I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters etc…
Thanks for the reviews, favs and follows - they are all very much appreciated. I agree Gail should tell Holly about Perick and being held captive while uc in Vancouver – by the end of this chapter she may not have a choice…
Hope you like this.
…
It turned out that Holly had heard what Gail had said in the shower. Gail had asked on the way back from the batting cages, her voice a little shy, and Holly had nodded. So why not say anything Gail wondered and Holly explained that it was in case it was said under duress.
'Under duress, what do you mean?'
'Well not exactly under duress, but some might argue that you weren't quite in your right mind at that particular moment,' Holly smirked.
'Is that so'
'And I didn't want to scare you up that tree by holding you to it.'
'Holly, I love you, I really do, but'
'I know you do,' Holly interrupted with a lop-sided smile.
'But you have to promise me one thing, can we stop using that mangled cat in the tree metaphor,' Gail continued.
'Too late Peck, you will always be like a cat to me.' Holly laughed, and when Gail scowled, she said, 'Okay, I promise.'
'Anyway I wasn't scared. I mean I was a little worried because you didn't say anything but then I was fairly sure you felt the same way.'
'And how'd you figure that?'
'Well, you were so relieved when I got back from undercover, and you keep caring about me even when I'm doing something shitty like not telling you about Steve, then there's the tattoo and in Chicago you told me you wanted everything with me which I guess is the sort of thing you'd usually say to someone you love.'
'See, further proof of why you are a detective,' Holly said.
'Don't make fun of me Holly, 'Gail whined but then conceded, 'I guess it was pretty obvious wasn't it.' As Holly nodded, Gail speculated silently whether it was past rejections that had made her doubt the depth of Holly's feelings. No, not exactly doubt she corrected, more like meant she didn't trust herself to read the signals correctly.
'And Gail, for the record, I don't think I knew what love was until you.' Holly's tone was sassy but then she looked at Gail so earnestly and with a face so smitten that Gail wondered why she ever questioned whether Holly was as in love as she was. If anyone else had said what Holly just did, Gail would have called them a sap, but now she just felt like her heart was full of, she couldn't put her finger on it. Elation? Happiness? No, it was full of joy and it struck her that, until now, this was an emotion that had largely been foreign to her.
…..
'So when did you know?' Holly asked, lifting her head so she could see Gail's face.
They were lying together in bed, Holly with her head resting just under Gail's chin and Gail with an arm around her after what had turned into marathon sex. Holly had teasingly reminded Gail that she had wanted to take it slow, but Gail had just shrugged and said 'life's too short not to have sex with you Holly.'
From Gail's attic room they could see the rooftops of the surrounding buildings and the shadowy tips of oak and maple trees outlined against a night sky lit by the glow of street lamps and light spilling from the few houses where people were still up at this late hour. The occasional sound of a car drifted up, the distant echo of a dog barking and sometimes the muted voices of passersby but their words were indecipherable. Here, enfolded in Gail's arms, Holly had a sense of being cocooned, blissfully at a remove from the world outside, which seemed almost nebulous but definitely less real, less substantial than the world of feeling and touch and sensation they had created in this room.
It occurred to her that this was the first time she had felt completely confident about letting herself love Gail. She had fallen hard for Gail that first time, even though she knew about Gail's skittishness around commitment and her insecurities about opening herself up, but Holly thought she was different, they were different. Still she'd been careful not to spook Gail by letting her know just how much she meant to her. And Gail had run anyway and it left her devastated.
When Lisa had told her to get out before she hurt Gail, Holly knew if anyone was going to have their heart broken it would be her. Back then, try as she might, she always had a sense they were on borrowed time. Then when Gail said she needed to stay for the adoption, it seemed easier and, Holly convinced herself, healthier to go to San Francisco rather than face the possibility of Gail's rejection again. Safer not to risk another chance with someone who, by her own admission, was barely capable of an adult relationship. But now, now having acknowledged they loved one another, Holly felt none of that.
…..
'See,' Gail had said to Holly earlier, 'much better exercise than the batting cages, admit it' and Holly had laughed and finally agreed that it was much more of a workout.
'Remember that,' Gail had told her, 'when you next want to go to the batting cages.'
'Oh no you're not getting out of it that easily Peck, you still owe me'
'Really Holly, did I not just make you come two, oh no wait three times and you're saying I owe you,' Gail said with confected outrage, 'and judging from the noises you were making not one of them was just any old ordinary orgasm but premium quality.'
'You're insane, you know that right,' Holly laughed and moved up to kiss Gail, but unlike the kiss in the coatroom, which had also been precipitated by Holly declaring Gail insane, this kiss was far from fleeting.
As the kiss deepened, Holly shifted so she was now lying on top of Gail, and Gail moved her hand down to cup Holly's ass and pressed her closer so she straddled Gail's thigh. Holly moaned, and Gail thought triumphantly, oh yeah Stewart you totally owe me, before reversing their positions and running her hand up along the inside of Holly's leg stopping as Holly pushed up into her hand.
She wasn't really serious about Holly owing her because, at this moment knowing that Holly Stewart loved her, she felt like the luckiest person alive. For an instant Gail allowed herself to think that things in her life were actually going well, but then as Holly pulled her even closer that thought was replaced by the realization that right now Holly required her full attention.
After that they had gone downstairs to the kitchen to forage for food, Gail suddenly ravenous. Chloe had called out a cheery hello on their way past the living room, adding that there was leftover spanakopita if they were hungry, and Gail could only thank god Frankie had gone home. In the kitchen, Holly stepped into Gail, who was leaning against the counter top and very deliberately licking the last of the pie crumbs from her fingers, a move that Holly was very aware was entirely for her benefit. Holly marveled at the need to always be in such proximity to Gail. She had never felt this pull with any of her past girlfriends.
'You're intoxicating,' she breathed. Before she worried she craved Gail too much, but now she knew Gail felt the same way she basked in the feeling.
'Is that your way of saying I've paid my debt,' Gail asked, looking up at her and Holly almost laughed out loud at the impish flash of wickedness in Gail's eyes.
'Gail, I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion. Doesn't the number of times I just made you come cancel out my orgasm debt? Which means Peck,' Holly concluded with a self-satisfied smile, 'you still owe me.'
'Jeez Holly,' Gail huffed, 'when did this become a competition. Anyway they don't count.'
Holly titled her head to one side and gave a smile that sat somewhere between amused and incredulous, all the while wondering at the ridiculousness of the conversation but reveling in it nonetheless.
'Oh really. Not even that last one, when I did that thing with my tongue you seemed to like so much.' In fact Gail had said if she were to die right then and there, she would die a very, very contented woman, which Holly had said was rather morbid but Gail insisted was the highest compliment.
'I think you might need to do that to me again so I can re-evaluate.' Gail's expression was solemn but the tone of her voice was playful.
'Oh really?' Holly raised an eyebrow.
'Yes really, just to be fair,' Gail tried to keep a straight face but began to smile, and taking Holly's hand she led her out of the kitchen and back upstairs. Holly was laughing and Gail soon joined in.
From her position on the sofa in the living room, Chloe reflected that she had never seen Gail this happy. She had spoken to Nick today though and he had told her something of the undercover job and Gail being held captive. Chloe felt she should broach this with Gail but wasn't sure how, especially as she didn't want to break the blissful bubble Gail and Holly were in. She wondered if Gail had told Holly but thought it unlikely.
….
Upstairs, Holly now looked at Gail and asked 'So when did you know?'
'Know what Holly?'
'That you loved me'
'Oh that,' Gail said almost as if to downplay the importance of the revelation, but then continued more seriously. 'Well maybe at some level I knew all along. I had never been so drawn to someone in my life before. I mean I don't believe in love at first sight, that's kind of sappy right, but I realize now there was always this feeling with you. But definitely the day,' Gail hesitated before continuing, 'the day of the Penny debacle, when I gushed to Dov about you, can you imagine that, me gushing.'
'Oh,' Holly said quietly, regretting once again how wrong things had gone that night, 'We were both so stupid.'
'But not anymore', Gail smiled, lazily tracing patterns across Holly's back with her hand. 'What about you, when did you know?'
'I felt myself falling for you pretty much from the moment we met. Well maybe not when you were being so officious and snarky in the woods, but definitely when you came back to the morgue and then I kept talking myself out of it, because apparently you were straight.'
'Apparently,' Gail laughed.
'But I knew when I heard you might have been shot at and I couldn't bear to think that something had happened to you, or the thought you'd go back out on the streets again, and then when you kissed me in the interrogation room, I knew I was in trouble.'
'In trouble?' Gail screwed up her face, not sure she understood what Holly was trying to say.
'I realized it would be hard to be in love with you – back then I mean – you were so prickly about relationships, so busy putting up walls and then I didn't know if you were just experimenting, it didn't feel like it but I've been wrong about that before.'
At this Gail raised her eyebrows. 'Sounds like a story you need to tell me some time.'
'Nothing much to tell. I fell for a straight girl who said she'd fallen for me and two months later she went back to her boyfriend. Said she'd made a mistake.'
'Bitch,' Gail said.
Holly laughed. 'I really don't know what I saw in her. It wouldn't have lasted anyway. She was always self-conscious when we went out and actually fairly closeted about the relationship. I was always amazed at how comfortable you were being with a woman for the first time.'
Gail shrugged, 'It just felt right.' Holly smiled and, pulling herself up, kissed Gail.
…
They overslept in the morning of course and only woke when Chloe gave a tentative knock on the bedroom door. Holly had to borrow a shirt, which Gail thought hilarious because all her shirts were a little tight on Holly making it hard, as they got dressed, for Gail to keep her hands to herself. Holly had already banned shower sex for that morning on the grounds that there was no time.
'And if I'm late Frankie will give me hell,' Gail groaned, flopping back on the bed, 'and she knows we were on a date so I hate to think what she'd say.'
'Won't she say it anyway?'
Gail barely made it. She was thankful Chloe had furnished both she and Holly with a coffee before they left the house, although she knew her pale face betrayed the fact that she'd had little sleep the night before. Not a great impression to make first day back after being undercover, Gail realized.
'Hey Peck, good night last night?' Frankie greeted her. Out of the corner of her eye, Gail saw Chloe nodding her head at Frankie as if in confirmation. What a traitor, she thought, immediately contemplating how she might get payback.
'Well I hope the doctor let you get enough sleep,' Frankie continued, 'because we've got two bodies in Rogue Park. You ready to go take a look?'
Gail nodded, immediately focused. 'Who found them?' she asked.
'Oh the usual, someone walking their dog. Gerald and Larson were the first to respond so we better get out there to make sure they've secured the scene properly. Forensics are on their way.'
…
It always amazed Gail how in less than half an hour you could be out of the city and in a wilderness area. Gail wasn't the hugest fan of nature, but even she had to admit Rogue Park was spectacular, particularly now with the spring growth. Its extensive network of trails made it popular with hikers and joggers, and it seemed dog-walkers.
As they pulled up on a track in the woods, Gail noticed that the forensics van was already there. Rodney was pulling on his tyvek suit and Gail had to suppress a smile when she saw Holly rounding the back of the van, red lunchbox in hand.
'So Rodney', Gail said, not bothering to greet either of the pathologists, 'you're a betting man, I know Detective Anderson enjoys a flutter, what's say we have a wager on cause of death.' Gail fixed both Rodney and Frankie with a smile so saccharine it bordered on menacing.
Holly now had to suppress her own smile. So this was how Gail was going to play it. Her revenge would not be swift. No, she was going to draw this out. She'd make Rodney and Frankie squirm. Constantly reminding them that she had not forgotten about the bet and nor should they because at some point she would exact her revenge. It was genius really, thought Holly, because Gail never needed to actually carry out any retribution, instead the constant threat of it, the anticipation of it, was enough to mean Rodney and Frankie could never completely relax their guard around her.
'No, no takers,' Gail inquired innocently, 'Rodney, it could be a chance to make-up your losses from San Francisco.'
Rodney gulped audibly and looked a little frantically at Holly and then quickly away. He was a very reserved man, cautious both at work and socially, and Holly was certain there was no way he would have agreed to a bet about whether she and Gail were having sex unless Frankie had coerced him, and she correctly guessed that he was now mortified not only by the bet but that she knew about it.
'Ignore her. She's just playing with you,' Frankie told Rodney, but he looked unconvinced.
'Oh you're no fun Frankie,' Gail pouted and then turned back to Rodney, 'the victims aren't going to know, I mean its not like you're betting on your boss or anything.' Gail finished with a shrug and another smile, and yes Holly knew she had to stop with the cat in the tree metaphor, but damn if that smile didn't make her think of a cat toying with a mouse.
Rodney stood immobilized, his face becoming increasingly red. Holly probably should say something to rescue him, but decided instead it was time to get to work. Maybe she should have a word to Gail about harassing her staff, well at least ask her to tone it down a bit, but actually she wasn't too bothered because really Rodney and Frankie had asked for it. On the other hand, every time Gail brought up the bet, Rodney would remember that he had thought of his boss in this way, even if he had been certain she and Gail weren't having sex, and his furious blushing would only serve to remind her. Holly wasn't entirely comfortable with that given he reported to her.
As Holly approached the cordoned-off crime scene, Officer Moore lifted the yellow tape to let her pass and said cheerily, 'Morning doc' and when she ducked under the tape she had the distinct feeling he was checking her out. Holly hadn't realized Frankie was right behind her until she heard her say, 'That is Doctor Stewart to you Gerald, and I suggest you keep your eyes to yourself unless you want Detective Peck to take your taser and use it on your junk.'
'Yes ma'am', Officer Moore sounded somewhat chastened.
'What was that about?' Gail asked, as she drew level with Frankie.
'Nothing. Got keep him on his toes'.
Holly meanwhile had made her way down to the two bodies. The setting in the woods reminded her of the crime scene where she first encountered Gail, although then it had been autumn. The bodies had been placed in a gully under a dark green tarp, which was then covered with a thick layer of forest litter. The tarp had been pulled back to reveal the upper half of both victims, so badly decomposed their faces were unrecognizable. She hoped each had some other distinguishing feature from which she could make an identification. Even from a glance, Holly could tell the bodies were in different stages of decay.
The crime scene techs had arrived ahead of her and, as she waited for them to finish photographing the tarp, Holly looked around the gully and caught a glimpse of the same dark green beneath another mound of forest litter. Gail must have seen something at the same time. From her position at the top of the gully she called out, 'H, ah, Dr Stewart, what's that over there?' and pointed to the same mound.
Holly made her way over and clearing away some of the leaves and twigs and loose soil, found an identical tarp. This was not looking good. She had a grim feeling they had stumbled across a body dumpsite. She called one of the techs over to take photos and then with Rodney's help carefully pulled back the tarp.
'Detectives,' she called out, 'I think you better come down and take a look at this'.
As Gail approached she could see the blonde hair and the ligature marks on the wrists and ankles of both women. Holly and Rodney would tell them for sure, but she would guess that neither had been dead for more than a few days.
Holly was saying something. Gail heard the words dumpsite but nothing else. When Holly stopped speaking, Gail turned to Frankie and said so quietly it was almost a whisper, 'why does it always have to be blondes'.
It was then that Holly noticed how strangely Gail was behaving. It was as if she were somewhere else. Frankie placed her hand on Gail's arm, which Holly thought odd, particularly as Gail didn't like people touching her.
'Are you okay?' Frankie asked, her voice surprisingly gentle.
Gail shrugged off Frankie's hand and ignoring the question said flatly, 'I'll go and talk to the dog-walker.' She then strode up out of the gully towards a cruiser parked a little further down the track where Officer Larson was waiting with the dog-walker. Frankie made no move to stop her.
Holly looked on in bewilderment. What had just happened?
….
Just to let you know this plotline is not about Perick or a Perick copycat – that has already been done, or is in the process of being done, really well by other writers in this fandom. As you'll see in the next chapter, the similarities are there for the impact they will have on Gail. That's not to say this crime won't be solved.
