Rena and Aidan waited patiently for their boss to arrive. It had been a couple of days since their briefing and they were eager to present their latest findings and not to mention find out more about his date/girlfriend.

"You really think John finally has a girlfriend?" Aidan asked, reclining against the chair.

Rena took a sip of her warm coffee, thinking about her colleague's question carefully. "I don't see why he'd lie about the date."

"Yeah, you make a good point, but he's just been smiling to himself a lot lately," he said. "I'm not sure if it's scarier than his usual look."

Dylan has been doing his work whilst listening to his two colleagues silently. He still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling floating around his head.

All they knew was that John is supposedly dating one of the teachers from the school he visited. It was unlikely someone he just bumped into. That makes sense.

What he couldn't shake off, however, is the feeling that the schoolteacher his boss is dating might be Clara. He didn't any sort of issue with that. It was her choice, but she should know better. What happens then if Dave finds out about this?

"Oi, chief inspector, you still with us?" Aidan asked, waving a hand in front of him.

Dylan swatted the man's hand away. "Oi, some people have something better to do other than gossiping."

His colleagues laughed in response. "Did someone replace the bet king with a robot or something?"

"Good morning, lovelies," Donna greeted as she strode in. "Why are you lot gathered around like that?"

Aidan patted Dylan on the shoulder. "DCI Clarkson here has been replaced by a cyberman."

The detective rolled his eyes. "What does that even mean," he muttered, adjusting his chair.

"It means you're a cyborg."

"You and your comic-con obsession."

The entire office erupted with laughter.

"Not to be that person," Rena pointed out. "But comic-con is a convention."

Aidan bowed. "Thank you," he said. "At least someone here is cultured."

Just as Dylan was about to give a comment, he spotted John and Commander Lethbridge-Stewart heading their way.

Almost immediately, everyone returned to their respective desks.

"Please remember to keep me updated and not forget that I have a say in this," Kate commented once they reached the office.

John shrugged. "No promises, Kate."

The commander merely shot him a look as he walked away with a huge grin on his face.

"Everything ok, boss-man?" Aidan questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, just Kate being Kate."

He then exchanged looks with Rena. "If it helps, we have something."

John stopped in his tracks as he adjusted the messenger bag strap hanging off his shoulder. "Ten minutes," he said, holding up his cup of hot chocolate.

Donna decided to take the opportunity to interrogate him. "Reports for police boy," she announced, setting the files on the desk.

John eyed her cautiously. "I'm not telling you anything."

Donna shut the door to his office.

"No."

"Well, excuse me for trying to be friendly and caring," she retorted. "Did you at least make sure your date enjoyed the date?"

He pursed his lips. "Of course, I did, she wouldn't have said she'd text me, would she?"

It was then he realised his mistake. "Well played."

"Thank you," Donna replied. "It's all those years spending time listening to one detective talk to another."

The DCS played with the cup. "The fourth date is coming up."

"Oh, wow, look at you," Donna exclaimed. "No longer the grumpy and single detective chief superintendent!"

"Keep it down, will you?"

Donna merely rolled her eyes. "As if they have no idea what's going on."

"I know they know," he grumbled. "But please try not to make such a big deal about it."

She snorted. "How can we not when you're all smiles and skipping."

John frowned. "That last point is a lie."

"What next police boy, you going to sing like in the Disney films?"

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Funny."

Donna got to her feet. "We're all happy for you, you know."

"Thank you, Donna," he murmured.

About ten or so minutes later, the team was gathered in the briefing room.

"We found several people who deal in Holloway, but two are in prison and the other has been clean since 2018," Aidan explained. "Besides, he was in Brighton on the day of the murder – story checks out."

"So it was a dead end there," Rena added. "However, we found CCTV footage of Mr Mayhew in Holloway."

She then grabbed the remote sitting on the desk and switched on the large monitor before a video clip started playing.

The video showed Vincent Mayhew talking to someone in a grey hoodie in an alleyway for a few seconds before he was seen shaking his head and walking away.

"Have you identified the suspect?" John inquired.

"We're running facial recognition now, but it's going to take a bit of time," Aidan explained.

"Did you track the grey hoodie?" Dylan questioned.

Rena had a sombre look on her face. "We only managed to track him up until Caledonian Road," she said. "Lost track of him when he got to the tube station."

"Keep me updated," the DCS informed as left the room.

Clara Oswald couldn't have felt more relieved to be home after a long day at school. Today had been particularly challenging with Courtney Woods up to her usual antics and several students not submitting their essay for the coursework due. It was a massive headache and she was glad to finally get away from all of it.

The last thing she had expected, however, was the doorbell ringing.

The only person could think of showing up at her doorstep right now is Danny, which didn't make sense since he would have texted her first.

As she pushed down the handle and pulled the door, she was greeted by Dylan. "What are you doing here?"

He pressed his lips together. "I do believe we need to talk."

She locked eyes with him for a moment and had a feeling that her relationship with John was about to be exposed. Without another word, she stepped aside and let him through.

"Look, I'm sorry I showed up unexpectedly, but I just had to ask you in person."

Clara crossed her hands defensively. "Is this about my date?"

"It depends on who it is."

After a few moments, she shut her eyes and dropped her hands. "What about him?"

Dylan tucked the collar of his shirt. "Look, I honestly don't care who you're dating, police or not," he began. "But… I can't help but notice since the whole team has been talking."

Clara furrowed her brows in confusion.

"They keep saying that my boss is dating a schoolteacher – he's been vague about the whole thing, too."

"We're seeing each other," she admitted, relaxing a bit knowing that Dylan at least understood her.

"John Smith?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yes."

Dylan exhaled through his nose. "Does Dave know about this?"

"Not in detail since I only told him by accident, thanks to Linda, that I'm seeing someone."

"Right, ok," the chief inspector sighed as he loosened the tie. "There's just going to be one problem."

She blinked once and then it hit her. "Charlie's birthday."

How could she have forgotten about that?

"Yes, they sent Charlie gifts and cards while Charlie was at the hospital, so I had to invite them."

The issue was that Dylan has invited his team to the birthday party, including John. What's an even bigger issue is that Clara wasn't supposed to have any sort of connection to him.

"I have an idea," she murmured.

He raised his eyebrows. "Well, let's hear it."

"I can just say that we used to be neighbours," Clara suggested. "I know it doesn't sound all that convincing, but I think it will at least explain why Charlie calls me Auntie Clara."

Dylan thought about this for a moment. It would certainly save a lot of explaining. "I guess we can go with your idea."

She knitted her eyebrows. "What's yours?"

"Make my colleagues think that you used to be my son's nanny," he said sheepishly.

Clara rolled her eyes. "It's clear my idea's better – won't have to lie all that much."

With that issue finally put to rest, the DCI let out a sigh of relief. "Didn't know you'd be interested in older men."

"Sod off, Dylan," she laughed.

He raised both hands. "I'm going, I'm going," he said, heading for the door and stopping in his tracks shortly after. "I don't think I need to remind you that you need to be careful, right?"

Clara knew he meant both her father and John. One slip-up and it could be disastrous. She nodded. "I'm surprised you're taking this really well."

He shrugged. "Let's be honest here, Clara, we don't choose the people we fall in love with."

She was silent for a moment before scrunching her nose. "Cheesy."

Dylan chuckled in response as he stepped outside. "I wish you nothing but the best Clara Oswald, or rather, Clara Oswin."

"Thank you, Dylan."

With that, she shut the door before turning around and leaning against it. She's going to have to come up with a solid story, as much as she hated the thought of lying to John, which was strange.

There's no doubt she's attracted to him, and she could imagine the relationship becoming something more, which meant that she needed to tell him the truth at some point.

It could wait. That was something far into the future.

John Smith examined Clara's face carefully. It was funny how she commented that he was distracted during their last date and this time, she's the one whose mind is elsewhere.

Rather than just another dinner date, both had agreed to watch a show together in the West End. She was pleasantly surprised when she discovered that the musical show that they were going to see is a comedy. The Comedy About a Bank Robbery.

He kept glancing at her every now and then throughout the first part of the show and while she did laugh and smile, he noticed that she seemed tense.

During the interval, he took the opportunity to talk to her. "You ok?"

She glanced at his direction and smiled. "Yeah, the show is great."

He nodded. "Do you need to use the loo?" he asked and then realised it sounded strange. "Because I could move."

Clara chuckled. "No, I'm fine, but thank you for being thoughtful."

He could tell that there was something bothering her but decided not to push it.

"I know I seem a bit distracted and I promise you it's got nothing to do with the show," she assured. "I haven't laughed like this in quite a while."

John flashed her a grin. "I didn't think I'd enjoy it so much."

Clara rested her head on his shoulder before gazing up at him. "Me too."

He could only sit still awkwardly. Is this the part where he put his arm around her, or should he just do nothing?

By the time he had made up his mind to put his arm around her, the intermission ended, and the theatre lights dimmed.

Clara raised her head just as the music began playing.

John shifted in his seat before he felt a hand reaching for his. He beamed as the show resumed.