A/N: Sorry folks, this took longer than I thought it would...Also, this is the next month but it's only a few days or so later than the last chapter...


February 2015

"Should our fire turn to dark
Take my heart with you
Take my heart with you
Take my heart with you"

Holly brought her tea over to the couch and flicked the TV on. She coasted through the channels, looking for something good to watch. It had been a long time since Holly scanned the channels on a weekday morning. She found the results horrifying but not surprising.

Holly was trying to make herself enjoy this surprise day off from work. A storm had blown in last night, dropping a mix of ice and snow across the city. The university had cancelled all classes and closed all the offices. Holly had planned on taking a walk down to the cafe around the corner but found the sidewalks simply untraversable. She was now resigned to being iced in. So,why not veg around for the day? It wasn't something Holly Stewart allowed herself to do often. So why not?

Holly had just settled on a Bones marathon when her phone started to ring. She answered without even looking at the number, fumbling with the remote in her other hand, desperately trying to mute the television.

"Hello," Holly's voice was even and cordial, a greeting appropriate for almost any caller, a mix of friendly and professional.

"Hi."

The voice on the other end nearly sent Holly into shock. It was small and sounded so far away. But holy shit it was Gail's. Holly was almost sure.

She pulled the phone away from ear quickly, checking with the name on the screen.

"Gail?" She was still skeptical though, completely confident that Gail Peck would not be calling her.

Absolutely not.

"It's me."

If it was possible her voice sounded even smaller, even less sure.

"Are you-what time is it?" Holly looked at the clock on her DVD player, confirming that it wasn't even five in the morning back in Toronto. Something must wrong, right?

"I couldn't sleep."

Gail's voice was still so quiet and small, weak even, and it made Holly's heart clench. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"

"I've been on nights." Gail's explanation was simple and brief. It was answer, sort of? She wasn't slurring her words and she didn't sound out of sorts. "How's science?" She fired a question right back, turning Holly away from the trail, at least for a moment.

"You called so I could bore you to sleep?" Holly wasn't sure Gail was telling the truth, not the whole truth at least, but she also knew it wasn't best to press Gail about it; not now. Suddenly, wherever they stood, everything that had happened didn't matter so much. No matter what Holly still cared about Gail, cared about her a lot, and something seemed wrong. Gail wasn't the type to just pick up the phone, especially when their friendship was in the state it was in, after whatever had happened back at the station. She couldn't help conclude that something must be wrong if Gail had taken that step, at four thirty in the morning at that. All of it just made Holly wish that she reach through the phone and pull Gail close to her, look into her eyes and figure out whatever it was.

"You probably have work, I'll let you go."

Holly could hear the 'oh my god I'm so silly,' the 'I can't believe I actually did this.' She couldn't let her go though.

"No, I don't." Holly surprised herself with how quickly and adamantly she corrected Gail. She nearly squeaked it out.

Gail scoffed, "it's Monday."

"No, they closed the university. Ice storm," Holly explained quickly.

"Oh."

Silence fell now that it was established that Holly didn't need to race off.

It lingered, peaceful but charged. Holly didn't want to end it, but she knew she had to break it.

"Gail?"

"I'm here."

There was that small voice again, soberly small.

"My mom used to make warm milk and honey to help me sleep." Once again Holly didn't even know what she was saying before she said it.

"Hmmm." Gail sounded skeptical, but not entirely skeptical; a jesting skepticism that she always had to play at before giving in to whatever Holly suggested.

Holly pressed on. "You should give it a shot."

"Did it work?"

"I don't really remember," Holly couldn't help but let out a laugh, "it must have though, she kept on giving it me."

"If you worked with live people would you tell them to try it?"

"Sure, yeah I would. It's can't hurt you."

Holly wasn't sure but she thought she heard shuffling at the other end of the line, maybe even a cabinet or two closing.

She waited a few more moments before trying again. "Gail, do you want to talk about it?"

Quiet. Silence. That's all Holly could hear. It was even quieter than it it was before Holly posed the question as if the world at the other end of the line had come to a complete standstill. A flood of guilt immediately engulfed Holly's entire being, for posing such a paralysing query.

"L-tryotophan, that's why it works."

A microwave dinged in the background. "What?" Gail's confusion was evident in her voice.

"L-tryotophan, it's an amino acid, found in milk, and it helps with insomnia, sleep apnea, and grinding your teeth during sleep, among many other things. It's one of the five 'essential amino acids,' meaning we can't produce it ourselves, so we have to absorb it through our diet. When we digest Tryotophan our bodies convert it to 5-hyrdoxytryptophan, which is then converted to serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone that helps transmits signals between nerve cells. Tryotophan isn't actually that concentrated in milk, although it is water soluble so maybe it's more available for our bodies to process in milk. It's actually much more prevalent in egg whites, although you hate eggs. People talk a lot about it being in turkey but porkchops actually have more tryptophan than turkey. So does parmesan and cheddar cheese." And Holly was off. Spouting of possible explanations that were backed by science and some just by grandmothers. She could hear Gail stirring something in a mug though; the small clangs of metal on porcelain. Sometimes Gail would interrupt her to agree, or disagree, or just make sure Holly knew what a gigantic need she was. Holly thought she could hear a rustle of sheets and blankets, but she continued spouting off facts of varying confirmed validity because Gail gave no indication that she wanted her to stop. Shortly her interruptions became few and far between; finally Holly wasn't sure if Gail was awake anymore.

She stopped talking for a moment, wondering if Gail would protest to the silence.

A few moments passed; silence continued to reign.

"Sleep well, Gail," Holly whispered softly before ending the call with a deep sigh and a heavy heart.

After hanging up the phone Holly lay on her couch. The TV played on mute in the background. If she had been confused by her last interaction with Gail, back at the station just before Christmas, this one sure did Holly in.

She sat on the couch unmoving, her head tilted back and up at the ceiling, her gaze nowhere. Holly tried to make sense of what had just transpired; not just what had happened-what was behind Gail's phone call, but what exactly she herself was thinking and feeling about it. Separating fact from inference; fears from reality; hopes from practicalities from the emotions left swirling in her gut and heart seemed to be an impossible task.

Holly had been trying hard to be okay ever since her little New Year's Day breakdown. She wasn't trying to move on exactly, definitely not in the way she had after Gail's fortnight long radio silence following that dreadful night at the Penny. No, it wasn't like that. Holly was trying to be happy though, with just Holly. That had meant no pining over Gail or their failed relationship, no replaying and over analysing everything that had lead to their ocean sized separation. For the time being that also meant trying not to think of Gail much in general. That phone call obviously put a nix in that strategy for today.

It threw her off; unsettled her; made all her thoughts wobbly being thrown back into a world where she was talking to Gail. There wasn't much of that conversation (if you could even call it one) Holly understood.

There was one thing though that Holly was sure of; something was wrong. Gail had always prided herself on an ability to sleep anywhere at anytime. She also prided herself on the ability to go days without sleep if needed. Some sort of inborn Peck lifeskills no doubt. The only time Holly remembered Gail having trouble sleeping was when she was having dreams about her kidnapping, and that one time she was prescribed oxy.

Maybe a fresh cup of tea would help settle her mind and thoughts.

It didn't though, and Holly couldn't stop thinking. Gail could have had a bad dream, maybe she woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. For some reason though, Holly doubted it. Gail had become pretty good at calming herself down once she was awake. Plus, why now? Holly couldn't really pinpoint why but it didn't all seem to fit.

No, something else was off and Holly would spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what it was.


"Should our fire turn to dark
Take my heart with you
Take my heart with you
Take my heart with you"

- The Rescues "My Heart With You"