Understanding

Harry left the office - heading straight for the Ladies toilets. She knew it was the last place Dempsey would think of looking for her. For some reason he never seemed to consider the small room as somewhere she would take herself off to. In that moment she had to get away from all the testosterone.

"Hi." She looked up to see a young WPC washing her hands. Immediately recognising Kelly as the new desk officer she smiled.

"Hello."

"The loo in the first floor is out of order." Kelly shrugged. Harry nodded; she had noticed the sign on the door earlier in the day. "Ma'am? Are you alright?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. "Yes, I'm fine."

Kelly frowned slightly, not really believing her senior officer. Harry Makepeace was the highest ranking female police officer in the station - the only one to join the elite SI10. Biting her lip she nodded as Harry entered a cubicle; it was clear the older woman wasn't going to admit that something or someone had upset her.

Xxxxxxx

"Hey." Dempsey called as he left the SI10 office. He was worried about Harry; knowing that being held hostage and being injured had affected her more than she would admit, even to him. He'd heard the nightmares and woke to find her staring out of the bedroom window more than once. He knew she would never let Spikings or the others know how she had been affected. It made him feel sick to think that she had been terrified twice because he was so slow. First at the hands of the so called 'Thriller Killer' and the 'Nightclub slasher.' He had to admit she was tough but surely everyone has a breaking point? He thought as he jogged up to a PC he had never met before.

"Hey?"

"Yeah?" The cockney answered as he turned to him. "What can I do you got?"

"Sargent Makepeace. You seen her? Who are you?"

"No Sir, not seen her. I'm PC Ronnie Brooks. Look, in my experience ladies head to the bog when they want to avoid us blokes. Try there if you're in the dog house."

The new recruit headed back along the corridor as Dempsey frowned. He had no idea where the toilet was but he knew he was definitely in Harry's bad books. Sighing he headed towards the stairs hoping he'd find a female officer who would be able to help.

Xxxxxxxxx

Dave made tea as he thought about the case. The drug dealer they had identified was a woman, unusual in itself but she was upper class - part of the elite. He had to agree Harry was probably the best person to go under cover.

"Chas?"

"Yeah?"

"Harry is a lady."

"She's a female. Yeah?" Chas looked up, surprised that Dave had just apparently noticed there was a woman on the team. Dave rolled his eyes.

"No, she's a Lady. Her dad is some big knob."

"Lord Winfield." Chas nodded, seeing where he was going with his line of thought. "He's the Queen's cousin."

"So? She's proper posh. Aristocracy."

"Which she hates. She's never used her title. She's always been Sgt Makepeace. It's her married name. Wingfield is her maiden name."

"So isn't she the best person to go after Harrington? To get on the inside?"

Chas smiled slightly.

"You know that. And I know that but Dempsey would be impossible after what happened and Spikings would go nuts. You know that."

"Yeah. No." Dave sighed. "I mean that shouldn't stop her doing her job."

"It shouldn't." Chas agreed. "But with those two. It's always been more complicated than that."

Dave shrugged before heading back to his desk. He didn't understand the senior members of his team at times. He decided it was probably best not to ask.

Xxxxxxx

A/N please review