My Girl

Disclaimer: New Tricks belongs to the BBC. I make no money out of these stories... If I did, I'd hire a typist, so I could get these stories out quicker.

Author's note; I'm sorry it's been a few weeks since I updated this, 'A Taste of Paradise' turned into a bigger project than I first thought. I'll try to get my act together.

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Paula and Robert pulled up outside Sandra and Gerry's flat just before seven. They sat for a moment looking up at the illuminated windows. Paula gave Rob's hand a squeeze.

"Does your Dad know much about poisons?" Rob inquired, a small smile giving him away, Paula laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll taste everything first." She grinned, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "C'mon, we don't want to be late."

They made their way up the steps and rang the bell. It only took a few seconds for the door to open. They were greeted by a smiling, she stood to one side to let them enter.

"Go on up, you know the way." She told them, closing the door again. Paula led Robert up into the modern open plan apartment that Gerry and Sandra had moved into several months previously. Gerry was stood in the kitchen area, beating the living daylights out of a bowl of egg whites. Robert gulped involuntarily, he couldn't help but feel as though he had stepped into the lion's den. He jumped slightly as he felt a light touch on his arm, he turned to find Sandra smiling at him.

"Don't worry, he always gets violent when he's whisking." She grinned. He smiled back, and watched as Paula gave her Dad a hug and swiped a breadstick from the dish on the side.

"What can I get you to drink?" She asked him, laughing as Gerry trying but failing to retrieve the breadstick. "There is wine or beer, or there are some j2os."

"I'm driving, so I had better stick with something soft." He answered with a smile, they joined Paula in the Kitchen.

"Do you want a breadstick?" Paula asked, he grinned.

"Not if I have to fight for one." She laughed and swiped another one, handing it to Rob. Gerry shook his head and laughed.

"He's the boss, he can have a breadstick." Gerry told her. Paula pouted.

"See, there are some perks." Rob winked. They all laughed.

"Sit yourselves down, I'll start dishing up." Gerry told them, throwing his cloth over his shoulder.

"I thought Cait was coming." Paula enquired about her youngest sibling.

"She and Jayne will be along at about nine. I thought we could use the time to …. get to know each other a bit better." Gerry answered, looking towards Rob. They made their way to the dining table, Sandra smiled as she watched Rob pull the chair out for Paula.

"It's lovely to have a gentleman in the place." She quipped, grinning at Paula across the table.

"Oi! I heard that!" Gerry exclaimed from the other side of the counter.

"You were supposed to!" Sandra called back.

Rob watched the exchange with amusement, he wasn't used to this friendly banter, when his wife used to throw insults at him, she generally meant them, and his parents had barely been in the same room long enough to trade words of any kind. Robert often wondered how he and his brother had been conceived at all. He remembered the lonely days growing up, and it must have showed in his face as he felt a hand squeeze his arm.

"Penny for them?" Paula's soft voice brought him back to the present. He looked up and saw Sandra watching him, Gerry was just putting a large dish on the table, before taking his seat opposite. He was also looking at Robert expectantly. Rob shrugged.

"It's nothing." He tried to shrug off the moment with a smile. Paula shook her head.

"No. It's not nothing." She glanced around the table for help, she had noticed Rob withdraw, and it was something she had only ever seen a handful of times, when he was at his most emotional.

Gerry looked over at the younger man, he could see the fear in his eyes and he wondered what had put it there. He had seen that look before, on the faces of children he had had to interview during his spell in the paedo unit, and it made him uneasy. In the moments his boss has been pre-occupied with his thoughts, he had seen a whole new side to Robert Strickland. He cleared his throat.

"Rob...Crikey that's going to take some getting used to...Rob. This family has always been so close because we trust each other. We don't try and cope alone." Sandra interrupted.

"It took me some time to get used to. I was so used to taking care of my own problems, but the old saying is true, a trouble shared..."

"...Is a trouble halved, I know. But that depends on who the trouble is shared with. In my own experiences, a trouble shared is ammunition for the other person to use against you." He paused, fiddling with his knife. Paula took his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"It's alright, I know you've wanted to tell me before, but something's always stopped you." She had seen him clam up several times, and it was always when family was mentioned. He watched as Gerry served up the food, putting a large helping of bolognese in front of him. He smiled.

"Thank you. It was just that... watching you all earlier, the banter...It's something I'm just not used to. Growing up, insults were intended to hurt. My parents were hardly ever home, and if they were, they never really spoke to each other, let alone joked around. I sometimes wonder how they ever had children at all."

"How many of you are there?" Gerry asked, offering around the bread.

"Just me and my brother, though he's ten years older than me so we were never close."

"Surely there must have been some happy times." Sandra inquired. Her teenage years hadn't been fantastic, but she still had plenty of good memories of her parents. She watched as Robert shook his head.

"Like I said, they were never there. Father was always away on business and when he was home he wouldn't tolerate being disturbed, Mother was always 'socialising in the city' then when I was five I was packed off to boarding school." He smiled. "I suppose that's why I'm so useless at making conversation. They say you learn from your parents, all I learned was to keep quiet and not be noticed or you get a backhand across the face." The nonchalent way he spoke left the others speechless. Paula squeezed his hand.

"Why didn't you say something before?" She whispered. Robert shrugged slightly. He smiled softly at the woman holding his hand, he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently.

"It's ancient history. I didn't want to burden you with any more of my personal baggage."

Gerry watched as his eldest daughter smiled at the man across from him, he had the feeling that there was more to it than the younger man was letting on, but he decided not to push it for now.

"Enough of the third degree, let's just enjoy the meal." He saw Rob shoot him a grateful glance and mentally added this new fact to his list of things to interrogate the man in when he finally got him on his own.

The rest of the meal was enjoyed with general small talk and banter filling the silences between eating. Gerry was just about to serve up his speciality, the most perfect looking lemon meringue that Rob had ever seen, when the doorbell chimed.

"I bet that's Jayne and Caitlin, they can smell dessert all the way across the city." Gerry chimed, Paula stood up.

"I'll go." She went to open the door, leaving a slightly uncomfortable silence at the table. Sandra couldn't help but start to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Her other half questioned, but her laughter was infectious and he couldn't help but smile with her.

"We've worked together for how long? I don't remember one time when either of you two had nothing to say." She grinned. "This moment should be recorded for posterity." The two men laughed. Robert smiled.

"I'm just trying to not make a prat out of myself." He grinned.

"Too late for that." Gerry countered, a huge smile lightening the comment. Rob shrugged and smiled.

"Don't knock it, being underestimated gives you an edge. Keeps me one step ahead of the politicians and bean counters." Just then they were interrupted but the sound of multiple voices coming up the stairs towards them, Paula appeared first.

"Looks like word got around that you were doing meringue. Mum, Emily, Alison and Mel are here, as well as Jayne and Cait." Gerry looked across the table at the other man.

"You see what you're letting yourself in for? Are you sure you want into this family, us Y chromosome carriers are heavily outnumbered." Rob laughed as Paula poked her tongue out at her Dad.

"Don't forget little Gerry. And in seven and a half months there may be another little man in the family."

"Or it could be another little lady." Gerry pointed out.

"Could be both." Rob grinned, making Sandra laugh. Paula smiled.

"That would be quite nice. I hadn't really thought about it though."

They were joined by the rest of the Standing clan, who all helped themselves to meringue before gathering around to hear Rob's idea. Suddenly he felt a little bit like a deer caught in the hunter's sights, and he had to fight the urge to run for cover. He was used to facing a room full of journalists or politicians, he could lecture a hall full of graduates, but here and now he felt more on the spotlight than he had ever been before.

Caitlin could sense his discomfort and decided to break the silence.

"Before you start, could I say something?" She asked the man in front of her. He nodded nervously wondering where this was going to lead. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry to everybody for all of the worry I caused. I shouldn't have gone to the party…."

"It wasn't your fault sweetheart, it was those little bastards who were to blame." Alison told her gently. Caitlin nodded.

"I know, but I put myself into that danger. I knew what Karl was like, I should have been more careful." She walked up to Robert. "Thank you. Mum told me how you found me, and she described in detail how you pinned Karl against the wall by his throat. You are officially my hero…After you Daddy." She batted her eyelids at her Dad, making him roll his eyes. Rob laughed.

"Your're welcome." He replied graciously.

"So what plans do you have for the afore mentioned 'little bastards'?" Sandra enquired. She wanted to put control of the situation back into Rob's hands. He was used to being in charge, that was his comfort zone, and she was very aware how he would be feeling right now. She had felt the same way when she was first introduced to the family. He smirked.

"Have you ever been paint balling?"

"I have, it was a load of blokes taking it far too seriously, running around woods like they were Rambo, shooting each other with pop guns full of paint balls." Sandra answered. Rob smiled.

"That would be one of the executive 'team building' exercises the met used to be fond of." He agreed, she nodded. "Well, there is another level, competition level, higher powered guns. I have an ex-army friend who runs a paintball arena on the outskirts of the city. He set up in some woodland and caters for everything from children's birthday parties to ex-military competitions. I gave him a call and he's at our disposal." He turned to Cait. "From what I've heard about these boys, if you offer any sort of competition to them, they will be up for it."

"Oh god yes. Karl is uber competitive, and Jake will do whatever he says."

"Have you seen them since the party?"

"No. I didn't go in today, I just couldn't face them." She looked down at her feet. Rob smiled and put his hands on her shoulders.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. It's going to be hard facing them after what they did to you, especially as one of them was supposedly a friend. But I need you to do something for me which may be difficult." He could see the mother's all looking at him, and decided to carry on before he could be lynched. "I need you to go in tomorrow, and pretend you don't remember a thing. I know that's going to be hard, but for this to work, they can't be in any way suspicious." Caitlin nodded.

"I can do it. So long as the result is worth it."

"Oh, it will be. You will tell them about a college paintball competition, you and some other girls are getting a team together. Tell them it's a shame there isn't a boys team from the same college. That should get them interested."

"They'll never be able to resist, that's right up Karl's street, the chance to show off his manliness by shooting at some girls. But I don't see how…" She trailed off as she noticed Rob's evil grin.

"We mark the two boys, so we can tell them apart from the others, Harry can put some kind of distinguishing mark on their body armour and helmets. Then we substitute the girls team with a team made up of professional marksmen with higher powered guns. As I told Sandra, it's not illegal, but it will bloody hurt."

"It's bloody genius!" Gerry grinned. Rob noticed similar evil grins on the rest of the occupants of the room and made a mental note to never piss them off as a collective.

"Where will we find our 'army'?" Jayne asked.

"Sandra is firearm trained, as is Emily. Are either of you game?" Rob asked. Both women nodded.

"Absolutely." Sandra confirmed. "You've had firearms training as well haven't you?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yes, and I was sniper trained during my brief time in the army. Harry will gather a couple of his lads together, and I know I'll be able to get a few of the chaps from the armed response unit on side."

"Will you get in trouble?" Carole asked, slightly concerned that there may be some fallout. Rob shook his head.

"They could make a complaint but I doubt they will. There won't be any trouble from the fathers, they are already being kept busy. I dropped a hint to a friend of mine in town planning about the illegal party in the new retail premises which are not licensed, the whole project is in jeopardy and they are looking at some very hefty legal costs and a court battle. If the boys wanted to make a complaint, they would have to explain why they were targeted in the first place. I'm fairly sure they won't want to admit to drugging a classmate with the intention of raping her."

"When you put it like that, I say let's go for it, give the little shits a lesson they won't forget." Jayne stated. The other women all nodded.

"I have one condition." Caitlin interrupted. Rob nodded for her to continue. "When it happens, I want to be there. I want them to be in no doubt why it's happening." He smiled.

"I'm sure that can be arranged. We'll make the arrangements for Sunday, that gives us six days to get things in place."

Everybody nodded, suddenly excited at the prospect of putting the two prospective predators into their place. Sandra put her bowl on the side and switched the kettle on.

"Shall I make coffee?" She asked, the others all nodded, suddenly Caitlin let out an exclamation.

"Oh wow! I've been told about this film, Lucy said it's hilarious." Cait was holding up a copy of 'Blow dry' which Sandra had borrowed off Esther.

"Esther said it's good, I haven't had chance to watch it yet, Groucho over there says it's a chick flick." She smirked slightly, "Come on, let's put it on. Since your all here we may as well have a girly night."

There was a flurry of movement and colour as drinks were prepared and the lounge area was prepped for the film premier. Rob looked on in awe as the evening turned from a strategy meeting to gain revenge on a pair of sexual predators, into a scene from friends.

"Come on, let's go and find a watering hole." Gerry's voice brought him out of his trance. He took his jacket as the older man held it out for him. He cast his eyes across the throng of females, finally catching Paula's eye, she smiled and nodded, he gave her a shy smile and followed Gerry down the stairs and out into the night. Paula felt her youngest sister lean into her.

"You are one lucky girl, sis. He's fab." She heard her sister whisper into her ear. Paula smiled to herself.

She knew that already.

/

Author's note; This was a very hard chapter to write, I'm still not sure of it. S