Hi Folks. Thank you for your continued readership and comments. As always they are greatly appreciated. I realise now that this story is set just after "The Gift Of Promise" – I think I knew this when I first had the idea then I forgot where I had placed it - but I suppose it could still happen at any time in the earlier seasons, as I have mentioned before.

It was 7pm and although the sun was starting to make its way to eventually sink behind the high limestone plateaus in the west, the evening was still bright and fresh as Laura parked her car in the leafy, tree surrounded carpark of Stone Edge country house hotel. She sighed. She really didn't relish the thought of a week of "teambuilding" exercises, but with the legal aspects of the house at Ash Rake almost sorted she had decided that currying a bit of favour with Jean Innocent would do wonders for the pathology department, especially as Jean had some spare "financial resource" that she had offered to Laura for a research project that Laura was overseeing with her students. Once the financial aid had been allocated, Laura decided she really couldn't say no to Jean's request to join the week's activities.

Laura was going to be the only one from her team to attend but Innocent had assured her that numbers would be made up from other external participants and that the inclusion of such participants would help to strengthen the existing bonds that she hope were already there. Laura, for her part, thought it was all a bit of nonsense but equally she appreciated that it was often good to change things up a bit and see how people acted out of context. She smiled to herself at the thought of Robbie and Hathaway getting roped into it all; their presence was another reason along with Jean's badly concealed bribe that finally made her decide to agree to the week away. Being already in the Peak District also gave her little excuse, especially as Ashlow was only a few miles from Stone Edge House Hotel.

Laura knew the hotel as being an exclusive getaway in the Peak. Originally built as a spa hotel in 1746 the grand building had survived the ravages of various world economic depressions and credit crunches and already being well positioned in the Peak District it had evolved with the times and now offered fine dining as well as having a host of facilities. Laura knew there was an original outdoor geo-thermal heated swimming pool, a suite of geothermal spas, a gym and acres of surrounding parkland with various outdoor pursuits and activities. It was a perfect base for Jean's teambuilding week away thought Laura. As she turned off the engine, she looked up to the large Georgian hotel. Unlike Ash Rake House, Stone Edge House was built from the warmer honey coloured gritstone, from the area. This house didn't make Laura shiver and a very small part of her wished she was staying at the hotel instead of having to go back to the house at Ash Rake. Like before, she pushed down the thought as being uncharacteristically irrational. She got out of her car and made her way into the hotel where one of the staff told her where to go for the evening reception.

In the bar of Stone Edge House, Lewis and Hathaway were already over halfway through a pint of local ale and both were glad, at least, that the beer was as good as it was in Oxford. The pair had found comfortable leather armchairs and sofas near to the large fireplace in which a fire burned brightly. Although the day had been warm, the air was cooling a little and the fire was a welcome bit of comfort after a day's travelling. The other members of the Oxford contingence were already into their second and third drinks and were stationed on nearby tables. Robbie had done his duty and chatted to everyone, including the buoyant DS Thompson who had set his attentions on to a female DS from Leeds who had joined the week's activities. Jean Innocent was with them and she was talking to another Chief Super from Manchester. Hathaway had introduced himself to each of the participants he'd not met before he slunk away to the fireside where Lewis had joined him. The pair had discussed in low tones how Jean Innocent was falling for DS Thompson's flagrant attempts to ingratiate himself to her and the other Chief Superintendent. Both Lewis and Hathaway wondered how they might get through the week's teambuilding activities without precipitating an outcome that was the opposite of the intention.

In each of the participant's rooms there had been a welcome pack and itinerary along with a list of the participants and their roles. Robbie's heart had sunk when he saw paintballing, potholing and something called a wild cook-out as some of the purported "exciting" activities touted for the week. Hathaway had thought the same but felt more horror at the group sessions held in the hotel's conference suite that involved "dialoging" with the other team members.

"Well, at least the beer's good eh? I'll get us another" said Robbie, draining his glass and getting up from the leather chesterfield. He went to the bar where he waited a while for the bar manager, a stout and kindly looking middle-aged woman, to finish restocking the fridge with bottles of craft beer.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sir" She said as she stood up, realising Robbie had been waiting.

"Don't worry" said Robbie kindly "This beer is worth the wait" and he asked the woman where the ale had been brewed and they chatted for a while as she pulled two fresh pints.

"Anything else, duck?" Said the bar manager as she set the two pints onto the bar top. Put at ease by Robbie's easygoing manner the woman had lapsed into the local dialect. Robbie was about to say no thank you when he glanced over to the doorway of the lounge, just in time to see Laura step through from the reception area. She saw Robbie and smiling broadly, headed over to the bar towards him with her usual confident stride.

"Actually, yes, I will have something else. A gin and tonic please" Robbie said to the woman with a smile before he turned again to greet Laura as she joined him at the bar.

"Hello Doctor!" Robbie beamed.

"Hi Robbie!" Laura said and Robbie noticed the genuine delight on her face that he sometimes felt honoured to receive.

"I've got you a drink" he said with a smile and a wink that also held a bit of chivalrous pride that didn't go unnoticed by Laura.

"Oh, well there's comradeship for you. Who needs teambuilding when your favourite DI knows what your favourite drink is and has it ready and waiting for you" She said with a smirk.

Robbie chuckled back at her and then thanked and paid the bar manager who smiled back at him warmly before she went to serve DS Thompson who was waiting at the other end of the bar.

"Good to see you" said Robbie

"You too" Laura replied and she softly touched the sleeve of his jacket, a small gesture that she sometimes did that always felt special to Robbie, as if it was reserved just for him. She smiled at him and took a sip of her drink.

Robbie let his gaze linger slightly on her. She looked lovely. She was wearing a dress, something that she rarely wore to work. In the lab and in the field she favoured jeans as it was easier to get in and out of forensic suits. Robbie knew he shouldn't be looking at her like this but he couldn't help it. Sometimes the attraction to her was all too obvious and it caused him anguish when he realised it, but for now, just for a few seconds, he carried on gazing at her, enjoying the nearness of her, the attraction he felt towards her, as she smiled back and asked him, on a scale of one to ten how bad the journey on the train been for Hathaway having to sit for several hours and make small talk with Jean Innocent.

Robbie laughed at this. Hathaway was often uncomfortable with the forced jollity that Innocent often foisted on the pair of them.

"You can ask him yourself" Robbie said and picking up his and Hathaway's pint he nodded his head over to the fireplace where James was sitting, contemplating the fire, a slight scowl on his face not unlike a bad-tempered tomcat.

"He's not exactly looking forward to the week" Said Robbie and the two of them shared a conspiratorial chuckle at Hathaway's expense as they made their way over to the fireside.

Hathaway was glad to see the Doctor. Off duty she was a good laugh, sometimes on-duty too if the occasion called for it, and sometimes even if it didn't. Hathaway knew she would be an ally to his cynicism and would match it with her own. Not having a room at the hotel had resulted in Laura's welcome pack and itinerary going astray and Hathaway took great delight in enlightening her to what was planned for the week ahead. Laura listened partly in mock and real horror at the list of activities and the two of them discussed whether the schedule could be any worse than it already was.

Hathaway knew how fond Lewis was of Laura, even though his boss often played it down and sometimes grumbled about Hobson's non-nonsense attitude when in the lab. After chatting for a while about the following day's activities and how awful they were going to be, Hathaway took a call on his mobile and excused himself, knowing that his boss would appreciate chatting to the doctor on his own.

Laura moved closer to the fire, opposite Robbie and took another sip of her drink. Robbie took another opportunity to gaze at her. The beer and the relaxed atmosphere of the bar seemed to loosen his mood and gone without trace were the gloomy thoughts he'd had earlier in the day. Right now, he was just happy to be spending time with Laura and he found that he was allowing himself to realise that was how he felt, and for the first time, with a clarity he'd not felt before, he realised wasn't feeling guilty about thinking of Laura in a way that was more than just friends.

This was a new and exhilarating feeling.

Only a few months before, Laura had invited him round for dinner, offering to cook a meal. Robbie had been terrified of his feelings for Laura that, as they rose unbidden, did nothing other than to make him feel guilt ridden. He had told his daughter about it, at least, about the invitation from Laura and she had been delighted. This response had helped a bit but still he felt wracked with a sense that he was betraying Val. Before inviting him, Laura had seemed different, almost nervous in her manner and he had seen her smile at him in a way that he'd never really seen before. This had spooked him further and by the time the dinner date came around he was ready to bail, despite the rising feeling of excitement that accompanied the realisation that perhaps a mutual feeling of attraction was starting to blossom between him and Laura. As it happened, he'd not needed to bail as work had thrust them into a big murder investigation which had tied them both up for a couple of months. The meal never happened and Robbie was almost relieved not to have to confront his changing feelings. He'd chatted to his daughter about it and she had been upset that Robbie had felt like this. He'd told her that maybe he just wasn't ready to embark on a new relationship, even given his feelings for Laura which he had hinted at to his daughter. You'll know when the time's right to move on, Dad she'd said. How though? He'd asked You'll just know she had said. At the time Robbie wasn't so sure but now, feeling like he did, sitting across from Laura and sharing stories and laughter, Lyn's words called to him in his head

You'll just know.

And as he gazed at Laura,watching her as she laughed and chatted, he realised how he felt. Something had changed, almost imperceptibly over time; slow almost immeasurable processes had somehow shifted the almost impossible weight of the very core of his feelings. And all of a sudden, Robbie felt he was looking out at a brand new landscape that was at once exciting but familiar.

And then he knew. His daughter had been right. He was ready.