Chapter Three

I woke up to hearing a key turn slightly in the lock. I reached for my taser. Winter opened the door. He put his hands up. "Hey! It's alright. Just little old me."

I sighed and set the taser down on the table. I realized I was still dressed in my uniform. Winter came walking in. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm alright. I mean I've stopped vomiting." I adjusted myself in the chair. "My stomach did give me some problems throughout the night."

"I see. Did you take anything for it?"

"Not yet but I'll do that after I get home from my appointment." I stood up. I headed upstairs to change.

Twila had a practice set up in Newtown. The inside of the office felt cold compared to the growing heat outside. I shivered a bit. I lowered the sleeves on my shirt. "Malcolm?" called a female voice.

I looked up to see a small brown haired lady standing in the hallway. She was dressed in a doctor's coat. She smiled at me. I smiled back. I got up from my chair. I walked over to her. "Good morning. Ready for today's session?" she asked.

"Yep."

She took me into a separate room. Her room was down up in warm colors. The roof was painted to look like a cloudy sky. I sat down in one of the chairs. She sat on top of her desk. "Well Malcolm, it's been officially two weeks since the last time I saw you."

I nodded. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I was busy trying to make sure things went well for the new Sergent's arrival."

"I heard about that. How did it go?"

"She seemed to transition quite fine. She's impressed with the new station so far."

"Good. What's she like?"

"A bit blunt. She's a lot more honest than most of the Sergeants I've worked with."

"I see. Even more blunt than you are?" mused Twila.

"Yeah. You could say that." I said as I rubbed behind my head. "I think her and I will get along just fine though."

Twila wrote something down in her notes. "How have you been since you moved?"

"I guess I'm doing okay. Homesickness has really taken though. Winter does his best but I kind of miss living here a bit. There was always something to do."

She nodded. She wrote that down in her notes. "I expected you to feel homesick at some point. Just not this late. Do you know why you feel the way you do?"

"Well it's like I keep saying. Work here offered me more things to occupy my time with versus out in PontyPandy. Don't get me wrong, I love the peace and quiet. I just wished there was more."

She lowered her pen. She let it fall onto her notebook. "The only advice I can give to you is to try to make the most of it. I'm sure something will come up eventually. These small towns always have their secrets, you know."

I nodded. "You're right."

She grinned. "So tell me. How are you and Winter doing? "

"We're doing super well. Winter is trying his hand at cooking. I ended up super sick yesterday. I just didn't have the heart to tell him that it was from the omelette he made me."

She put her hands on her hips. "You realize honesty is always the best policy, right?"

"I know but Winter's feelings are a bit squishy. I just don't want him to end up blaming himself."

"I would still be honest with him anyway. He deserves to know."

"I know. I know."

Twila opened her notebook again. She scribbled something down in her notes. She then glanced at the clock. "Alright, Malcolm. I'm afraid that's all I have time for today. I do want to see you back here in two weeks."

"Alright. Same time?"

"Yep. I'll send you a reminder about a week before."

I walked out of the office. I headed back to PontyPandy. Winter was cooking breakfast by the time I walked in. This time he was making an English breakfast. I smelled the air. I cringed a little. Winter glanced up. "Welcome home. I'm making breakfast."

"Are you making or burning?" I teased.

He sighed. "Looks like I'm not having much luck either."

"Here. Let me take over." I walked over into the kitchen.

Winter put a hand on my chest. "No. You should be resting. I've got this."

I rolled my eyes. "I've got this."

I stood near the stove. I took over on making breakfast. I managed to actually save it. I plated it up and sat it down at the table in the living room. Winter took a bite. He nodded a bit in approval. "It's a little burnt but it's pretty good."

I grinned. "I think you need to turn your temp down a bit."

"I will add that to my notes. How did therapy go?" he asked.

"It went just like every other session I've had." I replied. "We don't really talk about much. She's just trying to make sure that I'm going to survive the transition period."

Winter nodded quietly. "Well at least one of us gets to sleep in this morning. I get to have a riveting day with Rose."

I chuckled. "Good luck."

Winter cleared his plate. He headed off to work. I finished mine before sticking it in the sink. I flopped down in bed. I let out a tired sigh. The sheets smelled heavily of Winter. I grabbed onto his pillow. I squeezed it gently. I should of mentioned the nightmares I've had to Twila. I'll talk to her the next time I have them. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on Winter.

I managed to not have another nightmare. I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off. I groaned. "Five more minutes." I mumbled.

The alarm kept chirping loudly. I slid my finger across the screen. I blinked tiredly at the wall. Did I really have to get out of bed? I debated that question for the next four minutes before getting out of bed.

I heard the front door open. "Honey?! I'm home!" shouted Winter.

"Welcome home!" I shouted back.

I headed downstairs to meet up with him. I hugged him gently. Winter sighed. He leaned his head against my neck. "You will never stop being the best part of my day." he whispered.

I grinned. "and you'll never stop being mine."

I held him tighter. "Shame I have to work tonight. I would really love to stay in bed with you."

Winter nuzzled me. "As would I but the bills won't get paid otherwise."

I got changed into my work uniform. Winter handed me a small white box. "So you can have dinner while on patrol." he explained.

I nodded. I pecked him on the cheek. "See you in the morning."

I headed down to the station. Rose was waiting for me. A stack of paperwork sat on her desk. She was busy filing them. She stopped once she heard me walk in. "Ah PC Malcolm. Your on traffic patrol tonight."

"Yes Sergent. I'll head right now."

I drove my bike to a quiet place near the quay. The sun dipped behind the horizon. Stars twinkled in the clear night sky. I leaned back on my bike a little. The one thing I loved about PontyPandy was how clear the sky was at times. The ocean was often very relaxing to listen to.

I reached into the large white box on the back of my bike. I grabbed the lunchbox that Winter had packed for me. Winter managed to make some fish and chips. The food was a bit burnt. I shook my head and chuckled. At least he tried. I still munched on it anyway. The flavor was actually not that bad.

I chucked the empty box into a nearby trash can. The radio in my helmet clicked to life. Constable, possible breaking and entering at Joe Sparkes Garage. came Rose's voice.

"On my way." I started the bike off. I sped off towards Joe's Garage.

Joe was waiting outside. He ran over to me. "Thank you so much for coming!"

"It's no problem. Can you walk me through what happened?"

Joe nodded. He lead me over to where he had a charger set up. "I only popped out to tell Lizzie and Hannah that I've finally cracked the new Sparksmaster 2098 when I heard crashing. As soon as I came back, the Sparksmaster was gone!"

"Do you mind if I take a look around?"

"No! Go ahead."

I began walking around the garage. I didn't notice any footprints leading into the garage. There was a broken coffee cup on the ground. "Hmm." I pulled a set of tweezers off my belt. I gently picked up a broken piece off the ground. "Strange."

I slid the broken piece into a plastic bag. I walked back over to my bike. I stuck the broken piece into the box all while grabbing a torch. I quickly did a sweep of the area to see if the thief was still around.

I got barely an inch near the fence when I noticed a small Popsicle stick on the ground. I carefully picked it up. Red residue was still on it. I went back to the garage. I shined my light on it. "I don't suppose this belongs to you, Joe?" I questioned.

Joe shook his head. "No. I don't like Strawberry Supremes. I'm more of a Passionate Peach man myself."

I stuck the stick into a plastic bag. "This is all very puzzling." I headed back over to my bike. "Don't worry though. I'll crack the case of the missing Sparksmaster."

"Sparksmaster 2098." corrected Joe.

I chuckled. "Noted."

I drove off from the garage. I headed back to the station. I walked in carrying both bits of evidence I found at the scene. I put them down on Rose's desk. "Here was what I was able to find at Joe's Garage."

Rose examined them closely. "hmm, that's not a whole lot of evidence."

"I know. I did do a sweep of the area but there wasn't any footprints to go off of. You wouldn't happen to know a forensic specialist would you?"

She grinned. "In fact, I do."

She went over to the Map Screen 7000. She pulled up a contact list. She tapped on a name on the screen. An older female with red hair streaked with black answered. She lowered the cup she was drinking from. Sergent! I wasn't expecting you to call! She exclaimed.

"Good Evening, Anika. I want to introduce you to somebody."

Anika smirked. Who is tall, dark, and handsome over there?

I rubbed behind my head. I blushed quietly. Rose rolled her eyes. "That would be Constable Malcolm Williams."

Hey Constable. I'm Rose's bloodhound. You send me evidence and it's my job to get a name for you. Now what can I do for you two tonight?

"We had a break-in at a garage in PontyPandy. Constable found at least two pieces of evidence. Can you get fingerprints or something from them?" asked Rose.

Absolutely! Go ahead and send them over. I'll give you a call if I find anything! Good night, Sergent. Anika then hung up the call.

"I'll send the evidence off for you, Constable. For now, do a sweep around PontyPandy." ordered Rose.

"You got it."

I headed back out onto the streets again. I drove carefully around town. I couldn't find anyone behaving strangely. "Hmm." I got on the radio. "PontyPandy is clear. No suspicious activity detected."

Rodger that. Head back to base.

I stayed at the station until about five in the morning. Winter was waiting for me on the couch. His robe was over the top of his head. He had his earbuds in. I smiled. I carefully lifted him up into my arms. I took him upstairs to our room.

I laid Winter down on the sheets. Winter curled up. He cradled his pillow against his chest. I stroked his hair. He hummed softly.

I stripped down into my boxers before joining him in bed. I sighed. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened last night. Maybe I spoke too soon about wanting to do a large case. It just seems strange that now the universe would toss me a bone. I thought.

Winter cuddled close to me. His warmth lulled me to sleep.

I started to have the same dream again. Green fire, seeing a robotic figure, and hearing Winter get crushed to death. I woke up in a cold sweat. Winter stirred. He held onto me. "Easy Big Cat. I've got you."

I held Winter against my chest. "Winter, there's something I need to tell you."

"You were having a nightmare about me again?"

"How did you know?"

"Babe, you kept calling out for me in your sleep. You were also tossing and turning."

I looked down shamefully. He touched my cheek. "I'm okay. I promise nothing bad will happen to me."

"I hope your right. You should of seen last night. Joe had somebody break into his garage."

"What? A break-in? This close to PontyPandy?"

"Yep. However, the evidence I found wasn't too exciting."

"Well you aren't going to get much in a small town like this. Since we have today off, why don't we head to the beach? It's been so hot lately and I could use a swim."

"Sure. Why not? Oh and by the way, dinner was tasty last night."

Winter's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really. It was a bit burnt but the flavor really stood out."

Winter leaned against my chest. He let out happy tears. "I've finally done something right."

I chuckled and patted his head gently.