Disclaimers: Most of the dialogue is from the episode. I don't own The Ghost Squad or Downton Abbey. I don't own the characters either. I hope you'll enjoy it.

The next morning, Anna was sitting in a little cafe, lost in her thoughts about the night prior. She hadn't been able to sleep well, hearing Helen's screams in the darkness of her bedroom. At the time, the adrenaline rush had kept her going, but once she had been all alone, it all sank in. She had cried in her empty bed, hoping Helen would be alright. She kept seeing her smile when she told her in the interrogation room that she was only a few weeks away. Now she must be devastated and alone.

And then, there was John. She had checked her phone a dozen times, hoping to get a message from him after he left her. She didn't even know if he had gotten home without a scratch. She was growing worried every second that passed without a sign from him. And what had last night meant? Jesus, he had kissed her and then disappeared into the night without a goodbye. Had the alcohol made him kiss her and then he had realised what he was doing?

"CCTV shows Dani down at Glasgow Station," said O'Brien, snapping Anna out of her thoughts.

Jimmy and her boss were sitting in front of her, a cup of coffee in front of them. O'Brien put pictures under Anna's eyes. It showed Danielle Parker with a backpack in a train station.

"The only thing we don't know is why he put that girl on the train. Whatever. He shouldn't be wearing a uniform," O'Brien continued.

Anna frowned.

"What? Do you think he might have a decent explanation for all this?" O'Brien chuckled.

"I don't know," she truthfully answered. Anna was so tired. She didn't know what to think. And now she had let her own feelings be on the line of her duty. What if O'Brien was right and John had only used her? Used her feelings to try and shut her up because she was becoming a threat to him? "No," she said decidedly, straightening up on her chair. "No, I'm sure you're right."

O'Brien and Jimmy exchanged looks.

"This has been harder for you than I planned," O'Brien then said with false concern. "And that business with the pregnant woman…"

"I'm ok," Anna said. "It's just…" she paused and sighed. "You look around that station, all those useless bastards who clock on, clock off, who do the job at 60%, like Thomas Barrow and…"

She knew O'Brien was rolling her eyes, but Jimmy at least seemed to listen to her. He knew what it could be to be in the field. O'Brien was just giving orders and didn't know how it was out there. She inhaled, preparing herself before she spoke again, saying what was in her heart.

"I sort of feel like John is the only guy who's actually out there fighting."

"Fighting?" O'Brien asked. Of course, she would misunderstand a world like that to try and prove that John was bad.

"Trying," Anna said, choosing her words carefully.

"Come on, Anna." O'Brien was looking her right in the eyes. "He had her tracksuit top in his bedroom. You have to know what he's really capable of. You have to finish this off."

Anna didn't agree with everything she said, but she knew she had to find out the truth and dig deeper if she wanted to know if John was sincere with her. This mission was starting to make her doubt everything. But this was it. Whatever the end of this might be, she would have her answers.

Anna was back at the station. John had avoided her all morning and still hadn't talked to her. At least now, she knew he was alive but she was a bit hurt he hadn't tried to contact her.

Good, it only made her more determined and focused on his case. If he was so determined to dodge her, she would not even talk about what happened at her place that night. She would be damned if she was the one to mention it first.

She entered the cafeteria and saw him alone at a table, lost in his thoughts, looking out the window. She could see he was brooding from there.

She had a plan, all she needed was to test him a little and distract him so she could take his phone. At the same time, if she could push him to a corner, it would solve two of her problems.

She pulled her chair making some noise and put her hat on top of his phone without him noticing it. He looked up to see who it was and his cheeks reddened when he saw it was her. She didn't flinch and stared in front of her.

"I could kill her," she began. He looked at her a bit bewildered. "If I saw Nathalie right now, any of them, I'd fucking kill them," she explained, looking into his eyes.

He turned away, annoyed with what she was saying. But she wanted to see if he would snap. As O'Brien had said, she needed to see what he was capable of.

"Oh don't tell me I'm the only person thinking like this," she pushed.

His lips tightened into a straight line, he closed his eyes trying to contain himself.

"What?" she continued. "You're just gonna sit here and mope for the next week?"

"She wasn't your daughter. She wasn't your mum. It's just our job. You get on with our job," he said in a low voice. It was clear that even though he was telling her to be detached from the case, he was the complete opposite. He was internally fuming over what had happened. He didn't think of Helen and William as strangers, just another case to solve. No. They were people he knew and was fond of. She had witnessed it countless times with William at the station. He looked at John like a father figure and John in turn was very protective of him as he was his son. And with Helen too! That night he had been in the ambulance, holding her hand, crying for her and the baby.

He might have fooled her before, but she had learned to know him. He had a heart beneath it all. But with all this internalised anger, what would he be capable of doing if Nathalie was right now standing in front of him, taunting him?

She had to try harder, she was close to making him say what he was really thinking.

"Oh, you don't believe a word of that, John…"

"Look, Anna, don't," he suddenly cut her, letting his anger show even more. "Please," he pleaded, his voice more gentle. "Just don't." He folded his newspaper and left.

It felt like he was trying to avoid her thinking like he did because he knew it was no good. And then she understood him a little bit more. If he had left her that night, it was really for the reasons he had voiced. He just wanted to protect her, from him. It broke her heart a little. She was ashamed of having pushed him into a corner, he didn't deserve it.

But it wasn't solved yet. He truly was a hard case to crack. She lifted her hat and took the phone hidden under it. Now, she had to find out what was the business with Dani.

Sat at her desk, she switched her computer on. She opened the police database search tool. She carefully looked around to make sure no one was watching her. But at this time of the day, she probably was one of the last in the station.

She pulled out John's telephone and started searching through it. She found the latest dialled number. She tried to call.

'The mobile phone you're calling is switched off. Please try again later.'

She entered the number in the search bar and hit enter. The site loaded. She looked around again but she was still alone. When she looked back at the screen again, she was shocked to see Dani's picture. Her file came out when the phone number matched.

What was John doing phoning her? This could only mean he knew where she was all along. Hence why he never tried to put some effort into finding her.

She took her phone out and texted Jimmy.

He knows where Danielle is.

Are you sure?

Yes, I am. Jesus, Jimmy, he even phoned her this morning.

She grabbed her jacket and left her office. It was time to have a real chat with John Bates.