Your fics are wonderful. If it tickles your fancy, here is a prompt: Holly is caught stealing her cat (or pet of your choosing) from an ex-girlfriend. Gail is the arresting officer.
So better late than never right? Especially if I write an extra long fic as a form of penance? Warning, an excessive amount of fluff and words below….
An entire day partnered with Chloe Price and Gail was contemplating the merits of throwing herself from the moving squad car.
While she was the one driving it.
If she actually believed in Gods, she would’ve thanked them when the radio suddenly crackled to life and finally cut off Chloe’s incessant chatter before Gail could make good on her thoughts.
“Burglary in progress. One-six-seven Balsam Avenue. Suspect is still on scene.”
Gail snatched the radio out of Chloe’s hand before her chipper partner could respond. She couldn’t help it. Chloe just brought out the mean girl in her.
“Car 1504 responding. En route.”
“Ooo swanky.” Were the first words out of Chloe’s mouth as they pulled up to the large home. “I bet they have gorgeous hardwood floors.”
“Are you even capable of keeping your mouth shut, Price?”
Hands on their weapons Gail and Chloe made their way to the front of the house. Before they could reach the porch, the door opened and a person started heading towards them.
Both Gail and Chloe had their weapons drawn in a flash and aimed at the woman who had just exited the house.
A small cushion, something that looked like a feather attached to a stick, and what appeared to be a red lunchbox went clattering to the floor as the woman’s hands shot into the air.
“This isn’t what it looks like, officers.”
That much was true. The woman certainly didn’t look like a burglar. Puffy green jacket, plain grey t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of combat boots. The dark-rimmed glasses that were perched on the woman’s tan face honestly made her look more like a librarian than a thief.
“We had reports of a burglary.”
“I’m not burglarizing anything, I’m just here to get my cat.”
As if on cue, a purring, white feline with tan and gray patches appeared and started doing figure eights around the woman’s ankles.
Gail holstered her gun, and nodded towards Chloe who lowered her weapon but kept it out.
“We need to see your ID.”
“Okay it’s in my pocket.”
“Do you have any weapons on you?”
Gail did a quick pat down and produced a wallet from the woman’s pocket. Chloe finally holstered her gun as well when they realized that the “suspect” didn’t appear to be a threat.
“Holly Stewart.” Gail read aloud. She skimmed the license before handing it to Chloe who went to check it in their system, “This isn’t your address, Ms. Stewart.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude but it’s Dr. Stewart. After four years of medical school and four years of residency plus fellowship and being called a nurse the entire time, it’s just habit at this point to say it. So i’m sorry…” The woman adjusted her glasses, then glanced at Gail’s name tag. “Officer Peck. I’m Dr. Stewart and I’m a forensic pathologist. I was just hired by the city, but I left my work badge in my car.”
“Oh.” Gail said simply as she processed the information.”Okay, Dr. Stewart. Did you break into this house and attempt to steal a cat?”
“Technically, I didn’t break in. I used a key that the owner gave me. And M.M. is my cat.”
“If that’s true why didn’t you come get it when the owner was actually home?”
The woman fidgeted, hands coming up to adjust her glasses. “Yeah, so about that…”
As if on cue, an irate blonde came storming out of a car that had just sped onto the driveway. “Seriously, Holly?”
“What? I told you I would come back for her.”
“You waited until I was at work.”
“Well excuse me for not really wanting to see you. What are you doing here anyway?”
“The police contacted me because someone was breaking into my house.”
“Rachel said that she was going to let you know that I was coming today. Did she?”
The blonde ignored her question, “So you’re really here for the cat and not to see me.”
“Yeah, what part of me coming here while you were at work gave it away?”
Chloe coughed to hide her chuckle, but Gail just outright laughed at the woman’s snark. It was impressive to say the least, especially when having two officers standing by waiting to arrest her. Clearly, whatever nervousness she had been feeling was replaced by anger at the sight of whoever owned the house.
The blonde woman glared at Gail before turning back to the would-be burglar, “Will you just talk to me?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. We’re over and I really don’t want to see you ever again. I just want M.M. and that’s the only reason I’m here right now.”
“Should we interrupt?” Chloe mumbled to Gail who had somehow gotten just as caught up in the drama unfolding in front of her as her partner.
Gail cleared her throat. “Okay, clearly you two have more issues than Time magazine but unless there is an actual crime taking place we need to go.”
Both women turned their glares onto her, but she merely cocked an eyebrow and the would-be-thief, Holly’s, features immediately softened and became contrite.
If anything, the homeowner’s hardened further, “There is a crime, she broke into my house and attempted to steal my cat. It’s a good thing you got here when you did officers or she might have gotten away with it.”
“Are you going to call her a meddling kid next?” Holly snorted, but Gail’s impassive face didn’t give any acknowledgment away this time.
“You asked if there was a crime and I’m reporting a crime.”
“You can’t be serious!” Holly protested.
“I am, officers, I would like to press charges.”
Gail didn’t want to, but she had little choice. She exchanged a look with Chloe, before she pulled her handcuffs from her belt.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Stewart.” Even Gail was surprised at home much she meant the words and she started to maneuver the woman’s hands behind her back. Sometimes her job really sucked, but if there was one thing the Pecks had managed to ingrain in her were the rules. And if the person wanted to press charges she had little choice.
“Oh you don’t need to apologize. A blonde and handcuffs, she’ll enjoy it a lot more than you realize,” The homeowner said.
Holly, Gail, and Chloe all shot the smug woman the same disgusted look before Gail started to pull Holly towards their cruiser.
Holly continued to shoot her ex a withering look that had even Gail impressed.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Ash. I could lose my job.”
“You could just talk to me and then I wouldn’t have to do this.”
“You do have the right to remain silent, Dr. Stewart.” Gail reminded her but Holly was only focused on the woman responsible for her predicament.
“You really think I want anything to do with you after today?”
“Well maybe a night in jail and unemployment will change your mind.”
Gail stopped just as she was about to reach the squad door. “Really? Right in front of us?” She couldn’t believe that the woman had the gall to actually try to blackmail the doctor into talking to her. Gail didn’t make it a habit to get in the middle of a lovers’ quarrel but fuck it.
“You know what, Dr. Stewart?” Gail unlocked the metal bracelets. “You’re free to go.”
“You can’t just let her go if I want to press charges?”
“Considering I just heard you try to blackmail her in order to get her to talk to you while using police resources, you’re going to be lucky that I don’t ticket you instead with a disorderly conduct charge.”
The woman, Ash, took a step towards Gail. “Did you just threaten me, Officer Peck?”
But Gail was unfazed, “Of course not. Did you hear a threat, Officer Price?”
Chloe shook her head, “No, I heard a warning. Sounded like you’re being extra nice today, Officer Peck.”
Realizing she was outnumbered the blonde woman huffed before she grabbed the cat and headed towards the house.
But Gail placed a gentle hand on the woman’s arm. “You’re going to have to let her go tonight.”
“Listen we’ll get her back to you but not right now. You are technically trespassing if she owns the home and doesn’t want you here.”
“Right.” Holly looked back at the house and blinked back the tears. She cleared her throat. “Right. Well thank you, officers. Now that I’ve been properly humiliated I am going to head home before this day gets any worse.”
Gail found herself watching the morose woman as she headed to her car, an uncomfortable feeling in her chest. Some people (*cough* Chloe) would have called it sympathy. Gail blamed it on the burrito she had for lunch and listening to Chloe all day. And yet she didn’t look away until the car turned the corner.
Standing on the edge of the ravine, Gail had been assigned the perimeter while Marlo flirted with her boyfriend and Traci looked over the body of bones a couple of teenagers found while being idiots in the woods. She was zoning out until a blur of brown hair, puffy green jacket, and a familiar red lunchbox flew by her.
“Hey, Lunchbox. You’re not allowed down there.”
“No, I said you’re not allowed down there.”
When the woman turned around, Gail kept a straight face as she glared at the part-time thief, Dr. Holly Stewart.
Recognizing the police officer, confusion overtook Holly’s features. “Oh no. I am. I need to get some samples. I’m the forensic pathologist.” She held up the red forensic kit and reminded the officer. She probably shouldn’t have been surprised, or maybe she should’ve been relieved that the gorgeous blonde police officer didn’t recognize her after she almost arrested her. Though truth be told she was also a little disappointed.
“Unless you actually brought your ID this time, I’m still not convinced you are. For all I know, you just like to make it a habit out of trespassing.”
One corner of Holly’s lips quirked up into a smile. She pulled out her work badge and showed it to Gail. “I’m not trespassing.”
Checking the ID, Gail nodded, but kept her hands on her hips. “Didn’t realize the city made a habit out of hiring cat burglars.”
“Luckily I am a much better scientist than I am a criminal.”
“So what are you doing here?”
“You’re not up on your medical jurisprudence? We need to determine cause of death. I test the water for diatoms, and if we find diatoms in the bone marrow Oh, did you notice if the femur is still intact?” Gail simply shrugged, but the woman seemed undeterred, “I’ll check later. If the diatoms match, we know the person drowned. If there aren’t any diatoms, then we know the cause of death was something else. I’ll need to consult with the forensic anthropologist, I’ll grab some leaves, bugs, dirt so they don’t have to come back. It helps in identifying the postmortem interval.”
Gail hated the fact that she actually enjoyed the mini science lesson, even if she only understood half of it. But she would never admit that. Instead she glared, “Why are you saying all these words?”
But Holly simply smiled wider at her. “You asked?”
“And I’m regretting that decision.” Gail was surprised when Holly’s smile didn’t falter.
“All right. Uh. I need someone to stay here and someone to go to the morgue.” Sam’s annoying voice broke up the conversation.
Unfortunately Marlo was faster at raising her hand. Left with no choice,
“I’ll go to the morgue.” When Holly looked up at her, Gail added, “It’s never too late to learn about medical jurisprudence.”
“So at what point did a woman with a doctorate and who writes about arteriosclerosis decide that it would be a good idea to break into her ex-girlfriend’s house?”
After spending an entire day in Holly’s lab, learning about diatoms, and what a person could tell just by looking at a table filled with bones, Gail realized at the end of her shift that she didn’t hate the doctor. In fact, she kind of liked her. It was what prompted Gail to suggest they grab a drink when they were about to part ways.
Which was how she was now at a booth at the Penny at least three shots in.
“Tell me about it. Caught her with the wedding planner on the couch I bought her when she moved into that house.”
“Damn and I thought being left at the altar sucked. That is definitely worse.” They clinked glasses, the tequila making the words come easily if a bit slurred.
The way Holly nearly lost her glasses as she startled at the revelation was annoyingly adorable, “Who would leave you at the altar? I mean, God, look at you. Did he lose his mind or his vision?”
“It was Vegas. Pretty sure the booze wore off and he realized I wasn’t girlfriend material let alone wife material.”
“He’s an idiot. You’re amazing. Gorgeous, funny, sarcastic as hell, you’re exactly…” When her brain slowly caught up to the words tumbling out of her mouth, Holly froze.
“That’s not what you were going to say.”
“How do you know? Are you a mind-reader too?”
“Come on Nerd, what were you going to say?” Gail poked at her with her boot, but Holly swatted at her.
“I don’t know if I need more or less tequila for this conversation.”
“The answer is always more.” Gail waved to the bartender for more shots. “Now tell me.”
“Fine. I was going to say you’re exactly my type. Happy?”
“Kinda.” Honestly, Gail was flattered. It wasn’t the first time a lesbian was attracted to her. And when she thought about it Holly was pretty sexy…in a nerdy librarian kind of way. Which, hey, maybe that was her thing. It could be. Maybe.
But then a thought occurred to her. “Oh ewww. If I’m your type, then how the hell did you end up with your ex? Are you saying I’m anything like her?”
“I don’t know. Would you cheat on me and then keep my cat just to try to get me to talk to you?”
“Well then you’re already leagues above her.” Holly and Gail clinked their glasses again. But even after taking the shot, Holly’s mood had shifted.
“I just can’t believe she is holding M.M. hostage like this.”
“So I’ve been meaning to ask, is the thing named after the candy or the rapper?”
“Neither. She’s named after Maud Menten.”
“Maud Menton? Canadian physician-scientist who is half of like the most famous equation in enzyme kinetics and histochemistry ever: the Michaelis-Menten equation where the rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction is proportional to the amount of the enzyme-substrate complex. She then went on to write “The Alkalinity of the Blood in Malignancy and Other Pathological Conditions” and she was the head of pathology in Pittsburgh.”
Gail sighed, even the babbling was kind of cute. “I liked you better when I thought she was named after the candy.” When the corner of Holly’s lips quirked up into a smile at Gail’s joke, she felt a pull in her stomach.
Instead of acknowledging her suddenly growing attraction, she knocked back her last shot and stood up. “Alright let’s go.”
Gail tossed a few bills onto the table and grabbed her leather jacket.
Holly finished her last drink and stood as well. “Where are we going?”
“A lesbian should never be denied access to her pussy. It’s criminal.”
But by the time Holly managed to wrap her head around what the blonde had just said she was already out the door.
“Have you two been drinking?” Oliver asked as he towered over the two women now seated on the curb with cuffs around their wrists.
“Ummm…Don’t we have the right to remain silent?” It was more of a plea than a question when Gail asked.
Oliver shook his head. He dealt with enough of these shenanigans with his daughters. Let alone his co-workers. “Okay so let me get this straight. While under the influence of alcohol an officer of the law and one of our forensic pathologists decided it would be a good idea to break into Dr. Stewart’s ex-girlfriend’s…”
“Ex-fiancé’s” Both Holly and Gail corrected him.
Gail perked up, pointing adamantly at Oliver, “That’s what I said!”
But Oliver shot her a look that had her sinking back down onto the curb. “Well I did,” she mumbled under her breath.
Oliver continued, “Ex-fiancé’s residence in an attempt to steal a cat.”
“Maud belongs to Holly, Oliver. We were just getting her back.”
“Do you have any proof, Dr. Stewart, that the cat belongs to you.”
“Well…no…I found her outside and after trying to locate her owners and not succeeding I just kept her. But she was only here because I had moved in when I moved back to Toronto. It didn’t make sense to get my own place when we were still planning the wedding.”
“And have you asked for it back?”
“Her.” Gail corrected him, and received another dad look from the veteran officer.
“And have you asked for her back?”
Gail nodded her satisfaction which caused Oliver to roll his eyes and Holly’s smile to light up again.
“I’ve left messages and had my friends contact Ash. I don’t want to speak with her if I don’t have to. But I don’t know why she won’t give her back. She hates her, Officer Shaw, and the feeling is mutual.”
“Alright. Let me see if I can speak to her.”
When Oliver walked away, Gail nudged Holly with her shoulder. “Don’t worry if anyone can convince her it’s Oliver.”
Gail decided that Holly’s ex had to have been a fucking moron to cheat on the woman. She was interesting, smart, and weird. And Gail liked her. Shit, Gail liked her.
Stuck sitting on the curb, Gail couldn’t help but appreciate Holly’s profile. Her skin was lit up with the red and blues of the nearby squad car but they didn’t take away from how beautiful she was in the slightest. Maybe it was the tequila but Gail found herself staring at Holly’s lips and wondering if they were as soft as they looked.
They heard a couple of voices shouting and then a flash of white was streaking across the yard and up a tree.
Oliver and Holly’s ex followed the cat.
“Maud. Get your ass down here.” Ash shouted.
But the cat didn’t even look in her supposed owner’s direction.
“Guess we’re going to have to call the hose monkeys.” Oliver grumbled as he reached for his radio.
Holly spoke up before he could place the call, “May I try?” After Oliver nodded, she looked up at the tree and cocked her head to the side, “Maud.”
The cat’s ears twitched and her tail started moving at the sound of her owner. “Come on down, sweetheart. You’re wasting the nice officers’ time and if you don’t, poor Officer Shaw is going to have to go get you.”
Everyone was amazed when the cat stood up and started making its way back down.
But Gail was even more surprised when on its final jump the cat landed on her shoulder. Gail tried not to flinch as she heard purring in her ear, not wanting Holly’s ex to see her squirm.
Oliver turned back to the woman who had filed the complaint. “You still want to tell me that you’re her owner?”
“Well there goes my career.”
Gail complained as the cell door shut behind her. She rubbed at her wrists as she plopped down on one of the benches. Holly dropped down on the other. Gail was even more annoyed when Maud hopped into her lap.
“Mine too. Probably lose my license. I appreciate everything you’ve done, Gail, but you didn’t have to get yourself into trouble for me.”
Gail looked at the cat and then back at its owner, she was surprised again by how beautiful Holly could look even in the dim lighting of the cell, with cinderblock and bars for a backdrop, and it being the middle of the night.
She sighed, “I’m loyal, Holly. I’m not a lot of things. I’m not really friendly. I’m not easy-going. I’m not down-to-earth. But I am very very loyal. To this division and to my friends.”
“Are you saying I’m your friend?”
“I’m pretty sure you just did, Officer Peck.”
“That’s former Officer Peck to you.”
Holly snorted. An easy silence fell between them as they both settled further onto their respective seats. Whether she wanted to or not, Gail found herself petting the now purring cat that had settled in her lap. Her mother would probably personally strip Gail of her badge but she couldn’t really find it in her to care. She’d do it all again. Especially if it meant getting Holly to look at her again the way she was now.
(Well, maybe not the getting caught part)
“Sorry, I just…” Holly started to say.
“Just what?” Gail asked, but before she could get an answer, Oliver reappeared, this time with his phone out and flash on.
“You did not just take a picture, you asshole.” Gail growled, but Oliver snapped another one on his phone. When she tried to reach through the bars, he stayed just out of reach.
“Oh come on, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“Really? That’s how you treat your freer?” Oliver asked as he unlocked the cell door.
“Yeah, apparently a woman named Lisa convinced Dr. Stewart’s ex to drop the charges.”
“God, I knew I kept that woman around for a reason.” Holly said as she shot out of her seat. “Come on, Maud.”
The cat followed its owner and Gail out of the cell. After retrieving their belongings and making sure nothing would be going on their records, they headed out to Holly’s car.
“I owe you, Officer Peck, for being my hero tonight.”
“You got me Maud back. And if I’m being honest, tonight was a lot of fun. But now I owe you.”
“You’re right. You do. And you can start with breakfast. I could murder a stack of pancakes. Oooo and bacon. Definitely need bacon. Come on, Nerd, there’s a diner nearby.”
As they approached Holly’s car, Gail had one more question to ask.
“So I was wondering, Dr. Stewart. Do you really have a thing for blondes and handcuffs?”
The color in Holly’s cheeks was answer enough as she ducked her head and held the passenger door open for the blonde.
When Gail passed her, she was genuinely surprised and intrigued by the reply she received.
“Play your cards right, Officer, and you can find out for yourself.”
