Goodbye Again
By Shaz
Rating: Erm about a 12a in the UK
Disclaimer: None of the recognised characters belong to me, they are all the property of the television company and the actors that portray them.
This is my first attempt at a The Bill fiction, so you reviews would be greatly appreciated!
Goodbye Again
The dark figure sat on the bench, his pale eyes staring out at nothing- looking in the direction of the Thames, yet not seeing it, for his vision was focused on the past and a future that would now never happen. He sat with his hands pressed deep into the pockets of his uniform trousers, his civvy jacket wrapped tight around his slim form. The cuts and bruises to his face and head, stood out starkly against the paleness of his face, and his breath caused the air around him to form a mist, as the cold London air made itself known to the lonesome figure, yet at that time he did not even notice the cold his mind was too lost in his own personal turmoil for it to form any significance to him. Once again he was alone, every time he gave his heart it was thrown back at him in more pieces than it had been in before. His anger once more surfaced- bringing with it all of the hurt that he tried his best to keep hidden from the outside world, it was only at times like this when he was on his own and free to allow his emotions to surface that he allowed his mind to wander over his pain. He shook his head once as he realised how much time had passed, he had finished work over an hour ago, yet throughout his shift his mind had been far away from the streets of Sun Hill. Less than a week ago he had been abducted and beaten as a result of his girlfriend's husband finding out about their affair. He was held at gunpoint, and didn't know whether his lover was alive or dead, to top it off the husband had already killed one man by shooting him through his head, so he had left no doubt in the police sergeant's mind that he would be more than willing to shoot him too. It wasn't so much his brush with death that played on the officer's mind, as much as the fact that despite everything Louise had still stuck by her husband, it didn't matter that it was through fear rather than love, what mattered was that once again he was alone in the World, and more than likely to stay that way.
"Are you planning on sitting here all night?" a familiar voice asked him from over his shoulder, and he whirled around to see who had snuck up behind him. Gina sighed as she saw the shutters clutter firmly down into place, she knew that she was guilty of the same things as her sergeant, but sometimes she just wished that he had admit to her the pain that he was feeling, just once not hide behind the mask. Smithy closed his eyes against the intrusion into his thoughts, and swung his head back round towards the river.
"Na, just getting some air" he replied finally, his tone carefully controlled and neutral as ever.
"Have you even been home yet?" Gina asked her junior officer, who she also considered to be one of her dearest friends.
"Not yet" Smithy replied, knowing that he was in for some sort of pep talk, yet not even bothering to get annoyed by it.
"Dale, your shift ended nearly two hours ago, it is five degrees out and you are sat in a summer jacket" Gina stated, not even waiting for any sort of response. "Come on lets go and get a brandy into you, warm you up before you catch your death" he ordered him bluntly, her tone leaving no room for the argument that she would normally expect. Dale sighed and got to his feet, Gina was alarmed to see him swaying slightly before he righted himself and followed slowly behind her. The short walk to the nearest pub was passed in silence, Smithy still in the process of surfacing from his deep thoughts and Gina unwilling to push the young sergeant into speaking before he was ready.
They soon arrived at the empty pub and Gina promptly ordered their drinks and selected a table in the corner for the pair to sit at. Gina gently placed the double brandy before her friend and settled on sipping on an orange juice for herself. Dale muttered a thanks, before downing the drink in one shot. He placed the empty glass back down on the table and Gina couldn't help but noticed the unsteadiness to his actions.
"I'm not going to push you in talking about this you know" she told him when the silence became too much for her. "I understand what you must have gone through with Louise, and I know that it must hurt like hell at the moment, but with time you will heal" she told him. He looked up, anger unhidden in his pale eyes.
"You think I'll just get over her? Get over her going back to him? How can I? How can I ever get over what has happened the last few weeks, she is taking the wrap for what she ain't done, walking away from us, and for what? For nothing!" Dale responded, shocking Gina with his honesty and the fact that he had actually expressed his true feelings.
"Smithy I am sure that Louise loved you, she has made her decision to protect you as well as herself. Pete is a dangerous man, he very nearly killed you Dale, he probably would've if it wasn't for Jack and the SO19 boys showing up when they did. Louise did what she thought was right for both of you" Gina told her young companion. Smithy shook his head once sadly, before replying.
"Yeah just like Kerry did" he told her, his voice quivering slightly with emotion- enough to shock the difficult to rattle police inspector. With those words he gently squeezed Gina's arm. "Cheers anyway though" he told her softly, before getting unsteadily to his feet. When he stood at his full height Gina couldn't help but notice the slight wince that marred the pale features and the slump to his posture, but before she could call him on it the young man was staggering across the quiet pub and out the door into the darkened night.
End Chapter One