A/N: Don't quote me on paramedic practices, it's just to fit in with the story. Also, events may be in a different order.

Hardy watched them drive off, noting the man with her hadn't put the siren on so they either didn't have another call and he was saving her from a confrontation or was afraid she would really lay into him. He shook his head then turned back where he'd just come from but why had he walked away from Miller just to see why the paramedic was at the newsagents?

Should he take heed of what she'd just said and go easy on people? He knew it never worked when he was nice to people – Sandbrook had taught him that and look where it had got him? A nasty divorce, a teenage daughter who barely acknowledged he existed and a heart condition, that if he didn't keep away from the blonde who had just told him off would only get worse.

He had a meeting with his friend later that night, wishing he'd mentioned to bring him some more pills but he would probably manage and if not, he'd just have to have a prescription posted to him and go to the next town to fill it, he didn't like small towns, everyone knew your business.

Rose and Steven took a break for lunch and Steven was asking what all that was about outside the newsagents.

"Whatcha asking me for?" Rose asked him in the staff canteen.

"Come off it Rose, you didn't have to stop and talk to him," Steven grinned.

"Well he stopped me, in case ya hadn't noticed," she reminded him.

"I hope you didn't tell him why we were there?"

"He's the police, if he'd asked, I was obliged to tell him but he didn't ask," she replied.

"Did you even give him chance?" Steven teased her. He saw the look on her face. "No, I didn't think so Rose. He's been here less than two weeks and you're letting him get to you."

"He is not getting to me," Rose tried to convince him but had she stopped thinking about Alec Hardy since the traffic accident where she'd first met him?

She had tried but was she trying hard enough? They would keep running into each other no matter how much they tried to avoid it and it would be just like him to go out of his way to do so. She could hardly call Ellie and ask her to keep her new boss busy enough to stop him turning up if they got a call out by the harbour and he happened to be out at the time or if he and Ellie got a call to attend.

Fortunately, they didn't get many calls where someone had died, it was only when a caller wasn't sure or if it happened while they were on their way. She was still trying to come to terms with trying to revive Danny and she was getting nowhere.

"Earth to Rose Tyler," Steven grinned. "Rose, I know finding Danny on the beach was hard, you should go see a counsellor, something like that doesn't go away easily, trust me. Did I tell you about that old woman who died at the scene when I was partnered with Vince, before we worked together?"

Rose shook her head, debating if she should go get another latte', damn that new catering manager opting to put a machine in that dispensed her favourite brand.

"We thought she had just passed out, no-one had attempted to check but it wasn't pretty when we moved her when she was slumped over the wheel and the other driver only had a few scrapes. What I'm trying to say Rose is that sometimes, it's unavoidable and so far, you've been lucky. They don't send any of us paramedics to the scene where it's certain someone has died, we just got unlucky last Friday. Are you getting another drink or not? You know what you're like when you have two," he grinned.

"I couldn't even talk to my mum about it, except the basics, I know the rules and trust me, she tried to get me to tell her," Rose tried to smile back.

"Yeah, I bet she did," Steven replied as he got up. "I guess she won't be coming down then?"

"Nope, maybe the late bank holiday, if the killer's been caught by then. Hardy must have been sent here for a reason though no-one could have known that was gonna happen," Rose replied as she got up, smiling at Steven fussing over clearing up and guessed he took charge at home.

"Well maybe it was just as well he did though I doubt Ellie would agree with you but I don't recall her being in charge of any murder investigations. I bet she's already rubbed it in Hardy's face about where he was before?"

"Yeah, I bet she did. I've not had the chance to talk to her and ask how her holiday went even, I would have caught up with her and when I worked with Joe, he'd have told me."

"Rose, remember you told me how he could easily lose his temper?" Steven reminded her. "You'd best let her contact you, if she's working all hours now, he won't thank you for going round and being nosy."

"Yeah, I know Steven. Come on then, let's go wait for a call."

"Cheer up Rose, you've got Wednesday off," he tried to cheer her up. "Use the time and get some help eh?"

"I'll think about it, it doesn't help all the time though but I might just go see Paul instead, it's less formal and he won't write a report," she smiled as they drove off.

Alec had gone back to the office and Ellie shook her head. She'd wondered why he'd been so interested in why the ambulance was by the shops and knew it was bound to be Rose and Steven. Maybe Jack hadn't liked the way her new boss had questioned him?

She made her mind up to call Rose later but with the hours Rose now worked, she never knew when it was safe to do so, which was why when Fred had come along, they'd decided it was too much and at least she herself worked regular hours. She didn't know why anyone put up with it but she was now faced with doing the same, thanks to a child killer.

They had to go out later and she took the chance to ask him.

"What's this Miller, an interrogation?" he asked.

"No, it was a simple enough question – Sir," she replied, trying to be civil, unlike him. "We don't have time to follow the paramedics around, just because you were at an accident scene at the same time," she reminded him.

"Who says I want to follow them around?" he asked indignantly, hoping she wasn't onto him that if he admitted it, which he wouldn't, he'd just wanted to know if it was Rose who was there and she'd taken him by surprise – which he'd had to cover when she came out.

Now he knew she covered that area and around where that accident had occurred, what seemed like ages ago, before all this had been dumped on him – revenge for screwing Sandbrook up but hang on, that was Tess who had done that and he'd been stupid enough to try to cover for her.

Well at least he'd been cleared on that score but not publicly and Claire Ripley had gone missing, he just hoped she'd not followed him. Right now, she was the last person he wanted to see, which was probably why the blonde paramedic had taken her place in the trying to annoy him department. Well unlike Claire, Rose was going nowhere so like it or not, they would keep coming across each other and he didn't even know her surname.

Rose was preparing to go home just after four, wishing someone would sort out the hours and take notice no-one liked them. She took the chance to call Ellie and see if she was free to talk.

"I'm a bit busy Rose, is it urgent?" she asked, turning some pages in a folder, annoyed that Hardy had asked her to bring Tom in to ask him about being friends with Danny. "Oh, we might need to ask you a few questions, when are you free? We'll need to talk to Steven as well."

"Oh, didn't you get the report we filed?" Rose asked, never being questioned before about any attendances they'd made but this was the first murder victim they'd come across.

"Yes we did but you know as well as I do Rose, not everything goes in a report," she reminded her friend. "We also have some more questions for you, about something that happened before Danny was found."

"Well I can come in on Wednesday," Rose offered.

"That's fine, would nine be okay, I'll call if we're not going to be in," Ellie replied.

"Don't you trust your boss to question me?" Rose joked.

"No, he doesn't trust me to interview you on my own, since we're friends," Ellie told her, wondering what she meant by that remark. "Is there something you want to tell me Rose?"

Rose knew she should have kept quiet but her surname was Tyler – it was something they failed at.

"Ah, no, I don't think so Ellie?" Rose tried not to laugh.

"Not even why Hardy turned around when he saw an ambulance earlier?" Ellie questioned.

"Nothing to do with me Ellie," Rose replied. "It's not my problem he's so nosy, is it?"

Ellie tried to suppress a laugh, her new boss was nosy, nosy wasn't a strong enough word and her husband was repeatedly telling her to be nice to him and annoy him even more.

"Well you'd met while I was away," Ellie reminded her.

"So? What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked.

"Sorry Rose, things are just getting on top of me. Why don't you come over one night, when you know what hours you're working?" Ellie suggested, not wanting to lose a friend.

"Well I'd know what hours I was working if they got their acts together," Rose sighed. "Well at least we sorted days off, instead of messing around, that's something. So, what about your holiday?"

"It was fine, we should catch up sometime but Joe wasn't in a very good mood about something and I swore I'd saved up more than we actually had. I got you a present, it's still at home. I was so looking forward to coming back and getting that promotion Rose."

"Yeah Ellie, I'm sorry, I know you were," Rose tried to console her. "Yeah, I'll come down on Wednesday then, just don't leave me with your boss," she laughed.

"I'll try not to but the way he was when he saw you on the beach last Friday?" she teased her friend.

"Stop it Ellie," Rose protested.

"Well maybe when I know you're coming round for dinner, I'll take Joe's advice and ask Hardy at the same time," she laughed.

"I won't come round if ya do Ellie, you're not playing matchmaker with me, not after Olly," Rose warned her.

"I said I was sorry about that," Ellie told her, knowing the two of them had one date and Rose had sworn she had to restrain herself from punching him in the face. "How was I to know he wasn't your type?"

"Yeah, well he wasn't, he just grinned at me like a schoolboy all night then had the cheek to ask to go home with me so he wouldn't bump into his mother sneaking me in. Is he behaving now you've got a murder on your hands?" she asked Ellie.

"Not exactly, he released Danny's name on social media before Hardy told the press. Beth and Mark weren't happy about it and Hardy chewed me out in front of everyone. Then Joe tells me to ask him round for dinner. I have to go, see you Wednesday morning."

Rose wondered why she'd cut their conversation short. Hardy had gone to stand in front of her desk.

"I hope that wasn't a personal call Miller?" he asked, still not in a good mood after not finding out why the paramedics had been called to the newsagents and it wasn't likely Jack Marshall would tell him even if he asked.

"No Sir, I was asking Rose to call in on her day off since you wanted a statement from her and her partner. She's coming in first thing on Wednesday morning."

"Did you ask what they were doing at the newsagents earlier?" he asked, hoping she'd been able to find out to save him continuing to wonder about it.

"I wasn't aware I was supposed to?" she replied, wishing he'd go away and she'd only been working with him a few days.

"What about the other one?" he asked, wanting to get the full story. "Did you tell her what the other reason was?"

"No, I didn't think you'd want me to, considering it's to see if Mark's telling the truth about what happened when they were fishing," she replied.

Alec thought well at least she knew something, that of not revealing information and giving someone time to think about what they were going to say, unlike Mark Latimer's rubbish alibi that they'd pulled to pieces earlier.

"Well let's see what she has to say, get her partner in later on in the day, the more we know the better. Beth and Mark want to know why the paramedics were sent that morning and so do I. How does that work out?" he asked, wondering if it differed from county to county.

Ellie was about to say how was she supposed to know but her smart-ass boss would find out sooner or later.

"My husband used to be a paramedic," she admitted as people were leaving for the night. "He gave up because the shifts were being re-arranged. He and Rose worked together."

"Really? She seems very young to be doing that sort of work."

"She did her training, they don't deal with any real emergencies or any life-threatening situations though I can't speak for all health authorities. They would have been sent to the beach if the person who called hadn't checked Danny, which under the circumstances, they did the right thing. Otherwise, more fingerprints would have been found on him. That's why the coroner transported him. They deal with minor incidents, it cuts down on visits to the emergency department but it's never abused, they have a strict criteria before anyone's sent out."

"You mean if someone can't get a doctor's appointment or they fall down drunk coming out of the pub?" he tried to joke.

"Mostly but whether someone's drunk too much or not, they're treated if they get injured. Like I said, I can't say that's the case elsewhere but Joe worked in Liverpool before he came here, we actually met at call-outs."

That was all he needed, he thought.

"So they still transport anyone if need be?" he asked, just in case he ever needed their assistance but he prayed it wouldn't be Rose.

"Well yeah, though unless like with Danny, the call wasn't clear. Planning on using them?" she joked.

"No, any reason why I should?" he replied, wondering if she was onto him. "Right, we'll call it a night, I have to be somewhere. We also need to speak to your son, Tom was it? Get your husband to bring him in."

"Fine, I'll tell him then. Sir, what if the paramedics didn't attend to Danny like Mark said?"

"Then that raises a few questions Miller, ask Chloe first though," he replied.

"Why not just ask her anyway?" Ellie wondered.

Was he just making up excuses to get Rose in for questioning or was there something else behind it? He went off to his office to get his jacket, leaving Ellie to wonder why suddenly he was in a hurry to leave early.

"Have you spoken to the family?" he asked as he was about to leave.

"About what?" she wanted to know.

"That list you brought back, why would they do that?" he asked.

"They want some closure I suppose?" she replied.

Hardy stood and stared at her. "Is that directed at me? How long have you been going to bring that up?"

"You said that, not me," Ellie told him. "You let someone get away, people don't forget that easily."

"I'm not discussing it. Oh, by the way, we should organise a reconstruction of Danny's movements, jog people's memories. Thursday night, one week on, ask Tom to lead it."

"What? No, absolutely not, he's been through enough," she protested.

"Well ask him, it's up to him," he insisted.

"No, I'm his mother, I decide," she snapped at him.

"Oh so your loyalty to this investigation stops outside of work?" he asked.

"Sir, with respect, that's not fair, everyone is upset and Tom hasn't been sleeping so back off," she replied. She saw he wasn't looking that bothered, he must be used to it.

She put her head in her hands as he began to move away.

"You're invited to dinner, pick a night," she continued, thinking maybe if she asked now, it would get Tom out of the reconstruction.

"What?" he asked, surprised she'd even asked, he wasn't high on anyone's social list. "Why?"

"It's what people do when someone new arrives, they ask their boss to dinner. Know many people around here?" she asked.

Alec thought maybe he didn't, he hadn't even got Rose's surname and she definitely wasn't on his social list.

"What would we talk about, work?" he hesitated.

"No, anything but, just say yes. I can invite Rose if you like?" she suggested.

"It's not a good idea Miller," he still protested, shuddering at the thought of his DS telling her friend then them both talk about him before and after the event.

"Do you have to be such an ass about it?" she asked, forgetting the 'Sir' since he was on his way out. "Just say yes."

He stood and thought about it, it would be an excuse to at least get Rose to talk to him without telling him he should go easy on people he talked to.

"Yes," he agreed reluctantly.

"What was so hard about that?" she asked. "I'll not ask Rose if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Yes, I'd rather her not be there, she chewed me out earlier," he admitted.

Ellie stifled a laugh, it served him right. "You probably deserved it," she replied. "Thought you had to be somewhere?"

He had but not until later, maybe he'd walk down to the newsagents and see if the man was willing to share? Yeah Hardy, he told himself, like that was as likely to happen as Rose agreeing to go to the Miller house and have dinner the same time as he was there. That was why he'd not been too keen.

He decided against it, went back to the hotel and actually eat there for a change then made his way back to meet his friend on the pier.

"This is a bit cloak and dagger Alec," his friend greeted him. "Why the secrecy?"

"It's a small town, everyone gets to know things," he replied. "So what did you think of what I sent you?" he dared to ask.

"It's not good Alec, now you've got yourself into the middle of a murder investigation, you have to go easy."

"I can't, I have to see this through, people remember what happened on my last case. Besides, they have paramedics here, I can call if I need to, they can't tell anyone what they treat me for," he replied.

"Seriously? That's your solution Alec?" he was asked.

"Well that and I forgot to ask you to bring me some more pills, can you send a prescription to the hotel?" he wanted to know.

His friend shook his head. "You know they have paramedics then? Met them already?" his friend laughed.

"Yes but not for personal reasons. The female one told me off today when I asked what she was doing at the newsagent's I was in earlier asking question," he admitted.

"Well that was a good start then Alec, best hope they don't send her if you need one. Sure you weren't flirting with her?" his friend grinned. "So do you like it here?"

"No, I hate it, too much water," he grinned back, staring into the distance. "The people are annoying, they're telling lies for each other already and it's only been a few days."

"So why stay Alec? I can get you out on medical grounds, I'll see you get full benefits."

"That's not me, I can't sit back and let another killer get away. Just send me some more pills," he replied.

"Well you'd best hope you don't need them before you can get to the pharmacy then Alec," his friend replied. "I could have brought some if I'd known."

"I never realised I was so low," he lied, the truth being he didn't want to admit he was so low on them.

"Well just because one of the paramedics is female, don't think that will save your ass," his friend laughed. "Take care Alec, I'll post one out to you first thing tomorrow morning but it's only any good if you actually go get them. If you don't, it's all over."

"Ah, you bloody doctors, do as I say or else," Alec joked.

"I mean it Alec, don't leave it too late or even the paramedics won't be able to save you."

Alec sat a while after his friend left, thinking about what he'd just been told. Did he actually want to risk his life by the paramedics, in particular Rose getting to him in time if he collapsed somewhere? Rose had seemed out of sorts on the beach last Friday at seeing Danny lying there, how would it make her feel to find him and not know if they could bring him round or not before they got him to hospital?

If he was found and someone called it in, they wouldn't know what his condition was, Rose and her partner would be sent, depending where he was but how would it make Rose feel if she was the one attending to him, since he'd only seen the man driving and would she ever recover if he died on her?

He got up and made his mind up that whatever happened, he couldn't keep putting his appointment off but the upcoming bank holiday was cutting it a bit close, maybe he could last until the later one, only in the UK could they have two holidays in the same month. He just hoped he'd last that long and he'd call the appointments office at the hospital tomorrow and change it yet again but would he keep it this time?

Rose had wondered why Ellie was a bit off, especially over their holiday and wished they'd had more time to talk but if she suggested Alec Hardy was invited for dinner at the same time, well she could soon go off people.