A/N: Hey all. Sorry for the delay, but if it's any consolation, I think this chapter may be the one a fair few of you have been waiting for. Although they do say number 13 is unlucky for some. :o)

Thank you to everyone who sent me feedback and questions about the last chapter. I'm glad you liked the action scene...there's a couple more to come later on, so that bodes well. Special shout out to Trusty9721 who I think may have a crystal bal! Gail's judgement really was pretty poor, but let's see if the consequences as a dire as she thinks they might be.

Particular thanks to Kravn, who beta read this chapter (and the last two also!) and in short did an absolutely cracking job. Her help and ideas made this so much better, and I am really grateful.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, Gail knocked gently on Holly's bedroom door.

"Not again McGregor, not now," came a voice from inside. Gail grinned slightly; it seemed Holly was currently holding McGregor in some disdain, and given the dressing down Gail had just endured, this only made her like the doctor more.

"It's me," she said softly. She heard footsteps approach quickly, and the door opened.

"Sorry. I just can't deal with anymore of him today. Come in," Holly said, closing her bedroom door behind Gail after the officer stepped inside. Holly wore sweats and a tank top. She had clearly just got out of the shower; her hair was damp and she had a towel around her shoulders.

"Well you dealt with him earlier. You didn't have to do that for me," Gail stated, staring fixatedly at the floor. When McGregor had arrived earlier, she had fully expected to be removed from this operation, and probably disciplined for her negligence in taking Holly out this morning. But she hadn't had a chance to admit to her mistakes; when Holly had heard McGregor yelling she had come back downstairs and asked to talk to him. The doctor had basically told him it was all her doing; she'd said that she had told Gail and Sanderson that she was going running and that was that. They would have to come with her, or restrain her. Both cops had been bemused when McGregor had come back to the kitchen and started yelling at them for not "arresting the bloody stubborn woman" as soon as she started acting up, but they'd played along and got away with it. McGregor had still been fuming but his reprimand was definitely tempered by Holly's white lies. He hadn't said anything about sacking either one of them anyway…not yet at least.

Holly shrugged, and grinned a little. "Yeah, I did. I didn't want you getting in trouble for trying to give me a little fun,"

Gail opened her mouth to fire a retort, but thought better of it and shut it with a snap. She swallowed hard and pulled a face. She was going to say that she could think of better ways of showing Holly some fun, before remembering how wildly inappropriate it was to flirt with this woman, for so many reasons. Realising that she was doing a passable impression of a goldfish whilst Holly stood looking at her, she simply nodded, acknowledging that Holly had pulled her out the fire.

"I'm sorry though," she explained. "I thought it would be ok. Guess I got complacent. I'm sorry I put you in danger," Gail's apology was heartfelt, but she couldn't bring herself to meet Holly's gaze. Seeing Holly was alive and well with her own two eyes gave her some comfort, yet the guilt was still eating away at her. She fidgeted and scuffed her toe into the carpet, staring at the mark she made in the fibres.

The doctor reached out and rubbed Gail's arm as she moved past her. "It wasn't your fault," she said candidly. "Anyway. Are you ok?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, I'm the protection detail. Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Gail shot back, resorting to her usual snark when asked about her wellbeing.

"Gail." Holly didn't smile.

"I'm fine, Holly. How are you?" Gail asked, still more concerned about the brunette but knowing that Holly wouldn't let her get away without answering. Sure enough, Holly just stared her out. Gail sighed and tried to give an answer without referring to the turmoil of guilt and relief that was churning in her stomach. "Ok, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I haven't ran like that in a while, and my legs are so full of lactic acid I think they may give out,"

Holly glared at her, knowing that was a flippant answer if ever she heard one, but she decided to go with it. "Yeah, me too!" she replied. "I'm exhausted. And I ache all over."

"And how do you, you know, feel?" Gail persisted, gesturing randomly with her hands around her head trying to vaguely indicate she was talking about emotions, not physical wellbeing.

Amazingly, Holly understood. "I don't know how I feel," she answered, choosing to address Gail's avoidance by being completely honest herself. "How am I supposed to feel about being attacked in the street and having to run for my life?"

"I don't know," Gail replied, giving the question some thought. She had seen how Holly reacted earlier that morning. Holly had been amazing really; smashing the guy over the head, finding them somewhere to hide. But she had also seen the terror the brunette had felt; those moments where she had frozen in panic and shook with fear. Now that the adrenaline had died down, Gail's overriding feeling was one of relief. Sheer relief that they had come out of the situation safely and that Holly hadn't been hurt because of her stupidity.

"You were great today," she blurted out, unable to hold in her admiration any longer.

Holly laughed softly and shook her head. She definitely didn't feel great. "God, Gail. I felt completely terrified. It was like I was watching myself, and I wanted to scream and curl up in a ball at the same time. It's taken me this long to stop shaking, and now I'm thinking about it again, my chest is getting tight and I'm trembling and I can't help think that if you weren't there, if you didn't stop them then…" Holly's rambling was cut off as her breath hitched, and Gail watched as her face crumbled. Holly wrapped her arms around herself and began to cry.

Immediately, Gail moved to sit next to her on the bed, and folded her arms around Holly, pulling her against her side. Holly buried her face into Gail's shoulder and sobbed, all the adrenaline and fear from earlier rushing out of her in one big, emotional meltdown. Gail rocked her back and forth, whispering soothing words and shushing her, as she felt her own heart break a little. She had done this to Holly; it had been her stupid idea to take her out for that run. She had gotten too comfortable, forgetting the very real threat against Holly in her desire to impress the doctor. All because of these crazy feelings that she just couldn't shake off, that constant desire to make Holly happy in every small and simple way she could think of, just so she could be the recipient of that amazing smile. Gail Peck, dizzy in the course of duty. Now that was something she'd never thought she would describe herself as. She sighed, disgusted with how she had behaved.

As she comforted the other woman, she rubbed her hand up and down Holly's bare arm and despite her turmoil couldn't help notice she had been right that night at the bar. Holly had spectacular upper arms; her muscles were defined and her skin was incredibly soft. Oh hell. Even when the woman was having a breakdown, Gail was ogling her. Get a grip, Peck, she told herself.

Eventually, Holly quietened and lifted her head. She disentangled herself from the blonde and wiped her eyes with some tissues from her dresser. As she turned back to face Gail, she found the police officer was standing up once more, and was now watching her, an unreadable expression on her face. Little did she realise Gail was trying to get the feel of Holly's skin out of her mind and desperately trying not to look at her arms.

Failing to interpret the look Gail was giving her, Holly simply returned the frank stare. "Thank you," she said, her voice reflecting the emotion she felt behind those simple words. She hoped the cop would know that she wasn't talking about the hug they had just shared, but for everything today.

"Anytime," Gail replied, casually.

"I didn't mean for just now, I meant…"

"Yeah, anytime," Gail interrupted, not allowing Holly to voice her gratefulness. She didn't need to hear it. She didn't deserve praise for today.

Holly frowned, and stared at the woman who was now lightly running her fingers across the spines of the books lined up on the shelf above her bed. She knew that she had just essentially had an emotional breakdown all over her friend, but wasn't sure why said friend was being so aloof. It was almost like she was avoiding her. She watched as Gail smiled slightly at one of the book titles, and that was when she noticed the injury for the first time. "You're bleeding," she said, stupidly.

Gail lifted her hand to her cheekbone, where a smear of dried blood streaked across her pale skin. "Yeah. Sanderson said he'll clean me up, but I wanted to check on you first,"

"Sit back down," Holly said, indicating the bed. "I'll do it,"

"Its fine…"the cop started, but the brunette interrupted.

"Sit down, Officer Peck. I'm a doctor, remember?"

Gail did as she was told, and watched Holly walk to the en-suite and emerge with a well stocked first aid kit. She sat next to the blonde, sorted out some antiseptic wipes and used her hand to gently tip the other woman's face towards the light and begin cleaning the cut.

As she sucked in a breath at the first sting of antiseptic against her cheek, Gail idly examined the contents of Holly's first aid kit. It certainly wasn't your run of the mill, shop bought kit; there were steri-strips, some heavy duty looking tablets, equipment for surgical sutures and even a sterile syringe. The doctor must have put it together herself and Gail couldn't help ribbing her for being so conscientious.

"Have you seriously pimped up your first aid kit?" she queried, poking at the syringe packaging.

"Don't touch that!" Holly scolded, slapping at the other woman's hand.

"You are such a nerd!" Gail cackled, and Holly pulled a face at her.

"Will you just be quiet and sit still? You'll be glad of those extras if this wound turns out to be life threatening," she warned.

Holly moved closer to look at the damage. "Is this where he hit you?" she asked and she shuddered slightly, flashing back to the moment she saw the guy's fist connect with Gail's face and feeling the same blinding horror course through her again.

"Yeah," Gail said quietly. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of Holly's gentle fingers on her face. She tried to keep her breathing slow, but couldn't help imagine that this was exactly how Holly would touch her in different circumstances. Stroking her cheek as a tender gesture, or softly cupping her face before leaning in for a kiss…

"It's ok, not deep. I think he may have had a ring on or something that just caught the skin," Holly's voice interrupted Gail's daydream.

"It stings a bit," the cop admitted, pulling her mind away from her wandering imagination.

"I'll close it with a Steri-strip,"

"No stitches then, Doc? Nothing to mar my good looks?"

Holly grinned, deftly applying the small dressings to Gail's face. "You should be fine, soldier. Unless there's any other gaping wounds I need to know about?"

"Now that you mention it, my leg is killing me. I think one of those fences bit me," Gail said, reaching down to roll up the leg of her jogging pants. She had noticed how Holly had reverted to her usually cool and collected self whilst she dealt with the cut; it seemed being able to do something practical was this woman's way of calming down and taking back control. Gail figured it couldn't hurt to have her play doctor for a little while longer.

"Ouch," she said, as she saw the ugly scrape stretching up her own shin.

"Nice," said Holly, kneeling before Gail and admiring the scratched and torn skin. "You should have hurdled a bit higher. Didn't do much track at high school, I guess?"

"We can't all be leaping gazelles, Holly," the blonde grumbled. "Some of us are rhinos. If I didn't have to be careful about leaving a trail, I'd have just run straight through the fence like I usually do,"

Holly laughed as she set about cleaning Gail's leg. "I thought you were a cat?"

"Shut up, Doc, and just concentrate on saving my leg from amputation,"

"I'll do my best, but it's going to be touch and go,"

"Yeah, I guess you're out of practice on actual live human beings. And how did you escape without a scratch anyway?" she asked.

"Already dealt with mine," Holly replied, lifting her arm to show Gail the dressing on her forearm. "Ripped it against the wall. And I think I strained a muscle lifting that planter," she frowned, flexing her shoulder a little.

"Maybe you should hit the gym more often?" Gail mused, before wincing at the sharp sting of anti-septic against her shin. She glared down at Holly.

"Sorry," the doctor smiled sweetly up from her perch on the floor, before turning her attention back to Gail's leg.

The police officer prudently decided to keep her wise cracks to herself whilst Holly tended to her injuries. She leant back on the bedspread, holding her weight on her forearms and palms and rotating her neck back and forth to ease the ache in her back muscles. Gail closed her eyes, and let herself enjoy the feel of Holly's hand gently gripping her calf. She idly wished she would run her hand up higher, before again having to shy away from the fantasy. Perhaps having Holly play doctor wasn't such a good idea after all.

"All done," Holly said, shaking Gail out of her musings. "Anything else?" she asked, as she stood and self-consciously smoothed the fabric of her sweat pants down over her thighs. She was trying to stay in doctor mode, but being so close to Gail was affecting her. She actually felt hot under the collar, which was utterly ridiculous. Never one to brag of course, but Holly had seen her fair share of women in all stages of undress and she had paid glorious close attention to a lot of naked skin. Yet the smallest flash of Gail's bare leg and the feel of that pale, soft skin under her fingertips had sent Holly's temperature and heart rate sky rocketing.

Gail sat upright and internally assessed the condition of her body – apart from generally feeling like she'd gone ten rounds with Nash at fight night, she had come out mostly unscathed. Except for the fractured skull of course.

"Just my forehead. It's throbbing like crazy,"

"Ah, well if you go around violently head butting criminals," Holly said lightly, stepping towards Gail and placing her palm briefly on her good cheek. She used the palm to nudge the cop into looking up at her and examined her head carefully, pressing a thumb along the blonde's brow.

"I'm violent? You decked a guy with a plant pot!" Gail accused.

"Yeah, well he deserved it. And I couldn't find a baseball bat at such short notice," Holly deadpanned, as she continued her examination of Gail's bruised forehead.

Gail laughed, "Where did you find that thing anyway?" she asked.

"On the driveway of one of the houses on that street. They had one on both sides of their entryway. It's not going to match now, I guess. I should go round and apologise," Holly said frowning at the thought of ruining some poor local's flower arrangements.

Gail snorted, not caring much about garden design and wishing they'd had time to crash both pots over the guy's head. She kind of loved the fact that Holly was concerned about it though and the words slipped out before she could stop them, "For such a big nerd, I think you're quite possibly the coolest chick I've ever met," she murmured.

Their eyes met and Holly's fingers stilled their exploration. "Oh really?" she asked, with a small smirk.

Gail didn't know how to answer that, and shrugged slightly, dropping her gaze.

Holly let go of Gail's face, feeling the compliment warm her heart. She'd never expected such a bold statement from the cop, and felt ridiculously pleased with herself. She knew she hadn't been imagining the way Gail had started opening up to her, and even the mild flirting. This was a definite escalation though – an actual declaration of liking. A rush of confidence coursed through her and she too couldn't stop herself from voicing the idea that had flitted across her mind when she first started checking out Gail's bruise; "It's fine. It'll be black and blue in the morning, but apart from the good old fashioned ice pack, there's only one cure for this," she stated, her voice wavering a little.

Gail watched open mouthed as the doctor bent over and leant in close, her long dark hair falling like a curtain around both of them. Gail could feel the slightly damp ends tickle her neck, and she held her breath in wonderment. Holly dropped a soft and tender kiss right on the centre of Gail's forehead, pressing the lips gently against the damaged skin there. She ran her hand down Gail's cheek once more, her fingertips trembling slightly as they left the officer's jaw.

Holly stood up straight, not breaking eye contact with the blonde and smiled at her, before turning away and stepping into the en-suite to return the first aid kit. As she walked back into the room, a small smile was still evident on her face.

Gail simply stared at her, a host of emotions tumbling round her mind. She could feel the spot where Holly's lips had touched burning, as if it were a brand on her skin. Already she was replaying that split second in her mind, noticing something new every time; the smell of Holly's shampoo, the softness of her hand, the sparkle in her eyes. She felt a rush of air leave her lungs and realised that she had been holding her breath for the last few seconds. For a moment she had thought Holly was going to kiss her on the lips, and the fact she hadn't sent equal feelings of relief and disappointment swirling through her. She had felt the brief kiss on the forehead like a stampede of tap dancers in her stomach; if Holly had kissed her properly, she imagined it would have been like having a Broadway Musical performed in there.

Holly sat down next to the blonde, looking expectantly at her.

"Thanks," Gail said, wanting to break the spell but unsure how.

"Anytime," Holly replied, echoing Gail's words from a moment ago. "And thank you for saving my life," she said in a low voice, determined that Gail should hear that, even if she didn't want to.

Gail ducked her head, embarrassed. That definitely broke the spell. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid earlier. "It's my job. But hey, likewise. I was a goner until you showed up with that planter,"

"I got to the corner, but I heard the shot and thought they were shooting at you. I stopped running; I was so scared, Gail. When I looked back I saw that guy hit you and I had to come back," Holly explained.

"You're crazy," Gail stated, with a shake of the head. "If I tell you to get out of there, you need to get out of there Holly. Don't look back, for Christ's sake!"

Holly shrugged. "I'm not going to let someone hit you,"

Gail couldn't believe this woman. She ran back into a fight, with no thought for her own safety when she was supposed to be under protection. What if they hadn't been able to overpower the guys? Both of them would have been chucked in the back of that van and anything could have happened. What Holly had done…it was just so reckless.

"Seriously. My job is to look after you. I can't do that if you're throwing yourself into trouble," she insisted, running her hand through her hair in agitation. She could feel her temper building and realised with a start that she was mad at Holly. Mad that she'd put herself in danger and risked her skin. Gail had gone from having butterflies in her stomach to full blown anger in less than five minutes flat. What was this woman doing to her, she wondered? She had never met anyone who provoked such strong emotions in her before.

"You can't protect me if you're out cold on the street because some whack job has choked you," Holly retorted.

"Jeez, Holly. What if something had happened to you just because you came back for me?" Gail asked, the frustration evident in her voice. "You could have been killed!"

Holly shrugged. "I thought you had been shot," she said quietly.

"It doesn't matter! If I get shot and you get away, then I've done my job and to hell with what happens next!"

Both women fell silent at Gail's outburst. The police officer screwed her eyes together and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. When she opened her eyes, she saw Holly looking directly at her, her mouth slightly open in shock and an anguished look on her face. "Don't ever say things like that…" Holly began, but Gail interrupted.

"I never would have forgiven myself if something had happened to you today. It would have been all my fault," Gail's wallowing was side tracked by Holly's sudden expansive gesture.

The brunette threw her hands up in exasperation. "Don't you get it?"

No, Gail thought. I don't get it. All she knew was that Holly had put herself in danger, and Gail couldn't deal with the panic that came along with that. She began to try and explain herself, but Holly's agitation led the brunette to talk straight over her.

"I care about you, you idiot! I care about you a lot, and losing you would devastate me. I haven't even had the chance to get close to you yet, and already the thought of not having you in my life terrifies me. If you got killed or hurt trying to protect me, I would never forgive myself either," she spat out, stumbling over the words in her attempt to show Gail how sincere she really was.

"I don't…" Gail began.

"When that guy hurt you today Gail, I wasn't even thinking straight, I just needed to get to you and help. My heart stopped beating. I care about you. So much, and you don't even see it," Holly rushed the words out, gripping at Gail's sleeve and staring into her eyes, imploring her to understand.

Gail felt her breath catch in her throat. The world around her closed in as she focused on the woman in front of her and tried desperately to quell the thrill that flipped her heart. Surely Holly couldn't be saying what she thought she was? That she felt the same way that Gail did, felt all the things that Gail had been fighting against these past weeks? No. She must be reading the situation wrong yet again. Holly wasn't interested in the beat cop who had been making her life miserable lately. The doc had said that she cared about her, but she can't have meant romantically. She must mean as a friend, she rationalized. Gail knew what it was like to want something so badly that you turned every little nuance into that want. It was easily done. She felt a hot wave of embarrassment, ashamed that for a split second she actually thought Holly felt the same way for her. Taking a quick breath, Gail thought it best to lighten the mood and opted for some good old fashioned self-flagellation.

"Hol, it's ok. We've become friends these past weeks, I know. But you don't know me properly yet. I'm a nightmare friend, really, I'm rude and I'm impatient and just…yikes. When you know me, you'll be glad to get rid of me -" Gail suddenly found her rambled speech cut off by Holly's lips pressed firmly against her own. If her mouth hadn't been otherwise occupied, she would have yelped in surprise, but instead she concentrated on the far cooler reaction of kissing this stunning woman back.

The softness of those lips against her own made Gail tremble, and when Holly's hands moved upwards to cup her face and her fingers played with the fine hair at the back of her neck, Gail's mind almost fogged over completely. She felt Holly's tongue brush lightly at the underside of her top lip and the swirl of excitement that followed settled deep in the pit of her stomach. When the brunette eventually pulled away, Gail actually felt disappointed at her absence. She leant back and met the gaze of the woman sitting next to her. Holly smiled gently at her, noting the stunned look written across her face.

"You just had to stop talking. You had to stop putting yourself down and deliberating about us being friends, and you had to understand what I'm trying to tell you. I like you Gail. I like you a lot. I've been thinking about kissing you for weeks. So please stop looking so gobsmacked!" Holly said.

Gail almost giggled at the tone of exasperation in her voice, but caught herself. She didn't think laughing was the most fitting response to a first kiss. "You surprised me," she said, softly.

"A good surprise, right?" the pathologist asked, and Gail had never heard her sound so uncertain before. Holly didn't meet her eyes and she noticed how she was biting her lip slightly. She rushed to reassure her.

"Yes! Definitely good. Really good,"

"That's good," Holly replied, resting her hand lightly over the top of the cop's hand, which was settled in her lap. Gail turned her palm over, squeezing Holly's hand as they grinned at each other.

"We need to stop saying the word good," Gail stated seriously.

"Agreed," was Holly's immediate response, playing with Gail's fingers. "We could use the word amazing?" she suggested.

"Hmm. I don't know. Let me check," Gail said, leaning back in towards Holly to take her lips once more. They were millimetres away when a loud banging on the bedroom door interrupted them. The two women sprang apart, with Gail nearly falling over in her haste to stand up and move away from the bed.

"Come in," Holly called out nervously, flipping her hair over her shoulder and smoothing the bed spread down.

Allan McGregor shoved the door open and stuck his head round the corner. He looked from one woman to the other with his customary scowl, and Gail prayed he couldn't read how flustered she was. "Just spoke to Detective Stone and he's made the call. We're moving out to a safe house. We leave in an hour; pack a bag please Dr. Stewart. Peck, you're on shift until we've done the transfer." With that pronouncement, McGregor turned and pulled the door shut behind him.

Holly swung round to stare at Gail, "A safe house? Where? What does he mean?"

Gail felt as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her. Seeing McGregor had brought her back to the reality of her situation. She furiously berated herself; what are you doing, you idiot? They had just been attacked, she had lost her gun, her colleagues were downstairs and she was at work yet she had been kissing the woman she was supposed to be protecting. If McGregor had barged in instead of knocking, he would have caught them. She marvelled at her own stupidity. Time to get back to being Officer Peck, professional and cool headed, not Gail the girl who couldn't get the sensation of Holly's soft and gentle lips pressed up against her own, out of her mind.

"I can't tell you. But you'd better get packing, he means it when he says an hour," she declared. She moved toward the door, but Holly stood and blocked her way slightly.

"Gail…" she started to say, reaching out to touch her arm.

Gail side stepped round her, avoiding meeting the dark brown eyes that were searching her face. "I'll see you later, Holly. Get ready," she said, before leaving the room and missing Holly's crestfallen gaze entirely.