New Faces and Old Secrets

So, um hello! I'm Laura and this is my first Casualty fic.

This fic is mainly about my own character, is Rebecca Parkerson, Connie has left and Zoe has taken her position of Clinical Lead and now Rebecca is Zoe's Deputy, but it will feature a lot of Zoe and Max as an established couple as well! Only they're still keeping their relationship a secret!

Set in the present.

I'll probably write a Zax prequel to this soon!

Reviews very much needed and welcome!

Laura xxx

Chapter One-New Faces

It was a Saturday morning, Zoe and Max were snuggled up in bed together.

"Why do we have to get out of bed today?" Max asked Zoe. "You know why! To meet the new Clinical Lead Deputy" Zoe answered. "I really need to get out of bed, we're meeting up in an hour and a half." She continued.

"Clinical Lead, eh? That's quite a feather in your cap." Max said, pulling her back onto the bed. "Hey, stop it!" Zoe couldn't help but giggle. "I still can't believe it." She sighed. "What, your promotion? Or us?" Max asked. "Both," Zoe grinned, kissing him. "Now, let's get moving!"

"But you were Clinical Lead before." Max said. "Yeah, but then I left A) because of how things were with you, and B) because of the stress that I was under. Now we're together, properly, and I'm not going to stress out any more."

"I'll make us breakfast." Max said as he gave Zoe a final kiss and got up. "Okey doke." Zoe replied, checking her phone for text messages. There was one from Charlie, and a missed call from Robyn.

"Max! Your sister has rung me! Have you forgotten to charge your phone again?" Zoe called. "Er, yep." Came the sheepish reply. Apart from Tess, Robyn was the only one who knew about her and Max. Zoe gave a giggle. She found Max's forgetfulness annoying, but at the same time, it made her laugh!

"So, this Rebecca, is she all right?" Max asked as he and Zoe got into her car. "Yeah, at the interview she was lovely." Zoe answered.

"Hmm." Max said. "What's up with you?" Zoe asked, starting the engine up. Max shook his head. "It's nothing, really. Okay, well, it's just that when are we going to tell the others about our relationship? I'm tired of keeping it a secret… in fact, I want to shout it from the rooftops." He replied.

Zoe sighed. "We'll tell them when the time is right." She replied. Max rolled his eyes. "You always say that." He answered. "Look, we will tell everyone soon, I promise." She said, smiling at him. "Good." Max gave a cheeky grin.

"I think we should tell them tomorrow." Zoe said as the car came to stop at a set of traffic lights. Max's mouth dropped open. "Really?" he asked. "Yeah." Zoe had a rush of confidence. "Well, you are coming to meet Rebecca with me, right? We may as well tell her, and then we'll tell the others." She replied. Max smiled.

"Why are we meeting this new doctor at the pub, by the way?" Max asked. "It's my natural habitat!" Zoe replied with a shrug, "True enough" Max said.

They got to the pub and got out of the car. "Be nice, she's probably very nervous" Max answered. "She seemed okay in the interview, anyway, we're out of a work environment now so she will hopefully be more relaxed." Zoe replied. "Good thinking." Max took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"What does she look like?" max enquired as they entered the pub. "Brown hair, which will be probably put up in a bun. Slim." Zoe answered.

"Is that her?" Max pointed to a woman sitting alone at a table. "Yes, I think so." Zoe frowned.

"Rebecca?" Zoe tapped the woman in question on the shoulder. She turned round. "Ah, Zoe" she smiled. They shook hands. "This is Max. He's my um, boyfriend, and he's a porter at Holby." Zoe said. Rebecca didn't bat an eyelid. "Nice to meet you." She smiled, shaking Max's hand.

Max and Zoe sat down opposite Rebecca. "So tomorrow, please could you come about 20 minutes early?" Zoe asked. "Yeah, that should be fine." Rebecca replied.

"So, are you married? Kids?" Zoe attempted conversation. "Yeah, I'm married, and I've got a little boy, Jake. He's a handful!" Rebecca replied, her face lighting up at the mention of her son. Zoe smiled as well. "Aww, how old is he?" she asked. "Three. He started nursery recently, he wasn't a big fan of it at the start but now he can barely wait to get out of the door in the mornings!" Rebecca answered.

"Aww!" Zoe said. She felt glad that Rebecca was obviously a lot more comfortable now.

"Can I just say that I'm really looking forward to taking this job on." Rebecca said shyly. "That's great. The staff are a little…" Zoe was lost for words.

"Cheeky. They gossip a lot, take it from me! But they're lovely underneath." Max answered for Zoe. Rebecca gave a smile. "Good. At my last hospital, the staff were very nasty…" Rebecca shook her head, as if she was trying to block out the memories.

"Listen… it's been really good to talk to like this today, and please don't me nervous around me because I'm your boss. I'm human, too." Zoe said tentatively.

"I know. My last boss was very stuffy, I couldn't talk to them about anything." The other woman answered.

The three chatted for a while longer, until Rebecca had to go and pick her son up from nursery. "See you tomorrow." She said, and then departed.

"Sooo… what d'you think?" Zoe asked Max. "She's okay, I guess. Nicer than Connie, I'll admit." Max said.

"Exactly. I reckon she'll do a great job." Zoe was pleased with herself, Rebecca was a lovely person, and hopefully a great doctor.

"Obviously, she's the first person I have interviewed as a person in charge, and I think that I've made the right decision." She added.

"Yep, you have." Max gave her a reassuring smile.