Title: When the truth is told
Author: Loz
E-Mail: loz06(at)yahoo(dot)com
Rating: T
Category: Neil.Andrea...Who else? Oh and the supporting cast, can't forget them.
Series: Story number twenty five. What follows are titles and story ID numbers:
(1) After he's at her door – 2486705 (11) When they're back together – 2619492
(2) When the mighty fall – 2506192 (12) Life almost in balance – 2630121
(3) While his wife's away – 2525486(13) Life under pressure – 2666280
(4) While they're away – 2543010 (14) Trying to have a life together – 2699235
(5) When love's not working – 2543013 (15) Outside influences on their lives – 2704730
(6) Boundaries when broken up – 2562611 (16) When things start falling apart – 2727112
(7) What happens on the train – 2579012 (17) When they're approaching the end again - 2750079
(8) When they work together – 2595808 (18) Trying not to drift apart – 2891564
(9) When she wants him back – 2598312 (19) When the truth comes out - 2912317
(10) When they're stuck together – 2611364 (20) How things are going to be – 2954769
(21) When they work together…again – 2959211 (22) When Andrea moves on – 3181250
(23) Heart decided – 3188794 (24) When work takes over – 3198959
(25) When the truth is told - 3199261
Spoilers: So minor it shouldn't ruffle any feathers.
Archive (if applicable): www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net(slash)loz06
Feedback: The good, the bad and the very ugly it's all appreciated.
Summary: Andrea comes clean about Smithy, Louise and Phil offer advice, Yvonne and Gina's suspicions are fed but its Neil's reaction to Andrea's admission that hurts the most.
Disclaimers: Truth be told…I don't own The Bill, no big surprises there.
In his office Neil drops involuntarily into his chair, shock still reverberating through him though it's slowly wearing away. After all he had suspected and what he's just seen confirms those suspicions. He starts to sink low into himself, worried he's lost her, telling himself she's moved on, questioning the decisions and actions he took in the last months.
He tells himself he didn't try hard enough to re-establish communication between them and the more he blames himself the lower he sinks, quickly moving towards depression.
He thinks maybe he should feel hurt but then he made it clear it was over between them.
The inclination to get downstairs urgently and tell Smithy to back off and Andrea he can't be without her, just isn't there, he's just too low.
"Couldn't you find me?" Neil looks up instantly to the sound of the Super's voice.
"No Sir." Neil shifts in his chair, trying to drag his mood up.
"Has Jack brought you up to date about these documentary makers Andrea Dunbar has here?" Neil looks away, out the window into the yard and the street beyond, he tries to keep the pain off his face but fails and he feels lost, unable to form coherent sentences. "Neil are you alright?" There's no denying Adam Okaro is concerned.
"No Sir, I don't feel well, with your permission I'd like to head home." Neil's words falter and are fragmented.
"Yes, go." Okaro says with a measure of urgency, he watches Neil till he's out of sight, wondering if this has anything to do with his morning off.
Behind his desk Phil Hunter and Suzie Sim look up from their work; their eyes follow their boss until he's out of CID. Phil puts the turbulent state of Neil down to something else. Suzie wonders for a moment, her focus dragged back to her work by Phil.
"Andrea." Reg calls saving her from further searching, she'd grabbed another cup of coffee but still felt sluggish. Smithy had put a dampener on her mood, heaped on top of the fact she hadn't come across Neil yet.
"Ready?" Andrea sighs realising she need be a little happier about the fact she's moving away from Smithy and hopefully back to Neil soon.
"When you are," Leela smiles, seemingly focused despite the camera that could soon be in her face. The afternoon is quiet, Andrea chats with Leela and Reg as they progress down the High Street and her lethargy disappears now she's doing something. Their radios stay silent and the market area hums with undisturbed business.
Andrea's phone, towards the end of the shift is the closest thing they come to a disturbance. Louise's number flashes across the screen and Andrea smile knowing Louise wouldn't have been able to resist but she won't like the news.
"You're not going to like it." Andrea comes straight out and says it, she drops back from her colleagues and cameramen, keeping a low voice.
"Oh no, what?" Louise's enthusiasm is gone.
"I haven't seen him all day and I haven't had time to go searching for him." Andrea looks up from the path to make sure her conversation hasn't captured anyone's attention.
"So he's not in the station at all." Louise questions.
"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to ask any subtly probing questions." Andrea lets a tiny bit of frustration enter her voice. "I have managed to step back from Smithy though and everything else is going well here."
"I suppose that's something, you wanna get a drink tonight and talk about the whole Nile and Smithy thing?"
"No I'm beat, I'm just going to go home and collapse, I can't believe how this has taken it out of me and I've got to get up and do it again tomorrow."
"You want someone else there helping?" Louise offers.
"No thanks, I've got enough people to manage already." Andrea laughs to hide the stress.
"You haven't forgotten I need a report for each day of this week on the who, what, where, when's and why's." Louise is apologetic in her tone for the extra work.
"Another reason I can't have a casual drink with you tonight." Andrea sighs, after today she'll need to relax.
"Call me tomorrow." Louise says as Andrea notices Reg take a radio call, after a few seconds Leela starts to run.
"I've got to go, something's happened." Andrea says hastily and hangs up. As she runs after the cameramen who are already filming she now knows this will be a longer afternoon than she first thought.
"We got there too late but something had happened, the alley was a mess." Reg explains as Andrea stops typing up her report for Louise, it had taken her three attempts to type the word procedure before Reg arrived, a sure sign she was tired and needed to go home. "A guy called Richard Wood runs drugs in the area, slippery bugger; I've never quite been able to get my hands on him."
"Thanks Reg." Andrea smiles genuinely but most of her just wants him gone so she can finish her report and get home. When he's gone Andrea resumes typing…badly. She strains to remember the details of the day; this morning feels like a week ago. Phil Hunter pokes his head in as she's about to finish, looking for someone who's not in the room. He's gone with the speed of which he appeared. Andrea pushes back in her chair and moves after him with new energy. Phil is closer to Neil than anyone than perhaps her and its arms length at best.
"Phil," She calls from two steps out the door, no one's around, first names are fine. He turns and walks back towards her.
"Is the DI around?" To his credit Phil doesn't visibly react but Andrea still feels the need to add. "Don't bother reading anything into it."
"He holds his hands up to proclaim his innocence, not the first person to do so today. "Only women do that." He smirks. "Besides if it was personal you would have called him Neil given we're alone."
"He's gone for the day, he was only here for a few minutes after the morning off, got to his office and the Super came to see him, then he went home." It trips all sorts of concerns in Andrea. "He looked troubled, sad or something. It's probably the divorce." Unless Philippa decided to fight it, Andrea knows that reasoning is unlikely. "Before you ask, no I don't know where he was this morning." Andrea becomes distracted, scanning for possible reasons for Neil's behaviour, she comes up with nothing. She looks back to Phil to see him open his mouth but hold himself back.
"What is it Phil?" She prompts.
"No, you asked me to stay out of it." Phil says firmly but Andrea isn't going to let it fly when it could be relevant.
"What is it?"
"He wants to get back together with you." Phil deliberately leaves out Smithy, not knowing if it's true or not.
"Yeah, I know." Andrea says, happy but her words twinged with sadness. Phil nods and starts to walk away again. Andrea goes after him and blocks his path.
"Did you know he applied for a DCI's job at the time Philippa was leaving for the USA?" It stops Phil in his tracks.
"What is it Andrea?" She hopes it's a guess there's more.
"It's a lot of things, today should be our twelve month anniversary, what he said to me about not being interested in anyone else, this job that he didn't get so why is he still here, the fact he's been absent today."
"I would have thought he chose to stay for you." Phil states what's obvious to an outsider, between her and Neil at the time there was much more going on.
"There's something else." Andrea shakes her head, "Thanks Phil." She has a report that needs finishing and she desperately needs at least eight hours sleep. It'll all keep.
"Guv your phone's ringing." Suzie says steeping uncertainly just inside Neil's office.
There's a delayed reaction from Neil who continues to stare outside his window before saying, "Thanks Suzie." He doesn't look where he reaches, the handset knocks out of the cradle and the last of his distraction dissolves.
"DI Manson." He answers, straightening the few things that were disturbed on his desk.
"Mr. Manson, this is Melanie Carter from Anderson Fitzpatrick Lawson," The same overly friendly voice, compensating for working in a place that facilitates the dissolution of marriages.
"Can you hang on a minute?" Neil doesn't really give her a choice, clamping his hand immediately over the bottom of the phone. "Come back in five minutes, could you close the door after you?" He asks of Suzie.
"Guv," Suzie complies and when she's gone Neil takes a breath before removing his hand from the phone.
"Sorry about that." Neil says though he's really not.
"This is just an update call Mr. Manson, I'm calling to let you know the court has received the acknowledgement from the respondent, it will be returned to us in due course." Her cheeriness starts to irritate Neil.
"Can I ask how the respondent replied?" Never in his life has he asked a question so hesitantly, not even when he asked Philippa to marry him.
"The respondent indicated they won't be defending the divorce," Still cheerful and Neil feels relieved for some reason. Not that he ever doubted Philippa's promise but there's something comforting about hearing it out loud.
A scene flashes in front of his minds eye. Andrea's apartment… "What do you want Neil?"… "You, I want you." The last time he was this hesitant.
"We will need you to come into the offices in the coming weeks and complete the next step, the affidavit. Or we can courier the paperwork over to you."
"You'll let me know when." Neil pushes formality into his voice.
"We'll give you a call, thanks for your time." Neil puts the phone down without a parting greeting. This time is easier, he's used to the calls from out of the blue, he's used to the divorce plodding along towards finalisation… he gets straight back to work.