The last few months had been full of demanding cases that kept both Holly and Gail busy most nights. At first they had struggled to find time for each other, neither trying to overstay their welcome by dropping in late at night. But they had missed each other too much for that. Holly finally realized that the current situation was not working when Dov opened the door in only his underwear and shot a glare at her through the doorway for the third time this week. She couldn't keep waking the whole apartment up every time she came over to Gail's and Gail had no shortage of issues trying to go to Holly's. Most nights she got off later than Holly and would reach her apartment after Holly had fallen asleep. Holly had a secure building so Gail had found herself standing in the cold a few nights trying to sneak in behind someone. It wasn't until last night that they both realized that it was not a good plan.
The night before Holly had suggested that they try to go back to only coming over when they were both awake to let the other in the building. Gail had thrown that out of the window quickly. She didn't want to spend the sometimes weeks it would end up being away from Holly at night. They had reached the point where they spent almost every night together, and she didn't want to go back. Gail had finally stormed out of the lab after the short argument they had found themselves in.
The next morning she woke up and went to grab herself some coffee. She was still a bit mad at Holly for the fight they had. She had the day off so she decided she would take the morning for herself and try to go talk to Holly after she was finished at work. Gail walked back into her bedroom and picked up her phone. Holly had left two voicemails ungodly early this morning. She sat on her bed and listened to the first one.
'Gail, it's Holly, obviously….I uh…can you just call me back?'
Gail had already been asleep when Holly had left the message; she was sure by now Holly would be at work. She deleted the message and moved on to the second.
'Hey, I guess you are asleep by now. Gail, I uh…I don't want to go to bed mad. Can you just call me? I just need to hear your voice. Please give me a call when you can.'
Gail felt a pang of guilt. They had made it a point early on not to go to bed mad at one another. They didn't fight often, hardly ever. Most of the arguments they had were short and they usually ended up laughing together by the end of it. This was the first time they had not resolved the issue, or at least made up enough to go to bed holding each other. Gail knew she shouldn't have stormed out of the lab; she was the one that owed Holly an apology.
She dialed Holly's number, getting her voicemail. She left a quick apology and offered to pick up some dinner for the two of them that night so they could have a discussion. She left her phone in her bedroom and went to grab a shower. When she came back she noticed Holly had called back and had left her a text message.
'It's okay Gail. Come over tonight around six. I'll cook. Grab some wine on your way though, I think I'm out. Love you.'
Gail text a quick response smiling. She finished getting dressed and stepped out of the apartment into the bright sun. She had an errand to run.
It was six on the dot when Holly buzzed Gail up to her apartment. The door had been cracked open for her. "Holly, you know I hate when you leave this open. Anyone could get in here."
Holly offered her that small smile she always gave when Gail lectured her about safety. She walked out from around the breakfast bar and took the wine from Gail and set it on the counter. They shared a hug and a quick kiss.
"I'm glad you came Gail. I'm sorry I upset you so much last night." Holly still had her arms around Gail's waist.
Gail pulled Holly into another hug. She placed a gentle kiss on her neck and took a step back to look at her girlfriend properly. "It's okay babe. I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have left like that. Besides I think I have a solution."
Holly's eyebrows rose slightly. Gail reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a key. "I talked to Dov and Chris this morning to make sure they were okay with it. So I made you a key. You can come over whenever you want now. That way if you get done first you can come over and wait for me, or if you come late you don't have to wake anyone."
Holly smiled and started walking away from Gail towards the master bedroom. Gail was confused. Holly returned quickly however holding up a key herself. "I made this for you last night actually. I couldn't sleep thinking that you weren't going to come sleep in my arms. I didn't like the thought of spending so much time away from you."
They both smiled and exchanged keys. "Holly did you really get me a key with skulls on it?"
"Yeah, you are a bit morbid. And look who is talking, this has a zombie on it." They both burst into laughter.
Dinner was great and they had curled up on the couch together watching an old movie. Suddenly Gail got off the couch and walked over to the dvd collection. She had on many occasions wondered about the movies she had found that first time snooping through the apartment.
"May I?" Gail asked. Holly hesitated before getting off the couch and putting the movie in. They went back to the couch and sat down. It was not at all what Gail had been expecting. It was definitely a documentary of sorts. You could tell wherever this was; it was not in North America, it looked like the Middle East. There were a couple people walking through an alleyway. The buildings were hardly standing anymore. It looked like something out of a war movie. There was a loud explosion and the camera shook violently. Gail could hear voices shouting to get under cover. The camera sifted hands and turned to face a woman. It was Holly.
Gail paused the DVD and looked over at Holly. "Hols, what exactly is this?"
Holly looked a bit apprehensive. 'You know how I told you that I spent some time traveling, doing research and stuff."
"Yeah, you said you spent a year traveling, but what exactly is this?"
Holly sighed. "Well I did travel to Asia, and Europe for research for a year, but about six months of that time was spent in Afghanistan. I was doing some research for a journal I was working on. I had to go to a war zone for it, so my team and I decided to film everything. Sometimes we weren't able to stay in one spot too long, so it helped with gathering information."
Gail was completely shocked. How had she never heard about this? She looked over at Holly. "I'm sorry; I didn't know that's what those were. We don't have to watch these Holly. I don't want to make you relive all of this."
Holly looked grateful. It was obvious she had no desire to rewatch these. "I think you need to see these though. I don't want to hide anything from you. But I don't want to be here while you watch this. I have some papers I need to finish, so just come find me when you are finished okay?"
Holly kissed Gail and walked into her study. Gail turned back to TV. There was a part of her that didn't want to see what was on these, but another part of her that knew Holly needed her to understand what happened. So she turned down the volume on the TV and hit play.
An hour and half later the door to Holly's study opened. Gail was standing in the doorway tears streaming down her face. She walked towards Holly quickly, saying nothing. Holly was pulled from her desk and her shirt was pulled over her head.
"Gail…?"
She received no response. Instead Gail dropped to her knees running her finger over a small scar near Holly's hipbone. Gail lost control and started crying even harder. Holly immediately knew why Gail was acting the way she was.
"Gail, it's okay. I am okay. I promise you." Holly was almost pleading with her.
It took a minute for Gail to get herself pulled together enough to respond. "Holly, this is far from okay. You were shot. I just watched you get shot!"
"Gail it wasn't that bad. I was okay. I am okay." Holly pulled Gail up to her level. She held the still crying woman in her arms. "I am right here with you okay babe. I am not going anywhere and I am okay."
Gail was shaking slightly. "Is this why you were so nervous that day in the interrogation room?"
There was a slight hesitation before Holly replied. "That may have had something to do with it."
Fresh tears fell from Gail's eyes to the fabric covering Holly's chest. "I didn't know. I'm sorry. I can quit if you want."
"That's not what I want. I know this is who you are, that will never change. I would rather you be out there protecting this city loving it, than be stuck behind some desk hating yourself and resenting me. Besides, at least you have a gun. I was the idiot that walked into a warzone unarmed." Holly tried to play it off as a joke, but it just made Gail cry more.
"I can't do this Holly. This isn't enough." Holly froze unsure of what Gail meant.
"Gail? Are you breaking up with me?" Holly felt her own tears threaten to fall.
Gail took a step back looking at Holly confused. "What? No. What I meant is…I need to know every day that you are okay. And I can't do this." Gail made a motion with her hands pointing to nothing and everything at the same time. "This sneaking in and out of each other's place in the middle of the night, it isn't enough anymore. I need to be able to be with you at night. To hold you make sure you are safe. I can't do that if we are always in a different place."
Holly was starting to understand. "So you want to move in together?"
"I know this is fast, and it's a lot to ask. I just don't like the thought of spending another night without you. I want to be able to come home to you after my shift. I don't want to come back to your place, or you come to my place. I want to go home to our place." The silence was overwhelming. "Holly say something."
Holly grabbed Gail and pulled her into an intense kiss. The tears that had been threatening had finally made their appearance. Holly's lips opened and her tongue demanded entrance into Gail's mouth. She felt Gail comply and they melted together. Holly finally pulled back, her hands still on the sides of Gail's face.
"Yes."