Author's usual notes and disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters nor the original Inspector Lynley Mysteries – they belong to Elizabeth George and the BBC. I have borrowed the characters from the TV-Show and solely own the ideas of my stories and the developments I've let them go through.

Please write a Private Message if I did something terribly wrong so I can fix it. Thanks!

Please read and review! More thanks!

A statement: As much as I love reading crime fics myself I don't demand them from writers. I'm happy when I find one but I'm also happy to read all those little romances here. Apart from a few we're all non-professional writers with a passion for romance and - for several and different reasons - the Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Most of us have watched the TV show, some of us have read the books, and I think I don't put my head above the parapet when I say that almost all of us have seen the energy between the protagonists in the show. Even Nathaniel Parker once had said: "I would have ended it with Lynley and Havers holding hands and walking off into the sunset." BBC deprived us of that or any ending. The complete series simply stopped in the middle of something. We are here to write that something and in my humble opinion this, my regarded readers, is a kiss. (Or more but that's a different kettle of fish...) Just my two pence. Thank you for your attention.

Author's note: This one took me a while but it's complete. Just a bit here and there while I post it chapter by chapter but the story is fully written. Something on the telly inspired me and although this may not be a real mystery it is at least a case. A real one by the way, but I've stretched the reality and a few details *winks* This story is dedicated to Cats who has waited so long and never stopped nagging. Ah, writing long stories really is a lot of work!

Summary: A hut has burnt down and a body was found in its ruins. Was it murder? At least the Met's best team was sent to investigate. Will our two London detectives discover who has done this? And who will help them in rural Oxfordshire? A crime fic with romantic scenes...

Enjoy...

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Ashes to Ashes

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Day 1 - Up and away

"Uh?!" she grunted into the phone.

"Barbara!" It was her boss' cheery voice. "Sorry to interrupt your sleep but you have to get up and-"

"I'm not on call, Sir. And a very good morning to you too." Barbara grumbled reassuring herself that the alarm clock on her bedside cabinet showed a few minutes past six am. On a Saturday!

"Sorry. Good morning, Barbar-" DI Lynley was not given the chance to end his words.

"In the middle of the night a gentleman obviously forgets his good behaviour." the grumpy Sergeant in her bed scolded him. She yawned, loud and clear.

"I could have said 'Havers! Get ready, we have a body. I'll be there in ten.' That wouldn't be better, hm?" he teased her. She could hear him smiling while he said that. It seemed that Tommy's cheerful mood could not be perturbed by Barbara's grumpy morning mood.

"I'd answer I'm not on call." Her voice was mirroring her anger.

"Yes, I know that." Lynley's voice turned softer and understanding. "But Hillier has called me moments ago and asked... no, he's literally begged me to take over this case. Lafferty's already on his way and Nkata will be our back officer as soon as he's brought his date back to her own home."

Barbara only groaned and buried herself under her blanket, together with her phone pressed against her ear. She knew where this would lead to. Although she knew she would not have to get up on her spare day she would not say no to that man. She never really could.

"I couldn't say no." He continued with a few details. "There's a body found in a small wood northwest from Oxford. I understood it's part of the Wychwood National Reserve. In a house owned by one of their CID members in higher ranks. That's why they called for someone from the Met. Someone who's usually successful. Someone like us. It's important that we solve this. In many ways. - Umm... Barbara? ...have you fallen asleep again?"

"Mmmph." she sighed, then blushed before she quickly added a few proper words. "No, Sir." Her voice was a bit muffled and she yawned again. His voice had not lulled her into sleep at all. Instead her mind had fantasised him into bed right next to her under her duvet. It had turned distinctively warmer there and the heat even increased when Barbara blushed now with the feeling of being caught. She cleared her throat. "But I'm not on call."

"I'm not on call either. But getting up earlier than for being at the office at nine is part of the job, isn't it?" He still teased her. It was so audible in the tone of his voice.

She weakly objected. "It's Saturday..."

"You've been working on a Saturday previously."

"Umph!" Barbara only grunted nondescriptively.

"Well, I could ask DS Catz..." Tommy knew which button he had to push. Barbara did not at all like the new DS in their team. She called her vain and stupid and Tommy could not get rid of the feeling that Barbara was a bit jealous every time DS Catz was flirting with their colleagues. Or him, that is, he inwardly added.

"And let your solving rate go down? Better not." She snorted a grim, disbelieving laugh. "Do I have to pack things or will we be going back home in the evening?"

"Hillier's secretary is just organising everything. Pack for a few days. He doesn't want us to return before this is solved."

"Oh, great..." Barbara muttered.

"Indeed. It will be a nice weekend in the country."

"Pfff... Or a fortnight. When will you be here?"

"In ten min-"

"Never! Don't you dare! Make it half an hour and we have a deal. You would not want me to get into your car without a shower and a coffee."

She had just stepped out of her bathroom with wet hair and a towel wrapped around her body when the doorbell rang. She groaned and ignored it. She would not want to face anybody right now because she had had no coffee yet. Barbara was on the way to her kitchen to get some of the heavenly black liquid before she would dress. If it was not for Tommy's very own knocking that followed the doorbell she would have ignored it completely.

After checking the peephole she opened the door. Disapproving Barbara glared at her boss.

"That hadn't even been twenty minutes, Sir."

"I know." He beamed at her, happy to see her, in fact delighted to see her like this. Tommy fought hard to keep his eyes somewhere near her face and not let them wander down her towel clad body. There was too much of her thighs being shown. Although it had turned better in the recent years she still used to hide her wonderful figure under unfitting clothes. She did not have to, Tommy thought once again. He swallowed but then grinned. "And a very good morning to you too, Barbara. I see you've already showered."

"Uh..." she grunted. "Yah. 'morning, Sir. We've already had that earlier."

"Not personally."

Barbara just rolled her eyes for a reply. "I was on my way to get me a coffee. Come on in then. You want one?"

"That'd be great." Tommy was in an unbearably good mood.

Turning she left the door open for him to follow. He found her watching the kettle heating water with blank, still sleepy eyes. Two mugs with instant coffee already stood next to it. Tommy shook his head. He would never understand why she was drinking this stuff every time she was in a hurry. She even had rejected the coffee machine that works with capsules, even that with environment friendly pads. "Too much rubbish, Sir." she had said. "And too noisy for a morning."

Together the detectives watched the water start to bubble but Tommy did not really see it. His nostrils were filled with the humid scent of something fruity coming from her damp hair which was starting to curl while it dried. It was her usual shampoo that smelled like he knew so well. And they stood so close to each other that he even could feel the warmth coming from her skin. Once she had told him so now he knew that Barbara had a way of showering very hot. The intense thought of having a hot shower with her made him sigh but except for giving him a quizzical look Barbara did not react. It was of great help that the kettle clicked just in the same time.

While Barbara took her mug with her and went to her bedroom to get dressed and pack her things Tommy looked out of the kitchen window for a few minutes sipping at his coffee. Then he put away the pack of salt and an opened bag with spaghetti, then opened the dishwasher and filled it with the dishes that still had been standing on the worktop above it. He smiled. He could imagine her having a bowl of pasta and watching something on the telly, not wanting to interrupt whatever she watched with cleaning up for too long.

"Do you think I'll need these?" Barbara came in and waved her pair of Wellies through the air. She heated more water for a second coffee. Tommy's mug still was half full.

"You'll never know." he mumbled, mesmerised by the fact that she still wore nothing but the towel. "We can keep them in the car boot. There's enough space. Barbara, don't you think you should dress eventually?"

Before he could think about it his fingers caressed her naked shoulder to emphasise his words. Her skin felt soft and he blushed immediately. He felt goosepimples rising under his fingertips. When he quickly turned away from her he was just able to catch a glimpse of her skin flushing deep red from her hair down to her shoulders.

Tommy had to clear his throat before he dared to speak again. His slightly warning voice overplayed his irritation. "Before you're going to have another coffee you should remind yourself that I'm not willing to stop every fifty miles."

Barbara grunted her disapproval and left him standing there. She hated herself for blushing so easily. She had to remind herself that Tommy was not meaning the touch like it had felt.

"How come you're already here?" she called from her room while she threw the towel onto her bed.

"I was on my way to Cornwall when Hillier called. So I already was on the road."

Only when she heard his answer loud and clear she realised that she had not closed the door completely. If he would take the door that was left ajar as an invitation to follow, he would catch her naked. She had to get dressed quickly, she thought, but fortunately her boss did not follow.

"I only had to turn and drive back a few miles. I was still in London so it only took me ten minutes to get here. I actually waited outside your door for about five minutes before I decided I could as well wait inside and have a coffee. I've knocked twice."

"I was in the shower, I didn't hear you, Sir."

"I know. It was rather obvious, Barbara."

She blushed and refrained from popping her head through the door.

"Give me five minutes to dry my hair, then we can leave."

At that time of the day there was not much traffic on the roads and they made good time. They had come round at the local CID in Wychwood Market, were introduced to the unpleased team and officially announced as the leading detectives before they were led to the crime scene in the small wood. Lafferty, who would be their pathologist in this case, already had reached the morgue where they had brought the remnants of the body and DI Lynley and DS Havers would meet with him later in the day when he would have the first results.

Apart from a smoke-blackened chimney that accusingly pointed into the dusty morning sky and a few remnants of charcoal pillars there was not much left of the little hut which apparently had been almost completely made of wood. The biting smell of petrol and smoke still filled the air although the fire was distinguished almost 24 hours ago. Water, left there during the fire run, still soaked the ground but the wood was quiet and the trees stayed silent witnesses. Only the white and blue cordon tied to their stems gave a flapping noise in the wind. All in all the scenery trotted out a hackneyed cliché. It was quite spooky with all the SOCO colleagues in their white overalls carefully walking around in the ruins taking pictures and collecting items.

Understanding that DCI Baker was too involved in all of this Barbara was able to suppress one of her usual sarcastic remarks but the looks she exchanged with Lynley spoke volumes.

"It's been an unpleasant fire and Detective Superintendent Grover was rather unpleased when he heard that his hut was burning down. But when one of the firemen found the... person..." Baker swallowed. He obviously had seen the burnt corpse. "Well, it's no asset for a man of his rank, having a body found on his premises..."

While Barbara raised her eyebrows and kept to herself that it probably would be more inconvenient for the common people the noble Detective Inspector nodded compassionately and led the conversation until Jackson, one of the Met's own SOCO team leaders, approached. He released the crime scene for further inspections by the detectives so Baker bid his goodbye.

"I'll leave it to you. If you need something just call. See you later."

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