This chapter takes place in the middle of and at the end of the episode Watertight. If only this had actually happened, lol.

Thanks to those who have reviewed so far and I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)

4 Weeks Later

Letting out an irate sigh, Jackie hammered her closed fist off Robbie's front door yet again. She knew he was in there, had seen his lights on as she'd pulled up outside the building, so she had no intention of giving up and just walking away.

She'd seen the look in his eyes at the crime scene, knew him well enough to know that he blamed himself for what had happened to Sadie. For a moment at the scene she'd thought she'd almost gotten through to him, then Burke had blundered in with all the subtlety of a baby elephant. The man might not be as bad as she'd first thought, but his people skills needed some definite improvement.

Another minute of knocking and the side of her hand was beginning to ache, a few more seconds and the door was finally wrenched open, a glaring and definitely drunken Robbie standing in the now open doorway. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Trying to stop you from pissing your career away," she replied, ignoring the near snarl in his tone and pushing against him so that she could slip into the flat. The smell of alcohol and stale cigarette smoke hit her instantly, her nose wrinkling.

"Think it's a bit too late for that," he remarked bitterly.

She shrugged off her jacket, hanging it over one of the coat hooks that lined the short wall that led into the main body of the flat. "I don't think so, depends on what you decide to do next really."

"I let Mo walk free, he was our murderer and I let him walk, and then he killed Sadie." Robbie slumped against his wall. "I may as well have committed the murder myself."

"That's a load of shit," Jackie told him as she moved towards the kitchen counter. Ignoring the way he bristled indignantly she held up the bottle of scotch and asked, "Did you drink out the bottle?"

"No, and what the hell do you mean?"

She calmly poured herself a small glass, and leaned back against the counter, brown eyes surveying him carefully. "I'll admit that you fucked up, that you never should have let McLeish go as soon as you did, but we had a lot of evidence that pointed away from him being Dee's killer, and admittedly even I probably would have let him go, albeit maybe a little later on in the day. Which wouldn't have made any difference."

"Sadie told me that he might have been capable of murder."

"Exactly, might." Jackie sighed, rubbing at her forehead. "Robbie…Sadie was telling you what she knew you wanted to hear, she wanted a way out from the lifestyle and you were her ticket out of there."

"I wanted Strachan so badly I just didn't want to see anything else," he muttered as though she hadn't even spoken.

"And as a result you saved 37 young girls from a life of sexual slavery, and stopped countless others from being trafficked in for the exact same reason."

"But I cost a five year old her mother in the process."

Jackie dragged her finger slowly around the rim of the scotch glass. "Sadie knew the risk, knew that she was playing with fire," she replied, her voice taking on a softer tone. "And I know that the evidence points to Mo at the moment, but you know how quickly these things can turn."

He shook his head, running agitated hands through his hair as he snatched the bottle of alcohol from her, glugging down a large mouthful before snapping at her, "We both know that's a load a shit! This has his stench all over it. He murdered Dee, then I let him back out so that he could go out and kill Sadie. He's the only one with a motive for both killings."

"That we know of."

"Cut the crap, Jackie!" He roared at her, causing a flicker of alarm to cross her features. He then shrank back into himself, shaking his head, his voicing dropping to a near whisper, "It was my fault, I ignored the signs and I shouldn't have."

Robbie turned away from her, heading for the sofa and sinking slowly into the cushions, his head in his hands. Placing her drink on the counter, Jackie moved over, sitting down next to him. "You might feel that you made the wrong decision, but don't throw away everything you've worked for before you know all the facts," she told him, her hand reaching out, rubbing gently at his forearm.

"I don't care anymore, Jackie."

"I don't believe that."

"I did want to help her, I did," he insisted. "I wanted to get her out of that life, get that little girl away from Mo."

"And doing that meant taking risks."

He lifted his head to look at her again, his eyes damp and bloodshot, his face lined and strained with guilt and grief, he shook his head, lips pursed, indicating that he just didn't believe her words.

"Oh Robbie," she muttered quietly. "Come here." She moved closer to him and pulled him into a hug, letting him turn his face into her neck, her hands rubbing over his back as she tried to offer him some form of comfort.

"Why do you bother to stick by me?" he mumbled, drawing back ever so slightly so that he could see her face.

"Because even though you make some bloody stupid decisions you're a good man," she told him sincerely. "And you've always been there when I needed you, so why wouldn't I stick by you?"

He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes and it was tinged with sadness and regret. "You're the only person who has, I think you're the only real friend I've got. Plenty of mates, but no-one who'd actually stand by me when push comes to shove."

"Stuart would."

"Maybe, but not in the same way you would. Dunno what I'd do without you."

"You'd survive," she teased, nudging her side with his.

"That's what we do, isn't it? Survive."

"There isn't really any other alternative."

He all but jumped to his feet, suddenly so annoyed and angry again. Angry with himself, for what he'd let his life become. "How the fuck did we get here!" he exclaimed, kicking his coffee table with such ferocity that the glass top broke and the glasses on it toppled onto the floor, amber liquid spilling over his rug.

Jackie jumped back, watching him warily as he looked around the room wildly before his eyes finally landed on hers. "I mean it! How did I get here, my marriage ended, I hardly ever see my son and the only thing I have now is my career and even that's a bloody disaster."

She didn't know what to say to that, he had a point after all, she stood up, feeling strangely angry, although she wasn't entirely sure why. "It doesn't have to always be like this though. The last two at least you can fix…if you want to. You don't have to be alone," she pointed out almost angrily. "If you want to see your son then go see him, if you want to fix your career then do it!"

He stared at her, surprised that she'd taken such a stand against him. Her eyes blazed with barely suppressed fury and he heard the blood roar in his ears, he wanted to scream and shout back in response at the unfairness of it all. His eyes flickered over her, he could see her chest rise and fall as she began to rethink about what she'd just said.

Jackie shook her head. "I'm sorry," she suddenly told him. She shouldn't have said that, he was obviously hurting and needed her support, not her screaming at him. He'd never yelled at her when he was giving her support.

Robbie stepped forward, and before she knew it his mouth crushing against hers, hands roaming over her body, tugging at her clothing as he backed her against the nearest wall.

Her lips parted under his, tongues touching and he gave a groan as he pushed against her, his hand spearing into her hair.

He could feel her breasts crushed against his chest, feel the rapid rise and fall her of breathing. His other hand pressed into the curve of her hip, he loved the fact that she wasn't just straight up and down and the feel of those generous curves under his hands just excited him even more.

His fingers curled into the hem of her t-shirt, yanking it over her head, his mouth falling instantly to her now exposed collarbone, kissing over the swell of her breasts. Impatiently, he expertly unclipped her bra, his mouth instantly covering one nipple while his fingers toyed with the other.

Her head fell back against the wall as she gasped, she reached out, hands fumbling as she pulled at his shirt, trying to open it, pretty sure that at one point she heard a button pop. She was desperate to feel his skin underneath her hand, she didn't even bother to take the material off him, she just wanted to be able to touch him.

Robbie's mouth skirted back up to her neck, and to her mouth, kissing her urgently as they both pulled at the other's trousers, wanted them out the way.

Hers hit the floor first, and the thought that he'd probably had a lot more practice at this kind of urgent, desperate sex, did momentarily cross her mind. Then his joined them, and suddenly all thoughts were gone.

He lifted her up leg, bringing it to his waist as his fingers stroked against her. She moaned, the sound low and desperate in her throat as her hips rolled forward, desperately wanting more from him.

He groaned at her reaction, his hips pressing against hers, his desperation growing as he ground out, "God…Jacks, you drive me insane."

With that he moved his hand, and hands on her hips hitched her up until she'd wrapped both legs securely around his waist. He pressed her back against the wall, pushing inside her impatiently. Her back arched and she moaned, one hand moving to his ass, encouraging him on.

It was fast and frantic, her fingers clutched at the material of his shirt as he pounded into her. He groaned, his pace quickening and she knew he was close. His fingers slipped down, pressing against her, determined to take her over the edge with him.

She cried out his name, her head falling to the side as she struggled to catch her breath, the sensation both too much and not enough at the same time. Then his hips jerked, the resultant thrust hard and insistent and suddenly she was there with him, falling over the edge, shuddering with him.

They didn't pull apart instantly, both too exhausted. Jackie pressed her forehead against the curve of his neck, breathing heavily as she felt his mouth against the top of her head.

She shivered slightly as she unhooked her legs from around him, grateful for his hands holding her steady as her feet landed on the floor. She could feel his eyes on her, watching her, waiting for her reaction to what had just happened. Could see the residual guilt in his eyes over what he still perceived to be his failings despite her words, and the wariness that maybe his reaction to that, to find some comfort in what they'd just done had pushed the bounds of their friendship to far.

He hadn't, but she wasn't entirely sure what to say to him. Finally she asked him, "Do you want me to go?"

His fingers cupped her jaw, stroking her skin gently as he shook his head. "No, stay…please."

Jackie felt relief flood through her. She gave a short nod, telling him softly, "Course I will." She gave a small shiver as she realised that the room was colder than she'd first appreciated.

His arm wrapped around her. "Bed?" he suggested. "It's a lot warmer there."

"In that case the answer is definitely yes," she laughed lightly.

Then his mouth was on hers again as he pulled her towards the bedroom, they stumbled slightly as they refused to part. He tipped her backwards onto the bed, following her onto it and pulling the covers over them, his body angling over hers as he finally drew away from her. " I will fix this," he told her. "I'll make sure that Mo rots for what he did."

Slightly taken apart by the bitterness in his tone, she replied, "You're running away with yourself again. You need to calm down, take a step back from this and just focus on the evidence."

"I've seen the evidence," he groaned in annoyance. "I want to fix this."

"I can understand that, but you don't want to make things worse."

Robbie caught her fingers, which were moving over his now bare shoulders. He could feel his grief and anger start to overwhelm him again and he just wanted to forget, forget how much he'd screwed up. He placed a kiss to the palm of her hand. "Time to stop talking about this," he told her, his lips moving down her wrist.

She let it go, not because he'd told her to, but because she knew that whatever she said wouldn't be taken in by him now, so she'd be wasting her words. She smiled slightly as he shifted over her again, her hands curved around his shoulders and she pushed him onto his back, straddling him.

His hands steadied on her hips and he breathed out her name deeply, almost reverently as she stretched over him, the tips of her nipples brushing against his chest. Her fingers tangled into his hair and she kissed him deeply, until he moaned into her mouth, and again he felt all the anger and disappointment of the day fade away again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He woke to find Jackie sitting on the edge of the bed. She shot him an almost apologetic smile, telling him, "I really do need to go, due back at work in a few hours, need to go get showered and changed."

Robbie propped himself up on one elbow, he didn't actually want her to go but at the same time having her here like this was making him feel more and more confused. So without thinking, he replied, "Probably best you don't stay anyway…considering."

She paused and for a moment he thought he saw her back stiffen, then she turned, shot him an easy smile. "Hmmm, we did say that it was going to be a one off."

"Easy enough to make it a two off," he replied with a casualness that he didn't really feel.

She nodded and he saw her smile falter. "Yeah…I mean it's been a tough couple of weeks and…" she trailed off, running a hand through her hair and shrugged. "It doesn't have to be a big deal."

"Exactly," he muttered.

Leaning down, the covers clutched up to her neck, Jackie picked up Robbie's previously discarded shirt and asked him, "Mind if I wear this through to the living room?"

"Go for it," he replied, a smile tugging at his mouth as he watched her shrug it on, buttoning it up carefully. He liked the warm feeling that spread through his stomach at the sight of her standing in his bedroom wearing nothing but his shirt, a shirt that really only just covered her.

She turned and leaned forward, her lips brushing his cheek in a short, chaste kiss goodbye, as they always had. "See you at work."

He nodded, and watched her head out into his living room, his head falling back against the pillow as he heard the front door open and shut again only a few minutes after. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about Sadie's lifeless eyes.

Checking her watch again, Jackie tried and failed to listen to Burke rallying the troops, trying to encourage them to support Robbie, to have his back if needed. She sucked her bottom lip in between her bottom lip, she really hadn't thought he'd be late again this morning, he'd seen better when she'd left him in the early hours of the morning.

With a slight start she realised that everyone was shifting, that Burke's talk was over and she sat back in her chair, frustrated at Robbie, at his behaviour.

She heard the door leading from the main corridor open, slamming against the wall, and looked up to see Robbie storming through the door, a face like thunder. He headed straight for the file cabinet, hauling it open wordlessly, glaring at everyone and anyone.

Taking a quick look around and seeing that everyone else was ignoring the situation, Jackie got to her feet and walked briskly over to him. "What are you doing?" she asked lowly.

Robbie glanced over at her, he could see the confusion evident in her eyes, but he had to do this. All he'd been able to see last night was Sadie, he had to make it right, had to put Mo back behind bars, where he should have been all along. "I'm finding Mo."

She shot him a disbelieving look. "No, Robbie what you need to do is keep your head down, leave this to us, you're in enough trouble as it is."

"Can't do that," he replied firmly, and finding the information he was looking for he slammed the file shut and shoved it on top of the cabinet; turned on his heels and left.

Grabbing the discarded folder, Jackie opened it and spotted the address, muttering under her breath she realised in annoyance and dismay that she was going to have to go get Burke for this one.

"What the hell did you think you were doing!" Jackie yelled, slamming the heavy fire door leading out onto the roof shut behind her.

Robbie shook his head, leaning out over the stone balustrade. "I didn't go there planning to go for him, just wanted to bring him in. Then I saw him and I…I lost it."

"If we hadn't got there then your career would have been finished!"

"I know that!" he yelled back, turning to face her now.

"You obviously didn't listen to a word I said last night," she said, her voice lower, filled with a disappointment that cut him more than her anger ever had, probably ever could.

He stepped closer to her. "I did, but I couldn't just stand back, it was my fault."

"And what? You're determined to make it worse?" She looked at him in exasperation. "You need to stay away from Mo, you need to let us deal with that part of our investigation."

Robbie sighed irritably. "I can't just drop this."

"Well you know what Robbie you're not going to be able to do much if they suspend you," she replied coldly. "I need to go, helping Burke question Mo."

"Course you are," he muttered bitterly.

She swung round. "What," she bit out. "Is that that supposed to mean?"

"Just that it didn't take you long to get your feet back under the table again, did it?" He regretted the words instantly, but he was too angry, too irritated to back down, to apologize.

Jackie's breath caught, and she glared at him. "It's not my fault that you screwed up," she replied, her voice cold, almost brittle.

"No, but then it gives you the chance to shine again, doesn't it? Be the golden girl, just like you were when Mike was in charge."

Her face blanched and her hands shook. "I'm getting on with my job, something you encouraged me to do."

"Didn't think you'd go crawling to Burke though!" He yelled. "You're like bloody best mates. I thought…" he trailed off, glaring at the concrete.

"You thought what?" she pressed, cheeks flushed with indignant anger.

Robbie gave a small shrug, his eyes finally meeting hers, his irritation gone. "Thought that after everything with Mike it would be you and me…you know up against it all."

"It is," she told him quietly. "But Burke is in charge now and we both have to able to work with him. That doesn't mean that I'm suddenly going to start being all pally with him. He's not Michael and he never will be, I know that but I have to try to move on."

"I know…just felt like you were picking him over me," he admitted hurriedly.

"Idiot, I'm trying to save you from yourself, you really are your own worst enemy you know."

He nodded. "Know that too. I just need your help on this one."

"And you have it, but I can't pull you out of this one on my own. So I have to go."

As she turned to leave he caught her arm. "Don't-"

"Don't what?" she asked quietly.

"Go when you're still so annoyed. I'm sorry about what I said just now, and I want you to know that I did listen to you last night…I just didn't want him to go free, didn't want him to slip through the net and know it was my fault."

Her eyes met his. "I understand that," she mumbled quietly. "But it's time to leave it to us, Mo at least." She squeezed his hand reassuringly, telling him, "I'll see you later."

When she heard the gunshot ring out and saw Robbie fall to the ground, Jackie thought that she'd actually felt her heart stop. It couldn't be happening again, she couldn't be losing someone else. Her mouth was dry as she saw him stumble to his feet, blood running out from underneath his sleeve, she'd been so relieved to see that he wasn't badly injured.

Then he'd wandered into the house, trying to talk Craig Calhoun out of this moment of madness and she'd personally wanted to shake the living daylights out of him. Still he'd talked the young man down, and had somewhat saved the day.

She'd teased him at the ambulance, remarking on how she'd expected more than a scrape, but her heart had still been hammering in her chest.

After interviewing Craig, she'd slipped away, heading for the A&E, where she had no problem flashing them her badge just so she could get through to cubicles to see him.

The moment she stepped through the curtains, his cocky, self assured grin was back on his face. "Couldn't stay away then," he remarked.

Stifling a laugh, Jackie replied, "I thought I'd save you a taxi fare home, seeing as you've turned out to be the hero of the hour."

His eyebrow raised at that. "Burke certainly doesn't seem to think that."

"He's probably already sussed if he praises you then your head'll inflate, and it's big enough as it is."

"Ha bloody ha," Robbie mumbled, as he swung himself off the trolley. "You're just in time though, they've stuck in a few stitches and I'm good to go."

"I always did have impeccable timing," she joked. "So can we go now, or do you want another five minutes to ogle the nurses?"

He grimaced. "You obviously haven't seen who's on tonight, trust me you're much more pleasant to look at."

"Oh such high praise," she murmured. "You know I have half a mind just to leave you here now."

He wrapped the arm that wasn't strapped up around her waist. "You know that you don't mean that."

"Definitely getting there though," she told him.

Robbie simply smiled, shaking his head and clearly not believing a word she said.

As they stepped out into the cold night air, she turned to him and asked concernedly, "You wanting me to help you out your jacket on?"

"Nah," he shook his head. "I've already been shot today, after that hypothermia should be a walk in the park."

Jackie swallowed heavily, trying not to replay the moment he hit the ground in her head again. He caught sight of her expression and asked in concern, "You alright?"

"Fine, just remembering the fact that you're an idiot," she muttered.

"Hang on a minute," he laughed, confused. "A minute ago I was a bloody hero."

"You can be both," she told him firmly.

Shaking his head, his mouth in a confused line, he got into her passengers seat, trying to figure out how he'd pissed her off this time.

It didn't take him long to realise that just maybe heading into a house that contained an unstable man clutching a gun - who'd already shot him once - had caused her to be so short with him. After all she'd already lost one colleague in the line of duty, so he'd most likely hit a sore spot.

As they pulled up outside his building, he asked, "You gonna come up? Could do with the company."

For a moment he thought she was going to turn him down, let him get out the car and then drive away. And to be honest he wouldn't have blamed her if she had. Instead she nodded, lips still drawn into a thin pale line as she clambered out of the car, following him into the building.

The front door fell shut behind them and finally he said, "I feel like I should apologize for going into that house."

"Feel like you should, so you don't actually want to then," she replied, with some dry amusement in her tone.

"Was doin' my job."

"I know." And she did, after all how often had she said the same thing when her family or her husband had mentioned the fact that she'd been hurt. "And I don't want you to apologize for that."

"So what do you want?" he asked, confused.

Jackie shrugged. "I don't know…I'm just glad that you're ok," she told him, her voice wavering ever so slightly.

He stepped closer to her, pulled her into a tight one armed hug, kissing her forehead as he replied, "Take more than one pillock with a gun to get rid of me."

Her arms wrapped around him as she mumbled into his chest, "I don't think that you really get a say in the way you go out."

He drew her back slightly so he could look into her face as he told her firmly, "I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded, and unthinkingly, he lowered his head so that his lips brushed hers. The resulting kiss was slow and deep, full of unspoken feelings. Her hands cupped his face, fingertips brushing against every line.

Finally Robbie drew back, whispering, "Bed?"

"I don't know, we said we'd stop this."

"I know, but just for sleep tonight, don't think I'm up for much more."

Another moment of brief hesitation and then she nodded. She changed into one of his t-shirts, and they kissed some more, wrapped tightly around the other until exhaustion took over and they finally fell asleep, both choosing to ignore the subtle but definitive shift in the equilibrium of their relationship.