Title: An unexpected gift of fate 01/?
Fandom: The Doctor Blake Mysteries
Author: Ceindreadh
Type of Story: multi-part
Characters: Matthew Lawson, Lucien Blake, Charlie Davis, Jean Beazley, Mattie O'Brien
Rating: 15
Summary: An apparently minor incident has major consequences for Lawson
Genre: Hurt/comfort, romance (pairings to be revealed later), friendship
Word count: ~ 2,500
Disclaimer. I don't own the characters, I'm only borrowing them, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 1 - An unexpected knock

Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson was not feeling at his best. He had an aching head and an aching side and the smell of Davis's lunch was threatening to turn his stomach. He was pretty sure that it was all down to that scuffle he'd had earlier in the interview room with a burglary suspect who hadn't taken kindly to his line of questioning. Reilly, a small time crook with a big time temper had gone for him and managed to get in a few good punches before he'd been subdued. "But at least I wiped the floor with that little bastard," thought Lawson, with some satisfaction. The man was a good deal younger than him, but what Lawson had lacked in youth, he'd made up for with experience and Reilly would be thinking twice before raising his hand against any member of the police for the foreseeable future.

"Of course Blake had had to be called in to examine the prisoner," thought Lawson, rubbing his side as he wrote up his report of the incident. According to Davis, the doc had been pretty unimpressed at having to be called in to tend to yet another prisoner who'd 'had an accident'.

"Lawson!"

Lawson didn't look up from his work as he heard Blake coming into the room.

"This has got to stop," said Blake, pacing up and down in front of the Superintendent's desk. "There is no call for prisoners to be beaten up like that while in your custody. It's going too far..." His voice trailed off as Lawson raised his head and looked at him. "Bloody hell, Matthew, what happened to you?"

"You should see the other bloke," said Lawson, "Oh wait, you just did."

"What, Reilly gave you that bruise? *You* were the one who beat him up?"

Lawson shrugged, "Self defence. Bloke took a swing at me, I put him down. End of story. Now if you could climb down off your high horse long enough, I'd appreciate it if you would write up your report on the matter and leave it on my desk." Lawson turned his attention back to the report on his desk. He looked up a few seconds later to see Blake watching him carefully. "What?"

"I should probably give you a once over," said Blake, slowly. "That is a nasty looking bruise you have there. And the way you're sitting so stiffly, my guess is that he got you in the ribs as well."

"I'm busy," said Lawson. He corrected a turn of phrase on the report and then looked up to see Blake watching him. "Look, I took a knock and picked myself up. I don't need a doctor to tell me it's going to hurt. Anyway, I need to get this paperwork finished so if you don't mind..."

"Actually Boss," said Charlie, "It might not be a bad idea to have the Doc check you over."

Lawson glared at him but Charlie continued, "I mean we are holding Reilly on a charge of 'assault on a police officer'. It'd be no harm to have an official report from the police surgeon to confirm the damage he did."

"Good thinking, Davis," said Lawson approvingly. He replaced the lid on his pen and threw it on the table. "Come on then, let's make it quick. Uniforms are searching Reilly's place for stolen goods and once they're back I'll likely be adding to his charges."

Blake was feeling somewhat chagrined as he followed Lawson to the interview room where it was clear that some sort of altercation had taken place. Blake watched as Lawson stooped to pick up an overturned chair, wincing as he straightened up.

"We had a box of medals we'd found on Reilly," said Lawson, sitting on the table as Blake shone a small torch in his eyes. "Reilly claimed they'd belonged to his father but they matched a set reported stolen a few weeks back. I was standing behind him. Guess he didn't like my line of questioning because he grabbed the box and belted me in the face with it."

"How many times?" Blake started applying a gentle pressure to Lawson's cheekbones.

"Once, no twice," said Lawson. "Ouch! Watch it there." He winced as Blake touched a tender spot.

"Well it doesn't seem like there's anything broken here. If you apply a cold compress at regular intervals, that should reduce the swelling a bit." Blake took Lawson's hands. "Ah, I see he damaged your knuckles with his face. Is that when his tooth got knocked out?"

Lawson pulled his hands away. "In case you've forgotten, *he* attacked me. He belted me in the face and then elbowed me in the ribs when I tried to subdue him. He's lucky he only lost a tooth. Now if you've quite finished..." He started to stand but Blake's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Blake sighed, "Forgive me, Matthew. Let me just take a quick look at those ribs of yours."

Lawson sighed and unbuttoned his shirt.

"Very nasty looking," said Blake as he felt around the bruised area. "But I believe it's just bruising. Did he catch you anywhere else? No? Okay, that'll hurt for a few days, but I'll write you a script for the pain. Take it easy today, maybe go home early." There was a snort of amusement from Lawson as he rearranged his clothing. "And call me if it gets any worse." Blake closed his bag and headed for the door. "Oh and Matthew,"

"What?"

"Next time let Charlie subdue any unruly prisoners...you're not getting any younger you know!"

"Oy!" said Lawson indignantly. "Just write up that damn report!"

Several hours later, Lawson's temper hadn't improved. The search of Reilly's home hadn't turned up anything out of the ordinary which meant that they could only add one count of 'possession of stolen property' to the count of 'assault on a police officer'.

"Reilly's behind half the burglaries in the district," said Lawson, reading through the report of the search. "Where the hell is he stashing the stolen goods?"

"Maybe he's sold them all," said Charlie. "Finney the pawnbroker could have been lying when he said Reilly only tried to sell him the medals."

Lawson shook his head. "Finney's a tight fisted bastard, but he's honest. Well, more honest than Reilly anyway. If he said Reilly hasn't brought him anything else, I'm inclined to believe him." He stood and walked around the desk, grimacing slightly at the ache in his side.

"Sir," said Charlie, "If you don't mind me asking, are you feeling all right? It's just you're looking a bit crook. Maybe I should call the doc back in."

"Maybe you should mind your own business," snapped Lawson. "Get back over to Finney's shop. Check his records for the last three months. Just because Reilly didn't bring the goods in, doesn't mean he didn't get somebody else to do his dirty work for him."

"Yes sir," said Charlie, beating a hasty retreat.

Lawson waited until he was alone in the office before sitting down heavily in his chair, rubbing his side. Loathe though he was to admit it, he had to concede to himself that Davis may have had a point. "If I look half as bad as I feel, no wonder he commented on it." Blake's suggestion of leaving work early was looking more and more tempting, but it was the last thing he needed, professionally speaking.

Damn that Reilly. The last thing Lawson needed right now was to have to take time off work. It had been three months since the Special Branch Committee had allowed him to resume his position and ever since then he felt like somebody was constantly looking over his shoulder, waiting for him to slip up. Thanks to good Union representation, they hadn't been able to pin anything on him this time, and he wasn't about to give them any excuse to summon him before them again. No, he'd finish up Reilly's paperwork and all the other paperwork on his desk and call it a night. "A good night's rest and I'll be back on form in the morning," Lawson told himself as he got back to work.

Lawson was feeling even more under the weather when he finally stamped the last of the paperwork and put it in the file. The pain in his side felt like it was getting worse instead of better and even though it had been a long time since his lunch, the thought of food nearly turned his stomach. Lawson checked his watch and was surprised to see the time. He groaned under his breath as he realised it was now too late to fill the prescription Blake had given him. "Not too late to call round to Blake though," he thought as he stood and buttoned his uniform tunic. "He may have something to hand. And I can give him a boot up the arse about that bloody report as well." He swept the remains of his unfinished meal into the wastebasket and switched off the light before leaving.

Mattie O'Brien closed her book with a thump. "And that is enough studying for one night," she said out loud. Glancing at the clock, she quickly tidied away her books and study materials before heading to the kitchen to make herself some tea.

She looked at her watch while waiting for the kettle to boil. It was unusual to be alone in the house at this time of night, and not a little unsettling, but the others would be home soon. The sudden knocking at the front door startled her and she nearly dropped the cup she'd been holding.

The door to Lucien's study was open and Mattie glanced quickly through the window to see who was at the door before she opened it. "Oh no," she said under her breath. "Not him!"

(A few hours earlier)
"So of course I go in there like a bull in a china shop," said Blake as he took the serving bowl from Jean and put it on the table, "Ready to tear a strip off Lawson for letting his men get out of hand *again* and then it turns out that *he* was the one throwing punches."

"But that's terrible," said Mattie, helping herself to some vegetables. "He should be setting an example for his men. A good example that is, and not showing them the way to assault prisoners!"

"Well Bobby Reilly is a nasty piece of work," said Jean, as she cut her meat into pieces. "Everybody knew he used to bash his wife around before she took their kid and left him. I can well believe he took a swing at Matthew as well. If you ask me, he got off lightly."

"That still doesn't give the Superintendent the right to injure him that badly."

"Well maybe next time he'll think twice before assaulting a police officer," said Jean. To Lucien she added "And how is Matthew?"

"He has a few bruised ribs, and took a nasty smack in the face," said Blake. "Mmm, that gravy is very tasty Jean." He took another mouthful of his dinner before continuing. "Anyway, I prescribed him some painkillers, told him to take things easy. But he should be fine in a day or so."

"And how is Reilly?" asked Mattie, drawing a sharp look from Jean.

"In fairness Mattie," said Blake, "He did come off comparatively lightly. True he lost a tooth, but judging by the bruising on his knuckles, not to mention Lawson's face, Reilly was certainly no innocent bystander in all of this. No, I have to admit that there appears to have been justification on Matthew's part."

"This time at least," said Mattie, under her breath. The conversation moved on to the movie that Jean and Blake were planning to see.

"Mattie, you're more than welcome to join us," said Blake later as he helped Jean into her coat.

Mattie caught Jean's eye and stifled a smile at the look on her face. "No, I'm fine. I really need to get a few hours studying in tonight. Have fun the two of you, and I won't wait up." She winked at Jean before closing the door behind the pair and heading for her room.

Forcing a smile on her face, Mattie opened the door. "Superintendent Lawson," she said.

"Good evening, Miss O'Brien," said Lawson. "I was looking to have a word with Blake."

"He's not here," said Mattie, "He and Jean have gone to the movies."

"What?" said Lawson, momentarily distracted from his aching side, "You mean like on a date?"

"Well they're not exactly calling it that, they keep insisting it's just two friends enjoying an evening together."

Lawson snorted in disbelief and then collected himself, "Well I won't keep you then." He turned away and was about to leave when Mattie called after him.

"Superintendent," said Mattie, "I'm sure they won't be too long. Would you like to come in, have some tea and wait for him?" Mattie wasn't really sure what impulse had driven her to call after Lawson, but she couldn't take it back. "I've just put the kettle on."

"Thank you, Miss O'Brien," said Lawson as he followed her into the kitchen. He sat down heavily at the kitchen table, stifling a groan. Mattie had her back to the table as she gathered cups and saucers and didn't notice the flash of pain on his face.

The tea made, Mattie sat down opposite Lawson and sipped her tea as she tried to think of a suitable conversation starter. After all, 'Beaten up any prisoners lately' wasn't really much of an ice breaker.

"That bruise looks nasty," said Mattie, finally. "Would you like a cold compress for it?"

"I'm fine," said Lawson. He sipped his tea but had no taste for it. Glancing at Mattie, he saw her bite her lip as if holding something back. "You got something to say about how I got it?"

"I just think it's wrong for policemen to be going around beating up on people. Especially when they're your prisoners."

"Technically, he wasn't a prisoner," said Lawson. "Well, not until we charged him with assault on a police officer. He was just helping us with our enquiries until he took a swing at me."

"And I suppose you didn't provoke him into it?" said Mattie.

"Not my fault if the man can't keep his temper."

"No, but maybe it *is* your fault if you bully him until he lashes out!"

Lawson put his cup down on the table with a bang. "I think Miss O'Brien that I won't wait to see Blake. Tell him that I want his report on my desk first thing." Lawson stood quickly, too quickly. A sharp flash of pain lanced through his abdomen and he clutched at his side. The room felt like it was spinning around him as he slumped to the ground.

to be continued