Gail came as soon as she could and she was told where to find Holly. Holly was on the floor examining the body when Gail entered the cave.
''Dr. Stewart, you asked for me…''
''Yes C.S. Peck… This seemed very familiar….''
Holly moved from the body and Gail came closer to take the look.
''Oh, my…''
''That was my first comment….''
''So, someone is copying his murders….''
''Or, he got out… I'll know more after I do all the things I need to do…''
'' This was supposed to be a very nice and quiet Sunday….''
''I know…''
Holly turned towards the technician.
''You may take the body away… I'll be there as soon as I can.''
''Yes, Dr. Stewart.''
They were finally alone when Gail looked at her with mixture of fear and surprise.
''What on Earth is this Holly? Is it…HIM?''
''I have no idea… I can't think now… I need to calm down and then work this case as any other case I get. If I find some things match the case I will then rule it as something we must look into…''
Gail looked around and when she was sure they were alone, she came closer to Holly and gave her pretty hot kiss. Holly was surprised by this.
''I just had to… I hate this feeling I have now. I hate this feeling of not being sure…''
''Babe, it will be fine…''
''Holly, if it was him…by any chances…we are not safe… I'm scared…''
''So am I babe…''
''Ten years ago you almost died…''
''Gail…. Stop! I am here and alive… Past is past…''
They left the cave and some officers stayed behind to secure and mark the place. Gail told them they would be guarding the place until Holly and the lab have all they need. Kids loved to sneak in for some sexy time, so rookies had to keep it off limits for some time.
Holly was back in the morgue and Gail went back to the station. She took her spare uniform and got all the files on Richard Black a.k.a The Cavemen. He was one of the serial killers Gail had the ''honor'' to lock up after almost fifteen years of killing. She and Holly worked his case and they closed it together. He was convicted thanks to Holly and her forensic evidence and hair she found on one of the victims. But it was not that simple and nice. Before he was arrested, he broke into the morgue and assaulted Holly with a knife. She was stabbed into her stomach and she barely made it. She was lucky that Gail came to see her and found her bleeding on the floor. Gail shot him in the shoulder, and handcuffed him to the table. Holly was conscious so she gave her instructions how to save her life, or at least keep her alive until ambulance comes. Now she had flashback to that night and Holly in pool of blood. If she came few seconds later, he would have killed Holly. Gail was not happy to relive all these things, but she had to. Those crime scene photos were something that made her sick even after so much time. In her career she saw a lot of things and she grew accustomed to a lot of things, but this… This was still nightmare for her. She hated her job because of things like this. Since that day she could relate to Holly's fear about her being safe and leaving the house to go to work. Before seeing Holly hurt, she could never completely understand why Holly hated that she was a police officer. It seemed funny to her that she would find Holly praying for her in secret. Now, it was not funny anymore. She hated all these fears coming back to her again and memories hunting her. She and Holly put that behind them and they decided to ignore the scar on Holly's skin and pretend it never happened. Even recently, when they made love, Gail gave her best not to look where the scar was. Holly had it removed, but you could still see the very thin line scar once was. She was happy that Black was locked and he was supposed to be there for life. She picked up her phone and dialed a number of the federal jail.
''This is C.S. Peck, I'm calling about Black… Is he there?''
''Where else he would be? Off course he is there…''
''In want to see him…''
''There is not much to see. He…. There was a riot and he was burned with some chemicals couple months ago…''
''I want to see him… I'll be there by the end of the week.''
''O.K. We will be expecting you.''
Holly was elbows deep in the girl when Gail came to see her. She didn't want Gail to say something that could make her feel embarrassed after, so she hinted that she was not alone. Two rookies were sitting there trying not to puke their last ten meals…
''C.S. Peck, nice to see you here… What can we do for you?''
Gail was surprised by the way Holly addressed her, but later she realized they were not alone.
''Anything you can tell me now about the body….''
''It's in pretty bad shape… She was at the age between eighteen and twenty years of age.''
She gave Gail and the rookies pretty detailed description of the body and what happened to the girl. She offered few different scenarios and told them what she believes is the most probable. Rookies changed colors and she was sorry for them. She knew there were some of them that took longer to get used to it and all the things they see in their career. At one point Holly stopped working. She put the scalpel on the tray and looked at Gail.
''I need someone to do this instead of me…''
''Why?''
''Because I found our picture inside of her stomach… He made her eat it…''
Rookies run out out of the morgue to throw up and Gail looked at Holly in shock…. She came closer to Holly and they opened the entire picture… It was made out of two photographs. One part was two of them more than ten years ago. Gail was in her uniform, her hair in braid and Holly was in her scrubs. It looked like they were coming back from lunch. They were standing at the entrance to the morgue and were kissing. Other part was two of them at their bench at the park kissing. It was made few days ago.
'' We are not safe... No one is safe…''
''We must tell someone…''
''I know. I will talk to someone Holly. Don't worry.''
On their way home, Gail called her friends and they all checked their house and alarm system. Holly felt safer that way. Gail gave her small gun and told her to keep it near. Holly hated guns. She had so many people at her table as a consequence of shooting. Gail kept one gun on the nightstand and the other was at Holly's side. She locked all the doors, secured the windows and turned their alarm on. She was waiting. They were still not sure if it was the caveman or some copycat in search for revenge. They turned off their lights and got into bed. They got close to each other and Holly took her hand. Gail took a deep breath and spoke….
''Holly, I want you to know I am going to see him… I have to see if it is him…''
''Why?''
''I have to look him in the eyes and tell him how he didn't brake me…or you….''
''But he did….''
''How?''
''Look at us… We are a mess… We lock our door like we never did. We have ten people checking up the house and we have guns on the nightstands. I think it is safe to say we are scared and out of our mind with fear.''
''That is why I have to see him. I need someone from the forensic…''
''Why?''
''They said he was burned in some fight. I want to make sure it is him and not some poor man…''
''O.K. I'll make sure to send someone…''
Gail kissed her and took her into her arms.
''I love you… No matter what happens… I promise we will make it work and survive it…''
''I hope we will… We must…''
They fell asleep and in the middle of the night Gail was woken up from the dream by Holly's screams. She had a nightmare about that night in the morgue. She cried, screamed and held her stomach, where she was stabbed. She begged him not to do it and to leave her alone. Gail woke her up and tried to calm her.
''It's fine… You are fine baby….''
''I can't do it again Gail… I know I can't….''
''What?''
''I can't relive it again… I need to be safe and sure we are not going to be hurt again…''
''He will not hurt us again. I will not let it happen…''
''He is part of the reason…''
''Reason for what?''
''Reason I left… I left because of him. I couldn't take it Gail. That is why I had to leave…''
''What?''
'' I left because I saw him everywhere…. I couldn't stand to be alone. I know you took all these night shifts to be a good friend to Chris and Dove who had their babies, but… I didn't sleep well without you. I could see and feel him everywhere. I couldn't stay alone in the morgue. I had panic attacks. I was jumping every time I heard something down there. I felt so trapped. I went to the therapy, but it was not helping me. I had to do something more drastic. I had to work in the same room I was stabbed. Do you know that there was still my blood everywhere when I came back to work? No one cleaned it up because police took off the tape on that morning. I had to work looking at my own blood for twelwe hours. I was so bad Gail… I started drinking more and more Gail. I was on the verge of becoming alcoholic…I could sleep only when I'm drunk.''
Gail's eyes were full of tears…
''And you never told me that?''
''I didn't have to… We worked different shifts. There were few nights we would spend time in bed at the same time. I had no reason to put that on you.''
''I am your wife. It was part of me too. I had to know.., I wanted to know…''
''I wanted to tell you, but you started your detective rotations, you had your life figured out. I was the one who was lost and scared… I had to go and start over. It was never matter of love. I loved you so much at the moment I left. It broke my heart Gail, but I had to… I was so lost...''
''Will you do it again Holly?''
