Authors notes: Not much to say really except this is the longest chapter so far and contains spoilers for the episodes - Warm Bodies prts 1 & 2, Room Service, Find the Lady and any others involving John and Claire's relationship so if you haven't seen these episodes yet you might want to, although you can probably make sense of this without watching them. Also before anyone says anything, I know there's some major differences between the eps on TV and this story so don't bother to point this out. If I copied half the details off the eps, then this chapter would be never ending. Also major references to the events in corruption, so you might want to flick through some chapters in that too. I must have gone through it over 20 times myself to write this chapter and I wrote the thing in the first place.

I know you're all getting sick of me whining now so on with the story. Responses to reviews are at the bottom.

Beech In Australia

Chapter 7: Girl Talk

They arrive at the hotel and go up to their hotel room in silence dwelling on the days events. The girls collapse on the bed releasing a huge sigh. "What a day," mumbles Claire.

"Tell me about it" says Stephen, "I think I'm gonna go down the bar for a pint, anyone else coming?"

"I will," says John, "I could use a beer myself."

"I think I'll stay here thanks," says Claire.

"Me too," says Marion.

"Ok then see you later then," states Stephen before he and John head down to the bar.

In the hotel room the girls lay on the beds having a conversation. "You know how I said I felt better earlier," stated Marion, "I don't feel as well as I was acting,"

"Me neither," said Claire, "I hope we haven't caught a bug or something."

"Me too, but I felt a bit dizzy earlier as well."

"Really? What do you think it could be?"

"I've got no idea but if I'm not feeling any better tomorrow, I'm gonna get it checked out at the doctors, I just hope it's nothing serious."

"Good idea. I think I might do the same."

"Am I imagining things or did the boys seem overly protective today?" comments Marion.

"I noticed that too but thought nothing of it," states Claire, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Well I suppose but I'm not promising an answer."

"I was thinking about last night and about what you was saying about Devon and everything an' well I was wondering … if there's still anything going on between you guys?" says Claire.

"Well just between you an me, I still fancy Stephen big time,. But it's awkward with work and everything. I mean, back then we were young and didn't give a damn about the rules and that got us into a lot of trouble; then when I was transferred to MIT, we barely saw each other and I guess we just drifted apart. It was really hard at first and I learned to concentrate on my work, that's how I got to be DCI. Anyway we kept in touch with the occasional phone call, but we hardly ever saw each other. Then when I was called in on this case, I thought it was just another case an all. I finally decided to give Stephen a call when I realised we were getting nowhere and luckily it was just the breakthrough we needed. I was really excited about one phone call revealing so much information and meeting up with someone I hadn't seen in over a year that I guess I made a bit of a fool out of myself."

"No you didn't. So what happened next?"

"Well, when I was about to head home that night, I realised that I'd left my car at Sun Hill. Stephen was gonna give me a lift home but halfway there his car broke down. We waited ages for the AA to come, but they couldn't fix it so we ended up staying the night in a hotel. The hotel only had one room so we had to share. It was so hard. I wanted so much to just reach out and touch him but I knew I couldn't. I nearly did a few times. It felt like some cruel and unusual punishment. Anyway when you called the next morning you woke us up. I was as surprised as hell at first and wondered what the hell I had done. Well when you said it was 11am, I panicked. I think we both did. We rushed to get into work stopping off at Sun Hill too get my car, hoping no one would ask questions. Then by that evening I'd calmed down a bit, planning a trap for Beech had helped and when Stephen suggested a night out I practically jumped at the chance. You practically know what happened at the pub so I wont go into that, but that night I was almost hoping I wouldn't have to go through the same torture again. It was hard enough keeping my hands to myself the first night, I didn't think I could do it again. I managed just about but the next day I was so distracted that I nearly told you lots of times. After we caught Beech, I was on a high from all the adrenaline so I asked about I night out. You all agreed it was a good idea so we all went out for the night as you know, and with you and John asking questions, I almost told you everything. When we all went to the hotel after we just sat talking for a bit; catching up on old times. The idea for skiving off came from talking about Devon; I guess I was also a bit drunk."

"What happened after you'd told us about your idea?" asks Claire.

"We went to get some sleep like we said. When we got back in the room, Stephen asked me to stay with him. I was a bit wary at first. I was almost certain I couldn't cope like that for another night but agreed anyway. I was too tired too come up with an excuse. Luckily I fell asleep straight away. I woke up a few hours later for some reason. I can't really remember why, or what woke me, but when I opened my eyes, Stephen was leaning over, staring at me. I don't really remember what happened next but we ended up kissing. I thought I was dreaming at first. Anyway moving on we ended up sleeping together and must have fell straight back to sleep afterwards. You and John woke us up a few hours later. I was too comfortable to move so I feigned sleep. Then when you and John went downstairs, I forced myself awake. We raced to get ready and to save time agreed to share the shower, although it ended up taking longer still, I'm sure I don't need to explain why."

"I get the picture," states Claire.

"That night after we all finished work, I again asked Stephen for a lift home. On the way he suggested I stay at his house overnight, 'so we can get out earlier', was his excuse but I'm sure that wasn't his only reason. I instantly agreed and so after picking up my stuff we went too his house. I sat watching TV while he packed his stuff, then he sat beside me for an hour or so before we finally decided to get some sleep. I must admit though, we didn't really do too much sleeping, if you know what I mean; that's why we were slightly late that morning. Anyway the ride to Great Yarmouth was pretty uneventful, we just talked about how to answer your questions without giving anything away, but you nearly found out anyway with that game of truth or dare. That night we just about managed to keep our hands to ourselves, but that was mainly because we didn't want you and John to find out. The next morning was pretty ordinary and you know what happened during the day so I'll skip that bit. That evening we all played truth or dare again as you know."

"Yeah I was wondering about your actions after your phone rang," interrupts Claire.

"I was just getting to that part. It was DS Whitehouse, he wanted to know why I hadn't been in touch for a while. Not really having an excuse and wanting to get back to the game, I snapped at him. He knows better than to snap back at me so he ended the call. Then as you know, Stephen questioned me on it. I was careful what I said because I knew you and John were listening and I didn't want to give anything away. DS Whitehouse has been hitting on me for months and Stephen must have guessed because he seemed a bit jealous. I tried to reassure him without saying anything you would pick up on and I was glad when you and John said you were going to bed."

"What happened after we left?"

"We discussed your whispered comment and how to get you to stop trying to figure out what was going on. We were both distracted and just wanted to curl up together, but again we couldn't really do much. Then the next morning when we found out Beech had escaped, Stephen was furious. I calmed him down a little but was furious myself. We got you guys up then all headed back to London. Since then nothing has really happened that you don't know about. We've all been too busy focusing on recapturing Beech."

"You do want something to happen though don't you?" asks Claire.

"Hell yeah. I'd jump at the chance, but there ain't much chance of that happening anytime soon. One thing I do know is if there's work to be done, Stephen focuses solely on that and nothing else matters. What about you and John? How long have you been together?" asks Marion.

"Quite a while actually, do you want the full story?"

"Yeah, spill!"

"Well, I started at Sun Hill as an undercover officer to gather evidence on Beech. We became close when we worked on these two operations that seemed to have a connection. I was investigating a vicious assault on a guy called Thomas Phelps, and John was investigating a claim of hit and run. Anyway, the guy suspected of beating up Phelps was the accountant of the hit and run victims father. We went to see if we could find out anything and that night John introduced me to the family suspected of committing the assault, the Carters. I don't know if you've heard of them but they're supposed to be big time crooks. Anyway we became pretty close. The next day I had to do a TV appeal for information. Then that night I was followed home and run off the road. I was taken to hospital and apparently, John was there to talk to Phelps who had just regained consciousness. Anyway cutting a long story short John gave me a lift home and he come on to me. I wasn't sure what to do. I mean I fancied him but I didn't want to jeopardise the undercover operation, so I pretended I was seeing a married man. It was really awkward the next day at work. Well we solved the cases and found they were defiantly linked and I was about to go home when John offered me a lift. I accepted and he drove me home, well not straight away. He took me to this special place he goes to unwind after an hectic case. I looked around and got an unexplainable urge to kiss him, so I did and basically, we ended up in bed together. We spent a few months together before we hit a problem; we'd been keeping things quiet from the rest of the station and John had planned a surprise. We spent the night in the London Dock Hotel and everything was going great until an assault was reported and a load of uniform arrived. I panicked and we both tried to get out of the hotel without being spotted, but we forgot about the CCTV and that's why we had to get the surveillance tape off Beech and solve the case ourselves. Only in doing so we had to skive out of a first aid refresher course, causing a lot of angry superiors. We solved the case but Beech had watched the other CCTV tapes and we was on one of them. I couldn't deal with Beech knowing and ended things. Several months passed and we was able to avoid working together, but when this case about a murdered lap dancer, came up we were forced to work together again. It was really hard and we had lots of tiny arguments. Well the night before Beech attacked John, we'd all had a night out and was pretty drunk, we ended up in bed together, but he was getting a bit suspicious of me snooping around. We had a bit of an argument, but I went round a few hours before he was attacked to sort things out and we ended up sleeping together again. It was shortly after that Beech called and John went to meet him. Apparently he'd said an informant was going to give them some information or something. The next thing I know, Meadows is calling to say John's been attacked."

"Wow, you guys haven't had it easy have you?" comments Marion.

"No, totally the opposite."

"What about since you found John?" asks Marion.

"Well it was a bit of a surprise at first. I had no idea he was at CIB HQ, until I walked in the day I met you, and with everything that had gone on I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know how much he knew so the first night was pretty weird and I kept my distance."

"Yeah, but I mean …,"

"I know what you mean and no nothing happened those first few nights. It wasn't until that night we all planned to go to Great Yarmouth that I began to relax, and yes before you ask, we slept together that night and the next night before we went away, and to tell you the truth we only just arrived a few minutes before you. What I said about you guys not coming was to hide the fact, we'd only just arrived ourselves."

"What about in Great Yarmouth?"

"Do you really have to ask? The phrase 'unable to keep our hands to ourselves' springs to mind. I'm surprised you didn't know to tell you the truth."

"I was too distracted trying to keep my hands to myself," explains Marion.

"Hey, we're back," calls Stephen entering the room with John behind him.

"We've just been talking about Beech," explains Marion.

"You come up with any more ideas on how to catch him?"

"No," answers Claire, "I'm exhausted, I'm going to sleep."

"Good idea," says John climbing in beside her.

Marion gets out of bed and sits down on the sofa in front of the TV. "Couldn't pass me a packet of crisps could ya," she asks Stephen who was in the kitchen area, pouring himself a glass of juice.

"Sure; do you want any orange juice?"

"Yes please."

Stephen pours her a glass of juice and grabs a couple of packets of crisps before sitting down beside her, handing her the snacks. "So what was you really talking about?" he asks.

"I told you, Beech."

"Don't lie to me Mar."

"Ok, we discussed how we met you guys."

"Anything interesting?"

"Yeah actually, she told me how she got together with John. You wouldn't believe how eventful it was. The only problem was I had to tell her about our past," Marion explained.

"How much does she know?"

"Almost everything. I tried not to go into too much detail but …"

"… She practically knows everything?"

"Yeah."

"Lets just hope she doesn't tell anyone, I don't wanna have to deal with all that again."

"Me neither Ste. I'm gonna go to bed."

"Alright, I'll be in in a minute."

Marion goes to get ready for bed and Stephen finishes his drink then follows her. He tucks himself into bed next to her, pulling her head onto his chest and wrapping his arms around her.

"Night Mar, love you," Stephen murmurs into her hair.

"What y' say?" asks Marion waking up slightly.

"I said, love you."

"Love you too Ste; Night," says Marion before falling asleep in his arms.

Stephen lies watching her for a few minutes before he too falls asleep.

Responses to Reviewers

First of all thankyou to everyone who has reviewed and to anyone who has read the story but not reviewed.

Gem6 - you reviewed again. Yay. well actually Claire an the others approached Beech first so ... thanks for reviwing an i hope to see more chapters for your stories soon too.

Mad-mikaela - glad you like this. don't worry about only just finding these. i often read stories that have been up for years, so it's not a problem. hope you like the rest of the story.