Lexa Woods is a US Marshal heading a task force in the Witness Protection Division based in Anchorage, Alaska. Her newest job is to protect Clarke Griffin, a woman whose testimony will bring down the most powerful gang in New York City: the Mountain Men gang. In the process, the two will discover something unexpected that will threaten to turn their worlds upside down.
“Anya” the old woman rasped painfully. Anya squeezed the woman’s fingers that were interlaced with hers as she fought back the wave of emotion threatening to consume her.
“Don’t talk mother, you need to save your energy” Anya replied. The older woman shook her head, several coughs racking...
"Hols?"
"Mhm?" Holly acknowledged without looking up from her book
"You know I wouldn't blame you if you left"
"Nonsense. Your parents are watching Peyton this weekend. So, you and I can spend time together".
"That's not what I meant". The tone of Gail's voice made Holly stop reading. She put the book down and looked up at Gail.
"Hey Holly" Steve greeted as he sat down next to her in the ER waiting room. "I just got off the phone with your sister. They are all going to be on the next flight out".
Gail x Holly prompt: Gail or Holly (your choice!) is in a life or death situation but so is a child at the same time. The one in danger forces the other who's caught up in trying to save them to help the child first putting their life at even more risk.
This is going to be a 3 part prompt. Here is the 1st part:
Gail awoke with a start. Sweat was dripping down her face, her shirt was clinging uncomfortably to her back. She was gasping for breath; her chest felt painfully heavy. She briefly wondered if she had another nightmare. But, couldn’t remember dreaming about anything. She looked over at Holly lying in bed next to her. Gail had difficulty focusing on her. Gail’s eyes were clouded in a haze. Once Gail was able to focus she noticed Holly sweating as well. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Why was it so hot? Her and Holly always had their house slightly chilly. They both liked it that way. So there was no way the thermostat had been touched.
Gail looked up towards their closed bedroom door and felt her heart stop. A thick cloud of smoke was seeping in through the bottom of the door. She could just make out a faint glow appearing behind the smoke.
Her brain immediately turned into overdrive. She kicked the blankets back and started shaking Holly.
"Hols wake up" she demanded forcefully. Her voice already cracking from inhaling the smoke. "Holly wake up" she continued louder.
Holly woke with a start. “What’s wrong? Is Peyton ok?” Holly questioned. Her concern immediately showing for their four year old daughter.
"Fire" was all Gail said in reply.
"What?" Holly questioned in confusion.
"Fire!" Gail repeated and pointed to the door. "Get up now".
Holly’s gaze fell on the door and the color drained from her face. An instant later she was out of bed and racing towards the door. “Peyton!”
Before Holly could reach the door handle Gail stopped her. “Let me” she muttered as she lightly touched the door knob; checking to see how hot it was. It was warm; but thankfully not hot enough to make Gail worried the fire was right behind the door.
She yanked the door open and was immediately assaulted by a wave of thick smoke. “Holly go outside and call for help. I’ll grab Peyton” Gail ordered through coughs.
Holly looked like she was about to argue, but Gail stopped her. “Do it now. There’s no time”. Holly nodded and quickly but cautiously made her way towards the stairs, where the smoke and flames appeared to be coming from.
Gail spun around and ran towards their daughter’s room. She flung the door open and frantically looked around. “Peyton!” She screamed, doubling over in a painful round of coughs.
"Mama! I’m under here" Peyton’s terrified voice called. Gail quickly knelt down by the bed and reached under.
"Baby come here". Gail felt her daughters tiny fingers wrap around her hand. Gail tugged her daughter out from under the bed. "Are you hurt?"
Peyton shook her head. “No. Just scared” the little girl whimpered through tears.
"Don’t worry. I got you" Gail whispered. Peyton wrapped her arms around Gail’s neck, as her tiny legs wove around Gail’s waist. Gail held Peyton close and ran out of the room. Gail made Peyton bury her face into Gail’s neck so she wouldn’t inhale as much smoke.
The smoke had increased exponentially in the time Gail had grabbed their daughter. She tried to stay low to the ground as she carefully stepped down the stairs.
Gail was halfway to the door when she heard the explosion. It was deafening. She felt her body being flung through the air, she instinctively landed in a way that wouldn’t hurt Peyton. Her head slammed into the wall; a searing pain she had never experienced before washed across her back. A strangled cry of pain came from her throat.
"Mama?" Peyton’s scared voice called from under her. But Gail didn’t reply. The pain on her back becoming worse. The distinct smell of burning flesh wafted up towards her nose.
In that instant all of her police academy training seemed to kick in. She immediately turned and began to roll; the pain becoming unbearable. But she knew she had to put it out so she kept rolling; even though the pain was enough to make her pass out.
After what felt like a lifetime, but was only a few seconds Gail put the fire raging on her back out. Silent tears began streaming down her face. She felt exhausted and completely numb. The desire to fall into unconsciousness becoming more and more appealing.
"Mama?!" Peyton’s voice screamed in fear. Gail turned her head to look at her. Seeing the tears and scared expression on her daughter’s face ignited an unequivocal sense of protectiveness in Gail.
Fighting against every instinct in her body she slowly tried to sit up and reach for her daughter. A loud creaking above her made her stop and look up. A moment later she felt her legs being crushed by parts of the ceiling. She let out another strangled cry of pain. She prayed that this was all some horrible nightmare and she would wake up soon.
"Gail?!" A familiar voice screamed. Gail tried to reply, but was too weak, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. "Gail?!" Holly screamed again.
"Oh my god, oh my god. Gail!" Holly yelled when she spotted her. Holly knelt down and tried to shove the debris from the ceiling off of her. "Peyton" Gail croaked. "Grab Peyton".
"Where is she?"
"Mommy!" Peyton screamed. Holly sprung up and swooped their daughter into her arms, holding her fiercely close to her body.
Holly knelt back down next to Gail, trying to kick away the debris crushing her. “Gail, can you move? I need you to get up!”
"I-I’m stuck" Gail coughed. Another loud bang made Holly flinch. A huge shoot of flames bursted into the air close by.
"Gail I can’t move it on my own. You have to push" Holly demanded.
Gail shook her head. “Go. Get out now”.
Holly’s eyes widened in comprehension. “No, no I won’t leave you here”.
"Yes you will. Go. Please".
"No!" Holly replied in a strangled cry. Another loud crack erupted behind them. More of the ceiling began crumbling down.
"Holly, please. Get Peyton out of here. Please" Gail begged.
"Ok. I’m coming right back though" Holly vowed. "You’re not leaving me today". Holly leaned down and kissed Gail’s lips briefly.
"I love you"
"I love you too".
Holly stood up and raced out of the house with Peyton. Holly could see the flashing lights of the fire trucks pulling up to the house.
Gail smiled despite the overwhelming pain engulfing her as she watched the two most important people in her life disappear through the smoke. Gail couldn’t help but think how Holly was going to be okay without her. She would make it.
"I love you" Gail whispered again into the roaring inferno that used to be her house before finally succumbing to the darkness.
Here is the latest chapter.
“Spill it Peck” Dov demanded as he dropped his lunch tray on the table with a thud. The force causing a spoonful of soup to cascade over the brim of the bowl and splash across his tray.
“Looks like you already got that covered Dov” Gail noted as she greedily shoved a handful of cheese puffs into her mouth.
“Hilarious Gail” Dov replied sarcastically. Before Gail could respond Chloe reached over and quickly wiped away the spill with a napkin, beaming at Dov and kissing his cheek in greeting. Dov smiled back and leaned in to kiss Chloe on the mouth.
“Hey!” Gail spat as she threw a cheese puff at them. “Can’t you see there are children here?” Gail questioned as she motioned to Chris sitting next to her. Without letting Chris speak she pointed at the two of them and narrowed her eyes. “No one should be subjected to the trauma of watching you two sad creatures kiss”.
“It’s nice to see you’re time in the Principal’s Office hasn't changed you’re bubbly personality” Dov teased. He leaned in once more and kissed Chloe, making sure to linger longer than necessary just to irritate Gail more.
“I think I am going to be sick” Gail commented as she turned her gaze away in disgust. The rest of the table just watched in amusement, but remained quietly eating their lunch.
“So Gail, how much trouble did you get in?” Dov asked once he pulled back from Chloe. “I heard Principal Barber came in to your English class this morning and dragged you down to his office. We all thought you got expelled. Barber never does that unless he expels kids”.
“Everyone thought that huh?” Gail wondered aloud as she glared at the rest of the table, her eyes lingering on Traci a moment longer than the rest of them. She had to admit she had been quite terrified that was going to be her fate when Principal Barber made her sit down next to a furious Holly.
“Oh Gail come on, we care about you. We wanted to make sure you were okay” Chris explained.
“I have cleaning duties until summer starts and I have to pay for Holly to get her hair fixed” Gail answered briefly, ignoring Chris’ comment.
“That’s it? That isn't bad at all” Dov replied. Gail shrugged noncommittally. She agreed; her punishment could have been a lot worse. She had definitely gotten off easy.
“I’m actually a bit disappointed. I thought her hair would look a lot more pink. You can’t really tell unless you’re under the right lighting” Chloe added.
“Do you want some help with the cleaning?” Chris asked way too eagerly. Gail rolled her eyes. She had made out with Chris one time three years ago, and ever since then he had been following her around like a love sick puppy. Even after she had clarified to him dozens of times that she was not interested. He still never lost hope and always tried to appease Gail. She almost felt bad for him, he clearly needed to find a girlfriend or get laid.
“I’m fine Chris. I can handle it myself” Gail answered. “No thanks to Traci over there” she shot at her friend across the table.
“Oh don't hand me that Gail. You did it to yourself. If you wouldn't have dyed Holly’s hair in the first place you wouldn't have even gotten in trouble to begin with”.
“No, if you wouldn't have opened your big, fat, traitorous mouth I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble. Holly would have never gone to Barber if you wouldn't have suggested it”.
Traci scoffed. “Maybe Holly finally had had enough of your crap Gail. Pick on someone else for once”.
Gail stood up and slammed her hands onto the table; her eyes narrowing into slits and her jaw tightening in anger. Traci’s eyes widened in shock and the rest of the table fell eerily silent. A million insults rested on the tip of Gail’s tongue, designed for the sole purpose of hurting her so-called friend.
Gail wasn't mad because of Traci’s words. That wasn't the case at all. In fact, Gail internally agreed with Traci. She should pick on someone else. The only reason Gail had never stopped her pranking was because Holly never stood up for herself. She never went to the administration to complain. For all Gail knew, Holly was one of those masochists who enjoyed being pranked. No one else at the boarding school would have tolerated Gail pranking them once, let alone for years. But, after listening to Holly’s tirade in Principal Barber’s office for over an hour, she had a newfound respect for Holly for finally sticking up for herself after all this time; even though she would never admit it. From now on, Gail was going to leave Holly alone. She would find someone else to direct her pranks towards.
The real issue for Gail was Traci’s obvious betrayal of their friendship. She had gone behind Gail’s back and readily turned her in without batting an eye. Gail had a hard time trusting people; but she had always trusted Traci. Gail’s most important moral was loyalty, ingrained in her since before she could talk by her parents. She regarded loyalty as a strong fabric of any friendship. Traci’s nonchalant dismissal of this unsaid loyalty between them hurt Gail. It hurt her even more that Traci was still misconstruing the reason behind her anger; especially since Traci was the one who understood her the most out of all of their friends.
Before Gail could utter the multitude of insults at the tip of her tongue an older man’s voice calling her name caught her attention. She spun around to see Mr. Shaw standing a few feet away.
“Come with me Peck” he motioned. Gail hesitated as she eyed him. While Oliver Shaw was her favorite teacher, he was also the school’s unofficial ‘grief’ counselor. If something bad would happen to a student’s family, or any other precarious incident, he was the one who would always break it to that student. A tight knot began to form in the pit of Gail’s stomach as she watched his unreadable expression. A sense of utter foreboding coursed through Gail’s body as she felt the air leave her lungs. Had something happened to her brother? Or parents? Was she about to find out that one of them had been killed on duty? Gail was frozen in place; the air around her thick with tension and fear.
Oliver must have sensed Gail’s sudden shift in mood because his face instantly softened. “You’re family is fine Gail. No one is hurt”.
Gail breathed a sigh of relief, the sudden veil of fear quickly thrown away and replaced with her stoic expression. She took several steps towards Oliver as the man turned around.
“You’re mother is here though and insisted she had to speak with you immediately” he added as he led Gail briskly out of the cafeteria. Gail’s heartbeat pounded in her chest. She had a dreaded feeling that someone in the Peck family was about to get seriously hurt, and that someone was her.
plus-one-forever said: Aw thank you its so perfect! Will you also upload this on fanfiction.net? Or only here. Again thank you. It started perfect! Xoxo
I'm glad you like it so far! Yes, I will upload this and the second chapter to fanfiction.net later this evening.
Ok, so here is the first part of the AU boarding school prompt:
Gail recognized the familiar sound of Traci’s footsteps tapping across the tiled floors as she walked farther into the boarding school’s semi-communal shower room. Gail slid the shower curtain open and yanked Traci into the cubicle without a word.
“What the hell?!” Traci squealed in surprise as she threw a hand out to steady herself. “Gail, what the-”
“Shh!” Gail warned as she covered Traci’s mouth with her hand to silence her. Traci raised her eyebrows in confusion but obliged with a nod, causing Gail to drop her hand in satisfaction. Traci’s eyes wandered around the rest of the small shower cubicle. Confusion etching deeper on her face as she saw Andy and Chloe crammed in the corner fully clothed with mischievous smiles adorning their faces.
“Look,” Traci began in a whisper, “as flattering as this is, I am going to have to decline whatever freaky sex orgy you all are about to get in. I don’t do orgys” Traci said resolutely. “Or women” she added with a pointed look towards Gail.
“Oh shut it Nash” Gail snapped, ignoring the snorts of laughter from Andy and Chloe. “We don’t want to have an orgy. I’d rather dive head first into smoldering lava than see any of you three naked”.
Traci bit her lip to contain her smile. “Ok, so what am I doing here then?”
“Gail switched out Holly’s shampoo for bright pink hair dye. She’s in the third cubicle down from us. We’re all waiting for her reaction when she sees it” Andy replied in excitement.
“Gail” Traci sighed in disapproval. This was the third year of Gail’s ongoing vendetta of playing pranks on Holly. Traci didn't understand Gail’s -or any of their other friends- fascination with continuously pranking Holly year after year.
Traci could admit that the first year of pranks was fun and she was even a willing participant of them. Traci didn't think she had ever laughed so hard then when they finished shaving Holly’s cat to make him look like a disproportionate lion. Or after they had successfully moved everything in Holly’s dorm room six inches to the left, causing Holly to limp around for a week completely flustered. But after the first few pranks she quickly stopped. No matter how funny it had been, seeing Holly so upset time and time again made the pranks lose their appeal. Traci couldn't understand how Gail could be so immune to her own cruelty sometimes. She wished her friends would have grown tired of these petulant pranks by now. Or at least picked another victim and left Holly alone. But sadly after three years, it seemed that they were still in full force much to Traci’s disappointment.
“Everyone quiet she just walked out of the shower!” Chloe whispered in glee much louder than she should have as she pointed towards the mirrors.
“Quiet down Mary Poppins” Gail spat before turning her head in the direction Chloe was pointing.
Everyone followed Chloe’s finger and watched as Holly leisurely made her way up to the mirrors. One towel wrapped tightly around her body and the other drying her hair. Even from a distance everyone could see the tint of pink in Holly’s hair. Andy and Chloe sniggered for the inevitable freak out Holly was about to have. Gail silently slid the shower curtain open further and crouched down into a running position, the whole time never moving her eyes off Holly.
It was only a moment later when Holly’s scream pierced the room. Gail, Andy, and Chloe tripped over each other laughing hysterically as they ran out of the room. Even after the door had shut Gail could still hear Holly’s threat echo in her ears.
“Gail Peck you are so dead!”
Gail just laughed harder as she, Andy, and Chloe quickly made their way down the stairs towards the cafeteria for breakfast. A few celebratory donuts were definitely in order after their success.
None of them noticed Traci was still in the shower room attempting to comfort a distraught Holly.
@plus-one-forever said: Do you write long fics? I’ve an idea for a mutichapter fic. Au, though. So lemme know if you take those
Yes I do take multi-chapter fics!
Well okay, so here was my idea for a prompt:
Gail and Holly are going to the same boarding school...
I absolutely love this idea! I already have a rough draft for the first chapter.
plus-one-forever said: Do you write long fics? I’ve an idea for a mutichapter fic. Au, though. So lemme know if you take those
Yes I do take multi-chapter fics!
I am delving back into writing fan fiction and accepting any Gail and Holly prompts. So ask away!
