Gail glared across the patio where she was having lunch with Holly and Emily. The girl was chatting away beside her but Gail kept her eyes on Dov until he turned and scurried away.

"Gail are you even listening?" Emily asked with a scowl.

Wide eyed, Gail turned her head slowly to her friend. "I am so too listening."

Holly smirked into her iced tea.

"I heard every word, all two hundred of them!" Gail went on, her hand going to her chest in pretend hurt. "And it sounds like you had a great time shopping with Holly this morning."

Emily eyed Gail for a long moment.

"And, I can even take your shopping home and you can head back out and fill up Holly's boot all over again." Gail added with a wink at Emily.

Holly was then subjected to two sets of pleading looks. She put her hands up and chuckled. "Hey, I think that's a great idea." They'd mostly bought clothes and some new foot ware for Emily, but if Holly got the chance to add a couple of jackets and other personal items for the girl, she was all for it.

Emily looked pleased but shyly went back to her lunch.

Holly grinned at Gail. "Not sure you'll be able to carry all the bags, this girl can shop." She warned.

"Hey!" Emily muttered.

Gail just laughed.

xxxxxx

"Took you long enough!" Oliver said as his hands reached for his lunch.

Dov just got in his car and sat staring back towards the café. "Gail's here." He muttered, his own sandwich and drink resting forgotten in his lap.

Oliver quickly swallowed his first mouthful and gazed out the car window. "She is?" He shouldn't really be as shocked as he felt, he'd often shared lunch or dinner here with Gail back in the day. It was still one of his favourite places, so it made sense that Gail still visited. "Did she see you?"

Dov snorted. "You could say that." He replied. It wasn't the first time he'd been subjected to Gail Peck's icy glare, but it was unsettling each and every time. "We didn't come here on purpose, did we?" He asked, turning to look at his boss.

Oliver quickly shook his head. "No. Well, yes." He answered honestly. "This is like, the best shawarma in the city."

Nodding, Dov could definitely agree. "And Gail like's her food."

Oliver let out a little chuckle, but he felt nervous now. "Why don't you park up somewhere else?" He offered. He didn't want to know if Gail was her alone or if she had anyone with her that he's rather not know about.

"Wonderful idea." Dov replied, then hurried to start the car, pushing his lunch over to Oliver to hold on to, then pulled the car out of the parking lot and drove off to a nearby park.

Oliver winced, not appreciating Dov dropping a canned drink into his lap. A very cold can.

Dov cleared his throat and started in on his lunch. "So Boss, why exactly did you bring me out here?" Thankfully he now knew it wasn't anything to do with Gail Peck.

Oliver snorted and adjusted himself in the seat. His plans for subtlety and consideration had all but gone. "We need to discuss Chris."

Dov's eyes widened. "Chris?"

"Yes Dov, Chris." Oliver replied. "He is going to be back on days next week."

Swallowing hard Dov asked, "Why? I mean, sure, we need the bodies."

Oliver nodded. "That we do." And that wasn't the only reason Oliver felt a need to bring Chris Diaz back into the fold with the rest of his class at the station. There was nothing but talk and whispers, although Oliver was absolutely aware of his close ties with Gail, he still had no proof as to why the officer had been relegated to night shifts and passed over for promotion on more than one occasion.

"But," Dov licked his lips and hesitated. "Is that a good idea?"

Oliver narrowed his eyes but took a bite of his sandwich and tried to relax.

The silence made Dov nervous. "I mean, I'm sure Nick will be back soon." He offered hopefully, though he had no idea if that was true.

And the whereabouts of Duncan Moore was still a mystery.

Oliver tilted his head. He had seen the medical report, and the police report on Nick Collins. He was going to have to have a very long conversation with internal affairs and a disciplinary panel before he got a chance to put a uniform on again.

A decision that was completely out of Oliver's control.

But it was going to be his decision to fight for more rookies, a fight he'd won with head office and bringing Chris back onto days was also going to be his decision to make.

And he'd already made it.

"Nick will be back at some point, but before then Chris will be covering on the day shift and I'm going to have him partner with you." Oliver added with a grin.

"Me?" Dov asked.

"Yes you."

"Why?"

Oliver narrowed his eyes at the younger man. "Why not Dov?" He waited for an answer that didn't seem to be coming so he asked again. "Why would that be a problem, Dov?"

"Well, uhm…"

"Yes?"

"He's still friends with Gail Peck." Dov admitted as he slouched in his seat and glared down at his lunch. "Doesn't sit well with anyone Sir." He added, a reminder to himself that Oliver wasn't his friend right now, he was his boss.

Oliver snorted and thought that at least Dov was finally being honest. "I'm still friends with Gail." He pointed out. Then casually started back into his lunch.

Dov blinked. "Yeah." He muttered half-heartedly. "It's just weird."

Oliver grinned at his colleague, his mouth full.

Dov shook his head and picked at his sandwich, his appetite gone. "Weird." He repeated.

Finally, Oliver shrugged then cracked open his drink and took a sip. "Jerry Barber was one of my closest friends Dov."

"And yet you're still friends with Gail Peck." Dov couldn't help but point out, the judgement still in his tone.

"Look at me Dov." Oliver wasn't going to say this more than once. He waited for his old rookie to lift his head up to him. "Now, I was in the hospital when he died, and I do not know what all went on back at the station during that time." He ignored Dov's snort and pressed on. "But I heard enough stories later of how Gail was treated by you and everyone else."

Dov clenched his jaw and turned his head, no longer able to hold Oliver's gaze with the look of anger in them.

"How everyone turned their backs on her." Her family included. "And I'm telling you as a friend that it stops, right now."

It was hard for Dov not to answer back to that but then he remembered Nick constantly pulling Gail over for a car check, or how Sam Swarek wanted Gail brought in every other week, and how Frank was had paid for Sam's antics with Gail and that was why Oliver Shaw was back at the station.

And Sam, Nick and Frank weren't.

Dov didn't really want to be next on that list. Through injury or any other reason.

"Great," Oliver said when the silence from Dov stretched into a slump of his shoulders and a clear acceptance that he wasn't going to be able to talk Oliver out of this plan. "Now, let's get back to your friend Nick."

"Nick?" Dov asked, wondering what Oliver thought Dov would know about Nick. "What, what about Nick?"

Oliver grinned. It was going to be a very productive day.

xxxxxx

"Everything okay?" Holly asked softly while Emily had gone to use the restroom.

Gail smiled. "Everything's fine, I just spotted someone I used to know grabbing lunch."

"Here?" Holly glanced around in mild panic which just caused Gail to laugh. With a blush, Holly shook her head and tidied up their table, not wanting to leave too much of a mess for the waitress.

"Hey, this place is famous for their food." Gail pointed out. And the full tables and line for take-out clearly attested to how popular the café was to the locals.

"The woman behind the counter certainly seemed familiar to you." Holly replied with a grin as she pushed her glasses back into place.

Now it was Gail's turn to blush. She'd been greeted like a long lost family member by the older woman, who had stepped out from the counter to give Gail a hug, and a cuff on the shoulder while she spoke in a langue Holly was not able to understand.

Gail shrugged bashfully. "I like the food here."

"Uh, huh." Holly's eyes twinkled. "And just how many languages do you know?"

Biting her lip, Gail offered another shrug. "A couple."

"And what was she saying while she was hitting you?"

Gail giggled. "That she thought I'd run off to some other restaurant or left the country."

Holly sobered slightly, wondering if the woman had also expressed a concern that Gail's absence could have been because she was dead in a ditch somewhere.

"Those were good sandwiches." Was all Holly could add.

"Shawarma is life." Gail lamented, staring at her empty plate.

Holly almost blushed as she watched the look on Gail's face. She had seen that look directed towards herself under certain situations that generally involved a lack of clothes.

"She okay?" Emily asked, staring at Gail as she returned to her seat.

Holly shook her head. "Not sure, it's hard to tell with Gail."

Emily laughed. "True."

"I can hear you both." Gail reminded them, before standing and gesturing inside. "I'm going to go pay, Holly needs all her money for shopping." She said, winking at Emily before heading inside to pick up the tab for lunch.

Holly watched her go.

Emily rolled her eyes then pulled out her phone. Mateo had sent her a message asking if she wanted to meet up.

"Who's that?" Holly asked, knowing it was unlikely to be Gail and still concerned over the condition the girl had arrived in her home a few days before.

Emily blush. "Nobody."

Holly raised an eyebrow.

Slumping lower in her chair, Emily texted back that she was busy. "A friend from school." She muttered with her head down.

"Oh, a friend." Holly teased, seeing the blush on the girl's cheeks as a sign that the text messaging wasn't too much to worry about.

"Okay you two, where are these bags?" Gail asked as she returned.

Holly stood and tucked her chair back under the table. It was a warm day, and she was grateful to be heading to her SUV and the AC she could switch on. "You sure you want to take them, there are about five bags." She explained thinking it would be difficult for Gail to navigate a couple of bus rides back to her apartment.

Gail smiled and reached for Holly's hand as Emily huffed behind them as they made their way towards Holly's car.

"What's that grin for?" Holly asked curiously, squeezing Gail's hand.

"Don't know what you mean."

Emily shook her head and went back to her phone as she leaned against the side of Holly's car as she opened up the back and showed Gail the morning's shopping. Emily let her eyes flick up occasionally to see how Gail reacted.

Gail scoffed as she saw the couple of bags. She glanced over at Emily. "This all the damage you did to Holly's bank account?" She asked as Emily straightened.

Holly rolled her eyes. She was trying to ease Emily into the idea of buying things she needed before tempting her with buying things she wanted.

"Here," Gail said as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet. She pulled out a wad of cash and pushed it into Emily's hand, forcing her to take it.

Emily was stunned but held on to the cash as Gail spun away from her.

"And you, get yourself something nice, and I might take you out on a date." Gail teased as she pushed the rest of her cash into the front pocket of Holly's tight-fitting jeans.

Blushing at the intrusion as Gail copped a feel, Holly was about to tell her off when her mouth was captured in a kiss.

Emily rolled her eyes and turned away. "I'm waiting in the car." She muttered, unsure either woman heard a word she said.

"Gail!" Holly laughed as she tried to pull back, but Gail's arms slipped around her waist.

"Treat the kid." Gail said, smiling at Holly.

"I'm trying to!" Holly replied.

Gail glanced back at the open boot then glanced back at Holly, clearly not impressed. "Try harder." She told her. Gail had done what she could for Emily but while she remained in foster care Gail knew she couldn't give the girl anything too much or the adults around her would either think she'd stolen it, or they'd take it off her out of spite.

Now, living with them, it didn't matter what the kid had, no one would be taking it off her.

Holly nodded her head, seeing the serious look Gail was giving her. "Okay." She said, her hand playing with the hair at the back of Gail's neck. She leaned in for another kiss and didn't rush it knowing Emily was out of sight for the moment.

Gail wiggled her eyebrows when thy separated then forced herself to grab the bags from the car. "Okay you two, have fun." She said, looking through the car to Emily sat in the front passenger side seat.

"You too!" Emily replied with a smirk before gesturing to her own mouth. "You've got a little… something."

"Brat!" Holly said as Gail reflexively wiped at her mouth. "I'm not wearing lipstick Gail." She reminded her girlfriend.

"Knew that." Gail said as she narrowed her eyes back towards Emily who was giggling in her seat. "Just for that kid, I hope she makes you buy a dress."

Emily glared at Gail in the mirror.

Holly sighed as Gail laughed at her own version of payback. Of course, Holly wasn't going to do that and it must have shown on her face as Gail pouted at her.

"At least pick up a couple of dresses to scare her a little." Gail asked pleadingly, she even added a pout.

"Maybe." Holly conceded though she doubted she'd go through with it. She was still working to get Emily to open up to and trust her without Gail around and while they'd had a nice morning, Holly knew it would take a lot more than some clothes to make an impact with the girl.

Gail sighed. "Fine, give me another kiss and be on your way."

"Want me to drop you off?" Holly asked, as she pressed a quick kiss to Gail's lips, conscious of being watched by Emily.

"Nah, I'm good."

"You sure?" Holly asked again. "It's no trouble."

Gail shook her head and moved with Holly to the front of the SUV. "Spend her money kid, she makes enough and you've seen her place, she's not spending it there."

"Hey!" Holly tried not to feel insulted, but she didn't need to splash out on creature comforts when she spent most of her time working.

"You're going to get in trouble." Emily warned Gail who shrugged.

"I'll make it up to her kid." Gail told Emily with a wink that caused Holly to blush.

Holly didn't know why she even tried. "Okay, we'll see you later?" She said, hesitating in case Gail wanted that offer of a lift.

But Gail stepped back onto the sidewalk and made a show of lifting the bags in her hands.

"Buy more." Gail informed them.

Emily laughed as Holly started the car.

"Goodbye Gail." Holly said, then started to drive away.

Emily looked back and watched Gail standing there until Holly turned the next corner and Gail was out of sight. She then turned back around and eyed Holly.

"What?" Holly asked, feeling the gaze on her.

Emily smirked. "What if we buy Gail a dress?" She asked softly.

Holly laughed and glanced at Emily quickly. "You think she'd like that?"

Emily shrugged and went back to her phone. "Maybe."

Holly nodded. "Okay, we'll find something for Gail."

And maybe it would be something Gail could wear on their date.

A date.

Holly hadn't been on a proper date with Gail yet.

Emily smirked. "And maybe we could get you something nice too." She added and ignored the squawk of outrage from Holly.