Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters nor the original Inspector Lynley Mysteries – they belong to Elizabeth George and the BBC. I have borrowed the characters from the TV-Show and only own the ideas of my stories.
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Author's note and summary: Hello. Here I am again after a time away from FF and here's a little story, born from two small scenes I've had in my scribble files for quite some time, now written into a short story.
A virus is on a crusade around the world and also reaches London. It doesn't stop at beloved people. But where there's darkness, there will be light. Where there's an end there will be a new beginning.
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Times - ch. 1
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On their drive they did not talk much. In his classic car it turned quieter and eventually they fell silent. DI Tommy Lynley and DS Barbara Havers were in their dress uniform as police officers of the Met. Today they had a heavy duty.
Today was the funeral of their friend and colleague, DC Winston Nkata.
Earlier this year, for two months, Winnie was on an exchange program with a police authority in the North of Italy. He also was skiing there and the weekends were a well deserved time off from work. It was a great adventure and he had a lot of fun. However, the souvenir he brought home in the midst of March was no fun at all. At first he just thought he had a cold. Then he showed symptoms of a bad flu. Within a short time the symptoms became even worse and then they knew what it was. He went to hospital shortly after his trip and never came back. Only three weeks after his admission the doctors had to turn off the artificial lung he was connected with. There was no chance anymore.
This funeral was going to be the worst funeral she ever would attend, of that Barbara was sure. A few weeks ago, the UK government had proclaimed strict rules for what only could be described as a nation wide lock down. In fact it was a gridlock of all social life. No parties, no public events. Home-based office work and strictly separated shifts were advised wherever it was possible. Pubs were closed, theatres, stadiums, most of the shops too. No large crowds of people were allowed, not on weddings and not on funerals. People should stay at home and only go out if absolutely necessary. They should only meet the closest of family and stick to a very small social group. They should meet friends and family only online via video messengers. People should keep distance to others and always wear a facial mask in public to prevent the vicious virus from spreading too fast.
Because they both were single, Barbara and Tommy decided to declare themselves one of those small social groups. Barbara did not move in with Tommy, nor he with her, but the evenings they had spent together in his house had become more than before. She even stayed over night one or the other time. Without that she probably would have been bored to death or got a bad cabin fever. Tommy probably would have roamed his house all day or made friends with his liquor cabinet. Fortunately they had each other's company. And fortunately he had an office in his house, so they used to meet and work there.
And even when they had to show up in their office at the Met he always picked her up so she would not have to take the tube or bus.
Sadly so, it was not allowed for them to meet Winston in hospital while he was suffering. He had been almost alone when he had died.
The Assistant Commissioner had decided that there had to be an official member of the Met participating in DC Nkata's funeral service. Nkata was not killed in the line of duty but then again he actually was somehow. With all the restrictions though, only a handful of people were allowed at all. For health safety it should be only family and friends. And that was the point why Tommy was able to convince the Assistant Commissioner that he and Barbara should be there. They were friends and could represent the Met at the same time. Of course it also meant that they had to wear their dress uniforms. A fact that especially Barbara disliked.
She constantly fidgeted with the collar of her jacket.
"Bloody cravat..." Barbara muttered when they got out of the car near the chapel. There only were four other cars parked there.
"You look good in that uniform, if I may say so." Tommy answered and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Pshaw!" was her grumpy response before she put on her dark blue face mask with the small Met crest.
He smiled. "Here. Get your gloves on."
In the distance they saw a pile of fresh soil. They knew that was where their friend would be buried soon. Barbara swallowed hard and quickly diverted her eyes to the ground. She would not want to start crying right now.
Tommy gave her shoulders an encouraging squeeze but then he let her go. He grabbed the white and blue wreath with a ribbon from the Met and together they walked to the chapel. The health safety rules were displayed on a white board at the entrance. Barbara deeply sighed.
With a disturbingly loud sound the doors closed behind them.
Low music was playing. It was what Winnie had loved so it did not really feel out of place here.
With Tommy and Barbara there only were twelve people in the chapel. Winston's mother and his brother sat in the first row of seatings. On the other side of the aisle, in the second row, three other people sat together, one of them was a teenage boy. Barbara thought they could be family too. Two rows behind, again on the other side of the aisle, one man sat on the outer left and one woman on the outer right side. They obviously were not in the same social group so they kept their distance to each other. In the last row on the right side there was a man at Winnie's age. He had red eyes and quietly blew his nose. And somewhere in the middle two other people sat close but not really side by side.
Winston's casket stood in front of the altar. It was covered by a clourful mortcloth. A single white lily was lying on top. To the left there was a lectern and to the right Winnie's picture was displayed. It was one where he showed his iconic, slightly cheeky grin.
Tommy inhaled deeply and straightened his back. After a brief look at Barbara who did almost the same, they walked down the aisle. He carried the wreath and she kept her eyes glued to the three steps up to the altar. At the casket they halted for a moment, both in thoughts, both keeping their grief under control. Then Tommy puts the wreath down, Barbara straightened the ribbon, then both saluted to their late colleague.
A stifled sob escaped Barbara's lungs and she had to turn on her heels.
They took their seats somewhere in a safe distance to the others in the moment the funeral orator came in through a door on the side.
Tommy wiped his eyes constantly, like Barbara did. She looked at Winston's photo and remembered his grins, his cheeky remarks. She thought about his way of eating his sandwich at his desk. Barbara thought about Winston being one of her favourite colleagues and one of her friends. She remembered his voice, his scent, his winking looks and his cheerful mood even when he had to go through file after file for research. Despite her grief she was able to grin during the oration of the man from the last row of seats, when he mentioned the witty sentence about positivity Winston constantly had brought.
After the speeches were held and more music was played, Barbara's face mask was wet from her tears. She had had to take it off three times to blow her nose during the ceremony. When it was done and the orator again expressed the plea to remember the distance rules, a gravely looking man came in, took the casket and led the funeral attendants to the open grave. It had started to drizzle and most people opened their umbrellas. Most people even took off their masks in the moment when they stepped out of the chapel.
At the grave, several other people joined them but they all stayed in the distance. The casket was lowered down, another few words were said, and a short moment of silence gave them all some time for their own thoughts or prayers. Meanwhile it was raining harder.
Everyone had put up their umbrellas by now. Only Barbara did not. She simply had not bothered to check the weather forecast. Out of nowhere, or probably out of the bag he had carried with him, Tommy had opened a small umbrella and now pulled her closer into his side so that she was safe from the rain too.
"Thanks." she muttered and cried even more. She buried her head into his shoulder.
It was not just Winnie's funeral that made her cry so much. It was the current stress at work with three unresolved cases at the same time and the inconvenient distance shifts with only half of the staff at New Scotland Yard and most of their colleagues working from home. It was the Chief Super nagging that she should finish her exams for DI so there could be more teams - but there would be no working partnership with Lynley anymore, Barbara feared. It was the entire pandemic situation with all its restrictions and those uncomfortable face masks covering and hiding people's faces and feelings. It was that bloody situation that forced them all to give up their usual habits and put everyone into unfamiliar behaviour.
All of it was constantly stretching her nerves. The proximity to Tommy only added to it. As wonderful the new closeness was, as frightening and strange it was. Her inappropriate feelings for her boss seemed to deepen constantly and she was not sure where it would lead her, not to mention the confusing but lovely protective behaviour of Tommy. She had to blame the curfew or else the fondness he displayed all the time would drive her completely mad very soon.
Barbara was, without a doubt, extremely sad about Winston's passing, and even in normal times she would have cried hard. But the heaviness of her sobs was due to all together. The funeral was the best place to finally let go of all her emotions. The rain actually was welcome but on the other hand she was glad too that there was her friend with his umbrella.
Tommy also cried. He remembered earlier funerals. He remembered Winston's laughter, his cheeky remarks, his little quips, his good work. He was too young to die. Tommy hated the virus and still he also was glad that it was bringing Barbara closer to him. It was wonderful to have her around himself almost constantly. It was great how she had invaded his house and felt at home in only a few weeks. It was terrific when she stayed over night every now and then, even when it was just in the guest room. Tommy had discovered that he needed her more than he had thought. He needed her to keep him sane, to keep him away from his liquor cabinet - although they had had a funny boozing time one night. He needed her to remind him that there still was joy, even with the virus mocking them. He loved it when she took off her mask and smiled at him, although he hated it that they had to wear it all the time when they were out in public. Tommy felt better with Barbara at his side. She made him endure all the stress at work, with all people at the edge of their nerves, just like him and obviously Barbara too.
Her repeated sobbing woke the urge in him to bring her away, and home to his house where he would be able to soothe her properly. If she only would feel the same for him like he felt for her. Being the gentleman that he was, Tommy gave her a handkerchief so she could dry her eyes and blow her nose. They had to greet Winston for the last time and Barbara still carried a flower she wanted to throw into his grave. And then there still was Winston's mother to be greeted.
From a safe distance of course, he added in grim thoughts.
A last speech was held by one of the people who had not attended the ceremony inside the chapel. Barbara had finished cleaning her nose and put on her mask again. Their hands touched with their backsides. Without looking, Tommy reached out for her fingers and intertwined them with his. She looked up to him with huge gratefulness. There also was a strange expression in her eyes he could not decipher. With the back of his fingers he caressed the skin of her cheek where it was not covered by her mask.
"Thank you." she murmured and he cocked his head quizzically. "For being here with me. Fo being here for Winnie."
Tommy nodded. He would always be there for her, he swore silently and swallowed before he bent down. Barbara closed her eyes.
"Bloody mask." he whispered before he gave her a gentle kiss on her temple. All the time he had kept her hand in his and now squeezed it.
The longing he felt in this moment was all but appropriate for a funeral ceremony.
Suddenly a well known voice broke the unfamiliarly private moment.
"He would have loved it." From behind came the gruffy voice of Dr Stuart Lafferty. He stood about three metres away from them, dressed in a black suit, a wet umbrella in his hands. Unnoticed by Tommy and Barbara it had stopped raining. Stuart nodded. "Go on!"
It was not really clear if he meant their exchange of affection or that they should go to the grave and to Winston's mother to offer commiserations.
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A/N: I'm not sure about the restrictions in the UK, so please forgive me when I was wrong in details, but I guess there were a few like the above mentioned. Here in Germany we had those, even for funerals.
Stay safe, stay healthy everyone!