A/N

Oh my goodness thank you guys so much for all the favorites and followers, and so much love for those of you who took the time to write me a review! Every suggestion or encouragement means so much to me! I have a lot more to write, but work is really picking up so I'll do my best to try and post one every week. As always, I do not own Rookie Blue or the characters. Thanks so much!

Chapter 4

"How's the face?" Traci asked sympathetically, holding the door to the Penny open for Gail. The blonde looked sort of like a zombie mummy hybrid. Both of her hands were bandaged, and the bruise of her head was a violent purplish black color

"Hurts like a mother," Gail groaned, "I need alcohol."

"Makes you look like a bad ass," Oliver grinned, "I mean, it looks like shit, but, you know, bad ass shit."

"You should have seen her when she was waving her gun around," Nick snickered as the all filed into the Penny, "she literally threatened to 'cap their asses.'"

"Heard it in a movie, always wanted to say it," Gail shrugged as Traci led the way to their corner table. The Penny was its usual crazy self; Sweet Home Alabama accompanied the sounds of cops laughing and shouting about their crazy arrests of the day.

"All I want is a burger and beer," Oliver rubbed his hands together, scooting into the booth so everybody could join him. Gail took the end seat facing the door, so she could see Holly when she walked in.

"What'll ya have?" The waitress, a pretty brunette with a pad of paper, asked the group.

"I'll take a burger and a Guinness," Oliver grinned, turning to Traci.

"Cob salad and a glass of chardonnay."

"That order literally just broke my heart," Oliver groaned, "who orders a salad at a bar?"

"Half rack of ribs and a Blue Moon."

"Double cheeseburger with fries, chocolate milkshake, and scotch on the rocks. Make that a double order of fries."

"What?" Gail shrugged when everybody stared at her, wide eyed, "I haven't had anything to eat today except a chocolate bar and this veggie monstrosity Holly made me drink."

"Somebody got you to eat vegetables?" Nick snorted, "Damn, she is special."

"She bribed me with chocolate," the blonde shot back drily, but a small smile flitted across her face.

"Smart woman," Oliver nodded, grinning when the drinks arrived.

"Did you tell her about what happened?" Traci asked, taking a sip of her wine.

"Oh, you mean this?" Gail gestured at her face and shook her head, "Why? It's not like it's that bad."

"Oh honey," the detective clucked her tongue sympathetically, "You're gonna get your ass kicked."

"What why?" Gail demanded, straightening up, "What did I do?"

"You'll find out," Traci chuckled, gesturing toward the door; Holly had just walked in.

"It's fine," Gail insisted, but she took a gulp of liquid courage before getting up and going to the doctor.

"Ten bucks says she visibly withers when Holly yells at her."

"I'll take that action," Oliver tossed a ten on the table, "But Holly's not gonna yell. She's going to be super worried and Gail's going to feel terrible and apologize."

"I vote Gail acts like its no big deal and comes back to the table," Nick decided, tossing another ten into the pot. Traci grabbed the money and watched intently as the scene unfolded.

"Hey!" Gail called, waving to the doctor, who turned to look at her. Her smile fell away like shattered glass when she saw the blonde's state.

"What the hell happened?" she demanded, reaching out to touch Gail's cheek, but stopping and letting her hand fall, looking around at the other officers in the bar. Gail was touched; clearly, Holly was trying to respect her privacy by making sure not to touch her in front of everybody.

"I'm totally fine, really," the blonde offered a pathetic attempt at a reassuring smile, "really."

"This is not fine," Holly whispered, holding up Gail's arm to show a bandaged hand, "Why didn't you call me? I could have brought you some stuff for the swelling."

Gail ducked her head, shoulders hunching over. Damn it, Traci had been right.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, gently taking one of Holly's hands, aware of her bandages. "I should have called. But really, I'm ok I promise. Now let me buy you a drink."

Holly looked her over one more time, concern shadowing her face, before she shook it off and offered a small smile.

"Deal."

"Good," Gail grinned, squeezing her hand and pulling her back to their table, waving the waitress down as she did.

"What'll you have?"

"Gin and tonic," Holly smiled, "thanks."

"No problem," the waitress returned the smile, going to the bar.

"Hey guys!" she grinned at each of them in turn, straightening her glasses.

"Pay up!" Oliver barked a laugh, holding out his hand. Traci rolled her eyes and slapped thirty bucks into his palm while Nick mumbled about something being rigged. The two women looked on in confusion.

"Nothing, just a little wager," Oliver shrugged, counting out the money before slipping it into his pocket. Gail would have pursued the issue further if it hadn't been for the phenomenal gift of food brought to the table.

"Ribs, there you go, cob salad, uh-huh, cheeseburger, yep, and double cheeseburger with a double order of fries and a chocolate milkshake."

Gail clapped like a happy child when all the food was put on the table.

"What?" Gail shrugged at Holly, who was staring at the petite woman, eyebrows raised, as she took a whopping bite out of the hamburger, "All I ate today was your horrible smoothie."

"And some chocolate," Holly smirked, plucking up a French fry and popping it into her mouth. Gail's eyes widened and she swatted at her hand.

"Those are mine." The blonde managed around a mouthful of delicious meat.

"Fight me," Holly challenged, snatching another fry and dunking it in the chocolate milkshake.

"Oh ew," Traci grimaced as Holly chewed, "that's just wrong."

"No, I'll buy that," Oliver argued, reaching over and dunking one of his fries in Gail's shake.

"Hey!" the blonde whined, snatching her drink and holding it close, "this is mine."

"Sharing is caring," Nick pointed out, going for the shake.

"No!" Gail growled, standing up, "I've had a long ass day and I deserve this."

With that, she proceeded to chug the entire milkshake, slamming the glass down and squeezing her eyes shut.

"Oh it hurts, ow, ow," Gail groaned, "screw you guys. I'm getting another one."

She ignored their laughter as she got up and walked to the bar.

"God she's like a six year old," Holly snickered, watching the blonde scurry off.

"Yeah well, she made the mistake of leaving her fries unattended," Traci grinned, reaching over and grabbing a handful.

"That's what you get for ordering a salad," Olive shook his head, taking another bite of his hamburger.

"Hey, just because you and Gail have your anti-health thing, doesn't mean other people don't want to live past fifty."

"Thank you," Traci toasted Holly before taking another drink.

"So," she glanced over to make sure Gail was still over at the bar, "what happened today?"

"Ask this guy," Oliver gestured to Nick, who froze halfway to shoving a rib in his mouth. Holly raised her eyebrows while he finished chewing.

"We got a domestic disturbance call," he began, taking a sip of his beer, "got a little rough, that's all."

"That's a little rough?"

"I mean, she handled it like a pro," Nick shrugged, sheepish. He returned his attention back to his ribs.

"Even threatened to 'cap' somebody." Oliver nodded taking a bite of his burger, "very bad ass."

"Sounds like her," Holly laughed, grabbing another one of Gail's fries, and thanking the waitress when she set her gin and tonic on the table, "toss her into a domestic dispute where she has to pull out a gun, she's all cool and bad ass. Toss a baseball at her and she flips nine levels of shit and runs the other way."

"What?!" Gail demanded as she walked back up to her cackling table, holding two milkshakes. Nobody responded, just kept laughing like hyenas. She raised her eyebrows at Holly, who just shook her head, shaking.

"What's so funny?" Gail turned around at a man's voice and saw her brother approach, eyebrows arched like hers.

"G-Gail," Traci choked out through gasps, "p-playing baseball."

"Did she run away in some needlessly dramatic fashion? Or throw her bat?"

"How did you know?!" Holly gasped, and the table dissolved in a fresh set of laughs.

"Some thing's never change," Steve snickered, ruffling his sister's hair and pulling up a chair, "My parents used to force her to play sports. As you can imagine, it didn't go well."

"I wasn't that bad," Gail groused, lowering herself down and handing Holly one of the milkshakes. The doctor smiled her thanks and took a sip, nearly gagging.

"W- What the hell is that?" she choked out, setting the glass down.

"Oh oops, that's mine, sorry," the blonde took the glass and handed her the other shake.

"What is that," Holly demanded again, wide eyed as she watched Gail take a long pull.

"It's a beautiful combination of chocolate milkshake and scotch," taking another sip, "two of my favorite things."

"That is too much scotch," Holly argued, closing her eyes with relief when she sipped her normal milkshake.

"No such thing," Gail shook her head, glowering down at her food, "You people are vultures. Who has been eating my fries?"

"Salad eater over there," Oliver gestured to Traci, who seemed to be fascinated by something on the ceiling.

"Shoulda known," the blonde shook her head, popping another fry into her mouth.

"Whoa," Steve gasped, grabbing Gail's chin and turning her cheek, "what the fuck happened to your face?"

"Nothing," Gail muttered, trying to bat his hand away, but then he saw the saw the bandages and he grabbed her wrist instead.

"This is not nothing!" he barked, "What. Happened."

"I got in between a few pissed off people," Gail was clearly uncomfortable. The rest of the table watched on quietly, casting sidelong glances at each other, "It's not a big deal."

"It's absolutely a big deal," the blonde man insisted, slamming a hand on the table, "You can't keep doing this! How could you keep acting like a total idiot, given everything that's happened? Two of your friends are in the hospital, lucky to be alive! How many more unnecessary risks is it going to take before you get it? Or is it going to take you being hospitalized for you to fucking slow down?"

"Steve," Traci said quietly, but he held his hand up.

"No, she needs to hear this," turning her attention back to Gail, who was visibly sinking into her seat, taking a sip of her milkshake, "You have to stop. Recklessness gets people hurt, Gail. You not only put yourself at risk, but everyone you care about! What do you think it would do to me if you didn't come home one night? What do you think it would do to Holly? You don't always have to fucking show off!"

"Steve," Oliver was more forceful, drawing the angry detective's attention, "stop now."

But it was too late; Gail was out of her seat, making a beeline for the back door. With a helpless glance at the rest of the table, and a glare at Steve, Holly was hot on her trail, weaving through the drunken disorderly officers.

"Not cool, Steve," Traci sighed, shaking her head.

"I know being an ass is part of the Peck family genetics, but that was too far," Oliver growled, "She's going through a lot right now, and she didn't deserve that."

"It was my fault, anyway," Nick jumped in, sitting back and crossing his arms, "Bitch me out, not her."

"Whatever," Steve sat back, but a small part of him started to feel guilty. Gail had just been doing her job, and she was ok. But he couldn't lose her, and after everything had happened, it was hard not to freak out.

"Gail," Holly called, pushing out the back door and into the alley. She saw the blonde leaning against the side of the building. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily.

"Hey," the doctor murmured, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

"I am so sick of his shit!" Gail shook her head, keeping her eyes closed, "He's such an ass hole."

"He's just worried about you," Holly tried to console her. A part of her didn't blame Steve; her heart had definitely stopped for a beat when she had seen Gail's face and hands, and it could so easily have been a lot worse.

"He's worried because he doesn't believe in me!" Gail cried, pushing off the wall and pacing angrily, eyes trained on the ground, "Nobody does. I will never, ever be good enough for the incredible Peck family!" she waved her hands around sarcastically.

"It's always been this way! He's always been the one to do everything right, while I'm tripping along in his shadow!"

"Gail," Holly began, but the blonde silenced her with a look.

"No," she barked, "You don't get to tell me that it's not true, to tell me that he's just an idiot and he didn't mean it. You have no idea what it's like."

Tears stung her eyes like daggers, but she farced herself to keep going. If she stopped, she would cry like an idiot.

"My whole life, I was that kid nobody talked about. Steve was the fucking golden child, perfect grades, charming, sporty. The pride and joy of the Peck household! Fucking Captain Mom and Captain Dad had plenty to talk about when it came to Prince Steve. Then there was me, shoved off in the corner, not to be seen or heard! I'm a fuck up! It's undeniable, inescapable! Even at work I'm stuck in his fucking shadow! It's not my fault they were big guys! What was I supposed to do, let them kill each other? I did my job! I did-"

"Gail!" Holly had heard enough. She wasn't going to let her talk herself into a hole, "Get it together."

"I-"

"Stop," grabbing the smaller woman's shoulders, she gently pushed Gail against the building, "Stop, just stop. You didn't do anything wrong. Steve was out of line, but he was worried about you because he cares. It's the same reason I was freaked when I saw you."

"I'm sorry," was all Gail managed before Holly's hand was over her mouth.

"It's your job," Holly shrugged, "It's dangerous, and there's nothing I can do about that. I mean sure, I'd prefer it if you were a librarian, but even then you could get paper cuts."

Gail cocked an eyebrow at the librarian comment, but let the doctor keep going.

"You are not a fuck up, you're hostile, weird, moody, and you have the diet of a six year old. You're also beautiful, intelligent, brave, funny, and oddly charming. You were doing your job. You. Did. Not. Screw. Up. Got it?"

Gail nodded, and Holly slowly removed her hand, tracing the fine lips with the pad of her thumb before lowering her arm.

"Do you want to go back inside?" the doctor asked, but Gail shook her head, locking their eyes together.

"Not even a little," she breathed before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Holly's neck.

"Are you sure? It might be good for you to talk to-"

"Shut up," Gail murmured, pressing their lips together. The kiss was desperately sweet, and Holly reached up to cup Gail's face in her hands as the blonde's tongue slipped into her mouth. She tasted like chocolate and scotch, which, weirdly enough, was delicious in this scenario. A small moan escaped Gail's throat as the brunette's hands left her face and trailed down her neck, stroking up and down her back, leaving goose bumps.

"Come home with me," Holly breathed when the broke apart, pulling her even closer.

Gail grinned, gently nipping the woman's bottom lip.

"Now that sounds like a plan."