Authors Note at the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ripper Street, that's the BBC or Amazon Prime... (Whoever owns the programe now.)
Whitechapel - London, England:- 1894.
Edmund Reid vacated his crowded office for the final time. He would certainly miss his beloved comrades, but grand-new adventures were awaiting him at home; a brand new life, away from the murky streets of London. Gripping the cane in his hand, Edmund began to make his way towards the main entrance, when he was halted in the middle of the corridor. A soft, melodic tune echoed throughout the corridor; bringing Edmund away from his thoughts on paradise. Edmund smiled wistfully, reconsigning the performer of 'said' tune and heading towards its direction. The Inspector pushed the door open and stepped inside the darkened room; leaning against the wall as he did, gaze fixated upon the dazzling creature inhabiting the morgue. The creature in question, blonde and too-clever for her own good, just happened to be Jackson's apprentice and Drake's younger cousin; Miss Grace Drake. Grace stood in the center of the room, cleaning the surgical equipment and completely oblivious to the man stood just behind her. A sudden, yet masculine cough brought Grace away from her trance; making the girl jump in fright.
"Inspector Reid!" She scolded, a smirk playing upon her lips. "Didn't your mother ever tell you, it's rude to sneak up on people."
Edmund chuckled softly at Grace's playful turn, whilst removing his glasses and placing them into his coat pocket. In return, Grace began to place the surgical equipment down and wiped her bloodied hands onto the nearest cloth; before, turning to face Edmund fully.
"I believe this is farewell, Inspector." Grace said softly, looking up into Edmund's icy-blue orbs; in which Edmund nodded solemnly in return.
"It is. Matilda is rather excited to visit the beaches." Edmund replied, with only a minimal amount of enthusiasm. "What will you do?"
A small, pregnant silence fell upon the room; as Edmund continued to gaze at Grace. The blonde nervously wiped her palms onto her dress and broke the silence.
"I plan to become a Doctor. Jackson, I imagine will be spending more time with Susan; therefore, I must take charge." Taking a soothing breath, Grace smiled sadly. "A woman who wants to be a Doctor... What would my Mother say? Anyway, Matilda will certainly enjoy Margate, as will you Inspector. A change for us all. I'll be here, helping Bennett run the situation and of course, I'll train."
Edmund copied Grace's smile, feeling a small swell of pride in his chest; finally, his favorite-girl would make something of herself.
"When you've finished, you shall have to come and visit; I know Matilda will enjoy your company." He said placing his bowler hat-back onto his head.
"Then I shall, I'd be honored to spend time with Matilda and yourself." Grace said with a bright smile.
Taking his pocket-watch out, Edmund glanced at the time and rather regretfully, placed it back inside his waistcoat. Both occupants of the room knew what that meant; their time was almost up, as well as their story. Edmund readied his cane and looked back at Grace, he could see the un-shed tears threatening to fall; of course, Grace was stronger than that (she'd cry later on.)
"If I'm to catch my train, I must taken my leave." He said slowly, moving towards the open door. "Goodbye Grace. I wish you every luck in the future, although, I'm certain you won't need it."
Edmund turned to leave, but a soft voice halted him. Grace smiled softly and moved closer to her superior, placing a hand upon one cheek and leaning close to the other.
"Goodbye Edmund." Placing a soft, but quick kiss upon Edmund's cheek, Grace stepped away and moved back towards her operating table.
Smiling to himself, Edmund tipped his hat to the younger-blonde and swiftly exited the room; leaving Grace to lean against the table, alone with her thoughts. Although never acted upon, the tension and attraction between Edmund and Grace was rather evident; yet, not many seemed to recognize it. Nobody except Long Susan, who wasn't in the greatest situation right now; although, Grace didn't have that much sympathy for the woman. After all, Susan had caused the train-crash and subsequently shot Edmund. From the years of learning from Drake, Grace had collected a great amount of skills acquired to become a detective herself; maybe is he wasn't so fascinated by medicine, that's what she'd be doing. Or, was Whitechapel ready for a female detective? Grace smiled at the thought and headed in the direction of Edmund's old office, knowing that she'd find Drake there. Knocking softly, she pushed the wooden door open and greeted her cousin with a smile.
"He gone?" Drake asked abruptly. Grace smirked, she knew that the blush on her cheek's hadn't quite vanished yet.
"Five minutes ago."
"Don't know how I'll cope without all of his pining, I may even go mad." Drake said with a sarcastic grin spread across his features. In turn, Grace shook her head and moved towards the liquor.
Even if his cousin thought he was kidding, Drake knew that Reid had harbored a fair old-few feelings for Grace; who he knew, also held the same belief. Reid was far too professional to begin something, plus with the sudden events of the year, the poor man never got chance too. Drake watched his cousin pour the golden liquid into two glasses and thought back to the train crash. How he and Reid had fretted over the safety of Grace; the look of dread that had ghosted over the Inspector's features-
Edmund looked up from his writing, watching the glass of water begin to shake softly; he turned to face his companion with a questioning look. Grace placed her book of medicine aside and moved to stand alongside the Inspector. She placed a concerned hand upon Edmund's shoulder, causing the man to glance up at the younger woman. But before Edmund could speak, an almighty crash echoed above the archives. The room shook violently, Edmund jumping up to shield Grace from any fallen debris. The sound of the crash echoed throughout the street and rippled through 'H Division.' Gripping onto Edmund tightly, Grace let out a frightened sob; the man shielding her hearing this and holding her closer. Once the shaking had ceased, Edmund stood slowly, bringing his companion with him. The pair exchanged a worried look, before heading out into the street above. The pair stepped onto the cobbles and stopped dead at the sight before them. It was complete chaos, everything was ruined and complete carnage. Grace let out a gasp and covered her mouth with a hand; whilst Edmund stood, watching and taking the entire scene in.
"No, No, No." He whispered quickly.
As if somebody had restarted the scene, Edmund broke from his trance, moving back to Grace and staring at the standing police-officers.
"The people-" Edmund began loudly, shouting at the officers. "-help them."
Alongside the gaggle of police-officers, both Edmund and Grace began to effort to help those trapped. One by one, each passenger - dead or alive - were extracted from the rubble. A few moments passed before even more of Whitechapel's inhabitants started to pile onto the cobbles and help the police. Edmund rejoined his fellow officers and searched the crowd for Grace. Instead, another of the Drake's appeared in his vision: Bennett Drake had returned. Drake appeared to be carrying a woman and naturally, Edmund moved closer to help.
"Mr Reid!" Drake called over the ruckus. Edmund moved a little-closer and Drake could see his hesitance. "Are you just going to stand there?"
Edmund called for the woman in Drake's arms to be carried away. After four years away, Drake could tell Edmund hadn't changed much. There was just one more person missing.
"Where's Grace?" Drake asked Edmund, frantic to see his cousin; surely the blonde-bombshell would be near-by.
Drake and Edmund's eyes scanned over the crowds of injured passengers and those helping to free them. Soon, Drake could see a figure emerging from the carriage; holding onto an elderly gentleman. Grace passed the man off to waiting officers, thanking them as she moved onto the next victim; there could be no rest, more people needed to be saved. Looking up, Grace spotted Edmund and sent a reassuring smile over to the man; however, she stopped still when Drake came into her vision. Grace raced over to her cousin and was immediately pulled into a tight-embrace. She pulled away and moved to stand next to Edmund, who in-turn, placed a protective hand onto Grace's lower-back. Whilst Grace was on the look out for more people to help, Drake noticed the way that Edmund was staring at his cousin. A look of affection and a clear amount of stress was plastered across Edmund's features. Suddenly, the tension was split due to Grace's shouting-
"Here!" Grace exclaimed, pointing to where a doll lay limp within the rubble.
Edmund and Drake followed Grace's finger, immediately rushing to retrieve the small girl. Each by-stander began to remove the rubble, Edmund ultimately reaching the small-child first. Grace stood alongside her cousin, watching Edmund struggle internally; this young girl must have looked like his own daughter. Drake managed to retract the young girl after a couple of seconds and Grace stepped over the sharp rubble to help Edmund. The two shared a short exchange, Drake - who had passed the girl onto another officer - watched on with interest. As much as Edmund wanted to deny it, he certainly was not alone. Grace placed a soft kiss upon Edmund's cheek and stepped away, moving to help the newly acquired nurses. Edmund simply sighed and continued up the cobbled street, stopping short at the sight of a rather unwelcome guest, Madame Susan.
Four Years Later:- Whitechapel.
Matilda knew that her father would have Hell to-pay, but little did she care; for the sights she saw were too good not to miss. She and Valerie moved away from the window, the former noticing a familiar face in the midst of the crowd. Matilda gripped onto her friends forearm and pulled her to one-side, pointing in the direction of none other, than Grace Drake. This was a un-familiar face for Valarie, but Matilda noticed her friends expression and decided to clear up the confusion.
"That's Grace Drake." Matilda started softly. "She used to work with my pa'pa. Grace wanted to be a Doctor, she is the cleverest woman I know; even more than Miss Farmer. Pa'Pa always has this look when I mention Grace, he definitely loves her; or, he used to anyway. C'mon, we need to get the next train, if we want to make it back home on time."
Both, Matilda and Valarie stepped back onto their train; giggling and chatting away. Matilda often wondered whether her pa'pa wrote to Grace or not, she never brought it up. Leaning back into her seat, the red-head giggled at her best-friends antics and awaited her stop.
Margate:-
Stepping off the train, a young-woman, subsequently covered by a silk scarf; moved off the platform and opted to walk along the bay. Twenty-minutes into the walk, the young-woman looked down at her 'given' address and smiled, she was close. A group of people could be seen at the end of the path, causing the young-woman to pick up her pace. There was a familiar man, who of course, hadn't changed in the slightest. A younger woman, someone who was close-of age to the man; as well as two teenage girls, a red-head and brunette. When the young-woman was close enough, the opportunity to speak arose quickly.
"Edmund."
She spoke clearly, her voice just like he remembered. Edmund ceased his conversation with Eleanora to face the mysterious young-woman, who in turn, smiled sweetly at the man-before her. The young-woman removed her headscarf, blonde tresses falling out and blowing in the Margate breeze. Edmund, too stunned to speak, suddenly found the courage to say something.
"My- Grace."
Grace Drake grinned and sent a shy smile over to the woman stood directly behind him, who was demanding to know who Grace was exactly.
"Hello Edmund, it's been far too long."
A/N: This was my first attempt at a 'Ripper Street' fanfiction and I can't wait to continue this story with you. We will go into Season Four - as it premieres in the United Kingdom on the BBC - as well as flashbacks into how Reid and Grace met, their partnership/friendship and what the future holds for them.