"ARGH! Wh-what are you doing here? What do you want?"
The little girl smirked, her grin wide with evil intentions as she listened to Sam's trembling voice and shaking body - you could practically hear his teeth chattering, his knees knocking and his heart pounding against his already fragile ribcage.
"Oh Sam, don't look so scared!"
Her innocent blonde locks swayed as she crept closer, closer, closer...
"Pl-please, leave us alone!" his eyes slammed shut, he turned the baby in his arms inwards, her vision blocked so she didn't have to view this...this monster of a girl.
He continued to shake like leaves falling from a tree in a tornado. Her scent was becoming painfully near; a mixture of pear drops, sickly sweet chocolate, lollypops and, oddly enough, burning. Sam often thought that the latter of the stenches was due to the flash of bright white light, the one that blinded him, knocking his senses completely off balance. Of course she was going to intimidate him, make him terrified.
And she was doing it again...for the first time in weeks.
"Relax Sam, it's only little young me! Aren't you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?" she blinked sweetly, etching nearer, and nearer, and nearer...
Sam's nose screwed up in pure anguish. "Piss off!"
'Blondie' (the nick-name he'd given her, at least compressed in his head) gasped inwardly, not too apparent, as if she was allergic to such emotion. "Oh Sam, that's no way to speak to a lady! What ever would your Mummy say if she heard you say such things?"
That hit a nerve, sharp like a Rottweiler's canine. "Leave Mum out of this!"
"What's the matter, Sam? Is Mummy not here to protect you?"
"Shut up! Just le-leave...now!"
She continued to smile broadly and brightly at the begs by the older man. "Mind you, Mummy was never there to protect you, was she, Sam? She might have stopped you getting ran over. Or you jumping off that building. Or..."
"SHUT UP!!!"
A loud bang at his wafer thin, almost knackered door made Sam Tyler's head jerk up from his pillow. He was laying in a rather precarious position, his pillow somehow shoved in the middle of his bed, his legs half hanging off, half hanging on. He spluttered. His head was killing him. He rubbed his eyes, remembering just where he was.
"Aislin!"
His mind re-directed to his guest, he leapt over to where she was sleeping. Her small eyes loosely shut, she was fast asleep. "Thank God she didn't get you." he muttered breathlessly, leaning against the cot, swiping a splash of sweat away from his brow, letting out an overdue sigh. Then, another tap came at the door, this time a little softer, more considerate, with a timid yet intrigued voice accompanying the knocking.
"Sam? Please, it's me, Annie. Let me in, honey."
Running a hand through his off-blonde head of hair, he strutted over to the door, thankful for her presence. As soon as he laid a hand against the door knob, a smile bursted on his face; he was truly blessed to see her.
She entered, as equally a thrilled face greeting him warmly with a light yet delicious kiss.
"Morning."
Their simultaneous gushes didn't come without reservations. Annie's lifted lips soon turned to a little bit of a frown. "Oh, so it was true what the Gov was babbling on about, then?"
DI Tyler shut the door promptly, turning to face his sweetheart. Her arms plastered across her chest, a slightly raised eyebrow nearing her forehead, Sam delved his hands into his trouser pockets; it had seemed like too much effort last night to change into a pair of pyjamas. His eyes caught her distracted gaze upon the baby in his flat. "Yeah, just for last night though. Carers should be here any time soon to come collect her."
DC Cartwright, protruded her lips, her arms and gesture relaxing. She nodded. "Oh, ok. You could have called me, you know, I would have come round and helped you. She wasn't too much trouble I hope?"
Sam beamed. "No, she was as good as gold all night." Then, his eyes became narrow, inquisitive. "You said the Gov rang you?"
"Yep, that's right."
"Well, isn't he in today?"
Annie's head shook, her shoulders shrugged. "Nope. He said that he couldn't make it and he didn't know when he'd be back in. He told me to tell you that until then, you were in charge and to head the female murders link closely, especially from the leads you looked into yesterday."
He could tell from his girlfriends blurb and her unsure, uneasy expression that something was up. "Gene never misses work. He loves getting away from the missus!"
Annie shrugged yet again. "That's what he said though."
Silence fell across the room, a thousand and one thoughts lingering in Sam's mind, like a smoky, packed out Cabaret Bar. It just made no sense at all that the Governor wouldn't be in. The only leads Sam could think of were the ones from his Uncle, Mike Smith's place.
"Annie, how much emphasis did he put on the 'leads from yesterday' part?"
Cartwright recollected briefly, certain of her response. "A lot. Why, where were you?"
"You know Mike Smith, the bloke that came into the station for questioning yesterday - her Daddy?" Sam pointed to the bundle in the crib, sidetracking Annie for a split second. "Well, the Gov thought there was something suspicious about him, so we went round to investigate."
"Did you find much out?"
Sam shook his head grimly, a vexed frown appearing on his lips. "Nope. He just said he had no clue what-so-ever about where his wife could be."
Annie swallowed. Hard. "You don't think he's in some kind of trouble, do you?"
Even though their voices were soft, almost to a whisper, baby Aislin woke up, roaring her head off, his cheeks an explosion of crimson. Annie, being closest to her, picked the child up, cradling her gently between her arms. "There you go, darling. It's ok, Aunty Annie's here."
Sam shone on the inside; Annie would make the perfect Mother one day. Then, his mind reversed back to business. "I tell you what, once Ai's been picked up, we'll go round to his house and check it out. He might just be ill or something."
"Oh, ok, but Sam, who's Ai's?"
Sam blinked deeply yet impulsively. "Ai is Aislin - what I use-"
Before the Detective Inspector could continue, a brisk knock came at the door.
"Saved by the Bell and I'm not even Zack Morris!" Sam mumbled, Annie mishearing whatever her lover said as she rolled her eyes at his gentle jogging towards the door.
"Best not to ask." she spoke mellifluously to the baby girl, rubbing their fleshy noses together.
After a fairly quick departure from the carers, who were more than satisfied with how the child was cared for, Sam and Annie jumped into the vehicle that Cartwright had used to get to Sam's place with as they made their way to the Gene Genie's semi-detached home.
DI Tyler had only visited his Bosses house once, the time when he was on murder charges about six weeks ago. The place itself didn't seem too shabby but didn't appear to be the most inviting or warm of shelters either.
Pulling up, Sam eyed the property wearily, his lips twitching.
"Are you going in on your own?" Annie spoke sweetly, he head cocked on one side. He turned to face her.
"Yeah, I think so."
Annie didn't even need to voice her opinions for Sam to tell that she was both relieved yet a little nervous for him at the same time.
"Why, did you want to come in with me?"
"No, no, no, I'm fine, thanks!"
Her fast response and grateful smile told Sam it was a good time to leave the motor and to go and inspect the house. As he made his way over to the porch, he did consider it a little odd that the Gov's beloved Cortina wasn't parked outside. Simply ignoring his thoughts, Sam hammered the door, (so that Hunt knew that he meant business) shocked as it swung open.
He turned and gazed at Annie, her hand swishing in the air as a signal to go in, to see what he could find. Sam inhaled, as if he was venturing on an around the world voyage, stepping inside the Chief's home.
Tyler's first impressions of the place were certainly what he was fearing to expect; the building was barely lit, smoke staining the air as the ceiling turned into a nicotine, off yellow colour. The overpowering whiff of the booze and cigarettes frightened him to some degree; Gene was in desperate need of fixing his addictions. He peered down gingerly at the carpets, the once white fabric now burdened and tarnished with spilt single Malt, black coffee and what even appeared to be blood. Shuddering, Sam shut the door two, taking another coy and hesitant step into the world of the Hunts.
With the TV blaring loudly, Sam didn't notice another soul was behind him, breathing heavily with irritation; they hated intruders, almost as much as their life partner.
"What d'ya want?"
The gruff, almost feminine voice made Sam jump out of his skin, spinning on his heels sharply. Unwisely, he pulled his injured ribs in the act. "Uh, Mrs. Hunt?"
"Yeah, who's askin'?"
She trudged her way past him, her broad shoulders coming in contact with his body roughly as she left a trail of fag smoke behind her. Sam's initial thought were that she was as nearly wide as she was tall!
"Come on, I 'aven't got all day!"
The sarcastic tone made Sam alert, as if it was Gene scolding him once again. Then, he squinted at her, just to make sure it wasn't him in some sort of disguise. Then, his mind re-focused on the height difference so he spluttered a reply. "Uh, Sam, DI Tyler..."
"Oh, you?" her voice became almost a sing song, a slight chuckle accompanying her cynical words. "I've 'eard all about you."
"Really?" Sam didn't know whether to be pleased about that revelation or not.
"So, what is it?"
Not able to make eye contact with the other person, amongst the soot and dark light, Sam couldn't take into account her expression, only her already irritated tone. She shuffled about from one room to the next, each as equally mutedly lit as the other, as if she was clearing up magazines and over flowing cigarette ashtrays in some fashion or another, ash carelessly bumbling over the side of the rounded glass. Sam - although he would never admit it - was too intimidated by her to follow.
"Is Ge- is the Gov about, please?"
"Huh, you must be jokin'!" her laugh turned into a nicotine devoured cough, almost like a Witch's cackle. "He hadn't been 'ome all night! I though he were with you again, pretending to be coppers!"
Sam glowered openly, her language harsh and unjustifiable. He chose to ignore these feelings; there was urgent work to be done. "Ok, well he wasn't. He called my colleagues earlier..."
"Oh well at least you lot got a call from 'im!"
Her extended drag on her ciggie and bitter style made Tyler realise why his Gov was reluctant to return home most nights, even if he'd never openly admit to this. "We just wondered if you had any ideas where he would be calling from?"
She hacked some more phlegm from the deepest darkness depths of her throat, managing to salvage a handkerchief from her apron. Sam benevolently appalled face and mind behind that decided it would be best just to leave. He too was starting to get a tickle in the back of his neck, fearing for the safety of his ribs at this point.
"Thank you for your time, Mrs Hunt." Sam bid farewell to his Governors home, his voice cowardly, shutting the door abruptly behind him before sighing and inhaling as much air as his deflated lungs could manage, trying to rid them of the environment he just stepped out from.
He spied Annie, a warm, inviting soul awaiting him back in the car. He trotted over to the vehicle - partly in fear of his life considering Mrs. Hunt was striding from the gloom of the building complete with a rolling pin in her left hand - putting the pedal to the metal as if his name was Gene Hunt!
Annie - her lips inward as she bit the fleshy skin as a means of not screaming for dear life - held onto the handles in the car as well as her seat. Her expression was recognisable to Sam, he'd seen it many times before, in the distorted reflection of dirt and vomit stained bins as the Gov's beloved Cortina came to a screeching halt. Much like the puny car he was driving now did, directly outside the grey, action packed offices of Manchester's A Division.
Annie gasped, her palm shaking against her pure skin to make sure her heart was still beating. "Sam! What was that all about?" her voice was hoarse and made Sam feel sorry for subjecting her to that.
"Sorry, it was just..."
"'Ang on, let me guess, Gene's Missus scared you and you ran, yeah?"
Sam felt his cheeks burning as he saw his girlfriends lips become plumper, her arms folded across her chest; she knew already that she was right. "Uh...kinda."
DC Cartwright snickered, her smile as dazzling and white as ever. "Oh you!" she playfully smacked him on the arm. "Don't worry about it, even Gene's scared of 'er!"
"I wasn't scared." Sam announced, his chest rising, his posture becoming more proud, despite of the pain such a pose entails. "I just... I just wanted to get back to you, that's all."
"Yeah, yeah."
Their frisky eyes and smirks became passionate as Tyler leant in for the kiss, both savouring every second of the final moments they would have alone together for the most part of the day. Their hands fumbled over each others bodies, wanting more than just a quick snog as the fabrics of shirts mixed, their mouths doused in each others breath. Yet they cherished these moments while they could; Sam - for one - was only too aware of how quickly events could turn out of your favour.
Then, someone came banging on the car window, abruptly disabling the romantic moment.
"Alright, Boss?"
The Detective Inspector, a little annoyed of the interruption unwound the window and let go of Annie, once again touching the steering wheel. "Alright, Chris, what's the matter?"
Liquefied, greasy butter leaking from between the soggy chicken sandwich, DC Skelton mumbled a reply. "There's another bird, Boss, been found dead this morning."
Sam rumbled freely; today was now certainly not looking hopeful.
Check back for more, soon!