Scott & Bailey.

Fa-arsed bitc.

The Bullies.

DCI Gill Murray liked to consider herself to be just and fair minded woman. She knew some of her officers considered her less than nice at times, but she knew they knew she was only like that when she was under a lot of stress.

They knew she had their backs.

Ever since Rachel Bailey had given birth to Emma, Gill had more or less become a mother/grandmother/aunt figure to the two Bailey girls. She had been more than happy to give Rachel advice on how to care for a baby, and she enjoyed being a babysitter whenever the need arose. But she drew a line with Rachel and Emma, they needed to keep things separate from the workplace.

So when Gill received a call from reception that Emma had been brought into her station with a teacher, she'd been a bit peeved, but she had to remind herself that Emma was with a teacher. That had never happened before. Oh, Emma was more than welcome to visit the station whenever she liked, but only under certain conditions.

Gill had needed to will herself to not cave in under the little brunette's pout when she'd had to sit Emma down and tell her there had to be limits to how often she could visit the station, and she'd had to watch Rachel having to brave the pout as well.

When she'd received the call from reception for Rachel that Emma was here with a teacher, Gill had almost shouted at her DC, but she was mystified as well. Rachel left the office to go downstairs to see what was happening whilst Gill and the others carried on with their work. A few minutes later, Chris came in with a look of anger on his face.

"Emma's got a nasty cut on her face, and a bruise in the shape of someone's handprint on her cheek," he growled angrily; though he'd only known the little girl for a short time frame, he cared about her. The rest of the team - Mitch, Lee, Rob, Pete and Janet looked up in surprise. Kimberly was home sick. Her kids had the flu. She hadn't fallen far behind.

What? As far as Gill knew Emma was well liked and well thought of at school by student and teacher alike, she'd never heard of anyone actually bullying her before. Chris went on, "Rachel's furious."

Oh god. Gill and Janet both thought at the same time, everybody else thought duck and cover. It didn't take the two women long to rush out of the office and head for the reception. The duty officer looked up, his eyes narrowed and angered, "They're in the waiting room, ma'am," he said to them both, his face pinched. Janet had to remind herself, Emma was fairly popular with the other police officers. Sometimes she wondered if Emma knew every police officer in Manchester, from the Chief Constable to the duty officers at the police stations her mother and Aunt Julie worked in.

She had to fight down the grin as she remembered how she'd once taken Emma shopping with her, and they'd met the Chief Con himself with his daughter.

Any smile on Janet's face vanished the moment she caught sight of Emma's face when she saw the little girl sitting on Rachel's knee, the older brunette was holding her tightly, kissing her cheek lightly, muttering reassurances. It was clear any anger had been shoved to the side in exchange of caring for her daughter. No wonder. Janet's eyes focused on Emma's face, her ruffled uniform, usually as neat as her long dark hair. The bruise on the right side of Emma's face was massive! An ugly, angry purple bruise on Emma's cheek. There was a cut on the girl's lip, and her red rimmed eyes were still trickling with tears. The maternal sides of both Janet and Gill's natures pushed them forwards.

"How did this happen?" Gill whispered, aghast as she looked closely at the bruise, any anger at Rachel dissipating at the sight of the girl she'd known and loved all her of her life since she'd been born with a bruise on her face.

Rachel's eyes went narrow as she glared at the teacher. She knew it was unfair to be pissed off at the woman who'd brought her daughter in, but hey, she'd brought her daughter in with a cut lip and a bruise that covered one half of her face. So, she had a bloody good reason to be angry. "Yes," she droned flatly, "how did this happen?"

The teacher swallowed. Like most of the school staff, she adored Emma and was absolutely terrified of her mother. Rachel Bailey was frightening when she was overprotective of her daughter, but she was a laugh when she was in a good mood.

Pity she wasn't in a good mood right now.

She had no choice but to explain. "There's been a lot of bullying in the lower years recently," she began but Rachel interrupted her.

"I know. Emma told me about it," she glared.

Because Emma told Rachel everything, she sometimes told Janet. The blond DC hadn't been surprised when Rachel had almost suffered a panic attack, terrified her daughter would become a victim of bullying. Janet herself had always been afraid of her own children becoming bullies or being bullied themselves, so she'd understood the problem.

But she hadn't expected this. Rachel hadn't said anything about the bullying extending to cuts and bruises, particularly a bruise the size she was seeing.

As if listening to Janet's thoughts, Rachel added somewhat accusingly though she knew it wasn't the unfortunate teacher's fault her daughter had been hurt. "Since when did the bullies smack girls?"

"It's only started today," the teacher said quietly, sitting wearily on the other side of the room as though hoping the distance would ward off the angry Rachel, "it was just thefts; small change at first, a few toys and sandwiches. We've had to put teachers outside to keep watch to put a stop to it, to remind the kids we're not going to tolerate it. Usually two or three of us are on duty since that way the bullies can't stage a diversion somewhere else. I was on duty when Emma was smacked. But now the bullies are being suspended from school, especially the one who hurt Emma."

Janet frowned, it seemed like too light a punishment to her, "How long will he be suspended for?"

The teacher bit her lip, "I don't know. I was sent here since the headteacher said it was best to tell you personally what had happened, something about an arrangement, but before I left someone asked what was going to happen."

Rachel nodded. She had known for a long time there was a possibility something could and would go wrong for Emma at school, and since she was a copper she had to work a lot, but that didn't mean she didn't want to be the last person to know if her daughter had been injured. She'd squared it with Gill; her boss had understood at once, especially since Rachel, whilst a mother for more than a couple of years, wanted to know the instant if her daughter was hurt regardless of how busy she might be

Rachel hadn't expected the headteacher of Emma's school to personally have her daughter brought to the station like this, but she was thankful for the initiative.

"How come no one's done anything until now?" Janet asked curiously. "Why has it taken this," she gestured towards the Bailey girls to emphasise her point, "for you to do something?"

"Well, we brought the boy's parents in for a discussion about him bullying the other students," the teacher replied, annoyed by the question they'd only bothered to act after Emma had been slapped, especially since it was true, "and they naturally denied it. They did promise to talk to him, but they clearly didn't do it. If anything the bullying's just grown worse."

Rachel exchanged a look with Gill and Janet before she sighed and buried her nose and mouth on her daughter's head. "Yes, we can see that," she said in a quiet tone that seemed mild enough, but a fool would be stupid enough to not recognise the anger simmering gently below the surface. It was only the girl on her lap, sniffling, that had Rachel control her temper.

The teacher sat there quietly, trying desperately to muster the energy to think of something meaningful to say to the pissed off police officer sitting there with Emma. This wasn't what she'd signed up for. She'd wanted to teach young people, to play with them, hear their laughter. She hadn't wanted to be here, to watch a little girl cry as her angry mother who happened to be a police officer glared at everybody in the room out of needing to find something to do.

She could understand that, just like she could see the frustration in Rachel Bailey's eyes, the need to find a way to punish the bully who'd smacked her daughter, to punish the one responsible for the cut. But there was nothing she could do, nothing that would really stop the bullying.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Rachel asked, "Do you happen to know what caused this attack, what set it off?" Rachel asked quietly. The teacher was curious about the other two women in the room, since they hadn't really spoken. They seemed content to let Rachel speak.

The question itself was one the teacher could answer.

"The bullies weren't focused on Emma, not at first," she replied, "she was defending a girl called Ashley-" she stopped when Rachel groaned audibly, and frowned, "You know her?"

"She's one of Emma's friends," Rachel said bluntly; it was clear she didn't think highly of the girl. "She's the stereotypical poster girl of bullying victims, but that's not the reason I'm not a massive fan of her though I have tried to be friends with her. The girl is quite snobbish at times, a bit full of herself, but she's quiet. Her mother, like me, is a single parent, but she doesn't seem to really care about her daughter unless its to do with other kids trying to use her to do their homework.

"We had a very nasty meeting once when I managed to find time to pick Emma up, and she confronted me about that. I've always tried my best whenever I've had the time to try and get to know Ashley, but she won't have it."

The teacher nodded at that. Ashley took the bullying victim image to new heights, and she had this snobby, arrogant air that seemed to scream "I'm better than all of you." It wasn't a surprise this was one of the triggers for the heavy bullying she received day upon weary day. The teachers had mixed feelings about her. She was a model student, but she wasn't as well liked as Emma, in fact, she wasn't really liked at all since she had a nasty habit of interrupting lessons, and trying to make the teachers look stupid. The kids themselves disliked her because of the way Ashley treated them, and yet Emma had tried to be friends with her, emphasis on tried. It was strange the pair of them were friends since they had such different personalities, it made you wonder if they were REAL friends, but the teacher had seen Emma protect her. What was strange was she had no idea how the relationship worked, and it seemed Emma's mother had no idea either.

"Why doesn't she want to know you?" she asked curiously.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine. I've seen that girl give me the same look of contempt her mother does, no love there. Don't ask me why Emma and Ashley are friends, 'cause I haven't a clue."

"I try to keep her out of trouble," Emma mumbled, "it doesn't always work. We've been rowing recently. I don't think I wanna be her friend anymore, and none of my other friends want anything to do with her anymore."

Janet blinked. Emma was usually loyal, but then again so was Rachel to a point, though in Rachel's case you had to do something really stupid to make her hold up her hands and say, "Okay, the friendship is over. Don't come near me again," and it was fortunate Janet had never found herself in that position ever.

"Let me see if I've got the picture in my head right," Gill suddenly interrupted, "Emma was protecting Ashley from these bullies, and they hit her."

"No, Auntie Gill," Emma said, "Ashley started it. She told the bullies as they walked past, they were stupid, and she told everyone her grades. When they went for her, I got in the way and they hit me. It just happened, me defending her."

The feeling of anger Rachel had been experiencing just grew again. She'd always had a bad vibe from Ashley, now she had proof of it. It seemed Ashley's bitch of a mother was right in a way, though the roles were reversed. But Rachel just wanted to know if her hunch was correct.

"Emma," Rachel whispered, gently using a finger so their eyes met, "Ashley's mum accused you of using her, that you make her do your homework, though we both know its an utter lie since your Aunt Alison and I make sure you do it on time. It's the other way around, isn't it? She uses you to keep the bullies away, 'cause she knows you're tougher than some since I taught you a few self defence moves."

The teacher frowned at the mention of self defence moves, but she could see the logic. Meanwhile, Janet closed her eyes. It wasn't unusual for smart kids to find solace of a sort with other kids, a way of keeping them out of trouble. It had never happened to her, though, and she'd been fairly popular at school. Her natural intelligence, kind attitude, coupled with her sense of humor had made her very well liked and respected.

Gill wasn't sure what to think. She'd always known that Emma, like her mother, was very loyal and willing to help people but this took the biscuit. How could she be so stupid?

Emma looked away, ashamed, and nodded.

"Emma," Rachel chided.

Fresh tears sparkled in Emma's eyes as she fidgeted, "I'm sorry mummy, but I felt sorry for her."

"I know, and it was a nice thought, but she clearly doesn't appreciate it since she makes the bullying worse to the point its YOU who gets smacked around, and its also not fair your friends have to suffer for it," Rachel softened and hugged her daughter tightly, "just do me a favor, the next time you see Ashley, just tell her if she can't keep her mouth shut then you're not going to be friends with her anymore. Let her deal with the backlashes all by herself."

Gill was surprised Rachel would say that, then she realised she was doing what she herself would've done. She was trying to protect Emma, and from everything she'd just heard it was all centered on Ashley.

"I know," Emma replied quietly, "I don't want to be friends with her ever again. Those fights I told you about, she talks to Michelle about her divorced parents, but to me she keeps talking about how she and her mum live in a house while we live in a dingy flat." She cried a little at that. Emma loved her home, despite it being small compared to Ashley's home, she and her mummy had made the place cosy and friendly.

Rachel's expression was thunderous. "Right, that's it," she exclaimed, "you never go near her again. Ever. Do you understand me, Emma? If someone you counted as a friend says that to you, they are no friends of yours."

Emma nodded. She'd obviously come to this conclusion herself.

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Emma had been allowed to stay at the syndicate which wasn't surprising since she hadn't wanted to go back to school 'til tomorrow, providing she did so quietly and if the Chief or Assistant Chief Constables appeared, she was to spend time somewhere quietly until they left. Emma was okay with that and though she liked Roger Rutterford, she knew he would frown at her presence, and besides, she wasn't in the mood to explain herself to anyone, and she was allowed to do things for the others. Everyone had been stunned and horrified by the size of the bruise on Emma's cheek. Rob had reassured her, well tried to, saying she would be okay. Mitch and Lee had wanted to sort the bullies out themselves, but she'd told them they weren't worth it, but she thanked her two uncles for their kindness.

Rachel had gone out to find some kind of makeup after Emma had visited the Ladies and cried at the size of the bruise. Emma wasn't vain, she'd asked her mum to get the makeup so then people wouldn't think Rachel was smacking her, a statement that had stunned her mother and aunties, especially since it might be taken for that.

She'd asked her mother with Gill and Janet listening nearby if there was anyway to cover it up. Because her mum was a copper, Emma had grown up with the knowledge that abused children were noticeable from their bruises and if she walked into school tomorrow with a massive bruise, someone might mistake the handprint for her mother's. She didn't want her mummy getting into trouble because of someone else.

As she helped around the office, passing files with a nod and a soft smile, Emma quietly considered what was going to happen when she returned to school. She'd been assured by the teacher, she didn't have to go back, and even her mother had agreed. The only problem was what would she do on her own. She could look after herself, but only to a point and besides that she had no idea how long she would need to spend time either at home alone, or with her Auntie Alison in case her mother had to work late.

It was what was waiting for her at school that she dreaded, or more likely who she dreaded meeting. Ashley. Sometimes Emma wondered what it was that made her act friendly around the girl, and she figured it was the general friendliness she'd inherited and developed from her mother and aunties that was the answer. She never received any gratitude from Ashley, and her other friends barely tolerated her. It might've been the need to protect people, a trait her mother had ingrained into her from an early age. Emma certainly knew her friends saw Ashley as a hanger on, someone to pity and ignore, not someone to seriously consider a friend, but Emma had honestly hoped once she saw life differently rather than constantly sniping at them and other kids at the school, Ashley would become a more outgoing person. It had been the only thing holding her own friendships with the others from falling apart. Boy, she had a lot of making up to do.

Too bad Ashley hadn't received the memo telling her there was more to life that what her mother made out. Emma had sometimes gone to bed, particularly over the last few months, wondering what had made her befriend Ashley in the first place.

She was rude, selfish, snobby, and even when someone defended her from bullying like the kind Emma had dealt with earlier, she was never grateful for it. Even worse, she would always say something nasty about one of the other kids, making out she and her mother were better than everyone else since her own mum was a businesswoman who ran her own business, and she would do the same one day, 'cause she was smarter than everyone else.

As she carefully and neatly put the files she was holding to her chest after years of long practice, Emma tried to imagine how the confrontation that was going to come tomorrow would pan out.

Emma saw three ways Ashley could react. One, she would shrug her shoulders and walk off, only to get bullied heavily like she had before Emma had said she would look out for her. Two, she would say she was telling on her, making HER out to be a bully herself. The third one was the most unlikely of the lot; Ashley would break down into tears, and say she did see Emma and the others as friends.

Yeah, that one was unlikely.

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Emma held her head high as she walked into the playground on the first break. She'd spoken quietly to her friends. They'd all been surprised to see her cheek, they'd seen the massive bruise that had covered it. She'd explained quietly it was covered with makeup. The other kids looked at her with respect.

Ashley had seen her, but she'd just ignored her. That made it easier in Emma's book. Emma quietly told her friends what she was going to do, and she'd asked them to help her make the point. Like her, they couldn't see Ashley reacting by crying.

After stopping to chat with a few of the other kids who were curious about what had happened to her bruise though her cut was still visible, Emma and her friends looked for Ashley. She couldn't see her. Usually she would hide herself away in the library and wait for the next lesson. The nice librarian, Mrs. Phillips, didn't like it anymore than she liked the way Ashley spoke down to her, but there was nothing she could do.

Finally, Lucy tugged on her sleeve and pointed, "There she is."

The girls looked in the direction of her finger. Ashley was standing a little away from the rest of the kids, reminding them of a little kid who was so shy they would peep around corners. Emma found herself sneering at the sight, and she could help but think that the way Ashley was looking at the other kids in the playground was a little creepy. The girl was too old for that, this was just another sign of how pathetic she was.

Emma walked towards her, and she still felt the presence of the others as they walked towards Ashley. For someone who was watching the playground like a hawk flying overhead for a bunny rabbit, Ashley was really not observant.

"Hello, Ashley," Emma said cooly.

Ashley's reaction would've been comical if it hadn't been so pathetic. She jumped and spun round to face the girls. "Emma," she said when she'd relaxed sufficiently to return to her normal demeanour.

Emma lifted a brow. That was it? No "you okay?" or "did the bullies hurt you?" Nothing. She was right, Ashley would never be grateful to anybody else. Part of her was tempted to take out her bottle of water, and throw it in her face to wash the makeup off so Ashley could see it, but she decided not to bother. Ashley probably wouldn't care. Emma had considered what she was going to say to Ashley when she'd arrived back at school, she'd fretted about it nearly all night. "We're not friends anymore," she said at last, deciding to be as blunt and rude as Ashley was. She wasn't going to make the effort to talk, she knew if she did then she might forget what she was about to do and why, and she might lose her other friends. They were more important than Ashley, they were real friends.

"What?" Ashley asked, and for someone whom considered herself to be incredibly smart she wasn't looking like it right at that moment.

"You heard me, we're not friends anymore," Emma said, "you're mean, you say rude things to people who try and be nice to you, and you make cruel comments 'bout them."

"Big words, Emma, you have been listening to your mummy?" Ashley mocked her, the sneer on her face almost begging to be smacked.

The other girls gasped. Each one of them was smart enough to pick up big words, old enough to understand them too, and there was nothing unintelligent about that. Why did Ashley think, they all thought at the same time, only she was smart enough to say and understand big words?

But they were surprised and yet unsurprised Ashley would just insult Rachel like that. The older woman was funny, amazing to be around, and she was really nice.

Emma ignored the insult to her mum, though it took some effort. Her fists bunched, and though she was tempted to thump Ashley, she stayed her hand. She wasn't going to rise to the bait anymore than she was going to drop to Ashley's level and insult her own mum.

"I defended you, from bullies and my own friends, even my own mother, though I wonder if they had a point, stood up for you, said repeatedly you could appreciate it in time," Emma said, "but now I've had enough. You can sort bullies out by yourself. Goodbye Ashley."

Emma turned around and walked away in case Ashley said anything. She'd successfully cut Ashley out of her life for good.

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