Kate pushed open the metal gate leading to the underground car park of Steve's apartment. She was angry. Tonight, went terribly. Kate thought she was finally going to be able to tell Jo how she felt and for Jo to do the same to her but that wasn't what they were meeting in the car park for. As much as she tried to hate Jo, inside herself she couldn't. She was angry, yes of course and on the outside, she showed that but bundled inside was this heap of feelings that she just had to let out. Maybe now that they were together, alone she could finally put it on show. She just had to let Jo know how she was feeling first.
"Now look where we are. Ryan's dead and I'm in the frame for it."
"I'm sorry, Kate, that's the last thing I'd want."
Kate looked down. Trying to keep her feelings hidden. The way Jo said it, Kate felt like she was telling the truth. That there was real emotion behind the sentiment and not just a facade.
"You've got to believe me!"
Kate breathed in harsh and felt herself shudder. She nearly broke down, found herself on the edge of tears. That wasn't a good emotion for this moment.
She lifted her head up to look at Jo. The woman's face went from sorrow and sacredness to determination in a flash.
"Let me prove it to you."
"How?" Kate asked defeated, wondering where this was going to lead.
"Give me your gun."
It was Kate's turn to be scared. The woman who had lured her to her death, the woman she trusted, the woman she loves is asking for her to hand over her gun. She wondered if she was going to fire it at her, to shoot her but if she wanted that done it would have happened by now. She quickly lifted her jacket and pulled the gun out of its holster. Turning it around she placed her hand and held it over the barrel hoping for some more control over the situation if anything was to go wrong.
Kate held it out for her and Jo gently placed her hand over the gun, holding it so her DNA, her fingerprints would be over the weapon if they found it. Kate looked into Jo's eyes. She could tell what the woman was doing. Giving her an alibi for the shooting. Taking the guilt and the blame when things were to inevitably go wrong. Kate hoped they wouldn't. She wondered what they were to do next. Who to turn to, where to go and then she got an idea.
Kate took the gun back and placed it back into its holster. Hiding it from view. She took the keys from her pocket and placed them into the locker beside her.
"You believe me now?" Jo asked and Kate didn't answer.
She unlocked the metal cabinet and opened the door to find 3 burner phones inside. She thanked God and Steve for doing this for her.
"Brilliant. Nice one, Steve."
She picked up 2 of them and placed them into her jacket pocket. She would need them later for the plan she was about to commit.
"I always worried you were pretending?"
"Pretending?" Kate replied to Jo's question. God she was never pretending, never in the slightest. All the feeling that Kate felt were real.
"You know what I mean….to lure me into trusting you."
Kate didn't need Jo to explain. She knew exactly what the woman meant.
"Pretending. You thought I was pretending?" She said to Jo. She honestly couldn't believe it.
"Well, were you?" Jo asked. A worried look on her face.
Kate looked around at the situation she found herself in. In an underground car park, on the run from the police, her colleagues, a criminal who had just shot someone in self-defence and was being set up for it and she would about to tell the woman that she loved the truth about how she felt. She didn't expect this when she woke up this morning.
"We're going to do this now?" Kate asked exhausted.
"Fine! I wasn't pretending. I was never pretending." God, it felt good to get those words out. A weight off her chest.
"I liked you. With every week that passed I thought we were getting closer to where we needed to be…together but then you had to go and try to get me murdered didn't you?"
Every word was punctuated with the emotion that she felt for the woman. With every word came relief.
"I'm sorry about that truly I am." Kate could tell that she was telling the truth.
"I tried to let you know that something was wrong but when you turned up without AC-12 without backup I was scared that this was it. That Ryan would shoot you, that the OCG would win and I would never get to tell you how I truly feel and I felt terrible."
The emotions were getting to Jo and she was welling up. Kate could hear the crack in her voice.
"I never wanted it to happen like this. God, I wanted a normal life for me, for us, for the both of us. Do you think I wanted to be a part of the OCG? That I took the role willingly."
Kate knew she didn't. She was like Lindsay Denton in that way. Kate comparing Jo to the earlier case that she had. Both forced into things unwilling through circumstances that they couldn't control but wanting to make things better for everyone else with the chance they had. They weren't born bent cops, just made so by their circumstances.
"But look where we are now. In an underground car park, running from the police. Your colleagues. Not knowing what's going to happen."
"Well, I'm tired of running."
Jo looked at her confused. Maybe she was bent. Maybe Kate was going to hand herself in.
"For now, at least." Jo breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe there was still a chance.
"From what I see is that we could run or we could hide. There's a bed upstairs with our name on it if you would like to. No better place to hide than right under their noses where they wouldn't think of looking and when we get our energy back up, we can hit the road and hide until this all dies down."
Jo nodded.
"That sounds like a plan. What's one more night of madness in the scheme of things."
"Good." Kate said. "Come on then." She said while grabbing Jo's hand in hers. "We can hide tonight and run tomorrow. I want to be able to spend at least one night with you before it goes tits up."
Jo smiled at Kate and linked her fingers in hers. Maybe they could have one night for them both to hold on to and remember.
Kate led them both through the corridors, into the lift and up to Steve's flat where she opens up the door and ushers them inside before anyone could see them.
Kate placed the keys onto the kitchen counter, took of her shoes and placed her jacket on the back of a chair.
"Would you like some tea?"
"Sure." Jo also took off her shoes and went to sit on one of the bar stools beside the kitchen island.
Once the water had boiled, Kate handed Jo her cup of tea. Made to her specific taste. One that Kate would never forget after making her so many cups at work. Kate wished they could still be like that and not stuck in this never-ending cycle of fear that they had found themselves in. Not knowing when or if their colleagues would piece the puzzle together.
They drank their tea in silence, finally glad to be able to just stand still for once. Enjoying the company that they kept. Tension filling the air, so thick you could almost touch it. Kate took Jo's cup from her hands when she saw that it was empty. Fingers brushing against each other, a hint of what was to come.
She turned around and placed the mugs in the sink, she heard a noise behind her and before she could turn around Jo was pressed up against her back. Jo's fingers wrapping around hers in the sink. Kate quickly spun around and with her plans placed on Jo's waist she pressed Jo up again the counter. Jo's hands went around her neck. Their faces so close they could almost touch. Their breath mingling together. Kate could feel it against her throat.
Kate hooked her fingers around the shoulders of Jo's coat and pushed it off her shoulders. It fell to the floor. The noise as it hit the ground surrounded them in the quiet of the apartment. It was eerily quiet. It seemed that they were both holding their breath. Kate grasped her bottom lip within her top teeth. It was all she could do to stop herself from ravaging Jo. She wanted their first, and possibly only time, slow. She slowly pulled down the zipper of Jo's hoodie. Taking her time. Really embracing the moment.
Kate heard Jo's breath hitch as the material was removed from her body. Just one more layer to go until she could touch Jo's skin.
"Patience, my love." Kate said. Jo sucked in a deep breath. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She felt like she was drowning in Kate, falling into Kate but wondered why did it feel so good?
Kate hooked her fingers around the cashmere of Jo's jumper and pulled it upwards over Jo's head. Jo's hands automatically went up when she noticed what Kate was about to do. The jumper landed on the floor, alongside the rest of her clothes. Kate's clothes and Jo's trousers following soon after as they stripped quickly. The women didn't care or notice where they landed, only interested in each other and the excitement of what was to come.
Jo and Kate's eyeline connected. It seemed like no one was going to make the first move, they were both staring at each other. Deep panting breaths. Kate swept Jo into her arms. Lips connecting, hands roaming each other's body, into their hair. Wanting to touch every part that they could reach. Tongues and teeth sharply nipping and biting skin. Their moans colliding, filling the open plan layout of the flat. Kate couldn't wait any longer. Taking Jo's hand in hers and dragging her into the bedroom.
Laying her down on the soft sheets. Worshiping her, making her beg, finally able to relieve the tension that had been building, finally able to enjoy the thing that they had been waiting months for. Jo returning the offer, making Kate feel the same way. Finally, glad they had enough time to show her how she feels. Cuddling up to each other in the afterglow, enjoying the time they spent together, working out plans for the future, working out how they were going to hide from all the people trying to find them.
It was late when Steve got in. Finally glad to be home after today's shift. Carmichael telling him to get enough sleep and come back in the morning. Glad to not have to stay out all night. He closed the door behind himself, adjusting his eyes to the dark flat. Slipping off his shoes he left them beside the door and then found himself tripping over another. He looked down at the two pairs beside his own. 'Those are definitely Kate's' he thought to himself and the others...well he could guess who those belonged to. He stepped into the kitchen and switched on the counter lights, giving a small glow to the room. He turned around to see two mugs in the sink and clothes littering his floor. He couldn't believe what was happening. Steve picked up the clothes from the floor, gathering them into a bundle and made his best to be heard.
"If you didn't already know, I'm a cop and I could have me station here before you even have the chance to come out here and tell me what's going on." Steve laughed to himself. He knew he would never go through with the threat, especially when he knew who was on the other side of the door.
Jo quickly lifted her head off of Kate's chest and looked at her worriedly. Kate shook her head telling her not to worry.
"Steve." Kate shouted from the bed.
"Kate." Steve replied back.
Kate could hear shuffling from outside as Steve stepped forward towards the door. She was his friend for 10 years but this was not a thing she wanted him to see.
Steve knocked on the door.
"Don't come in." Shouted Kate.
"I've got your clothes. I'm going to open the door slightly and throw them in and then you can come out here and tell me what the fuck is going on."
Steve pushed down the handle and opened the door a crack. He threw in the clothes, landing on the floor with a whoosh. Both he and Kate glad that the door opened the opposite way so that he saw nothing of their encounter, even though he knew for sure what had just happened between the two women.
It was a couple of minutes later when the women came out of the bedroom, dressed and ready for social interaction. It was awkward meeting each other after all that went down but that dissipated a few moments after they clocked eyes.
"So, this is where you have been hiding?" Steve asked. "No better place than right under their noses, right?"
"Yeah."
"Smart. They wouldn't think of here. I'm glad to see you after what happened earlier. Did you get the phones?"
Kate took them out of her pocket. "Yes, I did."
"I didn't think we were going to have to use them but I can't think of a more apt time. Where are you planning on going?" Steve asked.
"Scotland probably, different police force. Harder to track us down and we wouldn't get over the border without passports."
"Well, you'll need some help to get there." Steve said.
He took his keys out of his pocket and pressed them into Kate's hand.
"Steve...I can't." Kate said.
"You can and you will. Use it to drive up there and if you need to get rid of it because it's too hot or if you need some money then sell it. I've also got some money I can give you; I don't want you to leave without a fighting chance. When you're in hiding I'll be working down here to try and clear you're name."
Kate nods.
"I'm glad to see you're finally happy." Steve said in relation to Jo. Kate smiled wide. "Out of everyone I know, you deserve it the most."
"Thanks Steve. I can't believe 10 years are over."
"Oh, they're not over yet. You're not getting away that easily. Just for the time being until everything is over. You're coming back I'll make sure of it."
Steve opened his arms and Kate fell into them. He could feel the tears on his shirt.
"What about Josh?" Kate asked.
"Don't worry about Josh. His uncle Steve will look after him until you come back. I won't let him forget about you that easily."
Kate laughed and Steve pulled away, drying her tears.
"You too Jo. If there was any other person who deserved happiness as much as you do, it's you."
He pulled her into a hug. Jo was apprehensive at first but knew that this was Kate's best friend. She had heard the stories about him. She knew he was a good one. Her hands went around his back and they held each other for a while.
"I'm glad you finally found each other. After all the pain you've both endured, you deserve happiness. Thank you for all you've done so far. We wouldn't have been able to get this far without all you've done. Thank you for all you've done up to now."
They let each other go and Jo sniffled. She was glad someone was finally able to appreciate her. Kate took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly to know she was there.
"Anyway, you should both get some sleep before you have to leave before dawn and if you need me then you know I'm only a phone call away."
Kate gave Steve another tight squeeze before retiring to their room. They closed the door behind them. Scared of what was to come but ultimately glad that they had each other along for the ride. They wouldn't have chosen anyone else.