Hello! Another chapter I have managed to squeeze between university deadlines. I hope you enjoy it - and thank you to everyone who comments and reviews. It means so much to me! I hope you like where I am going with this...
"How did it go? Find anything?" Liz asks Steve as he returns to the office after searching Danny Waldron's flat.
"Nothing much," he shrugs, "Did you know anything about Danny having a dog?"
"Not that I know of," Liz shakes her head, "But like I said, I didn't really know him."
"An officer found it roaming around his flat, going to get the number on the collar checked out. Will need to head back out soon, though, so depends who is free to look into it."
"Oh, Maneet is free! I am sure she wouldn't mind," Liz gestures to the desks on the other side of the office where some PCs are sitting, working.
Steve frowns, "Who?"
"PC Maneet Bindra, she started a week ago," she explains, gesturing for him to follow as Liz leads him over to the woman's desk, "She's lovely. Maneet!"
The woman turns as her name is called, offering a wide, friendly smile when she sees Liz. Her eyes flit to Steve, her smile faltering slightly as the DS approaches, attempting to be professional, "Hello, sir, how can I help?"
"Trying to track the owner of a missing dog," Steve instructs, authoritatively, "I tried the number on its collar but it's out of service."
Maneet reaches for her notepad before looking back at the DS, smirking, "If you give me the number, Sarge, I'll try and get you a lead."
Steve rolls his eyes as Liz laughs beside him, heartily at the woman's joke. Maneet chuckles too, though quietens as she realises Steve's lack of patience.
"077009 00381," Steve drawls, unamused, "Just get it done."
Maneet nods her head, turning around in her seat and scribbling down the number. Liz sighs at his unnecessarily blunt response. She turns to follow Steve as he walks back to his desk, smiling as Dot meets them there, holding out his phone.
"Just had a call," the taller man says, "They've found some more evidence at the flat. Need us to take a look at it."
"Yeah, sure," Steve nods, "I can be there around fifteen-hundred?"
"I'll head there then too," Dot agrees, then informing the voice on the other end of the phone before ending the call.
"If you both have time before that, we could go and get coffee?" Liz suggests, noting the wearily stressed looks on their faces. It seemed they needed it.
Dot shakes his head, "Have to do a briefing on all we have so far. I'll hold you to it though."
"No worries," Liz smiles at the man as he turns to walk away, him also sending a polite smile to her before leaving.
"Let's go," Steve says, grabbing his jacket. Liz smiles wider at his eagerness, heading for her office to get her purse.
"I finished it," Steve says as they take a seat in their regular booth.
Liz's brow creases, confusedly, as she wraps her hands around her hot chocolate, "Finished what?"
He reaches into his pocket, pulling out an object at placing it in front of her. It is her book. The one she gave to him all those months ago. Jane Eyre.
She smiles.
"Does this mean I am finally forgiven now?" Steve teases, remembering she had given it to him as a promise of reconciliation after the Hurrell debacle.
"I suppose," she grins, mockingly, "Only took you a year."
They laugh as she reaches over to take the book, stroking the familiar cover gently and fondly before placing it beside her on the seat.
"What did you think?"
Steve's eyes widen as he lets out a deep breath, "It was alright. I get why you would like it."
Liz raises an inquisitive brow.
"It's soppy."
Liz's jaw falls open as he shrugs, smirking. She can't help the grin that overpowers her false offence.
Steve chuckles, "Jane could do better. Rochester's an arrogant arsehole."
"Hm, remind you of anyone?" Liz challenges, thinking back to their first conversation about the book when she had compared him to the character.
He nudges her playfully with his foot under the table. She laughs again.
"You are right though," he admits with a sigh, still smirking, "There is definitely some similarity."
She hums, "Just imagining you in the billowing white shirt and breeches-"
"I meant you," Steve says through another laugh.
"Me?"
"You and Jane."
"What do you mean?"
Steve suddenly turns sincere, absentmindedly fiddling with the lid of his coffee cup, "You're both kind. A little too selfless. Never thinking of yourselves. Not realising how much you mean to people."
Liz swallows, her heart pounding at the compliment.
Steve's throat dries too as they look at each other, neither saying anything-
His phone rings.
"Hello?" he clears his throat as he picks it up.
Liz leans back in her seat, taking a sip of her hot chocolate to calm herself.
That had happened before, back when she realised the similarities between her, her friend and her favourite fictional couple. Liz had brushed it off, a strange coincidence she was probably exaggerating. But now that he had acknowledged it, too. It felt weird, for some reason.
"Yeah, I'll be there," Steve says after a moment of listening to the other voice, then hangs up the call with a frustrated sigh.
"Everything ok?"
"Dot went to the house early, said he has a briefing prepared for us when we get back."
"Us?" Liz asks.
"Yeah," Steve nods, "Said you were welcome."
"Oh," Liz fights a pleased smile, "Sure, I don't have that much work to do today anyway."
"Here," Dot says as they arrive, pulling out a spare desk chair for Liz to sit on.
She smiles at him, gratefully, as the man sits down himself and begins to brief the pair on the findings, "We seized a laptop and a phone. We don't have any more info on Danny Waldron's data files until the morning."
"Right," Steve affirms, though disappointed they did not have more.
Dot turns to his computer, drawing their attention to it as he loads some images. The first is of a gun, "Legal firearm, no information on its origin."
Dot begins to flick through as various forensic images appear, "Plus the case and its contents. A storage receipt we are trying to trace. A photo, looking into this and all."
Liz looks at the photograph on the computer. It shows a group of around ten young boys and two older men, all standing in some sort of sports kit. It seems old, perhaps from the early nineties. Was Danny in the picture?
"And then we have this," the next image shows a brown envelope with Steve Arnott scribbled messily on the front.
Steve leans forward, frowning as he studies his name, "What was in it?"
Dot shakes his head with a shrug, "Nothing."
Liz turns to the two men, herself confused as to what this could mean, "An envelope with nothing inside?"
"That's what the report says," Dot informs them, leaning back casually in his chair, "Look, we need to have a quick operational briefing, right. Steve, you're following leads on Danny Waldron which means I'm after Baines, Brickford and Kennedy. That sound about right to you?"
"Yeah," Steve nods, "Good."
"Well, as Kate's undercover is on my side of the line," Dot says, almost hesitantly as Steve turns to look at him, "it's only proper if I look after liaison."
Steve stays quiet, Liz watching the conflict grow on his face. Dot's eyes flick to hers as Steve remains unresponsive, Liz offering him a small smile in encouragement.
"I thought you'd be happy, you know," Dot attempts, "avoiding skulking about in dark alleys."
Liz understands how Steve must be feeling. He was fortunate he got to see Kate when she was undercover, even if only briefly during liaisons. Liz considered herself lucky to get a text every now and then, reassuring her the woman was alright.
Steve shakes his head, timidly, unsure how to explain himself, "Kate and I have worked together for three years now-"
"And you've got a partnership, I get that," Dot pushes, though kindly, "But like I said, this is on my side of the investigation."
The taller man stands, patting Steve on the shoulder as he does, ending the conversation.
Steve sits there for another moment, Liz sighing and scooting her chair forward to speak to him.
"Come on, it's not so bad," Liz tries to assure him, "She's a big girl now, anyway."
Steve huffs, only slightly amused, "I know."
She also pats him on the shoulder as she stands form her seat, though it feels less patronising to him than Dot had. he sighs, looking back to the picture of the envelope with his name written on it.
Liz walks over to where Dot stands near the printer, him greeting her with a polite nod as she stands beside him.
"Thanks, for that," Dot says, gesturing with his head over to Steve. He must have seen her attempt to reassure him.
"Oh, no problem," Liz smiles, "He can be quite stubborn sometimes."
Dot just hums, causing Liz to chuckle at the obvious understatement.
"It is what's best for the investigation," she agrees.
He nods, "I'll let you know how she is."
"Yeah, please do. Thank you," she smiles up at him, "Oh, and maybe bring her a coffee or something? She would appreciate it."
Dot smiles back at her, "Got it. Cheers."
"And thank you, for letting me in on the briefing."
"No need. Told you, you're one of the team," he grins, good-heartedly.
Liz smiles again, feeling her heart flutter at the affirmation, then waves before beheading for her own office, "See you tomorrow."
"I should call Liz," Steve says as they stand in Linus Murphy's house.
PC Bindra ID-ed the number from the dog's collar to discover it was registered to Linus Murphy, brother of the suspect shot down by Danny Waldron. Himself and Dot, as well as several armed officers and forensics, now stood in his house - examining his dead, decapitated body. There were clear signs of torture, but no clue yet to the cause of death; the head having been removed post-mortem.
"I'll do it," Dot says, reaching into his pocket for his phone.
Steve snaps his head to him, a little too quickly, "Oh, uh-"
"Arnott, first you gate-keep Fleming-"
His eyes widen as the man types in her number, "I'm not-"
Dot smirks, tauntingly, "It is just a phone call, Arnott."
Steve struggles to respond. What was he implying? That Steve was jealous Dot was calling Lizzie? As if.
Steve huffs, moving away to talk to one of the forensics as Dot lifts the phone. Though, he remains close enough to listen in to the conversation.
"Queenie, hey," he hears Dot say down the phone, charmingly, "Yeah, yeah, we are fine. Steve's fine, yeah."
Steve smiles to himself at that.
"We found a body. Head removed post-mortem" Dot quietens as she responds, Steve imagining the concern and shock she is probably expressing, "I know, nasty stuff. Anyway, we need help trying to trace the head. No sign of it here."
Steve looks over to the bloody body Dot is referring to, his stomach queasing once again.
"Sounds perfect, cheers," Dot smiles down the phone, "Yeah, catch you later."
The taller man walks over to Steve as he ends the call, putting his phone back in his pocket. Steve turns to him, expectantly, grateful his attention has been retained away from the body.
"Liz mentioned the receipt we found at Waldron's," Dot says to him, "Said she would get Bindra on it. She's right, probably our best lead. Good thinking."
Steve hums, agreeing, though his chest panging slightly that Dot had the chance to compliment her for it first.
"The receipt relates to a storage company," Maneet explains to the three men standing behind her desk. Liz is sitting next to her, the two of them having worked late to find out the necessary information - hopefully it would be useful. It wasn't really her place, she supposes, but Dot had called her about finding a lead. So she considered her place on the team for this case solidified by that.
Liz only wanted to help. Besides, she got to know the other woman so much better during their few hours researching together. Maneet, knowing how well she got on with the three superiors, had asked her to stay, more for support as this was her first in-person briefing. Especially with her new Superintendent there.
So, here she was helping Maneet to brief Steve, Dot and Hastings on what they found.
"I am liaising with the storage company to find out which of their facilities the receipt originates from," Maneet says, looking between the three men.
"Good," Hastings smiles.
Maneet allows herself to smile slightly, Liz noticing her chest puffing out more confidently as she continues, "Danny Waldron's telecommunications history is very quiet in the days leading up to his death."
"There is one contact that stands out," Liz says, pointing to the image on the screen to indicate her point, "A call from a mobile lasting only two seconds. And then a text message from this same mobile number."
Maneet pulls up the log, an image of a woman appearing on screen along with the text beside it: 'Hi Danny. Same again soon? Rachel X'
Steve leans forward, looking at the image, then turning to Liz, "Got ID on the contact?"
"The mobile service provider has disclosed a registered user," Liz explains, "Maneet is just cross-checking with the DVLA to see if the driving license photo card matches the selfie in the text."
"Well done," Hastings once again affirms to Maneet, clearly understanding she must be nervous as the new PC.
"The hard-drive of Waldron's work computer hasn't revealed anything suspicious as yet," Maneet goes on, "and the same goes for the domestic laptop we seized. I'm still trying to trace this photo."
The image Dot has shown them previously of the boys' sports team appears on the screen.
"Good work," Steve nods.
"Aye, good work you two," Hastings offers.
Liz smiles, "Admittedly, it was mostly Maneet. I just sat here and talked her ear off."
Maneet grins, blushing.
Hastings pats her on the back as he goes to move away, "Welcome to the team."
"Thank you, sir," Maneet beams.
"Let me know when you get info on the storage facility," Steve says, sending a small smile to Liz before leaving for his own desk.
"See, that wasn't so bad," Liz says quietly to Maneet, aware Dot is still standing behind them, once again thoughtfully studying the image on the screen.
Maneet smiles at her, kindly, "Thank you."
"Anytime," Liz says as she stands from her chair, collecting her notebook and pen, "And hopefully I get to meet that baby of yours someday soon."
"I'll arrange a visit," Maneet grants, turning back to her computer.
Liz offers a final wave as she moves away from Maneet's desk, heading for her office when Dot follows beside her.
"Good work," he compliments with a smirk as they walk together.
"Oh, like I said, wasn't really me," Liz fights a blush.
"Still," Dot shrugs, the pair coming to a stop outside her office doorway, "You've been a great help."
"Thank you," Liz smiles, looking bashfully to her feet, wanting to change the subject away from her, "How was Kate? Did she like the coffee?"
Dot chuckles, "Would have thought I'd given her solid gold. Again, thank you for that one."
Liz laughs, "Happy to help."
Dot's smirk suddenly widens, his weight shifting to lean against the door, "Speaking of coffee, would you want to go for one at lunch?"
Her smile falters slightly. Matthew Cottan was asking her out for a coffee? Not that it was an unlikely thing for two colleagues to do together but Dot had never asked her that before. Dot never really went for coffee with anyone. That was something her and Steve did.
She fixes her smile, not wanting to overthink something that was likely just a friendly gesture from colleague to colleague, "Uh, yeah, that would be nice! I usually take my break around 13:00 if that suits you?"
"Sounds good, yeah," Dot grins, pushing his shoulder off the doorway and casually putting his hands in his pockets, "See you then."
"See you then," Liz repeats as she watches him smirk at her and then walk away.
Following him with her eyes, intrigued, as the tall man passes the desks, she is careful to avoid Steve's eye.
If she had, she would see he had watched the entire exchange - and he was angry.
His grip on the steering wheel tightens as he makes his way to the storage facility.
He has no claim over her, Steve knows that. Liz was his friend and she could do whatever she liked whenever she liked with whoever she liked.
But that didn't stop the way his chest ached when he watched Dot ask her out for a coffee.
That was their thing, always had been. Himself and Liz only had time together this way for the last few months, with him spending so much of his time outside of work with Sam. It was special to him in that sense. He supposes that was what is making him feel so uneasy.
Or perhaps it was that Dot was an arsehole. It was true, Steve had found himself getting along much better with the man over the last year or so of them working together in the AC-12 office. But it was difficult to forget the way Cottan had acted when part of the TO-20 squad and the way he had belittled him. Even now, there are times he feels Dot pulls rank a little too liberally. Steve doesn't want the same to happen to her. That was all.
Whatever the reason was, he does not really understand. But what he understands even less is why this is all he can think about while driving to possibly retrieve a severed head.
Maneet was able to confirm the location of the storage facility that was on the receipt found at Waldron's flat. So he was on his way to-
And the things Dot had said about women when they went for the curry over a year ago. The coffee may not necessarily be a date, but he would not want Lizzie to be treated the way his ex-wife and those poor women at the restaurant had been.
Anyway, the storage place should just be around this corner-
Was it a date?
Steve could see why Dot would want it to be. Liz was kind and gentle and, well, pretty. Steve was not blind, Liz was a very beautiful woman. Any man would surely be attracted to her, even more so once they got to know her. Especially if they knew her as well as he did.
Maybe that was what worried him. That someone, someday, could know her better than he did. They were friends, best friends. They knew each other more than they knew themselves. If she were to find someone, that could come between them. Of course, he was with Sam now and things had been fine. Sure, there had been a few incidents where his girlfriend would berate him for spending too much time with another woman - the Hurrell incident perhaps being the trigger for that. But overall, things had remained good.
So what was he so worried about? Why could things not be the same if she were to find someone too? Does he not want her to be happy, as he is?
No. That wasn't it.
Anyway, it looks like he can just pull up into the car park. Hopefully someone is at reception to show him the way-
Steve thinks of the Hurrell incident now. The way that man had touched her. How she had frozen, scared. He never wants her to be in a situation like that again. He only wants her to be safe, to not ever be taken advantage of. Who knows what Dot is after? Lizzie is not naïve. He regrets ever having given the impression he thought so. But someone needs to look out for her. Why not Steve?
He sighs as he pulls into the storage facility car park. Steve lets his head fall onto the steering wheel, gathering himself for a moment - overwhelmed by the thoughts of Dot and Lizzie running through his head, and the impending realisation of what he might be about to face in one of these containers - before stepping out of the vehicle.
"Thank you," Liz smiles as Dot places her hot drink on the table and sits down across from her.
"Hope I got it right," Dot chuckles, taking a swig of his coffee, "Hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows."
"Absolutely!" she beams, indulging in her first sip.
"So, how have you been?" Dot asks, politely.
"Not too bad," Liz shrugs, deflecting, not liking it when the conversation's attention is on her, "How about you? Enjoying the promotion?"
"Bet you never thought you'd see me where I am now when we first met," Dot smirks, reminding her of their initial appointment together all those years ago.
"I wouldn't say that," Liz offers, kindly, "I am glad you're doing better."
They had first met when Dot was suspended due to gambling debts, something that worsened throughout his divorce period. Liz was assigned as his counsellor, in her early days of wellbeing work. They had only met twice, but in that time she believed she knew enough about the man; arrogant, argumentative, aggravating arsehole.
Looking back, Liz recognises he had just been transferred to TO-20 a month prior to their meeting - and those boys were a bad influence on anyone. The school-boy culture of bullying others just to be accepted by others - a concept Liz never quite grasped or even wanted to understand herself. Nigel Morton was an especially bad influence. He had made it his duty to make her as unwelcome and uncomfortable as possible every time she dared step foot in that office. And that ended up being quite often, with the amount of appointments he would book just to torment her, knowing she was unable to refuse. Dot, at the beginning, had seemed no better. As if he wanted to prove himself to be one of the lads.
Though, throughout their one-to-one meetings - despite only having two - Liz gathered the sense that behind all the cockiness and smirks, there was something sad behind his eyes. She had seen it a few times around the AC-12 office too. Dot Cottan was quite clearly burdened. Every officer is. Every person is. Everyone has troubles. Liz had assumed, back then, it was his struggles with gambling addiction and, of course, the split from his wife. But over time, seeing him now in the same office each day, Liz believed it was more than that. Some day, if he would allow her to, she would like to know what.
After working closely with the man for over a year, Liz had actually grown to quite like him. He was cocky, yes. A little too cocky sometimes, absolutely. But he was also charming and kind and had always made an effort to include her in various cases. When she volunteered to go undercover, he had made a point of believing her capable - even Steve had shown his doubts. But Dot stood up for her.
She supposes he had always been the nicer one out of the TO-20 lads. At least, more so than the others, she was able to hold a mature conversation with him lasting at least two minutes. He made quips at her, laughed at Morton's crude insinuations, and even continued to call her by that damn nickname. But she now sort of liked it? It was like a joke between the two of them - a teasing reminder of how different their relationship was not so long ago.
Even Steve was getting along with him now, no matter how much he may try to argue that. Dot had proved himself a reliable and emerging essential member of the anticorruption team. Sure, there was the occasional teasing and often failed attempts at banter with a stoic Steve - but Matthew 'Dot' Cotton had been nothing but polite and amiable with her. Besides, he had just bought her favourite hot drink. How could she not like the man in this moment?
She meant it. Liz was glad he had recovered from his addiction. She may not have had many appointments with the man, but she had enough experience of clients with various dependencies to know how uncontrollable and devastating they can be. No one deserved that, especially someone who has made an active attempt to redeem themselves and be friendly with her.
Dot shakes his head, bashful at the reference to his past, "Enough of that. This isn't the time for a session."
Liz chuckles, agreeing but also a little embarrassed at his amused accusation.
Dot smirks as she blushes, "How's the network going?"
"Good," she beams, delighted he asked, "Slowly getting things together. Actually managed to assign a permanent wellbeing officer for TO-20 the other week."
"Poor them," Dot huffs, humoured.
Liz giggles, "Do you still speak to them? Morton?"
The man sighs, "Not really. Wouldn't exactly have deemed them mates. Have the occasional meet-up with Morton but nothing too chummy. You should come along next time. Am sure he would be happy to see you."
He laughs as Liz cringes, rolling her eyes, "I would rather clean up the shit you left in Steve's car."
"That wasn't my idea!" Dot guffaws, pointing a defensive finger at her.
"Then you are still guilty by association," Liz jests, a confident brow raised.
Dot lowers his finger, exaggeratedly turning his mouth upward, "Fair point."
Liz chuckles, lifting the hot chocolate to her lips once again.
"I'm content," Dot nods, suddenly sincere, "Feel like AC-12's the right place for me."
Liz sends him a small, endeared smile, surprised by his earnestness after endless humouring, "I do too."
Dot looks at her then, pleased but also with a glint of gratitude in his eye. It was as if that opinion of hers really mattered to him. Like he needed to hear it.
His shoulders roll back and he sits a little straighter, "Well, to riddling out the crooks and winning all the books."
Liz grins as he raises his coffee cup in a mock-toast. She lifts her almost-empty hot chocolate to meet his in the middle.
Just then, a phone starts ringing. Liz looks down to her bag beside her but does not see the light of her screen. Dot across from her pulls out his own mobile, the screen displaying a familiar name.
The man clears his throat, putting it to his ear, "Arnott?"
Liz leans forward a little in her seat, hoping to catch on to at least part of the conversation. Unfortunately, Steve seemed to be speaking in his usually low, growl and so she was unable to hear.
"Right," Dot drawls, face now stern, "I'll be there soon. Cheers, mate."
Liz watches Dot expectantly curious as he hangs up the call, putting his phone back into his pocket.
He catches her confused eye, sighing, "He's at the storage facility. He found the head."
Liz's stomach jolts, "Poor Steve. That must be horrible."
Dot hums in agreement, though chews on his lip as if conflicted, "Look, I should go-"
Liz shakes her head and waves him off, "No, of course. Please, go. I should be heading back to work now anyway. I will text him but please tell Steve I hope he is ok and to call me as soon as he can."
"Sure," Dot slides out of the seat, tossing his now empty cup into a nearby bin, "I'll catch you later, yeah?"
Liz nods, hoping so.