Alright, here is the next chapter. I had quite a struggle with this and hit writersblock in the beginning, but I'm over that now. I hope you liked it. This chapter is really focussed on Molly and Charles getting to know each other, seeing them into different light and the feelings that start to grow between them. Enjoy :)
And of course, before you start… I want to that each and every one of you who reviewed last chapter. The reviews are simply overwhelming, all I can say is thank you. A big thank you from me, because these reviews keep me writing.
Now, enjoy :)
Charles parked the car at the left side of the road, shutting down the engine of it but leaving the car keys inside the ignition. The sun was slowly setting behind them, leaving a colour of orange, red and yellow fight for dominance in display of the skies in London.
Molly leaned back and closed her eyes for a minute. Yesterday she arrived with Jackie at MI6 HQ for the information they had on the driver. It turned out that the driver Khalïd was spotted with a man called Yassir Rashad Loukili, who arrived in London a few days ago on a temporarily visa. While Mansfield Mike, Fingers and Brains stayed behind to dig into the life of this Yassir, she was stuck here with the boss on surveillance duty.
It wasn't a coincidence that she was stuck with the team leader. He made it very clear that he wasn't happy about the orders from above, even going as far as making her look like a dumb girl who didn't know her stuff. Well, she made promise to herself to prove him wrong. She was more than capable of being part of this team than anyone.
She opened her eyes again and slowly, but carefully looked at the face of the boss. The rough edges of his jaw were illuminated by the soft colors of the sunset, making him almost look like a decent human being. He was looking firmly at the house in front of him, not noticing her staring at him.
She chuckled, before looking at the street before her. "There's this joke my nan used to make…", she started.
"What are you doing, Dawes?" He looked at her, his brown eyebrows formed a deep frown in his forehead while his lips formed one line.
She shifted uncomfortable in the car chair. "Lightin' up the mood", she said carefully, the volume of her voice made her words almost came out as a whisper.
"Don't. We don't need a class clown.", he said. He pointed at the house of the suspect in front of them. "Just do your bloody job. Look at that house."
The silence returned, taking over the atmosphere of the car. So, there was no point in getting on the good side of this man, since he won't even let her try. She took in a deep breath, before taking the binoculars from the dashboard in front of her and looked at the house again. There was only one thing she could do right now, was to simply do her job like he told her to.
"There is movement in the house", she heard Jackie say over the radio. "He's making his way outside."
"Understood", Charles said, his face not showing one bit of emotion like he was some tough captain of an army platoon. "Everyone stand by."
Molly kept her eyes fixed on the house, which looked like an ordinary, town house. No-one could tell that a criminal was being hit behind the black front door. Slowly, the door was being opened and two man stepped outside. They seemed to be in deep conversation, not paying attention to their surroundings.
The light provided by the street lights on either side of the road shone on the face, revealing the dark features of his face. They were familiar, too familiar for her liking. "Fuck", she muttered under her breath, her hands clasped firmly on the binoculars.
"What?"
"I know him", she said, pausing for a moment. She looked away from the two men in front of her, meeting his hypnotizing, chocolate brown eyes. "That's Zemeray."
He frowned his dark eyebrows, his eyes not once leaving hers. "Who is he?"
"Someone I arrested a couple of weeks ago for shoplifting. His younger sister gave me the tip and took the pictures with her phone."
"Shit", he said, looking at the house again. She could tell that his body was tensing up, which was caused by the recent development in the case. She knew from the moment she met Zemeray that he was bad news, but she never thought they would cross paths again in such a manner.
"Alright", Charles said, his voice definitive about the plan of action. "We're going to follow them. They can't get away."
"On it, Boss", she heard Jackie say, closely followed by a "understood, Boss" from Smurf. Slowly, Charles maneuvered the car out of its parking space, making him partake in the traffic of the road. The headlights of the car illuminated the asphalt of the road, highlighting where they were going.
Yassir and Zemeray got into a silver colored car, while followed them, maintaining an considerable distance between them and her and Charles. Suddenly the car's speed accelerated, driving so fast it created a dangerous situation on the road.
"We've been made", Charles yelled into his earpiece, before he hit the gas. Concentration was written all over his face, his mouth and dark eyebrows forming one line on his face. His hands were firmly on the steering wheel, not once losing side of the road in front of him.
Several familiar houses passed them in a hurry, not once to be looked at by her or Charles. She recognized the streets, the shops on either sides of the road. The silver colored car stopped at the local gas station when the door on the passenger's side swung open and Yassir got out. The silver colored car with Zemeray in it drove off again, its speed dangerously increasing while Yassir started to run towards the houses.
She grew up in this neighborhood, knew every street, corners of it. Even the best places to hide, which she had done when she was younger and ran away from home simply to get her dad to pay attention. Usually it didn't work out the way she wanted it.
She made a decision. She turned her head, looking at Charles. "Let me get out of the car." When he sent her a questioning look, she continued: "I know the neighborhood. I grew up here. I'll chase him by foot so you can cut him off."
He hesitated for a moment, biting his lip nervously, probably trying to decide what was best. "Just because I'm inexperienced", she started, her words trying to convince him that this was the best option. "I don't want any special treatment. Let me get out." Her pleading eyes met his, hoping that this last movement would push him over the edge. She had to prove herself, not only to him but the rest of the team as well. She wanted to show them that she wasn't some pushover, that she could be an excellent addition to the team for the time being.
"Go", he ordered firmly, gesturing his head towards the door.
She didn't hesitate, getting out of the car within seconds, running towards the alley where Yassir had found cover in the darkness of the night.
The frequency of her breathing started to increasing, closely followed by her heart rate. Her feet were moving fast on the pavement, the only light was provided by the occasionally street lantern giving her inside to where she was going. She passed another corner, slowly getting a visual on the running suspect.
"Boss, I've got eyes on Yassir", she said gasping, the physical exhaustion was interfering with the steadiness of her voice. "He's runnin' to Barking Road, you can cut him off there."
She turned one more corner, before the suspect turned another corner, walking towards an street that she knew would end in an dead end. She grabbed her gun, that was strapped to her back, from the holster. This guy was dangerous and she needed to take every precaution to protect herself.
She stopped running, carefully walking towards the suspect, gun pointed at him. "There is nowhere to go, Yassir", she said, her voice nearly cracking, giving in to the pressure. Her breath was slowing down, while she took one step at the time towards the suspect, the soles of her shoes making a squeaking noise on the pavement.
"Turn around", she ordered, sucking in all the air she could find. Her breathing pattern became unsteady, the anxiety messing with her, taking control over her. She swallowed hard, trying her best to regain that control again. Her hands were desperately grasping around her gun, never once thinking about letting go. This was the only thing she could think of doing at the moment.
"On your knees", were the words that followed her first order. In the background she could hear a car pull up. Hearing the sirens she identified the car as Charles. With a loud bang the door was slammed shut, before a figure stood beside her. Slowly she regained her control back, like she had left it behind in the car with her boss.
Yassir turned around, his ice-cold eyes meeting theirs, making a shiver run down her spine. There were no emotions to be found in the suspect's eyes, like it was sucked out of him by an unexplainable force. "Hands up", Charles said, his eyes fixed on Yassir. "Interlock your fingers."
Yassir sunk down to his knees, putting his hands behind his head. Charles made his way towards the suspect, arresting him by putting the handcuffs on his hand before escorting him back to the car while reading him his rights.
She holstered her gun. Now that Charles was there, taking over the situation, she finally let herself take in the surroundings. The neighborhood was familiar, but this street was even more familiar. The brown color of the brick walls, the dirty, grey pavements in front of the old looking town houses. She looked at the people that had gathered around them, her glance settling on two very familiar eyes.
There was a man she hadn't seen in nearly seven months. His hair looked even messier than the last time she saw him, his stubbly beard from back then was still there. The colors of red and blue were lit up by the street lights, showing that he was proudly wearing his West Ham T-shirt. This man that was supposed to be her father. His dark eyes were looking at her and she even thought she could detect some hint of disgust in his eyes, maybe even all over his face. Her dad still hadn't forgiven her for choosing her life, her career over theirs. All he wanted was for her to marry Artan, who would set him up with some job so they'd be set for life. Well, that's what he said.
She swallowed hard, looking at her dad one more time before turning around. She was making the same decision she did several months ago; turning her back on her family. The decision she had been second guessing ever since she made it. She opened the door of the car, getting into the passenger seat before Charles restarted the engine, driving back to the station.
Charles closed the door of his office, walking through the dark briefing room. He was making his way towards the elevators, when he saw a silhouette sitting on one of the couches in the briefing room. He took a few steps forwards, seeing that Molly Dawes was sitting there with a tablet resting on her lap.
"Still here?", he asked.
She looked up, her brown eyes meeting his. There was something that drew him to her eyes again, that feeling even stronger than he already had when he saw her in the elevator for the first time. "Yeah", she said, a soft smile appearing on her face. "Wanna have another look at the photos of today, see if we missed something."
He leaned against the wall, his leather jacket draped over his arm. "We can do that tomorrow, Dawes", he said softly. "Go home."
She didn't say anything, only simply nodding her head. "You did excellent work today, Dawes", he said. Yes, he was very impressed with her today. She took initiative and they caught one of the suspects.
The soft smile from a few minutes ago made an appearance on her face again. "Thank you, Sir", she said. She opened her mouth slightly before closing it again, hesitation written all over her face. "First time I actually had to use my gun. I hope never to actually fire it", she confessed.
He sat down next to her on the couch, the vulnerability she showed now getting to him, cutting deeper into his heart than he would want. That vulnerability he only saw with his younger sister when he was younger, or with Sam when he told his son that his father and mother were getting a divorce.
"First kill is always going to hunt you", he said. "Stay with you forever."
"Do you remember your first kill, Sir?"
He nodded, putting his jacket next to him, letting it rest on the couch. He folded his hands together, his eyes fixed on hers. "I joined the RAF straight out of high school, was barely 18. It's always easier to fire from the safety of a cockpit than to do it in person."
She was leaning forward, giving his conversation her full attention. "Then when did you have the first kill in person?"
"After two years in the RAF I joined the SAS. I was on a mission when I had my first kill."
"What happened?"
He chuckled slightly at the innocence of her questions. "Can't tell you that, unfortunately, Dawes. It's classified. But-"
They were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He answered it without looking at the caller's ID. "Yeah, hello?"
"Ah, Charles", a voice on the other end said. "Rebecca here. Can you pick up Sam from my parents? They just brought in a patient who needs an emergency surgery, so I'll be running late and can't pick him up."
He sighted, rubbing his temple with his free hand. "Yeah, sure", he said. "I am just leaving HQ."
"Thank you", she said.
"Bye." He didn't wait for her to respond, he simply hung up. There would be a time when they had to talk about this, talk things through, but he wasn't in the mood for it lately.
"Sorry, I've got to go", he said to Molly, grabbing the jacket from the couch and standing up. "Don't stay much longer. Tomorrow is another day." He walked towards the exit, turning one last time to look at this young Constable that was thrown into his life a couple of days ago.
Yes, he was irritated at the decision of the boss' upstairs, but now he was actually started to appreciate her. She brought something else to the team, something new and fresh. But that wasn't the only thing she brought. She brought the same things into his life again. And yes, he needed some new and fresh into his life as well.
"Good night, Dawes", he said.
"Good night, Boss."
After a night of darkness the city of London was found again by the sun, letting it light up the streets of England's capital. Molly opened the glass door of the department, making her way straight to the desk that she was appointed to on her first day. She draped her jacket across the office chair before taking a seat.
She heard a door open in front of her, followed quickly by his voice: "Good morning, Dawes." She looked up, seeing him standing a few meters in front of her with a letter in his hand. "I hope you slept well."
"I did."
"Because we need all the energy, since I've got a warrant to search Zemeray's house."
Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline momentarily, before returning to their original position. "What?", she exclaimed.
"Yes, don't look too surprised. We are going to look for clues inside the house. It's like playing cluedo." She chuckled at his attempt to be funny, it wasn't working out as well as he must have thought. "What's funny, Dawes?"
"Just you comparing work with cluedo."
Now it was his turn to chuckle. She knew she shouldn't, couldn't think about her boss like that. Not at the moment, anyway. And besides, he would never have some interest in her. He was way out of her league, and she knew it. But that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to look at him, catch a glance when he was frowning his eyebrows when he was looking at the files in front of him, or when he smile lit up his chocolate brown eyes, giving her the idea she had actually gone to heaven.
Their moment was interrupted when Jackie and Smurf entered the briefing room, closely followed by Brains, Fingers and Mansfield. "Alright, you cockwombles, we are going on a road trip."
"Where to, boss?", Mansfield Mike, the weapons expert on the team, who frequently reminded his team mates that he thought he looked like Prince Harry.
"To East Ham, here in London. We've got a warrant to search Zemeray's place", Charles said, running his hand through his curly, brown hair, making her stop thinking about breathing for a moment. He turned around, making his way towards his office while he yelled: "Grab your stuff."
They made their way down towards the garage, where they had parked their cars. With the busy traffic, which always was present on the London roads, delayed their journey to East Ham considerably. It took them half an hour to get to their destination.
"Alright, put your vests on", Charles ordered while he slammed the car door shut. "We don't know what we could find inside."
Molly took a deep breath before she walked towards the trunk, getting her bullet proof vest out of it. She was back in the part of London where she really didn't want to be. It was a coincidence that the suspect of last night ran towards the place where she grew up in, the streets she used to play with the other children. The one place where she had a home, before she threw that all away for her career. Seeing her dad last night, made the pain she had tucked away somewhere, the pain that was caused by her decision six months ago, all come back again like wood would flood back to the surface of the sea.
She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back to the reality. "Alright, Dawes?"
She nodded. "Yeah, fine."
"Okay, you stay behind. Let us go in first. Enter when we've cleared the place." She simply nodded again, signaling to him that she understood. He made his way towards the entrance, closely followed by the rest of the team. She got the gun out of its holster, also following the team.
The feeling of losing control over her feelings again reappeared in the back of her mind. The same way it did last night when she was following Yassir. Normally, she wasn't afraid when a suspect got aggressive or abusive, but people like Yassir were terrorist. Not simply the criminals who would burgle a fancy townhouse in Notting Hill.
They walked up the stairs, reminding her that she was here a few weeks back with Chris. She shook away the memories of being a street police constable, focusing on the task at hand; arresting Zemeray for his crimes. In front of her she saw Charles kick the door down, his hands firmly on his gun while he yelled: "Police!"
After hearing some thumping inside the house, she heard the word "clear" yelled inside of it. She looked inside the house as far as the open front door could provide. Charles made his way towards her, holstering his gun. "The house is clear", he said. "They're gone."
"What?"
"They've burned half the place down so we couldn't track them."
"Even Bashira?" No, this couldn't be happening right now. The frightened young girl she had met twice in her life was in danger because of her. She was the one that acted on her intel. She shouldn't have done that.
He simply nodded, answering her question which she had hoped wasn't truth. "This is all my fault", she whispered, turning around so he wouldn't see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She had put that girl's life in danger, because she wanted nothing more than to help. She wanted to gather enough evidence so that Badrai and Zemeray would be locked up for, not once again interfering with the lives of Bashira and her mother. And now, now she had only made it worse.
"No, it isn't."
"Yes, it is. If I hadn't acted on her intel, she would still be here." Her voice cracked, giving in to the emotions that were boiling inside of her. The emotions she had been holding back for days.
"She gave you that information, knowing that it was dangerous." She looked at him, not entirely convinced by his words. He must have seen the look in her eyes, because he continued: "Molly, I'm telling you it's not your fault."
She sniffled before wiping the wet trails of her tears from her face. This was the first time he actually called her by her first name. She knew she shouldn't look into this, expect much from him, but that didn't mean it felt good to hear him say her name. Because it meant that he was backing her up, like Jackie said he would. "It feels like it is", she confessed.
"We are going to find these people and stop them. Can you do that?" She nodded. "You can't be too emotionally involved. You need to put your feelings away, because I need you 100% by my side."
"I am, Sir."
"Good", he said, a small smile appeared on his face. "Because we are going to find them."
So, what do you think? A review would be lovely, as always :)
