Chapter Eleven

Thank you for the kind reviews- I am really pleased that despite the horrendous gap that I left between updates that people still stuck with it and read it- it means a lot! Please keep reading for me and I will keep updating. So much has happened in the last couple if years that I won't even go into but anyway now things are settled and I have recaught the writing bug I will crack on completing all of my stories that are in progress so that I can then start on the new ones floating around in my brain!

Thanks again and please stick with me!!!

Chapter Eleven

"Riggs we gotta tell Murphy?" Roger urged his partner as the two stared at the file in his hand.

"No way man, we can't drag him into this" Martin replied, his brain still processing the disturbing information that he had just discovered.

"He can get some backup in on this- he can help us out and make sure nothing happens to you" Roger replied his concern for his partner only escalating the more that he thought about things. Martin shook his head immediately in disagreement.

"Rog, I can look after myself just fine I've been doing it for years, I don't want anyone else involved and being out in danger cos of me. That's why I am going home" Riggs replied, his jaw set and his eyes blazing in his infamous stubborn streak. Riggs didn't act seriously very often but when he did there was no arguing with him.

"Trish ain't gonna like that" Roger replied, determined to get his partner to change his mind, but very conscious of where they were at the moment in time. "Come on Riggs, lets go back and get some dinner, Trish has cooked a roast" Roger stated, urging his partner to his feet, effectively ending the conversation for the time being. Riggs sighed to himself before standing unsteadily next to his partner.

"As if my day hasn't been bad enough I now have to eat one of Trisha's roasts" Martin commented shaking his head as he walked past his partner. Roger grinned to himself pleased at the small glimpse of his partner that he had just seen.

"Yeah, life's a bitch" Roger replied following behind the younger man.

The two stepped through the door just as Nick was finishing laying the table ready for dinner.

"You timed that well!" Trisha commented as the two men walked into the kitchen- and Roger pulled two beers out of the fridge and handed one to his partner.

"Yeah Roger was trying to get a Chinese takeaway on the way home, but I told him that it was roast night and too good to miss" Riggs commented to Trish, his face lit up with a grin that reached his clear blue eyes. Trish stopped working and stared at her husband with his hand on her hip, knowing that Riggs was joking but willing to work with it.

"Really? Is that right Roger?" she asked, her tone serious and her face set.

"Honey you know how much I love your cooking" Roger told her pulling his best puppy dog eyes at his long suffering wife. He stepped forward and placed his hands on each of her hips before placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Hmm….. I love you Roger Murtagh, but you're still an asshole!" she responded and Roger chuckled lightly before shrugging his shoulders.

"Can't deny it" he replied, before slapping her bottom with an open palm. "You need anything doing?" he asked her, and she shook her head.

"Nope just for you two to get out of my kitchen" she replied and made a scooting motion with her hands. Roger and Martin both took the hint and left the room, the two detectives went straight to the lounge and flopped down on the sofas, both men exhausted by their trying day. Riggs leant his head back to rest against the sofa and closed his tired eyes.

Roger picked up the remote and flicked between the channels, trying to get straight in his mind how to conduct the inevitable conversation with his partner later. He knew that he couldn't let Riggs go home, he couldn't live with not being there to keep an eye on his partner and he didn't trust him to not just fall back on the steady decline that had started the current situation. Sure he knew that Riggs would have to go home sooner or later- but not until this was all over and he knew that his partner would be safe. He sighed to himself he had to admit that even before all this had started he worried about his friend, he had lost the love of his life- his soul mate and had still not gotten over it. He lived with the fact that he would never see his beautiful wife ever again, never share the joy of having children with her and never wake up next to her. Roger didn't know if he would have been able to cope with that if it had happened to him, and in retrospect it wasn't particularly surprising that Riggs had considered ending his own life, it sometimes took the love of a good woman to complete a man and untimely death of that woman could rip a man's heart in half. He knew that that was the case for his partner. There was no denying that Martin's heart had been crumbled into a million pieces the night that his wife had died and Roger doubted if it would ever be complete again. So for all this to blow up with Vicky's brother was rubbing salt in the open wounds of Martin's fragile psyche.

"Boys! Dinner!" a feminine voice shouted, pulling Roger out of his thoughts, and Martin out of his doze. The two men looked at each other, each shaking their heads to clear the cobwebs before sharing a slight grin and heading off to the dinner table for a family meal.

Martin ate in relative silence, enjoying the noise of the family around him, just interacting with the ones they love. He was so lucky to have been accepted into this family the way that he had been, he had never truly had a family before and he had never felt as comfortable with anybody as he did with the Murtaghs. He smiled to himself, he was so grateful to have met Roger and to have been encompassed in the love of his family to the extent of feeling as though he belonged to it.

"Are you not hungry Martin?" Trisha asked, dragging the younger man out of his thoughts.

"Sorry Trish" he replied, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, before starting to slowly eat the food on his plate. Trisha exchanged a concerned glance with her husband, Roger gave her a little shrug to express that he would speak to her later. Martin managed only a few more mouthfuls before conceding defeat and leaving half of his portion. Trish cleared the table without comment, not wishing to push her friend away. As she moved Riggs got to her feet and started helping her to clear the table. Trish noticed with alarm that he swayed slightly as he did so.

"Martin, why don't you sit down. I can manage" Trish told her friend, Martin looked up about to protest, but when he saw the concern in her eyes he sighed and sat back down.

"Thanks Trish that was lovely" he told her. She smiled at him and continued with her ask.

"Do you want some coffee?" Roger asked his partner, seeing that he was flagging as his fatigue once more took hold of him.

"No, I'm good thanks. I think I might turn in for the night though if that's okay?" Riggs replied. Roger simply nodded, their chat would have to wait- he doubted if Riggs would stay awake for it if he tried anyway. "Thank guys, night night" he replied, ruffling Nick's hair as he walked past and towards the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight and earshot Rhianne turned to her father.

"Okay Daddy, what's going on with Martin?" she asked, her voice and tone showing her concern, which got her off the hook for the abruptness of the question.

"Martin's been running himself a bit hard lately and having a few issues because of Vicky, it made him get a bit sick and the doctor said that he needed rest we are just making sure that he gets it" Roger told his daughter honestly. Rhinanne nodded and stared at her father as if assessing him to see if he was telling the truth, he obviously passed the test as she simply nodded.

"Okay, well if you need any help with him" she commented, and Roger nodded feeling proud of the woman that his daughter had become.

End Chapter Eleven

Please review!