"Max is staying at a mate's and I was wondering whether it's safe to come in?" Jo asked, smirking at the look of surprise on Hannah's face as she opened her front door later that evening.

"Safe in what way?"

"Are the kids in bed and are you likely to bite my head off if I annoy you?"

"Yes and no."

Jo furrowed her eyebrows as she followed Hannah into the living room. "Eh?"

The red-head laughed. "Yes they're in bed and no, I won't bite your head off." She hesitated, suddenly nervous as Jo dropped onto the sofa, looking totally at home. It had been so long since she and Jo had been in the same room like this and suddenly she wasn't sure of herself anymore. "D'you want a drink?"

"No, thanks." The brunette replied, reaching out and pulling Hannah down beside her. "And I don't think you should have one either, Han. You've been drinking too much." As she began muttering in annoyance, Jo gripped her hands tightly. "I need to tell you something."

"What?" Hannah asked urgently. "I don't think I can handle bad news…"

"It's not bad, exactly…"

The younger woman raised an eyebrow. "Jo!"

"Ellie's pregnant, Han."

Unable to believe what she was hearing, Hannah stood up. She batted Jo's hands away and went into the kitchen, grabbing her packet of cigarettes and lighter from their hiding place behind the mint plant on the windowsill and heading out of the back door. Lighting up with shaking hands, she leant against the wall for a moment, before her legs gave way and she slumped to the ground. She had thought that her daughter was clever enough to realise that, although Hannah loved them, if she had been given the chance she would have waited until her life was more settled until she had children. Ellie had always been adamant that she would never get pregnant before she had a career; if she ever did.

"Hannah?"

"Go away." She ordered blankly, raising the cigarette to her lips and taking a drag. "I mean it; get out!"

"No." Jo caught hold of Hannah's wrists as she had done inside and pulled her back to a standing position. Sensing that she might collapse again, the brunette pinned her against the wall for a moment so she could pull the cigarette from her grip, before wrapping her in a tight hug. "I promised you'd never make me walk out again and I meant it."

"Jo… how could she be so stupid!" The younger woman asked, blinking at the concerned face just inches from hers. "I've told her so many times not to end up like me. She could be so much better. She deserves a life. She shouldn't have been as stupid as me!"

The brunette cupped her face gently. "You are not stupid, Han. You're intelligent and beautiful and so, so strong. But this is Ellie's life; her choices to make. You can tell her not to do something as many times as you want, but she's just like you and if she wants to do something, she will." Noticing that her girlfriend was shivering, she gently propelled her back inside. "It's freezing out there… come on, I'll make you a drink."

As Jo busied herself in the kitchen, Hannah stared at her hands. Outside she hadn't felt the cold but now the warmth of the house hit her, she realised that she was shaking. The red-head wasn't sure whether it was the temperature or shock. The more she thought about Jo's revelation, the more it bothered her.

"Why did she tell you, not me?"

Turning to face her, the brunette smiled wryly. "She isn't really talking to you, remember? I did try, though. When she was here at Christmas I tried to make her reconsider not telling you."

"Chri– Christmas? She knew at Christmas? You knew at Christmas?"

"Sweetheart…" Jo crouched in front of the chair Hannah was sitting in, placing her hands lightly on the younger woman's thighs and looking at her carefully. "Ellie's five and a half months pregnant. The baby's due at the end of June."

"Why wouldn't she tell me herself?"

"Freya said that Ellie was scared you'd disown her or something." Leaving one hand resting lightly on Hannah's leg, Jo raised the other to gently brush her girlfriend's cheek, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. "She said you'd be so disappointed in her."

Looking down at her hands, Hannah sobbed. "Am I that bad a mother that…"

At once, both Jo's hands were on her face, forcing her to look up. "No, babe, no. You're a brilliant Mum. Why else would Ellie be scared of disappointing you? I bet that you weren't thinking like that when you were pregnant with her."

Hannah had to admit that she hadn't given her parents views a second thought when she'd realised she was going to have Ellie. "I need to phone her… I need to… I don't want to be a grandma at thirty-three…"

"You'll be thirty-four when the baby's born." Jo pointed out with a smile. Then she sighed. "Phone Ellie tomorrow, sweetheart. It's too late tonight. You need sleep." Sensing that Hannah was going to argue, she decided to change the subject. "I thought you'd given up the cigarettes."

The red-head sighed guilty. "I've been smoking since I was a kid, Jo… it's just… part of who I am. It's not as easy as just making up my mind to stop."

"Well you know what they say?" Jo told her, smirking mischievously. "You can take the girl out of the Larkmead, but you can't take the Larkmead out of the girl."

"Great, thanks babe." Hannah laughed weakly, punching her lightly on the shoulder. She stifled a yawn. "I think you were right; I need to get to bed."

"Is that a hint for me to leave?"

Hannah arched an eyebrow. "No. It's a hint for you to get upstairs."

x-x

Groaning the detective rolled over disentangling herself from Jo's arms as gently as she could and reaching out for her mobile. "Hannah McKay."

"Hannah?" At the panicked voice on the other end of the line, she sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and rubbing her eyes to remove the last traces of sleep. "It's me… Stella… I... I'm scared."

"Stella? Where are you? What's happened?"

"I'm at home… you need to come, Hannah… There's someone…"

There was a shattering sound and the line went dead. Panicking, Hannah dropped her mobile and started pulling on clothes quickly. Once she was fully dressed, the red-head leant down and shook Jo awake as gently as she could in the circumstances. It took a couple of moments for the older woman to realise what the look on her girlfriend's face meant and the lazy grin vanished at once.

"What's going on?"

"Stella just phoned me. She's terrified; I have to get over there."

"Han… it's four in the morning."

Nodding, Hannah glanced at her watch as though she needed to confirm the time. "I know, I know… but she's not any ordinary informant; she's Ellie's Nan… I can't just ignore her."

"D'you want me to come with you?" Jo offered.

"I'd love you to, but you need to stay with the kids." Leaning down, Hannah kissed her softly. "If I'm not back before you leave I'll see you at the station, OK?"

Reluctantly Jo nodded and watched as Hannah vanished into the dark hallway, closing the door behind her. In the near silence, the brunette heard the front door close with a soft click, before Hannah's car engine kicked into life and she drove away.

Glancing down at the dashboard where a light was flashing, Hannah swore as she realised that she needed to stop for petrol if she had any hope of making it to the Estate without breaking down. Willing the pump to hurry up, she impatiently topped up her petrol tank and paid, rolling her eyes at the night attendant who seemed to be deliberately slow. She jumped back in her car and made her way as quickly as possible towards the Larkmead.

"Fuck's sake!" Hannah almost screamed in frustration as, two seconds after turning onto the Estate, she found the road blocked by a white van parked directly across the road.

With the building not even in sight, the detective parked up and headed towards Stella's flat on foot. It had been over forty minutes since Stella had phoned her and Hannah had the odd feeling that she was running out of time. As she got closer, she broke into a run, throwing herself around the corners of the staircase and skidding to a halt outside the woman's door which was already ajar. Cautiously, she pushed it open, poking her head inside and looking for any dangers.

"Stella?" She hissed, as loudly as she dared.

Realising that she was shaking, Hannah mentally reprimanded herself; she was a police officer and someone could be badly injured. Now was not the time to worry about her own safety. Pulling herself together, the young woman made her way into the flat, checking the rooms she passed as she headed along the hallway.

In the living room she spotted a figure lying motionless on the ground. Dropping to her knees beside the older woman, Hannah quickly assessed Stella's injuries, feeling for a pulse. Her heart almost stopped as she realised there wasn't one. Leaning down, she tried to listen for breathing, to feel Stella's breath on her cheek, but there was nothing.

"Stel? Stella, come on! Don't do this to me… wake up, come on." Hannah implored her, beginning attempts to revive the woman knowing, deep down, that it was useless. "You're gonna be a great-nan… Ellie's having a baby… come on, Stella!"

Slumping down beside the woman's body, Hannah put her head in her hands. An odd numbness spread through her and she wasn't sure what to do. She'd seen bodies with injuries a hundred times worse than Stella's plenty of times before and they never normally affected her at all. Jo had often remarked that she had a problem, because of the way she seemed unaffected by the corpses they were called to deal with. But discovering the badly beaten body of someone she knew so well, not long after receiving a phone call from the distressed woman, had completely knocked Hannah sideways.

Hannah wasn't sure whether minutes or hours had passed before she heard voices and turned her head away from the body to see what was happening. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw who was standing in the doorway.

"Hannah?"

"Sally… Sarge?"