A/N Thanks for all the reviews for chapter three - you guys are great - and thanks to everyone who has continued reading. Here's the next, and the final, chapter - hope this story has been as light (and as enjoyable) as I'd intended it to be.
A/N 2 'And one and one is one, not two'.
One And One
Chapter Four
Stretching her legs out under the table, Shaz was glad that she'd taken a few minutes to change her shoes earlier in the evening; her Doc Martens weren't exactly the expected attire for a bride but they were, for the most part, concealed by her dress and so much more comfortable than the footwear she'd married in. And they were better for dancing in, too, as her and Chris' first turn on the dance floor had proven. Glancing to her side, she smiled at Chris, who had spun her around the floor many times since then, and he grinned back at her. As much as she'd enjoyed dancing with her husband, and their friends and family, she'd felt herself beginning to tire, the adrenaline and excitement that had seen her through what had been a very long day finally fading away so she'd led Chris off to less demanding pastures - he would need his energy for later on as much as she did.
In the large hall of the hotel most of the tables that had been used for the reception had been relocated to the sides to allow enough space to dance but still provide seating for those who wanted it and from her newly acquired position at one of those tables she watched the few guests who were still dancing with a curious smile. She wasn't sure who had requested the slower song that was currently playing; she suspected that it might have been her mum because she had made a comment about the 'rubbish' the DJ had been playing previously and was now dancing the night away with her father. She watched her parents softly, imagining herself and Chris doing the same at their own daughter's wedding. For a few blissful moments she let those thoughts and conjured up images take her away to the future she knew they were going to have together. Her daydream only escaped her when another couple, who weren't dancing quite as chastely as her parents, strayed into her line of sight and brought her right back to 1983.
The new couple held each other closely as they swayed to the music, her head on his shoulder, his arms slung around her waist as if they should have always been there. The sight of the two of them together was somewhat of a surprise to her; she'd hoped for a satisfactory outcome where they were concerned but she'd had no idea that they would get on that well today - quite the opposite, in fact. It was just a shame, she thought a little begrudgingly, that it was Ray and Karen who were dancing so closely and not her superior officers. She quickly chided herself for that assessment; apparently, or so Karen had told her because she couldn't quite see - or understand - it herself, there was 'just something about Ray's eyes'. And the Sergeant seemed quite taken with Karen, too.
Sighing under her breath, though with the music it wasn't really necessary, she tried to console herself with the thought that she'd been able to spread a little bit of happiness around even if it hadn't hit the intended target. She'd managed to liaise with her aunts before they'd retired for the evening but they hadn't told her much more than she already knew and apart from locking both of her superior officers in a room together they didn't know what else they could do. Shaz had quickly assessed every room in the hotel in the hopes of pulling off such a plan but, even if there had been somewhere suitable, she hadn't been able to think of a way to entice both of them there without their realising her intentions. No, as Alice had told her, it was all up to the Guv and DI Drake now but left to those two the only certainty seemed to be the onset of world war three and she feared that Fenchurch East would never again be a happy place to work; it wasn't as if she could enlist her aunts' babysitting skills on a permanent basis, no matter how agreeable they'd probably be to spending time at the station. Picking up her glass and taking a quick sip, she supposed that she could always transfer out of CID if things continued to decline but she really didn't want to leave. And she really didn't want to give up on the Guv and DI Drake.
Placing her glass back down onto the table she shifted her view to locate the two people who had caused her the most bother today, her eyes falling on the Guv first. He was tucked away in the same corner of the hall where he'd spent most of the evening, nursing the same pint he must've had for the last hour and smoking yet another cigarette. That was pretty much all he'd done since the disco had started, apart from that one time she had caught him glancing up at DI Drake when he'd thought nobody else was looking. His gaze had fixed for far too long on the Inspector, who had at least been making an effort to enjoy herself tonight by dancing a couple of times and mingling with the other guests. And though the Inspector's actions were far more sociable they were ultimately as divisive as the Guv's; DI Drake had spoken, at least in passing, to pretty much everyone present except for the Guv. Some people might have, quite correctly, said that she'd gone out of her way to avoid him. All of which had added to her feeling that her plan, or at least part of it, wasn't going to work out. Her gaze switched to DI Drake just in time to see the other woman heading her way.
"It's been a lovely day, Shaz," DI Drake said and loudly enough to be heard over the music. The Inspector leant forward to kiss her cheek, doing the same to Chris. "You two are going to be very happy together," she added on, a sad sort of smile gracing her lips as she unknowingly echoed Shaz's earlier thoughts.
"Thank you, Ma'am" Shaz answered in unison with her husband.
DI Drake had long since given up trying to persuade the newlyweds to call her Alex, especially today of all days, so the Inspector merely smiled once more at the response before turning away. Shaz watched the Inspector leave, taking all of her, now battered and faded, hopes for some sort of reconciliation between her superior officers with her. When the older woman had disappeared from view, she turned to Chris once more and shared her own sad smile with him though he couldn't possibly know the reason behind it; when his hand reached for hers in comfort she conceded that it didn't really matter as long as he was always there for her - and she was certain that he would be. She was about to suggest that they hit the dance floor once again when, out of the corner of her eye, she noted a quick movement from the Guv's location. As the DCI started to walk in the Inspector's direction, Shaz wondered if all was not as lost as she'd thought.
Waiting until the Guv had left the hall she rose quickly, her attempt to follow only stalled by Chris holding on to her hand and gently pulling her back. When she turned to him once more there was that question in his eyes again, the same one he'd been asking her all day and had never received an answer to. It really wasn't the time to explain anything, yet for a brief moment she wondered if he, unknowingly, had a point; if the Guv was about to do what she hoped then she really should let him have some privacy. On the other hand she couldn't be certain that he was about to do anything of the kind; it was just as likely that another blazing row was on the cards and if that was the case then she was prepared to step in this time. She was prepared to bang their heads together if necessary. It might just be the only thing that would work. Tugging at Chris' hand until he acquiesced and stood up she pulled him discretely across the hall with her to investigate.
With Chris trailing behind her, and their departure pretty much unnoticed by their guests, she made it out into the corridor in time to see the Guv heading up the staircase and she quickened her - and her husband's - pace to catch up. When she came to a stop at the foot of the stairs, peeking around the corner and up the staircase, Chris finally spoke up: "What's-"
She quickly shushed him before he gave their position away and tugged at his hand again to signal that he follow her up the stairs. Her husband's compliance attained once again they edged up the stairs until they were a few steps away from the landing of the first floor and where she'd seen the Guv heading.
"Bols?"
Shaz stopped dead at the sound of the Guv's voice, Chris gently bumping into her from behind. She turned around to face her husband and with the use of one finger and her mouth she indicated to him once more that she wanted him to remain silent. From the tone of his voice the Guv was really going to do this and she wanted to hear every word. Just so she could step in if it all went wrong, of course.
"I'm tired," the Inspector's voice echoed down the corridor, passed over the Guv and made its way towards Shaz and Chris, still audible above the dull throb of the disco that had followed them all. "And today is supposed to be a celebration. Let's not ruin it."
"Bols, wait."
Unable to see anything, though given the Guv's response she presumed that DI Drake had started to walk away, Shaz edged further up the stairs so she could peep around the corner. She could see the back of the Inspector, stood completely still, a few feet ahead of the Guv and the latter's request apparently being obeyed. DI Drake turned around slowly and Shaz wished that she had as good a view of her DCI because all she could see was his back. In the long silence that followed the Guv's order she expected the other woman to give up and start walking away again; she stayed put though, her arms folded across her waist, her gaze boring at the Guv. If Shaz was at all visible, her head peeking out around the corner though low down, then the Inspector was far too engrossed in other things - other people - to notice.
"I er..." the Guv started badly. DI Drake raised her eyebrows in expectation when the sentence went unfinished, prompting him to continue. "I'm sorry."
There was the briefest of wavering in the Inspector's gaze, as if Alice had been right after all and an apology just might be enough, or a good enough start, before it evened out again. "You're sorry? What for exactly?" DI Drake asked but didn't wait for an answer to her question as she took a step forward and continued: "For being a heartless selfish bastard?"
Shaz tightened her hand around her husband's; the Inspector's tone was too sharp, and perhaps even too painful, to elicit anything other than a similar reaction from the Guv and then the arguing would begin again. And she'd promised herself that she'd step in, too. It was a disheartening thought but it didn't get chance to take root.
"Is that what you really think of me?" he asked and Shaz was certain that the Guv's shoulders sagged just a little as he spoke - and that her eyebrows had leapt into her hairline.
"How could I possibly think anything else? You certainly haven't given me any reason to," the Inspector replied, her face finally betraying her feelings and Shaz just hoped that the Guv could see it, too. "Where were you, Gene? You told me that you'd always be there if you were needed but you weren't there when I woke up. You didn't even come and visit me."
"I shot you. I almost bloody killed you," the Guv offered in defence. "I was the last person you needed to see."
"You were the only person I needed to see," DI Drake replied quietly, her gaze crumbling further as she made her confession and her words making Shaz's heart ache. She wished then that she'd pushed the Guv more, had tried harder to make him go to the hospital because all of this might have then been avoided. When DCI Hunt failed to respond further to the charge made against him she changed her wish, willing him to do something now, to say something right then - anything, so long as he didn't let the opportunity to fix his relationship with DI Drake slip away again. He ignored the forceful thoughts she was sending his way and remained silent, as if he hadn't expected to hear that at all and had been struck dumb. It was only when the Inspector shook her head sadly, turned around, and started to walk away again that he finally spoke.
"I visited you in the hospital," he said quickly, the words stopping DI Drake in her tracks. "Just after... You were unconscious. Lying there with all these machines around you. And you were so still, so quiet. Like you weren't even there," he explained quietly and the Inspector turned around to face him once more. "I did that to you. And all I can see when I look at you now is you lying in that hospital bed because of me... And it's tearing me apart."
The look on DI Drake's face was enough to convince Shaz that the older woman was as taken aback as she was by the Guv's confession. "It was an accident," the Inspector stated softly. "You don't need to apologise for that."
The Guv nodded his head slightly in understanding. "Then I'm sorry for everything else. For all the things I said to you. For not trusting you. For suspending you. Most of all for not being there when you needed me. I thought you hated me, Alex."
The Inspector smiled briefly and took a step towards the Guv. "I don't hate you, Gene. Maybe I should and sometimes I even want to but I don't. I just..."
"Want it to be like it was before?" he asked, almost hopefully, when DI Drake seemed to hesitate over finishing that thought.
"Something like that," the Inspector smiled, edging that little bit closer towards DCI Hunt until she was no more than an arm's length away. "Gene?" she asked quietly, her proximity to the Guv now hiding DI Drake's face from Shaz's view, "I still need you." That time the Guv didn't hesitate, closing the gap between them in a heartbeat and wrapping his arms around DI Drake as she fell willingly into his embrace.
Shaz felt a smile break across her face at the sight of her superior officers, the warm glow that was accompanying it enough to chase away the dark cloud that had been threatening to ruin her day. It wasn't because her plan had worked - if this had happened spontaneously, though the chances of that had seemed very slim, she'd have been just as happy - but because some things were just meant to be and the Guv and DI Drake, she concluded as the two people in question showed no signs of letting go of each other, were one of those 'things'. She couldn't wait to tell her aunts that their efforts had paid off so spectacularly - if her superior officers weren't currently blocking the way she'd have done it there and then.
"Told you it'd work itself out," Chris whispered into her ear.
She turned around to face him, taking a step down the stairs so she could wrap her arms around him. "You did," she agreed softly, leaning in to kiss him tenderly. Today had, without any doubt, been the best day of her life and the thought of many more to come only intensified the joy that was thrumming through her at that moment. Releasing him she smiled down at her husband, her only thought now being the much anticipated climax to the day. "Let's give them a bit longer before we go to our room."