Set some time after S3, if Michael and Sam had stayed together, if he had gone to London with her.

His eyes stayed trained on her as she walked into the hall, a glass of champagne in her hand, the blue dress she was wearing, hugging her curves. They'd only been together a couple of months but they'd kept it quiet, mainly between themselves and away from prying eyes. It was for more than one reason, the biggest being the fact that, in the eyes of the law, he was still married. The other being that they had wanted to keep it to themselves for a bit longer, stay living in their little happy bubble away from all the judgement.

Trevor knew though, as well as Bradley. They were the only two people they couldn't hide it from. Trevor had clocked it before anything happened and Bradley always had a knowing twinkle in his eye, so when he had walked into Michael's office and Sam's hair was sticking up on end and Michael had a deep blush staining his cheeks, he didn't bat an eyelid; as if it was an every day occurrence.

Michael watched as she swerved through all the people, a smile on her face. She looked divine, she always did, she always made his heart race. But seeing her all dressed up, her hair more refined, he just wanted to march across the room and take her home. He wanted to hold his hand into the small of her back and tell her how beautiful she looked. But he couldn't, they were too many eager eyes watching them, too many people here that knew him. That knew Helen. Too many people that thought he was still in a happy marriage, who would run straight back to his wife if they saw him being involved with another woman.

Not that Michael cared all that much, she was the one that cheated on him in the first place, finding out that he had his arms wrapped around Sam all night seemed like the perfect revenge. But he respected her too much to let her find out that way. He was going to tell her eventually, he needed to tell her that he had started talks with his solicitor to start the divorce proceedings. But he was having to work up to that and it was always easier said than done.

It wasn't as if Helen didn't know they were over, she had known that when she had finally come down to Cambridge to see him, when she had seen how he looked at Sam. How Sam looked at him. She tried her hardest to win him back, to spin it around on him. But it didn't work, he had fallen in love with Sam and there was no getting out of that one.

He could feel his heart racing as he caught her eye from across the room and he seen the smile spread across her face before she turned away from him, not wanting to hold the gaze for too long, not wanting to make it too obvious.

He wasn't even sure how it had started, how they had gotten to this point. It felt like a lifetime ago that they had kissed in her office, when he had given her a reason to stay in Cambridge. Little did he know that, months later, he'd be following her to London. The convenient DCI promotion popping up at the right time.

He could distinctly remember the day he had told her, he had turned up on her doorstep when she was in the middle of packing, something which had taken her weeks; the life that she had made there in Cambridge having to be condensed down into cardboard boxes wasn't something you do lightly. She had given him a look as she let him in, "It better be important, Michael, I'm busy," he chuckled to himself as he heard her voice in his head. Not much had happened between them after that second kiss they had shared, at least not until that day.

"I've been offered a DCI role," he had spoken, making himself comfortable on her sofa.

Her face had screwed up, "That's great," he could see that she was forcing a smile. He shook his head at her as he stood, the incessant beating in his chest as he took hold of her hand, squeezing it tightly in his.

"It's in London."

She lifted her head, her breath hitching as she realised just how close they were now, "Sorry?"

"I'm coming to London," he grinned.

"Are you serious?"

He nodded. It was her that had closed the gap between them, her arms wrapping around his neck as his tightened around her waist, holding her flush against him. Her packing had quickly been forgotten about as she led him up the stairs. He'd never forget that first night with her, how her back had arched at the way his hands caressed her soft skin. How she had shivered as his lips planted kisses into her flesh, her whimpers and pleading. He had Sam Ryan completely under his spell, and she did he. No one else had made him feel like that before, not even Helen.

She had left her marks behind, thankfully she had the sense to make them discreet. And she had made him laugh, she had chuckled into chest and filled his body with so much warmth he had thought he was going to explode. He had truly fallen in love with her and he couldn't imagine his life without her in it now.

He shook the thoughts away, feeling the blush growing across his cheeks. He didn't need to be thinking of Sam in that way right now, it wouldn't help him to keep his control, to keep him on the other side of the room. Although hearing her twinkling laugh as she lifted the glass to her lips was certainly not helping matters either. It was going to be a very long night.

Michael didn't even know why he had agreed to come in the first place, he knew he was the DCI but he wasn't obliged to make an appearance at the event; he was in a position that he could turn that down, letting the others do the duty of attending instead. Then he remembered her puppy dog eyes, as she told him that she liked seeing him all dressed up. He had told her that they wouldn't be able to go together though. She had shrugged her shoulders, a glint in her eye, almost as if it that made it better.

His brow furrowed as he looked at her, "Anyone would think you enjoy being away from me," he had teased, stepping further into her space, a hand on her waist.

"Makes it more exciting," her eyes had gone dark, and the tone of her voice had sent a shiver down his spine. This was the Sam that only he had the privilege of witnessing. She was a flirtatious person, he had known that from the first moment they met, but this side of her only came out behind closed doors. When they were completely alone and he could succumb to her.

His lips had parted as her finger slipped between the gap between the buttons in his shirt, slowly popping them open. His chest rose and fell as her skin connected with his. He captured her lips with his, his hand at the back of her head as he pulled her closer. She had chuckled into the kiss and he could feel his heart swelling.

She didn't even let him see her beforehand, saying her outfit had to be a surprise, and it certainly was. It had been twenty minutes already and every time he looked up and caught her eye, he could feel his heart skipping a beat, especially as he watched the skirt brush across her calves. There was nothing about this woman that he would ever tire of looking at, everything she did just took his breath away. Whether she was talking in some medical jargon that he could never make sense of or just sitting across the table from him, a glass of red in her hand. He had fallen in love with every inch of her.

He couldn't say he was surprised that it happened though, that he had fallen for her so hard in such a short space of time. He had caught her attention straight away, when they had met on that staircase in the dingy house, her friend lying in the next room. He had thought she was beautiful then, even in her white SOCO suit and latex gloves squeaking as she flexed her hand muscles. Then he had seen how she dealt with the whole ordeal, how strong she had been throughout it all. It hit him as he got home after they had solved the case, he had known that feeling before. The feeling that stirred in his stomach and lingered in his skin. That made his body feel totally on fire.

He tried to ignore it for the longest time, what had happened between him and Helen was still so raw, of course he had set his eyes on the first woman who had given him the time of day. And she was with someone else, no matter how much the man had made his blood boil and eyes roll, Sam had seen something in him to be with him and he had to respect that. Although he didn't exactly hide his relief when Trevor had delivered the news that Sam and James had split up, "She's finally left him, the twat," he had put it, to be exact, and Michael didn't need to ask who.

Sam eventually told him the details, after they had spent the first night in London together, he had never asked before then and she had never divulged. But as they had laid there, his arm resting across her waist and her fingers running up and down his arm.

"It's odd."

He had mumbled a response against the pillow, his eyes closed but still listening to her.

Sam turned her head to look at him, "It's usually me having to do the chasing. Or me being asked to move somewhere else with them. They never usually follow me."

Michael lifted his head, pulling his eyebrows together, "Who asked you to move?" He got the answer straight away as she glanced up at him. "Did he really ask you to move with him?"

"Hmm," she nodded her head slowly. "Expected me to give up my job and everything."

"Does he even know who are?"

She shook her head, laughing, "Clearly not."

He never asked her to stay, she was being offered a professorship and he was never going to hold her back from that opportunity. He only gave her a reason to stay, if she chose to. And when she chose London over him, it hurt but he didn't mind. If anything, it made him feel better because then he knew that he wasn't keeping her away from something huge. But it did give him the motivation to follow her and made him realise that he would follow her to the ends of the Earth.

"How's the wife, Mike?" He jumped as the older man approached, his name on the tip of his tongue. He knew his face though and he could feel his insides cringing, he had been one of the first officers he had met when he had become a police officer and he had made his skin crawl then, even more so now. He had seen how the man acted around women and he had to be held back many a time to stop himself from saying something to him.

He glanced over at Sam, who was now watching him carefully, she probably recognised the officer as well and from the way she had rolled her eyes and then winked at him had confirmed that to him. Michael let out a sigh as he turned to the older man, "She's good," he replied bluntly, wanting to keep the conversation short.

This was why he hated evenings like this, constantly getting stuck in one on one conversations with people who wouldn't remember his name by the end of the night, people who only really cared about themselves, and making themselves look good. It was all ego boosting in its own right. And Michael hated every second of it and judging by the look on Sam's face now, she hated it too. But she sure as hell was loving winding him up.

He looked down at the watch that sat on his wrist, only a couple hours left of mingling, of pretending to be engaged before they would be too drunk to notice him slip away, hopefully with Professor Ryan in tow; they were always more interested in her, always pulling her into conversations. He understood why, she was an enigmatic woman with an interesting job, of course they wanted to chew her ear off and ask how a woman like her could cut up dead bodies for a living.

Michael smiled to himself, she hated it when they would say that to her and he was half surprised she didn't slap them sometimes. He never got the confusion himself, why shouldn't she have this complicated, intriguingly disturbing job just because she was a woman? Just because she was attractive? It was all so superficial, if they actually listened to her in the conversations they had dragged her into, they'd understand that she had more grey matter than the lot of them put together. She was so much more than a pretty face and it was Michael had loved about her the most; her wit and her intelligence. A dangerous mix but he wouldn't change it for the world.

His opportunity came as a waiter walked past with fresh glasses of champagne, he took one happily from the tray as he advanced further into the room; anything to avoid deep conversations. He was only here because Sam begged him, he wasn't quite up for mingling. His luck came as he spotted a quiet corner, not so visible to the rest of the crowd, perfect, he thought to himself as he made his way over. He could still see her from where he sat but it gave him the escape that he was so desperately seeking. An escape for him to be free with his thoughts.

The hours seemed to tick by so much faster in that small corner of his and he had seen as the people dwindled down, as they started to stumble and slur their words more than they had at the beginning of the evening that it was time, it was his cue to find Sam and leave this place. He stood, stretching his back. He spotted her instantly, not that he had taken his eyes off her all night. He polished off his glass of champagne before sauntering into the middle of the room.

She had been on her own, thankfully. It made things easier, less awkward. But she had her back to him and she looked as though she was lost in her own little world. He grinned to himself as he slowly approached her, his arm slipping round her waist, his hand stopping at the small of her back. She didn't jump, or flinch, she had known he was coming, as if she had sensed him. He bit down on his lower lip as she turned into him, getting that extra comfort from him; she knew no one would be watching them now, all too drunk and busy worrying about themselves.

"You ready to go?" He whispered, leaning into her, his lips brushing the tips of her ears.

She nodded, placing her glass down on the table, leading the way out of the hall, his hand never leaving her back. He waited until they were outside before he was shrugging his jacket off, wrapping it around her shoulders. His hands held onto the lapels of the blazer, using them to pull her closer to him so he could capture her lips between his. The warmth spreading throughout his body as he felt her fingers in his hair, a groan escaping the back of her throat.

He pulled away from her first, his eyes searching hers, "I've been wanting to do that all night."

The smirk spread across her face, "I told you it was more exciting."

"You're going to be the death of me Sam Ryan."

"Don't you know it," she winked, her hand threading through his, leaning into him as they walked down the street together.

No, he wouldn't change anything for the world.