Hello again!
I know it's been a while, but I have been so busy with school and everything that I simply didn't have the time to write. And for this story I had to do a lot of more research than for my last story, so I hope you don't mind.
This is something different than the stories that are posted in the "Our Girl" fanfic base, and I really hope you like it.
Enjoy! :)
The sounds of the London traffic was interrupting the silence that reigned in the car. Molly moved the police car around road paving, eventually hitting the brake when the traffic light turned the bright colour of red.
"So what did you do last night?", Katy asked her friend from the passenger's seat. She had met Katy on her first day at the police academy. They hit it off straight away and discovered that they had more in common than she initially thought. Molly looked at the blonde police constable sitting next to her, smiling cheekily, like she had done something bad last night and was too embarrassed to say it. When Katy saw her response she said, the same cheeky smile on her face: "No, you didn't!"
"I needed it."
"I can't believe you've slept with him." Her words were followed by laughter. "Again!", she said, the disbelieve of the whole situation present in her voice.
"Well", Molly said, making the appropriate motions with her hand to support her words. "He ain't the worst."
"Really?"
"I've had better, you know."
A disgusted look appeared on Katy's face. "Right, just leave it at that."
Molly chuckled, turning into first gear when the traffic light produced a green colour and slowly moving the car forward. She had met Chris Ingrams on the day she started training to become a police constable. Of course, she couldn't deny that there was something there, not that it was some sort of chemistry she had heard about, but it wasn't exactly what she deep down desired from a relationship. So she and Chris had decided that they would occasionally hook up when they felt like it, but that they weren't in a relationship. They were sort of "friends with benefits", like the movie with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.
She wasn't ready to be in a serious relationship just yet. She loved her ex-boyfriend Artan very much and really thought he was the one. Mr. Right like they called it in the books or movies, but it turned out be farther from the truth. He had been cheating on her ever since they started dating and her announcement for joining the police force was the final straw. It was the end of them.
"Units stand by", the voice of the dispatcher interrupted her thoughts. "There have been several calls about a public disturbance in the Victoria Place shopping centre. One of the Sainbury employee's called, saying that the suspect stole some food and got aggressive when the manager pointed it out."
The lightness of their previous conversation was forgotten, now being solely focussed on the dispatcher. "One of shop workers has him restrained, so we can take him into custody."
Katy got the radio out of the stand while pushing the button on the right side. "This is Sierra Nine mark us en route."
Molly hit the gas, accelerating the speed of the car, while moving the car on the dark asphalt. Katy put the sirens on, indicating that they were on the way to something serious. After a short journey they arrived ten minutes later at the Victoria Place shopping centre, parking the car on the pavement.
They made their way towards the entrance, quickly glancing at the map to find the supermarket before they made their way towards the scene. Her hand was firmly on the baton that was attached to her belt, manoeuvring through the crowd that had gathered in the shopping centre. After passing several stores they arrived at the supermarket.
Something in the background caught her eye, something that was out of the ordinary. There, with her back against the shop wall, her knees pulled to her chest by her arms, sat a young girl. The lively colour of her hair was taken from the rest of the world, hidden behind a colourful head-scarf. But there was one thing that gave away the emotion of the girl; it were her eyes. She looked at Molly, fear being the only thing displayed in a mixture of different shades of dark brown, which was probably caused by the amount of tears still present on her face and in her eyes.
"Katy, can you take the suspect? I'm gonna have a talk with the girl", Molly said, her colleague simply responded with a nod. She slowly walked over to the girl, kneeling down next to her.
"Hello, sweetie. I'm Molly, what's your name?"
The girl looked up, her eyes still filled with sorrow. "Bashira", she said, her voice almost wasn't audible, fading away in the noise produced by the people in the shopping centre.
"Bashira? That's a lovely name", Molly said, producing a bright smile on her face. This girl reminded her of her younger sisters, especially of the second eldest Dawes child Bella. But she was all grown up now, picking up her life again and going to school. She was a student nurse at King's College. "Sounds a lot like the princess in the Aladdin story."
Her last words caused the girl to smile, only just a small one. Molly looked her straight in the eye, the smile disappeared from her face. "Can you tell me what happened, Bashira?", she asked. "You want to do that for me?"
Bashira wanted to open her mouth to start talking when Katy came walking out of the supermarket. All the heads of the customers were turned to look at the scene displayed before them. The suspect, a tanned young male with black hair, was escorted by Katy. He was one of those suspects that wouldn't go quietly. They wanted to be in the centre of attention, moving in a dancelike manner, while yelling the most unkind words to their surroundings, only this time she had no idea what he was saying. He was yelling in his native language, which sounded a lot like the language they spoke in the neighbourhood Molly grew up in.
"Come on, keep movin'!", Katy said, more like yelled while she pushed the suspect towards their squad car. In the background she saw Baz Vegas and Chris Ingrams walking towards Katy, assisting her in the arrest.
Molly looked back at the young girl before her, only this time she wasn't met with sorrow in her eyes. She also detected a trace of fear there as well. She frowned her brown eyebrows. "Do you know him?", she asked, her thumb pointed to the direction Katy just disappeared in.
"Yes." Bashira slightly nodded her head. "He's my brother."
Molly swallowed and felt a bit sorry for the girl. In the academy they taught all the cadets not to get emotionally involved, but she had a gut feeling, very deep inside of her, that in this case that was going to be hard. She saw so much of herself into this young girl. She was exactly that when she was younger, seeing her father being dragged away by police officers because he stole something, only he stole things from the liquor store instead of the supermarket.
"His name is Zemeray", she continued.
"What happened today, Bashira?" She began to get her notebook out of her jacket, while she got a pen from her inside pocket.
Bashira shrugged. "He wanted to see if he would get caught again", she confessed.
"For stealing, you mean?"
The girl nodded. "Yes, father is going to be very angry." When Bashira mentioned her father, she saw something changed inside of her. There was something about her father that was suspensions in her eyes.
"Does your father get angry often?", Molly asked, deciding to dig a little deeper into the girl's father than focussing on Zemeray's motive for stealing. Bashira broke any eye contact, looking at the surroundings. A few feet away were the paramedics helping the supermarket manager, who got beaten up very badly by Bashira's brother.
Molly stood up, putting her notebook and pen away while she extended her hand towards the girl. "Come on, let's go back to the station. I still need to take you statement", she said. Hesitantly Bashira took Molly's hand while she stood up, making her way towards the squad car.
The sound of sirens of the passing police car was quickly absorbed by the sounds of the city; the sound of the typical red double-decker bus, the black taxi that London was also known for or the honking of the hundreds of cars occupying London's roads.
Charles put his hands deeper inside of his coat's pocket before he sat himself down on one of the wooden park benches. He took in the cold air that was surrounding him, indicating that the month of October had arrived. The once colourful leaves were falling out of the trees, creating a sea of red, orange and yellow colours on the benches, footpaths and grass.
He looked around him, taking in the surroundings of the park. He was prepared, always prepared. He was meeting an informant of his, whom he obtained during one the teams cases. The danger of meeting one's informant was that there was always a chance of a trap.
In the corner of his eyes he saw a man with dark coloured hair, which reached the side of his cheekbones, walking towards him. He had worked with Sohail before, the man had given him useful information on several occasions. The dark-haired informant greeted him with a nod before sitting down as well. "What have you got for me today, Sohail?"
The informant cleared his throat. "They are bringing in container tonight."
"What time?"
"At ten o'clock this evening", he said, his ethnical background evident in the way he pronounced the words.
Charles nodded. "Where?", he asked. When he was meeting his informants he wanted to be brief, getting the information he needed very quickly so he could go back to HQ. The longer they sat her talking, the more chance there was of them getting caught. That could be fatal for both of them; Sohail would be killed for betraying his partners in crime, while he would be killed for simply being a police detective.
Sohail took his right hand out of his pocket and gave him a small note, where he read the location of the arrival of the container. Charles nodded, thanking him for the information. "What's inside the container?"
"People", he said. Charles frowned his brown eyebrows, before Sohail continued, clarifying himself a bit more: "More women and children."
"Anything else?"
"Your team needs to look out", he said. He didn't know if his ears were deceiving him, but did he hear some sort of worry in those words of Sohail? No, that wasn't possible, his eyes must be betraying him. "They have very modern weapons, detective James."
"So do we, so don't worry about that."
"They have killed people that stand in their way before."
Charles gave the informant one of his reassuring smiles. "We'll be alright. Thanks for the tips, Sohail."
Both men stood up from the park benches. "You're welcome", Sohail said.
"Have a nice night. Call me if anything changes." Sohail nodded, before turning around, leaving him behind in the cold.
He made his way towards his car and drove off to HQ, so he could debrief his team about the mission. Several months ago there had been a tip from Sohail, who had heard some rumours regarding human trafficking from somewhere near Pakistan. They were bringing in people through containers into the harbours in London so they could be sold to the highest bidder. He and his team were put on the case so this could be stopped.
After a fifteen minute drive he parked his car in the garage under the New Scotland Yard headquarters. He showed his badge to the security guard at the front door when he made his way towards the elevator, getting inside it when it arrived. The doors of the elevator where about to close when out of nowhere an arm was put between the closing doors. Automatically the doors re-opened again, revealing the culprit who was responsible for this act.
He was slightly taken aback by the woman and the young girl standing next to her. The woman was fully dressed in a police uniform, while the girl seemed to be wearing a traditional but colourful long dress while her head was covered in a head-scarf. "Thanks", the young police constable mumbled. He didn't say anything, simply because he couldn't find the right words. It was like she turned him into this insecure, little boy he once was when he was younger.
He shook these thoughts away, trying his best not to look at the two other people in the elevator. Finally the doors closed and the elevator made its way towards the destination; the fifth floor. After a few moments of awkward silence they reached the right floor, the two women disappearing behind the already closing doors.
When he reached his floor he made his way towards his office, his team already present there. "Alright", he said, taking a seat in the chair behind his desk. "Sohail said there is a container with people arriving in the London tonight. The location is on this piece of paper."
Out of his inside pocket he got that white piece of paper that Sohail had given him. "We need to intercept that", Dylan Smith said when he read what was on the paper. Dylan, also known to the rest of the team as Smurf, was a young detective constable for over a year when he joined his team.
Jackie, the only woman in the team and the only one with a medical background, stepped forward and read the paper as well. "But we can't do it at the harbour, boss", she said, both of her eyebrows slightly frowned, forming one straight line on her forehead. "Too many witnesses."
He nodded, agreeing with the female detective constable in front of him. "Yes, you're right. That's why we need to intercept it while he's on the move." He stood up from behind his desk and yelled: "Brains!"
A few seconds later a young man with little to no hair on his head walked into the office. "I have a job for you."
"What's that, boss man?", Brains asked while he folded his arms together.
"I need you to hack into the company that the truck is rented from. Hack into the GPS of the truck and change its route."
Brains grinned, like he had just received the best present at Christmas. "With pleasure."
"Yeah, that's what I thought", Charles said while he chuckled. "In another world you would make an excellent criminal."
"Thanks", he said, his grin only getting bigger and bigger.
"That wasn't a compliment, you cockwomble." Brains turned around, making his way towards his cave. Well, that's what he called it. It was his office where he was surrounded by computers and TV screens. It seemed to Charles that he was monitoring everything that was happening outside HQ.
Charles turned his attentions to the other team members still in his office. "Jackie and Smurf, find me a good place where we can set up a trap. I don't want any witnesses or risks. It needs to be fast and smooth, no fuss."
"Yup", Smurf answered.
While Jackie responded with the simple words: "Got it."
"Alright, I'm going to brief the chief upstairs. Don't disappoint me." With those words he left, making his way towards the elevator again. He shook away the memories that were attached to that one word, pushing away the memories of those brown eyes that seemed to see straight through him.
Molly placed a plastic cup under the coffee machine, making the dark liquid pour inside of it. She put the other cup under the tab, letting the fresh water slide make its way inside. She turned around to get her coffee when someone stood on the other side of the kitchen counter.
"Bloody hell, you almost gave me a Julius Seizure, fucking muppet."
Chris Ingrams grinned at her, looking at her in a way that couldn't be classified as an emotion she was familiar with. He looked at her with his grey eyes, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't the way those chocolate brown eyes looked at her in the elevator. It simply wasn't the same.
"What do you want?"
He smiled at her. "So, what are you doing tonight?"
"Just say it. You want something, don't ya?" She broke of the eye contact, while she got her cup of coffee from the machine.
"I figured we could continue where we left off last night?" He wiggled his eyebrows, probably reliving everything from last night.
"You might not gonna believe me, but I have something better to do." She didn't want to sound harsh to someone she saw as a friend, but she wasn't in the mood. The case of Bashira still tinkered with her emotions.
"Like what?"
"That ain't ya business."
He stepped away from behind the kitchen counter, making her way towards her, only stopping a few inches from her face. He smiled at her again. "And I can't convince you otherwise? You don't know what you're missin'."
"Oh, yeah. I do."
She turned around, finding Katy leaning against the doorway. "Owh!", she said, like she had badly hurt some part of her body. "Please apply water to the burned area." She shook her head, finding the situation quite hilarious while her laughing filled the small break area.
Molly walked towards her friend, making her way towards the hallway. When Chris had left the room behind them, Katy asked quite serious. "How long are you gonna keep sleepin' with him, Molly?"
She stopped walking, really surprised by her friend's question. She knew that Katy didn't really agree with the relationship she had with Chris, but she never said anything in such a serious manner before. "Look, Katy", she started, trying to find the right words. "You ain't gotta worry about me. I'm fine."
"I know it's hard with your parents and that, but by doing that…" Katy pointed at the room they just walked out off. "It's not gonna change anything."
Molly swallowed hard. Deep, very deep down inside of her, somewhere she never dared herself to look, she knew that Katy was right. It wasn't going to change the situation, it would only make it worst. But when she was with him she could simply forget the sorrows she carried with her. And she longed for that, to be without the pain inside of her heart. That pain that she had been carrying with her ever since she started to go to the academy. "It helps me cope, alright?"
Katy nodded, signalling she could imagine it. "I just don't want you to do anything you're gonna regret later."
"I know", Molly said, while trying to smile in a way that her friend wouldn't worry about her. She would be fine. Eventually. "Thanks, Katy."
"Anytime."
Molly started moving again, making her way towards the room where Bashira was waiting for her. "Any luck with the suspect?", Molly asked.
Katy shook her head. "Nah, he isn't talking. Only saying he wants a lawyer."
"Ah, those are the worst."
"Tell me about it." Katy chuckled, running a hand through her blond hair. "Any luck with the sister?"
"Just on my way to take her statement."
"Good luck."
"Yeah, you too." They parted ways; Katy made her way towards the interrogation rooms while she made her way towards the rooms they used to receive family members, telling them the progression they made on the case, both good and bad news. With her elbow she put pressure on the doorhandle and made her way inside the room.
So, what do you think? Should I continue with this story? Please, let me know what you think. I'm taking quite a risk with this AU story and I really hope you liked it.
And just one more question, I have tried to find something about the call signs that police officers use over the radio, but I couldn't find anything on the internet. I have instead used something from a TV series, but I'm not sure it's accurate. If anyone knows the right one, please let me know and I'll change it!
And for anyone who is curious for what I have in mind for this story. It's not going to follow the exact storyline from the original TV series. I loved that storyline, but I simply don't want to copy that and instead use my own imagination.. There are some similar parts in this story, but not all of them.
Thanks for reading :)