"Sam…hello, Earth to DS Nixon?" Phil waved a hand in front of the vacant blonde's eyes to try and draw her attention back to the room.
"Sorry, what was that Phil?" A blush crept up Sam's neck, spreading like wildfire across her face at having been caught daydreaming again.
"That's the fourth time I've had to wake you up, what is with you today?" Phil leant on the desk, his face set in a scowl as he guessed the reason for Sam's distraction.
"Late night and too many bottles of wine." Sam laughed it off, knowing she couldn't/wouldn't talk to Phil about the real reason for her lack of concentration, Jo's words to her still echoing in her mind and doing all sorts of things to her body. Her mobile rang startling her as she was about to drift off into another fantasy. Pulling the ringing telephone out of her jacket pocket, Sam frowned at the display. "Abi, what's up? You ok?" Sam listened suddenly more focused than she had been the entire day. "Have you rung an ambulance?" Another pause. "Ok good, I'm on my way, I'll meet you at St Hugh's." Sam ended the call, grinning up at Phil who had been eavesdropping as best he could on the call. "Is Jack in? Abi's in labour, her waters just broke!"
"Don't worry about Jack, you get to the hospital, I'll fill him in. Wish Abi luck from me." Phil called after the rapidly retreating officer.
Jo pulled up at the station, instinctively scanning the car park for signs of Sam's car. She had arrived half an hour early for her shift in the hopes that she might catch the stunning blonde before she left for the day. Strolling into CID, Jo tried to act nonchalant as she questioned Phil over Sam's whereabouts.
"Abi called her about an hour ago, she's having the baby. Sam headed straight down to the hospital." Phil eyed Jo up and down, wondering what it was she could offer Sam that he was lacking.
"Something on your mind, Sarge?" Jo caught the look he was giving her and never having been one to stand on ceremony decided to cut to the chase.
"You and Sam, are you, you know?" Phil couldn't look Jo in the eye as he spoke – never would he admit it to anyone but the savvy brunette intimidated him.
"Are we what? Sorry Sarge, my telepathy skills are a bit rusty, you're going to have to spell it out for me." If she weren't irritated by the intrusion into her private life, Jo would have been amused at seeing her superior's discomfort. She glared at him, head cocked to one side as she wrinkled her nose and nodded at him to go on.
"Only it's a bit soon after Tessa for you to be getting with anyone, isn't it?" Phil continued as though his point was perfectly obvious.
"Well that's for me to decide and no one else to find out." Jo quirked one eyebrow, inviting Phil to continue digging this grave at his own peril. She walked off seating herself at her desk in readiness to tackle some of the growing mountain of paperwork.
"You're doing brilliantly, sweetheart. Come on, big push." Sam encouraged her daughter through the tiring labour. "That's it, you can do it."
"Mum, I can't." Abi sounded frightened, her young years telling on her.
"Yes you can, you're a Nixon. We don't give up on anything. Come on Abi, you're strong enough to do this." Sam wrapped one arm around her daughter's shoulders, gripping her hand with her free one, all the while encouraging her daughter as she coaxed the newborn into the world.
Tanner walked into CID doing a double take when he saw Jo already seated at her desk, a pile of files closed and signed off beside her.
"Hope you don't think you're getting paid overtime for this Masters." He grunted as he stalked past her, intentionally knocking into her neatly stacked tower of files sending them cascading over the office floor.
"No Sir." Jo ground out through gritted teeth, biting back any smart comment knowing she only had one more day to put up with him.
"Good. When Mickey gets in I want to see both of you in my office, got another little job for you to keep you out of mischief tonight."
"Yes Sir." Jo barked from where she was scrabbling around on the floor picking up the fallen files. She sat back at her desk after filing her closed cases in the cabinet, not wanting to have to retrieve them a second time. Knowing that speaking to Sam would lift her spirits and wanting to know how Abi was, she pulled her mobile from her pocket, scrolling through her contacts until she reached Sam and punching the button to place the call. She listened to the automated message from Sam's answering service, waiting for the tone before leaving her message.
"Hi Sam, Phil told me about Abi. I guess you're still at the hospital. Hope everything's ok, that Abi and the baby are fine. Send her my love. I'll try and pop in later, if I don't hear back from you to say otherwise, to see the new addition." Jo faltered as she went to end the message, suddenly acutely aware of Phil watching her, waiting for any hint of affection. "I'll see you soon. Thanks again for last night, it meant a lot. Look forward to a re-run soon. Take care Sam. Speak to you soon." Jo glanced at Phil who turned away sharply, suddenly incredibly interested in something outside the window. She returned her attention to the slowly decreasing mound in her in-tray, concentrating hard until she became aware of a presence lurking by her desk. Raising her head, she cocked an eyebrow again at Phil, wondering how much of a death wish he had.
"Listen, Jo, I like you, you know but Sam, well she's special to me. I owe her big time for saving my life and I don't want to see her hurt." Jo wasn't sure whether to punch his lights out or hug him for his concern over Sam's welfare.
"I don't want to see Sam hurt any more than you do Sarge. She's a grown woman, she'll make her own mind up about what she wants."
"And you think that's you?" Phil picked up Jo's hole punch, turning it over in his hands, still avoiding direct eye contact with the DC.
"Only Sam can answer that. And if she was here, she'd probably tell you to mind your own business and go home to Cindy." Jo sat back in her chair as she answered, feeling fatigue settle over her like a fog, wishing she had managed to go back to sleep after Sam left that morning.
"Just promise me Jo that if you and her do…you know, get together, it won't be just some rebound flash in the pan." Phil replaced the hole punch, looking Jo in the eye for the first time since their conversation had begun.
"Sarge, I can promise you that if and when DS Nixon and I 'get together' it will most definitely not be because I am on the re-bound." Jo gave Phil a slight smile, relieved when Mickey walked into the squad room.
"Blimey Jo, you get locked out of home or something? How long you been here? Evening Sarge." Mickey sauntered over to Jo's desk, surveying the few remaining case-files to be dealt with – significantly lower than the number she had left behind at the end of her previous shift. Phil nodded in response to Mickey's greeting before excusing himself and leaving for the night.
"Tanner wants us in his office, reckons he's got a job for us." Jo rose from her desk, stretching the creases out of her back muscles.
"I can't wait!" Mickey said, with about as much enthusiasm as a man told he needs surgery without anaesthetic.
"You've got to be kidding Guv, what's the point in surveillance on this guy when we know he's the one?" Mickey tried reasoning with the DI. A night spent sitting in a car in the freezing cold was not high on his list of most enjoyable ways to spend the evening. "And I thought we couldn't do surveillance cos it costs too much."
"This is a worthy cause DC Webb." Tanner smirked at Jo, letting his sneer sweep over her body.
"And I'm not? Is that what you're implying here Sir? Only I want to be quite sure. Why was surveillance on my house such a waste of time but this isn't, even though this case doesn't need surveillance to secure a conviction?" Jo had bitten her lip earlier knowing that at the end of her shift, she would never have to see Tanner again, but in the face of another slur combined with the positively indecent looks, she could contain her anger no longer.
"At least in this case we will get a conviction. What is it about your sort that just have to be centre stage all the time? Very quick to volunteer to put yourself out there – did you really think any man, even a rapist and murderer, would be interested in targeting you? Let's face it, if he did show up and abduct you, he'd be doing us all a favour! One less of you is never a bad thing." Mickey opened his mouth to protest but Jo beat him to it.
"One less of…" she trailed off, inviting Tanner to hang himself in the noose he was so carefully crafting with his words.
"You, lesbians. Women like you won't be happy 'til all us men are obsolete. DS Nixon your latest project? What, you get some sort of reward for converting as many women to your filthy ways as you can?" Tanner rose from his desk pushing his face forward towards Jo's.
"Dammit, girls we've been rumbled, back to the drawing board with the plans for world domination." Jo spoke into her collar as though speaking into a hidden microphone. "DI Tanner, I will have you pensioned off for those remarks. I don't care that I will never have to see you again after tonight, I'm not letting you loose in another station so you can spread your poison. Expect a visit from the DPS…Sir." Jo spat out her statement before retreating to her desk, gathering everything she would need for their night's surveillance and stalking off to the car park to await Mickey, who was still wandering around in a daze, trying to comprehend what he had just heard.