Maddie! Helloooo!

Look, I updated :D

Part 23

Holly stared blankly at the ceiling above her bed, her alarm buzzing loudly beside her.

She didn't want to get up just to face another day with the detectives of 15. Or risk another encounter with Elaine Peck. The Superintendent was a real piece of work. She understood the rumours now. The older woman was not just a calculated cold hearted bitch but to know this woman was Gail's own flesh and blood made it sickening.

How could a mother instigate something like this? Against her own child!

Holly found it more than difficult to reconcile that woman with what she knew of Gail or even Steven Peck whom she had shared time with as her friendship with Traci Nash had developed.

Traci Nash.

The younger detective had barely been able to look Holly in the eye during her grilling yesterday. Not like the other detective, the older blonde, Jo Rosati. Anyone could have mistaken that she and Elaine had been the ones related, the way they both went in for the kill with her. Both with that same look on their faces when they knew Holly had been close to breaking. The gleam in their eyes, the tiny smirk on their lips they didn't try hard to conceal, and the triumph in their voices as they laid everything out for Holly and told her just how out of choices she was.

Her job, her career, hell, her very freedom, was now riding on the fact that she had agreed to try and entrap Gail over the break in at the morgue or by making her confess to knowing or participating in the failed raid on the docks.

Just thinking about it now made Holly want to throw up.

She sniffled and pretended to wipe sleep from her eyes steadfastly ignoring the moisture on her cheeks as she slapped her alarm off angrily and rolled out of bed.

She'd made it yesterday, she'd agree to everything.

And now it was time to pay the piper.

No matter how much it ate at her she couldn't see any other way out of this, even staying up all night to think it through over and over again hadn't shown her what to do. It just brought her images of the smug faces of detective Rosati and Elaine Peck as they told her she was doing the right thing, that she was helping more than just those dead officers, she was going to help put some of Toronto's worst criminals behind bars if she managed to get Gail into a position where she had no choice but to turn on her own employers to keep herself out of jail.

Holly snorted as she gathered a clean set of clothes and padded along her hallway to her bathroom. If she was going to make it through the next few hours she was going to have to wake up and try and look like her normal self.

Well her normal self wanted to hide back under her covers and pretend this was all some horrible nightmare that she'd wake up from any second.

If only.

She'd been told that if she spoke to Gail today she was to tell her the morgue needed her back at work for the next few days because of staff illness. A spate of fake illness for a fake day at work, when in fact Holly would be locked in a room with Rosati, Steven Peck, Traci and the other detective, Callaghan. Him she didn't have a read on. Steve and Traci had guilty looks throughout her browbeating but they'd still sided against her involvement with Gail. They hadn't outright accused her of knowing it was Gail at the morgue but they'd heavily implied it.

Holly started the shower and stepped under the cold spray before it had a chance to warm up. She was due at 15 soon and she had no idea if she could call anyone there friend anymore.

Luke Callaghan had rarely spoken to her, he'd watched her mostly, his face and expression passive the whole time. So much so that by the end of the night she'd flinched when he'd followed her out to her car. He'd given her a tired smile and told her to get some rest before the tough stuff started.

Holly lathered up her hair as she wondered what could be harder than willingly betraying the person who had started to mean everything to you. She reached over and turned the dial to maximum but even as steam began to fill the room, all she could feel was numb.

xxxxxx

Holly knew she'd spent too long in the bathroom, now she was going to be late getting to 15. That wasn't going to go over well with Rosati she was sure of it.

But she couldn't make herself care or tie her boots any quicker. Normally she prided herself on her punctuality and always being the one prepared and ready for anything, especially when it came to her work. Being on-call was exciting, it gave her a thrill knowing that at any time her cell phone could ring and send her out there into hours of meticulous work and puzzle solving.

She loved that part of her job.

Only today she wasn't going to the morgue, even if she was supposed to pretend that she was, in actuality she'd be locked up going over details of her interactions with Gail Peck since her first meeting in the Penny the night Gail had been arrested in front of her.

And this time everything she said would be on the record. Not like yesterday with Elaine and the threats, and her stuttered, stumbling explanations. None of that had been recorded. But what Holly was to do today was supposedly coming by way of Holly's fear of Gail and the dangers the blonde might be causing to Holly.

Holly was to play the part of frightened girlfriend in too deep to get out on her own.

With a snort Holly pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she sat in front of her vanity. She'd already covered the signs of her lack of sleep but she was finding it hard to put in the effort of her daily routine.

None of the detectives were worth it.

"Fuck it, maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut and see how they deal with that." She muttered to herself as she scowled darkly at her own reflection before getting up. She already had the headache from hell why should she let them get their way so easily.

Maybe she'd really mix things up and call her lawyer for a consult before she agreed to go on record with anything. That would wipe the smug look off Rosati's face quick enough. The fact that Ted Deverman, a friend who happened to be a very good lawyer, was a couple of thousand miles away in Vancouver would no doubt stir things up even more, he'd demand that she not say anything until he could get there to advise her properly.

Holly stopped suddenly in her hallway on her way out as she realised that she'd just come up with a plan that would not only buy her time but it could even stop 15 and Elaine Peck from using her liking a puppet to do their bidding.

"God, I'm an idiot." She told herself. Yes she was worried about Gail and 15's plans to arrest her but Holly should have been smart enough to have called her lawyer the second she knew what they were trying to get her to agree to.

"I wouldn't go that far." Came a voice from behind Holly.

Spinning Holly's eyes went wide in panic before she recognised Gail stood near her kitchen. The blonde was grinning at her now, obviously pleased with sneaking up on her.

Holly shook her head before quickly closing the distance and smacking Gail on the arm.

"Hey," Gail protested and jumped clear as Holly aim further strikes at her. "Careful, I'm already damaged goods here Hols."

Holly felt her heart settle enough to really take in the fact that Gail was stood there in front of her. In her apartment that she clearly remembered locking last night. "Should I even ask?" She said glancing towards her closed front door.

Gail shrugged. "I'm like a cat, I come and go as I please."

Despite the seriousness of day in front of her Holly smiled, genuinely happy to see the other woman, and moved to wrap the blonde in her arms and press a kiss to her welcoming lips.

Gail grinned, locking her own hands behind Holly back. "Morning." She hummed.

Holly kissed her again, slower this time, letting the reality of this moment wash all thoughts of 15 and lawyers away for now. "Good morning." She replied as they eventually broke apart although neither of them let go.

Gail glanced behind her into the kitchen. "I thought I had a little more time, but…" She shrugged sheepishly as Holly took in the mugs of coffee on the table and a stack of pastries that had gone from the box on the counter to a serving plate. There was even some fruit chopped up in a bowl ready and waiting.

Holly didn't know what to say.

Embarrassed that her plans hadn't been very successful Gail laughed it off. "You took so long in the shower I was almost afraid you'd drowned."

Holly blushed and dropped her head onto Gail's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Gail sighed, she wasn't too upset. How could she be when she had Holly in her arms? "Next time I'll call first."

Next time.

Holly felt her heart skip a beat.

She bit her lip and fixed her glasses as she straightened and their arms fell away. She still had 15 and threats and lawyers and jail time to consider.

That had to come before thoughts of Gail and breakfasts together, and kissing.

Gail who was stood in front of her, rocking on her heels nervously as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"So I guess they needed you back?" Gail said, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence that had settled around them.

While she knew the probable cause she was loath to bring it up.

"Oh, yes." Holly replied realising that every second she stayed her the later she would be getting to 15. "Short staffed." She said by rote, that was her cover with Gail supposedly. "They need me on paperwork duty."

Gail nodded her head. They were both nervous which she understood. Gail had warned Holly, had told her that things could get complicated if she continued to have a relationship with her.

Maybe the doctor finally understood what she meant.

Only now it was a little too late to get out without some form of damage control.

But Gail was a big girl and she could handle this. She could let the doctor go if she had to. She stayed rooted in place as Holly sent her an apologetic look as she back away towards the door again. "I should get going, I'm already going to be late."

Gail watched Holly pull on her jacket.

"Can I see you? Later?" Gail found that she couldn't just let Holly walk away from her like that. Not without adding her own voice to the others taking up Holly's thoughts right now.

Holly stopped, her eyes closing at the sound of the blonde's quiet voice. Her back was still to Gail and she paused like that for a fraction of a second before she turned and made her way back across her apartment.

She watched Gail shift at her approach but it didn't slow her down as she reach out and captured her face in her hands. Those eyes watched her carefully, cautiously, and Holly finally understood why the hope she saw hidden in the depths was shadowed by so much hurt.

Her heart broke for the blonde as fingers rested lightly at her hips. It was hard to believe that this was the same woman who had made love to her so confidently just the other night.

But a lot had changed since then.

"Yes." Holly whispered as she stared at the lips in front of her before lowering her head slightly and capturing them gently with her own.

Gail chuckled into the kiss and let their bodies touch as she tightened her hold on the doctor.

Holly's breath caught and she momentarily pulled back before pushing into Gail and kissing her hard, not letting up until she heard the blonde moan. She tugged at Gail's bottom lip with her teeth then swiped her tongue over it before finally pulling away.

She kept hold of Gail's face, watched as eyelids blinked open to reveal a brighter shade of blue that warmed Holly all the way to her core. "I will see you later." She reiterated, pressed a final kiss to Gail's mouth then turned and left the apartment and Gail while she still could.

Dazed Gail licked her lips, a smile stretching across her face as she stared at the closed door. She sighed then turned and sat down in the kitchen under the pretence of not wanting to let good coffee and doughnuts go to waste.

It had absolutely nothing to do with her trembling legs.

Not a damn thing.

xxxxxx

AN/ Short I know. Sorry. Lots of drama next time. No Golly though :(

Thanks for reading!