Hello everyone ;') Hope you all enjoy this, I'm not entirely sure where it's going at the moment, and it's not exactly quality fanfic, but what can I say? I fancied writing something – I'm essentially aiming for some fluffy chapters mixed in with lots of action and angst, mainly centred around Gill. Obviously.

If you don't already know, I'm writing to Amelia and telling her all about our fandom on Fanfiction/Twitter and how much we all love her. We're all writing our names and I'm putting them together with pictures and messages; if anyone's interested, just tell me!

Chapter 1:

"Okay," Gill said – she spoke unusually softly, but she made up for this with the evident moodiness in her tone – as she entered the briefing room, "Can everyone quieten down?"

She was a small woman, both in height and build, but she commanded respect. The officers in the room fell silent, feeling a little like school children; they were unsure of what they'd done wrong, but sure she was about to enlighten them to their mistakes.

"Morning, Ma'am."

"Good morning, DC Lumb. Nice you could make it into work today."

"Nice for who exactly, Ma'am?"

"Wow, you're here too," she sat down, her eyes piercing Rachel's, daring her to continue laughing, "This really is a turn up for the books. You might want to get the camera out, DC Broadhurst, and record this momentous event."

Lee looked concerned, "Are you- are you okay?"

She arched an eyebrow, "I'll be better once you lot have stopped fannying around and listened to me."

Nobody else dared to speak. Gill stood up again, began pacing backwards and forwards across the already thinning carpet.

"What the fu..." Kevin began to whisper across the table.

She spun around, her eyes burning, her voice suddenly filling the room, "How dare you use that kind of language? Especially in front of me, your senior officer? You've had countless warnings, DC Lumb, and every time I've picked you back up from whatever pit you've fallen into, and I've wiped shit from your arse and given you another chance, but do you know what? I'm not willing to do that any more."

Mitch stood up, "Gill, he didn't..."

"You never learn from your mistakes, do you? You're so busy slagging everyone else off, being insensitive at the worst possible times, throwing not just your own career, but everyone else's, into jeopardy."

She paused, as though she expected Kevin to defend himself, but he sat silently gazing up at her. Dug his nails deep into his cheeks, like he just needed something to do with his hands, and left raw indentations.

"You're lazy, you're childish. You just..." she sat down again, slammed a fist down on the table, "Do you know what, Kevin? I don't want you on my team any more. I don't want someone like you working for me, someone who's incompetent, someone I cannot – and probably never will – trust. It's a waste of money, and what's more, you're a waste of my time and space and effort."

"Ma'am, I..."

"Get out, Kevin."

"But..."

"Get out, or I will drag you out."

He jumped up, a line of cuts running across his face from his nails. Rachel tensed herself as he passed the bin, wondering if he was going to kick off and throw things around the office, but he simply walked from the room, letting the door swing shut behind him.

"Shit," Gill murmured, "Shit."

She slipped her glasses from her face and dropped them onto the desk, then stood too. As she passed under the harsh light beamed on her from the ceiling, following Kevin from the room, her officers clearly saw the glistening tears that welled in her eyes.

There was a long, long pause as the door closed again. Rachel reached out and folded her boss's glasses; Mitch picked up his pen and drew a cartoon question mark. Nobody really knew what to say, or how to say it. It was always Kevin who broke awkward silences, and now... God, now he wasn't here.

Lee met Pete's gaze, and saw that his feelings were mirrored. Yeah, Kevin was an arse sometimes, but in Rachel's words, he made the rest of them look good. He had a heart of gold, underneath all the crap. Every police office needed an idiot; without someone to make them smile, they couldn't do the job they did.

Rachel picked up the office phone, dialled a number. Her colleagues watched her hands shaking as she listened to the ringing tone.

"Good afternoon, this is DS Scott from MIT," Janet's calm, efficient voice echoed down the line, "How can I help you?"

"Jan."

"Is that you, Rachel? Are you okay?"

She nodded, then realised how stupid it was to nod at a phone. "Yeah. No. Um, I'm sorry, I know you needed this afternoon off to go Christmas shopping, but we... we've got a problem."

Janet breathed out slowly, and just the sound comforted Rachel. After Andy's departure, Janet had been promoted, and at first Rachel had been worried it would be a barrier between them. Perhaps, though she was ashamed to admit it, she'd been jealous – if she hadn't missed that exam, it could've been her as the sergeant.

"What's happened?"

"It's Gill, she... she's upset. It's difficult to..." she glanced at Lee, who now had his head in his hands, "Can I explain when you get here?"

But nothing had changed between them. If anything, they'd become closer with time. Rachel, before she'd joined MIT, hadn't ever really known what it was like to have someone to wholly rely on. Someone she knew cared about what she was going through, someone she knew she could always call if she needed to cry, or to laugh.

Before she'd met Janet, people had always let her down – her mother, her brother, Nick – and she'd hardened her heart and stopped loving anyone, for a while, because it hurt too much. But Janet had slowly helped heal the pain, and Rachel truly adored her, although she never really told her that.

"Of course. I'll be there if about ten minutes, okay?"

"Yeah."

She should tell her more often, just emphasize how wonderful she was, Rachel thought now. The day Janet had been stabbed had been the longest of her life. Waiting in the car park, wondering if her best friend was still clinging to life or whether the doctors were announcing her death.

"It'll be alright, Rach," Janet said softly.

"Yeah. See you soon."

XxXxX

Guess you'll all just have to wait a little bit longer to find out who's been murdered, then. Please review!xx