Okay, so the new episode didn't anger me as much as I thought it would, mostly because they managed to do the one thing that would make Nick interesting to me (and an okay pairing for Gail, imo). I am by no means jumping the Peckstein ship but I'll need to (at least partially) focus on something that's attainable. And apparently Peckstein isn't happening anytime soon...

Thanks to margie311 for brainstorming with me; as always you're a doll :)

For the purposes of this story the episode ended with the Gail/Nick scene because it starts from there.

Andy watched Gail from across the room, not at all surprised when the blonde headed for the door of the Penny and, after a few seconds, the new guy got up to trail her out. "Glad to see some things never change…" she grinned, tilting her chin in that direction.

Traci looked over her shoulder in time to see them leave. "That has to be a new record…" Less than twelve hours…

Dropping into Gail's vacated seat Dov noticed the girls' smiles. "What'd I miss?"

Andy's grin faltered, belatedly realizing the boys probably wouldn't be as glad… "Uh… nothing. Gail just left, that's all…"

Dov raised an eyebrow, even more confused when Chris just focused on his beer.

"What my dear deception-challenged friend didn't say," Traci clarified with a roll of her eyes, "Is that she wasn't alone." Apparently Andy's notoriously bad lying was among the things that hadn't changed…

"New guy?" Dov guessed, as though Gail would have left with anyone other than the (apparently) hot newbie who had braved chilly waters to get a perp…

"I was trying to be tactful," Andy huffed at her best friend, who obviously had no such compunction…

Dismissing the brunette's indignation Traci wondered aloud, "Seriously – are there pheromones in her venom or something? What is it about Gail Peck that you guys find so darned irresistible?"

"She's Gail," Chris shrugged. There really wasn't an explanation; it just was.

There was no way Dov wanted to come off that weak-willed… "I was young and naïve then," he defended, adopting a British accent to conclude, "I got better…"

"Really?" So Traci didn't still catch him ogling Gail in the parade room or the squad room (or any room, really) when he thought he could get away with it? The only thing he'd gotten better at was pretending he was better, and even then, not by much…

Chris rolled his eyes at his best friend, not buying the blatant lie or the Monty Python reference. "Are you trying to say she turned you into a newt?" If Gail were a witch (the spell-casting kind) he doubted she would have been so nice about it. A toad, maybe. Or a dog…

"Of course not…" Lifting a self-deprecating eyebrow Dov qualified, "Newts have spines…" If ever there was a 'this is your brain on Gail' moment it had been the night of his confession. Of course the actual drugs hadn't helped…

Hearing the bitterness (with just a pinch of dejection) Traci challenged, "'Better,' huh?" You didn't go from hopelessly (pathetically) in love to indifferent in months, no matter how much he might wish you could.

Dov narrowed his eyes at her before admitting, "Working on it…" It wasn't like he had a choice – Gail was sticking to her guns on the 'never friends' thing, having barely said two non-work-related words to him since the breakup.

Feeling bad for putting the boys on the spot Andy interjected, "And it's not just guys, either. Remember that detective we went to interview about Brennan's wife's death? Who dropped by the 15 just to check up on the case?" Andy had thought Gail was being her usual narcissistic self when she'd announced the woman had been hitting on her. Until the detective had dropped by because she was 'curious' and 'in the neighborhood'… "That would be the record: an hour of being treated like a suspect…"

Dov thought he remembered something about messy handwriting… "Wait – didn't Gail go to lunch with her after we found Sam?"

"I don't know," Andy shrugged. "I didn't stick around that long."

Andy's declaration clued Chris in to what 'record' they were talking about. "Uh… I'm pretty sure Gail already knows the new guy…" The others simultaneously turned their attention to him and he resisted the urge to cringe. "Come on – Nick Collins? He's gotta be the Chief's son…" It was a nice feeling, not being the slow one for once…

"No way…" Andy breathed. Someone would have said something if that were the case…

Dov shook his head. "It's a common name; it doesn't mean anything."

"Hang on," Traci hushed him with a hand, "I think Chris may be on to something here; Gail has definitely been off all day…" Not gloating about the detective's assignment? Being nice to Andy? Letting the comment about her relationship with Chris go?

"I thought she was just being nice because I'm back," Andy confessed, a little disappointed. "'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' and all that jazz…"

Chris scoffed. It was more like, 'absence makes the heart go yonder' with Gail…

"The Chief is her godfather, right?" Dov reasoned. "Wouldn't that make them some kind of siblings?" It was lame but it was all he had.

"I don't know.." Traci smirked, knowing exactly why he was trying to minimize their relationship, "But if I had a brother who looked like that I might be willing to partake in a little incest…"

Andy's face scrunched up in disgust. "Ew."

Dov shot Traci a wounded look – mental image not appreciated – but didn't comment.

"I'm kidding," Traci chuckled at the brunette's scandalized expression. "Anyway, whatever it was it ended badly; he's been getting the Dov treatment…"

"Thanks," Dov muttered sarcastically. "Just… thanks for that." Count on Traci to always make him feel better…

Traci shrugged unapologetically. "Hey, it's not my fault you threw a metaphorical hand grenade at her and just stood there while she blew up…"

Chris would have agreed but he had no room to talk – he was the one who had let Gail blow up…

Brow furrowed Dov pouted, "Still…"

"No 'still,'" Traci cut him off. "You have your girlfriend, your best friend and your apartment. You get no sympathy from me." Okay, he got a little sympathy from her but not enough for her to go through it again. Not after Luke. "Either do something about it or deal…"

"You know I'm sitting right here, right?" Chris wasn't too thrilled she was advising Dov to go for Gail after what he'd done.

"Then I don't need to repeat myself," Traci told him pointedly, then turned to Andy. "Thanks for abandoning me in the middle of Gailgate, by the way…"

Andy grinned at her, not at all sorry she'd missed it. "Everyone's still alive – you did fine." Had her best friend not been across the table she was pretty sure she would have been hit… "Besides, how hard could it have been? These two are back to normal and Gail's acting like it never happened…"

Dov would have contended Gail acting like it never happened was hardly easy but wasn't willing to open himself up to more scorn.

That's exactly what bothered Traci – that no one was dealing with what had happened. She knew for a fact she was the closest thing Gail had to a friend; that the blonde wouldn't talk to her about it – much less yell or scream or cry – had her worried that eventually the supressed emotions would come to a head in a less than constructive (or potentially dangerous) way. "Well, something tells me it's about to get a hell of a lot more complicated with the arrival of Sexy McSoldier…"

"Really?" Dov groaned, "You couldn't just use his name?"

"He has a name?" Traci blinked in mock-surprise. "I must have missed it while I was admiring his… credentials."

Andy had to laugh even as she chastised, "You're evil…"

Chris just shook his head, amused; he wasn't threatened by how hot the new guy was…

Oh, Traci wasn't done yet… Glancing towards the door she offered an innocuous, "I wonder if they're fighting or making up for lost time…"

Dov automatically followed her gaze, sighing, "Nash, you suck…"

"Get off my car, Collins…"

Nick 'stood' his ground, casually sitting on the hood with his feet on the bumper. "Not until you hear me out."

Gail glared daggers into his back from the driver's seat. "I'm not interested in whatever half-baked excuse you came up with in the last five minutes." The nerve of him, showing up in her division, pretending he didn't know she'd be there, and then acting like she should just welcome him with open arms. Were all men this fucking delusional or just the ones in her life?

"It's not an excuse, Gail," he told her over his shoulder, loud enough for her to hear him through the window she'd opened to yell at him. "If you'd just listen for once in your life…"

Was he kidding her? Teeth gritted she promised, "If you don't get off my car you will be a hood ornament for my ride home…"

In all the years and all the threats she'd never once followed through, infinitely more bark than bite. "Go for it…" he invited with a shrug.

Seriously? Without a second thought Gail threw the car into reverse and hit the gas. Hard.

Nick was so stunned by the movement he barely caught his footing as he toppled from the hood. He managed to maintain some dignity by not yelping as he did it…

Slamming on the brakes (probably no more than a half-inch from the car behind her) Gail had to refrain from switching to drive and running him over. "Move, Collins." Her surprise that he was actually doing it quickly turned to panic when she realized he was coming around to her side. She instinctively locked the doors.

He abstained from voicing the futility of her action as he reached through the window and unlocked them. Opening the door he bent to lean over her and put the car in park, then pulled back to crouch next to her. "Gilly…"

"Don't," Gail warned hoarsely, staring out the windshield. "There are only three people on the planet allowed to call me that and you're not one of them." He'd lost that privilege when he'd disappeared on her nearly five years before.

Brushing her hair back so he could see her face Nick quietly shared, "You're still adorable when you're flustered…"

Gail swallowed hard; turned to him with an icy stare. "This isn't some happy reunion, Nicky; just say what you want to say so I can leave."

Nick sighed and dropped his hand. "I really didn't know you were here, okay? They didn't say anything…"

If he expected that excuse to fly he was an idiot. "Where did you think I'd be? It's 'Division Peck,' remember?"

Taking a deep breath he began, "Honestly?"

"No," she interrupted tersely, "I want you to lie to me…"

Okay, so he'd kinda asked for that one… Meeting her wary eyes he admitted, "I try not to think of you at all."

Gail's eyes welled with tears before she could stop them; she turned away even though he couldn't have not seen them. "I can't do this now, okay?" After everything else it was just too much – she was barely hanging on as it was – and she needed time to process and bury.

And that – her pain – was exactly why he'd tried. And up until now had succeeded… "Do you think I wanted to leave you, Gail? We'd barely been apart since we were kids…"

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid, okay?" she bit off, facing him again. "You enlisted. You took off without a word to me or your parents. Not a phone call or a Dear Jane or an adios amiga…"

His mother had known but that was beside the point. "I did," Nick whispered, taking a risk in taking her hand, "because I knew what would happen if I'd stayed."

Gail looked back out the window but didn't pull away. "If you didn't want to get married all you had to do was say so…"

"You have met you, right?" he teased, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. His smile faded when she gave him the coldest glare he'd ever been privy to. "It wasn't me that didn't want to get married, Gail…"

"Don't even try to blame this on me," she hissed, eyes narrowed at the implication. "Vegas was my idea…"

"But only because the alternative was a showy wedding that had nothing to do with us and everything to do with our families…" That she'd refused to go to a Justice of the Peace instead – insisted on doing it without their parents – proved that it would have been an act of rebellion more than love. "You weren't ready to get married any more than I was, and I didn't want us to end up resenting each other because they'd forced our hand."

Gail stared out the window, trying to wrap her mind around it all. He wasn't wrong, she'd spent enough time replaying it in her head to know that, but it didn't erase all the carnage he'd left behind or the damage he'd done.

Nick let her deliberate until he'd lost all feeling in his legs. "Can we go somewhere more comfortable? Or get out of the car at least?"

His position wasn't conducive to blood flow but that didn't stop her from lifting a critical eyebrow. "Really? How'd you manage to survive two tours, Nicole?"

"Same way you survived your parents, Gil…" It was a long-standing joke; she accused him of whining like a girl and he ribbed her on having the emotional sensitivity of a guy, the products of their parallel but very different upbringings. "What do you say, Gilly? Take pity on the clearly inferior being?"

Gail hated that he could still make her want to smile. She didn't, but she wanted to. "Get out and close the door," she instructed evenly. "If you're lucky maybe I'll just repark the car…"

Nick couldn't quite get a read on her, her features more guarded than he was used to. "Get out and let me park it…"

Did she look like she was in the mood to negotiate? "After the way you drove today you're not touching my baby, Collins; even if it's just to go ten feet…" Especially not after he'd reminded her about the poor MG…

Accepting he had no choice but to trust her Nick released her hand to hold his own up in surrender. "You have every right to take off, okay? Leave me the way I left you. But I'm asking you to please not to…" With that he stood and gently closed the door.

Dammit. She couldn't very well take off now, after he'd effectively called her out on the reason she would have used for doing so. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't gun the engine like she was…

Nick rolled his eyes when she came to a shrieking halt two spots further up. Control Freak. Starting towards her he half-expected her to peel off just as he was getting close; let out a relieved sigh when she emerged from the car to lean against it.

Gail warily watched him approach, suppressing the urge to flee while she still had the chance. Nick Collins was dangerous. More dangerous than Chris and Dov combined, because where she connected with Chris physically, Dov mentally, both (unfortunately) emotionally, Nick was her match in all respects but also the only person she'd ever let in on a spiritual level. He knew her inside and out – the way she'd thought she knew him – and he wouldn't be nearly as easy to hide from or hold at arm's length. But what scared her the most? The possibility that she wouldn't even want to try…

I have no idea where I'm going with this but I had to get it out there. I might do a second chapter just to wrap up the Gail/Nick conversation...

Thanks for reading!