Gail sat on the bench in the empty women's locker room holding her Kevlar vest in front of her. Minutes after Holly had walked out, Gail found the strength to pull herself together enough to get to Frank's office and request the rest of the day off. She only had a few hours left on the shift and thankfully her boss didn't ask too many questions. She imagined her ashen face and inability to stop her hands from shaking made for a very believable tale of the stomach bug she claimed to have. She had quickly changed with every intention of bolting as fast as she could, but instead found herself parked on the wooden seat tracing the stitching on the Velcro label repeatedly.

'PECK.' She had heard it countless times in her lifetime; four simple letters that carried so much weight. Those letters defined her - they were her identity. Every choice she had made since she could remember was wrapped in the knowledge that being a 'Peck' came first. The family business became her business. The dreams of her mother became hers to attain. Her triumphs reinforced the goals and her disappointments were held to the highest scrutiny. She didn't know how to be anyone else but a 'Peck.' Giving it up meant losing a part of herself that she was afraid she would never find again. She sighed. It didn't matter anymore. She pushed away the one person that could have helped her. It wasn't worth it now – none of it was worth it. She threw the vest in her locker and then threw her bag in too. It could all stay – she didn't care.

She took the back exit out of the station, careful to not let anyone see her. As soon as she stepped into the parking lot, she allowed the freezing air to cut into her lungs like a knife. It felt good, she thought - she deserved the pain. She started her car and got to the end of the lot; her apartment was to the left, but she knew she wasn't turning that way. There was another place beckoning her; calling out to her like an old friend waiting for their fix. She didn't even think twice before turning right and driving to the one place that could help finish her own self-destructing day.

Two Hours Later

Traci sat at her desk, shaking her leg nervously. She tapped the phone with her pen a few times contemplating if she should call. She had done her best all day to give Gail the space she had demanded, but she couldn't help but walk by the evidence room a few times to check up on her friend. Each time Gail had her head down working. She looked distant and somewhat paler than normal, but she was there and for the moment that was enough to appease Traci.

The last time she checked though, Gail wasn't in the room – Martinez was. She questioned were her friend was and got some rambling about Peck showing up late this morning and still managing to go home early while he had to cover the rest of her shift. She practically ran back to her desk and tried calling Gail, only to get voice mail after voice mail. She called Dov and Chris and made them drive by their apartment but she wasn't there. Andy reported in not seeing her car in front of The Penny either. She thought about calling Holly, but she remembered she was in court and would have no idea what was going on. That left Steve.

She hated calling him. He had worked all night and hadn't arrived home until late that morning. What if Gail was fine and she was turning this into some crazy drama? The melodramatic girlfriend was not a role she wanted to play. But this was Gail – her friend and confidant; the woman that helped her read Jerry's wedding vowels when she couldn't find the voice to do it on her own. She picked up the phone and hit the button to Steve's landline. She knew he wouldn't ignore it – he only had it for emergencies. If she were blowing this out of proportion, she could apologize later.

It took a few rings, but Steve finally picked up. He groggily said "Hello."

"Hey, it's me."

"Trace? What? Why are…"

"I'm sorry. I know you were asleep…maybe it's nothing. She may just be driving around but…"

"Who? Traci, what's going on?" His voice was laced in concern. He grew up with cops and he knew the undercurrent in Traci's tone better than anyone.

Traci took a deep breath. "Steve, your mom stopped by to see Gail at her apartment this morning. Dov and Chris were there, they left before they could hear any of the conversation. Based on what they did see and Gail today at work, I would guess your mother somehow knows about Holly. I would also guess that the conversation did not go well."

Steve sat up in bed and threw his feet on the floor. He rubbed his face with his hand a few times and grabbed his mobile from his pants pocket hung over the chair. There were at least fifteen missed calls from his mother and a few from his father as well. He sighed as he started to throw on the same clothes he had been wearing all night.

"Where's she now? You said she was driving?"

"I don't know. I was checking on her throughout the day and then I got caught up in a case. She left a couple of hours ago and no one knows where she went. Steve, I'm sorry…"

"Hey, don't. You're looking out for her. Hold on a second."

He put the landline down on the table and accessed the voicemail on his mobile. The first call was his mother. It was a fairly long message explaining that she expected him to come over that evening because they needed to discuss what do about a 'situation with his sister.' She also not-so-subtly implied that if he knew about it this whole time, there were a few things they needed to discuss with him as well. The second message was from his father simply telling him to call him.

He hung up and grabbed his other phone. "Sorry, I was listening to a voicemail rant by my mother. She definitely knows and isn't happy would be an understatement. I can't even imagine she said to my sister. We need to find her. Where's Holly?"

"The Ford case started today, remember. She is probably still stuck there."

"Can you call her anyway?"

"Yeah, of course… I can't believe your mother is acting this way."

"Have you met my mother?"

"Yeah, but if Leo told me he was gay, I wouldn't be like this. I don't get it. I thought people were passed this kind of thing?"

Steve used his head and shoulder to hold the phone while he finished buttoning his shirt. He unintentionally laughed at Traci's questioning. "You know, the thing is, if Holly and say, Andy, were dating my mother would probably invite them over for dinner and never think twice about it. But this is Gail and this just doesn't fit into the image she has created for her. Something I think Gail is nothing more than that image to my mother. I don't think she's ever tried to really understand her."

"So create a new image."

Steve grabbed his keys and started for the door. "I wish it were it were that easy. I know my little sister and if my mother was even half as bad as I think she was, then Gail's not in a good place right now. I'm heading to the station. We need to find her before she does something stupid." Steve hung up the phone and threw in the vicinity of his living room before slamming the door behind him.

Traci immediately stood and started walking into the hallway. She caught Dov, Chris and Andy coming off shift and gave them an update. She then followed McNally into the women's locker room so Andy could change as she dialed Holly's number.

Holly picked up on the second ring. "Hello."

"Holly, its Traci. Are you still at the courthouse?"

"What? No. I'm home. Traci what's going on?" Holly picked up on the nervousness in Traci's voice.

"Have you talked to Gail today?"

Holly repeated the question. "Traci, WHAT is going on?"

"It could be nothing. It's probably nothing. It's just, she left work early and no one knows where she went. I was hoping…"

"I stopped by the station earlier and we got into a fight. She told me to get out and I did." Holly started pacing in her living room. A million scenarios started running through her head as to where Gail could be. Guilt started welling up inside her - she should have never left her.

Traci removed her gun and put it in her locker and then grabbed her purse and keys. "Holly, did Gail tell you what happened today?"

Holly's voice was audibly shaking, "No. I tried to get her to talk. She wouldn't. I knew something was wrong and I left anyway."

"Hey, this isn't your fault. She's probably just taking a long walk."

Holly huffed at the thought, "Traci, you know as well as I do Gail does not commune with nature willingly. What happened?"

"Her mother and she got into some kind of argument. No one knows the details, but it wasn't very good."

"About me? Oh god…"

"Holly, let's just find her, ok. Then we can all take turns yelling at her for worrying us."

Before Traci could continue, Andy called her over to Gail's locker. Andy had picked up something off the floor and was handing it to her. She looked down and her eyes went wide.

"Listen, Holly, we're going to find her. We'll call you as soon as we do."

"What? No! I'm coming."

"No, wait there. Maybe she'll come to you. Steve, Andy, Dov, Chris and I are going out now. I promise we'll call you the second we find her.

Holly stopped pacing. She needed to think this through logically. Gail had come to her before in the middle of the night when she needed support. After today she doubted it, but maybe Traci was right. "Alright…the second you find her!"

"I promise."

Traci hung up and looked down at the patch in her hand – the one Andy found on the floor – and brushed her thumb over the letters – P.E.C.K. She gave Andy a very concerned look and then turned to open Gail's locker.

"You know the combination?"

Traci didn't answer – she just started rolling the dial to the lock. It popped open a second later. All the clothes Gail would typically take home were stuffed inside. They also found her mobile phone tossed in the corner, but that wasn't what they were looking for. Traci reached in the back and grabbed the box. She opened and closed it before throwing it back in and quickly shutting the locker. Both women let out the breath they were holding then walked out of the room joining Chris and Dov. Steve was racing toward them from down the hall.

As soon as Steve reached the group; the guys all started talking at once coming up with places Gail may be. Andy interrupted them.

"Guys, Gail's name tag was on the floor. It doesn't just come off…"

Traci handed the patch over to Steve. He took it and started mindlessly opening and closing his hand around it. He was very quiet for a second but then looked up directly at Traci. "Was her…where…?"

"It was in the locker. All the bullets were there. Steve, she wouldn't. It's bad, but Gail would never…"

"When she was seventeen she wrapped her car around a tree. Somehow she wasn't hurt that badly. My parents thought it was an accident. I always wondered."

Dov broke the silence; thoughts of his own sibling running through his mind. "Let's find her. We'll split up. Chris and I will circle back to the apartment and…"

Steve interrupted, "Gail's a creature of habit. She'd go somewhere she knows even if she was trying to get away. You checked The Penny?"

Traci looked over to Andy who replied, "I drove by on my way here. Her car wasn't in front."

Chris jumped in, "Gail doesn't park in the front. Someone dinged her car so she parks on the side street."

Andy shook her head, "I didn't know. Gah, I can't believe I didn't look."

Steve was frantically searching on his phone. He found the number he was looking for and began calling. "Hey, this is Steve Peck. Is my sister there? Blonde, blue eyes…yeah…uh huh…ok…thanks."

"She's there. She's drinking her way through the bar. Let's go."

Traci started dialing Holly back as they all left the station. It was time to help a member of their family.

A/N: I found the rest of my Sunday was spent writing. I'm travelling for the next two days, so I'll do what I can when I can. I know I'm putting Gail through the ringer, but I feel like it's a legitimate character reaction. Again...I hope you trust me a little. As always, thank you all kindly for the reviews.