AN: Hey guys! I don't own anything from RB other than my OC's... Also, Andy doesn't exist in this take of RB, nothing against her, in fact I think she's one of the only female leading characters in a drama tv show that I've ended up not disliking. And I probably would have loved to use her in this fic, but I really struggle to write her.. anyways lets get to it!

Sweet like Honey, Sting like a Bee

Chapter One

The piercing sound of her alarm was what woke her from her restless sleep, 6am, enough time to get the kids up, ready, lunches sorted and off to school before she headed to work. Being a single-mom, technically, was hard. Really, really hard with four kids, with three of them being teenagers and one under ten, her eldest was the only one that was out of school and working. Eight months since her husband had disappeared, clearly away undercover, and no sign of him returning home anytime soon.

She groaned, rolling out of bed and heading for a shower before getting the kids up. She was lucky both schools that they attended had morning clubs, allowing her to get to work on time. Her shower was quick, getting out and towelling off her body, with another one wrapped around her long hair. She re-entered her room, getting dressed before drying her hair. By the time she was done she heard Zeke leaving for work, trying to not wake his siblings as he made his way down the creaky stairs leading from his room in the converted attic. With him out the house, it only left Leah, Zach and Asher in the house with her, unaware of the rude awakening from their mom they were about to face.

Having woken them up, she left them to get themselves ready for the day while she made her way to the kitchen to prepare some coffee and breakfast for the kids. Zach appeared first, nothing new, grabbing some of the toast that his mom was buttering for them. Sitting on one of the bar stools facing her while she worked, he pulled out on of his school text books.

"What are you doing Zachary, I thought you had finished all your homework?"

"Relax mom! It's all done, I'm just prepping for this presentation… I'm a bit nervous."

He attempted to give a half smile in return of her sympathetic one,

"I'm sure you'll be fine sweetheart." She dragged her fingers through his unruly curly hair in attempt to give him some comfort. At that moment Leah finally made an appearance, looking as grumpy as ever. Hormones, missing her dad and a bad breakup had all rolled into one with Leah, leaving a rage filled, shell of a girl. Debbie was really struggling on what she could do to help her daughter, they were once so close. She kept attempting to push Leah to talk to her, allow her to help, but she was getting nowhere. She had even stopped argue with Leah in the school mornings where she would opt to have coffee and watch the news in the other room, instead of eating something more substantial with her family.

Asher, the youngest, was always last to arrive in the morning for breakfast. He was chatting away, not a care in the world, still a bit too young to be fully empathetic with all the emotions in the house. He was too busy discussing what Go-Go figures he was going to take with him to trade at school that day. Not even stopping his chatter while eating his cereal, and with his bother continuously telling him to "Shut Up!", resulting in Debbie saying it right back to him. It was nice having someone in the house that was clearly just getting on with life. It didn't mean that little Ash wasn't driving her 'round the bend, in fact she didn't get a minute's peace until she was in the car on her way to work, after Leah and Zach taking off in her car and Asher getting on the school bus.

Her thoughts finally catching up with her, Debbie started to pounder her upcoming day while stuck in the busy Toronto rush hour traffic. Great, her pondering had made her realise that today was the day of the new rotation, with all brand spanking new rookies. Being a training officer was just the icing on the cake for the way life was going at the moment.

Arriving at work, she was the first person there of their shift, allowing her time to grab another coffee and get into her uniform without much rush. She hated this part of the day, the stress of life was clearly starting to get to her, and her fitted uniform was making her more and more aware how much weight she was beginning to lose. Huffing she tucked her loosening shirt into her pants, tightening her belt all the way to the last available hole, questioning if she should rake out her pocket-knife and make a new one. No, better not… Time was moving on, and with the amount of overtime Noelle was doing lately she was surely to be in soon, no need to draw attention towards anything that would make her question if she was looking after herself, she'd sort it at home tonight.

Making her way back into the bullpen Debbie sat the usual desks that her and Oliver tended to commandeer to complete their paperwork. getting lost and catching up with her notes from the last shift and submitting the reports for the D's she didn't notice Oliver sitting beside her until the slamming of the coffee cup hitting the desk. she jumped, averting her gaze from the computer in front of her to Shaw, her face was a picture.

"Oh, now didn't you wake up on the wrong side of the bed."

" I'm not in the mood today Shaw."

" hey, hey I'm sorry I didn't realise you're having a bad day. what's up?"

" oh, you know the usual. Four kids, no husband, full time job that takes up more of my life than it should, and just trying to make ends meet, and somehow I'm still the bad guy."

"Huh, you as well. Its not going well with me and Zoe either, in fact she kicked me out last night."

She immediately felt guilty, as per she was too wrapped up in her own shitty life that she didn't real that Oliver was also having a hard time.

" look Oliver, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I have been so self centred the last few months didn't realise you needed someone there as much as I do as well. Listen, let me make it up to you. we still have the fitted apartment above a garage, why don't you live in there until you can find a decent apartment or house. it's got a room on bathroom even a small kitchenette, we had it fitted for... for his mom when she came to visit, she preferred at times to live apart from us of sorts, it helps keep the peace, especially when perhaps I wasn't cooking completely kosher."

That drew a laugh from Oliver, it was good to see him look even slightly happy and now that she thought about it she had not actually seen him smile properly in weeks.

"Thanks Deb, I might just take you up on that offer and listen I can help out with the kids and anyway you need this can't be easy for them either."

They shared a sad smile, looking at the clock available on the the computer in front of her she gave a sigh she knew they had to get a move on or Boyko would throw them behind a desk for the day.

They made their way into parade, they could see the new rookies front and centre, with Boyko waiting for the rest of his senior officers to arrive. They both grabbed seats at the back, sitting in the low filling cabinets, leaving back against the windows.

When Boyko was satisfied that everyone was here, he started his usual lecture reserved for new recruits. Looking over the for newbies, that stood out with their long-sleeved shirts, Debbie recognised the blonde-haired woman that appeared the least stressed about being new to the job.

Debbie frowned, her and Gail were actually pretty good friends, her mother had been her training officer and partner for a brief stint before excelling right up the chain of command. It was apparent that Gail was a bit older and more mature than the other rookies, which didn't surprise Debbie. Gail had gone on for years about seeing the world and getting away from her parents and brother's legacy before being nailed to a job until near death. What unsettled her most was that she hadn't said to her that she had finally joined the academy or that she was spending her rookie rotation at 15.

Mind you Debbie knew she couldn't judge, with everything going on she hadn't exactly been the best sort of friend, something she most definitely was not proud of. She shook her head, zoning back into what Boyko was saying.

"... and Frank Best is your road sergeant, he'll be responsible for being liaison out there on the job and back here with me, keeping you all in line. Right, partners...

"Dov Epstein, you'll be trying out in booking today; Chris Diaz you'll be riding with Shaw; Traci Nash you're with Williams; and Gail Peck, you'll be riding with Swarek."

Fuck! Was all Debbie could think. She knew that she would need to deal with Gail at some point, but out on the road while trying to train her was not the best time. Elaine must have played a part in this, probably making sure that the Peck teachings were passed down to her only daughter. Her internal breakdown was interrupted with Gail standing in front of her.

"Ehm, Hey?"

Clearing her throat, standing, thinking it's best to be professional for now,

"Right Peck let's get out on the road; the streets aren't going to clean up themselves."

Dashing away ahead of her to grab her gun and go bag, she made her way out to her cruiser. Debbie was lucky in a way, she tended to get the same cruiser and only really shared with Mandy on the other shift. Both of them were pretty short, both under 5'2", so to save the hassle for everyone, the tended to keep 1516 just for them.

Slipping into the driver's seat, she lowered her window. The hot summer sun was starting to split the clouds, there definetly would be some craziness happening today. She was drawn out of her thoughts with a slapping sound from her windscreen. Looking up, there was a long, slimy pickle sliding its way down the window.

"SHAW!"

She could hear the laugh of Oliver two cars down, he clearly hadn't intended to hit it or believed he actually could with how hilarious he was finding the situation. Getting out before the slime made it even more difficult to see out the window, she removed it. Peck arrived just as she had turned back from throwing the pickle at Shaw's own cruiser, and new bout of giggles erupted from him, and many colourful words left Debbie's mouth as she missed.

Turning back, she noticed Gail just standing, telling her to "get in" she popped the boot so she could put her go bag with her own. She was fuming now with everything going on, she'd maybe need to talk to Boyko, maybe a few shifts with set hours behind a desk were needed to try and chill her out a bit. Or at least enough for her to gain back the excitement at the prospect of her job again.

Gail was settled in, not even turning to talk to her, she just set off. They sat in silence for a good ten minutes, both lost in thought, both unsure where to start. Surprising the two of them though, it was Gail that got the ball rolling,

"So, where's Sam at? I thought you both worked out of 15. Not that you have ever actually introduced me to him, I don't think I'd ever be able to pick him out of a line up if I needed to."

There was a snideness to her words. Gail has always begrudged that Debbie had always been a good friend but did tend to keep her at arm's length, hell she had only met one of her kids, and it was pure chance of bumping into each other at the supermarket.

Debbie grimaced, she always felt bad she kept Gail apart from her life. But in all honest she just didn't want Elaine getting involved in her life, or Gail accidentally letting something slip and meaning someone in 15 getting in bother for bending the rules slightly. Their friendship consisted of phone calls, drinks in bars outside of 15 divisions area and the occasion email when Gail was out the country.

But the words that cut the deepest was the mention of Sam not being there. Everything was really starting to pile up, it all becoming far too much she really wondered if she'd get through today. She'd maybe phone Frank, she'd maybe manage to pass Gail off to him, the excuse of not being in the right frame of mind to watch a rookie's back nevermind her own. Not that it was a lie, if she didn't start to focus, they both definitely might end up dead or worse.

She was saved by dispatch, Thank god!

"All units respond, shots fired 306 Dunn, officers on the scene."

"Well, mark us and light 'em up Peck."

With those sharp words, Debbie put her foot down, peeling down the street to god only knows what.