"What do you want?" Katy demanded, huffing loudly and flopping back in her desk chair as a redheaded woman walked into her office.

DS McKay didn't look remotely fazed by the reaction to her presence. "Nice to see you too, Ms Mitchell? Good Christmas?"

"Can't complain." The blonde replied guardedly, rubbing a hand over her stomach. "I'm guessing this ain't a social call?"

"Nah, I've got enough friends, thanks." She replied with a smirk.

"So? I'm guessing you still haven't found Jason." Seeing the slight surprise on the older woman's face, she chuckled. "You wouldn't be here, otherwise, would you?"

"No, we haven't." The detective admitted, perching on the sofa and fixing Katy with a hard look. "But we've had someone come forward claiming that they heard Jason arguing with a woman and then a bang and a scream."

"Right…"

"So I need you to tell me where you were on Wednesday November 18th at approximately four o'clock in the afternoon?"

"Really?" Katy laughed. "Why? Bit of a leap, isn't it? What possible reason could you have for thinking that I might have been anywhere near… where was it?"

"Can you please just tell me where you were, Ms Mitchell?"

Katy exhaled sharply and brought up the calendar on her computer. "November 18th I had an appointment at the hospital… twenty past 4. My gran and I were going to do a bit of shopping first, but the traffic was so terrible we didn't bother."

"Can anyone confirm that? Apart from your grandmother, obviously." She added, guessing that Katy was about to jump in with a sarcastic comment.

"My midwife… receptionist at the hospital… I don't know. Isn't that your job?"

DS McKay smiled tightly at her. "Don't worry, I'll look into it. Your grandmother would be…?"

"Glenda Mitchell." Katy replied easily. "43b, Albert Square. I can take you round there, if you want?"

"That won't be necessary, thanks."

"You still haven't told me why you'd think I had anything to do with it." Katy pointed out, leaning back in her chair again and fixing the redhead with a searching look. "I told you that I ain't seen or heard of Jason for years. Why would I possibly want to have anything to do with him? I've got enough on my plate and we weren't exactly mates."

The detective stared at her for a moment and then exhaled deeply. "Look, I'll be totally honest with you, I'm just ticking boxes here. If your alibi checks out and if no new evidence comes to light, you probably won't be seeing me again."

"I doubt that very much. I'm a Mitchell."

"Yeah, and I was a teenage mother from a rough estate and a terrible past." DS McKay told her. "But I didn't let that define me." She paused. "I imagine being a Mitchell is a very positive thing when it suits you."

Katy stared back at her defiantly. "Like I said, I don't know anything about where Jason is."

"And like I said, if you're telling the truth we won't be seeing each other again."

Katy held her gaze for a long moment. She was on the verge of asking the older woman to leave – and probably making a rude or sarcastic comment to go with the order – before she realised that having her onside might actually work to her advantage. If Tina liked and trusted the woman then she couldn't be all bad. Clenching her jaw, Katy inhaled sharply.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a bit stressed at the moment."

"What's this, an apology from one of the famous Mitchells? Last thing I got from one of your lot was an elbow to the stomach."

Katy was about to comment on her family being referred to as 'your lot', but restrained herself. "Yeah, well… weirdly we don't really trust your lot."

"With good reason, so I hear."

"Yeah, well… you can't choose your family, can you?"

"No, no you can't." DS McKay agreed slowly.

"Look… do you know anything about the Ian Beale case? I know you said you weren't on it, but do you know anything?"

"Not really… it's not my nick dealing with it. Its… DI Arthurs and DI Branning, isn't it?"

"Mmm…"

"Is there something you want to say, Ms Mitchell?" The detective asked, furrowing her eyebrows and leaning closer. "If you don't feel comfortable speaking to the investigating officers, then–"

"Jack Branning is my dad." Katy told her quickly, smiling wryly at the surprise on the other woman's face at her revelation. "But it's not about the case as such… it's… Tina."

"Tina?" DS McKay frowned. "Tina Carter?"

"Yeah. She's… I know everyone thinks she's done a runner, but she hasn't. I know she hasn't. No one will believe me and no one will listen to me and no one will even talk to me about it. But because she's missed checking in and she's on bail…"

"How can you be so sure that she hasn't done a runner?"

"Because she hasn't!" Katy snapped. "She promised she wasn't going to leave me. Not after…" Inhaling sharply, she shook her head. "She just hasn't, alright."

"But you don't know where she is?"

"No." Katy admitted. She felt tears springing to her eyes. "I just… I've got a really bad feeling about it."

The redheaded detective hesitated for a moment. She shifted slightly on the sofa before speaking again. "Tell me what you know. Tell me everything. If you hide anything from me then we might miss something important."

Katy blinked a couple of times, wondering whether she should trust the older woman or not. Tina's words about the detective came back to her as she considered her options and she swallowed down her mistrust of the police. Inhaling sharply, the blonde started telling DS McKay everything Tina had told her about Gray, finishing up with her fears that the older woman had confronted him after all, even after she'd promised that she wouldn't. Katy had no doubts that Tina was hot headed enough not to be able to bite her tongue if Gray had antagonised her.

"You think he's done something to Tina?" She asked gently, once Katy had finished speaking.

"I don't… I don't know."

"But you're sure she wouldn't have gone through with the plan to leave?"

Katy swallowed thickly. "If anyone finds out I told you…"

"It stays between us, I promise."

"She wouldn't have left. She… she loved me. She wouldn't have left me. Not like this…"

There was a long pause. The detective watched silently as the blonde ran a hand over her stomach, her head bowed and silent tears running down her cheeks. After a moment, almost against her better judgement, she moved to perch on the desk, pulling the blonde into her arms and hugging her tightly.

"Look… I can't promise anything." She admitted once Katy had calmed down. "I can't promise she hasn't freaked out and run, whatever she said to you… and I can't promise she won't get into trouble if she has. I can't promise… I can't promise that she's OK." The detective exhaled sharply, running a hand over her face tiredly. "But I'll do my best to find out what might have happened and where she might be."

"Why?" The blonde sat straighter in her chair, putting more distance between herself and the older woman. She scrubbed at her eyes furiously, angry with herself for allowing the emotional outburst in front of the detective. "Why would you even care?"

"Because, despite what you might think, I'm not just a police officer. I'm a person, too, Katy. I like Tina. If something's happened to her…" She inhaled sharply. "She might be fine. There's nothing, really, to suggest otherwise at the moment, is there?"

"DS McKay." Katy stood up, stiffening as she folded her arms and fixed the redhead with a frown. "I appreciate your help and I'm sorry for… that… but–"

"Yeah, you're a Mitchell, I know. You don't trust me because I'm a cop and all cops are bad." The detective rolled her eyes. "But is that really more important than trying to track Tina down?"

The younger woman deflated instantly. "No…"

"When are you due?"

Katy blinked, taken aback by the sudden change of subject. She ran a hand over her stomach and furrowed her eyebrows. "The beginning of April… why?"

"Just wondering." DS McKay shrugged. "So that would make you… 25 weeks?"

"27." The blonde frowned. "Why? It's not Tina's, if that's what you're wondering."

The detective snorted at her sarcastic joke. "No and I'm not wondering whether it's Jason Williams', either."

Katy's lip curled in disgust. "That's disgusting."

"How are you coping? I got really dizzy around now with my youngest."

"This isn't my first kid. I'm fine."

With a deep sigh, the other woman shrugged. "I'm trying to be nice, Katy."

"Yeah, well… I don't need your sympathy. I need you to find Tina."

The redhead watched her carefully for a moment, before giving a sharp nod and heading for the office door. "I'll see myself out. You've got my card… let me know if you need anything."

Katy said nothing, just watching her leave. Then she let out the long breath that she'd been holding and slumped in her chair. She closed her eyes for a long moment, her hands clasped over her baby bump.

Making up her mind to finally do the thing that she'd been internally debating for a long time, she grabbed her things and left the office. There was no sign of DS McKay in the bar, much to the blonde's relief, so she simply smiled at their new barmaid and told her she wouldn't be long. Heading quickly towards the Square, she strode determinedly towards Number 20.

"Katy?" Denise frowned at the younger woman on the doorstep, clearly not having expected to find herself looking at her ex-boyfriend's eldest daughter. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I… I was just wondering whether Patrick and Sheree were in?"

"Oh… Patrick needs his rest… I don't think–"

"I'm not going to make a fuss." Katy promised. "I just think we need to have a conversation before… well, before April."

"April?" Denise smiled, her eyes flicking down to Katy's stomach. "That's when you're due?"

"Yeah… the 5th."

"And it's definitely…"

"No." Katy shook her head quickly. "But I wanted to talk to Patrick and Sheree anyway."

Watching her suspiciously for a minute, Denise let out a long sigh and stepped aside. She led Katy into the front room and cleared her throat. Patrick jerked awake, blinking at them from his armchair, while Sheree fixed the two women with a curious look. Denise shot the blonde a meaningful look, before leaving the room and closing the door firmly behind her.

"Isaac's not here."

Katy smiled weakly and perched on the closest chair. "No, I… I've come to see you."

"Oh?" Sheree peered at her suspiciously, clearly wondering what she wanted.

"I… I know Isaac isn't thrilled by the idea that this baby might be his," she started, "but if it is, I'm not going to stop you seeing it… if you want to."

"Why?" The older woman narrowed her eyes. "What d'you want?"

"Nothing." Katy replied honestly. "But this might be your grandchild and family is important."

Patrick looked at her, a smile spreading slowly across his face. "Thank you."