A/N: Hey folks. Quick one from me just to say a big thank you to everyone who has sent me a review on the last couple of chapters. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I will try and respond individually, but to those of you who are anonymous guests/named but not signed in, please consider this your response! Thanks also to Kravn once again, for beta reading this chapter and helping me edit it.

Hope you're all well and good. I have spent a fun week in Wales and a not so fun week at work lately. That's life balance I guess. But hold the front page, because now the Euros have started! 6 hours of football (that's soccer to you guys across the pond!) per day this weekend...turn on the TV and chuck me a beer or two. Yes!

Anyway, on with the story. Plenty of questions. Is Steve the dodgy cop? Who else drinks milk direct from the bowl? Where's Gail got to? And whose bright idea was it to put buttons on shirts?

Cheers,
Sam

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Ridiculous though it seemed given the circumstances that they were in, the past couple of days had passed in a blur. Gail actually found the mundane routine of their day relaxing and had to physically rouse herself out of that mind set. She had expected that being tucked away in Oliver's cabin would feel claustrophobic; that the quiet and the solitude would press down on her and drive her crazy. But it had been the complete opposite. On a couple of occasions, she had to remind herself that this wasn't some kind of romantic getaway but they were actually in the middle of some serious shit.

It was difficult to do that however, when their time together was so easy. Gail had even started to sleep a little better, though she suspected that had something to do with being wrapped tightly up in Holly's arms every night. On their first night in the cabin she had been able to kid herself that they had only shared a bed to stave off their fear and worry but when Holly had tugged her by the hand towards the small double room on night two, she hadn't resisted at all. Of course, her lips had been firmly attached to Holly's neck at the time so she was more than a little distracted. She had eventually slowed down their heated make out session and had wondered at that point whether she should slip away and make up the bunk beds. But when she went to rise, Holly had smiled that lopsided grin of hers, whispered goodnight and rolled over, trapping Gail's arm under her. So the cop had stayed and the thought of where she would be sleeping from here on in never crossed her mind again.

Gail usually rose before the brunette in the morning and was keen to do a perimeter check before she allowed Holly outside. Even with her inspection done, she was still mindful of keeping a low profile so they stayed close to the cabin and spent their days reading, walking through the forest and down by the lake. And of course, they talked for hours on end, covering all sorts of random topics and getting to know each other better. Gail found it fascinating how she could listen to the pathologist and hang on to her every word. Usually she had very little patience for idle chit chat with people and she couldn't help throwing her usual sarcasm around. But even when she was teasing Holly, her jibes had none of the usual bite and she would quite happily let the brunette ramble on without even interjecting.

Holly was also finding it hard to reconcile the reality of their situation with the pleasure of spending her days with the blonde. It was all too easy to forget about her sister and parents, Scott's injury and the dangerous men hunting them down when she was curled up in front of the log fire with Gail. Being alone with Gail had showed her yet another facet of the spiky cop; the softer and somewhat melancholy side. They were having fun, of course they were. It was difficult not to have fun when you spent hours laughing and joking with someone all day. There hadn't been another repeat of the tension she experienced whenever Gail entered professional mode so her reservations about that had quietened significantly. But in the evenings Gail was always a little more pensive. The other woman was still sweet and thoughtful in this mood but it was all Holly could do not to wrap her arms around the blonde and show her exactly how she felt in a bid to lift that contemplative state.

The other thing that always reminded them both of their circumstances was how often the million dollar question came up. They would be casually chatting away about something inconsequential when suddenly one of them would throw it into the conversation; "Who's the corrupt cop?" And then they would spend ages tossing theories back and forth, but essentially going round the same old circles because they were really still none the wiser. They had quickly discounted Steve almost as soon as his name had come up, deciding that he just wouldn't have had the knowledge of the day to day workings of their team in order to organise the attacks they had suffered. Gail was still fully convinced it had to be one of their team and Holly had to concede she was more than likely correct. But which one was still a mystery; there wasn't one person who stood out as having the obvious opportunity and the necessary knowledge. The blonde was convinced they were missing something, and in her attempts to find that elusive clue, her theories were becoming more and more outlandish. Therefore Holly wasn't even surprised when the cop piped up with another one over breakfast that morning.

"Could Sanderson have faked it?" she queried, using her spoon to chase round the remaining bits of cereal that floated around the bottom of her bowl.

"Faked what?" Holly asked as she sliced the top from her second boiled egg and dunked her toast into the yolk.

Gail grimaced as the golden yellow liquid spilled over. She hated eggs. "The wound. Could he have set it up?" she clarified.

The doctor's answer was immediate and firm. "No," she said. "I saw it with my own eyes. I had my fingers in the hole…" she trailed off when she saw the blonde's face fall even further. Probably best not to be too graphic, she chastised herself, peeved that she had upset Gail. Sanderson's condition was still a sore subject and the last thing she wanted to do was give Gail a vivid reminder of how bad the injury was, even if the other woman was questioning it for some reason.

"I don't mean faking the fact he was injured," the cop explained. "But could he have done it deliberately; got someone to put a bullet through him where it wouldn't be life threatening? You know, to deflect suspicion?"

Holly blinked in disbelief. "Gail, that would be a pretty extreme way of putting yourself out of the frame…"

"I know. But is it possible?" the cop persisted and so Holly cast her mind back to when she was treating Scott's shoulder in the dark attic. The light from the phones hadn't been great but she had managed to get a decent look at things. "No," she finally said again. "There was no tattooing around the entry wound and powder burn is a key indicator of a point blank shot. And that area would be too risky from distance; it's very close to the chest and neck. Miss your target by two inches and you kill someone,"

"But it's possible if you're a top marksman…" Gail countered.

"I guess. Though with that amount of blood loss, your life is in danger anyway. Why not go for something less dangerous, like the lower leg?"

"Because then you can't run on it,"

"I don't think he will be doing much running in the near future with that shoulder either," Holly told her. "Come on, seriously? You think Scott deliberately took a bullet just so we wouldn't work out he was the bad guy?"

Gail sighed. "No," she said eventually. "Of course not; you're right, it would be crazy. But he's the only one who knew we were going jogging. So it keeps coming back to him,"

"I know," the brunette agreed, having heard that reasoning a dozen times. "And yet he wasn't anywhere near the courthouse. And he was the first to react that night at the safe house. He bought us time and he told you to get me out of there," she gave the standard counter argument to Sanderson's potential guilt.

"So it's not Sanderson," Gail reasoned for around the twentieth time. She picked up her bowl and drank the last dregs of milk directly from it, ignoring Holly's raised eyebrow.

"I still think we need to look at Andy," the doctor offered, although she really couldn't see the kind hearted Toronto cop being involved in something so corrupt.

"It's not McNally,"

"But how can you be sure? You're starting to doubt Scott…" Holly didn't have to finish the sentence for her insinuation to be clear but still Gail shook her head firmly.

"It's different," the blonde stated. She couldn't really articulate why she was so certain that McNally wasn't on the take; she just knew it. It wasn't even a case of friendship clouding her judgement because the two of them weren't really friends any more. Yet despite all that had happened between them, she still knew Andy. She had worked with her for these past few years, they had been through the academy together and even before that, their paths had crossed. After all, Andy came from a family of cops too, albeit not as blue blooded as Gail's. Over the years, Andy had changed of course – who hadn't? She wasn't the naïve and idealistic rookie anymore. But her deep seated morality and desire to do good in this world wouldn't leave her. Gail knew that with the certainty that only came from seeing the best and worst of someone over a long period of time. She may have quickly become friends with Sanderson, spending far more time with him in these past weeks than she had with Andy in the previous six months but her gut told her he was a good guy. However, she didn't have that ingrained sense of who he was in the same way she did with the dark haired cop. And so as much as she liked her new partner, that was why she was far more inclined to question him than she would Andy McNally. The blonde knew how tenuous that argument was however and she hated to admit she was mainly going on gut feeling rather than solid reasoning.

"I know it's weird because McNally isn't my friend. But she's family, you know? They're all family at Fifteen. It's like brothers and sisters and cousins – sometimes you don't like them very much. But you know who they are at the end of the day, whatever happens, because you have that connection. I can't explain how it works but I know what's at the heart of McNally. Not just her; Diaz, Epstein, Nash too. And I bet they feel the same about me. I can't do that with Sanderson yet." she sighed.

"I trust your judgement, obviously. I'm just not used to dealing in something other than facts and science," Holly replied. She could see what Gail was saying but it was quite unlike the blonde to refer to such intangible reasoning. "It's a very…emotional theory,"

Gail acknowledged that with a smile small and she tried to throw some logic at Holly in order to convince her. "McNally was at the safe house too. She could have been shot just as easily as Sanderson was. And she didn't know we were sneaking out for that run. Plus, I know Kolarov has background in Toronto, but he's Vancouver based now. Why would he have a Toronto cop on his books? Until now…until you…there would have been no need," she rationalised.

"I don't know," the brunette replied. "Maybe she's been on his payroll for years?"

Gail drummed her fingers across the laminated table top in agitation. "No. She wouldn't have. And even if she was, then this is one hell of a coincidence, right? Your sister getting mixed up in his Vancouver business, then you moving here. And he just happens to have a corrupt cop he can call on, who just happens to end up on your protection team? Even though she's not trained in witness security?"

Holly wrinkled her brow, thinking it through, but in the end she had to agree. "Yeah. You're right; it's unlikely,"

"I know I am," the blonde announced as she pushed her chair back and collected their breakfast dishes. She walked over to the sink and dumped everything in there. "So we're back to Chen or McGregor," she said, with a roll of her eyes. This was so frustrating.

The doctor swivelled in her chair to look at Gail. "Chen or McGregor," she repeated. "What I don't understand is that whoever it is, they definitely had plenty of opportunities to hurt me. Or kidnap me, if that's what Kolarov ordered,"

"I think judging by the fact they came to the safe house armed with Uzis shows they gave up on the kidnapping plan," the cop suggested, with a shiver at the thought of it. "They wanted to shut Kate up by shutting you up - permanently,"

"Either way, I've been on my own with both of them, several times. Why not wait for that moment, where they could have done anything? At one of the crime scenes I've been to lately, or even the batting cages. It seems strange to wait for a situation where neither one of them were there, when they wouldn't have any influence over what happens,"

Gail had to think that one over. "Deflecting suspicion again I guess. Or because they would have been caught, maybe? It's one thing taking bribes on the quiet but openly committing a crime is another thing," She turned the tap to fill the sink up, splashing water everywhere in her irritation. "I'm sick of rehashing all of this. It's driving me nuts, Lunchbox!"

As she got up to join Gail at the sink, the brunette sighed. "Maybe we're looking at this corrupt cop thing all wrong. It might not be someone who's been bought off. What if they're being threatened or coerced into it?" She stood behind the cop and rested her chin on her shoulder.

The cop leaned to one side so she could turn her head and stare incredulously at the other woman. "Who cares why they're doing it? It's still way out of line and it still puts you in danger,"

"I know, I know. I'm just saying. There might be mitigating circumstances," Holy tried to placate her by wrapping her arms round the blonde and kissing the back of her neck.

Gail considered that as rested her own hands over the top of Holly's, smoothing her fingers up the tanned forearms. She snorted derisively. There was no valid reason in the world for betraying Holly, the team and the police service. But if the pathologist wanted to believe there was some good in the scumbag who had sold them out, then she wasn't going to push the argument. "Well when we figure it out, you can ask him why he did it whilst I kick his ass," she offered.

"Deal," the doctor agreed, affably. "And here's another one - what do you say I sort out these dishes whilst you go out and do your bodyguard thing. Then we can maybe go for a walk down to the lake? Catch some sunshine?"

"Sounds like a plan, Doc!" Gail chirped, and she went to get her stuff. "See you in a bit. Don't forget the password," she said to Holly as she gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she left the cabin.

Holly smiled and shook her head. She didn't have a clue what exactly Gail did on the perimeter checks that she insisted upon doing every morning before allowing Holly to leave the cabin. She also carried out random inspections during the day, exactly like she had when they were still at home. Whatever the routine consisted of, it seemed to calm her worries and so the doctor didn't ask questions, she simply waited the thirty minutes or so and listened out for the password on Gail's return.

That day however, she had time to do the dishes, clean the kitchen and get changed without any sign of Gail. She frowned when she glanced at the clock and realised the blonde had been gone forty minutes. She had never taken more than half an hour before, and usually it was even quicker than that. Holly pushed one of the net curtains aside and peered out across the deck but there was no indication Gail was anywhere nearby.

Its fine, she told herself. She's probably just gone a bit further out and lost track of time. Although Gail was a stickler when it came to things like this. If she said she was going to be thirty minutes, she would be thirty minutes. And she was always antsy about leaving Holly alone…stop it! She mentally kicked herself and forced herself to move away from the window. She walked into the bedroom and tidied up the clothes that had somehow been strewn around the room. Considering they were supposed to sharing clothes, Holly had restricted herself to only wearing a couple of shirts whereas Gail seemed to have already worked her way through everything Chris had packed into the case.

She worked deliberately slowly so that it took a good ten minutes to clear up the mess. By that stage, she was really worried. She checked all the windows, but there was no movement outside. How long had Gail told her to leave it before ringing Oliver? She was pretty sure it was only supposed to be an hour…and that mark was fast approaching. As soon as she thought about making the call, she realised that her phone was still where she put it after breaking it apart - in the glovebox of Chris' Jeep. She crossed the room to look out the window and down at the car. Gail had always told her not to go outside when she wasn't there. What if something had happened, and they were just waiting for her to unlock the door and go outside? On the other hand, Gail could be hurt and hanging around thinking about all this was only wasting valuable time. She drummed her fingers against the wooden window sill. "Come on Stewart, make your mind up!" she said out loud, trying to summon up some courage. She mentally played out what she would have to do; unlock the door, sprint across the deck, jump down the steps, over to the truck – shit, don't forget the keys – unlock door, grab phone from the passenger side, sprint back. Thirty seconds at most. She could do that, right? "Of course you can," she announced firmly and voicing it to the otherwise silent room made her feel better somehow.

Holly checked her watch. The hour was almost up and there was still no sign of Gail. She tried to swallow down her anxiety but it was impossible. If something had happened to the cop then she couldn't bear it. She had only just found this woman, and yet the thought of losing her chilled her to the bone. "Where are you Gail?" she asked, irrationally hoping the blonde would pop up out of nowhere to give her a sarcastic answer. She paced around the room, feeling herself get more and more worked up even as she did so. Her stomach twisted and she began to breathe a little quicker, fighting the panic that had crept up on her.

Fuck it, she thought. There were five minutes left, but Gail was never late. And she wasn't going to wait two more seconds if something was wrong. She raced into the bedroom to get the car keys, swiping away a frightened tear that threatened to fall from her eyes. As she strode towards the front door, she decided to check one last time and pulled the front curtain aside. The sight that greeted her nearly made her knees buckle and she grabbed the window frame to steady herself. Gail was jogging up the trail that led to their cabin, and she was fine; she was on her own, she was moving ok, she looked a little flushed but not hurt…Holly couldn't wait. She wrenched open the front door and met the blonde on the deck, crashing their bodies together and throwing her arms around her.

Considering her surprise at the intense greeting, Gail caught the brunette and returned the hug fiercely. "Hey," she said, trying to nudge Holly's face upwards from where she had buried it into Gail's shoulder. "It's okay, I'm here," she continued, trying to soothe the clearly upset woman who was clinging to her.

"You're late!" mumbled Holly into her jacket collar and Gail had to strain to hear her.

"I know, I'm sorry. There was a car parked up by the road, and I thought it might be someone after us…" she explained, rubbing her hands over Holly's back. Not for the first time she wished they both had a cell phone they could use to stay in touch when they were apart. Perhaps it was time to get a couple of burner phones, or even radios. She would have to check the money situation and see if they could afford it. She was wary of spending too much in case they had to run from here for some reason. At the moment, there was no point in having a method of contacting home because she still didn't know who she could trust. Yet if Holly was going to be this worried when they were apart, then that was reason enough. "I'm okay," she said again.

The doctor didn't loosen her grip however and Gail could feel rather than hear her softly crying against her shoulder. "Come on," she said, awkwardly walking Holly backwards towards the door without letting go of her.

As they stepped inside, Holly lifted her face a little to look directly at the cop. "I thought something had happened to you," she told her, the distress evident across her face.

Gail gave her a look that was full of guilt and sympathy. "I'm okay, I'm fine," she promised and she cupped Holly's face with her palm, using her thumb to wipe away the tear tracks.

The brunette released one arm from around Gail's back and fisted her fingers around the lapels of her leather jacket, tugging it hard. "You scared me. I was going to ring Oliver," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," Gail said again, lightly stroking the other woman's face, before threading her fingers into the hair at the back of her head and pulling Holly into her shoulder again. She rocked them side to side as she felt the pathologist begin to calm down. Eventually, Holly stepped back a little, but she didn't release her hold on Gail's jacket or shoulder.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, Gail," she said, staring into those blue eyes.

"I'm okay," the blonde repeated. "Nothing happened, and nothing is going to happen. I'll always come back to you," she said and she met Holly's gaze steadily, trying to convey how serious she was about that vow. She had initially meant it to be just about when she was doing her perimeter checks, but as they stared into each other's eyes, both women realised there was more weight behind the words than originally intended. Far from being scared by that thought, Gail realised she meant it and she smiled tenderly at Holly.

Holly leaned closer and kissed her softly, before burying her face into Gail's neck once more. "Don't do that again," she instructed, kissing the soft skin she found at Gail's throat.

"I'll try not to," promised the cop as she carried on smoothing her hand over Holly's back. They remained wrapped together for a long time, Gail waiting patiently for the brunette to calm down after her panic. When she felt the other woman relax, she tried to pull back a little to shut the door that they had left wide open behind them but Holly held on tightly.

"Hey. Let me shut the door, and we can sit down, have a cup of coffee or something?" Gail suggested, not wanting to completely extricate herself from Holly if the other woman was still upset but also not knowing what to do to help.

"Nope. I'm staying here," Holly told her, burrowing her head further into Gail's shoulder.

"Okay. But at some point I'll get hungry, just to warn you," the blonde joked, with a shrug. As nice as it was to hold Holly like this, it probably wasn't practical to stay here forever.

"Yeah, well whilst we're being hunted by dangerous gang members and hiding out in a log cabin, I think I have the right to get a little clingy when my girlfriend goes missing," came the muffled reply and Gail immediately froze . It took Holly a little longer to realise what she had said but the way the cop stiffened in her arms gave her a clue. She lifted her head to see the shock written across Gail's face.

"Girlfriend?" Gail asked, her voice betraying her confusion and she disentangled herself from Holly and took a couple of small steps backwards.

Shit, thought the pathologist, knowing that she may have just prompted an episode of what Gail had described all those weeks ago in her weird cat analogy. She hadn't meant to blurt that out but she wasn't thinking straight after all that worrying earlier. It was something they probably should have spoken about before she had casually announced it, so she sought to remedy the situation.

"Sorry. I didn't mean…well no, I did, but we probably should talk about it first," she started, watching as Gail turned away and walked slowly to the front door. The cop shut the door but stood there facing it with her back to Holly so the brunette continued; "I know this was all supposed to be casual, because of your job and because of the mess we're in and I know we haven't known each other that long. But you know I like you Gail; really like you. And when we got here I told you that we're past pretending this isn't happening…" Holly tailed off when Gail still didn't turn to face her. You're making a mess of this, Stewart she berated herself. The blonde wasn't reacting at all as she tried to justify this. She's freaking out, you idiot! Say something! She tried to shush her internal voice and focus on actually talking out loud, deciding the best thing to do would be to change tactics and take it back.

"Okay. You're right. It's too soon, I'm sorry. Just forget it, Gail, it's okay. But just so we're clear, I'd like us to get there someday. I get that you're not there yet and that's fine. I do really like you though and I don't want to scare you off by saying that, but it's true. I'm…I'm falling for you Gail," she admitted, knowing she could say a lot more but stopped herself as the cop still had her back to her.

As Holly's statement reverberated around the cabin, Gail finally broke her silence.

"You're babbling, Lunchbox," she said softly, still facing the door. She traced her fingers over a knot in the wood, trying to process the storm of shock, excitement and nerves that coursed through her. Holly was falling for her. Holly Stewart was falling for her! She wanted to yell it from the rooftops, but she could barely hear her own voice over the thunderous sound of her heart beating in her ears.

"I know. But you're not talking to me. You're not even looking at me," Holly replied, nervously.

"You called me your girlfriend," Gail stated, her even tone not reflecting the wonder she felt at that statement.

"I know," the brunette said again. "I'm sorry,"

The police officer shook her head and tapped the tip of her finger against the solid wooden door. "I don't think you should be sorry about that," she announced and smiled despite the fact Holly couldn't see her do so. Hearing Holly say that had completed blindsided her, she couldn't deny it. She had needed a couple of minutes to deal with it but the more she thought about it and replayed that sentence, the more she liked it. She silently repeated it over and over in her head; Girlfriend. Holly's girlfriend.

She sensed rather than heard Holly slowly approaching her and then the brunette laid a gentle hand on the small of her back. "Gail? Please talk to me?" murmured the doctor, completely confused as to what was going through the other woman's head.

The blonde finally turned round and gave Holly a dazzling smile. She wanted to say something to ease the trepidation in the pathologist's eyes but couldn't find the words and settled for seizing her wrist and pulling her in tightly for a blistering kiss.

As they broke apart, Gail grinned again. "I think I might like being Holly Stewart's girlfriend," she declared.

Holly blinked in surprise, still lost somewhat in that kiss. Slowly she realised that Gail was okay with this. "Oh really?" she asked, smiling back at her and running her fingers down the outside of Gail's arms. She couldn't decide whether the fluttering in her chest was sheer relief at knowing the blonde wasn't freaking out, or nerves about the sudden serious turn their relationship had just taken.

The blonde shivered at her touch and nodded. "Yeah," she breathed, "She's hot," Before she knew it, she was pushed back against the door, banging the back of her head against the wood as Holly claimed her lips and pressed her body against the cop. Gail returned the kiss, curling one hand around the back of Holly's neck to keep her there. The brunette pushed the tip of her tongue past Gail's lips and explored the inside of her mouth, deepening their connection as she ran her hand down her girlfriend's sides and over her hips. The police officer moaned and tangled her fingers into Holly's hair. She could feel soft hands caressing her body and reactively arched her back when the pathologist's fingers made their way under her shirt and danced along her spine. She tore her mouth away and gasped for air, but the relief was short lived as Holly kissed her way down her exposed neck, crushing her torso against the blonde's. There was a fleeting thought that this probably wasn't a good idea, but that quickly flew straight out of her mind when the brunette bit down lightly on the junction of her neck and shoulder. As the heat spread through her body, Gail finally gave in to her building desire and pushed hard off the door, stumbling up against the doctor.

She kept a grip on Holly as she shoved her backwards towards the couch, tumbling together over the arm and landing on the cushions. The blonde chuckled slightly as the other woman grunted in surprise under her, but soon found herself otherwise occupied as she was pulled down for another scorching kiss. When the pathologist gripped Gail's ass and rolled her hips, the cop lost all control and started fumbling with the buttons on the brunette's shirt, desperately wanting to feel more skin against her own. Holly tore her girlfriend's jacket off and the blonde cast it over the back of the couch before returning her attention to those buttons but she scrabbled ineffectually, her fingers unable to push them through their holes. The doctor ran one hand inside Gail's t-shirt, all the way up her abdomen and onto her chest and the resulting jolt of arousal led the blonde to give up on the patient approach. She leant her weight on her left arm and used her other hand to forcibly yank the right side of Holly's shirt. The brunette gave a surprised yelp as she was nearly pulled off the couch and had to whip her hands back to catch herself. She stared up at Gail and stopped herself from giggling at the frustrated growl the police officer let out, knowing that it wouldn't be appreciated at this point in time.

"What the hell is wrong with the buttons on your damn shirt?" Gail yelled, sitting back on her heels, while straddling Holly and gesticulating at the offending item. "Why can't I get them open?"

The other woman paused for a beat, waiting for both of them to force their heavy breathing back under control. She looked down at her rumpled shirt, noticing the now misshapen neckline and immediately realised the problem. Gail had been fumbling at, and had finally pulled at the wrong side and Holly couldn't help grinning. "It's a woman's shirt, honey. The buttons are the opposite way round," she told her.

"What the fuck? Are you serious?" the blonde asked and Holly simply nodded, placing her hands on Gail's thighs. "Well why didn't you tell me that?"

"Um…I didn't think it was important?" she replied,

"Well neither did I. But I've never wanted to rip a shirt off a girl before, obviously!" the cop retorted.

"And you have with a man?" the brunette queried, wrinkling her nose at the thought of it.

"Yeah, and let me tell you, it's been a good move for me. It's usually a whole lot hotter than that cluster-fucking debacle," came the response.

Holly shrugged, "I thought it was all pretty hot until you tried to pull my head off," she said, rubbing at her neck where the collar had cut into her a little from the force Gail had used to try and tear off the garment.

The blonde was able to dampen her annoyance for a moment and placed her fingers gently on the small red mark. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"It's okay. I'll live," Holly replied.

"And here I was thinking I was going to have problem undoing your bra. I never even got that far!" Gail mused, her hands now on her hips as she took a couple of surreptitious deep breaths to conquer her raging libido. As her longing to launch herself back at Holly diminished, embarrassment settled in its place.

They both gazed at each other for a moment, before Holly could no longer contain herself and burst into laughter. The disappointed look on Gail's face was a picture and the comment about the bra finally tipped her over the edge. The cop frowned, thinking this was not really a laughing moment but eventually gave in to Holly's amusement and joined in the giggling. As they calmed down though, the embarrassment was still there.

"Way to kill the mood, Peck," she mumbled and swung herself off of Holly, settling down on the coffee table with her chin in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She couldn't meet the other woman's eyes. How humiliating, she thought. She had been wrapped around the sexiest woman she had ever met and couldn't even undo a simple shirt button.

"Hey," said Holly, softly. "It probably wouldn't have been a good idea anyway, you know?"

Gail pulled a face as she contemplated that. All along she had been determined not to dive into anything too heavy with the pathologist; it had taken her long enough to admit how she felt. But the more time they spent alone together, the harder she was finding it to keep her hands off the other woman. Their kisses were becoming more heated, hands were growing bolder and she felt permanently charged with sexual energy. Just a few short minutes ago, she was so caught up in the moment that if she had been able to undo those damn buttons, she was pretty sure she would have dragged Holly straight to bed. They would've been way past the point of having this conversation even after Holly's girlfriend declaration mere moments ago. Not that Gail was any stranger to rushing things; in fact in the past, she had been a first date kind of girl on more than one occasion. But it was different with Holly…she really didn't want to screw this up, and rushing into things usually meant she screwed it up.

Gail sighed. That ship may well have sailed the moment she got all awkward and clumsy and made a mess of it. Clearly Holly was having second thoughts, that much was obvious from what she had just said. So the blonde simply nodded; "Yeah. Probably not," she agreed but wasn't able to hide the disappointment in her face.

Quick as a flash, Holly noticed her discomfort and reached out to put a hand on the cop's thigh. "It's not that I don't want to!" she clarified, "I just don't want to rush you, that's all. We haven't really known each other all that long,"

"I have had sex before, Holly! I'm not some inexperienced teenager," Gail snorted, slightly irritated by that statement.

"I know," the brunette hurriedly replied. "But this is different for you, right?"

"I'm not nervous because you're a woman, if that's what you're thinking,"

"But you are nervous?" Holly shot back intuitively knowing that Gail was hiding behind her bluster.

The police officer wanted to deny it but she knew she couldn't. What she had said was the truth; Gail was usually nothing if not confident in the bedroom department. The thought of sleeping with Holly did make her anxious though - not because she was a woman but because she was Holly. She didn't want to mess up the good thing they had going, first and foremost. But if she was really honest with herself there was a teeny, tiny element of nerves too…

"I want it to be good," she blurted, feeling her cheeks flush red the moment she said it. "I want it to be good, but I might not know what I'm doing and then it won't be. I can't even get your clothes off without making an idiot of myself,"

The doctor plucked at the material of the shirt she was wearing. "You do realise this is yours? You would have ruined your own shirt," she said.

"Oh fantastic," Gail muttered. "This is getting better and better,"

"I'm teasing you, Gail. Don't worry about it, honestly," Holly reassured her, but the blonde was looking away again.

"I was trying to be sexy," she mumbled under her breath.

Holly smiled softly, and rubbed her hand up and down Gail's thigh. "You are sexy. But you should stop worrying about trying to be sexy and just roll with it. Because it will be good," she assured the other woman.

"How do you know?" Gail asked and the pathologist shrugged.

"Because making out with you just now made my head spin and my toes curl. And I really want you. So when it happens, it's going to be good, don't worry about that," she replied. And with that statement, she winked at Gail and stood up, aiming to break the tension and ease the blonde's awkwardness.

But the cop stood too, catching hold of Holly's hand before she could move away.

"Just so you know, I really want you too," she said, staring directly into those dark, dark eyes. They both paused for a beat, lost in the desire they saw there before the brunette pressed a soft kiss against Gail's lips.

"That's good…kind of important, as you're my girlfriend," she replied, and they both grinned at the sound of that.

"Yeah. I am," Gail murmured back.