BETA: None. WILL have spelling and grammar mistakes. (Please don't complain as I've just warned you.)
Sex: M/M
Swearing: None
Setting: This chapter takes place during episodes 5 & 6.
I'm having a bit of trouble with Word at the moment, so if there are more Spelling and Grammar mistakes than usual, forgive me.
Joe and Emerson had dinner in a small out of the way pub they hadn't been in before, sat in a comfortable and familiar silence after casually discussing work. Neither knew if the discussion had been part of the cover or if they'd genuinely wanted to pass notes like they used to, but it had felt right. They avoided the subject of Joe's dating history and Emerson's ex, for good reason, and to say there hadn't been tension would be a lie. There was the underlying need to touch, like an unending buzz in their veins drawing them together. But they'd agreed they weren't going to make that mistake again, they weren't going to jump right into bed with each other. If this was going to work and if they were going to do a better job at hiding it this time, they had to do this differently. Joe was still a little angry and shocked to discover that what they'd thought had been a subtle under the counter relationship had actually been common knowledge, at least among the unit.
They'd discussed Miles's attempts to get him out on the town and laughed at it a little. Emerson queried if it wouldn't just be easier to tell the Skip about them, insisting that he'd be fine with it.
"I'm still your superior officer Em, it's still not allowed. - Unless you want that transfer?" he smirked softly.
"No." Emerson insisted. "I'm not going anywhere."
Joe nodded and had to fight the urge to lean across the table and kiss him. Coughing he turned his attention back to the road as he drove the younger man home. "And if Miles wants to waste his time trying to set me up on dates, let him. - It could even work in our favour, if he's concentrating on that he won't notice us."
Emerson shook his head with a smile. "I thought he was you're friend?"
"He is, and as my friend he should learn to keep his nose out of my private life."
"He's just looking out for you. What's you to have something other than work." Emerson murmured from the passenger seat.
"I know. I just…..wish he wouldn't. It makes me uncomfortable."
"Why?"
"Because….it's not like I can tell him the truth."
"You know he wouldn't mind, he's told you he wouldn't. - And he's fine with me, they all are."
Joe shifted in his seat. "That's different."
"Why?"
"Because you're not important."
Emerson glared at the older man with a raised brow.
"That's not what I meant. I - I'm their superior officer, they have to respect me. You're one of them."
"Are you saying they don't respect me?" he frowned.
"No, that's not what I'm saying." Joe sighed, wondering how they could already be fighting.
"But they wouldn't respect you if you were gay?"
The car fell silent as Joe failed to answer, the only sound Emerson's huff of frustration.
"You know how it is for me Em." Joe finally said; his voice quiet in the car. "I've told you how my father was. It's pretty hard to reprogram yourself not to think like that."
Emerson shifted. "I just can't believe you still think that way Joe, especially after….us."
"I know." the car staled at the lights. "I'm just…I'm just scared that I'll lose everything if they find out."
Emerson turned sympathetic brown eyes on him. "That won't happen. You're too good a copper."
"You're bias. Always have been." Joe smiled sadly.
"Maybe." Emerson shrugged. "But it's still true. They'd be idiots to get rid of you because you're gay. - And it's more than a little illegal." he smirked.
"I don't think they'd care. - They'd find a way." Joe sighed.
Emerson couldn't stop himself reaching over and placing a comforting hand on Joe's. The senior officer stared down at the darker skin, turning his hand to entwine their fingers. It felt good to have that skin on skin contact again and it instantly resurrected past memories. The burst of a car horn brought them out of their moment.
The car pulls up at the far end of Emerson's street. They weren't going to risk being seen by his flat-mates by parking directly outside. The pair sat in an awkward silence, Joe's palms flat against the steering wheel while Emerson stared down at his own as they rested in his lap. Both men fighting the desire to just follow their instincts and jump straight back into bed together again, but they'd made an agreement to take things slow, which meant no sex. Of course no sex didn't mean no contact; so reaching across the car really wasn't breaking the rules. Emerson's fingers pressed into the back of Joe's neck as he pulled him close and kissed him. The sound coming from his throat was part way between a sigh and a moan. He'd missed this, missed Joe. He'd been a bloody idiot to throw all of it away.
Joe's hand slip up the side of the younger man's face, till his fingers combed through Emerson's dark curls, savouring the softness he'd been able to touch for so long. After a few moments Joe pulled back, flushed and breathless, he looked into the dark eyes and smiled. "You should go." he murmured. "It's been a difficult few days.
Emerson glanced at the flat then back to Joe regretfully.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Joe announced sitting back in his seat, calming his breathing and his raging hormones. "Maybe we could go for a drink after work."
Emerson smiled, feeling a little more at ease. "I'd like that."
"Me too."
There was an awkward silence before Emerson turned to open the car door. "I'll see you in the morning then."
"Yes."
"Goodnight Sir."
Joe looked at the younger man a little hurt.
"Sorry…" Emerson said quickly. "Habit." with a small smile he leant back into the car, pressing a kiss to Joe's lips. "Night Joe."
"Night Em."
Joe watched Emerson walking up to his red door and smiled, feeling for the first time in months at ease and relaxed. The weight he'd been carrying on his shoulders since their break-up finally lifting.
~WHITECHAPEL~
Things between Joe and Emerson were going well; they went on normal dates, like normal couples. They kissed in Joe's car but never went beyond that, no matter how tempting it was. At work no one seemed to have noticed that their boss and colleague were back together, not even Miles, which was actually extremely entertaining. All in all everything was going really well. - Except for the increasing sexual frustration on both sides.
Joe was sat in his office going over case files, it had been almost two weeks since their last case, and he was bored. He couldn't help but hope that something was going to come up. He glanced out of his office to watch the unit prepare for Mansell's party. The man was getting divorced again and Miles had talked Joe into letting them have a few drinks to cheer the DC up. - Well, Miles thought he had, but it had really been Emerson who finally persuade him. His gaze scanned the room for the young man he was dating again and felt his heart skip when he saw him, helping Miles. Their lack of real intimacy was beginning to drive Joe crazy, and he knew he only had himself to blame, it had been his idea to take things slow and while he still believed that, he really wanted to drag the younger man into the nearest storage cupboard and ravish him.
Emerson looked up and seemed to have somehow known what he was thinking because he smirked and turned to talk to Riley. Joe shifted in his seat as his suit trouser became a little too tight. For a second he pictured himself just walking out of the office and grabbing the DC, kissing him in front of everyone, not caring what the team thought. He shook his head, that wasn't a possibility, not even a small one, and part of him hated it.
Joe dropped his pen and marched out of the office, unclear why he felt so annoyed. He told himself it was the large keg of beer Mansell had just brought in, and the table filled with food. "You told me it was just a few drinks to cheer him up." He snapped at Miles, trying to ignore Emerson on the other side of the table, watching him covertly.
"It's Mansell's second divorce; this is what it takes to cheer him up. - Is that your special ginger cake." Miles said; grabbing a slice off the plate Riley had just put down.
Joe cringed as Emerson thrust a plate under his nose, before sending the man a scathing look. "No."
Emerson smirked as he lowered the plate, noting the frustration in his…boss-slash-boyfriends eyes, but not feeling all that guilty for teasing him.
"Use a plate." Joe snapped turning his attention back to his sergeant. "How many people have been invited?" he asked handing Miles a plate.
"It's just us, don't worry…." Riley insisted. "I borrowed a mop from the canteen in case things get out of hand."
Joe wasn't put at ease. "No one's to touch a drop of alcohol until the shift end!" He snapped loudly. "Thank you." he turned, heading back into his office.
Miles rushed to stop him. "You need to learn to enjoy yourself. You can't keep being the boss at parties, relax, loosen up."
"You've turned the incident room into a drinking den."
"Yeah. Good job I thought." Miles smirked, walking away.
Joe headed back into his office, sitting there trying to ignore the commotion happening on the other side of his doors. He stared down at the paper work for a few moments when he heard his door open, glancing up his chest tightened as Emerson stood there with a file in his hand and a smile on his face. He handed it over, flipping it open Joe discovered it was empty and bit back a laugh.
"He's right you know." Emerson murmured in a low voice, the door still being open.
They'd learnt to become more cautious, realising what would draw attention and avoiding it. It seemed to be working.
"About?"
"You need to relax."
Joe looked up into the dark eyes. "It's hard."
Emerson swallowed the double meaning. "I know." he shuffled his feet a little before meeting Joe's gaze. "Maybe….once you get through this, we…..you could find a way."
Joe stared at his junior officer, sucking in a shaky breath. "You mean?"
Emerson shrugged. "I have to admit…." he swallowed again. "I'm….going a little… here."
Joe smiled up at him. "Yeah, here too."
The pair looked at each other for a long moment before Joe nodded to the door, holding out the file. "You better get back out there." his tone heavy with desire. He watched Kent walk calmly out of the office and turned his attention to his work, not bothering to fight the grin that had spread across his face.
Ten minutes later he strolled out of the office to talk to Miles and the others, doing a wonderful job at ignoring his boyfriend, who sat at his desk working.
"I just want to thank you sir, for allowing us to have this small commiseration." Mansell said as Joe paused by his desk.
"Quite alright." Joe smiled tightly.
"I'd like to say it's not every day I get divorced, but it is." Mansell laughed at himself.
"Well, I'm sure you'll find someone who's right for you." Joe said confidently, fighting the desire to glance over at Emerson.
"Finding them's easy." Mansell nodded. "It's keeping them, that ain't."
Joe got that and his gaze shifting of its own accord to Emerson. The younger man turned and caught his gaze. He had no intention of screwing this up again, he couldn't lose Kent a second time, he wasn't sure he'd be able to cope. Joe was pulled back to Mansell and the others as the DC exclaimed excitement over a pile of magazine's Miles handed him. Joe wrinkled his nose at the sight of the men's specialist material.
"These are vintage Ray, real class. - Oh, you've got to love a hairy bird, look." Riley said, holding out a two page spread to Joe, laughing.
Joe frowned, and turned away.
"Not long now, we can pop the cork." Miles remarked.
Riley gave a hearty laugh. "Oh, you dirty sod."
The merriment was interrupted by Kent, and Joe couldn't be more grateful. "Sir, we've got an alert."
Joe and Miles strolled over the man's desk, looking over his shoulder. Joe once again trying to ignore the way his heart and body reacted to the scent of the younger man. Maybe the whole going slow thing had been a bad idea. He really couldn't wait for this party to be over.
"Calvin Mantis escaped from a high security psychiatric hospital. Used to live in Whitechapel and might come back." Kent said, oblivious to Joe's thoughts, though sharing them.
"I remember Mantis." Miles said seriously.
"Did you work the case?" Joe frowned over at him.
"No, but I know someone who did. They needed counselling after what they saw." Miles swallowed, the memories returned. "Mantis murdered his parents and his ten year old sister, when he was twenty."
"When was this?"
"2001. He was judged unfit to stand trial." Kent answered.
"Criminally insane?"
"This is his most recent photo." Kent said, printing up the image.
Joe looked down at the image.
Miles shivered, shaking off the memories of the murder and glanced at his watch. "Well, that's it, shifts over." he grinned.
Joe looked at his sergeant for a long moment before rolling his eyes and releasing a resigned sigh.
Everyone rushed to the table, grabbing at the food and drinks. Mansell strolled over with the large bottle of bubbly. Joe looked over at them, then back to the photo, sighing. When he looked up again, Kent was watching him closely, before brushing past him and heading for the table. With the photo in hand Joe walked to his office, placing the image on his desk for later and turned back to the party as Mansell popped the cork on the champagne. He watched everyone beginning to have a good time, watched Emerson take a drink from Miles with a smile. Then like a prophet of doom his office phone rang and they all froze.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
