A bit of a filler chapter. Not all words are my own - they belong to Jed.
"You ready for this?" Kate asked Steve as they headed up in the lift to the main offices of AC-12. They were a little later than usual after their late night. They had also been to Occupational Health before travelling to AC-12, and against the odds Steve had been granted permission to return to restricted duties.
It was their first full day back at work since Steve's assault and both were a little anxious. Steve because he didn't know how his colleagues would treat him now he was in a wheelchair, and Kate because she was still upset about someone as yet unknown, telling Ros Huntley all about her private life. She was placing finding out who the guilty party was at the top of her list of jobs to do that day.
Steve nodded as the lift stopped and the doors opened into their familiar office space. Kate used her ID to get through the barrier and held it open to allow Steve to wheel himself through.
They hadn't got very far before they ran in to Ted. Kate had phoned earlier to tell him of their plan of Steve returning to work if it was allowed. "Steve!" He said happily in greeting. Despite sometimes causing his blood to boil, the senior officer was truly overjoyed to see Steve back where he belonged.
"I hope you'll forgive me if I don't get up," Steve said, flicking his eyes to Kate as he did so. She was the only one who knew the real meaning of those words. She had sworn that she would keep the news to herself and he wanted to make sure she did. "Occy health have given me the all-clear to return to restricted duties,".
"Great!" Ted enthused, pleased his team was back to full strength. "There's been a few developments since you've been away but I'm sure Kate here has kept you in the loop,". As well as Ros Huntley, her husband Nick was also a person of great interest to the anti- corruption team.
"Yes, sir," Steve answered. "Ros Huntley can't be allowed to mislead the investigation,".
"Well, what are yous waiting on then, a number 19 bus?" Ted teased, dismissing them and letting them crack on with their work. He watched as Steve wheeled himself to his desk, Kate moving his usual chair out the way as he did so, keeping a watchful eye out for him like a lioness would, her cub.
As neither Steve nor Kate had been present at Nick Huntley's or Ros's latest interview, the first thing they did was find a quiet room and watch the recordings of both.
The first one they watched was that of DCI Huntley. It was a painful watch, especially for Kate when she was outed.
"What the hell was Jamie playing at?" Kate asked once it had finished. Like Ted, she was not enamoured at all at his performance. She expected more from a colleague.
"Give him a break, Kate. He's new," Steve defended him as he reached for Nick's interview recording and pressed play. They watched a bit before Steve hit the pause button. "We should check out Nick's alibi," he informed Kate who agreed.
It was the first path of their inquiry after they had seen both interviews. They even tasked Maneet with the job as well. As was usual with the PC, she was very diligent and was soon calling Steve, Kate and Jamie over to update them on what she had found- ANPR had detected Nick's car in the motorway when he claimed to be at some conference drinks. Plenty of time to carry out the murder of Timothy Ifield.
"Great! Thanks Maneet," Steve, Kate and Jamie praised, feeling energised by this new lead.
"He's been caught out in a lie," Jamie said as the three walked away from Maneet.
"Cheers, Jamie, we've got this," Kate said, rudely dismissing him.
Steve saw the younger man stare at Kate before walking off looking quite dejected. Steve felt bad for him. Kate wasn't usually that unfriendly and he thought he knew why. "That wasn't his fault the Ros Huntley interview went pear shaped," he reminded her as they gathered at his desk space.
Kate though had already made up her mind about the man. She didn't want him involved in their investigation much longer. "The gaffer brought him in while I was undercover. I'm back now. And so are you," she defended her rudeness.
Whilst Steve was distracted chasing up leads, Kate commenced her investigation into who was leaking information from AC-12. Her first background search was on Jamie. It hadn't taken her long to think about it. She was pissed off at him over that interview and the more she thought about it, he was the newest recruit and it was since he had joined that things had started going wrong for AC-12. She picked up the phone and called the IT department and explained what she wanted them to look at for her.
It wasn't long before they got back to her. She had her proof. Jamie had for some reason accessed and downloaded Dot's dying declaration. Why on earth would he be looking at that? She took her smoking gun to Ted who was deeply upset at Jamie's treachery and it wasn't long before Jamie was walking out of AC-12, never to return again. Job done, thought Kate although she couldn't quite meet Jamie's eyes as he walked out of the office.
DCI Huntley was proving a very formidable opponent to AC-12. Just when they thought that they were on top, she would pull the rug from under their feet.
Arresting her husband for the murder of Tim Ifield was the most recent point in case. Nick's arrest heralded the arrival of MIT into the picture and with it Sam Railston, Steve's ex. They hadn't seen each other since Sam had dumped Steve after his wrongful arrest for the murder of Lindsey Denton.
Steve and Kate finally ran in to Sam after she had interviewed Nick at Polk Avenue police station. It was an awkward meeting not helped by the presence of Jamie.
Sam was surprised to see Steve in a wheelchair and for the first time since his accident he received a look of pity.
"How's it going?" Steve thought he should be the one to speak first.
"All right. I heard about your accident. How are you doing?".
"I'm fine," Steve responded confidently, trying to show his former girlfriend that her pity wasn't needed.
"I'm sorry...," Sam started to apologise for her past actions, but Kate had heard enough.
"You know what, you dumped Steve at the first sign of trouble. I think it's a bit late for apologies," she snapped before stalking off.
There was an awkward silence between the former lovers before Steve thought it best to leave and try and find Kate. "Night," he said before turning his chair around.
"Wait," interjected Sam. She was still feeling awful for what she had done. "This has to be totally off the record,".
"Of course," Steve replied, interested in what she had to say.
Kate was sat on a low wall in the car park when Steve finally caught up to her. She was sat huddled in her thick coat, watching her breath hitting the cold night air making it look like smoke.
"Kate!" Steve cried to catch her attention.
"You're not going to defend her as well are you?" she asked in disbelief.
What?".
"First Jamie. Now her," Kate explained. "I just think it was time to set her straight on a few things. It took me ages to cheer you up after she did what she did,". Steve didn't say anything. "You still like her though, don't you? Even after everything," Kate concluded, surprised at the feeling of jealousy that had sprung up suddenly.
"What?" Steve asked. "No mate. Too much water under the bridge," he replied honestly. The way she had looked at him just now had put the final nail in the coffin on another relationship with her. "Nice to know you've got my back though,".
"Well it's a good job. It's in a pretty bad way from what I gather," she bantered which caused them both to smile. "So what did she say after I left then?" Kate asked returning at last to the subject of their work.
Sam's tip off proved to be the start of DCI Huntley's downfall. After spending hours and hours trawling through enough traffic camera footage to give not just them, but the whole of AC-12 sore eyes, they were able to pinpoint her exact movements and find all the evidence they needed to finally bring their man, or in this case their woman, to justice.