As always thanks for reading and following this story!

Here's a little warning for all Whovians: I put a mean, little quote in this chapter. Sorry in advance, I couldn't resist! ;)

Enjoy reading...

Chapter 8:

Alec blinked his eyes open.

He was lying on his back, looking into the dark-grey clouds of the darkening sky with no recollection of falling. His face was pounding painfully which in turn made his head hurt. Before he could wonder why, however, Jack Mason's face appeared in his line of sight and a fist was flying towards him.

Alec's head whipped to the right and pain exploded.

"Leave us alone!" a deep voice hissed.

There was barely enough time for Alec to register what was happening before Mason raised his fist again. But this time some instincts from his police training a long time ago kicked in and Alec dodged the blow and instead aimed a hard kick against Mason's knee to force him to the ground.

While his attacker yelped in pain, Alec scrambled back and off the ground. His head was still dizzy from the punches but he ignored it with all his might and immediately charged at Mason again to throw him off balance.

The two men rolled around on the gravel pathway, grunting and growling, fighting to gain the upper hand. Alec had Mason on his stomach at one point, trying to force his arms behind his back. But he was stronger and wrestled himself free, throwing Alec off with an elbow thrust into his stomach.

Alec cursed out loudly and crumbled, gasping for air. He was quickly shoved even harder to the ground. An uncomfortable, crushing weight settled above his ribcage, a hand was pressing his cheek against the dusty, cold pebble stones that pricked him painfully.

"Jenna is mine. You… stay away!" Mason grunted out laboured.

The other hand that wasn't pressing Alec's head down grabbed at his throat. He couldn't swallow. Restriction around his chest. Alec panicked. There was no air. His lungs filled with imaginary water. Cold, dirty water from his nightmares. He couldn't breathe. He was paralysed with fear. He would lose this.

Lose everything.

"DAD!"

For a second he thought he was really dreaming. Just another nightmare of drowning. But this nightmare was real and Daisy called out from the edge of the house, startling both fighting men just a few feet down on the pathway. Her loud, horror-stricken voice momentarily loosened the grip Mason had around his neck and Alec was able to tilt his head towards her.

He saw her in front of the house. Loose cut top and her favourite jeans, blonde hair flowing freely around her face. The picture of sweet innocence. But her cheeks were pale and her eyes widened in terrible fear. She was just getting over her own shock but Alec could see how despite every reasonable voice in her brain surely yelling at her to do the opposite, Daisy's feet were itching to run towards him, to help him.

Suddenly, Mason's hands disappeared. His weight shifted as if he was preparing to stand up and chase an easier prey.

Alec's fear skyrocketed to new, interminable heights. His voice broke out loud and panicked, "Daisy, get inside! NOW!"

He didn't see if she was following his order. Raging fury that Mason considered – even for a second – to go after his daughter fed his strength and Alec threw the man off of him. He punched him to the ground and Mason groaned in pain. Alec was immediately there again, roughly fisting the front of Mason's shirt and wanting to strike once more.

One of Mason's fists shot straight up in an attempt to defend himself. Alec had to duck his head away so he wouldn't get hit, but instead the fist collided with the left side of his chest.

The violent force caused Alec to suck in a startled breath. Suddenly, there was this feeling of weightlessness, the moment of floating in endlessness as his heart stuttered abruptly. It was just for a second before his pacemaker jumped in, but it was enough for Mason to throw him on his back again and seize the moment to land another fierce punch that made Alec dizzier than before.

Groaning, he was lying on the ground and for this crucial moment Alec couldn't even tell which way was up. He heard Mason talk again, giving him something to focus his jumbled senses on.

"You leave my Jenna alone and I will stay away from you and the girl. Understood?"

He obviously didn't really expect him to answer. There was another punch flying and black spots danced in front of Alec's eyes. His head was throbbing pain. His heartbeat that was just finding its way back into the right rhythm was pounding in his face. The oppressive feeling around his chest lessened gradually, but Alec still couldn't bring his shocked muscles to move. He thought he saw Jack Mason staring down at him from above, but when he blinked he was gone.

Alec's breathing was returning back to normal. The cold ground felt soothing and he wanted nothing more than to continue to lie here for a few seconds and reflect on what just happened.

But he couldn't. He needed to get up. Now! Who knew if Mason was really gone? Maybe he went for the house instead. For Daisy.

Daisy! Oh, god, Daisy!

Alec shot straight up. A splitting headache was his punishment, but he ignored it. The mounting fear for his daughter didn't leave any room in his mind for other thoughts.

He looked around, his view swimming in front of his eyes. Alec saw neither Mason nor Daisy. The front door seemed to be securely locked. Mason was gone. Most certainly, he was gone. But Alec knew his mind wouldn't let him rest until he had Daisy in his arms again.

He scrambled off the ground, swaying dangerously as he did so. Alec wanted to run for the house but only managed to wobble. Halfway there, the door suddenly flew open and Daisy stormed out. The fear in her eyes made Alec believe that someone would chase after her in the next second. But there wasn't anyone.

Daisy reached him and grabbed his arm firmly. He immediately held on to her, too. Much tighter than he intended to. She was talking fast. Asking him if he was okay, asking him to look at her, but Alec kept only staggering towards the house. Towards safety.

Daisy put her slender arm around his waist and his arm around her shoulders. She was dainty and so much smaller than him; there was no way she'd be able to steady him. But she did. All the way to the house. Alec locked the door behind them and he breathed through, finally able to concentrate on something else than fear.

"Dad? I've called Ellie, she's on her way. Why did that man attack you? Did he hurt you? Dad, are you listening-"

He swiftly turned around to wrap Daisy in a crushing hug. "I'm fine, darling. Don't worry, it's alright." Alec tilted his head down to inhale the scent of his daughter's hair and then held her even tighter. She's alright, too. She's unharmed. But she is shivering… or is that me?

"It's not alright, Dad." Daisy murmured meekly against his chest. "That man, he tried to… h-he almost strangled you."

"Shh." made Alec and kissed her head. "He didn't. It's okay, I'm fine, Sweetheart. I'm fine. I'm sorry you had to see this."

Suddenly, there was an urgent, loud knock on the door that made them both jump and tighten their grip around each other. But the voice that called out was familiar:

"Oi, Hardy, are you in there? Daisy, it's me, Ellie Miller, open up."

He felt his daughter relax and Alec carefully entangled himself from her to open the door. Miller stood there, hand impatiently upheld to knock again. She flinched and then looked him up and down in complete shock.

"Oh, god, are you alright, sir?"

"You've gotten here quick." Alec mentioned instead of answering her.

"Well, of course I have." Miller railed at him and moved inside without waiting for permission. "Your daughter sounded positively terrified on the phone. I have a squad car and an ambulance on stand-by, too."

"Ugh, call them off. I'm fine." Alec held vehemently and closed the door. He sensed the protest rising in Daisy's throat even before she opened her mouth. "Actually," he added. "Have the squad car look for Mason around this area. There's only one way down the hill, you probably even drove right past him."

"I'm certainly not turning around to look for him now." Miller protested, her eyes steadily fixed on one particular spot on his face. It began to annoy Alec. "Sir, are you sure you're alright?" she asked, frowning in concern.

"Of course, I am. Why do you keep asking that?"

"Oh, I don't know? Have you looked into a mirror?!" she spat.

"What?" Involuntarily, Alec touched his face and winced startled. His fingertips came back smeared with a few drops of blood. His stomach turned and he looked up in surprise, glancing from Miller's worried face into Daisy's utterly scared one.

He never even realized that he had visible injuries. Now that he knew, however, the adrenaline faded and pain made itself known again. His whole face numbly throbbed in time with his heartbeat, especially his left side. His stomach hurt when he was breathing. His hands felt tense whenever he clenched them and as he looked down he saw the purple-red bruises that were already forming.

Alec snapped his head back up, sending Daisy and Miller a stern glare that should keep them from following and then swiftly turned away to flee towards the solitude of the bathroom. There he viewed himself in the mirror.

He had a bleeding cut across his left cheekbone. His nose had been bleeding, too, at some point. The area around his left eye seemed swollen and red and the right side was full of grey dirt. The knuckles of his right hand were raw and red and the dust of the gravel pathway burned in the sore wounds.

"Shit." Alec growled quietly and tried to wipe some trails of blood from his hurting cheek.

"Don't touch it. Your hands are all dirty." Miller said from the doorway.

"Get out, Miller!" Alec snarled automatically.

"Not a chance. I did what you asked me to do; I instructed the colleagues and called off the ambulance. The least I can do now is see if there's any hair or fibres of Mason on you and then help you clean up."

"I can do that on my own." Alec protested stubbornly and made a point of fully turning away from her to get his fist-aid kit from a cupboard next to the toilet. But ignoring Miller never worked all that well and when Alec faced the mirror again she was still there.

"And how are you gonna bandage yourself with one hand?" she asked equally stubborn and moved to snatch the wipes and disinfectant from his hands despite his fierce protest. "You weren't going to let your poor daughter do that, were you?"

Alec paused, his jaw clenched and he stopped struggling against her. She had him. Annoying woman. The thought of his daughter tending to his battle scars made him feel like a world-class prick. Daisy was scared enough.

"Sit." commanded Miller as she sensed his resignation and nodded towards the toilet seat.

Alec obeyed with a sigh and reluctantly looked up to his… friend. She smiled slightly now, obviously trying to put him at ease. Miller knew how much he struggled with accepting any kind of help or showing weakness. Still, Alec was uncomfortable with the forced eye-contact and his gaze nervously jumped around, settling on different immovable objects left and right from her.

"Where is she?" Alec mumbled as Miller began to work on cleaning the open cut.

She didn't need to question who he meant. "I asked her to make you some tea and wait for us in the kitchen. She's still pretty shaken so hopefully this will calm her a bit." Alec grunted his agreement and then hissed a swearword as Miller came too close to the wound. "Oh, don't be a sissy. I barely touched it." she commented nonchalantly and he growled under his breath.

"Should've done it myself."

Miller paused to pluck a small hair from the bloody edge of the cut and put it into a plastic bag from her pocket. "So, how much did Daisy see?" she asked eventually. "What exactly even happened and are you absolutely sure it was Jack Mason?"

"Of course I'm sure! He was obviously close enough, wasn't he?" Alec ranted, pointing vaguely at his own face.

"Hold still." Miller fussed and applied a small strip of butterfly tape to the cleaned cut.

"Mason attacked me from behind." Alec explained then. "We fought… Daisy must have heard and went outside. Mason saw her. I think he wanted to go after her, but... I managed to distract him." Alec paused. It was the moment when Mason took his hands off of him that still scared Alec the most. Miller didn't interrupt; they both focused on her wrapping his right hand tightly in gauze. "The bastard hit my chest…" Alec continued. "Cheap move. As if he knew. That's why he managed to escape."

Miller looked at him, puzzled for a moment, then she caught up with his meaning. "Oh, shit, your heart. Do you still feel something? I can call the ambulance back, they'll be here in a-"

"No, would you stop fussing! I'm fine." argued Alec. "It was just for a second."

"But you'll get it checked out?"

"Miller—"

"What? You bloody will, right? This is serious, don't be such a knob about it!"

"I will! For god's sake…" he grouched, standing up as Miller finished with his hand and put the gauze and plasters back into the first-aid kit. He flexed his fingers, seeing how movable they still were while the bandage kept neatly in place. Miller did good.

"You should probably put some ice on your eye if it still helps at all." she said now, wincing as she viewed said area from all sides. "Oh, this will definitely turn black. Tomorrow we need to register all your injuries as evidence, maybe even take some pictures and see if we can find anything on your driveway that proves Mason was here." Miller shook her head in disbelief. "That stupid sod," she said almost happily. "Once we catch him this will certainly tip in Jenna's favour; he was jealous enough to assault a police officer. Did he say something to you?"

"Yah." Alec nodded curtly. "Threatened me to leave Jenna alone or he would come back." He averted his eyes. "Threatened Daisy, too." he said lowly.

"Bloody hell." Miller hissed to herself and then addressed Alec carefully. "Sir, no one would question it if you'll back off from the case now. I promise I'll catch him and keep Jenna safe."

"I can't do that." Alec stressed. "You know I can't. But I also can't risk Daisy's safety."

"She's welcome to stay with me and the boys for a bit if that helps." Miller offered. "I know she loves babysitting Fred."

"Thanks, but… it's still too close. And I don't want her to stay with the Latimers, either. Don't wanna drag them into this; they've suffered enough." Alec pondered and then sighed as he came to the only safe conclusion. "I'll call Tess and let her know so Daisy can stay with her until this is over."

"No!" someone exclaimed loudly.

The two coppers abruptly turned towards the door where Daisy appeared all of a sudden, obviously having listened in again.

"I don't wanna go to Mum's, I want to stay here with you, Dad." she protested fiercely.

Alec stepped forward. "Daisy, I won't discuss this with you. You'll stay with your mum until it's safe to return."

"But then you'll be here all alone! What if he attacks you again and no one is here to help?"

"I'm not all alone…" Alec said and then paused. Miller had said the exact same thing to him once, but back then he didn't really believe her. He did now. To show Daisy, he took one step aside so she could see what he meant.

Miller smiled tentatively at his daughter.

Daisy understood. Her blue eyes fixed Miller first and then wandered back to him. Are those tears? Like him, Daisy hardly ever allowed herself to show weakness. "I don't want you to get hurt, Dad." she whispered meekly.

"I know, Sweetheart." Alec said softly and pulled her close again. Who cared if Miller was watching? His little girl was scared. "I'll be fine. If I don't have to worry about you, I can focus better on the case and this will be over really quick, alright?"

Daisy hugged him tighter and pressed her face against his chest. "I don't wanna go."

"Daise, please, do this for me. Your mum's been telling me how much she misses you."

"I miss her, too. That's not it."

"See, this will be like a vacation from your old dad." Alec tried to joke. "You can come back soon, I promise." There was no response. "Darling, I need to know that you are safe. Can you understand?"

It took a few seconds, but finally Daisy pulled back to look at him. "Yah… I understand." she said in a small voice. Obviously, she still didn't like this at all, but she nodded. "Alright, I'll go. But you'll be careful. Promise me?"

"I will be careful." Alec assured her earnestly and kissed her forehead. "Thanks, Daisy."

Father and daughter stepped back from each other and uncomfortably came to realize again that Miller was still in the room. There was an awkward pause in which the Hardys both didn't know what to say.

Miller just grinned cheekily.

"So… I did make tea if anyone wants a cuppa?" Daisy mentioned sheepishly.

They all nodded in agreement and went into the kitchen.