Parting with Midsummer
T
Midsummer has brought DS Dan Scott more than he had ever dared to imagine. But it is his time to leave. Cully says her goodbyes.
Set during the start of Season 9, between 'The house in the woods' and 'Dead letters'.

The train station in Causton was mostly empty when Daniel Scott stood on the platform. In the distance he could see the train speeding away. The train that he was supposed to be on. It wasn't the first time he had missed a train. When he came to Midsummer the first time two years ago, he had missed the train as well. DCI Barnaby had not been too pleased with his tardy arrival by missing the fast train and that there were troubles on the lines.

His new boss had not been very impressed by him at any point that first day, he recalled. Not having any housing but also his attitude to the country side, his charm and his manner of addressing the family of victims were things that annoyed DCI Barnaby at the time. In his turn he was not impressed by being send out to such a position and didn't think he had much to learn from this place or a countryside DCI. Of course Midsummer had changed his mind. How could it not? The countryside and its inhabitants weren't that bad and the work here was not as boring as he had thought it would be. Quite the contrary actually. Some of the murders he had seen here, he had never come across in London before. It did seem as if the countryside housed more nutters than the big city (no holiday was safe). Also the way DCI Barnaby went about things, was not something he was completely used to. But he liked it. This DCI didn't always keep to the protocols or he tried to find a way around how it was supposed to be done. He had learned quite a few tricks. Of course he didn't always agree with the man's style. In more ways than one.

He did think he had redeemed himself a little in DCI Barnaby's eyes and they had gotten through the awkward times. Though he never was one to search out approval from his superiors so blatantly, there was something in the way that this DCI approached him when he did not do as he wanted, that almost made him feel bad. Almost. Of course his eagerness to want to go back to London had helped a lot in that regard too in the first few months. Also knowing the man's wife and daughter from his first day, felt like he was a part of something more. He had never met his bosses' wives before in such a private manner. On the odd occasion he had seen one or two at a party or something. But he had never quite gotten to know them like he had the Barnaby's. Another charm Midsummer seemed to have brought. Though DCI Barnaby would argue he was the charmer, not Midsummer and he had just weaseled his way in. They had a mutual respect for one another in their work and Barnaby the father had come to accept that he cared about his daughter as a friend. But that was about as far as their relationship had gotten. He had gathered that his DCI had been closer to his former DS who he had trained and molded into a proper DCI (and who eventually became a DCI) as other police officers at Causton said.

It felt odd to leave this behind when it almost started to feel like some sort of home. He had never considered that he would stay as long as he did when he came here 2 years ago. Rather he had tried to leave as soon as he could. But London was having none of that at the time. He glanced down at his two bags. Not much to show for 2 years of living here. He hadn't brought much with him when he came and he wasn't taking much with him back. He was not a materialistic man. He didn't need to take much with him anyway. Back in London he would be able to buy whatever he was missing.

Because he was returning to London. He was getting the opportunity to receive more training in London to become an inspector possibly. The experience he had in Midsummer had reached his way to the people that had send him out of London. Though DCI Barnaby of course received most of the praise on catching the murderers, good things had been said about him too apparently. Of course it would take him a while to become inspector, at least this time around it seemed like he would have a better shot at it.

He had gotten the call when he was sick, a week ago. He had laryngitis which was just awful. Before he called in sick he had already been walking around with a very sore troath for a good week. Finally when his voice decided to leave him as well, Cully had directed him to the doctor. He was not one to quickly go to see a doctor.

And this illness had reminded him of events too. His sore troath reminded him of how he met her. He still had the bottle of troth medicine she had thrown at him when he had shown clear signs of troath ache last year. He had used them too, before he went to the doctor.

Liz Francis. His biggest regret in Midsummer.

He had met her during a case where first a vicar was burned in a straw woman and later people seemed to die of spontaneous combustion. People of the town had turned on the Midsomer Parva school teacher, claiming her to be a witch. He had searched out old diaries with her and the more he spend time with her, the more he had gotten attracted to her. The short woman had delicate brown curls framing her face. It had given her a delicate look. She had a sense of humor and still had tried to see the best in people, had her heart in the right place even when the towns people threw stones through her window. She had made it clear that she was attracted to him too when she had kissed him one night.

But even after all the information out of the diaries and the deaths, he had not been able to save her the next day. If only he had answered her phone call. If only he had gotten there sooner. Then maybe she would still have been alive. It had been terrible to see her go up in flames in the church as they arrived. But he and DCI Barnaby had not been able to put out the flames. He could still recall the smell of her burning flesh.

He did not often allow himself to think of her. These feelings and emotions tied into her death, he wasn't sure how to place. Feelings were not something he often knew what to do with. He was more of a practical man. Still thoughts of what could have been sometimes plagued him when things reminded him of her; at Halloween the children dressed as witches, car alarms going off like he had made her car alarm go off at one time, sore troath. He still hadn't been able to delete her voice mail from his phone. The first week he had listened to it multiple times a day. Just to hear her voice. Over time that had become less. But he had not been able to let her go.

He was trying to now. Before coming to the train station he had visited her grave at Midsomer Parva. He had left a bouquet of flowers and said his goodbyes to her. It had taken him longer then he had anticipated, which was why he was late for his train.

The voice of the announcer broke him out of his thoughts. The next train would arrive within 10 minutes.

He pushed his hands into his pockets, pursing his lips as he glanced over the platform. A few feet away he saw a familiar female figure and despite himself, he found a small smile tugging at his lips. She gave him a small wave and moved towards him.

Cully Barnaby had seemed like a typical countryside girl when he met her. She had a next door neighbor kind of cute look with her short blond hair and big blue eyes that was appealing to the eyes. Friendly and helpful. He remembered how she had helped him look for an apartment and he had taken advantage of her help. He had been somewhat surprised by how rigid she had become when he had mentioned not intending to stay for a long period. He had not understood that she could not see that there was nothing here to gain for him. Despite her father being a police officer she wanted to protect him, saying how she hoped he was not going to waste his time. It was the first taste he had gotten of a strength he had not expected her to have. He had contemplated making a move on her for a while in the first few months but realized at some point that, this would strain his relationship with his DCI again. Normally that would not have bothered him so much but as mentioned before, things at Midsummer didn't feel like anything normal. Instead they had formed a friendship. Sort of. Cully could still be very annoyed with him about his inapt to appreciate the finer (and ancient) movies or her volunteering and he did not understand how such a young woman could appreciate any of those things. But she always tried with him. But then again, the Barnaby's tended to try with everyone.

The short haired blond stopped in front of him. "My father told me you were leaving," she spoke. "You didn't think you could leave us without saying goodbye, did you?" She gave him a smile.

"Us?" he asked, looking around her pointedly.

"Me then," she gave him.

He gave her a shrug of the shoulders. He was not one for goodbyes. He was leaving so he just went. He informed his DCI of his decision, who had understood this just fine and who to his relief had said his goodbyes on the spot, and that was it for him. Saying goodbye to the Barnaby's, and in particular Cully, would mean acknowledging some feelings about Midsummer that he wasn't sure he really wanted to acknowledge. Fondness was about the furthest he would go. And the face of Liz immediately sprang to his mind. But Cully of course was there too. And despite valuing her friendship during his time here in Midsummer, he felt unsure whether or not this would continue when he went back to London. And really, he didn't want to address it.

Other than the shrug he gave her no reply and for a moment there fell an awkward silence between them.

"I thought I'd missed you," Cully started the conversation again. "My father said that you wanted to take the previous train."

"Yeah I had intended that," he gave her a wry smile. "But I missed it by a few minutes."

"I guess that is nothing new, then is it?" Cully said teasingly, referring to his tardiness when he had just started working for her father.

Then she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I know you'll be busy in London becoming a big shot DCI and all," he could see the twinkle in her eye; "but just give me a ring every now and again please." She looked up at him with a warm smile.

And he couldn't help to try and give her a similar smile back. "Will do Cully." Would try is what he meant.

And then the train pulled into the station and slowly started to a halt next to their platform. Cully gave him another squeeze in his hand before letting go as the train came to a full stop. He grabbed his bags, hoisting one over his shoulder. A few minutes later the doors of the compartment near him opened and other travelers left the train. He then stepped into the train. Before walking further into the compartment, he took one look back. Cully gave him a small wave.

DS Dan Scott then turned his back on Midsummer.