As Kate had predicted, occupational health had no problem in clearing Steve for restricted duty and it wasn't long before he was sitting shotgun to her as they made their way to AC-12.
It was nice having him beside her again, Kate thought as she cast a secretive glance across at the passenger seat as they stopped at a red light. It was secretive as Steve had already had a word with her about not fussing over him quite so much as she had when he'd initially returned to work in his wheelchair. He looked fairly relaxed to be returning to work, much more so than when he had been in the chair. She also had to admit he looked good in his suit with the accessories she had bought him for his birthday.
The car behind them honked its horn and Kate jumped before seeing the light had turned to green. She quickly put the car in gear and drove off before Steve could say anything.
When they had discussed Steve returning to work with occupational health, they had granted Kate a disability badge for her car so that she could park in one of the few disabled spaces in the AC-12 car park. These were located near the lift and there was one available as they arrived at work. Killing the engine, Kate got out and went round to hold open the passenger door for Steve who slowly exited from the car. They slowly made their way to the lift, the sound of Steve's crutches making an echoing click as they made contact with the ground, following them as they went.
"In case I forget to say," Kate said, once they were in the lift and travelling up to the office, "it's nice having you back, partner," she informed Steve as she reached over and gave one of his arms a squeeze. He smiled at her gesture. He was glad to be back.
The lift opened and the pair made their way to their desks. Ted had obviously been looking out for them from his office and accosted Steve before he reached his work space.
"Steve!" Ted said loudly. "Great to have you back, son," he continued as he approached his officer with his arm out for a hand shake. "Good to have AC-12 back to full strength,".
Steve stopped in his progress to his chair at the gaffer's greeting, and noticing Ted's proffered hand, very slowly shifted his weight to one foot and crutch, so he could release himself from the other crutch and shake Ted's hand.
"Good to be back, sir," Steve replied as they finally shook hands.
"Well I'll let you settle back in. Kate been keeping you up to date on everything?".
"Yes, sir,".
"Good, good," Ted muttered. "On your way then," he instructed before walking off and leaving Steve to start his work day.
AC-12 was having a relatively quiet spell which was perfect for Steve's reintroduction to work. The mundane tasks of following up on unpaid parking tickets or undeclared free lunches with unsuspecting police officers was just what he needed to get back in to the swing of things. It was exhausting enough, mobilising with his crutches all the time at work without the added stress of a major case.
That wasn't to say that they forgot about their big major case completely. It was still bubbling away in the back ground, waiting for their next big lead whenever that would happen. Whilst not a big lead, the identity of the balaclava man that Ted had shot and killed in the foyer of AC-12 the night that Ros Huntley and Jimmy Lakewell were arrested, was finally confirmed once Steve was back at work.
Steve was busy at his computer when the email pinged into his in-box. "Kate!" Steve called over to his friend who was at her desk, not too far away. "Come and look at this!".
Noticing the tone of Steve's voice, Kate instantly got up and made her way over to Steve's chair. She read the email over Steve's shoulder. "I'll get the gaffer," she said. "Meet you in the ops room," she continued before heading off, Steve pressing the print button on his computer as she left.
The ops room had three big notice boards in it. Two were filled with the faces of people they had been investigating over the past couple of years- one board of police officers, the other one full of female victims. The last board was of senior police officers whose surname started with the letter H. Kate was adding ACC Hilton's photo to this board as Steve joined her and the gaffer. The clicking of his crutches, alerting them to his arrival.
"The man you shot dead in the lobby, sir, he's been identified as a known violent criminal with long-term associations going all the way back to Tommy Hunter," Steve announced as he showed Ted the email he'd just received. "Activity in Balaclava Man's burner phone matches all his known haunts,".
Kate produced the file they had created on him that showed CCTV images of him, Tim Ifield's biometric analysis and the boot print from Michael Farmer's house.
"His biometrics are an exact match to the images of Balaclava Man captured on the night of Leonie Collersdale's disappearance and the day of the attack on Steve. Even down to his boot print,".
"You got him, sir," Steve informed Ted, pleased that the man who had done him so much harm had been identified and permanently stopped from doing something similar to anyone else.
"I got one of them," Ted corrected Steve. "There may be others still at large. God knows what they are up to,". It was a sobering thought.
"And the consistent method has been to exploit vulnerable young women to blackmail officers into fearing they'd be incriminated in serious offences," Kate said as she pointed to the board containing photos of the missing or murdered women.
"They had that hold over Hilton too. Whether or not he was 'H',".
"Meaning he wasn't top dog," Kate theorised.
"Top in the police," Ted said quickly with conviction. He wouldn't entertain the idea that corruption went any higher than the ACC.
"But not among the real criminals," Steve pointed out, backing Kate up.
"What bent coppers not criminal enough for you, son?" Ted said sharply. Kate shook her head. That had to be some kind of record. Back only a couple of hours before Steve had pissed the gaffer off.
"Sir," Steve said as apology.
"I'm satisfied 'H' was Hilton," Ted announced, surprising both Steve and Kate as there wasn't really the evidence to support that. "Take my photograph down off that board, Kate," he instructed before Kate did as asked.
The trio looked at the boards which were continually increasing with the number of photographs they held as the years went on. "This is beginning to feel like a life's work," Ted said sombrely before leaving the room.
"You ok?" asked Steve as they had dinner that night. "You've been very quiet,".
"Just thinking, that's all," Kate replied.
"Ok," Steve said. "Can I ask what about?".
"What the gaffer said about Hilton being 'H'," Kate revealed. "I'm not so confident,".
"Me neither," Steve agreed.
"Do you think we're ever going to get all the answers?" Kate asked. "Because sometimes I'm not so sure. We think we get somewhere and then something happens and it's like we've taken two steps back. It's frustrating!".
"I think we have to believe that we will succeed," Steve answered.
"The gaffer said it's a lifetime's work. I don't want to spend my whole life on this case if we don't get anywhere. What a complete waste of time,".
"What are you saying?" Steve prodded. He hadn't seen Kate like this before.
"Maybe it'd be easier on MIT," Kate pondered. "Catch the murderer and case closed,".
"You thinking of leaving?" Steve asked, beginning to get worried.
"Sometimes," Kate admitted.
"You wouldn't go through with it though?".
Kate shrugged her shoulders. "Probably not," she said. "But if circumstances were to change," she went on and Steve knew she was talking about a change in their relationship, "I wouldn't mind if I was the one to leave AC-12," Kate admitted. "It's not quite giving me the same job satisfaction that it once did, that's all,".
"Noted," Steve muttered. They hadn't talked much more about a relationship since Steve had started work, but it looked as though Kate had given it some thought. It was a nice solution to the whole working together whilst being in a relationship problem. "Just don't do anything without talking to me first," he warned.
"Of course not," Kate promised.
The slow period at AC-12 continued and soon Steve was almost back to full time. He was moving easier with his crutches and wasn't as exhausted at the end of the day. He left early on two afternoons a week to continue his rehab with Dan who was noticing his being at work was helping with Steve's progress.
On one such slow day, work was halted by a rather pleasant distraction. Maneet appeared unannounced with her new baby daughter and toddler son in tow. She hadn't been near AC-12 since starting her maternity leave early.
Kate was one of the first to spot her. She stopped what she was doing and waved her colleague over. "Oh my god!" Kate exclaimed as she got a good look at the baby. "She's lovely," she complimented Maneet, taking in the little girl's dark hair and big brown eyes. "Can I have a hold?".
"Of course," Maneet replied as she unstrapped her daughter from her buggy and placed her in Kate's arms.
"She's so tiny," Kate said once she had hold of her. "I don't think Josh was ever this small," she commented.
By this time a little crowd had gathered round Kate, Maneet and the children, including Steve. He watched Kate with the baby from a slight distance. He had never really had much of an opinion on having children - it seemed far too much of a responsibility and commitment for him. Until now. Watching Kate's face light up as she cooed to the baby he decided that if she wanted another one then he'd be more than happy to assist her in achieving that dream.
"What's all this?" Ted asked as he joined the group. He had spied the gathering of his team from his office and had come out to investigate what was keeping them from his work.
"Sorry, sir," Maneet apologised, fearing she had upset her boss.
"Don't you worry," Ted replied as he caught sight of Kate with the little baby and the little boy who was sticking like glue to his mother. "Nice of you to pop in. When can I expect you back?" Ted asked. "That would be the full team back working together,".
Maneet smiled awkwardly. She'd left in a hurry, keen to get out of AC-12 as she had betrayed her friends and colleagues to ACC Hilton. Her maternity leave was the perfect excuse to cut her involvement. She was a little scared at returning in case they ever found out what she had done. "Soon," was all she would commit to.
"Excellent," Ted said. "Err Steve, can I have a word?" he said, turning to his DS.
"Sure," Steve replied as he slowly got to his feet. He took one last look at Kate as she handed the baby back to Maneet so someone else could hold her, before he followed his boss to his office.
"And look at you," he heard Kate say to the toddler. "You've grown so much since I last saw you," she said as she crouched down to talk to the little boy who was largely being ignored because of his little sister. Kate was keen to include him so he didn't feel left out.
Maneet had brought him to the office as a baby when she had helped Ted and Kate piece together Steve's cars movements after he had been arrested for Lindsey Denton's murder and prove he was innocent of the crime.
"I think he's coming down with something," Maneet warned Kate. "Might not be good to get so close to him,".
"We'll be fine, won't we?" Kate said to the little boy as she picked him up and placed him on her hip. He too had dark hair and dark eyes like his sister. "I might have some chocolate for you," she whispered to the little boy, who smiled in response to Kate's words.
Going over to her desk, she sat the little boy on her lap as she searched through her desk drawers. It didn't take her long to find a small bar of chocolate she kept for nourishment when she had a long report to write.
"What do you say?" Maneet asked her son.
"Thank you," the little boy replied as Kate helped him open the wrapper and take a bite of his treat.
"What's up, sir?" Steve asked as he took a seat in front of the gaffers desk. He sensed his boss wasn't particularly looking forward to the chat they were about to have.
"Not much. How you doing, Steve? You look like you're progressing well with those things," he said, indicating the crutches, currently resting against the chair Steve was sat in.
"Everyone is happy with my progress. Hopefully won't be long before I'm walking unaided,".
"Look out world!" Ted bantered and Steve smiled at the teasing.
"Is that what you wanted to talk about?".
"No. Not really," Ted said. "Since Dot left us, AC-12 has been without a DI," he explained. "I've decided it's time to do something about that,".
Steve held his breath. He was the most senior DS in the unit and had passed his Inspector exams. Was he about to be promoted?
He saw Ted subconsciously flick his eyes to the window in his office and registered him looking at Kate who was still sat at her desk with Maneet's son in her lap, and he suddenly knew what Ted was about to do and why he'd called Steve in first.
"You're promoting Kate," Steve guessed, sparing Ted from having to say the words himself. It didn't hurt as much as he expected it too. Instead of feeling jealous, Steve found himself to be incredibly proud of his...partner? Girlfriend? Whatever she was. He loved her he realised.
"I'm sorry, Steve," the gaffer replied, interrupting his realisation. "On top of everything else you've had to deal with recently, this probably isn't what you needed to hear,".
"It's fine, sir," Steve said, truthfully. "I get it. I've had to have a lot of time off and you need a senior officer who isn't on restricted duty,". Ted nodded in agreement.
"Once you are back to full active duty, I don't see it being long before you are promoted as well," Ted confirmed and Steve was comforted by those words. It was something to encourage him to make that last push to finish his rehabilitation. "I just thought I would let you know before I tell Kate,".
"Thanks, sir," Steve replied.
"I hope this won't affect your partnership," Ted mentioned. It was the strongest in AC-12, but Ted had been around long enough to see many a good relationship fall apart after a promotion.
"Shouldn't think so," Steve informed his boss. "She's in charge at home so why not work as well?".
Ted knew exactly what Steve was talking about. When he and Roisin were married, she had definitely been the boss in the relationship. "How much longer will she be staying with you?" Ted enquired.
"I don't know," Steve replied hesitantly. He hadn't thought about it at all. He was so used to her being with him that he didn't want her to leave now.
A commotion outside the office interrupted their talk. Steve turned to see an extremely embarrassed Maneet retrieving her son from Kate's lap after he had just thrown up all over her.
"I should probably go and see what I can do to help," Steve suggested as he caught sight of a rather shocked looking Kate as she came to terms with the vomit down her shirt and in her lap.
Ted let him go. As Steve made his way over to Kate he returned to the fact that he finally knew he was in love with her. Even when she was totally covered in and smelt of vomit. That had to be true love, surely? He just had to figure out how to tell her.