Chapter Eleven

Luke was on his way back down the stairs when he heard the gunshots.

The sounds were clustered together; like two weapons had been fired almost simultaneously.

'Peck,' he muttered, and immediately broke into a run.

Something had happened between her stopping to answer her phone, and now, but it wasn't the time to wrack his brains about what it might have been.

His heart almost stopped when he saw her.

There was a man lying dead not twenty feet from her, his white shirt stained red with blood. Luke kicked the gun away from his hand, and rushed to Gail's side.

He grabbed for her radio, and put out the last call any police officer ever wanted to make. It wasn't exactly the best thing to hear over the radio, and it was even worse when you were the one that had to say it. He put one hand to Gail's shoulder, and another to her leg. The shoulder wound didn't seem to be bleeding too badly (though maybe that was because Gail's hands had taken the brunt of it), and the leg one didn't seem to have hit the femoral artery, which was at least one thing that hadn't gone horribly wrong today.

'Don't go anywhere, Peck,' Luke said, warningly. Gail was drifting in and out of cognisance; the look in her eyes told him she was alert enough to know what was going on. Barely.

'You should be so lucky,' she murmured.

'You kidding me? Your Mom's gonna kill me if I let you die on my watch.'

That, she laughed at, but it came too softly and too slowly for Luke not to worry. If she did die, then somehow he'd probably find himself demoted back to a uniform, but that was the least of his worries.

'He hit me in the face with a bag of cat food,' she said, sounding almost indignant, and for a moment, Luke wasn't actually sure whether or not she was delirious, until he noticed the bruises that were starting to form on her cheek.

'Well that's where he screwed up.'

'Fucker shot me,' Gail spat, indignantly. She moved to sit up slightly, and then gave a loud gasp of pain.

'Hey, stay with me, Peck!' Luke said, but Gail's eyes had already shut. Her pulse was still fairly strong, and she was breathing fast, so he tried not to let himself worry too much.

The first squad car arrived just half a minute later.

Epstein's face was pale, and thankfully, Oliver took the initiative and got him to clear the scene. It wasn't that there might have been anything else out there, but it was more productive than having him stand around watching his friend bleed to death. Not that Luke was going to let her die.

No.

He refused to do that.

'Take her gun,' Luke told Oliver. He knew how this went. Shootout in the woods with no witnesses; regardless of who she'd shot, there would be an enquiry.

That was another day's problem.

When the ambulance came, it was in a blur of red and blue lights. Luke stepped backwards, trying not to look down at his hands. He shared a glance with Oliver.

'I'll go,' Oliver said, and Luke nodded. He needed to be there for when the ME arrived. He needed to figure out who the hell this guy was, and they needed to get people to his residence.

He could have been just a random crazy that attacked a police officer with a bag of cat food and ran for it, but given all the other factors, Luke thought there was a good chance he was involved. For all they knew, he wasn't working alone. But of course, even if he was, he wouldn't be answering any questions. Peck's first bullet had torn through his heart, and the second had just driven another nail through the coffin.

'Scene's clear,' Dov said, as he came back into view. He didn't look down. There was blood on the ground. A lot of blood. 'Marlo and Andy are on their way – Nick and Chris, too.'

'Good,' Luke said, shortly. 'We'll need them.'

...

For the third time that month, Traci Nash found herself working side-by-side with Guns and Gangs.

'You know, it's funny how you always seem to need the help of a rookie Detective,' she commented to Steve, who was making a show out of pretending he didn't know what she was talking about. When that failed, he just grinned.

'What can I say, Nash? You motivate me to be hardworking and conscientious. Besides. I figure you aren't gonna learn properly with someone like Swarek teaching you the ropes. Not when he's too busy figuring out which brunette he wants to sleep with.'

Traci was about to make a witty retort, when Steve's phone rang. He frowned.

'Dad?' His expression went from carefree, to worry-worn. Traci knew that the Inspector wouldn't be calling at this time of day unless it was important. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened slightly. 'Okay. Okay, I can be there.'

He hung up, and turned to Traci. 'Gail's been shot,' he said, and Traci felt her heart plummet.

'How bad?'

Steve shook his head. 'Too early to say. One to the shoulder, one to the thigh. Mom's out of town, and Dad's stuck in a meeting.' He spoke with a resigned sort of bitterness, but made no comment about his parents' commitments.

'Jansen, I need you to take care of this for me,' Steve said, pointing to the case file sitting on his desk. 'I have to go to the hospital.'

Thanks to Steve's erratic driving, and the sirens of his unmarked, they made it to the hospital in record time. Just as they were about to set foot inside, Traci's phone started to ring.

Her heart skipped a beat as she moved to answer it.

'It's Chris,' she told Steve, who relaxed slightly. 'Hey, Chris—Yeah, I know. I'm with Steve; we're just at the hospital now. How's she looking?'

'She's going to be fine. She has to be fine,' Chris said, and Traci could hear the strain in his voice. Even though he and Gail hadn't been together in years, they were still close. 'Oliver's with her at the hospital, but we're still stuck at the scene. I just thought—I wasn't sure if you knew.'

'I will keep you updated,' Traci promised. After a pause, she added, 'Stay safe,' and hung up.

'How is it that you managed to get a call before I did?' Traci asked, a little confused, as she slipped the phone back into her pocket.

'Peck connections,' Steve shrugged. Traci knew that it was a plausible explanation. Frank would have called her parents almost immediately. Anyone on the scene would have had other things to worry about.

The sudden realization hit her with the force of a sledgehammer.

Fuck.

Traci wasn't normally inclined to swear. Raising Leo had trained that out of her. But she'd completely forgotten about Holly.

'Do you know Holly's number?' Traci asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be. Steve shook his head.

When they got to the waiting room, Oliver was already there. To anyone that didn't know him, he looked relatively composed, but Traci could see the furrow in his brow, and the worry in his eyes.

'Did they give you her phone?' Traci asked, and Oliver nodded.

'Yeah,' he said, passing the phone over.

Traci tried to ignore the fact that the phone had blood on it. 'I don't know her PIN,' she said, feeling suddenly defeated.

'Here.' Steve took the phone, and pressed something in. 'She uses the same one for pretty much everything. Makes it really easy to crack her password.'

Traci found a place where she could use the phone without upsetting anyone.

'Gail?' Holly's voice sounded hopeful, and Traci realized how much of an idiot she was an idiot for calling from Gail's phone.

'No, it's...it's Traci.'

Holly was smart enough to know what that meant. Smart enough to know that the only reason Traci would be calling from Gail's phone...

'What happened? Is she okay?'

'She's been shot,' Traci said. 'She's still in surgery.'

'Which hospital?' Holly demanded, and from the background noises, Traci could tell that she was about to drop everything and head straight there.

'No, stay there. I'll have a squad car pick you up,' Traci said firmly. The last thing they needed was for Holly to get into a car accident trying to get to the hospital. That would have been a fun one to explain to Gail. With a few more reassuring words, she hung up, and used her own phone to call 15 Division.

Chloe was in booking, and she couldn't exactly leave. There was no way she was going to ask Frank to do it. Finally, she managed to get hold of Swarek, who agreed to bring Holly over before heading over to the crime scene.

The only thing to do now, was wait.

...

Oliver had gone back out there, to help with whatever it was that Callaghan needed; if it was this bad when their main suspect was dead, Steve didn't want to think about how hectic things would have been if Gail hadn't managed to take him down. He couldn't sit. He could barely even stand still. There was a bundle of raw, tense energy that had built up inside of him.

It had been similar, and yet completely different when she'd been kidnapped. Then, he'd been deep enough undercover that the only thing he could do was focus on his mission, to try not to think about what some sicko was doing to his sister. Then, it could have gone any way; she could have turned up fine, or she could have turned up dead. Now, the options were a lot fewer, but no less terrifying.

Beside him, Traci straightened, and Steve looked over towards the entrance of the waiting room as Holly stepped in. Eyes red, and glasses askew, almost immediately, she pulled Traci into a hug. Traci looked a little startled, but reciprocated.

Guns and Gangs had a not insignificant number of bodies that seemed to end up down in the morgue. Holly had handled a few of his autopsies; she was very smart, and very professional.

Now, she looked the same as anyone else that had rushed to the hospital after finding out someone they loved had been shot.

Swarek, for some reason, had come up with her.

How's she doing?' Swarek asked. Steve didn't answer straight away. He blinked back the tears that were pressing in the corner of his eyes.

'Well, she's still in surgery, but...Oliver says she was conscious for a bit in the ambulance, and at the scene, and the doctors are optimistic, so...It's good. Barring any complications...' He trailed off. He didn't want to think about what would happen if there were any complications. Since the day Gail had joined the academy, there had been an unspoken expectation that he would take care of her. Even if they worked in completely different areas. Even if he was Chief of Police, and she was still working the streets, he would take care of her, because she was his little sister.

'Hey. If anyone can get through it, it's her,' Swarek said. 'Me, I'd be more worried about the doctors not surviving the trip. You Pecks all have acid blood, right?'

Steve took the gentle ribbing for what it was – an attempt to comfort and reassure him. Even though he and Swarek had moved through the ranks at a similar sort of time, they'd never really been friends. 'Thanks,' he said, seriously.

Swarek nodded. 'Any time.'

And with that, he was gone.

...

Hours passed slowly. Holly had barely said a word since she'd gotten there; she looked as though she might throw up if she tried.

'The last thing we did was fight,' Holly said, not looking up. Traci leaned over, and grasped her hand.

'Hey,' she said, softly. 'Gail is going to be fine, okay?' The words were hollow, and they both knew it. With Jerry, Traci hadn't even had a chance to worry before she knew he was dead. All she'd gotten was that look on Andy's face, and the sudden, overwhelming realization that something was very, very wrong.

Holly shook her head. 'I can't believe you all do this every day. Any time one of you goes out there, you could die.'

Any words Traci might have had were suddenly caught in her throat. She'd been trying so hard not to think of Jerry, but it was an inevitability that she couldn't avoid. Now was not the time to be burdening Holly with her own problems, though. Now was the time to use the empathy that being a police officer had fostered.

'You can't think about that,' said Traci softly. 'You can't think about what might happen. You have to think about the good things. Think about how she makes you feel.'

Holly gave a laugh. 'She's ridiculous, and stubborn, and a pain in the ass, and I can't stop thinking about her.'

At a little after three o'clock, Traci took a much needed trip to the bathroom. Even though they'd been at the hospital for just over four hours, it felt more like four years. There was just something about the whole process of worrying that was draining. When she returned, Steve was standing, as if waiting for something.

'She's out of surgery,' he told her, adding, with an almost relieved look, 'No complications, as far as they can tell. They're taking her to ICU now, so they'll let us know when we can see her.'

Traci nodded. That was good. As good, at least, as things could have been. Even Holly was looking a lot calmer, a lot less upset than she had just twenty minutes ago.

'You want to call your Dad?'

'I-yeah, I should,' Steve nodded, and excused himself briefly. When he returned, a nurse was waiting to take them to Gail. The walk down the hallway seemed to take a thousand years, and Traci could hear Holly's breathing starting to speed up.

'You go in first,' Traci told her, and she looked almost hesitant. She bit her lip, and nodded, stepping inside.

Traci looked over at Steve, who was shaking slightly. 'You okay?' she asked.

'No,' he answered. There were tears in his eyes, and he looked more lost than Traci had ever seen him. There were no words, no easy fix to make things better. Traci knew that much, at least. She took his hand in hers, and with a shaky smile, pushed the door open.

Yes, I know there was no Holly POV. That was a deliberate narrative choice. If you want to follow me on tumblr, look at all the fascinating things I reblog, harass me, etc, the link is on my profile page.