Some Greil.. or Nace… or Masari… or Danson. Gee the options aren't really good are they? Anyway, here's a little bit of Neil and Grace for those who like it!

The Maths Date

Grace was keen to get out of the station to go home to prepare for her evening at the Maths group. Her colleagues had been merciless in their ribbing of both her and DI Manson, asking them about their 'date', advising her when to make her move etc. She wouldn't have found it so embarrassing if she could work out exactly what her relationship with Neil was, or how either of them felt about the other. She knew she was attracted to him, but what exactly did that mean? And how did he feel about her?

She was pondering these issues at her desk after their second briefing on the Emily Ward case for the day, when she looked up to see Neil walking towards her.

Neil was as confused about his feelings for Grace as she was about hers for him. She was a formidable woman in many ways; very smart, capable and obviously self-sufficient. So, he wondered, did this mean he was a bit scared of her? Not exactly, it was just he feared that if their relationship were to develop into anything more than it was, he would be the weaker and more vulnerable of the two. And Neil had worked so hard to protect himself from being hurt, especially in the realm of love. Could he risk blowing all this on a woman whom he couldn't be sure would really need him?

Despite his misgivings, he continued on his route to Grace's desk. Luckily there were very few other officers present in CID at the time. He had to get in quickly before they returned.

"Grace," he said, standing in front of her desk.

Grace looked up at him and smiled, "Guv?"

"I was thinking, maybe we should grab a meal before going to this group tonight, you know to discuss our strategy, etc?"

There, it was said. Neil stared at her desk waiting for her reaction.

"Thanks Neil, I'd like that," said Grace softly, thinking it was OK to drop his title in the circumstances.

Neil looked up and their eyes met. They smiled at each other.

"So, I'll come by at the end of the day and we can leave together?"

"If you don't mind, I need to go home first," said Grace. Actually, she had only just made this decision and it was primarily one made so she could do herself up a bit for her 'date'. "I can pick you up though?"

"Fine, I'll see you at what…six thirty? That gives us an hour before the group to…discuss things."

Neil looked behind him and noticed Max and Stevie through the glass walls approaching the office. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it and instead tapped the desk with his hand before walking off without another word.

Grace had her head buried back in her paperwork by the time Max and Stevie entered…

At home, Grace checked herself in the full-length mirror one last time before leaving to collect Neil. She was satisfied over all with how she looked. Her outfit was casual, but she still gave the impression that she'd made a bit of an effort to look good. She grabbed her handbag and headed for the door.

Neil was watching at the window in expectation of Grace's arrival so he could run straight out when he saw her driving down his street. He really didn't want to face the awkwardness of having to greet her at the door. Tonight was about work after all; it wasn't a date. Nevertheless, waiting for Grace to arrive was wearing on his nerves.

Neil thought about catching Max and Millie before in the interview room. Considering where Millie's hand had been, what he had witnessed was highly inappropriate for the workplace, but somehow Neil hadn't seen their behaviour as offensive. If he had to make an assessment of their job performance, he would have to say they both seemed to have benefited as police officers as a result of their relationship. Millie and Max seemed to him to have found a way to combine their work and private lives without either of them suffering. But was this work / life balance possible for everyone? After all, look what happened with him and Andrea. And if he and Grace were to…but Neil stopped himself there. He had no definitive indication that Grace actually saw him as anything more than a friend. And anyway, just before spending an hour or so alone in her company was not the right time to think about these things.

He saw a car turn into the street, collected his keys and shut the door of his house behind him. He was standing at the kerb by the time Grace pulled up. She didn't even have time to turn the engine off before he was in the car.

"Grace," said Neil, glancing at her in the seat beside him.

"Guv, I mean, Neil," said Grace. She felt awkward. She wished she hadn't put quite so much make up on.

Grace put on her indicator to pull away from the kerb. "So, do you have somewhere in mind to eat?" she asked, pleased that she could keep her eyes on the road rather than having to look at him.

"I do. Do you need directions? It's right near the uni."

"Right, I'll head there and you just direct me when we're near by."

An uncomfortable silence fell as they drove. Grace wondered if she should turn on the radio to lighten the mood. But then she thought ruefully that if she did it would be just her luck that the radio would be playing some painfully appropriate, or worse still, blatantly sexual song. But, Grace told herself, that kind of coincidence only happens in movies or stories.

The silence was becoming unbearable. Grace forced herself to press the 'on' button. And the song playing was Jeff Buckley's 'Grace'.

If the moment was lost on Grace herself, Neil was definitely amused by it. Grace's initial nervousness hadn't gone unnoticed by him. He hid his face by turning towards the windows and laughed to himself.

"Do you have this song on continuous loop or something?" he asked with a chuckle. "I never would have guessed you were such an egotist!"

"Yes, all right, that's very funny!" said Grace sulkily.

"It could have been worse, it could have been 'Amazing Grace', which would have added a whole other level to your conceit."

They pulled up at the lights, and Grace glared at him. Though Neil was sure he saw a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh come on Grace, how many times have you ganged up on me with the others at work, laughing at my interest in magic for instance, or my youth spent clubbing…"

Grace maintained her silence.

Neil continued, "I see, you can dish it out, but you can't take it. Is that it?"

Grace finally turned to face him, "Let me tell you, you have no idea how mocking I can be! You have no idea what it's like when I really dish it out!"

"So, you're saying I couldn't take it? Is that what you're saying?"

"You wouldn't know what had hit you!" said Grace triumphantly, finally letting that smile break through.

Neil was about to challenge her further, but he realised they were at the turn off to the restaurant.

"Right here, Grace," he said.

"What?" she replied, still riled up from their discussion. "Oh, OK."

They pulled over and parked within a few minutes' walk from the restaurant. They stepped out onto the footpath together, and Neil held out his arm for Grace to take. She linked her arm with his, gave him a forgiving smile, and they strolled to their dinner together. They walked in silence, but it had to be said it had been a long time since either of them had felt so contented.

The Father

Although it was not often his habit to work late, Peter Ward was still in his room at the university while Grace and Neil were sitting down to their dinner. But his focus was not on his work. The realisation that perhaps he had been the cause of Emily's disappearance was playing on his mind. He couldn't believe that what he saw as his own stupidity had endangered his daughter and hurt his beloved Bern as well. Neither of them deserved this. He had to fix things somehow. He had to be the man.

Wasn't this one of the nights the group met? Peter made up his mind that tonight he was going to pay these unscrupulous bastards a little visit…

The Group

Even though they were just as happy in each other's company at the end of the meal as they were at the beginning, Grace and Neil did not link their arms as they made their way into the back of the van where the surveillance team were meeting for the final briefing before the Maths Group. In the back of the van with the equipment were Max, Terry and Stevie, and the technician who wired Grace and Neil up.

The streets around the university were still quite busy, even for the end of the year. They were filled with late working students, and ones that were simply hanging around, plus other visitors to the eating and shopping district that surrounded it. Dotted inconspicuously around the square off which the hall was situated were various other members of the Sun Hill team. Leon was doing a convincing impression of a scruffy Philosophy student, Mel and Ben sat together pouring over a text book that in reality neither of them understood. But everyone's favourite undercover man was Nate, who was strumming a guitar and singing, and earning himself a bit of money as a result. Grace and Neil threw some coins into his guitar case and shook their heads at him as they went passed.

It didn't seem like too many other people had the intention of attending the Maths Group that night. Aside from Neil and Grace, there were two young men- probably new students, a lone, dowdy girl wearing glasses (now there's a Maths nerd! thought Grace), a middle aged man and woman and a couple of distinguished looking men with grey hair whom one would assume were members of the Maths faculty. And standing at the door, asking everyone to sign in was a man whom Neil guessed was in his early forties, who introduced himself as Glenn.

"Welcome to our little club, if you can just write your name on one of these tags, then sign in here. Thank you… Grace. And welcome to you too…Neil." Glenn flashed a sycophantic smile at them both.

Grace sat down beside Maths Nerd Girl and started up a conversation.

"Hi there…Dawne," the name tags were annoying but did come in handy. "I'm Grace. I haven't been here before, I'm not sure what to expect. This your first time too?"

Dawne looked at Grace unsmilingly. "Yes." she said, and made it clear that was all she was going to say.

"Right everyone," said Glenn from the centre of the circle of chairs, "We'll just give it a few more minutes to make sure no one else turns up.."

The sound of heavy footsteps on the wooden floor in the foyer of the hall seemed to indicate that someone was about to enter the room, and they seemed to be doing so with a purpose...

Max was sitting in the van with Stevie and Terry, getting very bored listening to Glenn welcoming all the attendees at the Maths Group. He felt his phone start to vibrate in his pocket. A look at the screen told him it was Millie calling.

"Hey," he said.

"Max," Millie said with a degree of urgency in her voice. "We're very worried here. Pete hasn't turned up at home yet."

"And I take it being a creature of habit, this is highly unusual, right?"

"Right. He's not answering at the office either, nor on his mobile."

"OK, well I'm nearby, so I'll go check out his office. I'll update you soon. How's Bern taking it?"

"She's worried, but she's holding it together."

"Good. I'll be in touch." Max hung up.

"The little woman?" asked Terry.

"Yeah. Apparently Peter Ward's gone AWOL. I think I'd better go check his office. I'll let you know."

Max opened the back of van, looked around and got out, shutting it behind him.

He had taken only a few steps when he saw a form striding on a monomaniacal course across the square towards the hall. It didn't take long for him to identify the figure as Peter Ward. He started to run towards Peter, radioing other officers in the area to see if anyone could get to him first. But it was too late. By the time he was anywhere near Peter, Peter had already crashed his way into the hall. Max burst through the door after him just in time to see a horrified Neil and Grace jump to their feet. They retreated in a last attempt to retain their cover when they saw Max come through the doors.

Peter walked up to Glenn and grabbed him by his shirt. "Where's Emily?" he demanded.

"Peter. Calm down," said Max trying to disengaged Glenn from Peter's grip. His eyes flickered across to the DI. He could see that Manson was not pleased.

"I'm sorry, you are...?" asked Glenn, remaining what seemed to Peter to be aggravatingly calm.

"You took my daughter!" he turned to Max. "Why aren't you arresting him?"

"Peter," said Max slowly. "We can't arrest him without evidence..."

The sound of footsteps behind him announced the arrival of Nate, Leon and Ben.

"That's right!' said Glenn, with a smug smile. "You have no evidence, have you?"

"Sir, I shouldn't have to warn you how unwise it is to deliberately aggravate someone who's threatening you." It was all Max could do to retrain from whacking the annoying twat himself.

"Evidence?" said Peter, disbelievingly. "What do you call this then? This was in my pigeon hole when I returned from the station!"

He thrust a piece of paper into Max's hand. Max took it and examined it. Then, leaving the PCs present to keep an eye on Peter and Glenn, he wandered over to the sign-in book by the door. Giving up his cover, Neil made his way over to join him. They compared the writing on the paper to the writing in the book and looked at each other.

"Well Guv?" said Max.

"I'm no expert, but it looks like the same handwriting to me," replied Neil.

Glenn bravado had not faded yet. "Well, you say yourself you're no expert, apparently not even on Maths..."

"Neither are you apparently, Glenn. Any extortionist worth their salt would know not to handwrite threats or ransom notes!" Neil replied drily. "Anyway, I think we have enough here to ask you to accompany us to the station to answer some questions. Nate! Leon!" Neil beckoned to the two PCs, "can you deal with Glenn here? Max," Neil added, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him aside. "What happened here?"

"Millie rang to say Peter hadn't come home, so I went to look for him, but he was already on his way here," Max hoped Neil wouldn't blame Millie too much.

Neil sighed, "Well, probably no harm's been done, but that's really only because Glenn was stupid enough to handwrite that note to Peter. I only hope Glenn will tell us where Emily is. If not, well let's hope at least we get another lead to her whereabouts out of him."