Chapter 6
A/N: Hi everyone! I've had this chapter edited for a while but not had chance to upload it. Lucy and I are both sick with the flu right now so I'm uploading this as a surprise for her to read when she wakes up from snoozing. I love you so much, my darling, feel better soon xxx
~xXx~
Jake crashed through the door and knocked over what he thought was some sort of sturdy book case. The fact that it was Gene did scare him somewhat, especially since he knew there were at least three filing cabinets within his easy reach but with some luck he managed to pluck the tiny notebook from his pocket in time to prevent a full scale assault.
"Before you hit me, I've got the information you need and a lot more," he held his prize aloft, "Breezer was happy to talk. He's getting out. Cleaning his conscience before he does."
"You'll be cleaning metal chips from the back of yer head for the next six weeks," Gene threatened but Alex stepped in.
"What information?" she asked, reaching out to help Gene off the ground.
"The Kellen Boys have deals going with several convicts," Jake continued, brushing his hair out of his eyes, "Miller's just the latest. Problem is, they're not holding up their part of the bargain."
"Well, you do a deal with the dark side and what do you expect?" Gene swiped the notebook from Jake's hands.
"They've branched out way beyond the forgery ring," Jake said emphatically, "there's a good sideline in illicit substances going on for a start."
"Right," Gene glanced through the book and handed it back to Jake, "Detective Inspector Dawson, here's your chance to prove yourself. Your snout, your operation."
Jake seemed confused and somewhat wary of Gene's announcement.
"Guv?"
"All resources at your disposal," Gene continued, "Don't let me down."
Jake was completely taken aback. He barely restrained a smile of surprise at Gene's sudden show of confidence in him. It seemed as though he'd been fighting for that moment forever. It had been a strange damn day but one of the best Jake had known for a very long time.
"I won't let you down, Guv," he said.
He meant it, too.
~xXx~
"Shoebury. A word."
Simon froze but didn't turn around. He carried on scribbling across a form and sighed.
"Piss," he said, "That's a word. Off." he glanced behind him, "That's another, There you go. Even gave you a bonus."
Gene hesitated and nodded. He knew he deserved that. Just this once Simon would be spared the filing cabinet treatment. He walked slowly into Simon's office, stole one of Simon's cookies and sat down.
"Big operation on tomorrow," he began as Simon glared at his stolen goods.
"Liposuction?" he huffed but Gene managed not to rise to it, even though Simon had a lovely set of filing cabinets, all ripe and ready for action.
"Dawson's done well. Finally out of short trousers by the looks of it."
"Congratulations to Jake," Simon said as Gene bit into the cookie and sent a barrage of crumbs falling, "Jesus, Gene, are you on a mission to get me thrown in jail for aggravated assault?!"
Gene roughly swept away a few crumbs and continued.
"He's doing well, despite being a twat," he recalled their previous conversation and noted a slight smile on Simon's face, "but I reckon we need some more experience on our side." He tossed the rest of the cookie into his mouth and gulped it down. "Meeting tomorrow morning, nine o'clock, in CID. It's Dawson's call really, but..." he scuffed the toe of his shoe against the wall, "would appreciate your input."
Simon glanced around. Gene seemed somewhat more sober than usual, and he wasn't even talking about the booze. He nodded, albeit a little reluctantly and sighed.
"Fine," he said, "I'll be there."
"And the operation, tomorrow night -"
"Yeah, whatever. I'll be there," Simon nodded.
Gene got to his feet and took a step or two towards the door before hanging back for a moment.
"You'll need a partner," he said.
Simon have a small shrug, somewhat confused by Gene's entire visit.
"Aren't you partnering with Alex?" he asked.
"I'm not asking you to sit next to me on the bloody coach home from a school visit!" Gene rolled his eyes, "Yes, Bolly's on my team. You find yourself someone else." He stepped outside and leaned back through the doorway, just to drive the point of his visit home, "I suppose you can bring yer DI. If he can keep his tail in his pants." He moved out of view then leaned back to clarify, "that was a devil reference, not an 'omo one."
Simon stared after him as he disappeared back to his own office, completely baffled by the last few minutes. There was a part of him that was simply relieved not to have been introduced to his filing cabinets in a more intimate way, and a part of him wished that Gene had the balls to just give him an outright apology, but he'd worked with the Guv for long enough to read between the lines. It was a step. For Gene it was probably a far larger one than Simon could realise.
Perhaps Gene wasn't a lost cause. Simon suspected that, on this occasion, he would just have to wait and see.
~xXx~
There they were, the three little pills, waiting for her, just where she'd left them, pretending to be paperclips and doing a very bad job of it. They called to her in a way she'd never felt before. Her throbbing head and uncomfortable skin drew her back to them like a magnet with a force she couldn't resist. She plucked one of the tablets out. Space them out. Make them last. Gulp. Gone.
She pulled a face as the bitterness of the codeine made her flinch, grabbed the water bottle on her desk and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls to wash it away. She could do this. She'd done it before. She could kick them again.
"Marci!"
Almost like a reflex action, Marci reached out and pushed the drawer in with a sharp thump and spun around to see an excited Jake at the door.
"Jake," she felt her heart racing. Was that the guilt or something else? She almost growled with frustration at herself. Of all times to start thinking about that again. She tried to ignore the heat spreading across her cheeks and smiled at Jake. "What's up?"
"Guv seemed happy with our news," he said, "actually, he seemed happy enough to leave me in charge of tomorrow's operation."
"Hey," Marci gave a genuine smile, "That's great to hear." She knew the Guv had always been a little down on putting any real responsibility onto Jake's shoulders to Jake, although she'd never completely understood why. His promotion had been something of a surprise to everyone. "What did he say?"
"Surprisingly little," said Jake, "but he's given me permission to tap into whatever resources I need. And I need a partner for the op tomorrow."
"You want me on board again?" Marci asked as an intense tingle passed through her, "Sure. Sure, I'm sure that's fine. Simon doesn't need me until next week."
"You've not worked with him much so far, have you?" Jake commented and Marci's expression fell a little. Jake knew nothing of the lengths she'd gone to in order to avoid James. She'd heard Simon's words time and again ringing in her head; that James wasn't the same man who'd blown up parts of the station and caused the death of Eddie; that James had been suffering from some form of illness and had received 'help' to recover. But not only didn't it ring true to her, it brought back things she'd worked so very hard to bury.
"If you had an office next to the canteen, wouldn't you go out of your way to spend your time there?" she bluffed, the other two tablets yelling her name from the drawer.
"Good point, Marci," Jake smiled, "good point. Well, as long as that means you're cleared, I need you tomorrow morning. Meeting at nine. Then tomorrow night you'll be my partner for the op. Is that OK with you?"
Despite a clash of thoughts rolling around in her mind she felt a strong buzz in her veins at the thought of spending the night paired up with Jake, just like the old days. She nodded with a smile.
"That's fine by me," she nodded and Jake beamed.
"Awesome," he said, "got to go and speak to the canine unit, but I'll call you later, yeah?"
Marci watched Jake as he dashed off to continue arranging the next morning's meeting. She was left with such a strange mix of emotions that she didn't know quite what to do with them. Her inappropriate feelings were starting to become unmutable but this wasn't the right time to think about them. Nor was it the right time to think about anything beyond getting rid of that headache and those shakes.
She had to keep ourself together for the meeting and the operation. After that, she'd get herself back to normal.
Her hand slid down to the drawer handle and opened it slowly.
Two more pills were calling.
