"Mother of god, what a day!" Ted exclaimed as he entered his office and took his seat behind his desk. Steve and Kate were sat in front of his desk, Kate on an office chair and Steve in his wheelchair. They had been summoned by their boss, not entirely sure why and were entertaining themselves whilst waiting for Ted to arrive. To be truthful, Steve was entertaining himself by practising doing wheelies in his chair whilst Kate tried to get him to behave.
"Stop pratting about Steve," she snapped at him, her nerves already slightly shredded after watching him talk Jamie into handing his gun over to him. Kate had had her heart in her mouth as she watched helplessly from a distance. All she could do was offer a silent prayer that he would be successful as Steve was literally a sitting duck in that wheelchair. "You're going to fall and hurt yourself again," she continued. Luckily the arrival of Ted in the room had the desired effect and Steve righted himself so all four wheels were on the floor.
It was really late in the evening and Steve and Kate were exhausted and just wanted to go home. The rest of AC-12 was deserted with all their colleagues having departed following the safe removal of Huntley, Lakewell and Jamie from the building as well as the as yet unidentified balaclava man who Ted had shot and killed downstairs.
"I don't know about you two, but I need some of this," Ted said as he reached down into his bottom desk drawer. He pulled out a half empty bottle of scotch and three glasses and placed them in front of him. Kate and Steve raised their eyebrows at his actions. This was the first time they'd seen the gaffer bend the rules and have alcohol in the workplace. "I trust this will remain our little secret," Ted said, as he poured them each a small amount.
"Absolutely, sir," Steve and Kate replied together as they each took a glass.
"Cheers!" Ted toasted. His best team raised their glasses in reply before they all took a sip, feeling the drink burn their throats as they swallowed. "Good work, the pair of you," he praised. He really could depend on the pair of them to get their job done. They had also helped save his reputation and for that he would be forever grateful. His Reg -15 notice would no doubt be rescinded imminently. "I'll tell you something," Ted started.
"What's that, Sir?" Kate asked.
"I'm becoming a little concerned at the number and frequency of guns being whipped out and used in this building," Ted replied. "Didn't expect that when I first joined here, I can tell you that for a fact," he said. Last time it had been during Dot's escape from interview. "Hopefully it's a trend that can stop now,".
"I didn't know you were such a good shot, sir," Kate commented. She had been stunned when she had seen the gaffer use a gun and take out the balaclava man in the lobby downstairs. He had hit him in the centre of the forehead without injuring his hostage at all.
Ted brushed off her comment. It wasn't something he wanted to talk about, so he changed the topic. "ACC Hilton eh? Just how far up the force does this thing reach?" Ted pondered. The senior officer was still missing and an APB had been put out to all the forces in the country. They would find him, of that Ted was sure. It was just when was the question.
"I didn't like him when I was undercover at Central with the Gates case. Got me in his office and wanted me to massage some crime figures," Kate revealed. "Was thinking about telling you about it, sir when I ran into Steve in the corridor,".
"Are you trying to say it's my fault you didn't tell the gaffer about your concerns about him all those years ago?" Steve asked.
"You distracted me," Kate argued. "Started to chat me up,".
"I wasn't chatting you up!" Steve retorted. "I was trying to make friends. I was new in town,".
"You were checking me out," Kate amended and Steve couldn't say anything as he had indeed done that. Her rear view had been the best thing he'd seen since moving up from London.
Ted cleared his throat loudly in an aim to halt Steve and Kate's latest squabble. He remembered the first time he'd seen Steve chatting to Kate after leaving him alone for just a few minutes. Although he wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying, he could tell the pair seemed to like each other which was good seeing as they were going to be partners but alarming as Ted wasn't sure whether it was purely platonic, especially from Steve's side. It was only when he appeared on the scene, did Kate have an inkling of who Steve was.
Despite his initial unease over their attraction, Ted had been slightly surprised that neither had apparently as far as he knew, acted on it. There had been a little moment when Kate announced she was separating from her husband that he wondered if she had been unfaithful with Steve but it seemed unwarranted.
"I should let you get home. It's late," Ted announced as he drained his glass of liquid. "This is going to take a lot of writing up,". He himself would not be spared that chore as he would have to fill out a lot of forms and reports after deciding to discharge the firearm in the lobby. It was the part of police work that he hated the most.
"And there's still a lot of loose ends to tie up as well," Kate commented. They were going to be kept busy for weeks.
"Actually sir, I think I'm going to take some time off," Steve announced. "If that's ok?".
Kate looked at Steve in shock. This was the first she'd heard about his plans. "What?".
"Don't get me wrong, I feel good to have helped solve this case," Steve explained to Kate, "but it's taken a lot of time and effort. I've been so tired when we got home that I've neglected my exercises,". Kate knew he was telling the truth. "Now this case is over, my health needs to be my priority. They want to rescan me in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure I'm going to be able to be fit enough for my physio to resume,".
"You're right," Kate agreed.
"That's very mature of you, Steve," Ted commented. There would have been a time not that long ago where Steve would not have made the same choice. "We'll miss having you around, but I'm sure we will cope,".
"I'll help Kate write the report up. It's not fair for her to have to do it all,".
"How about I let you two work on it together at home tomorrow?".
"I think we could get most of it done by then," Kate suggested, looking at Steve who nodded in agreement.
"Right, excellent. Well I'll see you, Kate, the day after tomorrow, and Steve, you let us know when you want to come back. The door is always open for you,".
"Thanks, sir," Steve replied. He didn't really want to take the time off but he knew it was what he had to do.
Steve and Kate finished their drinks and slowly made their way to Kate's car in the car park. They had their routine of getting in the car down to a couple of minutes by now. After she had put Steve's chair in the boot, Kate took her place at the wheel.
Before starting the car, she looked at Steve. "Everything is ok, isn't it?" she checked. Now it was just the two of them she thought she would check. She had been really diligent in making sure Steve hadn't overdone it at work and he hadn't told her of any more problems with his back.
"Everything's fine, mate," reassured Steve. "I was talking with Ros earlier when you were gallivanting around the city with the gaffer. We were talking about things she'd wished she'd done differently. I guess it struck a cord with me. I don't want to regret not giving it my best shot at trying to be able to walk again,".
Kate leant over and hugged her friend. "You'll get there, Steve. I know it," she declared.