"With her whole body quivering in shock, she let the scissors fall from her hands and she ran."

A simple line to incorporate in to a story, why not.

…

Wake Me When The Game Is Over

Maggie/Jocelyn

…

Maggie looked up from her desk, the clock on the wall catching her eye. She gave a long sigh; realising Jocelyn was going to kill her for being late for another dinner date. She went back to typing on her laptop, stopping suddenly when she heard what she though was glass smashing. She closed her laptop and stood up slowly, looking around her small office grabbing a pair of scissors that were sitting on the side of the desk from earlier. She took a few steady breaths before making her way out of the office, walking along the landing and coming to a standstill at the stairs. She looked down at the main floor of The Echo, the place in darkness.

"Hello…Olly, is that you?"

There was no reply as Maggie switched on the light and made her way down the stairs, she got to the bottom and scanned the room to see the place empty. She heard a bang, jumping as she looked towards the door and seeing the window was smashed, a branch from the tree outside sticking through it.

"Bloody wind." She muttered as she walked over to the window, pushing the tree branch back out.

"Bugger it."

Maggie grabbed her wrist as she felt a piece of glass going over the back of her hand, turning it over to see blood. She looked around the room, putting down the scissors for a minute to grab a cloth from one of the desks and wrap it around her hand.

"I need to stop staying here so late at night; it's not good for my nerves." She said to herself as she picked the scissors up again.

She shook her heard, wincing at the throbbing on her hand as she began to make her way back up the stairs. She was just about to go back in to her office when she felt a hand going around her mouth. Her eyes went wide, panic beginning to set in as she was quickly pushed up against the wall. Maggie hid the scissors behind her before she finally looked at the person who was in front of her.

"Who are you, what do you want?" Fear in her voice as she spoke.

"End this story now lady."

"What, what are you…"

"Do it now or I'll have to make you."

…

Jocelyn sat at the dinner table, tapping her hand against an empty wine glass as she looked at the clock for the umpteenth time in as many minutes. She rolled her eyes, dialling Maggie's number, and swore under her breath as it went to voicemail. She sat thinking for a few moments before picking up her mobile again and dialling another number, waiting for the caller to pick up.

"Hello…"

"Ah Olly, it's Jocelyn Knight"

"Oh hi, was Maggie looking for me?"

"Actually I was looking for her, she was meant to come over for dinner but she's never arrived."

"She only had a few things left to do when I left, she should be there by now, have you tried her mobile?"

"Straight to voicemail, I'm worried…it's not like her to just not tune up without calling me to let me know."

"Do you want me to head over to the office, see if she's there?"

"Would you, actually I'll meet you there."

"I'll see you there."

Jocelyn blew out the candles before getting up and grabbing her car keys and jacket and heading out the door.

…

Maggie's heart was racing as the intruder leaned in close to her, she could smell the scotch on his breath.

"Look, I don't know what you think I can do but I…"

"The story you're publishing tomorrow, you need to put a stop to it now."

"I don't understand, what does this have to do with…"

Maggie's eyes went wide when the man stood back, taking off the black mask he had on.

"Mr Carmichael…"

"You're going to destroy my business if you publish this story and I can't let you do that."

"You pay your employees, the bare minimum. You have them working all the hours god sends and for what…nothing, they don't have insurance, you don't give them breaks and you're taking backhanders, the public have a right to know what their local councillor is really like."

"You need to stop this now."

"Or what, what are you going to do, tell everyone I made it up…I have evidence, documents to prove that you…"

Carmichael moved back in, pushing her further up against the wall, she closed her eyes when she felt his hand moving under her blouse.

"Get off me…"

"Stop the story and I will."

"No."

Maggie began to panic when she felt his other hand going to the hem of her trousers, fear beginning to overtake her she began to scream.

"I SAID NOOOO."

Maggie managed to release her right hand from behind her as Carmichael leaned in and let out a loud groan as Maggie felt the scissors her had in her hand going in to him.

…

Olly was the first to arrive at The Echo, locking his car door and walking towards the office to see Jocelyn pulling up. He waited for the older woman to exit her car and join him.

"Olly, thank you for meeting me."

"No, it's no trouble. I'm a little worried myself now, it's not like her not to answer her mobile."

"I could be reading too much in to things but I…"

Olly and Maggie looked towards the office when they heard the scream from inside.

"Maggie…" Jocelyn whispered.

Olly grabbed the key from his satchel and ran to unlock the door, looking at Jocelyn when they noticed the broken window.

"Quickly Olly." She instructed.

Olly unlocked the door, both himself and Jocelyn rushing inside. The main floor was in darkness; Jocelyn looked at the window and saw blood.

"Olly, there's blood here."

"Maggie, it's Olly, I'm here with Jocelyn…are you here?"

There was no response, as they made their way up the stairs, Jocelyn going ahead of Olly. When she got to the top of the stairs she came face to face with Maggie who was in a daze.

"Oh my god." Olly said.

"Maggie, talk to me." Jocelyn said.

Maggie looked up, her body quivering in shock; she let the scissors fall from her hands as she rushed in to Jocelyn's arms, crying.

"Oh Maggie…what's happened here." She whispered in to her ear.

"I didn't have…a choice, I had too I…"

"It's okay, everything's going to be okay, I promise. Olly, call Detective Inspector Hardy now please."

"Sure, will she…"

"Go, now please."

Olly's hand shook as he called the police to let them know what had happened, seeing Maggie the way she was, wasn't something he'd ever witnessed before and it honestly scared the hell out of him.

…

Jocelyn had her arm tightly around Maggie when the police arrived; Ellie made her way up the stairs with Alec and saw the body of Councillor Carmichael lying on the ground.

"Bloody hell is that…"

"Carmichael? What the bloody hell happened in here?"

"I think you'll find, that's my job to find out now."

Ellie and Alec looked around to see Brian behind them, dressed in his white overalls.

"Miller…go and check on Maggie and take a statement from her."

"Sure, looks like self defense though."

"You never know."

"It's Maggie for god sake, don't start with all that shit."

Alec rolled his eyes as Ellie walked away from him and in to Maggie's office to see Jocelyn Knight sitting beside her, her arm securely around the younger woman who was as white as a sheet. Ellie offered a warm smile as she came over to them.

"Maggie, you alright love."

"I've had better days petal."

Ellie grabbed a chair and bought it over to sit in front of Maggie and Jocelyn.

"I know you've had a shock but could you tell me exactly what happened here tonight."

"Does she have to do this right now?"

"Jocelyn, you know better than to ask that. It's better to do it now when it's fresh in her mind. The sooner she's done this, the sooner she can go home."

"It's alright Jocelyn, Ellie's right."

"Thank you, so…what happened tonight?"

"I'd stayed behind to finish off some work when I thought I heard a crash down stairs, when I came down, the window was smashed, I didn't think anything off it, it was windy and I just, went back up stairs."

"How did you hurt your hand?"

"Oh, I…I caught it on the glass when I pushed the tree branch back out."

"What happened next Maggie?"

Maggie closed her eyes tightly before beginning again with a shaky breath.

"When I got back up stairs, someone grabbed me from behind, covered my mouth with their hand and pushed me against the wall just outside there where…"

"It's alright Maggie." Jocelyn replied quietly.

"He had a black mask thing over his face, I didn't recognise his voice. He kept telling me to stop the story and that it was going to ruin him and his company. He kept yelling and then when I said no he took off his mask. He…he leaned in to me, he…he put his hand under my blouse, I tried to push him away but I…"

"It's alright Maggie, take your time." Ellie said softly.

"When I felt his hand going to my trousers I just, I started to panic and I…I had the scissors in my hand and when I told him to stop and he didn't, I didn't have a choice, god knows what he could have done if I…"

"It was self defence Ellie, and it will stand up in court, I'll make sure of that."

"I don't think it will come to that."

"I killed him, didn't I?"

"You didn't have a choice Maggie, that much is obvious. Brian's going to take some swabs from your hands and after that, Jocelyn can take you home, alright."

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry you had to go through this tonight."

…

Olly was downstairs when Ellie came down, carrying the swabs Brian had taken from Maggie for evidence.

"Ellie, how is she?"

"She's tough, she'll be alright."

"I've never seen her like that before, it was…"

"Yeah I know. Look there's not much you can do here, Jocelyn's going to take Maggie home, maybe you should go home too."

"She might need me."

"Olly I…"

"Look, she's not just my boss alright, she's my mentor, I look up to her. I want to be her one day. I'll do whatever she needs me to do."

"Olly…."

Ellie and Olly looked behind them to see Maggie and Jocelyn behind them, Jocelyn never leaving Maggie's side.

"Ellie's right, you can't do anything tonight, go home. I'm going to Jocelyn's tonight. Tomorrow morning I want you in here, 7am and we put this story out there…together."

"Maggie I don't think you should be…"

"Jocelyn, I'm not going to let the likes of Councillor Carmichael stop me from doing what I do best, I do that, then he wins."

Maggie watched the sad look in Jocelyn's eyes as she nodded her head.

"I know you worry about me but I promise you that I'll be alright."

Jocelyn finally agreed, before Maggie leaned in and kissed the older woman, a surprised look on Ellie and Olly's faces as they watched the couple.

"Olly, 7am…yes."

"You got it boss."

"Take me home Jocelyn."

"With pleasure."

Jocelyn smiled as she wrapped her arm around Maggie's waist, leading her out to the car. Olly smiled as he watched them leave.

"Yup, I defiantly want to be her." He whispered.

…

-Fin