The sound of Maleficent's heels echoed down the empty corridor, moonlight shone on her face, revealing a look of worry in her emerald eyes. She slowed her pace as she approached the door she needed, the round face of her sergeant grinning goofily in his picture beside the door usually comforted her but this evening it only served to increase the feeling of dread in her stomach. Stalling the inevitable her mind thought back to the phone call that had led to her current situation.
Maleficent had just settled down on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, music playing softly from the stereo when her mobile had rung, her initial irritation was replaced with a small smile when she saw the call was from her jovial boss with whom she shared an easy friendship. He had been the first to make her feel truly welcome when she had moved from the city to the back of beyond.
'Hey there trouble' she answered cheerfully
'Mal, I'm sorry to ring so late..' he began
'Don't be ridiculous Mark, as I have told you multiple times, you can call whenever! Having more trouble with Claudia?' She asked sympathetically referring to her sergeant's young rebellious teenage daughter.
'No, no, nothing like that. I'm down the station actually, I'm going to have to ask you to come down here' Mark stated, his tone unusually emotionless
'Why? Did you finally find out about my tax avoidance, am I under arrest?' Maleficent teased
'Mal, there are two guys here from Scotland Yard to see you, they say it's urgent' he replied heavily
Her blood had frozen when her sergeant had mentioned Scotland Yard, she struggled to find her breathe. What could they possibly want after all these years?
Back in the present, Maleficent took a deep steadying breath and knocked once powerfully on the blue painted door in front of her, conveying none of her apprehension through the movement. Hearing noises on the other side, she pushed the door handle down and strode in with more confidence than she felt. Her eyes scanned the room, resting first on her sergeant who looked at her with a concerned look in his eyes, an unfamiliar man in a dark blue suit who looked exhausted and briefly raised his chestnut coloured eyes to meet her own, he extended her a small nod and looked back down. Her eyes shifted to the final person in the room and when she registered his face her heart soared and she couldn't help the gasp that emitted from her 'Diaval' she cried barely managing to restrain herself from throwing at him. He returned her joy with an enormous smile that seemed to radiate from him.
'I thought you were dead' she choked as tears threatened to overwhelm her
'Not yet, although they made a pretty good attempt last time' he chuckled darkly
Maleficent's eyes darted to the thick scar that curled around Diaval's neck, he noticed her glance and unconsciously rubbed at it.
'Why didn't you tell me?' her voice barely above a whisper 'I've spent the past ten years thinking my best friend was dead!' anger seeped into her voice.
'I couldn't, we decided it wouldn't be safe for you – or for me. It killed me as much as you Mal, I swear if I could have..' Diaval passionately began but was interrupted by the man in the blue suit.
' I understand that you two have much to discuss but so do we, the quicker we can press on with the reason for our visit, the sooner you two can catch up and I can finally get to sleep' his voice was made sharpness by exhaustion but it was clear the man meant no harm. 'Firstly, I would like to extend a sincere apologies for having to come out and disturb your life out here, we wouldn't have come if we thought there was another option'.
The elation Maleficent had felt at seeing her friend alive suddenly plummeted as she realised the implication of what the man was saying. 'No' she murmured 'no that's not possible!'
'I'm afraid so' the man replied gravely 'Stefan Rose has been released, his lawyer finally got him off on a technicality relating to evidence from the first crime scene. It's fucking unbelievable!' he cried showing the first sign of emotion through his exhaustion. 'Seven years, seven years we spent building a case against him. A huge part of which we could not have done without you, the way things panned out, I'm not sure you were ever properly congratulated for your work'.
Maleficent's world began to spin and she had to grab the door frame to steady herself. She had not been made to feel this powerless for almost a decade and she did not relish the return of the feeling.
'We aren't just telling you this as a matter of information. Outside of his select few associates, you knew him better than anyone, you lived with him for almost four years' Maleficent shuddered to recall the memories of lying next to him in a bed, his body pressed against her own. 'The information you provided about his work and character were testament to getting him to trial. It was some of the best undercover work I have ever read, you should be proud'. Maleficent struggled to maintain her facial expressions. Proud? Proud? Her work had been the cause of the deaths of several officers and the cause of her need to exclude herself to the moors in the back of beyond.
'What is it you want from me?' she asked ensuring she kept her voice steady.
'We would like you to help us rebuild this case Mal…' Diaval began, Maleficent shook her head furiously 'only in the background, I promise! You could continue to live and work here, we would come to you with information, actually' he grinned sheepishly 'I've been asked to stay out of London for a while given my history with the case and was thinking I might come here and we could work on it together?'
Maleficent thought hard for a moment and let out a resigned sigh, she couldn't with good conscience allow a monster like Stefan Rose and his cronies to threatening the streets of London again 'Fine. But I promise you now I am not setting foot in London under any circumstance, clear?'
Both men nodded enthusiastically and her sergeant looked at her with a sombre respect, he knew how difficult it had been for her to piece her life together after she had arrived in the moors. She had loved the slow pace of life, craved it even and now once again her life was being shaken by the abomination that was Stefan Rose.
As Maleficent drove to work the next morning, her extra strong coffee clenched between her thighs her head swam with the events of the previous evening, she was struggling to process all that happened. Her boundless joy at having Diaval back in her life was only slightly tempered by the knowledge that somehow she had been sucked back into the toxic world of Stefan Rose and would have to acknowledge memories she had spent the last decade avoiding. So engrossed in her thoughts was she that she almost failed to see the young woman run out in front of her towards the station. 'Shit!' she exclaimed slamming on the brakes, spilling coffee over her tight black jeans. The girl glanced up and locked eyes with Maleficent, they were a piercing blue and filled with apology, she raised a hand and mouthed 'so sorry', Maleficent waved her away and parked her car.
In her confused state she had forgotten that it was the beginning of placement for students at the local training academy. It was a private, boarding academy full of illustrious students whose invariably wealthy city dwelling parents had either decided they wanted their children to grow up to be model citizens or were sick of them moping around at home and wanted them to do something useful with their lives. Very few of the students volunteered for a placement at the Moors Station, sleepy and slowed paced as it was, they wanted action; car chases and robberies not helping Mrs Jones because she had locked herself out of her house again. This meant only two or three students were ever on placement which suited Maleficent down to the ground. She had got used to the slow pace of life here, she felt like a protector of the moors and she didn't like to hear the students belittling that way of life.
As she stepped out of the car, she cursed as she looked down at her trousers stained by the coffee, she could not introduce herself to a group of twenty-somethings looking like she'd had an accident. She rummaged around in the boot and for the first time was thankful for her complete lack of organisation as she pulled out a tight fitting black dress. 'Not exactly appropriate' she thought 'but I have no other alternative'.When she was changed she headed straight to the sergeants office to meet the placement students. Each officer was assigned a student to mentor for the first few months, the last student Maleficent had been instructed to mentor had been a nightmare and she sincerely hoped that with everything else she had going on, this student would prove easier.
As she stood in front of the sergeant's door, she felt none of the apprehension she had felt the previous night. Here she was in her element, she was the picture of confidence, despite her previous experience when she found an attentive student, she loved mentoring. She pushed open the door and was pleased to see despite her faffing that morning she was the first officer there.
In the office her sergeant gave her a concerned look, she gave him a small smile in return to show she was coping – just about. Her gaze drifted around the room and she saw two male students seated, both had a glazed look until they noticed Maleficent, where they both sat up and looked significantly more interested, she suppressed a sigh, the dress had been a bad choice. Her attention shifted to the third student in the corner, it was the young woman who had run in front of her car. Up close Maleficent noted the girl was very attractive, her long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes made her the picture of innocence and Maleficent found herself wondering if this was indeed the case.
'Officer Morgan' the sergeant began looking at Maleficent 'these are the students we will have the joy of mentoring this year. James, Stewart and Aurora, this is Officer Morgan. Aurora, I have assigned you to Officer Morgan for the year, she will give you a tour of the station now.'
Aurora turned around to appraise her mentor, her eyes ran over the length of Maleficent's body and rested on her emerald eyes, she could feel her pulse involuntarily quicken, the woman was a sight to behold, Aurora had tried not to start too long but already imprinted on her mind was the vision of Malenficent's curves, and those lips – her mind wandered imaging what they could do. She shook her head slightly to clear it and stepped forward to shake her mentor's hand, the last thing she needed was to give the impression she was a star-struck innocent. 'It's a pleasure to meet you'.
As the two women appraised each other appreciatively, Aurora couldn't help it seemed like it wasn't going to be such a boring student placement year after all.