Feigning patience, Julie waited in Gill's office, both thrilled to be seeing her and nervous about the circumstances. As Gill walked in and took her bag and coat off, Julie didn't look up from her phone – partly because she was finishing a text and partly because she was trying to avoid the look Gill gave her that took her breath away.

'That wasn't twenty minutes. That was half an hour.'

Gill smiled at that comment, knowing that Julie was just teasing. How she wanted to just hold Julie and kiss her for hours right there and then. She looked beautiful stretched out with her feet up on the desk as if she was at home. Those red shoes made her legs more beautiful than Gill imagined possible... But she knew that anything even slightly out of the ordinary and someone would work it out. They were surrounded by detectives, after all!

'D'you want a brew?' she asked, hanging up her coat.

'Somebody reckons to be making me one,' sighed Julie, stealing a look at Gill's behind before looking out of the office to see whether this was actually true.

'Shift your backside.' She gently hit Julie's stylish red heels off of her desk with her handbag and let her girlfriend get up, giving her a little smirk. Julie responded with a look of mock annoyance, but remembered that the red shoes had Gill's approval.

'How's tricks?' asked Julie, shutting the door. She hadn't seen Gill for a couple of days so thought a catch-up was in order.

'Not so bad. Dave's being a twat, but then...' she slid open the zip of her handbag to find her glasses, '...that's no longer likely to hit the headlines.'

Julie sat down on a cabinet opposite Gill. She noticed that Gill's top button was undone and was desperate to say something about this, but she knew she was here for work and she liked to think of herself as a true professional.

'Tell me about Rachel Bailey,' Julie said apprehensively.

'Eh. You keep your hands off her, she's mine.' Gill glanced up at her friend with an inch of a smile, ensuring that Julie knew what she meant. She seemed to understand.

'I'm not headhunting.' Julie knew she had to talk about this but it was going to be difficult. Plus, there were so many other things she thought she wanted to be doing right now, although most of these things did include a certain sexy lady in the same room as her...

'What d'you want to know about her?' Gill snapped Julie out of her daydreams and started typing away at her computer. How did Gill manage to keep her emotions in check when it took all of Julie's willpower to keep herself from doing anything compromising to their situation?

'Anything.' She raised her eyebrow, trying to be mysterious and feeling like a bit of a fool for it.

Gill didn't need to think much about her answer – it came pretty naturally.

'She's clever, ambitious, instinctive. She's one of us.' She was starting to wonder what Julie was trying to get at, but knew she would get there eventually.

'Any problems?' Julie asked her, sincerely hoping that the answer would be no.

Stilling her typing fingers for a moment, Gill took a deep breath, finished her sentence, and answered, not taking her eyes off the screen.

'She talks before she thinks, now and again, but no, I like her, a lot. Wish I had more people like her. Why?' She looked up at Julie over the top of her glasses, of which they both knew the effect on Julie, but they had to put aside their personal life now and be completely professional. Julie composed herself with a sharp inhalation and stood up to deliver the news while Gill carried on typing.

'Last night, a man had seven shades of shit kicked out of him in the car park underneath the Bridgewater Tower on Deansgate. His back's broken in two places, he's unconscious, we think he was left for dead.'

'And?' Gill looked up at her again, but this time, Julie couldn't focus on that because...

'Nicholas Savage.' She said it with as much professionalism as possible but knew that this was going to be such a blow for Gill, as well as Rachel, of course. She saw her girlfriend's face fall as she carried on.

'Her name's popped up as someone we need to T.I.E.' She leaned over Gill's desk, wanting to be close, but also for secrecy. 'In fact, between you and me, she's at the top of the list.'

'Who put her at the top of the list?' said Gill, loving how near Julie was and taking off her glasses. She realised that she wouldn't be needing them for a bit, and wanted to look Julie right in the eye without the frames in the way.

'His sister. She's a barrister as well.'

'As well as who? He's not. He's under investigation. He's gonna get struck off.' Gill could feel her emotions rising. She felt a really strong motherly instinct towards Rachel and her personal opinions were starting to leak into her usual level-headedness. Julie stood up straight and smiled as she realised what was going on in Gill's head.

'You don't like him either.' She couldn't wait for an explanation. Gill was more than happy to oblige.

'He paid someone to kill her. Rachel. I was with her when she found out and I saw the effect it had on her. And the CPS have ducked out of the responsibility of pressing charges against him because of-'

'-insufficient evidence,' they chorused.

'I know. Which gives her one mother of a big motive, doesn't it?' Julie said, sitting back down on the cabinet and looking at Gill as if to challenge her.

'She wouldn't be that daft.' Gill was insistent, and although she knew all of the procedures that the police had to go through, she couldn't believe the look that Julie was giving her.

'She's got a fantastic career in front of her. She wouldn't blow it. Not for that bastard, he's damaged her enough.'

'Good. We won't find anything on her then, will we?' Julie was dreading that evening. She'd have to have a conversation with Gill about this – there was no way her girlfriend was going to let it go.

There was a knock on the door and Rachel entered, looking a little less with it than normal. She handed Julie her drink.

'Did you want one, Boss?'

Gill didn't answer. She just wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

'Rachel, this is Detective Superintendent Julie Dodson,' she said, indicating her girlfr- no, colleague. She didn't let herself even think about their relationship in front of people, lest it gave anything away.

'Ma'am. How d'you do. I've heard a lot about you.' Rachel went back to stand next to the door, looking a bit nervous in the presence of two senior officers.

'Yeah, all bad,' she sighed, knowing what her reputation was and remembering that Kevin was now in this syndicate.

'Did you want a sugar in that?' She went to walk out of the office.

'No, thanks. What have you done to your head?'

Rachel paused. Why was a someone she'd only just met worried about how she'd scratched herself?

'And your hand?'

Julie was stroking the mug, looking straight at Rachel. She felt so uncomfortable. There was obviously something that DSI Dodson wasn't saying. She tried to brush it off.

'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'

'Try me.' Julie smiled at her, but Rachel wasn't a detective for nothing and she saw right through it.

'No, honestly, it's not worth repeating.' She looked over at Gill for support, only to see her staring at Julie, so she looked back.

'I want to know how you hurt yourself, Rachel,' said Julie insistently.

OK, so now this was super-awkward...

'I went to a party, a hen party. Er, my sister's friend, so...'

'Where?'

'A bar up the Bridgewater Tower.' Julie looked at Gill.

'Level 27.' Gill looked at Julie. The resignation in her face was something that Julie had never seen before. They held a gaze and then turned back to Rachel and Julie continued with the flow of questions.

'When?'

'Last night.' Julie averted her eyes to the floor and had more rushing through her brain than she thought possible. She wanted it to be Rachel as much as she wanted to be stabbed in the chest – Gill obviously really valued her as an officer and whoever was good enough for Gill was good enough for Julie.

'Just got a bit worse for wear. I just f-fell over getting out of a taxi. Why ma'am?' She looked at Gill, who had an expression Rachel couldn't quite read.

'Sit down,' Gill said, more forcefully than she had intended.

Rachel did as she was told and Julie got up to close the door, hating the situation that she was in. She leant on Gill's desk again, but this time to address Rachel, who felt like a naughty schoolgirl.

'Last night, not a million miles away from where you were, a man called Nicholas Savage...' Rachel looked at Gill for support again, but she had her eyes fixed on Julie, so Rachel looked back to Julie as well and waited for what was next. '...was so badly assaulted, he's ended up unconscious, in hospital, with a broken back.'

Rachel's eyes darted back towards Gill, desperate for something. What that was, she had no idea. Gill realised this but could only look at Rachel with a slightly questioning expression.

'I didn't do it,' Rachel said defiantly. Julie smelt alcohol on her breath and straightened up.

'How much did you have to drink last night?' she asked, in the tone a mother would ask her child. She gave Rachel a look that demanded an answer. If she was being honest, Rachel didn't actually know. She knew that she'd had a lot but she couldn't remember most of the previous night.

'I- It was a hen party.'

Julie knew what had to be done, she knew that she'd get stick for it later and she knew that it wasn't going to be easy, what with Rachel being on Gill's team.

'Ok, Rachel. I'm going to do you the courtesy of not arresting you in front of your colleagues, OK?' Rachel was so confused and by the looks of it, so was Gill, eyes looking anywhere but her colleagues' faces and trying to comprehend what was happening.

'But, having said that, would you have any objection to me taking your mobile phone off you?' There was no reply, but the young detective took her mobile out and handed it to Julie, who shot a quick glance at Gill, immediately wishing she hadn't. The look that Gill had given her would haunt her for the rest of the day.

'Go and put your coat on, you're coming down to Duke Street nick with me.'

'Now?' Rachel couldn't hide the shock in her voice.

'Now. Yep. And a couple of my lads are going to ask you some questions.' She opened the door for Rachel, who, after one last look at Gill and nothing from it, stood up and walked out.

Julie's eyes landed back on Gill's and she gave her the smallest of smiles.

'I'll catch you later.'

Gill was stunned by the lack of compassion from Julie and she had a horrible feeling in her stomach as she saw Rachel put her coat on and walk out of the office. She wasn't sure who this anger building up inside of her was directed at, but she desperately didn't want it to be Julie.