Disclaimer - I don't own Scott & Bailey. I love the work of the talented actors and actresses who make up the cast, work the gritty plotlines and intrigue. I wanted to put this story up to celebrate the Third Season. This is an AU of the second, so I truly hope it'll go down well.

Please R&R, I hope you enjoy.

Rachel Plays with Fire.

The Body of a Relative.

No-one in the office was surprised when DC Rachel Bailey stumbled in late, but this time she wasn't pissed. Just late. In fact she was dressed smartly instead of haphazardly as she usually appeared, and her hair was in a long dark plait. Her best friend, DC Janet Scott was the exact opposite; she was pissed completely. Her eyes were tired and she appeared to be on the verge of collapsing. Her face looked like a giant was squeezing her skull. Rachel was holding onto her, talking to her quietly. Janet gave a tired smile.

From the other side of the room DS Andy Roper watched. He ignored Rachel because he wasn't really bothered by her. No, it was Janet he was interested in.

DCI Gill Murray smashing her office door open to get out made everyone jump, and had Janet wishing she'd taken in more paracetamol earlier. She held back a groan. Gill scanned the room briefly to make sure everyone was present and correct. Everyone except Kevin was in. Not a surprise. He had an appendicitis. Though she relished the prospect of peace and quiet, Gill missed him dreadfully. The office seemed dull without the joker here. She shook herself to get down to business. " Right, settle down," she said loudly though everyone had been silenced the moment Gill had come out of her dungeon. " A body's come in. A girl, believed to be aged between 11 and 13, found in the early hours this morning with a bullet in the head, she was wearing a pair of running trousers and trainers, and a light jumper meaning she was going jogging. I'm going in to see Scary Mary for more info. Andy will be in charge 'til I get back. Okay?" She asked, turning to face Andy.

" No problem." Andy replied obediently. If you wanted a quiet life with Gill Murray, you needed to learn now to agree with her moods.

Gill held up a piece of paper. " Before I go, I want you to familarise yourselves with her. Remember, she's 12, and its important we track down her family." She glanced down at the picture. " God, she looks familiar," she murmured to herself before passing the picture onto Janet, shrugging to herself, who was the closest to her since Andy was on the other wall.

Janet took it, Gill noting her friend's appearance. If she hadn't known better, she would've said she'd handed the picture over to a blonde version of Rachel. Janet looked at the picture for a long moment, frowning. Her eyes widened, and she turned to her best friend.

" Come on Jan, don't keep the picture to yourself," Rachel chided her gently. Janet's eyes went back to the picture, then back to Rachel. Janet held the picture up, covering Rachel's face with the copy, and then lowered it. Rachel was starting to get scared and more than a little annoyed. " Janet, what's wrong?"

" The girl looks like you, see for yourself," Janet said, handing the picture over to Rachel. With some foreboding, Rachel took the picture. She stared at in with disbelief. " No," she whispered. " It can't be, it just can't...," she gasped in horror. Rachel swallowed when she realised the entire office was staring at her, waiting apprehensively.

" It's Holly," she gasped. " My niece. She's 12 years old." Now the cat was out of the bag, Rachel kept shaking her head, occasionally hitting herself with her plait. " What the fuck was she doing? Who killed her?"

Gill licked her lips. She herself had thought the girl looked familiar, but Janet had made the connection. Either she was going senile, or she was getting on a bit, she didn't like the idea especially when her one of her DC's niece was lying dead on a cold metal slab. " We'll find out, Rachel." She said quietly. Rachel smiled shakily at her boss, nodding in reply, but Gill wondered if her young DC was even listening. " I know," she replied. " Alison, my sister. I need to tell her."

Gill nodded. " Go."

As Rachel stood up shakily, Janet reached over and rested a hand on her arm. " I'm sorry, Rach."

" Thanks, Jan," Rachel tried to smile, but it came out more of a grimace.


The drive to Alison's didn't help calm Rachel's nerves. She spent most of the journey to her sister's wondering how she was going to break the news to Alison. Rachel normally would have no trouble finding the right words, they were practically taught from the moment you joined the police, though she would occasionally put her foot in her mouth in her directness. Rachel herself had said them time and again without seizing up in tears. But this was different. This was Holly, her niece. Her 12 year old niece.

Rachel felt tears well in her eyes again. She just couldn't take it in, but now she was driving to Alison's place she couldn't help but wonder what the hell had seen Holly killed, by a bullet no less. Rachel had seen gun shot wounds before, but she couldn't understand why someone would use such a final solution on Holly. As far as Rachel knew the girl was harmless. Holly was doing okay at school, she was a bright lass, she had good friends and a good homelife. So why the fucking hell was she gunned down in the street? Could it have been random, or was it something bigger? Then her heart seized. As far as Rachel knew, her mind repeated. The last time Rachel had seen, truly seen her niece, was on the girl's 11th birthday, and even that was forced on her. Rachel had thrown herself into her work, as usual. Alison knew her sister was ambitious, wanted to go places, be successful. But the cost was just too high, and Rachel realised in agony it was a cost too late to pay up. Holly was dead, truly dead. She would never see her niece grow older than 12, never see her smile, or hear her laugh.

" Fuck," she whispered to herself. " What the hell have I done? I've ignored my own niece for a year, barely said anything to her and her mother, and now she's dead."

Rachel couldn't understand it, what had Holly done recently to get herself shot?


Despite getting to Alison's home in record time, though Rachel had prayed there was congestion in the roads so then she could avoid this whole thing, Rachel didn't get out of her car for a good twenty minutes. She smoked a cigarette, and pinched herself to make sure this wasn't some fucking hideous dream.

It wasn't.

When she was finished with her cigarette, which seemed to take less time than normal, Rachel cursed, and reached into her handbag. She took out a handful of mints so her sister wouldn't realise she'd been smoking heavily, and washed them down with a bottle of water she kept in her car. So much for looking and feeling professional for a change, like she had this morning. By this time tomorrow, she would be back to normal.

" Christ," she whispered. The moment of truth.

Rachel had to blink at how quickly it had taken her to walk up to her sister's front door. She knocked, praying Alison wasn't in. It wasn't meant to be. The door opened and Alison stood in the doorway. The moment she saw her little sister standing on the doorstep, Alison's face lit up though Rachel was sharp enough to see the subtle hint of confusion in her eyes.

" Rach, how are ya? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?" Alison asked, her smile fading when she saw her sisters expression. " What's wrong?"

Rachel's eyes teared up, and her professionalism faded when she suddenly shot forward and hugged her surprised sister. Alison slowly hugged Rachel back as the younger woman sobbed. It took an eternity for Rachel to stop crying, but it was long enough for Alison to become very worried.

" Rachel," Alison began, her voice showing a patience she didn't really feel. " What's wrong?"

" I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry Alison. Can I come in, Ali? I've got bad news. It's about Holly," Rachel said quietly.

Alison's eyes widened, and she let her sister inside. Rachel watched her older sister work around the kitchen, making two cups of tea to keep her busy. Rachel let her. Alison's hands shook as she came over with their tea. Rachel took hers automatically like it was a lifeline, sipping it without tasting it. She gulped it down noisily to try and steady her nerves to delay the inevitable as long as possible, though she knew Alison was on tenderhooks, and she didn't need that, not with what had happened. She didn't look away from Alison, who was shaking with nerves. Rachel put the mug down, and gazed at Alison. " A girl was found this morning. A 12 year old. She'd been shot." Rachel wanted to look away from Alison as she said that, but she couldn't. Her sister looked like she was about one step away from having a complete breakdown. She now had a good idea who that girl was. Her sister completed the nightmare. " It was Holly." Rachel finished.

The first thing Alison tried to do was babble and deny it. " No," she shook her head desperately, " it couldn't be. Maybe you got it wrong-"

" I identified the body from the picture myself," Rachel interrupted brusquely, blinking rapidly to stop herself from breaking down. Rachel hated herself at once at the sight of Alison when she'd told her sister she'd identified the body for herself, but she had no choice unless she wanted to hear her sister say something that wasn't true." They already had pictures taken of Holly by then. It was definitely her."

That did it. Alison broke down sobbing her heart out.

" Oh, dear god," Rachel moaned, feeling herself lose control. She hugged her Alison, and they both cried.


" Who did it? Why did they do it?" Alison asked.

Rachel sighed. " I dunno. I'm heading back to the office soon, but first I wanna know somemat." Rachel looked down awkwardly. " I know I haven't seen Holly in a while," she began, cursing herself for sounding apologetic and hesitant. " Has she shown any signs of, I dunno. Shiftiness, like she's trying to hide something?"

Rachel felt guilty for having to ask her own sister these kind of questions, but if they wanted to find and catch the bastard who murdered Holly Alison needed to answer some difficult questions. Alison sagged. " Something has been going on with her for months now," she admitted slowly. " She would come home from school late, and once I caught her hiding something in her room. She's also made sure I drop her off at school and pick her up again, but she won't say why. Most kids nowadays just want to go to school on their own, to make them feel grown up. I just took it down as Holly wanting to spend more time with me, though Tony has sometimes taken her and brought her back."

Rachel stood up. " Do you mind if I take a look in her room?"

" No, in fact I'll join you." The look on Alison's face stopped any argument.


Holly's room was like any other preteen girl. There were photos and posters on the dark purple walls. The bed was a mass of covers and sheets, and there were clothes all over. Holly's Mac was on a desk by the window. Rachel's eyes were drawn to the photograph on the bedside table. She remembered that day, it had been where Rachel had taken Holly on her 7th birthday to an amusement park. Rachel couldn't take her eyes off Holly's face. She was glowing with happiness and wrapped around her aunt with a grin. A stick of candy floss was clutched in Holly's hand. Rachel swallowed. It was...so hard for her to admit her niece was dead now.

Alison stayed out of the way, knowing this room was pretty much a crime scene. " It was by her bed, I saw her put something in a shoebox, but I couldn't find it again."

Rachel nodded, her hands putting on latex gloves on their own. She slipped into DC Bailey mode, and kept her feelings out of the loop. It wouldn't help Holly if she broke down again in her room, but it was hard. She was just about to search her own niece's room, and Alison herself was watching after admitting to her sister Holly had been acting strangely.

Deciding to start in the wardrobe as it was more easier to hide something in there than in any part of the room, Rachel had to ignore the clothes she'd seen Holly wear. It was hard to believe Holly was dead, it just didn't seem believeable. The extent of it had gone over Rachel's head. Rachel took her time searching the wardrobe. She checked the whole thing from top to bottom. She checked the very top and found nothing. Rachel checked the inside of the wardrobe, pushing things aside and looking inside plastic bags but she found nothing incriminating.

" Did she go out at all Alison?" Rachel asked as she worked. " We found her in the early hours of the morning, and how come you didn't report her missing?"

Alison looked sheepish. " She's been going jogging recently, that's why I didn't say anything. She's been doing it a lot recently. And, answering your first question, she's been coming home straight from school, getting changed quickly and heading out again with her backpack. It's down there." Alison pointed.

Rachel turned when she saw the backpack in question. It was close to the bed. " I'll look at that in the minute. I think I've found something," she said, pulling a shoebox out. " Is this it?" Rachel asked. It was a typical Addidas shoebox. She looked up at Alison. Her sister nodded. " That's it," she whispered.

Rachel opened the box and peered inside. She took out a piece of paper.


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