Hey guys, here's my latest fic.

This idea came to me in a burst of inspiration I had not long after Series 3 of Waterloo Road finished, still slightly irritated that we have to wait until the end of this year to find out what happens and to be honest, I just wanted an excuse to write a story featuring two of my favourite couples.

Just so you know, you don't have to watch Waterloo Road to understand what's happening in this story although; it would help if you did.

Set after Series 3 Episode 18 of Waterloo Road

Please review guys, luv ya all Gemz xxx

PS Thanks to Laura AKA SaMaNdPhiL4eVeR for reading this Prologue through ages ago, when I first started writing this.

Matchmaker

Summary: The Bill/Waterloo Road crossover. What would've happened if Rachel had called the police on Stuart after his attempts to blackmail her and Sun Hill Police were brought in to investigate? For the purposes of this fic, Romania hasn't happened, Sam and Phil never embarked on a relationship and Phil hasn't left. Pairings are SamPhil and RachelEddie.

Prologue

Detective Inspector Samantha Nixon switched the computer in her office off at 5:30 one Thursday evening. She sighed quietly to herself as she began to gather her things together; Neil was still on leave so she had the office to herself. Sam sat back in her chair and looked out of her office window and saw that the main CID office was virtually empty, apart from one person, Detective Sergeant Phil Hunter. The one remaining occupant of the office surprised Sam slightly, Phil had always been the first to leave, never the last. His behaviour had changed quite considerably since Sam's promotion to DI just over a year ago. She had noticed this before but hadn't said anything to him, she like the new improved Phil Hunter. Sam smiled to herself and all of a sudden, she felt the familiar feeling of loneliness sweeping over her. She lived on her own and although she enjoyed the independence of that, it didn't stop her from feeling lonely. Sam was fiercely independent and although she would never admit to it, she missed having someone else around. Maybe it was time to find someone new, new man, new relationship.

Sam stood up and picked her things up before heading towards her office door and opening it. She flicked off the light switch and closed the door after her. As soon as he heard the door close, Phil's head shot up and his gaze locked with Sam's. 'What are you still doing here Phil?' Sam asked.

'Paperwork,' Phil replied. 'I've got some reports that need to be done.'

'Why don't you leave them until tomorrow?'

'What and face another microwaved meal for one? No thanks,'

'I could give you a hand,' Sam said.

'Haven't you got plans?' Phil asked.

Sam shook her head, 'my plans for this evening were probably similar to yours, a bottle of wine, takeaway and a DVD,' she replied.

'Which DVD? Music and Lyrics or Love Actually?'

'The Holiday actually,'

'How did I know it was going to be a rom-com?'

Sam shrugged her shoulders, 'you know me too well,' she finally said. 'Would you like some help or not?'

Phil smiled warmly at Sam, 'I'd love some,' he replied.

Sam smiled back at him as she put her things down on the nearest available chair and walked over to Phil's desk.

For the next couple of hours, Sam and Phil sat there sorting out his paperwork. Sam dictated as he typed, occasionally he would ask her to repeat things. 'You've got a memory like a sieve,' she would say everytime this happened.

'Not for all things,' Phil would reply.

Sam and Phil carried on for another half an hour until she looked down at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, it read 8:00pm. 'We've been at this for two and a half hours now,' she said.

Phil nodded, 'I think we've done enough for today, don't you?'

Sam nodded back, 'how do you fancy retiring to the nearest pub?' Phil asked.

Sam looked up from the papers that she was clutching, 'I'd like that very much,' she whispered, meeting Phil's gaze.

Phil flashed her one of his trademark smiles as they both gathered their things together and left CID, unaware they were going to be called upon for action the next day.

The headteacher at Waterloo Road Comprehensive School, Rachel Mason, opened the door to her office and entered, her deputy, Eddie Lawson following in her wake. He shut the door after him and she sat down behind her desk, Rachel looked up at smiled at him, she was at a complete loss for anything to say. His loyalty to her had shone through today and words could not express how grateful she was for that.

Over the past few weeks, she and Eddie had became friends but the way he'd stuck his neck out for her today indicated to Rachel that maybe, Eddie's feelings towards her were stronger than those between friends. Maybe she reciprocated these feelings but was scared to act on them. The time she had spent as a prostitute in her teens had made her scared of being in love and trusting people around her. This had become more apparent since she had arrived at Waterloo Road; she had found it difficult to trust people around her, for fear of the secrets of her dark past being exposed. Her worst nightmare came true when Eddie discovered the truth about her past. After being pressurised by Eddie, Rachel eventually opened up to him and confessed that she had been blackmailed by Stuart Hordley into backing his bid to build the new training school. Rachel really thought that Eddie understood why she had done the things she had but she had been wrong, he had handed in his resignation and she believed that it was because he couldn't handle the thought of her having sex with men for money, although he wouldn't admit that. Thankfully for Rachel, Eddie retracted his resignation and agreed to stay and help her get rid of Stuart, which they had now done. Rachel was glad that she'd finally got Eddie on her side because without him in her corner today, her past would've probably been exposed and she would've resigned. Rachel had no idea how she would ever repay Eddie for what he had done for her, he had saved her career today and for that, she would be eternally grateful.

She smiled at him again, I don't know how I can ever thank you for what you have done for me today Eddie,' Rachel finally said.

'You don't have to Rachel,' Eddie replied.

'Why not?'

'You got me back in touch with Alison and now, I'm seeing Michael a lot more than before, if you hadn't called her, I wouldn't have seen him. When I found out about your past and Hordley blackmailing you to get the contract, I felt like I could repay the favour by helping to get him off your back,'

'Are you sure there's not another reason behind you helping me?' Rachel asked.

Eddie looked at her and smiled, 'no, of course not,' he lied.

There was an ulterior motive behind his desire to help Rachel out. He would have been the first to admit that he didn't appreciate her waltzing in and taking over the school, he had been looking forward to taking the reins as headteacher after the resignation of Rachel's predecessor, Jack Rimmer, for the rest of the term. However, they had managed to put aside their differences and call a truce, the forging of this friendship had began to take hold when Eddie told Rachel that he was the father of twins, but one of them died very young. She had been very sympathetic towards him and their friendship had grown from there. However, to Eddie, his feelings for Rachel constituted something more than friendship. Everything he had done for her today, he had done because he was falling in love with her. Rachel was wrong, he could see past the fact that she was a prostitute and had sex with men for money, that was twenty years ago. Eddie could fully understand why Rachel had changed her identity, to keep the same name would've served as a constant reminder of the past that she was so desperate to get away from. Changing her name meant she could make something of herself, try to put the past behind her and start again. In Eddie's opinion, the qualities that Rachel possessed far outweighed her faults; she was a beautiful, intelligent and caring woman who seemed way of his league. He had no idea of how he could admit his true feelings to Rachel, he was in love with her but couldn't admit how he truly felt, he didn't know whether his feelings would be returned by her.

'Listen Rachel,' Eddie finally said. 'Are you busy tonight?'

'Not especially why?' Rachel replied as she looked up from the computer screen in front of her.

'I was just wondering if you fancied going out for dinner,'

Rachel's gaze locked with his and a small smile began to creep across her face. 'Yeah, I'd really like that Eddie,' she smiled.

'I would come and pick you up but…I don't know where you live,' Eddie replied.

Rachel laughed as she reached out and pulled a stack of post-it notes towards her, she wrote her address on one and passed it to Eddie. 'What time shall I come and pick you up then?' he asked.

'It's entirely up to you,' Rachel replied.

'Shall we say about 7:30?'

Rachel nodded, 'that's fine with me,' she said. 'I'll see you then,' she added as she smiled up at him.

Eddie smiled back at her as he turned around and opened the office door and left, closing the door behind him.

Rachel smiled to herself as she switched off the computer. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an envelope poking out of the top drawer. She picked it up and the contents fell into her lap. She put the envelope on her desk and picked up its contents, inside it was the evidence that Stuart had been using to blackmail her, including a newspaper cutting about a vice crackdown. Smiling to herself once again, she put the evidence back in its envelope and dropped it into the bottom drawer, with one turn of the key, the drawer was locked. Rachel sat back in her chair and sighed happily to herself, maybe it was time for her to put the past to rest and look to the future. She took one last look at the drawer before gathering her things together. She would never, under normal circumstances, leave the office so early but by all accounts, today had been a very stressful day for her, she had a date to prepare for after all.

Btw, for those of you who don't watch Waterloo Road, Alison is Eddie's ex-wife and Michael is Eddie's son (just in case that wasn't clear)

Plz review, all comments welcome :) xxx