Gail was not a runner. Even since academy days even as far back as high school they made her run, but till this day she detested it. Holly used to wake her up early on their off days to run on the Toronto trails up in the mountains. The first time she ran with the woman, she promised only 1 mile, but she happened to claim that she wasn't paying attention so they ran 5. Probably even more, granting that it was uphill. Gail did not miss that either. She was thankful though, just a little bit, that she could outrun most of these criminals now.

Just when the bulky man reached the corner she tackled him to the ground, swiftly cuffing him in the process. He screamed and thrashed against her grip yelling that he didn't do it and that he was set up or drugged.

" That's what they all say. " The woman told him as she passed him off to Andy.

" Damn Peck, you must've been a football player in your previous life. " McNally clapped and pulled the criminal up and into the squad car.

Fingers brushed against her uniform to dust off the dirt. Gail was panting hard, wiping the sweat off her brow, Gail Peck was definitely not a runner.

Andy took the squad car with the criminal back to the station, while Gail waited in the apartment building for Swarek to come.

The female corpse was in a sitting position on the couch, wearing a white lace dress and flowers in hand. The contours of her face were beautiful, high cheekbones, and full lips coated a soft red. She almost looked alive, the man took the time to brush makeup on her face and change her. The only indication that she was dead, was the huge gaping bullet wound on her temple. It was sick.

Nick Collins walked over the yellow tape to swat away the bugs that were piling up on the corpse.

" Don't even think about it Nicholas, it's ruining the crime scene." She told him before he could even go near the body. He waved his hands up in defense.

" Alright, calm down Gail."

" Glad some people were listening Officer Peck." A woman's voice walked in with a red lunch box in hand. It was Holly, the blonde officer stepped back a few paces to let the doctor have room to observe. At first they didn't even look each other in the eyes, and she blatantly would walk out of the room whenever she entered. Gail manned up though, and tried to be civil. It was hard though, working with Holly and being around her.

" I always listen…" to you. There were always double meanings to her words around Holly, Gail didn't intentionally do that, but whenever she was around the woman it always seemed to reopen wounds that she had sewn to her chest. Gail shook her head and cleared her throat, "Dr. Stewart. "

Ever since Gail suddenly became comfortable around Holly, the forensic pathologist felt antsy all the time. This was her zone, but she could not help but feel scrutinized by the blue eyed officer.

Holly did her usual checklist at the crime scene. First, she observed the body at all angles taking in the outer surroundings of where it was placed. She usually had a recorder with her to describe her findings. Second, the woman would take photos up close and far away at each side of the body. Actually walking into the vicinity of the body wasn't until the third step. The brunette would gather any evidence around the body and on their clothes. Then the final step was poking and prodding at the body for any further analysis in the crime scene.

Gail watched the doctor at work. That was one of the many things she had loved about Holly, her passion for what she did.

" Environment, Check. Photos, Check. Surrounding evidence, Check. Physically Observing, Check." Gail noted when the forensic pathologist had finished her well accustomed cycle.

Holly was caught off guard. Gail was too observant sometimes. " It's an OCD thing. "

" I'm sure the girlfriends just love it. "

" You loved it."

" Yeah, the usual cycle of I'm just having fun. Definitely. "

Silence fell between the two after Gail's biting comment. The room was tense, they could both feel it. Holly didn't know what to say to that. It hurt her, and she felt slightly offended. Those words were always taunting her from that night, but telling her that she wasn't actually seeing anyone wouldn't make things better either. The blonde woman shook her head, " I'm sorry. That was out of hand. "

" It's fine Officer Peck. " The forensic pathologist placed the evidence in her lunchbox.

…

The all too familiar y-incision. It was all just muscle memory and autopilot from here. The bane of Holly's adult life, post mortem examination, the autopsy. The sharp blade brushed against the skin like butter. She maneuvered the blade starting at the top of each shoulder and ran down the front of the chest meeting at the lower point of the sternum. It was like painting a picture on a canvas. Her job, and these autopsies were a constant in her life.

The woman processed the DNA and started on her medical examination write-up for the detectives. It was a fairly easy case, the woman had been healthy and there weren't any further problems. It was just a clean shot to the area just behind and to the side of the forehead, nestled perfectly above the side of the zygomatic arch, the temple.

" I appreciate your effort and quick writeups. Oh, plus how thorough yet easy it is to understand the information Dr. Stewart." Detective Nash smiled at the woman and shook her hand. The previous head forensic pathologist had always used jargon so foreign to her that she was best friends with the dictionary on those days.

"Holly...Just Holly. It's always a pleasure working for the 15th division Detective Nash. "

" You can call me Traci, Holly." Holly smiled as she watched the woman walk away but stop in her tracks by the doorway.

The dark skinned woman looked at Holly for a brief moment, " She's strong headed, and very stubborn. But she's fragile. You know, the ice has sometimes been worn too thin. "

Unspoken words of don't hurt her anymore. It was firm, but there was not a hint of a threatening tone in the detective's voice. Holly could see that the woman cared for Gail deeply. She gave a curt nod in confirmation and went back to work.

...

Gail was quite surprised when the date that was set up for her, by her loving mother, was a female.

Maybe her mother was coming to terms with her "I just don't do the boys anymore but girls too" monologue.

She remembered the night when her mother was expecting the head forensic pathologist of 15th division, her lover, for dinner. The superintendent didn't know much further than that. The look on her face was priceless when she shook hands with the doctor who just happened to be a woman. Elaine Peck was absolutely thrown off guard, she was always prepared. She had a whole list of questions to interrogate Gail's new boyfriend, but that night totally was a disaster in her eyes. The dinner went quite smoothly though, Elaine Peck, was still running the show, but Gail could see the unruly look in her eyes whenever she glanced over at the female couple across from her. Holly had excused herself early from the dinner because she was on call with the station. The real interrogation began the moment Holly stepped out of the door. Bill Peck, her father, was the buffer and tried to assuage the crazy woman. It had ended somewhat on a good note.

Elaine Peck always had ulterior motives. The older woman justified with herself that she would have more choices now to set up dates with the upper class when news got out that the couple was over.

" You must be Sam? " Gail shook the woman's hand who sat by the bar drinking a margarita.

" Sam I am. " The woman smiled brightly. Oh god.

Gail knew there was always a catch with her superintendent mother. The date was horrible, the woman talked far too much and she had found out that she was the mayor's daughter. After she mentioned the six figures her father made Gail tuned out. Typical upper class snob. At least she had alcohol tonight.

The blonde long haired woman across from her just kept blabbering. Gail just watched her mouth open and close for a good two minutes before she was pulled out of her daze when the woman asked, " So what do you do? "

Gail was so uninterested at this point. She wasn't much of a talker, unless it was with her group of friends, or Holly. A wave of relief showered over her when the blonde got the picture after ten minutes of Gail rolling her eyes and looking the other way. Sam made up an excuse to go, the gods were on Gail's side today.

" Looks like you had a bad date. " A tall woman pulled up a chair at the bar beside the blonde who took a shot of Tequila in one go. She grabbed one of Gail's shots and downed one.

" You owe me one and I am not interested. " Gail responded as she picked up her other shot.

The woman laughed and patted the younger girl's shoulder. " I'm Lucy, and my wife, " The woman emphasized the word holding it out long enough for Gail to understand, "...and I would love to buy you a drink. We were betting against each other over the last hour on whether you would deck the blonde chick in the face for yappin' too much. "

Gail nearly choked on the warm liquid running down her throat and chuckled at the woman's straightforward approach. Not too bad. " Why not. "

Lucy led the way to the small table cooped up in the corner, introductions were made between Gail and Lucy's wife, whom she learned was Nora. It was a light atmosphere and the couple before her were hilarious. She couldn't even make sense of how they were together, they seemed so different.

Lucy was a tall woman with athletic features. Her demeanor was more lighthearted, but undoubtedly blunt with words. Nora was a much shorter woman who dressed quite feminine, she donned a dark sequined dress that just screamed for attention. She seemed like the 'ideal' woman who was rational yet sincere, but the long dreadlocks were quite deceiving.

But the two clicked, they clicked like how Holly and herself used to compliment each other. Playful banter between the two. Gail sorely missed that.

" Oh, I'm pretty sure you were in a daze the whole time hun. " Lucy joked.

" Probably about 95 percent of the time, the other 5 percent was for downing those shots as that woman kept blabbering about her socialite status. It was horrid." The blonde hadn't smiled this much in awhile.

She enjoyed both women's presence. She almost felt a bit happy meeting new people, and actually making friends, something she sucked at. You make a bad first impression Gail. Dov would say.

" Give us a call Gail, we need more people like you in our life. " Lucy and Nora slipped a paper in her hand and gave her a hug. The night wasn't too bad.