This Woman's Work
Summary: Sam/Max/Smithy. When Sam, Max and Smithy are forced to work a case together and it pushes their relationships both professional and personal to the limit.
Dedication: For Beccy :) Who shares the SMax/Smixon love!
1.
Detective Inspector Samantha Nixon sat alone in her office, the blinds closed so that she couldn't look out and, more importantly, her team could not look in at her. She felt annexed from the people who had once been her co-workers. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for the promotion to DI and the perks it brought, she just felt so damn alone. Especially now that Phil Hunter was gone, catching bigger fish with the Special Ops team. She sighed, picking up her coffee cup and taking a sip. It was cold. Throwing the plastic container into the bin with a flash of anger, she pushed herself up from her desk and exited the office in search of hot coffee. As she approached the coffee machine in the main CID room she saw Jo sticking a notice with 'out of order' written on it to the machine. Sam scowled at the machine.
"Sorry, ma'am." Jo Masters said apologetically, as if the fact that the coffee machine was broken was somehow her fault. It was another thing Sam resented about her new position; she had lost a good friend and confidant in Jo.
Sam smiled at her, words failing her. Once upon a time, not so long ago, she and Jo would have stopped to have a friendly chat, may have socialised after work or gossiped about their colleagues, but now. In gaining a promotion she had lost so much.
She headed downstairs to the corridor that separated CID from the rest of the building. She made her way straight towards the coffee machine, her brain's need for caffeine leading her feet along the corridor.
"Christ! Sorry, ma'am." She heard a cockney accent apologise.
Sam looked up. "God Smithy, I'm the one who should be sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" She tried to laugh it off, but the fact that Smithy's hands were gripping each of her upper arms was making it difficult for her to concentrate. "Thanks." She said, when he finally released her. "I'm going for coffee, do you want one?" She asked.
"Actually guv, I need to talk you about something..." Smithy said, his green eyes refusing to meet her's. "In private."
"Okay," Sam was getting a little worried as she followed him into an empty interview room. "What's going on Smithy? And please, call me Sam." She sighed; the 'guvs' and the 'ma'ams' were wearing thin already.
Smithy closed the interview room door and leaned against it, still looking incredibly uncomfortable.
"What is it, Smithy? The suspense is killing me!" Sam said, half amused, half angry.
"Your daughter is in the waiting room. Jared's been abducted." He said, finally managing to look her in the eye.
"What?" Sam demanded. "Abducted?! Where from? I need to see her." She said, standing up and making for the door but Smithy stopped her.
"You need to calm down." He said gently.
"Calm down? My grandson has been kidnapped!" She blurted out.
"I know, and I understand your pain Sam, but Abi's in a state and she really needs you to keep a clear head, okay?"
Sam nodded, Smithy's words made sense and she took a few deep breaths. "Okay, explain everything you know so far to me, and then we'll go and see Abi."
When Sam entered the waiting room the blonde young woman who looked up at her couldn't have looked further from her daughter. Abigail Nixon had now lost of all of her baby weight and more besides, her long pale blonde hair hung loosely around her shoulders and her eyes were underlined with nearly black circles. Sam felt a rush of maternal instincts and quickly crossed the room to where her daughter was sitting and wrapped her in her arms. Smithy stood a few feet away looking, and feeling, slightly awkward. He had explained to Sam that Abi had decided to come to Sun Hill to visit her mother on the spur of the moment. They hadn't seen each other since the New Year and she was hoping for some parenting advice about Jared. Also, Abi had wanted some time away from her most recent boyfriend Mark whom she had just split up from, he was just having trouble accepting the relationship was over. Abi thought the best thing for her and for her son was to get away from Liverpool and come and stay with her mother until things blew over.
The train ride down from Liverpool had been fairly uneventful and Abi had spent the journey staring out of the window as Jared slept in her lap. Before going to the station to find her mother, Abi had stopped at the park to let Jared play and let off steam after the long train ride. She had turned her back for two minutes to help someone find directions and when she looked back, Jared was gone. She had looked everywhere she could think of but still she was unable to find her son. She had stumbled blindly towards Sun Hill Police Station and was lucky to see a familiar face on the reception desk and she had poured out her story to Smithy.
"Honey, we'll get him back." Sam assured her daughter, her eyes meeting Smithy's. They were both fully aware about how important time was when missing children were concerned. The more time that passed, the less likely it was that the child would make it back home alive.
Abi sobbed into her mother's arms, her pale face becoming blotchy from the effort of crying. The sight touched Smithy.
"Would you two like to go somewhere more private?" He asked. "My office is free."
Sam looked up at him gratefully. "Thanks Smithy." She replied, helping her daughter to her feet and following the sergeant to his office.
While he left Sam and Abi in his office to talk, Smithy headed upstairs to the CID offices, hoping to run into Jo. He knew that Sam would need all the support she could get from her colleagues in tracking down Jared and a friendly face would help. Smithy pushed open the door to the CID office and looked around for DC Masters.
"Where's Jo?" He asked to no one in particular.
"The DCI just assigned her to an undercover sting operation, which will take at least the next week. Why?" DS Max Carter was the first to reply.
"Damn." Smithy cursed. Max was looking at him strangely and he knew he had to give him some excuse. "It's nothing." He told Max. "I just needed her to help Sam with something."
"Well, I can help." Max replied, he could sense that Smithy wasn't telling him everything and that made his suspicious, not to mention curious. "I'm only filling out some forms. What's she working on?"
Smithy guiltily shifted his weight from one foot to another. What was going with Sam and Abi was private and he already felt he had given away far too much to Max.
"Nothing important." He lied, and turned to leave. So much for his master plan involving Jo. He couldn't think of anyone else that Sam was close to who would help her, apart from him, of course. In the past he would have had no hesitation about going straight to Phil Hunter, but he was on the other side of London now and Smithy knew that, if Sam really wanted Phil, she would call him herself. Before he had a chance to escape, Max was up from behind his desk and was gripping Smithy by the arm. He kept his voice low to avoid attracting attention from the few detectives working in the office; his face was close to Smithy's to make his message clear.
"Whatever's going on Sergeant Smith, you have to tell me. You can't just come up here, acting all shifty, and then deny anything is going on. What is it? Is Sam in trouble?"
Smithy sighed. "Look, it's private, okay, that's why I didn't tell you." Max nodded and waited for Smithy to continue. He swallowed before he spoke again. "Sam's daughter Abigail has come to visit, but her young son went missing while Abi was waiting for her mum to finish her shift."
Max swore. "Are there any leads?" He asked. Both of them painfully aware of how important the first twenty-four hours were in a missing child investigation, especially considering how young Jared Nixon was.
"Not yet." Smithy said. "He went missing from Canley Park and hasn't been seen since. From what Abi told me she was helping someone with some directions and when she looked back, two minutes later, Jared was gone."
"Could be a snatch." Max observed. "Using the foil of asking for directions in order to abduct the kid. Are there any suspects in the frame?" He asked.
Smithy shrugged. "At the moment only Abi's ex boyfriend Mark who she left up in Liverpool."
"Could it be connected to one of the cases Sam is working on?"
Smithy shook his head firmly. "No, Abi's visit was a spur of the moment sort of thing. She wanted to spend some time with her mum after her recent break up with her boyfriend."
By now Max had released his grip on Smithy's arm and had increased the distance between them. He looked thoughtful, going over the possibilities in his head.
Finally he said. "I want in on this case, Smithy."
He stuttered. "I think that should be up to Sam, I've already told you far too much already Max."
"Let's go and ask her then." He said, pushing passed Smithy on his way to the door.
"Wait! Max!" Smithy called, but it was too late, the detective was already striding purposely towards the stairs.
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