Chapter 11

Neither Alex nor Gene were in the mood for celebrating their latest collar as they headed back to CID.

"Sometimes you almost wish you didn't know the truth," Alex commented sadly. So much tragedy in one case. It weighed heavily on her heart.

"Guv," Bammo approached them as they entered, "you missed a call. Vicar's dead."

"You're a day late," Gene huffed.

"No, the new one's snuffed it."

"What?" Alex's mouth dropped open as Gene snatched the note from Bammo to read the details,

"Can people please stop murdering our bloody vicars?!" he cried.

"No, natural causes," Bammo told him, "Heart attack."

"Which is what I'm going to have if they don't fix us up with another bloody dogcollar!" Gene cried.

"Don't worry, Gene, I'm on it," Alex assured him, taking the message from him, "I'll call them. We'll get this sorted."

"I hope you're not still looking for signs to call the bloody thing off," he said.

"Gene," Alex sighed sadly, "I was never looking for signs. Like you said, third time lucky," she shook her head, "and for the vicar, too." She touched his arm gently and looked at him with a sincere smile. "We're getting married on Saturday, , I promise, even if we have to ordain the woman with the big backside and bathe in holy sprout water." She left the office to attend to sorting out vicar number three, crossing Kim's path in the corridor, "Kim!"

"Ma'am?" Kim hesitated, "is everything alright?"

"Not... exactly..." Alex closed her eyes and sighed, "More dead vicars. Kim, have you heard from Robin?"

"No, why?"

Alex hesitated.

"There's been an incicent," Alex began, hurriedly saying, "Robin is fine, but Jake -"

Kim looked anxious as she hesitated.

"What's happened?" she asked.

"He's in hospital," Alex explained, "he was attacked. He's had stitches in his arm and he's lost some blood but he's doing OK. Robin is with him."

"Well, that's good," Kim said, "at least he's not alone."

"The thing is," Alex began quietly, "she used," her voice hitched, "a bread knife." Instantly she saw Kim's whole expression cloud with painful memories, "I thought I should warn you. Robin might be feeling unnerved."

Kim nodded slowly. She remembered the difficult night on which they had explained to Alex the full details of Keats's attack.

"Thank you for warning me," she said quietly, "can I -" she began looking towards the exit.

"Yes," Alex interrupted, "of course, go and see him," she hesitated, "If you need to cancel tonight -"

"I'll see how he is, Ma'am, I'll let you know," Kim said quickly, "thank you. Thanks for being so understanding."

"Of course," Alex said quietly as she watched her go. It felt as though the day was destined to distress every one of them one way or another.

~xXx~

"Look at that," Jake shook his head as he looked at the state of the stitches in his arm.

"It's better than Kim's sewing," Robin tried to cheer him up. For someone who was a competent first aider Jake really hated hospitals.

"Maybe she'll work her magic and cover it up with art instead," Jake mused.

"I can see you with a tattoo," Robin told him.

"I can see me fainting getting a tattoo," Jake commented and they both laughed softly. For Jake it was a new experience having someone there for him in Robin's capacity. He'd always had Marci to call on but this was different. It was strange but even more than half a year on he still found it hard getting used to being anything other than single. He had to admit that it felt god to have someone like Robin making sure he was OK. "Thank you, Rob, for everything you did," he said quietly, "I was terrified."

Such a frank admission wasn't easy for Jake to give. Robin squeezed his hand.

"I'm just glad you're safe," he told Jake.

"So am I," Jake smiled.

"So am I."

Robin and Jake turned to the doorway as another voice spoke.

"Marci?" Jake almost gasped in surprise. Even though Robin had left a message she'd been the last person he expected to see, especially in such a state. "My god, you look worse than me."

"I've got flu," she lied, "stomach flu. Been chucking up all day. Couldn't get to the phone," she swallowed, "sorry."

"You can't come in here if you're sick," Robin cried in alarm.

"I'm past the worst of it now," Marci told him.

"You could pass it round the whole hospital!"

"Well I'm here now!" Marci said crossly. She took a deep breath. "Can you give us a minute?"

Robin glanced at Jake who nodded.

"OK," he said. He turned to Jake properly and rubbed his good arm gently. "I'll just be outside,|" he promised and left the room with a slight glare at Maarci on the way. Marci supposed she deserved that. She walked towards the bed and cautiously sat beside him. "Are we still friends?" she asked quietly.

Jake looked at her warily.

"You tell me," he said quietly.

Marci looked down and swallowed.

"H-have you spoken to Shaz?" she asked quietly.

"I tried to," Jake told her, "She said you'd split up." Marci looked down. "Is that true?"

Marci swallowed.

"Did she tell you why?" she asked.

"She wouldn't tell me much at all," Jake informed her, "she said I should ask you." he hesitated, "so I'm asking you. What happened?"

Marci swallowed.

"I've made mistakes, Jake," she whispered, trying hard to fight back tears, "a lot of them lately. I don't want to keep being like this. Pushing you all away, Treating you like shit."

"Then don't," Jake urged her, "fuck's sake, Marci, tell me what's wrong so I can help you."

Marci stared at her hands, turning them over and over; palms, backs, palms again.

"It's... it's my problem," she whispered, "I need to work through it myself."

"You don't have to, Marci, you have people who love you and want to help you."

"But I need to do this alone," Marci took in a deep breath. "I'm messing everything up. I know that. But when I got that call, about you..." she stared at his arm and the sight of it made her gag. "Oh god, what happened?"

"Old woman with a bread knife," Jake choked out a weak laugh. "It was more disturbing than it sounds.

"No, believe me, it sounds disturbing enough," Marci assured him. She gave him a tiny smile, urging her arms not to shake. "Shit, I was so scared of losing you, Jake. You're the best friend I've ever had."

"I'm not going anywhere," he told her but she looked down, knowing that the truth could change everything. She needed to hide it and needed to fight it.

"Give me another chance, Jake. I'll be better, I'll be me again, we'll forget everything, I'll speak to Shaz, we'll just be like we always were."

"That's what I want, Marci," he told her, "I want my best friend back, not whatever you turned into." He watched her look downward in shame. "I'm sorry, but you really have been acting like a stranger."

"I know," Marci nodded, "but that's going to change. I promise."

As she hugged him carefully and relished the feeling of his arm hugging her back she hoped and prayed that she could keep her word. She tried to ignore the angry urges running through her body but they weren't going anywhere. This was not going to be easy.

~xXx~

"Robin! Rob!"

Kim's urgent voice had been the last thing Robin was expecting as he paced up and down in the corridor, hoping Marci and Jake weren't killing one another.

"Kim?" he glanced up as she ran towards him.

"I heard about what happened," she cried breathlessly, "how's Jake doing?"

"He's OK, he's doing OK," he breathed as Kim arrived in front of him. She was surprised to find herself enveloped in a hug of epic proportions which she returned warmly.

"Oh Rob," she sighed, "I'm so sorry, it must have been awful."

"It wasn't the best day on record," he said quietly, "Kim, she used a breadknife -"

"I know, I know," Kim closed her eyes as she held him close. She rubbed his back softly as she whispered, "how are you doing, Rob, are you OK?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he promised her, "it brought some stuff back.. I couldn't help that... but I'm OK, really."

"I'll cancel tonight if you like, Rob," Kim told him, "we'll spend the night in."

"No. No, don't do that," Robin told her.

"Alex will understand," Kim began but Robin pulled back, shaking his head.

"No, don't you dare," he told her, "you've already given me my armour. The memory of the knife isn't going to get through that."

When Kim realised Robin was talking about the tattoos across his chest it made her feel warm inside,. She looked at him, trying not to smile since it seemed inappropriate. She didn't manage it though.

"That's what I wanted," she whispered, "that's what they're there for."

"I know," Robin nodded, the slightest smile on his lips, "and they do their job perfectly." he took a deep breath. "Don't cancel tonight, Kim. Alex needs your talents too. I can do my best at looking after Jake for the evening. Piss him off by taking over his kitchen. Do a very bad job of doing first aid. Get told that I need to stick to my day job."

Kim smiled and gave a soft laugh.

"If you're sure," she said and Robin nodded.

"I'm sure," he said.

Kim nodded slowly and brushed the fringe from his face.

"Alright," she told him, "I'd better get back. I just wanted to make sure you were OK."

"You didn't have to come all the way here for that," Robin told her, his smile telling her the opposite. The one thing that would make him feel better no matter what was the sight of Kim.

"See you tonight then," she told him.

"Late tonight," Robin interjected.

"Are you staying over at Jake's?" Kim asked and Robin developed a devilish smile.

"I wasn't talking about me," he said.

Kim took a moment to work out what he meant.

"Rob -"

"Alex isn't calling it something blue for nothing, you know," he teased and she felt her face reddening.

"Shush you," she warned him, "go poke Jake in the stitches or something. See you later."

Robin smirked a little at the sight of Kim's ears turning pink as she trotted away.

"See you in the morning, more like," he called after her as she glanced back with a slightly bewildered expression.

"tattoo's not that big, Rob," she said, poked out her tongue and scarpered to the sound of his laughter.

~xXx~

"Got one."

Gene glanced up from his scotch.

"A verruca?" he asked.

Alex pulled a face and sat down opposite him.

"A new vicar," she said, "they have confirmed that the replacement vicar has been replaced by a vicar with a clean bill of health and a clean criminal record."

"Wonders will never cease," Gene threw the last of his scotch down his throat and stood up. "Funny old day."

Alex narrowed her eyes at him.

"There's that phrase making a come back," she said, but she was only teasing. A touch of familiarity was no bad thing after the turbulent day. "Ohhh, I could just fall into bed," she sighed.

"I thought Stringer was turning you blue," Gene reminded her,.

"I never said whose bed," Alex teased, the expression on Gene's face setting off laughter that, after the day they'd had, she well and truly needed. With a sigh she took Gene's coat from the stand and tossed it in his direction. "Come on," she said, "let's get out of here. Before any further members of the cloth meet an unfortunate end."

"It's whether Stringer's going to be meeting an unfortunate end after your something blue that I'm worried about," Gene remarked, silenced by surprise as Alex took hold of his tie and dragged him closer for a quick kiss. He hesitated and considered for a moment before concluding, "she might get a stay of execution if you distract me with a few more of those."

"I'm sure it can be arranged," Alex assured him.