Gail sat on the small cot in her cell, her mind wandering. She had been trying desperately to keep a calm demeanor and an even keel. As the days progressed this tranquility was becoming harder and harder to hold onto. She certainly meant every word she uttered to Holly—she had complete faith in her and her extraordinary mind and forensic abilities. She also knew Holly would not quit until she found the truth. However, that was exactly what Gail was beginning to fear—the truth. Could she have murdered these men in self-defense or a deal gone bad? She knew, for sure, that she had the capacity to kill someone. Hadn't she trained to do just that in the academy? It was hard-wired into her system to protect herself by the means of a barrel of a gun. After all, wasn't that what her entire life as a Peck had prepared her for? As time passed doubt crept into the crevices of her mind. With doubt came fear. What if she truly had done this? Self-defense was one thing. However, what if she had done this simply because she was drugged. What if she was a cold-blooded killer? She tried to wish memories of that night into existence, but they wouldn't matriculate and the more times she failed to remember anything the more anxious she became. To keep herself calm she tried to spend most of her suddenly vast amounts of free time thinking of Holly, which was a great distraction.

The truth of the matter was that thinking of Holly could easily keep Gail inattentive to her current quandary and content for hours. Holly made her feel absolutely electric as if her battery was fully drained while away from Holly and as soon as she saw her face it was if Holly was a charging system that completely replenished life within Gail. While she sat there considering how strongly she felt attached to Holly her mind zipped back to a conversation they had a few weeks ago in Holly's apartment. Holly was sitting on the couch and Gail was in the kitchen fidgeting with the coffee maker trying to get it to brew.

"Come here" Holly demanded.

"I can't just yet. With as difficult as your coffee maker is to get working I am convinced it's actually a device used for world domination." Gail responded, irritably.

"Coffee isn't important. Come. Here."

Gail heard the first few drops of the coffee as it flowed through the percolator.

"Ah ha! I bet if we turned on the news we would find a nuclear strike occurred somewhere on Earth. However, the damn devil device is now brewing deliciousness!" Gail turned around and smiled triumphantly.

"Gail, come here." Holly insisted.

"Ooo, pushy pushy" she teased as she headed towards the couch and sat down straddling Holly's lap. "You know, Holly, I was only gone for five minutes and I was a mere four meters away from you. Are you so desperate for my touch?"

"I can't help it. You're like the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory's hybrid magnet."

"I'm what now?"

"Uh, well, it's the most powerful steady field magnet in the world. 45 tesla."

"Holly, English is my native language. Let's use that to talk to one another from now on."

"Well, tesla is how magnetic field strength is measured. So say, the typical refrigerator magnet is approximately .01 tesla. Therefore, 45 tesla is incredibly strong—by far the strongest in the world."

Gail scrunched her eyebrows and spoke hesitantly "So… what you're saying here is I am one kick ass magnet?"

Holly smiled and kissed Gail on the nose. "What I am saying is I am incredibly drawn to you. For me, your magnetic field strength is astronomical. I-I mean the first time I saw you in the woods…I couldn't help but smile. You were so…"

"Cute?" Gail interrupted.

"So…"

"Ooo., sexy!" She interjected again.

"So…adorably annoying" Holly finished.

"What!? I was not annoying! I was effective."

"Yes, effective at drawing me to you. See, 45 tesla. Then you spent the entire day in the lab with me…and I didn't want you to go. I just wanted to learn everything I could about you and when we finally split—our banter done for the day—I was worried, I was worried I wouldn't see you again. I did, though and here we are. I just can't get enough of you."

"Well, the nerd empire will rejoice at the accomplishment of one of its beloved nerds finding such a smoking hot girlfriend and using an unbelievably nerdy method to explain attraction."

"More like fiery hot, you know, because fire is hotter than smoke…"

"Holly, does your overly large brain ever turn off?"

"Well, actually, the average weight of an adult human female's brain is about 1198 grams. Our brain size, therefore, would be roughly the same. Especially if you consider our very close height and weight and BMI range."

"HOLLY!"

"What?"

"You talk a lot. So many words. Always. So many words."

"You like it. Remember, 45 tesla, babe." Holly leaned in and kissed her and managed to keep her up several hours later than she had intended.

Gail was startled out of her memory by the sound of her door opening and she looked up to see the very woman she had been thinking about. Holly looked worn down. She had dark circles under her beautiful eyes and her usually perfect posture was slumped a little as if a great weight had been placed upon her shoulders, and Gail supposed there was a weight there—the weight of her freedom. She suddenly felt awful for the toll this situation was taking on Holly. Yet Holly managed to assuage those dreadful thoughts with one lopsided grin. It was as if, in that moment, she and Holly were the only two people in the world and all of their current troubles did not exist. She reached out her hand and grasped Holly's belt and pulled her into a long and extraordinarily tight embrace. Holly kissed her lips, her cheek, and her ear lobe before whispering

"Good morning, love."

Gail felt her heart skip a beat between each word Holly spoke to her. She gently used her hold on Holly's belt to pull her over to the cot. They sat down next to one another and Gail grabbed Holly's hand and clasped it tightly.

"You're the only thing keeping me sane in here" she confessed.

"I know, I promise I've not given up. Can you recall anything at all yet?"

"Holly, it's all blank. Completely blank. The harder I try to think about it the more I realize there's just nothing there. So instead I sit in here and I think about you. I think about you for hours because you're my anchor and sometimes I'm worried if I don't…I'll float out to sea. "

As she was saying these words she was fully aware that this was not something the old version of herself would ever admit to anyone. She would never admit that she needed someone so desperately. At first she tried to convince herself that it was just because her life hung in the balance and her fear prompted such a vulnerable and open statement. However, upon deeper reflection she realized it was just Holly. She felt safe with Holly in a way she had never experienced in her entire life. She felt like she could open herself up to Holly without fear or rejection or loss. It was undoubtedly a wholly wonderful yet altogether terrifying feeling.

Holly squeezed her hand and placed a soft kiss upon her lips.

"I won't let you go anywhere, do you understand? Wherever you are, I'll be there, too. L-listen, I came to give you your good morning kiss and to inform you that I've made progress. I might be onto something that can help us out of this bind, okay? When I know for sure I promise I'll come tell you immediately."

"Holly…" Gail breathed out "I am so glad Swarek is sneaking you in here. What would I do without my good morning kiss?"

"I intend to make sure you never have to find out." Holly said before leaning down to place chaste kisses along Gail's neck in the spots that she knew drove the blonde crazy. She ceased her ministrations on Gail's neck and place one last deep kiss on her lips. She quickly squeezed Gail's hand and stood up to leave.

"I should get going back to the lab and see what progress has been made. We're getting somewhere, I promise. " She smiled at Gail

Gail returned the smile and stood up to give Holly one last kiss before she walked out the door. While she was standing in the threshold of the door the brunette turned around and said,

"Remember, babe, 45 tesla"

Gail chuckled and smiled acknowledging Holly's meaning. Holly turned to leave and the door shut behind her. Gail crept back to the cot and sat down pulling her knees up beneath her chin.