Bodyguard: What if it's worth it?

by Narcissa1996

Story will follow the show's plot quite closely but with the addition of Alma, Julia Montague's intern, which becomes David Budd's love interest. Alma Guinness/David Budd. Months before the storyline of the show, Dave thinks about ending his life but Alma is there to save him. Will he be there to save her life when tables turn? Some smut, not too explicit. Mentions of suicide.

10. Chapter 9

Hello guys, so this it the last chapter! I hope you'll enjoy reading this and must as I enjoyed writing it :) Also, I wanted to thank Liam1094 and Cassie-011 for their kinds reviews, I really appreciate it!

Without further ado, here you go.

/

CHAPTER NINE

Without thinking it through, I pulled away from her and started running to David.

At once, everybody seemed to start shouting. An oral mess, a true cacophony, where you couldn't distinguish a specific sound or even someone's voice from another. That is except for David's, his was limpid and I would have recognized among a thousand others.

"No, Alma!" Dave yelled desperately although I was now close enough to him he didn't to shout. "What are you doing? Go back!" He kept on objecting forcefully but it was too late, I'd taken my decision.

"I'm giving you a chance, David," I panted, out of breath. "Critical shot had been authorized. I couldn't risk it, I couldn't lose you." I said admitting the depth of my feelings for him out loud for the first time. "They suspect me too, but they wouldn't dare shoot because my family would raise hell."

Honestly, I couldn't be sure of that. For all I knew, I was now living my last few seconds on earth. What if it's worth it, though, I wondered. Dave was still silently gazing at me, with such intensity it seemed he was making sure this was real, I was real.

And then, I heard Sampson rescind critical shot authorization and relief washed over me. David finally seemed to relax a bit before mouthing 'thank you' at me.

I wanted to hug him, I desperately needed to take him in my arms and promise that everything would be fine, that we'd be okay. But I couldn't and in the few seconds it took me to find the right words to express all that, David preceded me.

"I love you, Alma," David admitted unfalteringly, having now stopped crying. Without breaking off eye contact, he raised the radio to his mouth.

"Budd to Sampson."

"Sampson."

"I'll lead you to the evidence that proves I'm telling the truth," David told Sampson, still looking at me, as if waiting for my consent. I nodded weakly. This was it, it was time to play all our cards.

Silently, David turned his back to Sampson and most of the police officers and I followed him outside of the park, without looking back. In the background, Sampson shouted David's name a few times, asking for him to stop but we never did. They'd have to work out a mobile containment and a safety corridor, but that wasn't our problem now.

"Help us out mate," DCI Sharma's voice came out of the radio. "Where are you going?"

"My flat. Long walk ahead." David replied calmly. That was understatement.

And so, we started walking, almost solemnly. It was indeed a long walk, David's flat was nowhere near the city centre. My comfortable clothes would come in handy after all.

"How are you?" I dared ask after almost half an hour of silence. I had kept replying David's words in my head over and over again, just to be sure I hadn't imagined them. I was having a hard time keeping up with Dave's pace but I didn't want to slow him down.

"My hand's in spasm," Dave admitted, daring a small peak at me, looking pained. He knew our lives now literally depended on the strength of his thumb and fear was displayed on his face. I was scared as well, but if there was anyone I'd trust with my life, it'd be him.

"I don't have the kompromat," he confessed, his brows knitted together. "I have the blank rounds but not the tablet." He admitted in a low voice before looking up at the sky as if asking it for help.

"I have it," I replied softly, barely louder than a whisper. "I've had it all along, Dave. It's safe." And then, acting on instinct rather than reason, I removed the radio from David's right hand and replaced it with my own, hoping I wouldn't startle him and make him trigger the DMS. My small fingers slid between his, finding their place immediately as if they'd always belonged together. "It's going to be okay." I promised.

After a few kilometres, David squeezed my hand before speaking again. "I'm sorry for spying on you, on Julia." David finally confessed. "Craddock threatened Vicky, the kids. I had no choice." I squeezed his hand back, letting him that was all water under the bridge. Maybe, we'd have to talk through that sometime but now wasn't it.

After a few hours, I eventually recognized David's neighbourhood with all the grey, monotone houses. Although he no longer appeared as distressed, David was still shaking, his body undoubtedly tired of holding pressure on the dead man's switch. I wished I could take over, but knowing that was impossible, I hoped that him knowing I was at side always, hand in hand, was encouragement enough.

There were now police vehicles everywhere. And when we reached his block, I started seeing snipers placed at various vantage points, their rifles pointed at us. A shiver ran down my spine. We truly were considered the enemy.

"I need you to go inside. It's completely safe, Alma." Dave said once we reached his front door and I nodded at his words. "Under the cupboard in the kitchen, there's some rope-"

"What for?" I asked, interrupting him.

"And a spade."

Slowly, I pulled my hand away from his and then quickly ripped off the barricade tape before hurrying inside. I was scared they'd shoot if I took too long. Luckily, the rope and spade were exactly where he'd told me they would be.

I stepped outside and saw him breathing out on in relief. "What now?" I inquired, figuring out the answer to my own question after I'd said it out loud. Under David's instructions, I tied down one end of the rope on the strong metal fence before letting myself slide down the concrete wall onto the graveyard. I started digging out the earth, completely ignoring the fact that I was in what some called a sacred place.

"I think I've got it," I hollered at David when I saw something different in the earth and kneed down to finish the job with my bare hands. "A black plastic bag?" I shouted, asking for confirmation.

"Yes, that's it, Alma," Dave's voice immediately replied.

I let the shovel fall to the ground and tucked the plastic bag inside my coat so my hands would be free to climb up the wall. Dave's gaze never let me as I climbed back up the wall, frankly embarrassed at my slow speed but he didn't say anything.

Once next to him, David thanked me again, squeezing my hand, before turning on the radio. "This is the evidence. The blank rounds that were smuggled into my pistol. They'll proof organized crime were involved."

"Where's kompromat?" DCI Sharma instantly inquired, still suspicious.

I removed the radio from David's hand. "I have it." I announced and from afar, I could distinguish surprise on Sharma's and Rayburn's faces. "I'll lead you to it if you agree to help David diffuse the bomb."

Sharma and Rayburn seemed to be arguing for a few seconds, before he spoke again. "Come to us with the evidence and we'll see what we can do." DCI Sharma offered and I felt my blood boil within me.

David grabbed my arm urgently, trying to reason with me. "I think you should go, love." He murmured, his left arm now obviously trembling. I considered it for a few seconds but then shook my head. That wasn't who I was. I always finished what I started and I wouldn't change now, not when the life of the only man I'd ever loved was at stake.

"I'll come to you when Daniel Chung comes to us."

From the distance, I saw DCI Sharma and DS Rayburn conferring with each other before Chung joined them. Impatient, scared and running out of energy, David grabbed the radio.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold the DMS," Dave admitted, pained as his voiced faltered. "This vest is crucial evidence. The others all got blown up. If forensics got a chance to examine this, it might lead us to the bomb maker, prevent further attacks."

I wanted to tell him about what Chanel had told me, about Nadia but it would take too much time and we were running out of it.

"How do you know I'll keep my side?" DCI Sharma asked out.

"I've been a soldier, I've been a copper. You get to spot a bloke whose words he's bond by."

DCI Sharma turned around to talk with his colleagues again. I was worried they'd decide I wasn't worth the bother and they'd authorize critical shot again, but then I saw the robot approaching and my heart skipped a beat. Daniel Chung was ready to walk over.

I turned to Dave one last time. "I'm going there, Dave," I whispered softly, wanting to reassure him to the best of my abilities. "I'll hand them the key, tell them where it is. And then I'll come back," I promised, a hesitant smile on my face but Dave didn't return it. Instead, he started to argue against my last words, claiming that I should remain with the Police, but I cut him off. "We'll do this, together."

With those words, I spun around and walked over to the Police officers, slowly, trying to match Daniel Chung's pace. I made sure Daniel was now in close proximity to Dave, before I allowed myself to walk the last steps.

As soon as I was close enough, I gave Rayburn the plastic bag with the blanks. "Here's the key," I said, looking through my handbag and spotting my gun. I'd completely forgotten about it but it didn't seem either Sharma or Rayburn had noticed. I handed the small silver key to Sharma who looked puzzled.

"I thought you had the kompromat."

"Not on me, I couldn't risk it." I admitted, impatient to get back to Dave. "The key opens locker 751 at King's College main Law library. Inside, there's the original tablet and my laptop which includes a copy of it."

"How can we be sure it's there?" DS Rayburn asked suspiciously. She still didn't like me, I thought sarcastically. I wasn't sure I liked her either.

"Dave trusted you, now it's your time to trust me," I spoke calmly. "Just sent someone to retrieve it."

I heard David's voice through Sharma's radio, he was asking about Longcross. I was about to turn back and head over to David again when Vicky appeared out of nowhere, looking concerned.

"Is he okay?" Vicky asked, worry all over her face as her brows furrowed when she tried to get a look at David in the distance.

I sighed, before looking away from her. Truth is I didn't know. He was tired and we could all go up in flames at any second. "He's okay, Vicky. Don't worry," I replied, lying before pulling away from them.

DCI Sharma called after me, asking what the hell I was doing. I didn't answer, I didn't know myself. When I approached David, he was already speaking with Daniel Chung through the robot. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, one last time, before kneeing down in front of David.

"What are you doing?" Dave blurted out, not able to hide the fear in his voice. "You need to go, love!" His jaw tightened, the veins popping out in his neck as his left arm continued trembling.

"You're shaking, Dave," I announced flatly before taking a look at the various tools displayed on the ground in front of me. "My hands are steady, I'll do it." I said, not daring a look at his face.

I turned towards the robot to speak with Daniel. "Alright, what should I do, boss?" I asked lightly, trying to diffuse the tension though it was pointless at this point.

"We'll start by freeing his left hand," Daniel's voice explained through the radio. "Take the scissors. Use it to cut the tape over his thumb to create two loose ends."

Without losing any more precious time, I quickly grabbed the scissors and approached Dave. He was also taking long, deep breaths to steady his arm. As the scissors were now only a couple inches from his thumb, I looked up into his blue orbs and he looked into my brown ones. I wasn't quite sure what we were doing, what we were both trying to express through a single gaze. Our affection? Acknowledge the fact that we might be dead in a few seconds? Or simply, that however fucked up the situation was, we were glad we were together in our possibly last moments? I didn't know, and neither did he, and yet he nodded, and the scissors cut through the tape smoothly. Only now did I notice how cold his thumb was, blood flow was low.

"Next, you'll see a non-ferrous spacer," Daniel spoke, and David and I looked at each other puzzled. "It looks like one of the pieces on a game of draughts."

With the detailed explanation, I immediately located the small black, round piece.

"Set the spacer under his thumb while he's sure to maintain pressure on the DMS trigger."

My hands worked around his as precisely as possible, just like when you were a child playing Operation game. Carefully, I slid the spacer beneath David's thumb until I was sure it wouldn't fall out. His hands were almost purple now, I wasn't sure whether it was due to the beating, the cold or the stress.

"Being sure to maintain pressure, David, roll your thumb through 90 degrees so you can fold one of the free ends of tape down onto the spacer."

Realizing at Daniel's words that my help wasn't required now, I sat back on my heels, giving Dave the necessary space. "It's okay, Dave," I whispered, hoping my voice would reassure him. He tried as hard as he could to manage the trembling, and did a good job of that, as he followed Daniel's instructions. Internally, I sighed with relief.

"The next step is to roll your thumb in the opposite direction, over the piece of tape you've just secured, maintaining pressure. So, that you can fold the free end of the tape over the spacer." Daniel instructed and Dave complied. The spacer was now attached to DMS with the blue tape but Dave was still applying pressure, his knuckles white.

"If you're sure the tape is secure, you'll be able to remove your thumb." Daniel's words hung low in the air like the implicit warning they were. David appeared hesitant, not letting go off the DMS.

"You should go now, love," Dave pleaded, his expression conflicted. He was holding the switch down with all the strength he had left in his hand, scared it would still go off as soon as he removed his thumb.

I did the exact opposite I was asked to. Instead, I placed my hand around David's, holding it steady before looking into his eyes. "I trust you, David. Just like you trusted me on the bridge all these months ago," I spoke softly, a small grin slowly appearing on my lips and against my expectations, David reluctantly reciprocated it. "On one," I announced before counting down. "Three, two, one." And then, both David and I let go off the switch.

And everything was silent, no explosion, no words, not a single breath until David groaned with relief, stretching out his stiff thumb.

Daniel spoke again before I could come to terms with what just happened, with the fact that we were still alive. "I'd suggest applying another couple of loops of tape around to get the spacer 100% secure." I did as I was told, feeling reassured by what just happened, my hands steadier than before.

"David, normally the best approach is to neutralize the power source. But remember with the 1/10 device, Fort Halstead found it was rigged with multiple booby traps. When the power was cut, the control unit triggered the detonators." My heart stopped a few seconds at Daniel's last sentence. I didn't know of that.

"I'm convinced this is the same kind of device," Dave said in a grave tone, his Scottish tilt only magnified by the emotion.

We heard Daniel exhale through the speakers. "Then Alma's going to have to neutralize the control itself," Daniel announced in an equally dramatic tone. "I've already removed the cover successfully but there may be hidden trip wires."

At once, Dave lifted himself up on his knees to give Daniel a better view over the camera.

"I doubt a device like this will be neutralized by cutting a wire. A shunt might work." At Daniel's words, I desperately tried to remember my electricity classes in physics I took in high school years ago, translating the words into Portuguese.

"Hence the croc clicks and wires?" I asked for confirmation, just to be sure.

"Yeah." Daniel Chung replied.

David and I both exhaled lengthily before my hand reached for the green croc clicks. "I'm going to disconnect the power supply," I stated rather loudly, my eyes set on Dave's torso. When nobody yelled 'no', I decided it couldn't be an awful idea and to go for it.

Now standing so close to him, I could hear his heart beating anxiously, matching mine. I placed my left hand on his warm shoulder to steady myself, before carefully pinching the metallic nubs with the clicks. Still silence, nothing happened.

"I'm cutting through the first wire," I declared again, listening to David pant and I stopped breathing. The wire split in two with a small cling, but other than that still silence. I resisted the urge to hug him with difficulty, but then I felt Dave's hand snake behind my neck, bringing my face to his so we could share a quick kiss while maintaining space between our bodies. His lips were dry. It was the first time we'd kissed since all of this and it felt different, deeper though it was only just a peck.

"Put some tape over the ends," Daniel ordered, interrupting our moment. Sighing, I grabbed the roll of black tape and started working on it.

"Question for DCI Sharma," David spoke, his breath making the skin on my neck tingle.

"Go ahead."

"Any news on Longcross?" David asked, sounding nervous.

DCI Sharma took a few moments to reply. "Very sorry, David, he had to be released." Sharma announced apologetically. "But we've managed to retrieve the tablet and the laptop."

David's body tensed with anger. "Is that it?!" He blurted out, his voice too loud next to my ears. "He just got away with it, scot free?" Dave ranted, incredulous. I was just as mad at these news, but this wasn't the time.

I grabbed his hand, softly applying on it. "Hey, hey," I whispered, trying to regain his attention. Within a couple of seconds, Dave was looking at me, tenderly. "We'll deal with that later, David," I promised softly and he nodded.

"I'm going to cut the second wire!" I warned loudly, hoping that everyone, even the snipers could hear me.

"Everyone should get as far back as possible!" David, shouted, his voice louder than mine. He stood up and I immediately did the same, impatient to get out of this uncomfortable position.

In the back, I could hear Sharma yelling for everyone to back off and take cover.

"You're ready?" I inquired one last time, knowing my question was pointless. No one would ever be ready for something like this, and yet, we had no other choice.

David was too tall now for us to comfortably keep eye-contact, standing as closely to each other as we were. I wouldn't have dared either way. If things went wrong, I didn't want my final memory to be the last look of fear crossing his eyes. And so, I kept my eyes on his fast-beating chest, slowly sliding the red wire between the diagonal pliers' teeth. And then, I cut it, just like that, my eyes tightly shut. And nothing happened.

Nothing expect for Dave who abruptly picked me up without a warning before jumping down the concrete wall into the graveyard. Sharma started shouting angrily, telling everyone to go after us. Still confused, I stared blankly at David as he swiftly removed the explosives vest and threw it away before grabbing my hand again and starting to run.

I wanted to ask what the fuck he was doing, but I was quickly out of breath from the running. He never let go of my hand although quite obviously, I was holding him back. Soon enough, we got closer to the centre and David slowed down to a brisk walking pace. We stopped in a deserted alley so I could use some scented wipes I kept in my bag to clean off the blood from David's face. It was nearly 6pm and the streets were full with people who'd just gotten out of work.

"Where are we going?" I inquired softly, afraid random people could be listening in on us even though we were walking on the sidewalk, hand in hand just like any normal couple.

"To Chanel's flat," Dave announced, staring straight ahead as he stretched out his neck to look over the masses around us, being sure the police weren't there. David's hand was tightly wrapped around mine, as if he was scared to lose me in the crowd.

"She's not at home," I said out of the blue, making him stop abruptly to look at me, puzzled. "I locked her up in that basement on Saltmarch Street," I admitted, barely a murmur. For some reason, that made Dave scoff softly.

We turned right on the next corner, changing our destination. It all felt surreal. David and I, walking and holding hands in the streets of London, like a random couple shopping around. And yet, we weren't shopping, no, we were headed to where he had been dressed in an explosives vest and I had locked a girl a few hours later.

"I have a gun, a Smith and Wesson," I stated, as we were now only a couple of blocks away from the building. I thought Dave would chastise me for walking around with an authorized weapon, but if anything, he seemed to approve.

"How many bullets?" He inquired, his voice as light as if we were talking about trivial things, like grocery shopping.

I stopped walking for a few seconds, thinking about it. "Five." Dave spun around to face me, his brows knitted together. "Chanel's refrigerator," I admitted, somewhat embarrassed.

We reached the building and I led him inside the basement, through the maze, until we reached Chanel. She was sitting on the ground, looking pathetic as she slept until our steps woke her up.

"Oh my god, you're okay!" Chanel blurted out, her voice impressively loud considering she hadn't drank anything in hours.

I wanted to punch her in the face. The way she falsely showed concern for David after she literally drove him into this mess, got me mad. "Like you give a shit!" David spat out before I handed him the keys to unlock the handcuffs. "Cooperate." He ordered as he opened the cuffs and she immediately started rubbing her wrists. "You'll get immunity witness protection, you'll be out."

"You phone Luke," David ordered, his jaw clenched tightly as he pulled her up to her feet. It was the first time I'd seen him be anything less than perfectly delicate with a woman. "You tell him the inside man's gonna talk, he's gonna want to silence him and then he's gonna lead me straight to him."

David held on firmly to Chanel's arm as we exited the building straight to her BMW which now had a parking ticket. I took the driver's seat turning on the engine. David stayed on the backseat with Chanel, making sure she didn't try anything stupid. I looked at him through the mirror with a small smile that didn't quite reach my eyes: It was the first time I was in the front and he in the back.

Silently, I drove us to Luke's address. Nobody said anything, this had been a long day and everyone was exhausted. I parked the car and Chanel called Luke, following David's instructions to the letter. Within seconds, Luke was exiting his house, followed by a man, most likely his guard.

I made sure to always keep a couple of cars between the silver Range Rover and ourselves. They were headed to Mayfair and traffic was still crazy until we reached a more residential area.

Their car came to a stop in front of a brick house on the left side of the street. I parked Chanel's vehicle a few houses down, on the right side. David exhaled heavily. "Alright, I'm going in." He announced as he grabbed the door handle. Instinctively, I did the same. "No, you stay here with Chanel, David objected and my face fell. He was probably right, though, I didn't know how to fight and someone had to make sure Chanel didn't run away.

"Take the gun," I ordered, looking through my back in the passenger but David had already exited the car. "Fuck!" I groaned with frustration, kicking the wheel. Chanel looked as if she was to say something, but then reconsidered and kept her mouth shut. Smart girl.

I started counting the seconds and then the minutes in my head, at least three minutes had passed. I tried listening but her expensive car was well isolated and I couldn't make out a sound. Until I heard a gunshot resonating in my ears.

"No, no, no," I started murmuring, jabbering in panic, tears pooling at my eyes, as I grabbed the gun with shaky hands. David didn't have a gun, I thought in hysteria so the shoot couldn't have come from him. "You stay here!" I ordered Chanel as I opened the door, hoping that my voice was authoritative despite the sobbing.

I ran to the house as fast as I could, and found Luke, Craddock and Dave by the garage door. The former one was on his knees, hands above his head. Thank god, no one appeared to be hurt. But then Luke's guard behind Dave got up, ready to attack David from behind and without a second though, I hit the back of his skull with my gun. The tall man immediately fell unconscious to the ground. Everyone turned to me and I gave David a tentative smile but he didn't reciprocate it. His eyes, they were blank and David was far, far away. And then he turned to Luke again, the gun pointed at his head.

"Did you plant the bomb?" David asked through his clenched teeth.

"It was business," Luke replied boldly although he was obviously in the weak position at the moment.

"Why?" David asked again, his voice now sounding more animalistic than human.

"Just good for business. Nothing personal."

David started shaking at Luke's words, not with fear, no. With anger and bottled down rage which had finally been set free.

"Nothing personal? Alma almost died!" David accused, his grunt gradually turning into a yell as he spoke. Despite the darkness, I could see his finger twitching, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

I walked over to him, praying that my sudden movement wouldn't startle him and make him shoot. "David, David," I whispered, looking up into his blue eyes but his gaze was fixated on Luke. Slowly, I snaked my hand around David, my fingers softly brushing his skin. "Don't shoot, David. He's not worth it." I didn't know what would happen after all of this was over, but if David killed him, that would be a straight ticket into jail and I couldn't tolerate the thought of that happening.

"Call this in before I change my mind!" David ordered Craddock who immediately complied.

Numerous Police cars arriving soon after. Their sirens were too loud and their lights too bright, and everything was blurry. It all seemed to go down in slow-motion. First, they yelled at all of us to drop to our knees. And then they approached us, guns in hands before handcuffing us. David was brought into a different Police car. We both started yelling, protesting loudly at being separated but no one cared and the sound was muffled even in my own ears.

I was driven to the SO15 Station and once there, they let me take a shower, under a female officer's surveillance before handing me fresh clothes. The fabric was rough, scratching at my skin but I didn't complain.

I was led to an interview room where DCI Sharma was already waiting for me. I was asked once again if I wanted a solicitor and I refused that offer, just like I had the other time. He asked me about kidnapping Chanel, about carrying an unauthorized weapon, about having had the kompromat, about previously lying to them to help out David. I even told him about Julia being alive.

As I gradually answered the questions, I started doubting I'd get out of this without jail time. But then DCI Sharma declared that I had been a victim tangled up in all of this and that I was free to go.

I exited the room and then walked through the long corridor. Wondering about how I ought to contact Dave since I had no phone anymore. And then, I walked past an open door before realizing David was in there, with Rayburn.

He was clean, the wound on his eyebrow patched up and he appeared okay, at least physically. I let out a small squeak which alerted him of my presence. Before I could move, Dave's arms were around me, hugging me tightly against his chest, lifting my feet off the ground. I finally let out the tears I had been holding on to for hours.

Dave didn't pull back even though my tears were wetting his sweatshirt. Instead, he walked us inside the room where he'd been with Rayburn when I'd seen them. Silently, he sat down on one of the chairs in front of the screens before pulling me to him, so that I was sitting down on his lap. Although his warmth now engulfed me fully, I was still trembling. A combination of fatigue, lack of cocaine, adrenaline. But then David hugged me tighter against his chest, and I had no more room to shake, no more room to panic.

DS Rayburn apologized, stretching out her hand for me to shake, and I did.

Then, we watched Lorraine Craddock being interviewed through the computer screens. She admitted everything: That Luke Aikens had recruited Andrew Apsted. At those words, Dave rested his chin on the top of my head, holding on a sob before I started drawing shapes on his palm with my thumb. We were okay, that's all that mattered.

Craddock then went on admitting she'd appointed David as Julia's PPO because he'd make the perfect fall guy. I looked at Craddock with such hate through the screen, ready to strangle her had she been standing in front of me. And then, she said she hadn't provided the information for the Heath Bank attack. David's heart skipped a beat at her words.

"If she didn't do it, who did?" DS Rayburn asked emptily into the room.

"Nadia," I said out of the blue. "She made the bombs and I wouldn't put it past her to attack a primary school."

Ten days went by since the assassination but they were all blurred together. It seemed as if time had stopped existing. Mom had flown over from Lisbon, but I couldn't look her in the eyes. Each time she hugged me, I had to fight off the urge to pull away. Somehow, I couldn't tolerate physical contact anymore, it made me anxious. David was the only exception.

I accompanied him to the safe house every evening to visit the kids. I would just sit down on the sofa and stare at the three of them blankly. It's not like I had anything else to do, anyway.

Although it was now common knowledge among the Police force that Julia was alive, the news still hadn't been broken out to the public. I had no internship anymore and couldn't focus on research.

And then, after a few days, David and my mom finally allowed me some alone time. I went to my flat but all I could concentrate on was the useless stuff I kept. The pearl earrings, the scented candles, the beautifully assorted cups and it drove me mad. I threw them all against the walls, cutting my hands in the process but I felt no pain.

And then I went outside, walked over to the small supermarket, bought breakfast necessities and a little extra. And then things started getting better again. Mom didn't notice I was doing cocaine again, she never did even when I lived under her roof.

Neither did David. After all we'd been through, he was just happy to see me happy. And I felt the same way, slowly starting to grin as I watched him play with Charlie or help Ella with her homework.

Nadia Ali was finally interviewed. At first, she played dumb but then she admitted to working with 'non-believers', aka Luke's men to plant the bomb at St Matthew's and having built all the bombs, just like I'd told the Police.

For some reason, that interview seemed to shut down the door with the past. To put an end to all the madness we'd been through, at least in theory. In reality, David's nights were plagued with nightmares and mine with insomnia.

We were now in the waiting room. David's fingers were drumming on the chair's metallic armrest. He was obviously uncomfortable and I couldn't blame him. The room was barren except for a few chairs, a coffee table with old magazines and some hideous light blue curtains. The drumming sounds was driving me mind, I carefully grabbed his hand before kissing it. That seemed to calm him down.

"Mr Budd," a dark-skinned woman in her late thirties called out, bringing us both back to the here and now. Dave didn't get up immediately, instead he turned to me, a mixture of worry and fear on his face. I nodded softly before reminding him I'd wait for him.

And then he got up, following the therapist into her office. With all my heart, I hoped that this would help him get better, because I was crumbling into pieces.

/

So, this concludes the storyline of the show. I've decided to try writing a sequel and will start posting it as soon as possible.