A/N I had some success with one shots with these two so I decided to try to write a longer story. I feel like I have to warn you beforehand, this story will have a little drama. Disclaimer I don't own Rookie Blue or its characters, all mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy it.
Lab Coats and Handcuffs
Chapter 1- Partners
The afternoon sun warmed Gail as she found a stool by the window. She watched as the classroom slowly filled with people; she tapped her fingers impatiently as a guy that she had seen in an earlier class tried to chat her up. She ignored his awkward advances until she caught sight of a much more welcome familiar face. "Hey Dov! Over here I saved you a seat." She called as she waved him over. As he approached Gail turned to her never-would-be admirer, "Sorry I was saving this seat for my boyfriend."
Dov mouthed, "Boyfriend?" over the guy's shoulder as he stood by the lab table.
Gail gave her best 'go along with it, I will explain later' look and thankfully he played along.
"Hey thanks for saving me a seat babe." He said the other guy got up and mumbled something that sounded like sorry as he backed away.
Once he was gone Dov laughed and set his books down, "At least you were nice to this one, didn't you tell that frat guy that if he said one more word to you that you would rip his balls off with a staple puller?"
Gail turned to him, "I can be nice sometimes babe. Seriously babe? Of all the things you could call me you chose babe?"
"It was either that of Gaily-waily I made a gut decision and felt babe was safer."
That earned him an eye roll, "You chose wisely. I have taught you well. You may remain as my roommate." She saw her other roommate Chris walk in their friends Andy and Traci. There were a lot of familiar faces in the room but also a lot of new faces which was a little confusing, this was supposed to be a senior seminar class for criminal justice majors and Gail knew everyone that was a part of their department. Who were these other people? They looked a little older than the seniors and tired, one slightly chunky guy had quite a bit of stubble and was nursing a large, what can only be described as a jug, of coffee. "It is two in the afternoon," she thought as the man took another sip, "No one needs that much coffee."
She was jolted out of her thoughts by the instructor rapping on the desk in front of him, "Good afternoon everyone I am Professor Shaw, welcome to Senior Seminar 480: Criminal Justice-A practical application. This section will be taught jointly with Dr. Cavanaugh of the medical school, for the first time for this course we are merging our senior criminal justice majors with third year medical students for their section in pathology. You will each be assigned a partner for the semester, there will be no trading of partners. You will work on in class assignments together as well as all of the off-campus projects that will be conducted in the upcoming months. Furthermore you will required to keep a log of out of class hours that you spend with each other, a minimum of four hours a week is mandatory. I will read the pairing now, I will say the senior's name first and then the third year. Please stand when your name is called."
As he started calling out names alphabetically Gail let her mind wander as it would take time to get to 'p'. This class wasn't anything like she had thought it would be, she assumed with a name like 'practical application' it meant that they would do ride alongs in police cars or sit in on some actual trials not hang out with would be dead guy doctors. Gail watched Dov stand and walk over to coffee drinker man who from then on had the name 'Java the Hutt' in her head. When she saw Traci sit next to a girl that was chewing on her pencil Gail turned her attention back to the teacher, Peck came after Nash.
The professor scanned down the sheet of paper, "Gail Peck?" Gail stood and nodded, the teacher nodded back, "You will be paired with Marcus Skidmarque." He did his best not to smile at the name.
Gail had to hold back a snort, "Skidmark?" she thought, "This poor kid."
Dr. Cavanaugh tapped on Professor Shaw's shoulder and whispered something, Shaw cleared his throat, "Well I have just been informed that Mr. Skidmarque has had an accident of some sorts and will be unable to join us. So let me see here…you will be partnered with Holly Stewart."
Gail looked around the room and spotted a pretty girl with a darker complexion and an intriguing smile walking towards her. "I could do worse." Gail thought as the med student sat down next to her.
"Gail? I'm Holly, nice to meet you." The brunette said as she set her books on the table and offered her hand to shake.
She took the girl's hand and noticed that it was soft but strong, "Nice to meet you too, I am glad I didn't get stuck with the guy named Skidmark."
Holly laughed and got a dirty look from the table next to them and quieted down, "What a name, you would think that you would change it or something."
"Right?" Gail said thinking that she and this Holly would get along okay.
She was about to say something else when Dr. Cavanaugh spoke, "Now that you are all paired up with your partner we would like you to take the rest of the class to get to know each other a little, after all you will be spending a great deal of time together over the next few months. We will see you tomorrow and go over the course syllabus, have a great rest of the day."
The room got a bit louder with everyone talking so Holly leaned in closer to be able to speak to Gail and Gail could smell something that smelled a little like cinnamon, maybe it was the girl's shampoo. "So tell me about yourself Gail Peck." Gail couldn't help but notice the other girls eyes scanning her, was she checking her out? The thought was a nice ego boost but Gail knew that she was hot.
"What do you want to know?" Gail said and then mentally scolded herself, was she flirting with this girl?
Holly chuckled and cocked her head to the side and smiled this crooked smile, "I don't know the basic stuff, how old are you, why did you choose this major, where are you from? Those sort of things."
Easy enough, so Gail answered, "22, look up my name, and Toronto."
This earned Gail another laugh, "Not a big talker are you?" Gail shrugged. "Well I am from Vancouver, I have always loved science that is way I chose this field. I like the outdoors and sports, I played hockey in college and I love maple bars with bacon on them."
"You didn't say how old you are." Gail commented as she looked the girl over, she didn't look like she was much older than her.
"You caught that…"
"Well I am training to be a cop. I notice things." Gail said matter of factly.
"I see." She teased "I will turn 23 next month."
That didn't sound right to Gail, she did some quick math, she knew that she was older than most of her fellow seniors since she had taken a year off but for Holly to just be turning 23 and already in her third year of medical school…
"I can hear your brain working over time, I graduated high school when I was sixteen and I finished undergrad when I was nineteen. I took a year off and joined the Peace Corps before starting med school." Holly said casually.
"Wow, I took a year off to piss off my mom." Gail said halfheartedly. Holly laughed and bumped Gail's shoulder. "So are you like a genius or something?"
Holly grin got a little bigger, "No, I just have a really good memory and I am pretty good at figuring out problems. So is it just me or is that guy over there staring at us?"
Gail turned to look where Holly was subtly gesturing, "Oh that is Nick…my ex. He isn't taking the break up well."
"When did you break up?"
"Right before summer break, we had been together for almost a year."
"I take it that you didn't part on the best of terms?" Holly asked as Gail shook her head.
"See that girl over there, the one with the dark hair? That is Andy, she and I were roommates freshman and sophomore year. She and Nick were paired on a project last spring and spent a lot of time together. I thought nothing of it, we were all friends but then Nick started getting weird around me and let it slip that he had feelings for Andy. I told him that I wasn't anyone's second choice and broke up with him. He ran right to Andy and she turned him down flat. Now he is alone and blames me." Gail explained and then realized that she had shared more about herself to a complete stranger than she to anyone in months.
"Wow, well it sounds like he deserves to be alone. So are you really going to make me do homework and look up your name?"
"Yep." Gail said popping the 'p'. "If you want to know that is the only way."
Holly raised her hands in surrender, "Okay. So how do you want to meet up out of class? I have a little time in the morning before classes but have more time in the evening. What is your schedule like?"
Gail thought a minute before answering, "Mornings only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays for me, I have 7 a.m. classes the other days. I don't think you want to join me on my run at 5:30 in the morning, besides we couldn't really discuss class then anyway. I have time in the early afternoon on Monday and Wednesday but all of my evenings are free."
"I am glad I don't have a super early morning classes this term. I like to have a little time in the morning to get my head into the right state of mind. So you run? See that is something else I know about you know. Where do you run? I might have to join you one morning." Holly said as she pulled her long hair back into a ponytail.
"I usually take the loop around the park, it is five miles. I usually run alone, you would have to keep up." Gail answered.
"Oh I can keep up." Holly said arching her eyebrows, "It is you that should be worried." Gail was certain now that this girl was flirting with her and was having a difficult time keeping up with their banter. Before she could think up a witty retort Holly continued, "So it sounds like evenings work best for the both of us. Do you live in the dorms or off campus?"
"I live off campus with two roommates. It isn't the greatest place but it is close to the park and not too far from campus. How about you?"
Holly nodded towards the clock, the class was almost over, she answered as she gathered her books, "I live off campus, I have a small loft. It is pretty small but since it is just me it works."
The bell rang and Gail started to get up from her stool and felt Holly grab her wrist, she would have sworn that she felt a shock go through her at the simple touch. "Give me your phone." Gail raised an eyebrow, "Please?" Holly added and Gail handed over her phone. "Okay so I just called my phone so we have each other's numbers. I will see you tomorrow Gail of Toronto."
Holly got up and was half out the door when Gail said, "See you tomorrow Holly…nerd."
The med student stopped and turned, "Is that the best you got? We will have to work on that." She left laughing.
Gail rolled her eyes, but Holly was right she could do better, she was brought out of her thoughts when Dov and Chris came up next to her. "My partner smells like old sneakers and told me that if screw up his grade for this class he will kill me and donate my body to the pathology department." Chris complained as the three headed out. It was their last class of the day.
"Sorry man but my guy isn't much better, I think he was mainlining coffee. He was shaking and you could smell it coming out of his pores. What about you Gail?" Dov said as he unlocked the door of their, well his car.
"Huh? What?"
"Your partner is she a nightmare?"
Gail paused before answering, "No, she seems alright, not too weird. At least she smells nice."
Dov and Chris nodded, that was about the closest that Gail came to complimenting someone. Dov started the car, "That is a plus."
Gail stared out the car window as they headed home, "Yes, yes it is." She said mostly to herself.
A/N So what do you think? I hate to say it but I won't be able to update regularly. At the moment I am on vacation and have a lot more free time than I normally have, my usual work week is at least 60 plus hours. If anyone would be interested in helping me out by being my beta p.m. me. Reviews are like bacon, I love them.