An AU story set after the gripping series 2 finale. I seriously hope this becomes Canon but we'll have to wait and see. WARNING; contains potential spoilers.

Morse sat on the bunk in the police cell. It seemed impossible he should be here, falsely accused of murder. He had been aware of friction between the city and county forces in Oxford ever since he had arrived, but had never dreamt it would escalate into this dire mess. He should not be here; he should be at Thursday's side. Morse wasn't sure if he believed in God or not at this point, but he found himself praying hard that Thursday would pull through, and not just for his sake, but that of Thursday's wife, Win, and their children.

Morse looked up to Thursday, had become very fond of him and his family, a feeling he was certain was reciprocated. Thursday had bailed him out of trouble more than once, taken care of him when he'd been injured or unsure of himself and trusted his instincts when the other coppers had ridiculed and mocked him. Even Superintendent Bright had been nice to him tonight, patting him on the shoulder and telling him that Thursday was in good hands.

All he could do was hope that he could find a way out of this.

OO

In the casualty department of the Radcliffe infirmary the surgeon's battled to save DI Fred Thursday's life. He was bleeding heavily, but they had got the bullets out. It would be critical for the next few hours as they rehydrated and transfused him to replace the blood he had lost.

Win was in the corridor, biting her nails almost to the quick as she waited. She wondered where Morse was, no one had told her anything about what had gone down that night, including how Fred came to be here fighting for his life. She had a feeling that the young Detective Constable must have been held up. At least she hoped so, because she did not believe for one moment that Morse would leave Fred if he needed him. The two men had forged a strong father-son type bond, especially since Morse had lost his own father the previous year.

At that point in time of course she had no idea that Morse had troubles of his own.

OO

Superintendent Bright was shocked as he had seen Morse leaving with the officers from County and not of his own volition. He felt sure that any phone calls and pleas for information would fall on deaf ears even if he pulled rank on them, which he was entitled to do.

To begin with Bright had resented Morse, thinking he was far too clever for his own good, but with time he had come to develop a grudging respect for the young officer. He had solved cases that most of the officers clearly did not have the intellect for, finding subtle connections between victims and suspects. He regretted getting angry with him the previous day about Morse's constant insistence that Alderman Winterbourne was responsible for the goings on at Blenheim Vale Correctional Institution. Bright realised he had been unable to see the wood for the trees and he had buried his head in the sand, refusing to accept the notion of corruption in the ranks. This was what it had led to. The only people who could have told him the truth were indisposed. Standish and Deare were dead and Thursday was fighting for his life. The missing boy, Tommy Cork, had been in an upstairs room so probably had seen nothing.

Bright needed to rescue Morse, he knew the young man could not have done what he was accused of, but how did you prove someone's innocence when it was your word against a legion of corruption?

He just had to hope, that was all he had. But would they even allow him to see Morse?

He had to think of something, he had to find something to do while he waited for news of DI Thursday's condition. At the moment he was getting no feedback, so could only hope that no news would prove to be good news.