A/N: This has been bugging me for a couple of days now, it was practically demanding to be written. Please feel free to review, I hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own New Tricks but whoever decided to show Strickland in sports gear in the last episode must have read my mind. ;-)

Unusually, the UCOS office was a quiet working environment. Brian was typing up a report on his laptop, Steve was making the morning coffees and Sandra was sorting out her desk. That was until Gerry breezed in at half past nine, grinning like the cat who had got the cream.

"Where the hell have you been? You're half an hour late," Sandra was stood in the doorway to her office before he'd even had the chance to put his coat away.

"Sorry Guv, traffic was a nightmare, there'd been a crash on the roundabout," Gerry apologised. "But then I got talking to Mick on reception, and guess what?"

"What?" She replied wearily. Ever since she had awoken at four a.m. that morning she had known it was going to be a long day, and Mick was a bigger gossip than all the women in the Met put together. She really wasn't in the mood for another rumour about who was having an affair with the Commissioner or who had tricked one of the young PCs into making fifty coffees.

Gerry leant on his desk, clearly getting ready to tell a story. "Mick said that John from I.T told him that when he got called up to fix the Assistant Commissioner's computer last night, he'd left his email inbox open, and guess what was in there?"

The tale had attracted the attention of the two other team members.

"An intimate picture, if you get my meaning?" Steve winked.

"No, better than that," Gerry replied, enjoying the mystery he had created.

"An email from the spooks?"

"Nah, nothing like that Brian, don't get too excited mate,"

"For God's sake Gerry, just put us all out of our misery." Sandra groused, ever the voice of reason.

"An email from the Commissioner titled 'DAC Strickland accusation',"

"What accusation?" Sandra asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Did he open the email?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, look I know he shouldn't have done, but we have a right to know what he's been accused of at least, yeah?"

"It's an invasion of privacy, he'll probably get the sack if they find out," Sandra pointed out. "So what has he been accused of?"

"Well, apparently the email said that an anonymous tip-off has been received, saying that Strickers accepted a payment from a national newspaper to leak a story about an ongoing investigation."

A silence fell in the room, each one of them trying to make sense of this information.

"Nah, he wouldn't do something like that, would he?" Brian asked to no-one in particular.

"He seems like a nice enough bloke, keeps himself to himself though, I guess that could be seen as a bit suspicious." Steve observed.

"Yeah, but they all seem nice enough until they're carted away in handcuffs and put up in front of a court, then it all starts to turn nasty," Gerry pointed out.

"Is he in today?"

"Uh…yeah, I think I saw his car outside, why?"

"I'm going to see him, I want to know what's going on," Sandra replied. She wasn't sure that she believed that Strickland could do something like that, something that betrayed the Met. All he ever talked about was doing things by the book. He was often the first to moan at her when they did bent the rules, why would he accept a bribe from the press and put his own reputation and career on the line?

"Just leave it, Guv, that's the beauty of these things, just sit back and let it play out," Gerry smirked. "Anyone want another drink?"

"This affects us too Gerry, if he's corrupt then we need to know about it. I just can't understand why he'd do that, though, it's a sure fire path to ruining your career. Plus as a DAC you aren't exactly earning peanuts, quite the opposite in fact, why would he be tempted by money?" The more she thought about it, the more questions she had. She was going to sort all this out.

"You're right, it's all a bit strange." Brian added.

"Right, I'll be back down soon, if Mrs Rayner rings will you tell her I'll call back as soon as I can?"

"'Course, Guv," Gerry nodded. "Have fun up there,"

The journey up to her boss's office took her less than five minutes, but everyone she saw seemed to be talking about him. She only caught fragments of their conversation, but what struck her was how quickly everyone seemed to believe something that they had no way of knowing was true. She was in a building full of coppers, yet everyone seemed to ignore one of the main rules of policing: a suspect is innocent until proven guilty.

When she reached the corridor where his office was situated, it was unnervingly quiet, except from a young PC. No-one wanted to associate with a corrupt copper, she supposed.

"Is the DAC in his office?" she asked the petite young girl.

"Yes ma'am, he hasn't come out since he arrived this morning," she replied with a small, sad smile. Sandra got the sense that she wanted to talk about the allegations but was holding back because of her rank.

"Thanks," she replied kindly. The girl walked away in the opposite direction, towards the stairs. She looked like Sandra when she had just joined the force, all long blonde hair and big blue eyes. Although she had always thought confidence to be the key to progressing up the ranks.

She took a deep breath and knocked sharply on the oak-effect door. There was no reply, so she knocked again. Still no answer. Perhaps he was in a meeting with his boss? No, the Assistant Commissioner didn't hold meetings before ten, and it was only quarter to.

"Sir? It's Sandra," she said, raising her voice so he would hear her. "I know you're in there, I just want-"

She was cut off by the door opening to reveal the drawn, dishevelled face of her superior officer. "Come in," he said quietly, retreating to the sanctuary of his desk. "Close the door behind you, we wouldn't want anyone listening in, would we? Although they've probably put secret cameras in my office overnight anyway. Are you wearing a wire, by any chance? Been sent undercover by the AC to get intelligence on me?" he asked sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, sitting heavily in the chair opposite him. "Don't be stupid," she snapped. "Although word has it that you already have been."

His face fell.

"Sorry, sir, that was inappropriate of me. Sorry." She apologised, looking down at her clasped hands.

"Don't worry about it, it's me that's at fault here. I should be the one saying sorry, not you."

"It's true then?" she raised her head, eyes widened. It hadn't taken much for him to admit to it, but why would he do it in the first place?

"No, god no." He put his head in his hands. "I don't want to burden you with my problems, but you deserve to know."

"Know what, if you didn't do it?" She was getting confused now, and therefore annoyed.

"It's true about the anonymous tip-off being made, but I never accepted a bribe from the press. The tip-off was made by my ex-wife. She has some…connections with the newspapers, and somehow she must have found out that I was overseeing the Hargreaves murder investigation and pinned the leak on me." He explained.

"How do you know it was her if the tip-off was anonymous? And why would she do something like that?"

"She texted me admitting it was her. That's her style, you see, ruining me and taking all the glory for it," he inhaled deeply. Sandra could see that this was difficult for him to admit. He never opened up about his personal life, in fact she could write down everything she knew about him on the back of a postage stamp.

"At the moment, I have no access to my children whatsoever. I haven't seen them for five years now, I can't call them, email them, send them cards, nothing. Last month, I went to their school and tried to take them on holiday, I know it was stupid but I just wanted to see them, see how they've grown up, I'm their father, it's my right to be there for my children. Anyway, she accused me of attempting to kidnap them but she didn't press charges. I knew then that she was planning something worse and this is it. She knows that my career is the only thing I have left and now she's taken that away from me too."

She was taken aback, both by his honestly and his explanation. "Robert, that's terrible, I had no idea things were that bad for you."

He smiled shyly at her rare use of his first name. "It's okay, I'm not exactly one for wearing my heart on my sleeve."

"Neither am I, but people see through me anyway. I'm sorry I've never noticed how you're feeling."

"It's not your fault, honestly. You have enough on your plate without worrying about me."

"I am worried about you because of all this. How can your ex-wife prove that you were the one who leaked the information?"

"She has journalist friends who she can either pay or sleep with to bribe them into saying it was me, unfortunately. She always finds a way," he sighed.

"Would they stand up in court, under oath, if it comes to that?"

"If the price is right, I suppose. Or the sex." He cracked, but there was no laughter in his eyes.

"Bloody hell, she really is a piece of work." Sandra remarked. She thought her own marriage had turned nasty; it was nothing compared to this.

"Yep. She's got me backed into a corner." He was staring at his computer screen, lost in his thoughts, when he suddenly jumped out of his chair. "Shit! I've got a meeting with the Commissioner at ten past, I need to go."

She laughed. He frowned. "What's funny?"

"You swore," she chuckled. "You never swear. Besides, you look like crap. At least put a tie on."

He shook his head, properly smiling for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. "Thank you for that lovely compliment, you've made my day,"

"I'm glad," she replied, walking over to his coat stand to retrieve the pale blue tie hanging from one of the hooks, where he kept it as a spare. She took it and walked back over to him, where he was putting his suit jacket on. She placed the tie around his neck gently and tied it for him, efficiently yet perfectly. When she had finished smoothing his collar down, she met his gaze. He was looking down at her with the strangest expression: surprise, mixed with what she could only describe as tenderness. Love, even.

"Thank you," he whispered. "Not for just for the tie, but for…everything."

"I'm with you all the way in this, I'm here anytime you need me." Subconsciously, her hands had reached up from where they had rested on his collarbone and were massaging the back of his neck, gently stroking the fine hairs there.

He couldn't think of the words to express how he felt at that moment, so instead he placed his hands on the small of her back and drew her towards him, tenderly brushing his lips across hers. She responded equally as softly, pulling him even closer to her and deepening the kiss. Eventually, they broke apart, both gasping for air.

"I believe you have a meeting to go to," she said teasingly, her face beautifully flushed.

"I believe it can wait. You, on the other hand, are not a patient woman." He countered.

"That's correct, but the meeting could potentially save your career."

"My career doesn't give me kisses like that."

She laughed, the warmth of her breath caressing his face. "I'd be worried if it did." She pulled him towards her lips for a second time for a quick kiss before drawing away. "Now go, you'll be late!"

"Whatever you say," he grinned, mock saluting before exiting the room. He paused with his hand on the door handle. "Can I see you tonight?"

"Mine or yours?"

"Yours, if you don't mind, there might be press outside mine if word gets out,"

She nodded, brushing past him as he held the door open for her. "It's a date."