A/N1: Lots of swearing in this one.
*/*/*/*/*
Hardy's phone rings.
Miller.
He hesitates. She must be exhausted after spending the day remembering Danny with the Latimers and the rest of Broadchurch. He'd considered ringing her, just to check on her, but knowing Miller, she wouldn't have recognized the gesture, let alone appreciate it. But here she is, ringing him at this time of night on today of all days.
This can't be good.
He picks up the call. "Yeah?" he says, trying not to sound worried.
"Fuck, Hardy-fuck-" He hears a thud and Miller lets out a sharp cry of pain, and now she's swearing in a completely different tone of voice.
His breath catches in sudden terror, all the disasters that could have happened today blooming in his mind, ranging from denting the car to a vivid picture of Miller cowering with Tom and Fred as someone-Joe? Had Joe come back?-searches for them.
"Miller? Miller! What's going on?"
"Nothi-I'm fine-tripped-never mind that! Claire Ripley just told the world it was Tess!"
Now his heart seems to stop in his chest. "What?"
"That American program, the one about Sandbrook and Danny, they asked Claire about the pendant and she-"
"Fuck!"
He ends the call without another word and immediately dials Tess' number even as he scrambles for his wallet and room key and heads for the door.
*/*/*/*/*
"For God's sake, Alec! What are we going to do now?"
He stares at Tess and Dave, watching him with that same mix of fear and pleading hope on their faces as when they'd confessed the theft of the pendant and their affair, when they'd waited for his rage to explode but knowing he'd think of a way to save them from their own stupidity. They're even in his old office-now Tess'-the place where they originally confessed their sins. He wishes with all his soul that somebody would save him from all this bloody horseshit.
His heart is beating so hard he imagines he can hear his pacemaker squealing from the pressure to keep up.
He swallows his anger and says, "Where's Daisy?"
"In the lunch room, wondering what the fuck is going on and why we took her phone away," Tess says.
"Right," Hardy says and rubs weary hands over his face. "Let's go tell her."
"And then what?"
"Then we go talk to Rebecca. She's here, waiting for us."
Tess and Dave pull in hissing breaths, eyes wide.
"Alec," Tess says, her eyes soft and pleading, and Hardy wonders what, exactly, she thinks he can do to change things this time.
Hardy shakes his head. "I can't protect Daisy this time," he growls and stalks out of the office.
*/*/*/*/*
Daisy's puzzled and angry and frightened, and Hardy can see the child still lurking beneath the veneer of the sixteen-year-old young woman she'd become. His stomach clenches even as he and Tess pull two chairs close to her and sit, reaching to take her hands. Dave, the sot, hovers behind them and Hardy reluctantly gives him credit for knowing when to get the fuck out of the way.
Hardy's heart drops when Daisy looks from one to the other and pulls her hands away from both of them. She silently watches them with a solemn face and wide eyes and a chill runs down his spine.
She's too calm.
"Darlin'," he says, his voice a soothing burr, "there was a program on the telly tonight, about Danny Latimer and the Sandbrook case."
Her expression doesn't change, her eyes intent as she watches them.
Hardy swallows and glances at Tess, who looks back at him with an equally tortured expression.
"The program included an interview with Claire Ripley," Tess says, "and...she...she..." She falters, blinking back tears.
Hardy purses his lips then straightens. Daisy turns her too-calm face back towards him. "Daisy. Two years ago, when the evidence went missing out of the back of a police car...it was while your mother was driving it. Not me and not some other DS. Dave was with her."
Daisy doesn't blink or look away from him and he slowly leans forward, his eyes wide and intent.
"You already knew?" he asks gently and Tess draws in her breath with a quick hiss.
"I suspected after you came back," Daisy says and while she's trying to be stoic-like him, he thinks, and his heart breaks a little more-there's a tiny tremble in her voice. "I was hoping-" she hesitates, pressing her lips tightly together-like him-then says, "I was hoping I was wrong."
"Oh, Daisy," Tess breathes and reaches out to touch her but Daisy flinches away. "Daize-"
"Don't," Daisy chokes out and now tears are filling her eyes. "You should have told me, Mum."
"We didn't think it would ever come out," Dave says.
Daisy gives him a contemptuous look. "Secrets always come out."
Hardy leans back with a sigh. "Well, this is the last one we've kept from you, and unfortunately, it's going to be a shit show for the next little while." He glances at Tess and Dave and says, "We have to go talk to Rebecca now and then we'll all go talk to Isabella, and then we'll decide what we're going to do."
"What do you care?" Tess says bitterly. "You're back on the Broadchurch payroll. You can always just run away again."
Hardy grits his teeth. "I suspect we're all going to have that option this time round," he growls. He gives Daisy a sympathetic look but doesn't try to touch her. "We'll be back soon," he says.
She just looks down at the floor and nods.
*/*/*/*/*
Rebecca is beyond angry, beyond rage.
It's terrifying.
She calls Hardy an idiot then turns her attention to Tess and Dave.
"I spent a long time wondering how and why Hardy could have fucked up so badly," she says with a calm she's obviously struggling to maintain. "Then I spent the last few months wondering who he would have covered for and why." She glances at Hardy. "Did you know that Will Seymour didn't believe a word of your story? He wrote several editorials speculating that it was likely true one of the DSs was having an affair but it was probably with you. People believed him, for the most part, because it was one of the few things that made any bloody sense."
Hardy's eyes widen.
"Missed those ones, then?" Rebecca says drily.
"Must have," he mutters.
"Gained a lot of traction again after you were accused of having an affair with Ellie Miller." She turns her eyes to Tess. "You didn't bother telling him that bit?"
Tess' smug demeanour is nowhere in sight as she says, "Didn't think-"
"Didn't think! That seems to be the story of your fucking life, Tess!" Rebecca snaps. She flicks cold eyes over to Dave. "Your life seems to be about letting other people take the blame. Why didn't you stand up?"
Dave stammers then says, "I have a family!"
He has the grace to look chagrined as the other three silently stare at him.
"You are such an arsehole," Hardy finally growls and raises an eyebrow at Tess. "I see why you fell for him."
"For God's sake, Alec-"
"Enough!" Rebecca snaps. She looks at the three of them then leans back in her chair and sighs. "At least now I understand, Alec," she says, her tones warmer than he'd heard from her since he'd returned. "I suspected, but without an admission..." She spreads her hands in a shrug. "I know you're back on in Broadchurch, reviewing that case we talked about. When you're finished and you're ready to come back, I'll find something for you."
His expression doesn't change as he gives her a short nod.
She turns to Tess and Dave. "You are both suspended. With pay, unfortunately, while we complete a thorough review of all the cases you worked on together, and a spot check review of the cases you worked on separately." She flicks a glance at Hardy. "At least we've already completed yours." She turns back to Tess and Dave. "Regardless of the findings, I strongly-very strongly-recommend you find jobs out of Sandbrook when everything's done-and out of law enforcement...or at least any bit of it that has to do with gathering evidence and maintaining the chain of custody." She squeezes her eyes shut, her hands closing into tight fists. "Christ! Do you have any understanding of how much this throws everything you've ever worked on together into question? How many cases might be in jeopardy now because you couldn't control yourselves? Because you decided a shag was more important than a case we'd been trying to break for weeks?" She opens her eyes and glares at the pair and Hardy feels a flash of empathy because he knows how difficult it is not to throttle the both of them.
He's been there.
Rebecca says, her voice whip-sharp, "Isabella's in her office, working on statements to the press. If you can drop out of sight before the sun rises and let us do the talking, that might make things a little easier for Hardy and Daisy."
"Rebecca-" Hardy says, but she interrupts him.
"Don't you bloody dare try to intervene for her! You've done more than enough of that!" She turns back to Tess and Dave. "Doris and Jake are outside and they're going to help you clean out your offices once Isabella's finished with you, and then you get out of my station! Professional Standards will be reviewing all your cases and I swear to God, if there are any other times when you ignored your duties because of your fucking hormones, you damn well better tell me before they do and pray that all I'm going to do is fire you!"
They sit in tense silence, Hardy glaring down at the floor, arms crossed.
"Get out," Rebecca finally barks. Tess and Dave scramble to their feet and Hardy finds himself giving her a reassuring nod before she turns and almost runs out the door with Dave on her heels.
He turns to Rebecca and finds her slowly shaking her head at him.
"Was she worth it?" she asks. "Was she really worth your career and reputation and health?"
He stares off into space and lifts his shoulders in a slight shrug. "I loved her. Once. We were happy...or I thought we were, at least for a time. We have Daisy, and I wanted to protect my daughter. She'd only just turned thirteen, and Dave had wee ones and another on the way. Then there was Pippa..." He hesitates, mouth pressed tightly closed, struggling with the memory of that poor child. "Too many innocent lives had already been destroyed," he growls, "and the truth wouldn't bring the pendant back or stop the case from falling apart."
"You should have trusted me."
"Your career almost didn't survive as it was—and I wasn't going to change my mind about what I was going to do. There was nothing else you could have-should have-done."
"I would have liked the opportunity to try." She shakes her head. "At least I can have Isabella help you deflect the press until you start your new job in Broadchurch."
He groans and closes his eyes. "Miller's going to give me such a bollocking if I bring the press down on top of her again..."
Rebecca grins suddenly, and she looks once again like the woman who had been his partner for a year. "Someday I'll need to meet this Miller," she says with a wicked gleam in her eyes, "swap horror stories about working with Alec Hardy." She glances at her watch. "You'd better go and finish up with Isabella so we can all try to get some sleep before we have to face the press in the morning."
*/*/*/*/*
Isabella is icily polite when she speaks to Tess and Dave, and Hardy wonders what she doesn't say every time she opens her mouth, glances at Daisy, and pauses before she says something. He knows she's trying to keep things civil in front of his daughter and he appreciates the effort.
But now Isabella's looking at him. "When do you start back in Broadchurch?" she asks briskly.
"A week Monday, when Miller's back."
"Well," Isabella says thoughtfully, "we have a couple of options. We can try to hide all of you, and firmly refuse all requests for interviews." She smiles a little at the hopeful look on Hardy's face. "Or we can tell the media the three of you are available for interviews for the next week, but only for the next week, and we can do a press conference or two if the demand seems high enough. Let them get their feeding frenzy over with and maybe they'll leave you alone when you go to Broadchurch."
"So long as we keep Daisy out of it," he says and looks at Daisy. "It had nothing to do with you."
"Why'd you cover for Mum?" she demands, the first time she's spoken since they filed into Isabella's office. "Did you love her so much you were willing to cover up anything for her? Is she why you threw it all away?"
He scowls at her and glares at Tess and Dave, at Isabella, at the world in general for always putting him in these bloody shitty situations.
"I did it for you," he admits sullenly. "Saving your mother was…secondary."
"Nobody's going to believe that," Daisy says. "Nobody believes it now. Everybody thinks you were willing to cover for a bad cop because you loved her more than your duties as a police officer."
He frowns. "How do you know what 'everybody' is thinking?"
She rolls her eyes. "Have you ever even heard of social media, Dad? It's trending all over the place already."
He lets out a gusty sigh. "Bloody Twitter," he mutters.
"Yah, there, too." She looks at her mother, her face calm but her eyes cold and angry. "When the week is done, I want to go with Dad."
"What?" Tess gasps.
"What?" Hardy says blankly.
"It's summer break. Maybe I should spend it with you." She looks again at her mother. "If I like it there, maybe I'll stay. I hate this place anyway, especially since everything went to shit the first time."
"Language," Hardy mutters automatically but there's no force behind it and Daisy ignores him, her attention focused on her mother.
Tess stares, eyes wide and hurt. "Daize…please-"
Daisy rolls her eyes, crosses her arms and leans back in her chair.
Hardy huffs a sigh and puts a hand on Daisy's shoulder but she shrugs it off. It doesn't make him feel any better when she does the same to Tess.
*/*/*/*/*
Charlie is blinking sleepily when he opens the door to Hardy and Daisy, and he yawns widely as he steps aside to let them in.
"Rachel's making some tea," he says. "If you're tired, Daize, Mackenzie's bed is already made up for you."
"Yah," she mutters, "thanks."
"Do you want a cuppa? Rachel will bring you one, if you'd like."
"No, thanks. I just want to go to bed."
"Right." Charlie looks rather helplessly at Hardy, who just gives a small shake of his head.
"G'night, Dad, Uncle Charlie," she says without quite looking at either of them. "Please say good-night to Aunt Rachel for me."
She clutches her small plastic bag against her chest as she trudges up the stairs to the bedroom, the bag that contains the personal toiletries and pajamas they'd purchased on the way to the Bellamy's.
Hardy watches her go with a heavy heart then turns to see Charlie's curious face.
"Tea," Charlie says firmly, and leads the way to the kitchen.
*/*/*/*/*
Rachel and Charlie hear him out without comment and sit in sympathetic silence when he's finished.
Rachel exchanges a glance with Charlie then says, "Well...when the news broke you'd taken the blame for someone, we suspected it was Tess."
He gives an almost half-smile. "You didn't believe Will Seymour's theory that I was the one having an affair with one of my Detective Sergeants?"
"We know you, Alec," Rachel says calmly. "We would have needed to see pictures before we'd believe you cheated on Tess."
Charlie lets out a heavy sigh. "Daisy's welcome to stay for as long as you need," he says.
"I go to Broadchurch in a week. She wants to go with me. We'll see if Tess manages to convince her otherwise before then."
"Sounds like Tess will have problems of her own," Rachel says drily. "It might be good to have Daisy as far from the storm as you can get her."
"The storm's only going to follow," Hardy growls.
*/*/*/*/*
A/N2 – Man, that was cathartic. ;D