Part 9
It was the end of shift finally and Gail felt like getting changed and going straight to the Penny and not leaving until closing.
Sitting on the bench in the locker room Gail watched as officers changed, showered, dressed and left as quickly as they could. She didn't blame them really, if you stuck around too long you'd likely be asked to cover for someone else, or help out for 'a bit'.
She'd taken off her shirt, holding it bunched in her lap as she stared at her locker.
As Chloe scuttled quickly by she felt a little bad for Dov's girlfriend. She'd had to put up with Gail for the last few hours where Gail had reverted back to her snappish, angry, sarcastic old self.
The atmosphere in the patrol car had been tense to say the least but Gail had been too busy kicking herself to care how it made Chloe feel.
And besides, she didn't really care if Chloe thought she was a bitch, she thought Chloe was a bit of a snake. Who gets married and then, forgets. Seriously?
The blonde stood and shoved the shirt into the gym bag she kept in her locker. Then she set about changing. When she was done and ready to go, the locker room was empty and she glanced around and wondered about Frank, and her mom, and the possibility of spending longer in uniform than the other rookies she'd joined 15 with.
Maybe not Chris, maybe not even Dov, but Traci was slowly making her stripes and Andy was always eager to be part of any operation going, so it was likely she'd be applying for the next open post.
But would Gail be allowed to?
Resting her head against the cool metal of her locker Gail recalls exactly what she'd said to her mother at Steve's. Would she really be happy spending her career in uniform?
She groaned and knocked her head against the metal in frustration.
A big part of her knew the real police work, the protecting and serving, was done by the uni's. And people like Oliver and Noelle were at the heart of policing in Toronto. Was Gail saying she was too good for that?
She wasn't, she knew everyone saw her as a white shirt in training, even at the academy, so staying in uniform would be seen like failing even if it was far from it.
So what was her mother playing at?
Did she expect Gail to come to her or her father to complain about Frank? Ask them to pull some strings and get her on the training course?
She swallowed and stepped back, clicking the padlock on her locker and shouldering her bag.
It hurt, not being passed up for the ETF training, but that it was her mother doing it.
Gail wasn't stupid, this was a test. But Gail decided as she walked through the station that she was done playing her mother's games. She was tired of the hoops and the standards and the expectations and the orders to jump.
"Hey, you off?"
Gail paused awkwardly as Frank rounded the corner in front of her. "Yup." She replied quietly.
Frank sighed and looked around before stepping closer to Gail. "I am sorry, about before."
Gail just shrugged glancing away from him.
He was her boss after all, but her mother was his so she knew he had little to no choice in the matter. Her mother did like to prove who was in control.
"It's just," He continued, "The division's budget is up-"
"Wow!" Gail cut in, her hands raised as she stepped past him. "Okay, I'm going to go now, so...yeah." She muttered and left him standing there. She didn't need his confessions or his sympathy or his explanations. And she really didn't need to hear what following Elaine Peck's orders was going to get 15 in equipment or personnel.
She squared her shoulders and walked out of the station.
"Hey, about time!" Chris called to her with a smile from the side of his jeep.
Gail found a smile from somewhere and tossed her bag into the back seat before sliding into the passenger's side beside him.
"So Dov and Chloe have gone for food, but they said they'd see us at the Penny in an hour or so." He said as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the streets.
Gail grunted then drew her hands slowly down her face, wishing she could erase the day and go back to being on the boat with Holly's arms wrapped around her.
"Tough shift?" Chris asked, looking over at her quickly, his face full of concern.
Gail sighed and shifted her knee up to rest against the dash. "Like you wouldn't fucking believe."
"First round's on me then." He offered with a grin.
Gail turned her head and studied him as he drove. Besides her relationship with Holly, and her friendship with Traci that was brought about by some pretty extreme circumstances, Chris was pretty much her best friend.
Her eyes fell on his knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel.
She realised then that she trusted Chris in a way she trusted almost no one else except Holly. The fact that they'd been together didn't even seem weird, it probably made them closer. She'd let him defend her against Nick yesterday at the karting track. She would have bitched at Steve for doing that. But not Chris.
"Actually about tonight, can I ask for a big favour?"
Chris gave her a funny look and it made her smile. She never asked politely, she bulldozed until she got her own way. She grinned widely back at him and rolled her eyes at herself. She really was going soft.
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"
"Possibly." She laughed back at him.
Yeah.
She'd be proud to spend the rest of her career shoulder to shoulder with Chris Diaz, even Dov. There was still a question mark over Chloe but that was fine. She'd have plenty of time to sort that one out by the sounds of things with Frank.
She was done with her mother's games.
And fuck the politics.
xxxxxxxx
"This the last of it?" Chris asked, placing another box down to join the rest taking up Holly's living room floor.
Gail grinned at the sight as she joined Chris, handing him a beer which he quickly opened and drank from. She'd had most of her belongings at Peck HQ because she had the smallest room at the apartment. Luckily no one had been home, so they'd gotten all of her things packed and loaded into her own crappy little car and Chris' jeep without having to be cross-examined about it.
"Yeah." She replied crashing down onto a seat as he fell onto the sofa with a tired sigh. She had left him to do most of the work. She eyed the boxes and her travel luggage that was close to bursting. It really wasn't much for her 26 years, mostly clothes and shoes, some books, a box of dvds and only a handful of photos.
She let her eyes wander around Holly's living space, wondering how her things would fit in, if they would fit in.
"You scared?" Chris asked, watching her closely.
Gail shook her head. "No." Moving in with Holly wasn't scary at all, it felt like she'd been living here for a while, only it was official now. They lived together. How did she ever get this lucky?
"It feels right." She answered with a grin.
Chris smiled back at her, then reached over and patted her leg. "That's great then. Maybe we should have like, a house warming for you?"
His eyebrow lifted in question but she shook her head quickly. "No thanks." She didn't want to make a fuss of this and certainly not throw a party because of it.
He tilted his now empty bottle at her.
"There's more in the fridge." She told him then declined his offer of one as she already had a bottle of water in her hand. She checked her phone while he headed for the kitchen. Holly had been forced to stay at the lab until she'd finished a report due for court in the morning, but there was no new text.
It made her sigh. Really, all she wanted right now was Holly.
"Well I think you're missing out. Remember Andy and all the cool gifts she got?" He said coming back and settling down again.
Gail snorted. "Yeah, I'll pass thanks." Andy seemed to move house every year. "Besides, I'm not moving into a new place, I'm moving in with Holly. No party required." She said, although she was planning for a very quiet, intimate party for two a little later this evening if Holly wasn't too tired when she got home.
But Chris didn't need to hear about that.
"Well okay." He said, accepting defeat on the subject just as his cell phone chirped.
Gail toed a box with her foot wondering if she should attempt to store some of her crap away before Holly got home or if she should wait and see where the other woman wanted her to put it.
She grinned to herself and decided to leave it for now.
When the option was either work or be lazy, she'd chose lazy every single time.
"That was Dov wondering where I've disappeared to." Chris said standing to leave now that all of Gail's belongs were now unloaded. "You sure you don't want to join us?" He asked as she got up and headed for the kitchen.
"No. Thanks for the invite, but I'm gonna just hang here and wait for Hol to get home." She said coming back with a six pack of beer in her hands which she promptly thrust towards Chris.
"For your help." She explained.
Chris grinned, happily accepting the alcohol. "No problem."
Gail followed him to the door to see him off but just as she was reaching to open it Holly walked in.
"Hey!" Holly greeted Gail, surprised to come face to face with the blonde so suddenly.
"Hi yourself." Gail replied stealing a quick press of Holly's lips with her own before edging back to let Chris past.
Holly shifted with Gail. "Hi Chris, so she roped you into helping then?" She said noticing the beer in his hand as she slipped her arm around Gail's waist, her thumb tucking into the material of her top to stroke skin.
"Yeah." Chris replied. "Congratulations by the way."
Holly grinned then eyed Gail. She felt lucky having Gail in her life. Just the thought of this moment, coming home to the blonde, it had made finding a fourteen year old on her table today just that little bit easier to let go of.
"Thanks." She said, leaning heavily against Gail.
Gail tried to make eye contact with her girlfriend, a touch concerned by the subtle strain she could hear in the older woman's voice but Holly stayed focused on Chris.
"Well I better get out of your way and catch up with Dov before he and Chloe ditch the Penny for tonight." Chris said as he made his way out of the house. He started walking to his car before turning back to the pair. "Hey, just 'cause you're all coupled up doesn't mean you stop coming around, yeah?" He aimed at Gail.
Gail rolled her eyes at her friend as Holly wrapped herself around her from behind. "And when Dov moves the Princess in don't be shy hiding out here if you need to, you know where we are too."
Chris beamed at the offer, not because he was worried about Chloe spending more time around the apartment but that Gail was willing to give him an open invitation to come here if he wanted to.
He'd been starting to worry as he helped her move that they'd stop spending time together outside of work. He was pleased to be wrong.
Gail seemed to know exactly what Chris was alluding to as she leaned back into Holly she called to him, "We'll work something out Chris, yeah?" She wasn't going to lose her friendship with Chris just because they stopped living together.
Chris nodded, more than happy with that for now. He waved to them then got in his car to go and let Dov know they were now a roommate short.
Gail turned her attention straight to Holly the second Chris was gone.
She turned in Holly's arms as the door closed and held the brunette's face gently. "What's wrong?" She asked, her eyes searching the dark brown for any sign of an answer.
Holly closed her eyes and just breathed in Gail's concern, enjoyed the warmth of the body pressing into hers and luxuriated in the knowledge that she never had to worry about Gail leaving her alone at the end of the night again.
She sighed and rested her head on Gail's shoulder, hugging her close, tightening her hold as Gail hugged her back.
"Holly?"
"Shh." Holly whispered, shaking her head slightly into Gail's neck. "Just…for a minute. Please."
Gail cradled Holly to her, biting her lip to keep her mouth shut as her mind raced with questions and worry over what could be wrong.
Eventually Holly eased back just enough to look at Gail. They were still stood in the hallway by the door but neither of them seemed to mind.
"Thanks." She said before pressing her lips to Gail's, and when she moved to deepen the kiss Gail matched her step for step. The blonde's hands were gripping and pulling at the back of her jacket and it spurred Holly on.
Gail grunted as she found herself pushed back against the wall as Holly's tongue mapped out her mouth. She moaned as Holly sucked on her bottom lip before thrusting her tongue back into her mouth as hands clenched at her sides.
"Sorry." Holly muttered, forcing herself to pull back before she got too carried away.
Gail smiled, her hand buried in Holly's dark hair. "Don't apologise for needing me, however you need me. You get to lean on me when you need to just like I know you're there for me."
Holly sighed heavily, feeling the weight of today press on her.
"Talk to me." Gail tried not to sound too demanding but she really needed Holly to let her know what was going on here.
It was days like today that had Holly questioning the good in people. So much of her job was helping to provide police officers and detectives with the information and evidence they need to find the people responsible for the bodies that ended up on her table.
But not always.
"Fourteen year old suicide." Holly explained in an anguished tone. It was the part of her job that she truly hated, because when the body was on her table it was too late to portion blame.
Gail sucked in a breath as her eyes softened with worry for Holly. They didn't get many suicide cases at 15 but Toronto like everywhere else in the world had people who for whatever reason struggled with their daily lives.
Holly's job was to establish a cause of death, but with a suicide Holly had no way of providing the why.
"I'm sorry." Gail said.
Holly just shrugged. It was a tough day but she was just glad that it was over.
"Come on, let's get you changed and into something more comfortable. Maybe a bath? Food?" Gail offered as she tugged on Holly's hand and headed for the bedroom.
Holly caught sight of the living room and stopped, pulling Gail back. "What is that?" She asked with a point and a grin.
Gail tried not to wince. She glanced at all her stuff then dismissed it and tried to get Holly into the bedroom again.
"That? Nothing, it'll be gone before you know it."
Still grinning, Holly let Gail drag her away from the scene. "How? Is Chris coming back?"
Gail fake scowled as Holly chuckled. "Just for that, it's staying like that until my next day off." She told her girlfriend, adding a flash of her tongue for good measure.
"Tease."
Gail laughed as they entered the bedroom and her hands automatically started to undress Holly.
They were quiet as Holly took off her work clothes and Gail helped to replace them with a pair of yoga pants and a loose tee. Gail was proud of herself for refraining from too many extra touches to Holly's bare skin.
"Want me to run a bath?" Gail offered, eager to help Holly in any way she could.
Sighing, grateful to finally be able to relax after a long day, Holly gathered Gail into her arms and spent a few moments kissing her properly. "What I want is to snuggle with you for the rest of the night in front of the tv." She said, her arms resting over Gail's shoulders. "If we can still see the tv from the couch in there."
Gail blushed a little. "We might need to move some stuff."
"We?"
They chuckled and Holly stole another kiss before they walked hand in hand to the living room. Gail did in fact move several boxes and then joined Holly on the couch. Holly flicked through a few channels before settling on a rerun of Friends. After today the last thing she want to deal with was anything too dramatic, sad or violent.
Gail shifted, pulling Holly down to lay with her as they both stretched out. "You hungry? Want some wine or anything?"
Holly shook her head, happy where she was. Her hand snaked under Gail's top to wander almost lazily from the blonde's hip to the underside of her breasts.
"Thank you for today." Holly said after a bit.
"Hm?" Gail had to open her eyes and concentrate hard to not get too carried away with the reactions her body was having to Holly's touch.
"The flowers, and lunch. Not to mention the text messages." Those had been timed when she'd really needed them. One especially, that came just after the boy's mother had come to identify the body.
Gail tried not to look too pleased with herself.
"Not that they measure up to 'guiding light' status, but it's a start." Holly continued earning a giggle from the blonde.
"I'm starting small, give me time." Gail insisted.
Holly smiled to herself and laid her head on Gail's shoulder as a hand moved to massage her scalp softly. It felt so good to just be with Gail like this.
"How was your day?" She asked, not wanting tonight to be all about her.
"My day?" Gail repeated as her conversation with Frank flitted through her thoughts. But how did that stack up against moving in with Holly?
"Nick has a nice bruise, I had to work with Chloe all day," She aimed a pout at Holly for that trauma. "And Andy actually ran away from me this morning." She added with a wide grin.
Yeah, her mother's games didn't rate mentioning.
"Doesn't get much better than that, right?"
Holly chuckled and pushed herself up to eye Gail. "Oh, I don't know about that. The night's still young."
They laughed and then inched closer together, Holly's hand drifting lower this time, sliding into the blonde's jeans for a moment before coming back to pop the button and then return further inside.
Smiling, they eyed each other as Gail moaned when Holly stroked her fingers through her heat. Then they kissed and Gail was pulling at Holly's top, wanting it off, as her legs drifted apart to give Holly's hand more room.
And then the tv, and the days problems, became nothing but background noise.