Holly ran over to the printer as soon as the results popped out. She grabbed the paper with such force she nearly crumpled it. She bit her lip and nervously looked down at the paper she had just printed out. Upon methodically looking over the printout a grin crept across her face. This was her first reaction. Her second was disappointment in herself. Why hadn't she found this sooner? If she had Gail would not have been trapped in a tiny cell for such a long period of time. She jogged over towards her chair and unceremoniously ripped her jacket off the back and ran out of the lab muttering to herself. She needed Gail to know there was hope immediately. She had mentioned that she found something, but that was before these test results came back in a positive manner for Gail.

Holly arrived at 15 Division and easily found Swarek.

"I need to speak to Gail immediately."

"Have you found something?"

"I need to tell Gail what I've found first."

"Holly, that's not procedure. I need you to tell me first so I can assist in helping her."

"No, Sam, what I need is to tell Gail first. I'm sorry but you've not been the one sitting in a jail cell alone and terrified because the rest of your life might be spent living in something like that and you can't remember anything to help in your defense. You're not the one putting on a brave face every day even though your life is looking abysmal. So if you don't mind, let me give her a little hope so she sees she isn't alone in darkness. Waiting ten minutes isn't going to impede your investigation."

Sam conceded the point and led Holly down the hallway to Gail. When he opened the door a smile crept across Gail's face at the sight of Holly. She hopped up from the cot and took the few steps towards Holly to pull her into an embrace.

"Queen Victoria," Holly blurted out.

"Well, I guess I could be if you wanted me to be" Gail smiled back at her.

"N-no. Queen Victoria, the monarch of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901…"

"Yes, Holly, I know who Queen Victoria is."

"Just listen, please. Sometimes I need to use facts to present my thoughts succinctly."

"Mmm, I won't say another word."

Holly smiled at the reference and continued.

"Queen Victoria was a carrier of the hemophilia gene. It is a recessive sex-linked X chromosome disorder, which means that it is inherited from the mother. Well, Queen Victoria had nine children and those nine children married other royals within Europe and spread hemophilia. Probably the most famous case was Tsarevich Alexei of Russia. His medical issues and hemophilia were quite well known. His mother's maternal grandmother was Queen Victoria. So because Queen Victoria was a carrier she spread hemophilia throughout several royal houses through her children. Hemophilia generally presents in males. It's incredibly rare to find it in a female because the chances of a female having two recessive copies of the gene are very rare. Females have other bleeding disorders, of course, but hemophilia is truly uncommon. You don't have hemophilia."

"I know I don't, what are you getting at?"

"I found blood at both crime scenes. The samples were too degraded for a DNA analysis and in my rush to move onto other tests that might have a chance of helping I missed something. The color of the blood…because hemophilia is a blood disorder that prevents clotting the blood is naturally thinner. So when it bonds with oxygen outside the body it isn't as red as the blood you would find in someone without hemophilia. It's more of an orange color. I thought perhaps the color distortion was due to the degradation of the sample. Then an article popped up in my e-mail about Queen Victoria and it hit me. It wasn't orange because something had mixed with the sample to compromise it, it was orange because whoever killed these people is a hemophiliac. I'm still not sure why the samples were compromised. However, I did check to make sure that none of the victims had hemophilia, either. They didn't."

Gail kissed her hard on the lips.

"So you mean I won't be in here forever," she breathlessly mumbled out.

"There are obviously some gaps to fill in, love, but I promise you we will. I postulate that you were drugged with GHB. It leaves the blood stream after eight hours and urine after twelve so I can't prove it. However, with the information on the hemophilia it should give Swarek enough to investigate further. Hemophiliacs need certain medication that should be able to be tracked easily enough to narrow the suspect pool down. Now that I have this information I can do more on my end, as well. We can continue to sift through the massive amount of fingerprints we have collected and hopefully between his efforts and ours in the lab we will have you out of here in no time."

Holly smiled at Gail and the smile was mirrored on Gail's face.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me yet, babe. Thank me when you walk out these doors and back into our bed."

"Oh, our bed?"

"If you'll have me, our bed. I've realized in this time apart that waking up without you is the second worst feeling in the entire world and I don't ever want to have to experience it again."

"What's the first?"

"The first?" Holly said and scrunched her brow in confusion.

"You said that waking up without me was the second worst feeling in the world. What is the first?"

"Going to sleep without you. Third is not being able to kiss you anytime I want."

Gail grabbed Holly's face forcefully and brought their lips together. If she could spend the rest of her life kissing this beautiful woman, she realized, she would be the luckiest person on this Earth. When the fireworks in her mind and the tingling of her limbs settled down she broke the kiss.

"Are you asking me to move in with you when this nightmare is over?" she whispered, hesitantly.

"Yes," Holly said "Nothing in this entire world would make me happier."

"Well, duh, seeing this gorgeous face and sexy body everyday would be a treat for anyone."

"Is that a yes?"

"No, you nerd, the kiss was your yes."

Holly's face broke into her trademark lopsided grin.

"I do think that we should go visit my savior Queen Victoria, though. I mean she's pretty much our goddess now, you know? We'll need a painting of her for our place." Gail teased.

"You want to go to Frogmore Estate in Berkshire County, England to visit the tomb of Queen Victoria?"

"Holly, I'd go anywhere with you."

"It's the 45 tesla thing, isn't it? I'm too hot for you to stay away from."

"You're goddamn right it is." Gail smiled. "Now get out of here and help Queen Victoria solve this fully so I can come home."

Home. The word felt right.


Home, let me come home.

Home is whenever I'm with you.