Me? Posting a new chapter of this fic? Crazy! But here we are! Thank you so much to everyone who has remained loyal to this fic and been so patient with me, I appreciate anyone reading this SO much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

A month has passed since Hilton was found dead and Huntley sent to prison. There has been little to no progress on finding 'H' since.

Steve drags a hand across his face as he sits in his car, tired from another day of almost nothing. No leads, no links, nothing. Just a dull ache at the base of his spine, a pain that refuses to relent taunting him since his recovery.

He turns off the engine, sitting back in his seat and closing his eyes just for a moment, allowing the twinge in his back to subside before opening them again. His attention is caught by a movement at the door of the house he is sitting outside, a face peeking through and waving at him. He smiles back, offering Kate a wave as he opens his car door and locks it behind him. His back aches once more with the movement, but he pretends it does not bother him - as he has for the last month. Approaching the front door where she stands smiling, he puts his keys in his pocket, "Alright, mate?"

"Not so bad. Yourself?"

Steve just shrugs, not wanting to dampen the mood with his stress but not wanting to outright lie to her. He takes in the blouse she is wearing and the way she has styled her hair, "You look nice."

Kate scoffs but smiles, "Cheers, mate. Come on in."

He follows her into the hallway, taking in the home as he had only visited once before. He remembers that time a few years ago when Liz had called him to help stop Kate waking the neighbourhood, yelling about the locks having been changed by her husband without her knowing. A lot seems to have happened since then.

Kate closes the door behind him, turning as a man makes his way down the stairs in a smart buttoned-up shirt, "Steve, this is Mark."

The men exchange a handshake as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, Steve nodding politely. It is then the reality of what Steve has agreed to do actually settles in his mind. Kate had asked him to babysit her ten-year-old while she goes on a dinner date with Mark this evening. What sort of experience do you have with children, you arse?!

But Steve had agreed, not having anything else to do and knowing this was an important night for Kate after years of difficulties in her marriage. He knows how much it means to his friend for her to rekindle her relationship with her husband, even just for the benefit of her son. Besides, Lizzie had said she was busy tonight and wouldn't be able to meet for a drink, so he has nothing better to do than help out his mate.

Kate beams, "I'll take you through to meet Josh!"

Steve follows after her down the hallway as Mark disappears into the living room, hearing the sound of a child giggling as they approach the kitchen.

He almost trips over his own foot when he hears someone else laughing from the room. And not just anyone - he would recognise that giddy-ing sound anywhere, his heart skipping a beat as it always does when he hears it.

Entering the kitchen, he sees her sitting beside the young boy at the table, the two leaning over a book of some sort and smiling widely at one another.

"What is Lizzie doing here?" Steve asks Kate, hushed, before the woman notices they are there. Kate only turns to look at him, a self-pleased glint in her eye and smirk on her lips.

"Babysitting," Kate says with a shrug, as if it were simple though not quite catching his eye as she watches the pair animate gestures as they read together.

"Steve!" he hears Lizzie calling his name before he has a chance to question the strange, almost smug, gleam in Kate's eye. She remains seated, though grins over at him, her eyes bright and cheeks pink from having laughed with the boy.

"Lizzie," Steve nods, swallowing to recover from the winded feeling in his chest as he looks at her bright expression at seeing him.

Kate calls for the young boy, who stands from his seat and comes running over to her side, the woman placing an affectionate arm around him, "Josh, this is Steve. He's a friend of mine from work."

"Like Liz?" the boy asks as he stares up at his mother, to which she nods.

Steve watches as the boy turns to him, examining him from head to toe. He almost squirms under the curious gaze, unsure what the boy is thinking about him, and hyper-aware of the two women watching. He tries not to shift his weight or look away, anything that would indicate that this child intimidates him - which he absolutely does. Children do, not having any experience with them whatsoever. They say things without thinking. And their honesty can hurt. Steve dreads to know what the boy is thinking of him now-

So he is pleasantly surprised when the boy extends his small hand, just as his father had done, and smiles, "I'm Josh, nice to meet you Steve!"

Steve's eyes flick to Kate who smiles down at her son, fondly, before he takes the boy's hand in his and gives it a light shake, "Nice to meet you too."

The boy then drops his hand, running back to his seat beside Lizzie, who is still looking his way. He finds himself blushing a little as she beams over at him, endeared by the exchange. Steve looks away in an attempt to cool his heated cheeks, watching as Kate grabs some keys off the counter and leans to give her son a kiss on his head.

"You be good for Liz and Steve. We will see you in the morning, ok?" she says, ruffling his hair where she had just kissed it. The boy ducks away from her hand, though smiles and nods before turning back to his book.

Lizzie rises from her seat, following Kate down the hallway and thus urging Steve to follow behind too. Mark appears from the living room, now wearing a blazer as Kate grabs a jacket from the rack by the door.

"Thank you for this," Kate says to both of them as she puts her jacket on, "We really appreciate it!"

"Yeah, thanks so much," Mark agrees, sending the both of them a thankful smile before looking at his watch and opening the front door.

"See you later," Steve smiles as Kate follows behind her husband, moving to hold open the door so himself and Liz can wave goodbye.

"Have fun! We have things handled here," Liz calls with an enthusiastic wave, before heading back to the kitchen after Josh calls her name.

Steve, still at the door, waves to Kate who looks past him to where Liz just disappeared and then back to him with a smirk. She sends him a mischievous wink before getting in the car. He shakes his head as he closes the door once they have left the drive, not entirely sure what Kate is up to but unnerved all the same. He has an idea of why Kate had asked Liz to babysit too without telling him for a certain reason. Steve just hopes he does not start to regret having disclosed his confidential confession about the woman with his best friend. That she was not planning to use it against him.

No, she wouldn't. It's Kate! You're just paranoid...

He heads to the kitchen, taking in a deep breath to steel himself before entering, seeing Lizzie and the boy sitting at the table once again leaning over the book. She turns as he enters, still smiling before turning back to Josh, "Hey, why don't you go and get your school project to show Steve? You know, that Tudor house you had to make?"

The boy's eyes light up, nodding eagerly before hastily jumping from his seat and running from the room. Steve moves out the way and watches as he bounces up the stairs, almost tripping as he goes a few steps at a time in his apparent excitement.

"Coffee?" Liz offers, recapturing his attention as she moves to open a cupboard.

"Please," he nods, removing his jacket and placing it on the back of a chair before sitting down.

She flicks on the kettle, placing two mugs on the counter, "Josh is usually in bed by nine, so we only have to entertain him for a few more hours. We could maybe watch TV or something after, until Kate gets back?"

"Uh, sure," Steve shrugs, still somewhat confused by the whole situation. He watches as Lizzie moves about the kitchen, somehow so at ease and familiar with the boy's routine, "You've done this before?"

"Oh, yeah, a few times whenever Kate and Mark needed it," Liz shrugs, "It's been a while though because of everything."

Steve nods, knowing she is referring to the breakdown of their friend's marriage, likely not wanting to say much more on it in case their son can hear. It couldn't have been easy.

"I assume you haven't done this before?" Liz asks, looking over her shoulder at him.

Steve scoffs, though smiles, humoured, "You can tell?"

Of course she can, he thinks. It was undoubted she would have noticed how uncomfortable he seemed around the child, despite his best efforts.

Lizzie shrugs, sending him a kind, sympathetic grin, "You have nothing to worry about. Josh is a really great kid. Can be a little stubborn like his mother sometimes, so we might have to put our foot down a bit, but is made up of all her best parts too."

Steve chuckles, admittedly a little relieved. He thanks her as she moves to place his coffee in front of him. She sits in the seat beside his, legs turned sideways so they brush his knees slightly.

Liz takes a sip of her tea, "Just loosen up a little. Have fun. You're used to dealing with some of the nation's toughest criminal organisers, I am sure you can handle a ten-year-old boy."

"You would think," Steve smiles into his coffee, the pair sharing a takes a sip and shrugs, "Then again, remembering myself at that age? Nightmare."

Lizzie grins, both endeared by his apprehension and the image of a little Steve Arnott running around causing havoc. Not much had changed, then.

Josh re-enters the room with a painted cardboard box in his arms, hurrying to place it on the table in front of the two adults.

Lizzie stands, patting the boy gently on the head as she moves back over to the counter with her tea, Josh moving into the now empty seat. He stares expectantly at Steve, eyes flicking excitedly between the man and his project. Steve looks at the box, seeing it painted white with black cardboard for beams, dry spaghetti glued messily to the top of it to replicate thatching.

Steve quickly glances to Lizzie, who is leaning against the counter and offering him a supportive nod. Encouraged, and remembering her advice, Steve looks back to the boy, "That's really good, mate. Must have taken you ages!"

Josh beams, chest puffing out with pride at the man's appraisal, "Not that long. Maybe about three days."

"Three days?" Steve exclaims, eyebrows raising as he points to it, "But look at the detail on the door, that would have taken me months! You sure you did this?"

The boy nods, delighted, a gap-toothed grin splitting his cheeks.

"All by yourself?" Steve shakes his head, exaggeratedly in jest, "No, I don't believe you."

"I did!" the boy argues, though still proud.

"No, no way."

"I really did!" Josh squeals, "Well, maybe dad helped with the spaghetti- but I did most of it!"

Steve nods, mouth turned upward in approval, "Nice one, mate!"

The ten-year old jumps up from his seat as the man holds up his palm, hitting his own smaller one against it in a high-five.

Liz watches the adorable exchange, heartfully chuckling to herself as Josh tells Steve to wait while he runs off, undoubtedly to find something else to win more of the man's valued approval. Steve watches the boy go, before turning to her, a small surprised smile on his face.

"You're a natural, it seems," Lizzie teases as she pushes herself from the counter and puts her empty mug in the sink.

Steve feels himself blush. That wasn't so bad.

Josh comes running back in, his arms full of action figures, a few strewn about the floor as they fall from his clumsy hold. He drops them on the table. He taps Steve on the shoulder, begging his attention to be on his toys as he goes through each of them, explaining who they are and a little of their imaginary backstory.

Liz remains by the sink as she watches Steve with the boy, her heart warming. There is a shared light in both their eyes, as Steve asks questions and the boy enthusiastically answers. She smiles, both of their laughter too infectious to resist melting from. Liz is unsure why Kate had asked them both to babysit tonight, her not thinking to question it when the woman had told her the man was on his way, happy to be seeing him. But Liz is grateful for his company, and for this chance to see him so presently at ease and having fun.

It was rare to see him so carefree. There was always some sort of context warping any chance of that. The only times things had ever been close to this domestic of a setting between them was usually the result of some sort of traumatic event or revelation. She thinks back to when she stayed at his place after the attack, in particular. Things were not exactly relaxed at work right now, with the tiring efforts to track down 'H' constantly plaguing their minds. But here, with Steve and the boy- this was... nice.

Liz pulls herself up to sit on the counter, too enthralled in the light in both of their eyes to look away as they played with the action figures. She has never seen Steve look so... so... well, however it was he seems to her now. There's not a word that could quite describe it. Just a heat in her chest and twist in her stomach.

Steve turns to her at some point during his adventures with the younger boy, Liz finding the smile warming his cheeks too enthralling to look away embarrassed. He quirks a questioning brow at her as he catches her gaze, noting the soft smile playing at her lips. Her smile grows, his chest puffing out slightly at the delighted encouragement - much like Josh just had about his project. Lizzie sighs admiringly as he turns back to the boy with a laugh at whatever story the boy was animating with his toys, one being places on his shoulder as another climbed up his arm to meet it there.

Lizzie liked this feeling, whatever it was. The easygoing-ness of it. The calm. Steve's smile. She liked it very much.

A short while later, Liz having finished the last of the washing up, she sighs looking at the time, "Suppose I should start making some sort of dinner. Kate said I could use whatever from the fridge or freezer."

Steve turns from the boy's toys to look at her, shaking his head, "We could order pizza? My treat!"

Liz raises an eyebrow, Josh gasping dramatically before he begins jumping up and down. He turns to Liz, eyes wide and pleading, "Please, please, please!"

Steve grins at the boy as Lizzie turns to ask him, "Are you sure?"

He nods, "Definitely."

Josh squeals, running to the hallway and back with a brochure in his hands for the local pizza delivery. Lizzie moves to sit beside Steve, who looks over the leaflet the boy has given him, Josh then sitting on her lap as he runs off his order. Lizzie puts an arm around the boy as Steve asks her what she would like, eventually making the call.

"Ok, great. Thanks, see you then," Steve says as he hangs up the call, smiling at the woman and boy, "All done, should be on its way in about thirty minutes."

"Thanks Steve!" Josh cheers before looking back to the woman, "Can I play outside?"

"Sure, just make sure to wash your hands when you come back in before the food," Liz smiles, watching as the boy jumps from her lap and runs out the door to the garden, "Thank you, Steve."

"No problem," he smiles back, then stands. Lizzie frowns, questioningly, as he moves towards the back door, "Might go kick a ball about with him until it gets here."

Liz grins, glad to see the man actually wanting to spend more time with the boy as he has clearly had fun after being so nervous before.

"Just take it easy," she instructs, knowing that, despite him having made excellent progress recovering and now being off his crutches, his back is still paining him on occasion.

"Always. If the pizzas get here, my wallet is in my jacket pocket. Don't worry about change," Steve smirks before stepping out.

The door knocks, Liz looking up from her book at the sound. She had managed to get back into reading, rekindling her love for it after promising to dedicate more time to herself. Placing one of Josh's action figures onto the page as to not lose her place for later, Liz takes Steve's wallet out of his jacket pocket and runs to the door.

Greeting the young delivery man, who informs her the price is £23.49, Liz smiles and opens the wallet to find the cash.

And there, tucked between the paper money is another piece of thicker paper. Liz pulls it out, realising it is a photograph. A photo of herself and Steve. Looking at the image closer, she recognises it to be the award ceremony for Kate last year. It must have been captured by the event photographer, and Steve must have asked for a printed copy. Liz never bothered to look through the images posted to the staff site as she had left early that night. She shudders at the memory of what happened later, with Hurrell.

But in this image, regardless of the surrounding context, they have both been captured in a moment so joyous. So intimate, even. They are both standing, sharing a smile as they applaud their friend on stage. Looking at each other, eyes bright and content. Like there is no one else around them…

The delivery boy clears his throat. She nods, heart pounding in embarrassment - and a delighted confusion as to the photo being in her friend's wallet - handing over the cash, careful not to crease the image as she places it back in the wallet. Taking the pile of pizzas, Liz thanks the boy and closes the door, heading back to the kitchen.

"Boys!" she shouts through the open back door, then taking three glasses out of the cupboard for their drinks. She hears them come inside, laughing amongst themselves, Steve sounding a little out of breath. Liz smiles as she turns to greet them, opening up the pizza boxes.

Steve wipes his shoes just outside the back door before stepping in, seeing Josh has already washed his hands and ran to claim the seat beside where Lizzie is standing, bouncing eagerly on his seat as he anticipates eating. He feels his back twinge, placing a hand on his lower spine to straighten it, though lowers it again when he feels Lizzie look his way, not wanting to worry her. He has been taking things easy, mostly knowing she would likely slap him if she found out otherwise, but it still hurts. More than he is willing to let on. But he brushes it off, having had fun kicking the ball with the young boy and showing him a few tricks he had learnt when he used to play for the local team back down south.

They begin to eat, Josh telling them both some stories of his time at school, Steve and Liz laughing along with the giggling boy. Steve finds his gaze drifting to the woman beside him a few times, forcing himself to return his attention quickly to the ten-year old before she could catch him once or twice. But this time he allows himself to stare, blinded by the brightness of her beautiful smile.

That smile, it is dangerous. Almost tricking him into saying something stupid. Forcing him to think things, silly things - like how seeing her with the young boy has him considering a life for them together, beyond their work. As something more than colleagues, more than friends. A family?

The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as the thought flits through his mind. Steve represses a shudder, not wanting to be caught out by distracting the boy.

He has seen the effects this job had on Kate, how it has damagingly disrupted her family life. Mark does not understand, has never really seemed to try to from what Kate has told him. But Steve does, Lizzie too. They understand the stress and the pressures, the commitment and the dedication. So he cannot help but wonder as he watches her gently wipe some sauce from beside the boy's mouth… could he and Lizzie ever make it work?

Steve knows he is getting carried away with himself. That he has hardly processed his own feelings, not even dared to consider if she has any of her own toward him and is far from brave enough to confess anything so that they could move forward and get so far. It is cruel to himself to fantasise about something so out of reach.

But with the feeling of Lizzie's hand finding his own under the table, gravitating toward each other and their fingers slowly entwining as they rest on his knee, Steve almost convinces himself that fantastical future may not be as incredulous as it seems.

She remains looking at the young boy, who is still excitedly ranting about something Steve lost track of a long while ago. But he can see her encouraging grin has turned into something softer. A hint of a satisfied smile glistening on her closed lips. She squeezes his hand in hers, clearly now aware of his attention on her but not wanting to discourage the boy. Steve finds a similar smile slipping onto his own lips as he finally turns from her to attempt to share his attention with Josh.

That same smile remains on both their faces once they have finished eating, hands no longer entwined but brushing softly every once in a moment as they clean up. Steve places a hand on her upper back as they head up the stairs after Josh, who has brushed his teeth and changed into his pyjamas. Once in the boy's room, Josh settles under his covers, Lizzie kneeling beside him to tuck them around his small frame.

Steve lingers in the doorway, leaning against the frame as he watches Lizzie share a few last whispers with the boy, eventually patting his head fondly and switching off the light. She rises to stand beside Steve in the door, looking back endearingly at the already-sleeping boy. Steve places an arm around her shoulder, pulling her gently into his side as he mutters a 'goodnight, mate' himself. They close the door, leaving Josh to sleep, the hand resting around Lizzie's shoulders gliding down her arm to take her hand as he leads them both back downstairs.

He leads her into the front room, once again pulling her into his side as he takes a seat on the sofa. With his arm resting around her shoulder, and Lizzie resting her head on his, Steve reaches for the remote and turns on the television.

He hears Lizzie sigh contentedly as she relaxes into his arm, her body drawing even closer into his side.

It is affectionate, it is domestic and it is peaceful. Hopeful, even. Nothing else in this moment of calm matters but them.

Yeah, Steve thinks to himself, we could make it work.

Lizzie sighs as she relaxes into Steve's hold. She would be more surprised at his earnest physical affection if she were not so greedy for it herself. So instead, for once, she gives little thought to it and allows herself to sink further into his arms. She had enjoyed herself this evening, grateful that Kate had asked them both. Revelled, without getting carried away in make-believe, in the easy domesticity of it. In his company.

Though, despite her contentedness, something intrusive twists in her stomach. Her chest aches as the fantasy fades, the reality of her situation seeping in. She slides an arm over Steve's waist, pulling herself, if possible, closer to him in an attempt to draw some comfort. To her relief and gratitude, he responds by squeezing her shoulder and resting his chin on her forehead.

But Liz can feel her throat begin to scratch. She starts to well up at the affection, tears springing to her eyes and threatening to fall. She blinks a few times as she keeps her gaze transfixed to whatever blurred image is playing on the television, hoping he does not notice.

She sighs again.

She doesn't want anything to change.

But it has to. It will. Very soon.

I am going to miss this. I am going to miss him.