Set when Jo asked Sam to approve and Obbo and she didn't, Jo went over her head and asked the DCI and Sam go annoyed and talked to Seth Mercer so he skipped town.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" I shouted. I couldn't believe my Sargent had done this, Seth had been my best informant and now he was gone. We had got along well when I first arrived, the Hospital siege had been a great bonding experience and I respect her as a copper and I think she has a great sense of humour.

"I wish I could say it wasn't always like this"

"The livelier the better" I chuckled

"I bet the DCI and the DI are crossing you off their Christmas lists right now"

"I hate Christmas"

"Do you need a lift home?"

"No, that ok, my Girlfriend's picking me up"

"Oh, ok" Sam nodded

I hadn't noticed before but now I think about it, after that Sam seemed to kind of ignore me. I was now in the bathroom washing my face, furious. What did Sam have against me? Was it because I was gay? I don't really think so but that woman has got the best damn poker face I've ever seen, she doesn't seem to have a problem with Lance though. Maybe it's just gay women? Somehow I doubt it, I don't know what it is but I can somehow read her, how accurate it is I don't know but so far it has been ok. I stalked out of the bathroom and bumped right into her, God damn it, that woman drives me up the wall. "Watch where you're going Jo" she told me, her voice light, her face blank.

"Sorry Sam" I answer back. As I headed down the corridor I frowned, we didn't get on yet I still call her Sam and she's my superior. She's never picked me up on it but I heard her lightly remind Suzie the other day. "Thankyou DC Sim" she said, not Suzie. I wonder what the hell that means. I wonder why the hell I'm wondering that. I sigh and try to concentrate on my paperwork. I can't seem to get DS Sam Nixon out of my head recently. And it's driving me up the wall.

That night when I got home Tess and I had an enormous fight and I ended up sleeping on the sofa. I tossed and turned and when I finally dropped off the sleep I had the strangest dream. Walking up and down the station corridors trying to find Sam, I knew I needed to find her and that it was important but I couldn't remember what it was. There was no one anywhere and I kept looking, up and down running now. I headed towards the last briefing room and opened the door to see Sam and Phil, lip locked, Sam straddling his lap. She moved her head up as he kissed her neck, laughing in pleasure. She saw me standing by the door and she laughed. "What's wrong Jo?" she asked, her voice mocking and taunting, cruel. I slammed the door and ran back down the corridor, I knew I had to get out of the station but now it was crowded with people and I had to barge through. I gave up being polite and jut ran, knocking people aside. I made it to the front of the station and I stopped. I was looking into my bedroom and I vaguely thought, what is it doing outside the station? But what I saw drove that thought out of my mind. Tessa was in bed with someone else, moaning in pleasure. She saw me and she just laughed, it was harsh and cruel. "You weren't here enough, and you've had bloody Sam Nixon on your mind, you love her now" she told me. The room in front of me began to spin. When it settled again I was the in the dingiest flat I had ever seen, there was MET propaganda all over the walls. Newspaper articles and photos. Commendations and badges. There was a little old lady sitting in the corner rocking in her chair. She smiled up at me, "Hello dear, see what you're heading towards" she grinned and I looked a bit more closely at the photos. They were all me, from when I had first joined the MET right until I was—paralysed and forced to retire?

I realised that the woman in the chair must be me and I looked back at her, she was cackling, "You knew that Tessa would never stick around, you should have found someone who could love you for you, like Sam Nixon" she told me and she moved, I was pulled towards the window and I looked out onto someone else's yard. There was an older lady sitting down on the white garden furniture and she had a lot of people around her. There was a blonde woman about my age now, a young man slumped on the ground with what looked like his partner. I instinctively knew she was pregnant. There were two other kids, a girl of about fifteen and a boy of about ten. I realised that the older woman was Sam, the blonde one was Abi and the young man was her son. The other two must be Abi's other children and the man that came out of the house now must be her husband. Another man followed him and handed a cup of tea to Sam. He was older and I realised that it must be Sam's partner –husband or not, I wasn't sure. I whispered around to see the old me but she wasn't there instead there, just blackness. I turned around but saw that it had completely engulfed me and I was falling. "You should have told her" my older self's voice cackled and I woke up sweating. God that was the strangest dream I had ever had, I really hate my sub-consciousness.

I sat there calming myself down for a few minutes then I got up and splashed my face with some cold water. I padded down the hall to my bedroom, "Tess?" I whispered. There was no sound for a minute then I heard her whisper, "You couldn't sleep either huh?"

I shook my head and headed over to the bed, sliding in. Tess laughed, "I can't seen you shaking you head in the dark you know"

"Oh, right, no I couldn't sleep either" I murmured. "I'm sorry" though I couldn't even remember what the fight was about.

"Me too" Tess murmured and she snuggled up against me, I was glad for the warmth but my dream was still playing on my mind and it was a long time before I got back to sleep.

The next day at work Gary made his complaint against Suzie official, he was still childishly sniping at her and I reminded him to stop that. He's just like a big kid really. I made my complaint against Sam and I've just left it at that. Jack talked to both of us today and he told me that next time if I didn't agree with something Sam said I should point it out to her face and try to change her mind. He told Sam that the next time she was upset she should talk to him and get the full facts of the case before doing something rash. We agreed and that was the end of it. I tried to ignore my dream but it was rather difficult and I made a resolve to make more of an effort in my relationship with Tess. Phil Hunter came up to me just before shift finished and he smiled, handing me a cup of coffee. "What is it?" I asked

"I was wondering if you could lend a hand with an obbo" he answered, I'm glad he didn't beat around the bush.

"When?" I asked sceptically.

"Tonight?" he questioned.

I shook my head, "Sorry, busy tonight"

"Sure I can't tempt you?"

"Absolutely" I answered smiling. Fifteen minutes later I was out of there and on my way home. I got home before Tessa which was what I was planning and I started making dinner. Sweet and sour chicken, my specialty, it takes ages though so I don't usually have time to make it. I had I cooked and served up by the time Tess got home at seven thirty, she was supposed to be home by six forty-five and she's isn't usually late without calling but I didn't press it, I didn't want to have another fight.

"Hello, you're home early" she grinned happily and kissed me on the cheek. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing, I just realised that you might have a point, I don't spend enough time with you" I smiled kissing her back. I really loved her and I wanted this to work.

"Glad to know you've been listening to me" Tess sniped playfully and I felt a stab of guilt. We had a nice dinner and we curled up on the sofa. I suggested we go see a movie on the weekend and we tried to pick something we both would like. She read out the list of the movies she wouldn't mind seeing, punctuated by comments like, "oh, I really wanted to see that one" or "I don't think that got a very good write up though"

I don't give a damn about the write up, I'm not going to trust someone else to tell me what movies I will or wont like. I'll make up my own mind I felt like saying but I shut my mouth. I realised that we didn't really have that much in common anymore. I remember when we could sit down for hours and talk about anything. It gave me a sour taste in my mouth and I got up to get a drink. After I had finished my tea, I went to bed and straight to sleep. As I dosed off I remembered a time when I had trouble keeping my eyes open at work because of our nighttime activities. It seemed that this relationship was getting stale too fast and that scared me to death.