Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! Another story has grabbed me by the throat and will rarely let me go! Was actually quite surprised that I was able to finish this chapter when I did; since it has been some time between the chapters, I will forego any further explanations. :)

"Shit!" Steve exclaimed as he ran his hands through his hair for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "Now, let me get this straight, Gail." He licked his lips as a way to calm his nerves before continuing. "You and Holly came here to pick up a few things of yours so you can stay at her house for a few days... at least until this case is over, right?"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes before continuing. "I already told you this, Steve. We came here so I could pick up some clothes and my toothbrush so I could lie low until this whole thing blows over. I mean, mom won't let me back on this investigation because of my being trapped in that panic room for several hours, so I decided I would crash at Holly's until you guys close the case."

"I can understand that," her brother replied as he glanced over his shoulder to look at the scene in the next room. After he and Traci had arrived at the apartment, Dov and the rest of the group filled the two in on what Gail and Holly had found in Chris's room. During the conversation, Steve had stared at the closed door behind the group and waited intently until they had finished with the story. Only after they were finished did he asked to see the room. Once he had seen the cause for alarm did he call for the CSRU to thoroughly search the rest of the room.

It was the team in the room behind his sister that he was staring as he interrogated Gail. "Hello?! Earth to Steve!" Gail said as she waved her hand in front of her brother, shaking him out of his reverie.

"Sorry, I just can't believe all of this," he said as he wiped the sides of his mouth and shook his head.

"I can't either," Traci said softly as if anything louder would make the whole maddening situation become full-scale reality. "Now," the detective said more forcefully than she intended. "Are you guys sure that you didn't touch anything?"

"We've already told you, Traci," Chloe replied from against the wall. Her slouched posture and crossed arms, so uncharacteristic of her normal cheerful demeanour, spoke volumes to her lack of sleep and the utter weight of the situation ahead of all of them. "We didn't touch anything and we had already questioned Holly and Gail about the state of the room when they entered it."

"She's right," Nick added as rolled his shoulders to work out the kinks that had set up shop. "For good or ill, nothing has been altered. As proof, Holly showed us the pictures she took when they first entered the room. The timeline matches everything that they had told us and we even viewed the photos ourselves. Nothing was altered."

"We are going to need to confiscate your phone, Holly," Steve replied as glanced at the woman in question. In his opinion, she looked tired. Well, I guess that being trapped in a room that was potentially dangerous could do that to a person, he thought as he waited to take her phone.

Before she could pull it out of her purse, Gail placed a hand on Holly's arm. "Do you really need to do that, Steve? I mean this is ridiculous. You know us, we wouldn't bullshit you."

"It's okay, Gail," Holly responded as she took her phone out of her purse and handed it to the detective. "You know your brother is just doing his job. It's evidence. They need to make sure the timeline matches." She reached out for the blonde's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We have nothing to hide and this will allow them to hurry the case along. You know this. You would have done the same in his shoes."

Gail rolled her eyes and huffed. "I know," she admitted quietly as she glanced down at the floor in front of her; her hand still safely secured in the pathologist's. "I just wish this was over with." She shook her head and took a deep breath. "Do you guys know where that address leads to?"

Traci glanced up from her notes to stare at the blonde. "Gail..." she started before biting her lower lip.

The officer ran her hand through her short blonde hair. "Look, I'm not asking because I am going to go out of my way to hinder this investigation, Traci. God! Why would I? I want this ass-hole caught just like everyone else and I feel that Chris definitely needs to get the help he deserves after you guys find him, I'm just wondering why the address is near Beaverton? I know Chris loves fishing and all, but is this where he meets Jaime? And why would a drug dealer would meet someone so far out of the way."

Steve looked at his sister questioningly. "How did you know it was an address from Beaverton? We haven't even plugged it in yet to see what we are dealing with."

She rolled her eyes again at her brother and smiled. "You see... it is a marvellous invention called the internet that allows you to look up addresses with ease! Besides... look at the paper it was written on, it's from King's Bishop Pub."

"Shit," he muttered as he walked past his sister into Chris's room. Taking a look at a bag that a CSRU member was holding he let out another curse before stomping back into the room. "She's right," he said as he stared at Traci.

Gail smirked as she watched the interaction between the two detectives. "So, now that we know Steve's little sister isn't lying, can we please figure out what happened to our fellow officer?"

Steve ignored her comment and turned to look at Dov, Nick and Chloe. "I need you three to head back to Fifteen and let Oliver know what's going on. He will inform the Superintendent and hopefully she can pull some strings for us to have back-up over in Beaverton. After that, I suggest you all find some place to stay until we can release the scene."

"You guys can stay with me if you like," Nick suggested to Dov and Chloe as he glanced around the apartment. "Who knows how much longer it will be before you can come back. Hopefully, it won't be long, but until then, you are both welcome."

"That's alright," Dov replied with a sigh. "We'll just set up in a hotel until this blows over... don't want to inconvenience you, man."

"Have your way," Nick stated as he turned towards the door. "But the offer still stands if you can't find anything."

Steve watched as the three left the apartment, then his gaze turned towards the two women in front of him. "As for you two... I need you to go back to Holly's house and wait this out." He looked pointedly at Gail. "Mom said you were to stay out of this, and she means it. If this goes to trial, and the defence gets a hold of this; they could have a field day with it. They could say that we planted the evidence against their client and..."

"Okay, okay," Gail interrupted as she shook her head. "We get it. We'll lie low until this whole thing cools down."

"No more Nancy Drew moments?"

She narrowed her eyes at her brother for a moment then sighed. "No more Nancy Drew moments, I promise."

"Good, now go on and get out of here before Oliver or someone else decides to show up."

Holly waited until they were out of earshot from Traci and Steve before she asked, "Nancy Drew moments?"

Gail sighed before opening the car door and sliding into the seat. "It's just a dumb saying my brother used to say when we were little. I always tried to investigate every little thing when I was younger; like where did the tiny door in our basement lead to? Or what happened to our cat that one summer Steve and I stayed the week at our grandparents house? Just stupid stuff like that."

"I don't think it's stupid," Holly replied with a warm smile as she turned the key in the ignition and the car purred to life. "I think it's cute."

Gail rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well tell that to my mom. She always called me Nancy Drew and I had no idea who the hell that was until Steve explained it to me." She leaned her head against the window. "After that, he would joke around and say, 'Are you having one of your Nancy Drew moments?' It used to aggravate me so much that I would stop what I was doing and ignore the overwhelming sensation of curiosity until I got to the point that I no longer cared what was going on around me."

"But something had to change that," Holly said softly as she glanced between the road and her lover. "After all, you became a cop."

"You're right. Something did change, but not at first. At first I did it because that was what was expected of me. My whole family is somehow connected to law enforcement, so I thought that was what I was supposed to do; but once I got into it, I saw what sort of life a lot of people lead and it angered me that there was so many people who were abused by others and I knew then that I needed to help." She reached over and slipped her hand into the pathologist's free hand. "And meeting you helped change me as well."

Holly quirked an eyebrow and glanced at the blonde. "What do you mean? How did I help?"
Gail took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Her mind waging war against itself for the words that were about to come out of her mouth. "When you care for someone as much as I care for you, it changes you in ways you could never imagine." She scoffed then lowered her eyes to the floorboard. "I know it sounds crazy... but when I'm with you, I feel as though I need to make the world a better place for you. For myself. Basically for everyone that has ever felt the way I do about you."

Holly blushed slightly at the officer's admission, but still smirked as she glanced back over at Gail. "So, what do you feel for me, Officer Peck?" She started to laugh when she glanced at Gail's exasperated expression. "Oh, come on, Gail. You know you can't say something that sweet and not tell me what you feel for me! It's like a crime against nature or something."

Gail quirked her eyebrows in confusion. " 'A crime against nature or something?!' Who are you and what did you do to Holly?"

Holly rolled her eyes and smirked. "You know what I mean... and don't try to get out of this! I asked you a question and I expect an answer."

"I love you," Gail mumbled softly.

"What?" Holly asked as she parked the car in front of her house."

Gail closed her eyes and sighed. "I said, I love you."

Holly sat dumbfounded as Gail fidgeted in her seat. The blonde rubbed her forehead and then reached for the door handle. "Shit..." She murmured as she tried to open the locked door. "Just forget I..."

The rest of her sentence was forgotten when Holly's lips crashed against hers. Their kiss grew more heated as Holly leaned further into the passenger-side. Only when the need for air and the beginnings of a muscle spasm in her neck became too great did the pathologist pull away from the blonde. Breathing heavily to catch her breath Holly stared at Gail. "I love you too," she whispered with a smile. "I'm sorry if I scared you before." She raised her hand to cup the other woman's cheek. "I... you just caught me off guard. I didn't know you felt the same as I did and it kind of startled me to hear you say those words."

Gail smiled softly as she leaned into Holly's palm. "It's okay... I was just afraid that..."

"That I didn't feel the same?"

"Yeah."

Holly grinned as she suddenly shifted in her seat and reached for the door handle to get out of the car. "So, now that we got that out of the way..." she said playfully when she realised that this was still new to Gail and that the blonde was still absorbing everything. "Why don't we go inside. After the last fort-eight hours we've had, I'm starving. How about you?"

Gail nodded her head as she got out of the car as well. "Yeah, I could go for something to eat too."

"Great, I know this great little Italian place that actually delivers. So, why don't you go and take a shower and I'll give them a call. By the time we are both showered and relaxed, dinner will be delivered."

As they reached the front door of Holly's house, Gail frowned slightly. "I think I might have a better idea."

The pathologist stuck her key in the door and gave a turn. "Really, I thought it was a pretty good idea, but let's hear your idea."

Gail licked her lips and smirked. "Well, how about we both take a shower, then we call the place after we are finished."

"Oh..." Holly blushed slightly at the suggestion as she promptly crossed the threshold. "I think you might have the better plan, Officer."

"Damn right I do, Doctor." She quickly, but passionately kissed Holly before closing the door behind them. "Now let's get out of these clothes. As you said before, it has been a long forty-eight hours."