It took Gail a couple of days to get over her batting cage humiliation, which Holly thought was both entertaining and ridiculous. She herself hadn't ribbed Gail too much about it to be fair, but unfortunately Jake had taken great delight in sharing the story with Andy and Scott, and they of course weren't going to pass up a good opportunity to wind their colleague up. In fact at handover time yesterday, Holly had walked into the kitchen to find Jake re-enacting the moment using a rolling pin from the drawer, much to the amusement of the others. However, they had soon shut up when Gail had threatened to insert the rolling pin somewhere rather painful.
The dramatic announcement of that threat (which Gail insisted was actually a promise) seemed to draw a line under things and certainly tonight's shift handover had been a far quieter and more professional affair. That may have also had something to do with the fact that Holly had to work late, so Sanderson and Gail had taken over from the others at the lab rather than in the safety of Holly's own home. The ride home had also been pretty quiet; Sanderson was worried he had spotted a tail, so they took a rather circuitous route round the city. Nothing materialised however, but by the time she got home Holly was tired and fed up. Hence she had decided to have a lazy evening.
The two police officers were more than happy with that plan, so by nine that evening they were all spread out over Holly's living room, waiting for their pizza order to arrive and bickering about what to watch on the TV.
"Let's just put a DVD on," complained Gail as she watched Sanderson channel surf.
"Football?" he suggested hopefully, coming across a game and ignoring his partner completely.
"No!" both women shot down the suggestion simultaneously and so he continued to travel through the sports channels.
"Who put you in charge of the remote anyway?" Gail asked in an irritated voice. She stretched a foot out from her perch on the left side of the couch towards where Sanderson sat on the floor and kicked him in the shoulder.
"It's a man's job," Sanderson said, looking up at her and grinning at the look of disgust he received, "Everybody knows that the man of the house is always in charge of the remote!"
Holly took advantage of his distraction and leant over Scott's shoulder from her seat on the other end of the couch, grabbing the control from his hands. "Not in my house, Officer!" she told him and began her own channel surfing session.
"NCIS?" she said hopefully as the show popped up.
"Seriously?" Gail asked, "You're a pathologist, you can't actually watch that drivel?"
"I like to pick the holes in their methods," Holly told her, sounding almost excited at the prospect.
Gail shook her head and raised her eyebrows at Sanderson who shrugged in response. "Put a film on, Holly. We're not going to find anything," she instructed and pointed at the cabinets where she knew Holly's films were stored.
Holly had to agree, so she stopped hitting the change channel button and went to get up to go and find a film they could watch, hoping that the three of them didn't start the same argument about that as well. However as she did so she noticed the show she had stopped on.
"Wait, Doctor Who!" she exclaimed.
"Surely you've seen this one?" Gail responded. She recognised this episode as being a few years old and Holly was the biggest nerd she had ever met, so she must have seen it.
"Yeah, but is River Song in it? I'll watch anything with her in again," Holly said with a frown as she tried to remember the exact storyline of this one. She was balanced on the edge of the couch, caught halfway between standing up and her seated position.
"Really? You have the hots for River Song?!"Gail asked in an incredulous tone, staring at the brunette. She could only see the profile of Holly's face and the back of her neck, but didn't miss the red flush creeping up her skin.
"Erm…no?" Holly answered, entirely unconvincingly and without looking back at Gail.
"Hey, each to their own Doc! No judging here. But she's got an awful lot of hair…" Gail grinned, enjoying the other woman's discomfort.
Holly frowned, knowing Gail was mocking her. "It's nothing to do with how she looks," she tried to defend herself, "She's just all….badass and cool, marching around with her gun and the heels and the lipstick, in charge of everything…" Holly trailed off, lost in her own thoughts and Gail laughed at her again.
Sanderson was watching the women banter back and forth and felt thoroughly lost. He caught Gail's eye and quirked an eyebrow at her. He would expect this from Holly, but he didn't have Gail down as a secret nerd too.
"Who the heck is River Song?" he asked, staring at his partner.
The expression that crossed Gail's face was akin to a kid who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Er…yeah. That's what I meant to say too," she said, with a feeble shrug at him and he simply shook his head in disappointment. They both turned their attention back to Holly, who was apparently still watching the show, but Gail suspected her head may be filled with a different character to those that were on screen.
"Hey!" Sanderson called. "Earth to Holly! Are we having that film or what?"
"Yeah sure," she replied, but didn't make any move to sort it out.
Both police officers waited a beat, before Gail took matters into her own hand. "Oh for Pete's sake! River Song isn't in this one, she doesn't re-appear in this season until 'A Good Man Goes To War' which is in, like, three episodes time. This one just has that crazy woman who has consumed the TARDIS' matrix," she finished her diatribe by jumping up off the sofa and marching over to the storage unit. With her back to the room, she sorted through the DVDs, looking for the one she had spotted earlier that week. "And you can shut up Sanderson!" she called over her shoulder.
Scott shut his mouth and swallowed the jibe he was about to toss at his partner, whereas Holly actually looked impressed at Gail's knowledge. Yet another surprise from Gail Peck, she thought. Any woman who was a Doctor Who fan gained serious points in her book.
Just at that moment, Gail's phone rang and she answered it with a barked "What?" She listened to the caller and put the phone down without another word. "Pizzas are here," she told the others as she turned back round. They had told the delivery place to get their guy to wait half a block down, which was probably over cautious but inviting any stranger to knock on Holly's door right now was out of the question.
"Off you go then," Sanderson said, jerking his thumb at the door.
"You go! I'm sorting the film!" Gail scornfully replied.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" he suggested and she nodded confidently. They both counted to three and showed their hand.
"No freaking way!" Gail said in disbelief when she lost.
"Hurry up Peck, they're getting cold!" Sanderson told her smugly and he chuckled in delight at Gail's disgust.
Gail glared at him, and tossed the Iron Man 2 DVD that she had finally found at Holly, who caught it neatly. Both she and Sanderson heard her muttered curse as she left the room and they both winced at the language.
"Well that was a bit rude," Sanderson said, taken aback.
"Colourful," agreed Holly as she smiled at Gail's bite.
"My Mom would have her wash her mouth out with soap!" he declared and debated suggesting that to Gail when she returned. However he decided there were a couple of curse words she hadn't managed to slot into that last sentence and he didn't really want those directed at him too.
Sanderson looked sideways at Holly who was kneeling on the floor setting up the DVD player, noticing the half smile on her face. He decided to fish a little. "So, you and Peck have a lot in common," he offered casually.
Holly looked surprised at that statement and sat back on her heels, "Really?" she asked, "Why do you say that?"
"Ah you know. Just watching you together. You get on well, yeah?" he said.
Holly wasn't sure how to answer that. Was Scott trying to trip her up? She thought of Gail as a friend…ok if she was honest with herself, she thought of Gail as more than that, but she knew she couldn't go there. Did Scott think she and Gail were too close; that the professional line had been blurred? Holly didn't think that she had been obvious about her feelings at all – unless Scott had spotted something on that night out. Drunk Holly wasn't as subtle as normal Holly. She knew she had flirted heavily with Gail, but in private conversation, not in front of everyone.
She tried to deflect the question. "I guess I spend a lot of time with you guys. We've all gotten to know each other well," emphasising the word all. It was true, sort of. The more she learned about Sanderson, the more she liked the easy going young cop. He could be a good friend too, just like Gail. Of course, he didn't need to know that she wished Gail could be more than a good friend.
"Yep. She's not the easiest to get to know though, is she?" Sanderson replied, allowing himself a smirk when Holly immediately bristled.
"I wouldn't say that. Gail's great! So she's a little more guarded than most,"
"And straight talking…" Sanderson mentioned.
"She's honest! That's a good thing!" Holly told him, frowning at what she saw as an attempt to discredit Gail.
Sanderson held his hands up in a gesture of apology, "Hey, I meant no offence. You're right, Gail is great. I hope we'll keep in touch and stay friends when I'm back in Vancouver," he said, trying to placate the woman that sat with him on the floor. Holly gave him a strange look and didn't reply, instead getting to her feet and moving back to the sofa. She began to fast forward through the trailers at the start of film, drumming the nails on her free hand against the arm of the couch.
"You like her more than a friend though, right?" he asked softly in much the same way he had asked Gail last week. He didn't need confirmation from Holly; he had listened to a couple of the early phone conversations she had shared with her Mom. He had heard her pour her heart out over her feelings for Gail but how she couldn't act on it with someone she was working with, and that the cop was straight anyway. McGregor had eavesdropped on a couple of those phone calls too and had called Sanderson in to talk about it. People could say what they liked about McGregor, but one of his good points was that he trusted his team to do their job. So even when on shift, he relied on his staff to listen in on Holly's calls which meant that he had missed much of what Holly had told her mother…Sanderson wasn't going to share it.
The boss was worried that Holly's feelings for Gail would make the job complicated and wanted Sanderson's opinion about whether they should pull Gail from the team. Sanderson had persuaded him that Gail was completely oblivious about it all and that Holly wasn't going to pursue anything. He had told McGregor that he was sure Holly would get over it soon enough, then when the sergeant had asked him to keep an eye on things, Sanderson's update was always that he hadn't seen or heard anything more on it.
The entire team – even McGregor - had pretty much stopped listening to most of Holly's phone calls within a week or so anyway; certainly those with her parents or best friends. It had become clear that Holly wasn't sharing any details of the case or her protection unit with anyone, nor was she cooking up any plans to get away from the team. They all felt uncomfortable listening to her personal business, not to mention a little guilty, so the only calls they monitored were the very few from unknown numbers. Therefore Sanderson hadn't lied when he said he had heard nothing more about Holly's crush on Gail, but he suspected some of the long calls to her mother may have contained a few more details. Whether he had seen anything was another matter; he was a cop after all and a good one. He hadn't missed the way Holly would look at Gail sometimes, or the way she would smile at the blonde. But as far as he was concerned, it wasn't a problem. He liked working with Gail, nothing had happened to interfere with the job they were doing and it was good that someone on the team had made a connection with Holly, it made things easier. However, when he had started to notice that maybe Gail felt the same way, he had thought long and hard whether he should tell McGregor, yet he had elected not to. He didn't want to cause trouble for his friend at the end of the day, and he knew she was professional enough not to let anything cloud her judgement. He worried about them though; this dance they were doing around each other must be stressful for them both.
Whilst he was waiting for Holly's reply, he watched the emotions play across her face. Her hand stilled on the arm of the couch as the first reaction of shock hit. He saw her swallow and bite her lip as the shock turned to panic, then he watched her resolve set in as her shoulders stiffened. He noticed the exact moment she decided to lie to him; her eyes slid away from his and looked down to the left and she shifted in her seat.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Scott," she said, with a fake puzzled air.
Sanderson allowed himself a small chuckle at the fact Holly's answer was very similar to the one Gail had given him over a week ago. Gail was the better actress though. He stretched his shoulders out and continued to watch the woman who was sat in the corner of the sofa. "You know, it's difficult for people to lie to the cops. We're trained up to spot it. And you? You're not a good liar Holly Stewart," he stated.
Holly shook her head and didn't say anything else, but he could see the worry and turmoil brewing under the surface.
"It's ok," he told her gently and that was all it took.
"Does she know? You won't tell her, will you?" Holly asked desperately.
He pondered that for a moment; he didn't know whether Gail realised how Holly felt. He suspected she was too busy worrying about her own feelings to read the signs properly. But he could answer the second question, "I won't tell anyone, no. I'm not asking because of that; I'm asking because I'm worried about you. About both of you,"
"I don't want to cause trouble for Gail. I know it's awkward, but it's me not her," she told him, and he felt terrible for bringing it up when he saw the sadness written across her face. He had just wanted to know how Holly felt, because he suspected this was something that both women were going to have to deal with, rather than burying their heads in the sand like they had been. It was true; he did worry about the two of them. He loved working with Gail, even if she spent most of their shifts insulting him, they got on great. She was straightforward, entertaining and smart. And as he'd gotten to know Holly, he found he really liked her too – she was friendly and laid back and made a mean chilli con carne. In normal circumstances, he thought they would actually fit well together, if Gail could stop panicking and listen to her heart. But with the situation they were in, it wouldn't be right for them to get involved.
Sanderson shuffled across the floor and knelt in front of Holly, laying a hand on her knee. He gave it a quick squeeze and smiled understandingly at her. "It's ok," he said again. "I get it. For what it's worth, I think you'd be great together. But just not right now,"
Holly furrowed her brow, not getting what he was trying to tell her so he continued the explanation. "She's working and things could get messy. The brass would actually call it unethical if you two got involved. She could lose her badge,"
"I know," Holly sighed. "I know nothing can happen, even if we both wanted it to. It's a professional relationship, and we can't help becoming friends, but what it comes down to is that you guys are here because it's your job. And Gail is straight anyway, I know that. So it's stupid, and I promise I'll get over it,"
Sanderson shrugged. "Like I say, I think you'd be good together. In different circumstances, that's all. Who knows what will happen when all this is over?" he offered. He was pretty sure Gail wasn't as straight as Holly assumed and he also suspected that she was interested in Holly, so he didn't want to kill off any idea of a relationship. Equally he didn't want to encourage it either, because it would make their job harder. Once the Kolarov trial came up and all the Stewarts were safe and well, he would root for these guys if they did decide to see if there was anything there. But until then, the job at hand came first.
Holly stared at the fair haired officer sat at her feet, unsure of what he was trying to tell her. Was he saying that there was hope for her and Gail? Did he know something – maybe he and Gail had talked? Or was it just his own speculation? She couldn't see Gail unloading her thoughts onto anyone…and she'd only known Sanderson for three weeks. However, before she could question him the front door banged open making them both jump. Sanderson was straight up on his feet and stepping in front of Holly but they both relaxed when they heard Gail call out.
"Thanks, Scott," Holly said, settling for just making sure he knew that she appreciated his concern and didn't think he was meddling. They headed through to the kitchen to collect their pizza, before sitting down to watch the film…and Sanderson again marvelled at the Nerd Fest between the two women as they debated what technology they would put in their own armoured suits. Although they had to interrupt the movie a few times so Gail and Sanderson could do their checks, all three of them enjoyed the chance to wind down a little. They had settled into an easy routine over the past three weeks and they had become friends, but that didn't mean the pressure of being on the alert all the time wasn't hard.
Later that night, after Holly had gone to bed, Sanderson came back from a perimeter check to find Gail picking at the leftover pizza.
"You're a bottomless pit, Peck," he said, marvelling at how much Gail could eat, and he received a death stare in return.
"I'm heading out to the van, Sanderson, and for that, I'm taking this with me," she told him.
He grinned, not really caring whether the leftovers walked or not. But he did have something he needed to get off his chest. He tried a similar opener to the one which had worked with Holly. "So are you and the doc both fully paid up members of the Nerd club, or do you just guest star occasionally?"
"We are beings of higher intelligence, not nerds," Gail responded, with a roll of her eyes. "Or at least, I'm not," she amended her statement, thinking of all the times she herself had called Holly a nerd.
"You're just a nerd fan?" he clarified.
"What are you on about now, Sanderson?" Gail asked, bewildered. She had a feeling he was going somewhere with this, but couldn't work out what.
Sanderson sighed and decided to try a different tactic. He'd tried to ask her last week after he had witnessed the two of them fighting, but Gail had been riled up of course, and he'd gotten a mouthful for his trouble. But they'd just had a really chilled evening, so now was as good a time as any to try and get through to her.
"I'm a cop, Gail. I notice things and I'm not an idiot. I see how you two are together. There's something going on isn't there?" he challenged her deliberately, knowing that nothing had happened but hoping her reaction might give him something else.
Sure enough, Gail took the bait. "What? Of course not!" she hissed, mindful that Holly was upstairs and she needed to keep her voice down.
Sanderson walked over and leant his forearms on the kitchen island next to where Gail was standing. He bent over level with her, in a bid to seem less like he was trying to pick a fight, but he carried on pushing. "What am I supposed to think? You've both clearly got the hots for each other, and you've spent all night flirting away on your own planet. Look, I don't care, but if you're sleeping with the subject then as your partner, I need to know,"
"You're nuts," Gail told him, wide eyed. "I'm not an idiot either! Do you think I'd be that stupid?" Sanderson shrugged and kept silent. Of course he didn't, but he wanted to get Gail talking.
Sure enough as the silence grew and Sanderson continued to watch her, Gail felt the need to defend herself further. "Nothing is happening Sanderson," she said. "I'm professional and I am more than capable of controlling myself,"
That sentence gave him the in that he was looking for. "But you'd like something to happen?" he asked calmly.
Gail flapped for an answer as she realised she had dropped herself in it; "No, but…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say. She didn't want to flat out lie to Sanderson; he was her partner and he had turned out to be a good one. She remembered him asking on the night she and Holly had argued – clearly he had worked out that she was interested in Holly anyway. As she wondered what to tell him, Sanderson tried to press his advantage.
"You like her, don't you?" he probed.
Gail sighed and gave up. "Yes," she admitted, and she steeled herself for his reaction. However, Sanderson's demeanour didn't change in the slightest and he remained stood by her side, cool and collected. She chanced a look up at his face and he quirked an eyebrow at her but stayed quiet.
"Say something!" she demanded when the silence stretched between them. It had taken a lot for her to confess that, and now he was standing there like she had simply commented on the weather or something.
The taller officer laughed at her annoyance. "What do you want me to say?" he asked with a shrug.
"I don't know," Gail huffed, and she slapped the pizza box shut before turning her body to face him. "Anything! Tell me I'm an idiot and I'm going to get fired. Tell me she's out of my league. Hell, tell me I'm not gay, that's an interesting conversation that's been going on in my head lately, why not join in?"
Sanderson wrapped a long arm round her shoulders and pulled her into his side for half a hug. Gail rolled her eyes and withstood it for a moment before wriggling away. "That's not really how I communicate," she told him.
"I know. But I thought you might need it," he said and she grunted at him whilst he continued talking; "Look. First off, you can be gay or straight or a monk for all I care, whatever stirs your coffee. It doesn't matter, you know that. And as for her being out of your league, well you're both awesome. So shut up, yeah?"
Gail couldn't help but smile at him. "Shut up yourself," she muttered. It surprised her, but admitting to Sanderson that she liked Holly felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders. Saying it out loud was terrifying but it also felt good to have someone in on the secret. Thoughts of Holly had been driving her up the wall and she was tired of struggling with talking herself out of her own feelings. Another opinion would be like a breath of fresh air.
"As for getting fired, McGregor doesn't know anything," Sanderson said, "So as long as you stay cool, you'll be fine,"
She sighed. "I'm not going to act on it; I know nothing can happen,"
"You wouldn't be the first cop to fall for a subject in this sort of situation and you probably won't be the last. But it makes things messy, Gail, it really does. You can't lose sight of what we're here for, or let it cloud your judgement," said Sanderson, earnestly.
"I'm not going to do that," she replied, shaking her head. Trying to fight her attraction to Holly had been difficult, Gail would freely admit that. But she could also honestly say it wasn't affecting how she did her job. If anything, she thought it was making her more focussed; protecting Holly had become much more than her job, it had become the most important responsibility she had ever taken on.
"Just be careful, that's all," Sanderson cautioned.
"I am! And I'm keeping a lid on it. I just thought…" Gail tailed off, embarrassed.
"Thought what?" he asked, not willing to let her off the hook.
"I thought it would go away. We clicked, and I never click with people. It was weird so I thought it was just a stupid crush on a friend, and it would stop," she confessed.
Sanderson pulled a face at her logic. "I'm guessing not?"
Gail covered her face in her hands and shook her head, "Nope. She keeps being all funny and amazing and making it worse,"
"Man, you've got it bad Peck," Sanderson said, observing his partner. He hadn't realised how into Holly she actually was. He also wondered if Gail herself realised.
"It's fine. I'm dealing with it, I promise you," she told him, rubbing her temples before dropping her hands and looking at him once more.
"Ok. As long as you're ok, yeah?" he asked.
"Yeah," Gail answered, without much conviction.
Sanderson spotted her despondency. "You've just got to hold it back for a few more weeks. Then once this is over, maybe you can see what develops," he said, almost repeating what he'd told Holly earlier.
"It would still be messy," Gail argued. "It would go from unprofessional to creepy!"
"Holly wouldn't think you're creepy," he laughed at the idea.
"Maybe it's best if I just tell her now, then walk away. You could get someone else in, there's only three weeks left," she mused.
Sanderson shook his head "You need to be here," he said, wanting to stick by his partner.
Gail appreciated the support; another partner wouldn't have been so understanding. She thought even some of her friends from the division probably would have flipped out. "I can't believe I got myself into this mess. I just can't help it, you know?" she said ruefully.
"Hey. Being interested in Holly isn't a bad thing. But it's just really, really bad timing!" Sanderson offered, not sure whether that would make her feel better or worse.
"Timing has never been my strong point," said Gail, "I'm really not good with relationships. I'd screw it up either way."
"You're predicting a failure before you've even started anything. That's sad," Sanderson told her.
Gail frowned and trying to explain what she meant, "It's true though. I've fucked up all my relationships and this is…different. It's confusing,"
"Because she's a woman?" Sanderson clarified.
"Yeah…no. I don't know. I mean, that's a pretty big detail I guess. She's all sexy librarian and who knew that was my thing? But I'm more worried about the fact she's under my care than the fact she's a woman. And that worries me! It's weird not to be freaked out about the girl thing, isn't it?" Gail realised she was rambling, and stopped herself.
"I don't know. I don't think so," Sanderson pondered.
"This would be a lot easier if I had just met her at a crime scene or something," she sighed.
"Like I say, you're not the first person I've seen this happen to and you probably won't be the last. It gets pretty intense, spending all this time with someone,"
"Who else do you know?" Gail demanded.
"Jake!" he smiled.
"You're bullshitting me. What happened?" she asked in a disbelieving tone.
"Not really my story to tell, but he was on a witness protection detail and got a little too friendly with the witness,"
"Oh God. I'm surprised he still works for your unit! Didn't he get disciplined?" Gail asked, though actually she didn't really care if that happened to her.
"He got taken off that case…" Sanderson said with a shrug, before he broke into a giant grin, "But he married her two years later!"
"You're definitely bullshitting me," Gail insisted with a shake of her head.
"Ask him yourself," he retorted.
Gail thought about it, but didn't want Jake wondering why she was interested. She would have to believe her partner. "Well that's a special case Sanderson; let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I still don't know how to get through the next three weeks without making an idiot of myself,"
"You'll be fine, Peck!" he said cheerily. "Now that I know, I'll help take your mind of it,"
She dreaded to think what Sanderson's distraction tactics would be. But now that he mentioned it, there was one thing that had been on her mind and she would need Sanderson's agreement to put her plan into action. "I'm good, thanks. But I have an idea that I do need your help with,"
Sanderson listened as Gail outlined what she wanted to do. He was pleased with his intervention with both women tonight. He felt like he had a better handle on the situation, and he hoped he'd given them both some peace of mind whilst still making it clear that they needed to put a hold on things. McGregor wouldn't like Gail's plan that was for sure. But it would make Holly happy, and he couldn't really see it causing a problem if the boss didn't find out. It was a little risky…but only if Holly was under observation from the mobsters 24/7 and he really didn't think that was the case.
"Ok, let's do it," he agreed. "But I'm going to say it one more time – be careful, yeah?"
A/N: He's a good guy, Officer Sanderson. But is it a good idea to agree with one of Gail's crazy plans? We'll see!
Thank you to everyone who has sent me a review, or a pm. I've had a few interesting ideas about where this is heading thrown at me, and it certainly keeps me on my toes answering your questions. Special, massive, huge thanks to the person who reviewed, then replied to my pm and somehow ended up very generously volunteering to beta read for me. Certainly more than they bargained for, but their help and suggestions have vastly improved the quality of my work and I really appreciate it.
