DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, and neither am I making any profit from this!

Author's Note: Well, this is the first thing I've written in a while... Hope you like it!


Up On The Roof

It had been a long and very busy day at Sun Hill for Smithy. He'd been out on patrol most of the day: as soon as he had sat down for refs or to do some paperwork, another shout had come up. And when, finally, he managed to sit down at his desk without being dragged from his chair by a shout a few minutes later, it was nearly the end of his shift and he had a mountain of paperwork to complete. He sighed and picked up a pen, deciding to make a start on his paperwork.

25 minutes later, he was still on only his first bit of paperwork. His shift had officially ended 15 minutes ago, but he didn't want to go home yet: he wanted to finish his paperwork so that he didn't have masses to do the next day. He threw his pen down on his desk, leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. He sat with his hands behind his head for a couple of minutes before getting up and walking out of his office. He needed a break.

As Smithy walked down the corridor, he passed many people: officers arriving for the night shift; the people on custody struggling with one of the prisoners who had just been brought in; people from his shift going home, although most had already gone, most probably to the pub. Some of the people ignored him, too busy with what they were doing. Others acknowledged him, with a polite "hello" or "evening, serge", and he returned the favour. But the only person he had an actual conversation with was Stevie, who hadn't gone yet. 'Probably snowed under with paperwork too,' thought Smithy.

"Hello, serge!" Stevie said cheerfully.

"Alright, Stevie?" Smithy replied.

"Yeah, I'm okay... you?"

"Snowed under with paperwork..."

"Unlucky... You coming down to the pub? I suspect everyone else is probably already there..."

"I dunno, maybe later... Depends whether I finish this paperwork I've got..."

"Come on, serge, you can do the paperwork later..."

"I'll think about it... Right now, I'm off outside..."

"Cool... I was just about to go to the pub myself..."

Smithy and Stevie walked to the front of the building, where they both stopped.

"Well... I guess I might see you later then?" Stevie said, turning to Smithy.

"Maybe... and if I don't see you, I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay... Bye!"

"See you later, Stevie!" Smithy called after her retreating figure. He stared after he for a while, a small smile playing across his lips as he had an idea, before he turned around and went back into the station and to the male locker rooms. After getting changed and collecting some things from his locker, he walked towards the rear of the station, where he climbed the stairs leading to the roof.

When this old world starts getting me down

And people are just too much for me to face

I climb way up to the top of the stairs

And all my cares just drift right into space

On the roof, it's peaceful as can be

And there the world below can't bother me

Let me tell you now

When he got onto the roof, Smithy sat down for a while, out of sight of people on the ground, watching the world go by. He saw the brake lights of many cars, wondering if any of them were his colleagues, and where the cars were headed.

After about 5 minutes of sitting and thinking, Smithy debated whether he had give Stevie enough time to get to a pub and get a drink. He decided that he probably had, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started writing a text message.


A couple of minutes later, while in the Prince of Wales pub, Stevie received a very cryptic text from Smithy. It read: 'I need you! Come back to the station, on your own, and tell everyone... something!. And don't panic! It's nothing to worry about, I promise! S. xx' Stevie was curious, so she replied: 'Okay, I'll bite. What do you need me for?' Smithy replied about a minute later with 'You'll see... Ring me when you here...' Stevie put her phone away, finished her drink and stood up to leave.

"You going already, Stevie?" asked Mickey.

"Yeah, I just got a text from my sister asking me to go babysit for her..." Everyone groaned. "Sorry guys... But I'll see you tomorrow, okay? And tomorrow night, the first round's on me!" Practically everyone cheered at this statement.

"Bye Stevie!" chorused a few people as she walked away from the table, waving.


About 10 minutes later, Smithy saw a car drive into the car park at the front of the station from his perch on the roof. Moments later, he saw a blonde head emerge from the driver's side, which he was sure could only be Stevie. Seconds later, his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the name on the caller display: 'Stevie', confirming his suspicions. He answered the phone.

"Right, I'm here." she said.

"I know. I can see you!"

"What? Where are you? I can't see you!"

"I'm well aware of that fact! Let me give you a clue..."

"Okay then..."

At this point, he started singing to her:

"When I come home feeling tired and beat,

I go up where the air is fresh and sweet..."

"Need more?

"Sorry, I don't have a clue..." said Stevie, thoroughly confused. He continued singing.

"I get away from the hustling crowd,

And all that rat-race noise down in the street..."

"Still confused?" he asked.

"Yes..."

"You should get it in a minute..."

"Really?"

"Yes. All will become clear in a few words' time..." He paused.

"Well, let's hear it then...!" she prompted.

"On the roof, the only place I know,

Where you just have to wish to make it so,

Let's go up on the roof..."

Stevie looked up and saw Smithy waving at her. She looked horrified.

"What are you doing up there?" she gasped. "You'll fall if you're not careful!"

"It's fine! Come on up! There are stairs round the back of the building near the back entrance!" he replied.

"As long as you're sure it's safe..."

"I'm sure! I've done this loads of times! Come on, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Oh, all right then..." Smithy waited till he saw her move out of his line of sight before he hung up, so she could concentrate fully on climbing the ladder.

He turned around and walked over to the cool box that he had in the corner of the roof, and pulled out a couple of glasses and a bottle of champagne. As he opened the bottle and poured some of the liquid into the glasses, he heard the click of heels on the roof, announcing Stevie's arrival.

"Just in time! Drink?" he said, holding out one of the glasses to her.

"Thanks..." she said, taking the glass.

He started singing again:

"At night the stars put on a show for free,

And, darling, you can share it all with me,

I keep a-telling you..."

She sipped the cool liquid from it. "It's beautiful up here, isn't it?" she said after he had stopped singing.

He nodded. "It is, isn't it?" he said.

"So what did you want me for?" Stevie said, after they had sat in silence for a while.

"Well... I wanted to tell you that maybe what I said after all the stuff with Wallace and the undercover thing was wrong..."

"Oh?" she said, feigning surprise, but secretly celebrating in her head.

"Well, if you wanted to make a go of things, I don't mind...?"

"I'll think about it..."

"And if you were to agree, we could come up here... Our special meeting place..."

Right smack dab in the middle of town,

I've found a paradise that's trouble proof

"And if you just wanted to talk about stuff, we could come up here... It's more private..." he continued. She nodded, then leaned forward to kiss him.

And if this world starts getting you down,

There's room enough for two,

Up on the roof,

Up on the roof,

Oh, come on, baby,

Oh, come on, honey

She broke the kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"That was to answer you question..."

"So you wanna make a go of things?"

"Yes...!" And with that, she leaned in to kiss him again.

Everything is all right...