.
"Fine." Holly gently scooted out from beneath the sleeping blonde and stretched out her limbs until she felt sufficiently more awakened. The doctor took a deep breath and then lifted Gail into her arms, carrying her bridal style up the stairs. Despite being fitter than one would expect of a doctor, Holly had her limits. As she neared the top of the staircase, she felt her muscles protesting against the added weight.
"Gail? You're a Peck. There is no way you could still be sleeping right now." Holly puffed out between steps.
"Yep, I know." The blonde nuzzled Holly's shoulder and without opening an eye, mumbled sleepily, "I really just didn't want to get up though."
The doctor was slightly peeved at the admission but acknowledged that the blonde was just too damn cute to stay mad at for long. She decided to reconcile her annoyance by unceremoniously dumping the smaller woman on the bed. Gail awoke with a high pitched squeal, "Holly! What the hell?"
Holly placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head with a cocky smirk, "Sorry cop. I really just didn't want to carry you anymore."
The officer frowned slightly before a cunning smirk flitted across her face. Without any warning, Gail lunged at Holly and tackled her. She pulled the taller woman onto the bed and rolled over, effectively pinning her. "Trust me Holly, messing with Gail Peck is not something you should do. I would advise you against playing this game." The blonde's voice was smooth and her movements effortless, not betraying any indication of her previous physical activity.
Holly was breathless, completely caught off guard. Her stomach flipped and the feelings flew southward, suddenly being dominated by the lithe blonde was rather arousing. After the initial shock had worn off, she replied coolly, "Maybe I want to play this game, Gail Peck. What exactly can you do?"
