Hurrah it's all written. Sixteen and an epilogue!

OOOOOO

Beside him, Harry is dozing in the passenger seat, the flicker of street lights move across her face as they travel through London. It's been a long night. It is not how Dempsey expected to end his birthday, in the chill of his car.

He curses Robert Makepeace, silently, for fear of waking her. Inside him, there's a cauldron of anger that's simmering away and he's trying to keep a lid on his feelings. Instead, he thinks about how they were before his arrival. The trust she placed in him, revealing her heartbreak and the bewitching softness of her kisses, how he could have taken her there in the living room, how she felt against him. There was a natural progression, that her past has interrupted through no fault of her own.

He hopes he's done all he can to assure her that he's with her. Loving her. He'd claimed her mouth, unable to find the words to immediately explain what he wanted when she'd expressed her doubt. He's never good with words - great at mouthing off - but when it comes to his feelings, all he could finally say was that he needed her.

After uniform took Robert away, Spikings arrived to assess the damage, take her statement and arranged to have the door secured. It felt like a whirlwind to him, and Dempsey had no idea what Harry must have felt. When she mentioned going to Eaton Square where her father was staying, Dempsey looked across at Spikings for advice, worried again about boundaries. He's never been worried about dammed boundaries before. Whilst she packed a bag, his boss took him to one side.

"I don't know much about matters of the heart, more my wife's department… but I think you should take her. We'll catch up with Makepeace later." Spikings looks mildly uncomfortable. "You did well Dempsey, good work."

Dempsey recognises Lord Winfield, or Freddy as he's come to know him through Harry, when he appears from a door down the hallway of the tall town-house. He greets his daughter in a warm hug, clearly bemused by the two arrivals on his doorstep. Freddy arranges hot drinks and sits them both in a cozy lounge. There are bookcases piled high with all manner of reading material. Dempsey is tempted to pull up a chair and start working his way through them.

The home isn't dissimilar to Harry's place, larger and grander, but the money doesn't show at surface level. The pictures aren't entirely straight on the walls, and the desk by the window is hidden by piles of papers, neatly stacked. The rug on the floor is threadbare in places but the room excludes warmth and history.

"You like reading Lieutenant Dempsey?" Lord Winfield asks, observing the younger man who nods, noticing that, despite his interest, Dempsey's focus is on Harry who has curled up on a careworn sofa, looking pensive. Freddy puts down a tray of coffee and biscuits. "Anything stronger for you?"

"No thanks." Dempsey shakes his head, "I'm driving."

Freddy hands them a cup and bites into a biscuit watching as Dempsey sits down beside Harry. He notes how his daughter takes the Lieutenant's hand in hers and how the young man looks nervously across at Freddy, but he doesn't pull away. How his face softens as he drinks the coffee and when he relaxes a little when Harry hums her approval.

"It's James or Dempsey, I'm Lieutenant at work, sir" Dempsey turns to Harry for reassurance, unaware of what Freddy knows and if there's a protocol he's stepped over.

"Freddy. Please call me Freddy, all my friends do, even my daughter." The older man sits down in an armchair opposite them. "As good as it is to meet you properly James, at long last, and to see you, Harriet, I don't think this call is social?"

Harry speaks quietly, looking to Dempsey, "James and I have spent this evening together…"

A smile tugs at her father's mouth, but disappears when Harry tentatively explains what happened with Robert. She carefully misses out their intimacy, but mentions that she's met his family.

"Dammed cretin." Freddy sighs wearily, "What happens next? Will he be charged?"

Dempsey nods as he thinks out loud and explains some of the protocol, he knows Spikings will keep the family better informed. He squeezes Harry's hand gently, "You shouldn't be at work if you feel unsafe, if you want police protection, I can arrange that.…"

Harry looks at him, there's a sense of need around her, "I can stay here or at Winfield Hall can't I? The professor knows a little about this and I'm sure he'll understand. I can take some work with me."

"Whatever you feel is safest, if that's alright with James and Spikings." Freddy agrees. "James, you're welcome to visit us at Winfield Hall. I was going to head back next week."

Dempsey looks at Harry who nods, offering a tentative smile, "I would love to, thanks."

"Good, good." A smile knocks a few years of Freddy's face. "Harriet, you look exhausted, my dear."

"I am, if you don't mind, I'll head to bed." Harry lingers at the door and walks over to impulsively hugs her father, "Thank you."

Dempsey takes his cue to leave, "I need to get to SI-10, check on the progress." He wants to kiss Harry goodnight, but hesitates in front of Freddy. Instead, he takes her hand in his, and kisses the back of it, noting the blush on her face. "Good night, Harry. I'll call you."

"Please say goodbye to your family for me, I had a lovely afternoon." Harry says quietly with a tender squeeze of his hand.

Freddy walks him to his car. "You must wonder what you've got yourself into."

"Harry was incredible." Dempsey hesitates, "I don't think I've met anyone like her before."

"Perhaps she's finding strength from you? James, I have to tell you that Robert was awful, I had an idea but, well…I didn't realise how terrible he was, it's rather shaken us." Dempsey sees the pain of a father as Freddy looks sorrowful.

"There are people at the station you can talk to. I can find out more.." Dempsey is uncertain that it's enough, the fledging service that Joyce wants to set up to help in such cases is barely formed, or that Freddy is the type of man to take such advice.

"I probably should, I realise it's not good form to bottle it up when my wife passed away. I would rather have shot Robert, between you and I." Freddy says confesses with a nervous glance at Dempsey. "I'm grateful you were there for her. I'd hate to think what would happen if you were not. The least I can do is invite you to Winfield Hall."

Dempsey looks at his feet for a moment, conscious that if he wasn't there, then Robert may not have tried to attack, "Harry means a lot to me but to be honest, Freddy, I'm a cop from Brooklyn and way out of my depth with English aristocracy."

"My daughter clearly trusts in you." Freddy comments and Dempsey feels the older man's challenge, "After all she's been through, doesn't that count for something?"

"Yeah... It's not something I'd treat lightly." Dempsey replies carefully, not sure how much Spikings has said about him, if indeed anything at all.

Freddy pats Dempsey on the back as he opens his car door. "You know, James, Robert Makepeace is aristocracy and it counts for very little in my book. My wife wasn't born into all this, and I've long thought that a good heart wins people over, not money."

Freddy fancies he sees a flicker of emotion on the American's face as he slips into the car. He watches the Mercedes until it turns the corner and contemplates how history repeats itself. He knows that Dempsey is a breaker of rules. He's had a few drinks with Spikings these past few months. The Lieutenant is almost certainly not the man he would have thought Harry would find friendship with, but perhaps his little family are due a wheel spinning. If only Robert would leave them alone and sign the divorce papers.

Freddy shivers and heads inside to check in on his beloved daughter.