T-L-C
By Leah
Summary
An AU Beth and Lucas ditty. John Bateman will not make an appearance; neither will Vaughn and Maya.
After an operation in Morocco goes awfully wrong, Beth gets a bit of TLC-aka-tender loving care.
Disclaimer
I do not own a thing. Drat! Rated PG 15 for angst, swearing and some cuddling.
Ruth's flat, the lounge room
"Bugger it, I'm sodding bored!" Beth grumbled whilst leaning on her crutches and scowling balefully at her DVD collection. "I've got to get rid of these romantic comedies! What on earth was I thinking buying them? Blarragh!"
Perhaps she should loan them to Ruth? Then again, maybe not. The older woman seemed to be quite averse to go into any discussion about past lovers or attractions except once, blushingly, agreeing with her that Lucas North had a very fit bottom and that his hair was always oddly in place even during a national crisis.
The doorbell rang, The officer forgot herself and abandoned her crutches.
"Ow!" Beth exclaimed, hopping forward. "This never happened to me in the private sector. Why the hell did I bloody leave/"
The doorbell rang again.
"I'm coming ya pilleck!" she hollered, huffing as she hopped. "Calm down!"
Beth opened the door and stared at Lucas North as though he were a total stranger. The section chief wore a black leather jacket, a white cotton shirt, leg and arse hugging faded blue jeans and a pair of shiny dark chocolate RM Williams.
"Ah … hmmm …. Hello," she managed waspishly.
North's strange greyish blue eyes widened at her curious behaviour.
"Over dosed on the pain medication?" he inquired in his deep baritone. "Naughty girl."
"No, I just didn't expect to see you," Beth replied wryly, leaning on her crutches. "Thought you'd be hard at it back at the grid. You only got a sprained wrist, Lucas."
North looked uneasy at the tiled floor beneath his boots.
"It was my fault you got the broken ankle, Beth," he told her wearily, looking up at her.
Beth stiffened, blinked and lowered her head, biting her bottom lip.
They had been posing as well-to-do newly weds during an operation in Morocco. After their cover was blown to smithereens the bastards they'd been spying on decided torture would be the best vindication.
She'd never been tortured before in her life. Seen it done, yes?
Prepared for it?
Hell no.
She had screamed like a newly whelped baby the moment the bone was cracked in her foot. She cried and cried afterwards, only stopping when a blow to her head knocked her out.
Beth licked her lips, looking Lucas in the eye.
He felt bad.
Horrible.
All because he had gotten off so lightly with a sprained wrist.
"Come in," she mumbled. "I'll put the kettle on."
OoO
"You're ankle's swollen," Lucas said not missing the bloated black and blue foot Beth carefully rested on the cream and gold ottoman in front of her.
"It was a pretty shitty break," she replied grouchily, staring down at her steaming mug of tea. "They knew what they were doing."
"Luckily so did Tariq and Dmitri," the section chief replied taking a seat across from her.
"Otherwise you would have got a broken ankle as well?" she asked, unable to resist smirking at him.
"Yep."
Beth licked her lips.
"I was distracted," she murmured. "That's why we got caught. It was my fault. I was thinking about Kye when I should have been paying attention."
She put a hand to her head, raking it through the hay coloured tresses.
"I'm an idiot," the younger officer choked out. "I should have-I could have-"
She started to cry, her shaking hands causing the mug to spill.
Acting quickly, Lucas darted over and took the mug from Beth, placing the sloshing object on the wooden table between them.
"Oi," he murmured, sitting beside her. "Be careful. You'll ruin Ruth's carpet and she'll have both our guts for garters."
He pulled her inward for a hug, sighing as he rested his chin on her head.
"I know," he said quietly, empathically whilst she cried, rubbing her arm. "It wasn't easy. I know."
She clung to him like a terrified animal, shaking violently as she tried to control the sobs that relentlessly tore through her.
"God woman … I told you to smile at him," Lucas told Beth, stroking her hair.
She sniffed and peered up at him.
"Whassat?" she mumbled.
He grinned down at her.
"All you'd have to do is flash your dimples at them and they're putty in your hands, Beth. It works on Harry."
It took a minute then finally it dawned on the female spook what her boss was doing.
She laughed. A timid, shaky sound, but she wasn't crying anymore.
Tears of a different kind sailed down her cheeks. The crushing depression in her chest disappeared.
Beth gasped with breathless relief then beamed radiantly at him.
He was still grinning down at her, eyes sparkling from the hilarity of it all.
"Anytime," he said.
OoO
When Ruth got home later that day, she was most surprised and intrigued to see Beth Bailey curled against Lucas North's side, sleeping like a content baby.
The romantic Evershed seldom let out smiled joyfully at the pair then retreated back into the shadows from whence it came.
'Let them be happy,' she thought and backed away, deciding to head to the grocers for cat food and red wine.
OoO
With some aid from Lucas, Beth sat up and replaced her ankle on the ottoman.
"Bugger," she growled.
Lucas frowned at her.
"Ankle?"
"Yep."
He crouched before it.
"Let me look," he said. "Mum always reckoned I could have been a masseuse if I had bothered."
He gently took her foot in his hands.
Cradling the heel with his left, he began to rub along her foot with his right, with slender fingers stroking along blemished skin.
Beth leant back against the seat, closing her eyes.
"Thank you," she mumbled.
She could swear he was smiling again.
"Anytime."
The end
Authors note
I was in an oddly fluffy mood whilst writing this, which is really odd because I usually like to type out pain, smut and misery, lol!
I don't think either of these characters is really, really out of character. Beth was a little fragile after the whole Kye-spelling-ep and I think Lucas did genuinely care for her and they would have gotten it together given the chance.
Originally this was going to be a sequel to "Filthy Water" but I prefer this as a stand alone. It's less depressing this way.