A/N: Hey guys! I uploaded chapter 26 less than 24 hours ago so if you haven't met the newest member of the Best-Williams family go back a chapter :)

"Ignore the alarms, Ignore the police, I'll never stop breaking the law for you."

"Gail," Holly was surprised but quiet, it was almost a question she was trying to mask.

Shit. Everything she had been thinking over the past few weeks, days, hours, and minutes was gone. "Holly, hey," Gail said it almost as if Holly was standing outside her door. Or maybe it was her surprise that Holly even answered the door. Maybe her belief that Holly would still be at work was just so strong.

"Hi," Holly wasn't really sure where this was going; she'd let Gail take the lead.

"Hey," wow. The lack of social skills Gail was exhibiting in this four line conversation was shocking even to her. She needed to pick it up, and fast.

Maybe Holly would have to nudge her a little bit, "you said that already."

Gail rolled her eyes at herself, "ya know, it sounded familiar." She cursed herself, what a dunce. She knew she needed to say something, preferably not just anything, but something. So she started talking, "Noelle had her baby today. It's a girl," Holly smiled a little at the news and Gail looked her in the eyes. She deserved that. You look someone in the eyes when you apologize, right? That was the hardest part; Gail hated apologizing and she hated saying what she was feeling. It was easier with Holly, but she'd still rather show without telling. But showing wouldn't be enough now. Gail had to tell. And Holly deserved that. Even if Holly told her to take a hike and to never come back. "Her name's Hannah Abigail. Noelle almost ripped my hand off. Frank was in a meeting and I had to take her to the hospital. And I stayed." Gail could feel the soreness in her hand as she clutched the flowers. "It was pretty nasty. I got to hold her though. Before anyone else. Well, after the nurse, and Noelle, and the other nurse. But then I got to hold her." Gail could see Holly's smile starting to return, "I know what you're thinking and, no, I didn't drop her. And then everyone was there and everyone was laughing and they were being so happy, like actually happy. And it was killing me because I wasn't. I wasn't because you weren't there. Because you haven't been there; here. And that's my fault." Gail looked away, ashamed for what she was about to say, "I've been trying to call you for, like, the past four days. I've been trying to come over here but I just never knew what I could say. But I just couldn't take it anymore." Her eyes snapped back up to Holly; this was the important part, "mostly because I was scared of everything I've realized I wanted. I thought I was doing the best thing for you, because I didn't think I could give you everything you want; everything you deserve. I thought walking away was the right thing to do. But now, I know that I'd rather be scared with you than miserable or ordinary alone. I want you to have everything you've ever wanted, and I want to give you everything you've ever wanted, and I will. I will. And that scares me. It scares me to death. But I'm not scared of being scared anymore; so long as I'm with you. And we can have a baby if you want. Well, we'd have to have two because only children are weird. You're weird but you're a good weird. And you can get a minivan if you want; but I refuse to drive it. I'm allergic to dogs so we'd have to get one with fur, not hair." She was rambling now but she couldn't stop it, "or a cat, we could get a cat. But I'm never giving up my video games. You're who I want to tell about-about anything, about everything. Chloe hit a mailbox in the squad car last week, but it wasn't funny because I couldn't laugh with you. Holly, I'm sorry. I thought I was protecting you. I'm so, so sorry. But I love you. That's all I want to do; love you. I'm staying. For good." Gail finally took a breath. Holly was standing with her mouth slightly agape. "These are for you," Gail looked down at the flowers, all of the sudden anxious about her purchase, "I have no clue what they mean but I got them for you because they're bright and happy and hopeful like you, but they're also earthy, and real. Just like you. You're authentic." Gail looked back up at Holly. God, her expression was so hard to read. It was everything; it was joy, it was sadness, it was relief, it was pain, it was hope, it was sorrow, and it was something else entirely.

"Gail I-" Holly started.

But Gail stopped her. "No. It's okay. You don't have to say anything. You can take-"

"No it's just-" but Holly stopped when they both heard the toilet flush and her brother emerged from her bedroom, effortlessly toting a carry-on suitcase, "Hol is this all?" He looked up and noticed the situation he had walked into, "oh, hey Gail," he smiled at her awkwardly and then turned his attention to Holly. "I printed the tickets," he flapped a couple pieces of paper in his left hand, "we should probably get going. Don't wanna miss our flight."

"Yeah," Holly nodded her agreement, clearly thrown off by the situation she found herself in.

He strode through the room with the tickets and suitcase. He paused beside Holly, "meet you at the car?"

"Uh, Yeah," she brushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. God, Gail loved it when she did that, "I'll be down in just a minute," she forced a smile for him and he shot one back that said 'I love you,' and 'it'll be okay.' He nodded and smiled at Gail as he walked past and out into the hall.

Gail looked back to Holly, "where are you going?" She looked almost hurt, but mostly surprised.

"Ottawa," Holly sighed, "my grandmother had a stroke this morning. Ev and I are flying out there. My parents and Summer drove out late this morning but we had to finish up work. I was in court today and he had had a bunch of stuff he needed to finish up," her words trailed off at the end. Holly was putting on the bravest face you've ever seen. Even if you knew her well you might be fooled.

"Is she okay?" Gail's voice was laced with concern, sadness, and surprise.

"Yeah, I mean, no. I don't know, we'll see."

"Are you okay?" Gail wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Holly adjusted the bag which Gail just noticed was resting on her shoulder. She finally noticed Holly was wearing her shoes, and Holly never wore her shoes inside.

"Do-" Gail looked around, she was bad at this kind of stuff, "do you want me to go with you?"

"No, no," Holly brushed if off like it was nothing, "you have work, and well, we're-uh-no, it's okay, I'll be fine."

"I have the next two days off, but okay," Gail wasn't really good at this stuff even under normal circumstances. "At least let me drive you to the airport. I can get you there in half the time," Gail forced a smile for Holly's sake.

"You don't have to," Holly started rummaging in her bag, checking that she had her keys and wallet, "we're just going to Billy Bishop. It's super close."

"I know I don't have to. I want to. Plus, you're not parking at Billy Bishop, that's such a rip. Just let me drive you," Gail reached for Holly's hand and dragged her out of the apartment. She didn't let go as Holly locked her door. She didn't let go as they waited for the elevator. She didn't let go as they rode the elevator down. Gail's heart was beating hard and her mind was racing a mile a minute. Holly hadn't let go either, and she was feeling a little braver, so Gail circled one of Holly's knuckles with her thumb and gave her hand a light squeeze. And Holly squeezed back. But then the elevator dinged, the door opened, and Holly let go and walked out.

Gail and Holly were mostly quiet for the ten minute ride. Evan was a good guy, a good brother, and he yammered on about a "really cool" case he was working on. It was the reason he had to stay the rest of the day at work. Gail dropped them off and told Holly to call her if she needed anything. Holly smiled weakly and nodded and the siblings rushed off to catch their flight. Gail drove back to the precinct and slowly changed out of her uniform. What was her hurry? She had no where to be. She gathered her things and finally chanced a look at her phone. One text from Chris forty minutes ago:

"At the Penny with Dov, Chloe & Shawlery! Come join when you're done at the station"

Gail could use a drink right about now.

She grabbed a drink from the bar and made her way over to the table. It was a Tuesday and the crowd was pretty thin. Gail put her drink down, sat in the empty seat Chris had saved for her and then threw her head down onto her arms.

"Ah look! It's our very own midwife, Gail Peck!" Oliver raised his glass in a mock toast. Gail didn't raise her head but reached up and smacked him on the head.

Chris looked down at his watch. It was almost 7:30, "Gail, where you been? You left the hospital almost two hours ago." She kept her head down on the table, her hair a curtain around her face and mumbled a response. "What?" Chris couldn't make out a thing she said. Some more mumbling. Chris leaned down closer to her, "sorry, what?"

Gail shot her head up and snapped, "I went to Holly's," and then plopped her head right back down again. Chris's mouth formed an "O" and his eyes went wide. The side conversations Dov, Chloe, Celery, and Oliver had been engaging in stopped immediately. Everyone froze. Even Chloe was at a loss for words. Chris was the first to speak, "just now?"

Gail didn't pick her head up but her words were completely clear, "no, I used my tricked out DeLorean to travel back in time. Yes, just now, Diaz."

Heads around the table swiveled, then hands reached into wallets, and money started to be exchanged every which way. Celery rolled her eyes.

"How'd it go?" Oliver gave Gail a slight nudge with his elbow.

The blonde lump responded, "I don't even know."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked eagerly, leaning in closer. Dov just sat with his forearms on the edge of the table. Celery didn't even look surprised really. Chloe took another sip of her drink.

Gail finally lifted her head off the table, "I mean she was running to catch a flight to Ottawa with her brother because their grandmother had a stroke this morning. So really I don't even know. I drove them to the airport."

Another shock all around the table.

"Well, ya gotta go," Oliver smiled but didn't show any teeth, "you gotta go to Ottawa," he looked Gail in the eye and took a sip of his beer.

"She told me not to," Gail sounded confused and sad.

"Don't go," Dov shook his head and moved his hands back and forth in front of him as a gesture to stop. "Family members you haven't met, being sick, maybe dying, you don't really know if you're together or not; you don't want to get involved in that. I would know," he took another sip of his beer.

Chloe looked over at Dov, "shut up," she looked back at Gail, "you should totally go; it's romantic."

"In which universe is death romantic?" Gail snarked.

"You should call her, like now," Chris added with a big smile.

Oliver raised his hands above his head, "I'm tellin' ya, you need to go to Ottawa," he shook his head in disbelief that no one was listening to him. Celery nodded along.

Gail's chin was resting on her palm that was propped up by her forearm. She turned her head to look at him, "no offense Oliver, but seeing as your ex-wife left you, like twice? I'm a little wary to take your advice." Gail turned to look Celery in the eyes, "can you put a spell on her? No, put a spell on me, make me a good person." Celery just laughed.

"Au contraire, Peck. I was married for over fifteen years, don't you think I learned how to grovel?"

She smiled and her eyes sparkled at him. She pointed a finger his way, "point taken. Do tell, do tell."

"Just go. She'll want you there," he wagged a finger at Chris, "but do what he said. Call her."

Gail looked at her watch and pouted, "her flight took off like ten minutes ago. She's not even going to pick up."

"Perfect!" Dov clapped his hands together, "you can plan out what you want to say, and say your piece without having to worry about having an actual conversation, or getting shut down, or hung up on. But you get points for calling instead of sending a text."

"Brilliant!" Chris smacked Dov on the back.

Oliver wagged his finger at Dov and smiled, "Epstein, have you been married?" Everyone laughed at Oliver's comment.

Gail finished the last bit of her drink and stood up, "night losers."

"Wait! Where are you going?" Dov looked up with concern etched all over his face. He made a lame motion with his hands.

"I'm not going to call her in the middle of a bar with you stooges hanging on every word like some fifteen year old boy with suspenders and headgear." She ruffled Dov's hair as she walked past him.

"Gail," Chris leaned back in his chair and bowed his back and neck so that they looked upside down to each other. He smiled up at her, "you already are a good person." She chuckled and pushed his head away from her so that he was sitting upright again, "make sure Dov doesn't have to hitch home, he wouldn't survive."

"So, who won the big official pool anyways?" Dov turned to Oliver after the door to the outside swung closed behind Gail.

"It was actually a three way tie," Oliver reported with a raise of his eyebrows.

Dov and Chris looked at each other and then back at Oliver, "so who was it?" Chris demanded curiously.

Oliver smiled a wicked, wicked grin, "Detective, Staff Inspector, and Superintendent Peck." He threw a couple notes down on the table as he and Celery stood up to leave. "Night boys," he smiled at Chloe, "Officer Price," and left three dazed off-duty officers in his wake.

When Gail got home she locked herself her in her room and called Holly. Just as she suspected it went straight to voicemail. Dov was right, she said what she wanted to say and then hung up. Easy peasy. If only she could communicate with criminals via voicemail. She sat on the edge of her bed for a while after she'd hung up without moving. The front door unlocking and then opening snapped her out of her daze and she quickly got ready for bed. For the first time in weeks Gail slept soundly and for more than five or six hours. She didn't even dream. It was close to nine o'clock by the time she woke up; she'd slept for nearly twelve hours. She rolled over and grabbed her phone off the night stand. Two missed calls and one voicemail. They were close to three hours old. They were from Holly.

"Ignore the alarms, Ignore the police, I'll never stop breaking the law for you."
- Emeli Sandé "Breaking the Law"

A/N: Poor Gram :(
What's Gail gonna do? How are the Pecks going to spend their winnings? Shawlery anyone? Yay? Ney? Sound off in the reviews!

P.S. Gabe - so glad you liked the Gail and Holly at the lab scene! I was super nervous about it (kinda like Gail?)