4.09 - Under Fire

A shooting at a school.

Skip this chapter if that's a trigger for you, but this will be about the people waiting for the kids inside. No children die. Just no. But I get it if you want to skip this one. There is some character development for our heroes and a plot for Chloe.


Vivian would remember the day for the rest of her life. It was one of those things she knew from the second she answered her phone. This was a day that would never be forgotten.

Afterwards, she confessed to Holly that it gave her serious doubts about ever being a parent. Holly just hugged her, kissed her head, and said she was alright.

The phone call came from Chris Epstein. Breathless and terrified, they babbled about how they'd tried to call their parents but both Dov and Chloe's phones went to voice mail and they didn't know who would be there and then they remembered Vivian always made time to talk to them.

There was a kid, their age, someone they knew from school, with a gun.

At their school.

"Chris," said Vivian firmly. "Are you safe?"

"Uh. I don't know? I'm hiding."

"Can you tell me where?" She tried like hell to project the calm that Gail always wore.

"Yes. Yes. I'm in the language lab."

"Okay, good. Are you alone?"

"No. Mr. Kim is here. My class..."

"Chris, can you give Mr. Kim your phone?"

There was a shuffle and a confused man spoke. "He- hello?"

"Mr. Kim? I'm Constable Vivian Peck of the Toronto Police. I'm also Chris' ... Well. Cousin. In a sense. I'm a friend and I want to help." As she spoke, she saw her teammates look over. Vivian made the hand sign for shooter and they were all at attention. "Can you tell me if anyone has called yet?"

"No... Cellphones aren't working." He paused. "How the hell—"

"Chris is using a VoIP app, sir. They're siphoning someone's wifi, if yours is out. Yell at them later. Tell me what's going on?"

And thank god, Mr. Kim explained in a little more detail what had happened. The student had a rifle. He'd shot the math teacher, everyone ran only to find the fire doors locked. Mr. Kim's class had taken refuge in an empty classroom, the door was locked and blocked by a file cabinet, and they were all hiding away from windows. Vivian wrote it all down carefully.

"Peck," said Duane softly. "Are you telling us there's a shooter at a high school?"

She nodded. "Mr. Kim. How much power does Chris' phone have?"

"Um... 36%."

"Ask Chris if they have a charger."

"He— the... in his locker."

Now was not the time to correct Mr. Kim on proper gender pronouns. "Does anyone have a charger or a battery pack?"

There was a brief discussion off the phone. "Yes. Yes, we're plugging the phone in now."

"Okay, excellent. I want you to stay on the line, okay? I'm going to hand my phone to my partner, his name is Duane." She held the phone out to Duane, who quickly started to walk Mr. Kim through crisis management. How to keep everyone calm. He was really good at that.

Everyone else stared at her. "What the hell?" Sabrina hissed at her.

Vivian stood up and took a deep breath. No. She couldn't tell them all. Not yet. But she had to. She needed them. "There's a suspected shooter on premise at Founders High School. I need... I need to tell Major Crimes."

Sabrina nodded. "Lock it down, folks! That doesn't leave this room!" Then she pointed at Vivian. "Go!"

No one stopped Vivian as she ran out of the room and through the first floor. Without thinking, she charged up the stairs and skidded past the secretarial desk. "Hey, you can't go in there—" Trujillo shouted at her, but Vivian had the door to Gail's office open.

Thank fucking god. Chloe was sitting on Gail's couch with her tablet out. Gail was perched on her desk. John was at the wall. They had some crime Vivian didn't recognize on the wall. And they all turned to look at her.

Gail stood up and stared, eyes widening. "What happened?"

"Shooter at Founders. Chris called me. Can't get 911 on VOIP. They're hiding with a teacher in a classroom." Vivian held her notes out to Gail.

The clatter of Chloe's tablet surprised her, though it shouldn't have. Chris was her child, her baby. Her only child.

Taking the notes, Gail put on her glasses and skimmed. "John, grab O'Henry and find me a negotiator."

"I'll get Traci."

"Good. Good idea." Gail shouted out the door. "Trujillo, I need you to get Inspector Epstein here. Pronto. Front case." Then she looked at Gail. "Sue's in the conference room on Two. Go get her. Tell her, and only her, why. Got it?"

Vivian nodded. "Yes ma'am." She looked at Chloe, worried, but Gail jerked her chin. Go. Now. But don't run. And say nothing.

God. How would that feel?

Chloe was in the middle of a not super amicable divorce with Dov, to boot. They weren't exactly fighting, but lines had been rather uncomfortably drawn in the Division. It probably helped that Dov was working at the big building now, but still. Fifteen sided with their own, and they were both Fifteen's.

Pushing the thoughts of divorce and pain out of her head, Vivian thundered back down the stairs. When she reached the conference rooms, Vivian realized her mother had not said which room Sue was in. Stop. Think. The big room was for Division and department meetings. The smaller ones were for teams and interviews. Big room.

She opened the door without knocking, schooling her face the way Elaine had taught her. "Inspector Tran." That was it. That was all anyone had to say. There was no need to leave a hint or suggest anything. All a person needed to do was look serious and slightly grave.

Sue stared at Vivian for a moment and stood up. "Excuse me." As she passed Vivian, she grabbed her upper arm and frog marched her down the hall. "Spill."

"Shooter at Founders High, Chris Epstein is there. Inspector Peck said to tell you everything but..."

Her boss nodded. "Not here. Squad room."

"Uh yeah, they know. I got the call there."

"You?" Sue stared at her.

"Chris called me," Vivian replied. Then she explained the call and that Duane was still on the phone with the teacher. Vivian checked her smart watch. Yes. He was still on the phone.

Immediately, Sue rolled into action. "Today you stick to Sabrina like glue, Peck. It's going to be a hell of a day."


Her phone rang and Holly knew it was going to be a shitty day.

"Honey, please tell me I'm losing my mind and that isn't Chris's school," she said as soon as she picked up.

"You're not." There was a faint grunt and the sound of Velcro. "Listen, ETF is headed to the site. I'm with them. So ... Yeah." Gail sounded apologetic.

She should. Gail and Vivian were headed out to the scene of an armed shooter. Jesus. "Do you need ... God, do you need the lab?"

"No. We have a couple busses already. We may need you after, but I kinda doubt it." Gail paused. "Holly. I love you. You know that, right?"

Years of experience told Holly everything in that moment. Gail felt it was a dangerous situation. "I know," she replied softly.

"I will do everything I can to come home, safe and sound, to you. I promise."

Holly closed her eyes. "I like this better than when people are shooting at my kid, who's held hostage, but not by much."

Gail laughed softly. "I hear you, Holly."

"I love you, Gail."

Her wife inhaled deeply. "I hear you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." They were both, comfortably, silent for a moment. "I need to go."

She needed to go, forget she was a wife, and be the cop Holly fell in love with. "Go." Gail hesitated, repeated she loved Holly, and hung up.

Holly opened her eyes. God. This was the part of her life she hated the most. Letting her wife walk knowingly into danger.

"Hey, Boss— Oh sorry." Pete backed out as quickly as he'd walked in.

"It's fine, Pete. Come in." She wiped her eyes, which were surprisingly dry, and picked up the remote to turn off the television.

"Oh hey. Um. Actually that's why I'm here. Do we have, I dunno, a special plan?" He looked nervous.

"For a school shooting? Only if it's deadly. Otherwise we treat it normally. Whomever is on next gets the scene. Ananda will probably take over, since it involves kids, and Wayne's a parent." Holly found falling into the rote of work made it easier to not stress about.

Pete was silent for a moment. "So are you." He glanced at the TV.

"My daughter's an adult," Holly pointed out. "We have a plan for mass shootings in general. Do you think there's merit in a specific one for schools?"

"No, but." Pete stopped. Then he closed the door behind him. "Holly. Are you okay?"

She huffed out a sigh and sat on the arm of her couch. "I'm feeling my age, Pete," she confessed. Then she pointed at the television. "My wife's headed out there. So is my daughter. I married into this level of stress, and every year, at least once, I'm reminded how much this all hurts."

Pete nodded. "I really don't know how you're not scared ..."

"Oh, I'm terrified." She smiled tiredly.

"Oh. You don't. You don't look it."

Holly looked at the young man thoughtfully. "What does scared look like? Outwardly I mean. Does it look like someone crying or screaming or freezing? I'm a scientist. I analyze and I make hypotheses and I revisit experiments. I ... I am scared. I worry. I hate that they do this. But I accept who they are which means for me, being scared into inaction does nothing."

Pete sat down on the visitor chair. "Sounds like what my mentor said on my ER rotation. Don't break. Save lives."

"Neither of us work on the living." They both laughed a little. "It's the same thing."

Pete understood. She could tell.

It was something few people comprehended. The idea of being able to separate her terror from her ability to function was literally the only way she'd made it through residency. It was also why she saw a therapist these days, on the regular, but the fact was Holly had always been able to separate feelings from actions. Not always very well, and as Gail liked to point out, sometimes she broke down after the fact, but in the moment, Holly was calm.

Of course the after was hard. It was probably brain chemistry in action. Sometimes she just slept a lot. Like after Vivian had been shot? It was that more than the travel that sent Holly to sleep for almost 15 hours.

There was also something to be said for finding out about the drama after it was over. Like when Gail was shot at. That first time, that moment in interrogation where Holly had the haunting realization that Gail did that. Gail stepped into danger. Gail was a cop. It was her job.

Which was why right then, Holly was okay with Gail doing her job. Fucking hell she didn't like it. Not a bit. She hated it. It was absolute and utter agony to watch Gail walk out there in her uniform, in her vest, with that badge and gun boldly declaring that she was the target. That Gail stood between good and evil. That Gail protected.

How could Holly possibly do anything to make that woman feel guilty about the stress she put Holly under. It was all, always and forever, Holly's choice.

No.

It was never a choice. Not the way most people meant it. Oh, sure, she'd had a choice. Stay or walk away. She'd nearly walked away and, twenty plus years later, Holly was dead ass certain her life would have been the worse for it. No. This was undeniably her fate. Just like being a doctor, a pathologist, was her destiny, so was Gail.

People like Gail Peck uprooted lives in their storms, leaving a heart bruised and battered, but a soul full and loved.

Holly looked at Pete. "It's hard, Pete. But it's probably why I love her so much."

To her surprise, Pete nodded. "She's a really amazing person. Totally insane, but she's ... You know you're my idol, right?"

The laugh burst out before Holly had a chance to control it. "I think your fanboy gushing at the conference in Winnipeg gave that away."

He blushed. "Jesus, I was an intern then! You remembered?"

"Of course I did. Gail teased me for weeks about the Dr. Holly Stewart fan club. FYI? She's the president, but she said you and Vivian could arm wrestle for VP."

Pete covered his face with his hands. "Oh my god. She is insane."

"Totally," agreed Holly.

"Before I make a total fool of myself... You're a genius. And Gail... She is too."

"Oh. Sometimes."

Pete stopped. "What?"

"She's a genius sometimes. In a much broader way than I am. I have focus and depth, and she has breadth and range." Holly regarded Pete's shocked expression. "Her brilliance is a sine wave. Peaks and valleys, but not quite as deep in any one as I am in forensics. Except maybe in policing, but that wasn't a choice." Pete was still stone silent. "You didn't think I didn't know that I'm brilliant, I hope?"

"I didn't think you'd say it," he admitted.

"At this point in my life, I've punted imposter syndrome out the door. I know I'm damn good. Some people are better at specifics, of course, but I worked my ass off to get here." She smiled at him. "Thank you."

Pete blinked. "For what?"

"Making me feel less agitated about Gail. It's a nice distraction."

"Absolutely unintended, but you're welcome."

Holly nodded. They both looked at the TV, where ETF was pulling up. A very familiar, tall, woman was with a robot, decked out in the most protective gear Holly had seen. She had a rifle, a helmet, and if Holly wasn't used to seeing how Vivian stood every day, she'd probably not recognize her.

Moments like that, Holly wished she had pearls to clutch.

Instead, she pressed a hand to her mouth.

Her baby was on the assault team.


It was a hell of a day, and they hadn't even started the deescalation yet. "Check, I hear you," Gail said calmly.

Sue herself flashed a thumbs up. "Blue Squad. With me. I want eyes on the CCTV."

"I have to jack in from inside," said a very familiar voice.

Gail mentally praised herself for taking the TUMS half an hour before. It wasn't helping all that much, sadly, as watching her daughter with a damned assault rifle made her stomach churn. She looked at the geared up Officer Peck and said nothing.

Sue, on the other hand, nodded. "I know. All that damn work to make them unhackable."

"Technically nothing is unhackable. Since the system has to be externally accessible for software updates, we could hijack that. Play a man in the middle attack and update the firmware to allow our tools and only ours access. Of course, once that's out of the bag, people will use the method to get personal information on students, leverage them against their parents, and ..." Vivian stopped and looked at the sea of amused and annoyed faces. "Sorry."

If they'd been at home, Gail would have laughed and shoved Vivian in the shoulder or gently on the back of the head. And she would have encouraged Jamie to kiss Vivian to shut her up. Because that was exactly what Holly would do when nervous. And it was adorable. Instead, at work, on a call, Gail let the babble relax her and kept her face still.

"Now that Peck's nerves are under control," said Sgt. Smith, laughing. "Line 'em up, kids."

The ETF crew got themselves in the right order and Sue led them across the tape.

"Any news from inside?" John was pulling his jacket on over his vest.

"Nothing. Chris's phone finally died and I guess the charger ran out. They have the last known location, but since Chris was on voip, they're not sure."

"Figures." He sighed. "I've got Mayhew sitting on Dov and Chloe in your office."

"Good. They can doodle on my mom." She watched ETF (oh fine, Vivian) approach the building. "Jesus, they're so calm."

"We all do that," pointed out John. "We turn off the part of our brains that can't deal and just do the job."

"And then we collapse." Gail curled her lips into a smile that she knew was equal parts evil and comforting. Everyone broke down after those things. Her haircut was evidence enough of that, though she looked awesome with the short hair.

John smiled. "You know it's been twelve years since the last one of these?"

"And that was a handgun and a vendetta against one teacher."

Everyone remembered that. A young man had held a terrified asshole of teacher at gunpoint for hours. The school had been easily evacuated, as all he'd cared about was the one person. The teacher had gone to jail for abuse, the kid for assault and the weapons charge, and everyone had moved on.

This was very different. This was a case where the school doors were changed to lockdown, trapping everyone inside, and no one knew why. Chris had seen the shooter. A shooter. They didn't know how many. The damned thing of it was the school was why they didn't know those things. The lockdown was some bug or weird quirk of the automated system.

"Sometimes I hate technology," said John softly, clearly thinking the same thing.

"Hopefully they'll be able to get in."

ETF was in position in four places. Sue had the shit organized. Her group was closest to the administration part building. The main part of the school was all connected. From the admin to the cafeteria. Only the gym and then language labs were separated. Those buildings were also locked, but had no news of shooters.

Currently the plan was to pop the door without setting off the alarm and take over the cameras. Find the shooters. Free the buildings that were clear.

"I can't believe breaking a window sets off an alarm."

Gail wasn't surprised. "It's the modern school. More secure than a jail."

Her earpiece made a noise. "Blue Squad has the door open." That was Sue. "Sixty seconds until the alarm goes off."

Craning her neck, Gail couldn't really see the group as they entered. They had made sort of a protective shell around someone, probably Vivian or whomever was trying to override the code on the alarm.

As quickly as it started, it was over.

"Alarm safe." Sue sounded relieved. "Time to get control."

Gail tapped her radio and changed the channel. "I can't listen," she told John in a low voice.

"I'm on it."

This was the hard part. The waiting.

She was just steeling herself for it when Traci called. "We've got an ID."

"What?" Gail would have dropped anything in her hands besides her phone. "How the hell— Traci, we haven't even seen the kid!"

"Chris gave us a good spec on the gun," said Traci, and Gail could hear the smirk.

Of course. The gun. "You traced the gun."

"To his grandfather, to him." Traci sent her a photo of a teenaged, acne pocked, pale young man. His hair was dyed black. His skin unhealthy and nearly sallow. He needed vegetables in a bad way. "Ryan Cotter."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm on my way to the house to confirm it's the same gun, but he's the only one with this gun and a kid going to this school in the household."

"Got motive?"

"Just the usual. He's a weirdo, a loner. People make fun of him on the internet and stuff."

Gail groaned. "What the hell? What is it with white boys? Women never do that shit when they get bullied."

"No, they just become the youngest head of Organized Crime in Toronto PD's history," said Traci in her best deadpan.

Touché. "I don't kill people."

"True." Traci sighed. "Anyway, the parents and grandparents are there. I'll be there in five. As soon as I have anything, you're my first call."

"Thanks, Traci." Gail hung up and sighed. "Possible ID," she told John.

"Maybe this will be fast."

"Maybe it'll be safe," offered Gail.

They both knew how unlikely those things were.


Time was crawling.

The easy part had been breaking in, hacking the alarm system, and jacking into the cameras. By the way, it was weird that schools had camera systems now, right? Right. She didn't say it out loud, of course. That would get everyone distracted.

Besides, Vivian's brain running a million miles a second wasn't bad for her to think the things in her head. Her thoughts were going to run. As long as she didn't let it distract her from her job, it was okay. That had been her problem the year before, on the rope especially. Vivian kept trying to squelch her inner monologue and stop stray thoughts. All that did was make her jittery and prone to error.

"Sitrep," said Sabrina, softly.

Vivian took a deep breath. A calming breath. The camera shot on her HUD showed the hall ahead of them was still clear. "Clear."

Raising her hand as a fist, Sabrina flashed two fingers and gestured. Duane and Ivan took point, circling around Vivian and stepping into the hall. All she heard were their footsteps and the collective breathing. Behind them were locked doors. They had, methodically, checked each room, each bathroom, each closet. Once cleared, the door was locked and they moved on.

So far, they hadn't found any students, and Vivian couldn't have said how long they'd been at it. The clock on her heads-up said it was subjectively seventeen minutes since she'd opened the door and started hacking in. It felt like hours.

Red Team, starting from the gymnasium, had cleared out a number of students. Vivian had no idea how many. She didn't even have an idea about the percentages. She knew her counterpart on Red, based at Twenty-Three, was checking the video feeds just like she was. Check the videos for motion. Clear the next bit of hall.

When Duane opened the door, there was a soft cry from inside. Scared voices. "Hey, hey, you're okay," said Duane. He was really amazing with scared kids.

Immediately they moved to protect the children, making an arc around the door. Sabrina radioed in that they had more students, and was asked how many. Good. They had an accurate head count.

Their group of children was not the last. No one had found the shooter. Still, Blue Team kept the children protected and backed out, to the door, and let them out to the waiting arms of the other half of Blue.

Rinse and repeat.

Three groups of children later, Vivian finally saw what she was looking for. "Eyes on," she said coolly.

The squad stopped and circled around her. Vivian swung her rifle to her back and used the computer to sort through the pictures. The HUD display was straight out of sci-fi. It hooked in to a computer she carried on her back, which gave her a straight feed back to the station. Of course, letting that work would mean she had to turn off the signal blocking in the school. Which they didn't want to do. The unsub (yes it was weird to call a kid with a gun that) would be able to use his phone.

So instead, Vivian locked the system down tighter, force killed the voip network, and set the wifi up so only their computers could use it. Then she put a watch on the computer lab, just in case people were there, and finally set up her system to alert her to motion in the hallways.

All the motion she'd caught had been the other ETF officers.

At least until now.

"Where is he?" Sue had her face shield pushed up.

"He's in the hall by the language labs," Vivian said carefully, pulling up the overlay of the school map and trying to make sure she had the right location. Holy fuck. Chris was in a language lab room. "He's checking doors that are locked."

"Fastest route?"

That Sue asked it in that way, Vivian knew they had all the kids out. Or most of them. Please let Chris be safe. Vivian studied the map again. "We can cut through the cafeteria, but it's not cleared. The other way takes us back down the maths hall and up sciences."

"Ideas?" Sue looked at Sabrina.

"Jules' team could blockade the caf, but we're closest," said Sabrina slowly. "But if anyone's in there..."

"Right. Through the cafeteria." Sue talked into her mic. "Jules, loop around, we need you here." She pointed at Vivian but said nothing. Vivian knew what she had to do.

By the time they got there, the second half of their team was ready. Sue led them into the cafeteria, and as Sue had probably suspected there were kids cowering behind in the kitchen area. Thank god. Jules took charge of the students and kitchen staff, ushering them out while Sue led them to the other exit.

The whole time, Vivian kept watch on their perp. He was still trying doors and looked like he was swearing. "He's at the far end, around the corner," she informed Sue, highlighting his position on the map and sharing it with the Inspector and the sergeants.

Sue looked blank at her HUD for a moment. "Right. Red Squad, you in position?"

Vivian's map lit up with the positions of both halves of Red Squad. She made sure Blue was accurately noted. They had the gunman blocked on both sides. The only way out was bullets or, she hoped, surrender.

As they moved around the corner, Vivian in the middle for her own safety as IT and electronics nerd, a niggling thought came to mind. See. If it was her, she'd have an escape route. Shoot the big glass windows of the language lab, used for model UN and debate teams probably, and bail that way. It wouldn't matter if the alarm went off, and the kid had to know they were there.

But the other concern was... what if he wasn't alone?


The last time Vivian had been on some adventure with a mad gunman, Traci had sat with Holly the whole time. Traci had kept her sane, calm, and stable. She'd held Holly's hand and explained everything.

This time, Holly was the one providing support and comfort.

Jamie sat incredibly still on Holly's couch, eyes glued to the television. "Those were shots."

"Handgun," said Holly firmly. When Jamie eyed her, Holly sighed. "I don't shoot, but someone had to drive her to the range on the weekends Gail was busy."

"That makes... sense. Do they— Do the cops shoot back?"

"Sometimes. They try non-lethal first."

Jamie swallowed, her tea forgotten in her hands. "She's really in there."

"She is." Holly studied the side of Jamie's face. It was hard to tell what Jamie was scared about the most. If it was Holly, well that was easy. She was afraid of her kid being shot. Again. But unlike Jamie, Holly had seen Sue and ETF in action a few times.

Because Vivian was a bomb and electronics savant, she would be stuck in the middle of the squad that went in. She would not have a heavy assault rifle or a sniper, though she would be expected to take down the gunman if it came to that. No, Vivian's job was the network. Especially at a school that was as automated and locked down as that on.

God. How stupid. They could have protected the kids and kept them off their phones in a million ways. And the way they picked? Led right to this drama. People did stupid things in the name of safety. What was it she'd learned in school? "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." That was Benjamin Franklin.

If she'd been sitting with Gail, Holly would have mentioned that. Instead, sitting with a twenty-four year old who was watching her girlfriend in action for the first time, Holly shelved that discussion. "Jamie, honey, she's fine." Holly rested a hand on Jamie's shoulder.

"How do you know?" And there, Jamie's voice cracked. "God, is this... I make my parents do this! Do they— Do you think they watch the news and wonder if it's me?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes we watch our kids do this. Most of the time I try not to but. Well... there." She pointed at the screen where Gail, blonde hair standing out in the sea of blue and black, was gesturing and pressing one hand to an ear.

Jamie looked stricken. "Is it different?"

That was a surprisingly deep question. "A lot of things are different, Jamie." Holly gently squeezed the shoulder. "The first time, I was terrified. I found out after the fact. The lab told me... God." Holly laughed. "I'm sorry. Gail was Viv's age. And she'd been shot at by a cop killer."

Whipping her head around, Jamie was stunned. "What?! That happens?"

"Sadly. The lab was all abuzz about it." Holly smiled a little, which only made Jamie look more horrified. "It's half Gail's life ago, Jamie. Yes, a crazy man was made more crazy by a cop and went off the rails. He shot at a few cops. You know Chloe, right? Chris' mom? She took a bullet through the neck."

And now she was appalled. "And she went back out!?"

While Jamie meant Chloe, Holly had meant Gail those twenty-five years ago. "I believe that's what I shouted at Gail." Jamie looked confused. "She and Oliver were also shot at. Ollie saved Gail's life, and then they went back out. In between, we talked. And I fell in love."

"Oh..." Jamie blinked. "Because she went back out there?"

"Yeah. Actually." Holly knew she looked chagrined. She felt chagrined. That whole day had been the moment she was lost. "The point though, honey, is that day I learned the most important lesson about that blonde idiot out there. See, no matter how disdainful and bitter and jaded she is, no matter how much of an asshole she is, Gail is fundamentally a caring, loyal, dedicated person. She will give her life for this city and think it normal. And if I can't love that part about her, then I don't deserve her."

The expression on Jamie's face shifted from fear and confusion to a different kind of surprise. As a parent, Holly had been privileged to see that look many times on the face of her child. It was the surprise of discovery. The first time Vivian had ridden a bicycle. The first time she'd shot a gun. The first time she'd pulled off some ridiculous move on a climbing wall called a double dyno.

It was the look someone wore when the universe opened up one of its secrets, about itself, about themselves, about the people in the world. And then and there, Jamie wore it, realizing the base principle of her girlfriend. Jamie heard and understood what Holly was saying. Jamie saw that Vivian had to do this.

"God." Jamie cradled her own face in her hands. Very gently, Holly rubbed a small circle on Jamie's upper back, just like she would for Vivian (or Gail when she was in a particularly snippy mood and refused hugs). "You know, she kinda said that to me."

"Oh?"

"After I fell down the stairs."

Holly snorted a laugh. "Jamie, the stairs collapsed and Jesús landed on you. I don't think 'I fell down the stairs' is really accurate."

"I know, I know," sighed Jamie. "But she said something like that to me, after she met Dennis."

Apparently she was missing part of the story, and Holly asked, "Sorry, who's Dennis?"

"My ex. The guy I was dating before I met Viv." Jamie waved a hand. "She said he was an idiot for not loving the selfless part of me."

There were moments in life when a person was privileged to know that they had done well. They could know they were good doctors when they'd saved a life. They could know they were good cops when they arrested someone to save others. They could know they were good firefighters when they put out a fire and protected people. Those moments all came down to the feeling of, let's be honest, godhood of saving the world.

This was different. This was the moment Holly knew she'd been a good parent. She had raised someone who understood the universe would hurt her, but still cared deeply. Holly and Gail had successfully raised a child into an adult they could be nothing but proud to call their own.

Vivian got it. She really got it. She understood what they'd been trying to show her all that time. That to love someone meant loving the parts of them that were hard as well as the parts that were easy. To love a mind, a body was easy. To love the heart and soul was painful and terrifying and hard. It couldn't be taken for granted. It had to be worked for, it had to be cherished, but sometimes it meant it had to be let go to be the person they were.

"You're allowed to be scared," said Holly quietly. "You're allowed to get mad at her for scaring you. God, I'm going to be a mess later. I hate this. I hate people shoot at her, spit on her... I just... it cuts at me." Holly wiped her eyes. "And Gail knows it. She tries not to hurt me with it, but ..."

"But its what she does." Jamie nodded. "I think I get it." Then, in a softer tone. "Thanks."

Holly smiled and gave in to what she felt was the right move. She wrapped her arm around Jamie and gave her a good hug. It was right. Jamie turned into the hug, reciprocated, and sniffled a little. "You're not alone, honey. You get scared about that idiot kid of mine, you can talk to me. Or Gail. Or Oliver, if you want a cop who can be super calm."

With a wet laugh, Jamie nodded. "Thanks."

They just sat like that for a bit. Holly giving Jamie the biggest mom hug she possibly could. Had Jamie ever really been mom-hugged? She didn't celebrate Christmas much, though that was due to some arrest of her father. Clearly the McGanns had some issues communicating. But did that translate, as it had for Vivian, into a parent who didn't hug? Jamie certainly took Vivian's non-inclination to touching as normal.

No. Jamie thought it was acceptable. She saw behind the standoffish behavior as Vivian, and as a part of the girl. Even if she didn't understand it. Jamie was willing to take the time to sort it all out. Holly sighed and squeezed the girl just a little. Jamie was barely 24. This was a lot to take in for the 30 plus Holly had been.

She glanced at the tv and smiled. "Hey, wanna see your girl in a hero shot?"

"Huh?" Jamie let go and looked at the television.

There was ETF, actually there was Sue, leading the gunman out. He had on a bullet proof vest. Of course. They didn't want him to get shot. Behind Sue was Julian Smith, head of ETF at Fifteen, and behind him was the crew stationed at Fifteen. Including Vivian, with her extra pack and holding her gun. Her rifle.

"She looks nervous, doesn't she?" Holly chuckled and felt relief flood her system. Because her daughter was just fine.

"I think it was anti-climactic," said Jamie. "She's annoyed."

Vivian's face shield was still down, and yet Holly could see that, indeed, she was annoyed. It was obvious in the set of her shoulders and the tilt of her head. Vivian was peeved.

"Well. She doesn't actually like adventure," said Holly with a sigh and she stood up. "Come on. Where did you park?"

"Huh?"

"We're going to meet our idiots at the station. And you can surprise Vivian and hug her and tell her not to scare you. It's actually really comforting to watch them get all fussed and embarrassed about it."

Jamie looked dubious but got up to follow Holly. "You have a very weird family, Holly."

"I know. Isn't it great?"


She held Holly close and inhaled. The scent of Holly after work, with a little antiseptic and alcohol (not the fun kind) and the underlying smell that was just Holly... It was calming. It grounded her. Gail sighed and pressed her lips to Holly's cheek.

"You okay?" Gail barely spoke above a whisper, trusting Holly would hear her, despite the din at the Penny.

"No." Holly squeezed her close and then let go, cupping Gail's face in her hands.

If it had just been Gail and Vivian doing their job, it would be one thing. That was life. That was work. That was as things were meant to be. While it terrified Holly, she knew that Gail was always going to be like that. But it had also involved the child of a good friend.

Chris Epstein was perfectly fine. Rattled, to be sure, who wouldn't be? But they were fine and hugged their parents when Mayhew brought them to the scene, and went home with them.

But that was the problem. Chloe had moved out. And the realization of the dissolution of the Dork Kingdom Marriage was hitting Holly a lot harder than Gail had expected. Possibly because of everything that had happened that day, Holly acted like she felt the couple should remember everything they had together and stay together. After all, her own parents had.

On the other hand, Gail's had not. Thank god. Her mother had the sense to sacrifice everything for what really mattered. Holly just didn't have the grounding or understanding that love wasn't always enough. People didn't tend to disappoint Holly much. That was to Holly's credit of course. She was a great woman and everyone liked her. And she liked almost everyone.

Holly studied Gail's face and kissed her. It was the long and slow and soft kiss that made Gail not give a shit where she was. She just wanted to kiss Holly and feel her warmth against her. "Better," breathed Holly. Her forehead bumped Gail's softly.

She wanted to remind Holly that they weren't Dov or Chloe. She wanted to make sure Holly knew she loved her deeply and would work through anything to stay with her. Those were words that were meaningless to say aloud. They didn't matter when said. They mattered when, every morning and evening, Gail was there. She was always there.

"Hey, Moms," said Vivian, walking up with Jamie. "Here." She held three shots of tequila in one hand, artfully balanced.

Taking a glass, Gail smiled. Her daughter held Jamie's hand. Still. When they'd gotten back to Fifteen, perp in tow, Holly had been waiting. That was normal. What was not, was that Jamie was with her, looking nervous. What was also not normal was Jamie actually kissing Vivian, while she was still in her ETF fatigues.

Gail had hooted. Then Holly kissed her and Nick had hooted. That's how they all worked. But since then, Jamie and Vivian had held hands pretty much the whole time.

"To a job well done, and harm to none," said Vivian, holding her last shot.

All four clicked their glasses and downed the tequila. Only Gail didn't flinch a little. "Aaaaaah, okay." Gail grinned and kissed Holly again, tossing an arm around the brunette. "Burgers. I want a burger and fries."

"God, yes." Vivian raised a fist. "Table!"

"Oh you wanna eat with us?"

Her daughter smirked. "Not if you're gonna get all clingy."

"I think you should eat with your crew," said Holly, snugged up against Gail.

Vivian looked perplexed. "I am. And so are you. Sue asked me to get you. She bought the drinks."

"Hell. Free drinks with Sue? Last chance for it I guess." She smiled and guided Holly to the collection of tables ETF had shoved together.

Most of Fifteen was there as well. Vivian's rookie class crowded around her side, laughing and teasing her. Cognizant that it was a young person's meal and party, the old guard only stuck around long enough to make sure the tab was covered and everyone knew they were appreciated. First the old patrol guard, like Andy and Nick, left. Then the detectives who hadn't been directly involved. Then Traci and Gail (and Holly of course) said their goodbyes and slipped out, Sue a heartbeat later.

"Fuck I'm too old for that," said Sue, rubbing her lower back.

"Gear's heavy, huh?" Gail smiled, taking Holly's hand again.

"A bit." Sue grinned. "Today could have been so much worse."

Traci shook her head. "I don't want to think about it. The parents were appalled."

"The grandfather though..." Involuntarily, Gail shuddered. A more racist sack of shit Gail had not met in years. "That kid didn't have a chance."

"Going easy on him?" Sue looked thoughtful.

"No. But going to take things into consideration. He's a minor, he didn't kill anyone. His grandfather mentally abused him for years. Whatever sentence he gets, I'll make sure it involves therapy."

Holly squeezed Gail's hand. "You're a good person," she said and kissed Gail softly.

That made Traci laugh. "Oh my god. How many times did your kid kiss? That was so cute."

"No teasing her," said Holly firmly. "Trace, say hi to Steve for us, will you? It's still weird here without him."

Traci's expression softened. "Of course." She hugged Holly and, very briefly, Gail, before leaving.

Sue lingered. "So. This is it."

That was it. Sue was taking over as Administrative Inspector for Specialized Emergency Response. Eventually she'd be the super, everyone knew, but she had to get used to the paperwork first. The job started the next month.

"Yeah. Now we'll be the same rank," joked Gail.

But Sue didn't laugh. "You made sure Viv got me so I could have one last field op, didn't you?"

Gail shook her head. "No. No. I had Viv get you so I could be sure Chris Epstein came home safe." She shrugged, having no issue admitting her playing the system like that.

"I can't believe they're getting divorced," muttered Sue. She and her husband had separated and, eventually, divorced when their twins were still in grammar school. Maybe she felt that if Chloe and Dov had made it this far, they'd go all the way. "Well. I'm glad I got to do this one last time. You should too."

"Me?" Gail blinked a few times.

"Hang up the field. You could take over as OCE's inspector any day. Hell, I bet the super'd retire just to see Superintendent Peck ride again."

The hand in hers tightened and Gail sighed. "No. Not for me. I'll do this until I don't. And then... Then I'll do something else." She smiled at Sue. "It's not what I want to be."

Doubtful, Sue nodded and then hugged Holly. "Alright, I'll see you later."

Alone. Finally. Gail exhaled, feeling the annoyance of that question fade away. "How many times have people asked you to take over OCE?" Holly sounded amused.

"Enough that I want to tell her how much I hate Organized Crime Enforcement as a department name. I mean, geeeeeeeeze. Mafia Don Peck much?"

Holly snorted a laugh. "The real reason you don't want the job."

Grinning, Gail shook her head. "No. You know why."

And Holly smiled the warm, slightly silly smile to the side. She smiled and kissed Gail, her so soft lips just touching, and still delivering on that smile. The smile Gail loved so much. "I do," said Holly. "Come on. Let's go home."

They walked back to Gail's office, picking up her laptop, and then did the shuffle that two adults with their own cars had to do. Sometimes they'd leave one car or the other at the building. The next day would be a juggle of dropping each other off. Sometimes they didn't. This time, Gail made it home first, and she went upstairs to put her gun away.

She almost said to get rid of her gun.

Gail eyed her sidearm thoughtfully. When had that changed? When had she gone from thinking of her gun as a logical, expected part of her life to an annoyance? Probably around the time she realized she didn't want to be this forever. Gail held up her badge and studied it. "Gail Peck. Citizen."

She could retire. She could leave her job today and she had enough money even though the Armstrong clan wasn't thrilled with her. Gail had been fiscally prudent for decades. Wisely, she'd taken her mother's advice and lived on her salary, leaving her inheritance alone. Only twice had Gail dipped into it. Once for her first grown up car and once for the house. That had also been for the adoption of Vivian. Kinda a dual dip in one. And she didn't regret those choices.

Locking her gun and badge away, Gail felt the sudden need to get the day off her skin. And that, naturally, was where Holly found her a short while later.

"Hello," said Holly, amused, as she came into the bathroom.

"Better be my wife and not a burglar."

"Hah, you're the thief." Holly laughed. "Couldn't wait for me to get home?"

"It gets really sweaty under the vest," complained Gail.

Holly shook her hair out of her work bun and took a close look at her own face in the mirror. "Mashes your boobs down too. I like those boobs."

Agreeing, Gail checked her own rack out. "They are pretty awesome." She glanced at her wife, watching the woman go through her evening routine.

"Are you going in tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Gotta clean up this mess." Gail paused and stuck her head out of the shower. "Smell my hair?"

Holly rolled her eyes. "The things I do for you." But she dutifully sniffed Gail's damp hair. "Wash it, please. You smell like an experiment gone sour."

"It's that damn helmet. I don't think we washed them enough." Gail grumbled and made a mental note to get them checked out. As she started to get her hair wet enough for a shampoo, the shower door opened and she felt Holly's hands on her shoulders. "Shit, your hands are freezing!"

As Gail squirmed away, Holly laughed. "Wuss." She took the shampoo and started to rub it into Gail's hair. "I really love this haircut."

"Holly, you gave it to me!"

"I still love it."

It was an old banter. A conversation they went back to time and again. Because Holly did love the haircut, and Holly had been its instigator. There had been a time Gail let her hair grow out a little, but she'd never let it even as long as her academy pictures. The short hair took a bit more work to look nice, but Gail saw it as an excuse to get pampered more often.

What Holly was doing wasn't pampering. It wasn't overtly sexual either, though it was a bit of foreplay on its own. It was the kind of love and attention Gail had found lacking in her other relationships. Holly didn't do it to get in Gail's pants, though that would likely happen anyway. She did it because she wanted Gail to feel loved and lavished with proper attention. She did it because she loved Gail.

While the conditioner soaked into Gail's hair, she reciprocated the affection, giving Holly's back a good scrub and a bit of a pressure point massage. Holly said it was a paradox, that the less time she spent at an autopsy table, the more her back hurt when she did. Gail wisely opted not to point out Holly had terrible typing posture. Or reading posture.

Instead, Gail kissed Holly's shoulder and suggested they rinse off and go to bed.

A suggestion that was met with approval.


Listening to Jamie's heartbeat was incredibly soothing. She rested her head on Jamie's chest, not draping her entire self over the shorter woman, just half. This was much better than the party had been. The party was filled with noisy people and drinks, which was fine, but everything had gone on so long and was so loud and ... ugh.

But then her friends had suggested she get out of there. They knew her well enough, after all, to know that she had a limit to the masses. And Jamie knew it too. They'd gotten home and Vivian was not at all surprised when Jamie's intentions were made obvious.

Hadn't her moms done that a million times themselves? Gail would get in some sort of possibly dangerous case and Holly would be incredibly handsy and attentive when they got home. Like Holly needed to assure herself that Gail really was okay from top to bottom.

Vivian had experienced that herself when Jamie had gotten hurt, too. She'd really wanted to touch Jamie and make sure everything was fine, and of course her girlfriend had been too banged up for that at first. Eventually they'd gotten there, but yes, she understood completely where Jamie was coming from.

And she certainly wasn't going to complain. Sex was great. Celebratory 'you're alive!' sex was fantastic. Once aliveness was verified came the time for discussion. Was it dangerous? Was it safe? What had it actually been like?

"Sounds underwhelming," said the firefighter, her fingers lazily stroking Vivian's back after Vivian gave her a description of the events.

"It was," agreed Vivian. Then she asked, "Am I allowed to talk about Oliver in bed?"

"Hm. You're the one with the rule about no talking about men in bed, but. It's Oliver."

Vivian smiled. "Ollie used to say if your day was boring, you were doing it right."

"Oliver is wise," said Jamie. She sighed softly. "I like him."

"Me too." She yawned. "That was really good, by the way."

"Thank you." Jamie sounded smug and Vivian could only laugh. Laughing as well, Jamie traced her fingers up to Vivian's shoulders and lingered on a rather fresh bite mark. "You're one of the only people I've dated who likes me biting."

Surprised, Vivian looked up. "Seriously?"

"Yeah..." There was a pause. "I guess it's too aggro or something."

Vivian propped herself up and kissed Jamie slowly. "It is. But you asked."

That had not been the first time a bed partner had asked to try something. Pia had told more than asked, but she had very much been instructive in how one asked about things in bed. And yes, there had been a lot of communication with Skye. So when Jamie had asked, on their third or fifth time together, if she could bite Vivian, it had seemed a somewhat reasonable request.

No drawing blood and, normally, not above the collar. Once or twice there had been slipups, but then again, Vivian had also left Jamie with a monster hickey before. Mistakes happen. And as it turned out, Vivian actually liked the biting. It was right on that line of pain when it felt good. Like scratching an itch the doctor said to leave alone so it would heal.

"You can ask stuff too," Jamie pointed out, her face getting red.

It was adorable. Jamie was still a little embarrassed about talking about sex. Not as much as she had been. But still.

"I know." And Vivian kissed her neck, where it met the shoulder. "I do have ideas."

"I mean besides, y'know, what we've done."

Vivian smiled and nuzzled her nose into Jamie's neck. "I know. And I do."

Jamie tilted her head back as Vivian slowly kissed her way up to Jamie's ear. "Mmmm like what?" And Vivian proceeded to whisper an idea into her ear. The blush got more prominent, but Jamie looked interested in a happy way. "Oh. Yes. I like that idea. Do you have ..."

"I do," she confirmed. Thanks to a very involved parent. That said, Vivian was of a mind to send Gail a thanks if it went well.

"I'm not tired," said Jamie, gripping Vivian's hair to steer her a little. "And I know you have the day off ..."

Vivian grinned and got out of bed.

It was quite worth it.

The dinner the following night, however, was not as expected.

"Oh, hey, Chloe." Vivian stared at the surprise presence of Chloe, there in her pajamas, answering the front door at the Peck/Stewart house.

Holly, thankfully, swooped in. "Hi, honey. Chloe's staying here until her apartment is ready." She kissed Vivian's cheek and took the bag.

"Ah. That makes sense." Vivian smiled and she and Jamie came in.

"Hi, Ms. Price," said Jamie, quite politely. "Is Chris coming?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Call me Chloe. At least here. And no. Chris is having dinner with Dov tonight."

"Did you figure out where they're living?" Vivian absently made sure Chloe locked the door. Old habits, and years of Gail nagging everyone, died hard.

Nodding, Chloe threw the bolt and chain. "With Dov until the end of the school year. Then college. So it depends."

Holly spoke up from the kitchen. "Where did they decide to go?"

"Seneca." Chloe looked pleased enough. "It's not York or UoT, but at least they have a policing program."

"They don't have to go to college," pointed out Holly.

"I know, and I said so, but they said Dov and I did, and they wanted to be more than just a low grade officer all their lives." Chloe shrugged. "I think someone leaked that Andy never went to college."

"True," said Holly, barking a laugh. "Colleges aren't bad. Didn't Dov go to one?"

"Humber." Chloe nodded. "I suppose I should be happier Chris will be closer..."

Vivian glanced at Jamie, who was looking uncomfortable. While her parents were not exactly inclined to obvious snobbery, sometimes they forgot how privileged they had been. So Vivian asked, casually, "Hey, McGann. What was Seneca like?"

The adults fell silent.

Holly cleared her throat. "Well fuck me. I just pulled a Lisa," she said, sounding fully aware of what she'd done.

"It's okay," said Jamie with a half smile. "It's not prestigious or anything."

"Actually," said Gail, appearing out of nowhere, "Seneca's got more career pathways than any other college or university in Canada. It takes the majority of international students as well." She smiled and kissed Holly's cheek. "Hi."

"Hi." Holly sighed. "Did you plan for a meal that would taste good after a foot in mouth appetizer?"

"Yes, but not one that goes well in pajamas. Honestly, Chloe."

The tiny woman rolled her eyes. "Oh fine. I'll put my pants back on." And she stomped up the stairs.

Vivian grinned at Gail. "How have you not killed her yet?"

"Yuck it up, she's in your room."

"Oh good."

"How is that good?" Jamie wrinkled her nose. "We—" She cut herself off and flushed.

"You can hear Moms less," drawled Vivian, and she kissed Jamie's cheek. "How's Chloe really doing?"

Gail made a face. "Dov offered to give her and Chris the house, but she wanted out. That just went from somewhat reasonable to shitty in ten seconds. And apparently her mother is being crazy, so she needed a place."

With a deep sigh, Holly leaned into Gail. She always did that for support, emotionally, when people had relationship problems. "I wish they could work it out."

"Everyone gets one break up, Holly," said Gail knowingly. "If you make it work after that, you're good." She wrapped her arms around Holly.

Jamie eyed Vivian. "You know she's crazy, right?"

"Oh she's nuts," said Vivian, smiling.

"Totally," agreed Holly. "But she's the crazy I'm fond of."

"I'd be offended if it wasn't accurate," Gail said under her breath.


Standing with Ananda and Wanda, Holly smiled. "So. What do you think?"

The other women were somewhat stunned.

"You want us? To head up this?" Ananda stared at the open lab area in open shock.

"Together? On top of our other duties." Wanda looked doubtful.

Holly sipped her tea. "Adjustments can and will be made."

The idea of a dedicated lab for image scanning, retrieval, and processing had been one Holly floated to Wanda earlier that year. Make more hard to read documents readable. It had been Wanda's private interest since the head basher case. At Holly's behest, Wanda had written up a proposal for a joint research group with the Mounties.

While the Mounties had very much liked the idea, it had been outside their own budget. A dejected Wanda had promised to think about her options. That had worried Holly, who didn't wish to lose her best forensic scientist. So she'd asked Ruth to run the numbers and check with the Territory.

There had been a great many options and ways they could have addressed it, but Holly had already received approval for the art restoration part of the lab. All this did was make it more fiscally responsible. A lab used for multiple, similar, situations was a lab that was actually used. And that was not a waste of money.

Ananda stepped inside. "Image recovery... Wanda. We could scan the works, use the restoration techniques to back date the age... Do you remember the Lloyd case?"

"The contract forger?" Wanda nodded. "That would have been easier if we had a reliable way of raising the ink from the carbon paper."

"Not that anyone uses carbon anymore." Ananda made a face. "But we could reinvent the science."

Wanda made a thoughtful noise. "That's a lot of work."

"Scared?"

"Overwhelmed."

Holly let them discuss it, arguing back and forth. They hadn't walked out yet. They were discussing an idea of how they might handle the load. Their schedules were, like Holly's, not entirely predictable or understandable. But at the same time, they were talking about it. They were moving from the vague ideas to the possibilities the way that people did when they were really, truly, interested.

They were interested.

She hid her smile behind her cup. "You don't have to decide right now," Holly pointed out.

"I hate her," said Wanda, pointing at Holly. "She's all smug."

Ananda sighed. "She's got us. You know that, Wanda."

"Oh I know. But I hate her." Wanda sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Fuck you, boss. I want this."

This time Holly smiled openly. She couldn't hide it. "I'm glad." Putting her cup down, she walked around the room. "Obviously Wanda's office is closer, which means she'll be on the hook more for lab requests. And Ananda, we still have the issue with your papers."

Ananda turned pink. "I know."

Wanda did not. "Papers?"

"My first three papers got rejected by the Canadian Academy of Forensic Sciences." Ananda glumly shoved her hands in her pockets.

"Oh, please. That's normal. I had ... almost twenty. And that asshat Pritchard? From Edmonton? His second shot! Those idiots." Fierce and angry, Wanda shook her head. "These are the same idiots who took thirty years to give the boss a keynote!"

Holly had tried to explain to Ananda that the rejection was normal. If you were a woman. "It was only twenty years, Wanda. I'm not that old," she corrected, peevishly.

Looking between her elders, Ananda's eyes widened. "You weren't just trying to make me feel better?"

"Oh, for..." Wanda threw her hands up. "Dr. Stewart approved your papers, right? You know she won't put her name on anything like that if she doesn't believe it's good. Shit, she wouldn't even let me submit some of mine."

That was true. "It was a terrible article, Wanda. Boring. I'm a pathologist and I thought the study on arterial plaque in malnourished drug users was dull."

Ananda blinked. "Did they have more or less? Or did it depend on the drug?"

Wanda held both her hands out to Ananda. "See? I told you it was interesting!"

"The concept was, the writing was not." Holly shook her head. "Dr. Ury was not a fan of her writing classes."

"Dr. Stewart's an egotistical snob." Wanda sneered. They both smiled and Wanda laughed. "You know, though... I could help."

Oh. Holly arched her eyebrows. "Could you now?"

"If we're going to run this jointly, proofing Dr. Ames's papers will give me insight into how she thinks." Wanda looked at Ananda curiously. "Can I call you Ananda?"

"I think we'd better, Wanda," replied the younger doctor, and she held a hand out. "To the new lab."

When Holly recounted the conversation to Gail, her wife smirked. "Has Dr. Cougar Hunter figured out Ananda likes smart chicks?"

Holly felt horror, literal horror, wash over her. "They wouldn't."

"They might." Then Gail corrected herself. "Wanda might. Amanda's got a thing for Trujillo."

"Ugh, why do you have to make my life difficult." Holly didn't really mean it, and she knew Gail knew that.

Gail laughed and kissed Holly's cheek. "Speaking of life more difficult, we have an empty house for a while."

"Oh? Where's Chloe?"

"Apartment hunting." Gail sighed. "I can't believe she found her landlord was embezzling."

The whole reason Chloe was staying with them was that just before she'd signed her lease, she'd run a background check on the building and owner. And she'd ended up having to have him arrested. Of course Gail found it hilarious, but at the same time annoying. Then again, Gail had been the one to suggest Chloe stay with them for a little while. It was that or Chloe would stay with her own parents, and while that was an option, they'd already given her hell over Dov. Whom they'd never really liked.

Somehow Gail made it clear that she wasn't picking sides in the divorce, and implied she'd have let Dov crash with them had that been the case. Holly doubted it was true, but she let it go. Gail had successfully lived with Dov before, after all, even though there had been some odd sexual tension between them on Dov's side.

So they had Chloe now, and probably only for a little while. Chloe was very dedicated and determined to move into her own place. Be it an apartment or a condo or even a house, Chloe wanted her own space and home. She'd confessed to Holly that she'd never actually lived on her own. Not completely at least.

Holly gave Gail her best deadpan droll. "Well, by all means, Gail, we should take advantage of her absence. Sweats and a movie?"

And Gail laughed. It was a beautiful laugh. It was one of the laughs that made Holly fall in love with her over and over again. Gail's happy laugh was rare, though not as much as it had been when they had started dating. It was a wonderful laugh that rang from the heart and warmed the soul. Gail's eyes crinkled and her teeth flashed and she was undeniably happy.

It was impossible to ignore and Holly leaned in to kiss her.

The move caught Gail by surprise, but she quickly melted into Holly's lips and arms. Gail's arms went around her neck and Holly settled her own hands on Gail's waist, pulling her even closer. "I love you," said Holly softly, between kisses.

"I know," said Gail, as impish as ever.


"I had it on good authority you never helped people move," said Chris Epstein, smirking at Gail.

"Your father is an asshole. And, as his former roommate, he never replaces the damned toilet roll."

Chris shouted, "I knew it!" Turning, the teen pointed at Chloe. "I told you it was Dad! Not me!"

The small Portuguese woman sighed. "Why did I agree to let you help, Gail? Why? Why did you even offer?"

"Because I'm your most awesome friend ever." Gail beamed and put her box down.

"Also Vivian blackmailed her," Holly pointed out.

"That's my kid." Gail was incredibly proud of Vivian for that one, though.

Chloe looked worried. "Do I want to know?"

As one, Gail and Holly and Chris replied. "No!"

"Okay, why the hell do you know?" Chloe pointed at her only child.

To their favor, Chris just smiled. "It's a secret. Are you going to march in the Parade, Mom?"

Chloe threw her hands up. "It's May!"

"She's marching," said Gail. "I have to be on that fucking float with my stupid white shirt on. She's gonna ride or walk. Don't care. More grown ass adults." Then she added, "Zander's marching too."

"Hail hail the gang's all here," sang Holly. "I'm going to ride with you again."

Gail blinked. "Really?"

"Mmmm hmmm." She smiled and kissed Gail softly. "I liked the after party."

"Ahhh," said Gail, and she laughed.

Chloe snorted. "Chris. You know how Vivian joked they were always having sex?"

"Uh... yeah." Chris sounded unnerved.

"She wasn't joking," Chloe said, dryly. Chris started to laugh and then froze. "It's incredibly weird, you know, Gail. I mean, I like sex. But you two act like there's no such thing as lesbian bed death."

Of course there was. Gail didn't say it, but she clearly remembered a time when they'd been glorified roommates. Holly spoke up, however. "It's not easy, Chloe. And ... it's not a failure—"

Chloe laughed, a bit self-deprecating, but she laughed. "Holly, I know. God. I know." She shook her head and looked at Chris. "You do know, right, sweetie?"

The teenager nodded quickly. "I do, Mom."

"You're one up on me," said Gail.

And Chris explained. "They love each other, but they want different things. Mom wants her career too, and Dad's kinda a dork about it. They can't compromise on it, so it sucks, but I want them both to be happy. I think they'll be happier divorced."

Gail pointed at Chris. "How the fuck did you two idiots get a smart one who's in touch with their feelings?"

Chloe smiled and opened a box marked kitchen. "Chris got all the good genes."

"Just not the studying ones," chirped Chris. "Hey, is it true Jamie went to Seneca?"

"She did," said Holly. "You should ask her about it."

"Oh I will. Mom, I'm gonna idiot walk the truck and take it back?"

"Thanks, sweetie." Chloe kissed Chris' cheek and the teen ran off. "I cannot believe how well he— they're taking it." Chloe made a face. "You two never slip up. That's my kid!"

"That's probably why," Holly pointed out. "Chris has always been your baby. Changing what you expected to what they became is hard."

Chloe sighed. "I guess. But ... How hard was it when Vivian came out?"

"I expected it," said Gail, sitting on the stool she'd put together. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but she doesn't trust men. So ... if she was going to like anyone, it'd be women."

"I suppose that makes it easier." Chloe agreed, though a little reluctantly. Then she eyed Holly.

Quickly, Holly held up her hands. "I was a bit surprised. Mostly that she fell for Olivia, but in retrospect, I should've seen that coming."

"She was safe," Gail pointed out. "Wait till Chris starts dating."

With a laugh, Chloe got out her plates. "Oh joke's on you, Peck. Chris has a girlfriend. She's adorable."

"What!?" Gail laughed, delighted. "Order a pizza and show me embarrassing pictures. I need more ammo."

Chloe did her one better, having Chris pick up the pizza and his girlfriend, Soma. The girl was a little surprised to suddenly be meeting grown ups, but took it in stride and remarked she'd expected to meet the famed Vivian first.

That was a factoid Gail had nearly forgotten. Chris had once harbored a major crush on Vivian! Naturally that led itself to Gail showing Soma photos of Vivian, with her girlfriend of course, but also as a gangly teen and tiny youth.

On the way home, Holly drove very quietly. Gail couldn't read her mind, but she could cut to the chase."Okay, Stewart, what's on the mind?"

Holly didn't seem bothered by the lack of preamble. "Do you ever think about fostering again?"

Unexpected. "Not really, no. Not like before." She glanced at her wife. "We could... if you felt it was important."

"Oh. I do and I don't." Holly huffed her breath of annoyance. "I mean, it's important and I'd like to think that if we were needed, we would but... "

As her wife trailed off, Gail nodded. "It's a lot different at sixty than forty, isn't it?"

Chagrined, Holly nodded. "I don't know that I have the energy for it, for a child again. And then I think how much more a teenager would need. And I feel guilty for feeling like I should put me first, and—"

"Hey, no babbling when you're driving," said Gail, interrupting Holly and touching her thigh. "If I can't kiss you to shut you up, you can't babble."

Holly smiled the quirky, lopsided smile that Gail adored. "Sorry."

"I get you, though." Gail squeezed the thigh and then sighed. "I think we're more likely to bring in a stray." Her wife made a confused noise. "Like if Dov had lost his mind and kicked out Chris?"

"Oh." Holly nodded. "Good point. Stray adults like Chloe, too."

Gail smiled. "Thank you for that, by the way."

"It was a week, Gail. And I actually like Chloe." They shared a smirk. "And I know you do too."

"Hell, better Princess than Girl Guide. I might kill McNally."

Holly snorted. "Please of that pair, Nicholas would show up with a duffle bag and a sad expression and you'd feel like shit for cheating on him and he'd be in my guest room. Again."

That was probably true. Andy would go to Traci's and Nick would, indeed, show up at their place. "You never told me you picked up drunk Nick, you know."

Her wife did a double take. "He told you?"

Gail nodded. "He did. He wanted to know how to properly thank you."

"Ugh." Holly made a disgusted face. "He's such a pain in the ass."

"Indeed."

"Hang on... He never got me anything!" Holly sounded quite offended. "What a lazy asshole."

And Gail laughed. "Oh that's my fault, Holly. I told him the best thank you would be staying sober."

The doctor was quiet for a while and then nodded. "You're right," Holly agreed. "That is the best thank you." Then she sighed and reached across the console to take Gail's hand. "I'm really thankful none of our problems were of that magnitude, honey."

"Me too." Gail squeezed the hand and smiled. "Me too."


Pulling up to the firehouse was always fun. "Red alert! Blue Girl in the house!"

"Hi, Mike." Vivian pulled off her helmet. "Am I in time for the wet t-shirt contest?"

"I heard that!" Seated atop the firetruck with a sponge, Jamie laughed.

"You were supposed to." She put her helmet on a handle and walked over to watch the end of day truck cleaning. "Why do you have to clean it every day?"

Her girlfriend threw a towel down, missing Vivian by a foot. "Don't you ever clean your cars, copper?"

Vivian smiled. "Weekly."

"I heard cops never shower below collar lines," said one of the other firemen.

"That's a lie, and Jamie can attest to it." Vivian took up a position leaning against the lockers.

"I can't believe you're dating a cop, McGann," said the same fireman. "I mean, she's hot, but..."

Jamie's towel hit her fellow firefighter this time. Square in the face. "That's my girlfriend, asshat."

The argument quickly devolved into sponges and wet towels being thrown around. "I'd blame you," said Captain Shay Peck, "but they do this all the time."

"This is probably why she never wants to wash her truck."

Shay smirked. "That's true. Her truck looks like she went mud trekking on the weekend. So why are you here?"

"Said truck is in the shop."

Shay winced. "Yowch. Anything bad?"

"Regular maintenance, but there was a recall on her solar generator." Vivian shook her head as the firemen played more than cleaned. "Why do they have to do it? We have a motor pool."

"We do too, but the trucks are different. They have to know every inch of that rig, top to bottom. Cleaning it helps." Shay paused. "My truck gets cleaned by the same service that does your cars. Who does ETF's?"

"Motor Pool. They restock it, but we check it since we have different runs all the time."

Shay nodded. "How's that working out?"

"Good," said Vivian. "Really good. Got my feet under me now."

Her cousin laughed. Shay's father was the youngest son of Harold Peck's older brother. Technically that made Gail and Shay second cousins, but in the interests of no one going insane, they all went with cousin. After all, the only way to survive in Toronto was to assume everyone named Peck was related. To date, Vivian hadn't met one who wasn't.

"Cappy! How we looking?" One of the firemen spread his arms out.

"Looks like a truck, kids. B shift, get the fuck outta here. See you in three."

The fireman nodded. "You heard the Captain, B. Grab your gear and grab your girls."

A young fireman on the front of the truck called back. "Or guys!"

The crew laughed and the man in front, who must have been Old Brooke, the shift chief, shook his head. "Alright, or guys, or both. Skedaddle, B Crew."

There was general hooting and laughter and Jamie hopped off the truck. "Enjoy the floor show, Officer?"

"Meh, I've seen better," drawled Vivian, but she did lean down to kiss her girlfriend. "Grab your gear. I hope it's just the backpack."

Jamie blinked and looked a little sad. "My truck isn't done yet?"

"Stuck waiting on a part, I guess." Vivian shrugged.

"Bummer. Okay, I'll be right back." Jamie dashed off and jogged up the stairs.

Shay coughed a laugh. "You guys are adorable."

"Bite me."

"There's the Peck." Shay smirked. "You're on the softball team, right?"

"Shay, you know I'm gay," said Vivian dryly.

Her cousin ignored the joke. "We're scheduling our district versus your trio." Vivian hesitated and swallowed her next joke. "Can you teach Jamie how to throw from right?"

It was so hard to hold back the laugh. Because Jamie was a great batter. She had a fantastic eye for the ball and she could catch almost anything. The other half of her fielding skills left much to be desired.

"You want me to be a traitor?" She narrowed her eyes at Shay.

The older Peck smiled. "Peck. So yes."

"No." Vivian smiled her best Gail 'fuck you' smile, and was pleased to see Shay startle.

Jamie sighed. "Why are you threatening my boss?"

"My cousin is trying to get me to put family before family." Vivian waved a hand. "I'm not teaching you how to throw from the outfield."

"Oh Jesus, Cap, I told you." Jamie rolled her eyes. She grabbed Vivian's hand and dragged her over to the parking lot. "Just shove me in right and I'll hit everything."

"You're supposed to catch everything when you're in defense," teased Vivian.

At home, they didn't talk about softball. They did some laundry, caught up on emails, made dinner, and ended up sitting on the couch, actually relaxing and watching Batwoman. And they were cuddling. Kind of. A little.

Vivian was sitting in the middle of the couch and Jamie was tucked up in the corner with her legs in Vivian's lap. That was kind of cuddling? It was more than Vivian normally did at least. Though Gail had pointed out that, at seven, Vivian used to fall asleep with her head in Gail's lap a lot.

"What were you and Holly talking about," asked Jamie as the episode ended. Batwoman had finally revealed herself to Renee Montoya, who had actually known since the previous season's finale.

The topic caught Vivian by surprise. "Me and Mom... oh at dinner last week?"

"Yeah, I didn't mean to, but I caught you guys in some weird hug? Gail said it was mommy/daughter time."

Vivian almost laughed. The Gail part was amusing. The rest, not so much. "We were talking about Chris and stuff, that's all," she demurred.

Jamie poked her shoulder. "And stuff?"

That was a gentle reminder not to shut Jamie out. Right. "Well. The gunman at Chris' school got me thinking. That was all." Vivian rubbed Jamie's leg. "Y'know. Thinking about stuff like what ifs."

"What if ... it was you?"

Vivian blinked. "What? No!" She scowled. "Do you think about stuff like that?"

To her surprise, Jamie nodded. "A little. Like, if someone jumped me, what would I do? Or if the bus flipped, how would I get out."

"Huh. Mom was right, you should try writing stories."

Jamie rolled her eyes. "Shut up." She poked Vivian in the shoulder again. "What about ifs?"

"Seriously?" Vivian tapped the remote to pause the show from auto-playing.

"Ask anything."

Because that was their deal. Of course. Ask anything. Try to answer.

"Oh fine." She grimaced and leaned back. "I was thinking... What if. What if Chris was, uh, our kid. I mean, what if our kid was in a school shooting?"

Jamie sat still for a moment and then sat up, tugging her feet back and folding her legs underneath her. "Oh. Okay." She ran a hand through her hair. "Well. That would've been a lot more scary."

Exhaling deeply, from the bowels of her self, Vivian nodded. "I mean, it was scary enough because I know Chris. I've known them since they were born. I used to babysit Chris and Jerry all the time. It's ... Chris is a kid. And then I get a phone call, and Chris isn't a kid at all, they're an adult, trying to make sense of shit and do the right thing and they called me, Jamie!"

Her voice cracked a little and Vivian flinched.

Calmly, Jamie put a hand on Vivian's knee. "Because they couldn't get Dov or Chloe."

"Yeah but ... Why me!? I'm not a parent! God, I don't even know if I should be one, Jamie, and I like kids, but I like handing them back. I can handle me, and you. Us. But kids? Jesus, I don't know if I could do that—"

She stopped when Jamie abruptly hugged her. "Hey, I'm right here," said Jamie quietly. "Breathe, okay?"

It helped. Vivian inhaled a shuddering breath. Long, slow, exhale. Another breath. "Okay," she mumbled and hesitantly wrapped her arms around Jamie. Okay, that did feel better.

Jamie kissed her forehead. "We're not going to accidentally have kids, Viv."

Coughing a laugh, Vivian nodded. "God. Did my Moms tell you?"

"Yeah, Holly thinks it's hilarious." Jamie let her go and grinned. "You really thought your moms could accidentally get pregnant?"

"I was seven!" Vivian laughed and wiped at her eyes. "My god, Gail just said when two people have sex!" Admittedly Gail had also said that it involved penises, but Vivian had misunderstood that part.

"I'm just saying, we can take as long as we want to figure out if we really do or not."

"Do?"

"Want kids?" And Jamie screwed up her face. "Wow, I'm fucking this up more than you would."

It was so calming to have Jamie screwing up her attempt and talking about their future. "I think I do. Want kids. But ..."

"Feels like we're putting the cart before the horse."

"Yes!" Vivian relaxed. "I mean. Unless you're trying to talk about marriage."

Her girlfriend chewed her lip. "Well. We could."

Vivian felt taken aback. She'd never really thought about it. Not in the same sense that Holly hadn't thought about marriage. Holly had just never thought she could get married, not as a young girl nor a teenager, nor even a young adult. Meanwhile, Gail had grown up with the expectation of marriage as a career requirement. That had led to Gail protesting marriage.

For her own, Vivian just hadn't thought deeply about the idea of marriage. She hadn't seriously thought about it at all. Marriage was a thing that happened, or didn't, and that didn't matter much. Andy and Sam had divorced. Oliver and his first wife. Frank and his first three.

Marriage.

"Do you ... Do you want to?" She tried to keep her face calm and not sound like Vivian thought it was a bad idea.

"I don't know," said Jamie honestly. "I don't. I really don't." She sighed. "I mean, my parents..." Jamie stopped. "Sometimes I wish they'd divorced."

"Oh?" Vivian was stalling for time and she knew it.

"Yeah. They only stayed married because of me."

Oh. Vivian shook her head. "That sure as hell isn't your fault."

"I know, I know. But sometimes I look at them and think that could be me."

Right there, that was why Vivian liked Jamie. Her parents were too far past the fears of being their own parents to understand why it hurt Vivian so much. Or they were just past the pain and had moved on. It was hard for Vivian to let go of it, and it was hard for Jamie as well.

"We don't have to rush into anything we're not both comfortable with," said Vivian carefully.

Jamie grumbled and took her corner seat again. "We're not even thirty."

"See? Way too young." Vivian patted Jamie's leg. "Come on. Let's watch Kate Kane dig her way out of another fine mess."

Her girlfriend smiled and reached for the remote.


I know the subject matter of this chapter was uncomfortable for some readers, and for that I do apologize. It was a part of a story I wanted to tell, awkward and all.

I do understand if you leave poor reviews for this one, but I do hope to hear if you liked it and what did or didn't work well.