Crime: Fish and Chips
Rating: General Audiences
Pairing: Ten/Rose
Other tags: Crime AU, Human AU, Modern AU, Friends to Lovers, Ten is not Hardy
Warnings: None
Summary: They'd been working together for almost a year now, and James saw her as one a good friend and coworker. But maybe a late-night stake-out will change this fact.
Welcome to Day 12! Wow, already over a third of the way through.
I rewrote this one like 3 times. The tone kept being wrong, and the plot kept feeling off. SO, I really hope you guys enjoy this one lol. Drafts one and three were scrapped, but I kept number two in case I use it in something else.
Apologies in advance if I've gotten anything wrong with how police work in Britain. The only British cop show I've ever seen is the first season of Broadchurch (I really need to watch the rest of it).
Word Count: 1,256
Detective Inspector James Noble walked past the bullpen into his office, stopping to greet people along the way. As he sat down at his desk and was about to check his email for the morning, there was a knock on his door. He looked up to see his fellow DI and good friend Rose Tyler leaning on the door frame. A grin automatically broke out on his face at the sight of her. The two had worked together for the past year, ever since James first moved back to London to fill a vacant DI position. As much as he'd liked that seaside town, it was far too quiet for him.
"Mornin' James." James couldn't help but grin at her. Rose was easily one of his favorite people. She was kind, smart, funny, and good at her job. One of his best friends, really, but also more than that. She understood him more than anyone else (outside of Donna and Gramps, of course). He was pulled out of his inner monologue when he realized Rose was still talking.
"Chief sent me over. She said there was a series of residential break ins all around Chiswick that we've been assigned to look at. I know you have family there, but I don't think any of them are involved. At least I didn't see Noble on the list of homeowners." The second half of her statement made James relax, though he'd figured they weren't involved. He would've been highly offended if his mum, granddad, or sister had been robbed and didn't tell him. James grabbed them long brown coat he'd just draped over his chair and put it back on. He sent Rose a grin that she returned.
"Lead the way, Rose Tyler."
~~~~~DW~~~~~
They spent the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon speaking with the victims of the break ins and getting pictures from SOCO. The method of entry had been the same for each house: the lock on the side door had been picked late at night when everyone was asleep. Whoever had come in was so quiet the families didn't realize they'd been robbed until the morning.
In the late afternoon, they compiled a list of everything that had been stolen. The thief or thieves seemed to have had an agenda, as none of the dozen or so houses had had the same things taken. One family had their television stolen while another had lost their sofa and a side table. A third had had an extra mattress stolen, and a fourth had woken up to no small kitchen appliances. They had pictures of most of the items and pinned them to their white board with magnets. Rose took a step back while looking at it, her arms crossed.
"You know, looking at them collectively makes me realize that this is more or less what I would buy if I were moving to a new house and buying all new things." As soon as she said it, James realized it was true. Heck, even a bed frame had been stolen! Rose turned to him. "What do you think? Could our thief be someone who's moving and decided to go shopping at the neighbors' houses?"
James grabbed his laptop and looked up recently sold houses in Chiswick and the surrounding area. Luckily for them, in the past week only 5 houses had been sold. After going to the chief with the information, they were given one of the most boring tasks in police work: a stake out. They gathered 4 other pairs, and each was assigned to watch one house for signs of the stolen goods.
That evening, Rose and James were waiting in a car armed with high-quality digital cameras, empty memory cards, pictures of the homeowners (an engaged couple), and two orders of fish and chips. James had been horrified by the amount of vinegar that Rose had put on her food, secretly thankful that the fish was already dead. The house across the street remained dark, but there was no car in the driveway so they assumed the owners were out. Figuring they might have some time before they came back, it was only 7-o'clock, James decided to catch up with Rose a little. While they worked together, their jobs didn't exactly give them much downtime for socialization.
"So, how has your mother been doing? You haven't talked about in her a while. Mum was asking after her just a couple days ago. She really took to her at the company picnic. Though I'm not sure if we should let them socialize regularly. The two of them could cause some real havoc around London. I don't think any of the stores would need to have an inventory after they were done." Rose laughed at his terrible (but probably accurate) joke.
"Did she now? I agree, we shouldn't let them get too friendly with one another. But she's doing good. Howard's been treating her well, and I'm happy for her. She deserves happiness in this life. We all do." James didn't quite know how to answer that. He agreed with her, absolutely, but he often wondered how and when he might find that kind of happiness for himself.
Their conversation was cut short when a van came down the street and they picked up the cameras. They watched as the van pulled into the drive and the homeowners stepped out. They watched as Cassandra O'Brien unlocked the front door of the house while her fiancé Adam Mitchell opened the back of the van. Sure enough, inside were many of the stolen items, identifiable from unique colorings or signs of wear. As the couple started putting the items in their home, James quickly took pictures as proof that they had the stolen goods in their possession, as well as their intention of using them. Rose mimicked him with her own camera after alerting the other units that all the stolen goods appeared to be at their location. When the pair was done, they drove away.
The next day, an arrest warrant went out for the young couple. All the stolen goods were returned to their rightful owners, thankfully undamaged. James and Rose both received recognition from the station for recognizing the pattern and using it to catch the thieves. It was one of the fastest times that a case had ever been solved. The two of them celebrated with a dinner out with their coworkers. They were the last two the leave, having stayed at the pub for one last drink to chat.
"I had so much fun tonight, James." Rose said as he walked her to her car. The night air was cold, so he'd given her his coat to borrow. It was much too long for her but he didn't care that it was dragging.
"I did too. We should do this more often. Maybe next time though we should leave the kids at home." He joked, referring to how their coworkers had been much more energetic than them. It got him the desired reaction of a Rose Tyler laugh with a tongue-in-tooth smile.
Yeah, they definitely needed to do this more often. And they did. Eventually, the nights out as friends became dates. And three years later, on their wedding day, James credited that night out with their coworkers as the day he started falling for her. But really, it had been even before that. Oh, let's be honest. He'd been falling for her ever since they met.