I don't own The Bill or anything like that, but I love it and want to try and see what I can write based on it. Hopefully it's half decent, please review and I'll try to review others x

Reflections – Chapter 2

It had been a long night, going from bad to worse. Conrad's brief had arrived and after that the next hour was spent listening to 'No comment' after every question they asked. It was as if he didn't want to help himself, after all he was facing a charge of rape, which carried a very heavy sentence with it! It was something Smithy couldn't understand, the whole 'No comment' thing. Why would anyone put themselves in that position? It just looks worse if they don't answer, and if they haven't done anything – and Smithy didn't think that Conrad had – then why would he refuse to help himself? He sighed. Sitting alone in his office, he glanced around himself. Since being promoted to Inspector, he'd sat in this office several times, but he'd never really taken in what it was like. It was warm, he made sure of that with his portable heater (heating was broken and he had frozen his knackers off doing overtime paperwork last week!) The walls displayed his certificates he'd gained over the years, and some photos. Usually he was rather private in his life but there were those few memories he shared with the world, like the time he and Tony had gotten drunk at the pub with PC Roger Valentine and Mickey Webb. Haha, that was a good night, Mickey's face when we took that photo! Smithy smiled despite himself. That night, Tony had bought drinks all night after getting lucky on the lottery (it was £103 but they had acted like it was the jackpot at the time) Mickey flirted with the barmaid, promising her a yacht with his share of the winnings, and Roger threw a dart and completely missed the board, instead narrowly missing the top of some punter's head! They had eventually left after getting – he wanted to say drunk but it was more like 'utterly gazebo'd!' – and as they finally made it back to Smithy's, they all crashed there for the night and when they woke up it was paracetamol all round. Just looking at the photo – Mickey pulling a shocked face and Roger grinning like a maniac – made Smithy cheer up. Tonight had been a tough one and it wasn't about to get any easier, so relaxing helped. There was a knock at his door.

"Sir?" Smithy swivelled round in his chair.

"Come in Tony." Indicating the photograph. "D'you remember that night?" Tony chuckled.

"Bits of it. Something about a dog springs to mind, can't remember much else." He sat down opposite Smithy. "I remember the stonking hangover afterwards!" He laughed, and Smithy grinned too. It was nice, sharing jokes wit an old friend, unwinding. Sometimes, back in the older days, there were times when Smithy thought it would all be over too soon. The Sun Hill Fire, the terror attacks, the Sun Hill serial killer…it just went on and on and sometimes Smithy had feared he'd never make it this far, or that he'd lose another friend like Tony, the way he lost Sam Harker and Cass Rickman and Nick Klein and all the other people whom Sun Hill had destroyed.

"Sarge? You alright?" Tony glanced at him, concerned. Smithy nodded.

"Yeah just, reminiscing y'know? Remembering all the stuff we've been through over the years, cos there's certainly been enough of it!" Tony nodded.

"There certainly has. I often thought if I'd make it this far in the job, or if they'd have sacked me off long ago!"

"Smithy threw his head back laughing. "Get rid of Stampy? Never! They'd have to go through me!"

At that, Tony beamed. "Dale Smith, Force To Be Reckoned With!" They both roared with laughter, sharing with each other many years of jokes and laughs that they would never forget.

After a few minutes, Smithy calmed down. He turned to Tony, who slowly stopped laughing. This was serious.

"Tony…that kid…Conrad." He rubbed his face with his hands and then looked his friend straight in the eye. "He didn't do it." Before Tony could interrupt, he intercepted. "I know, I know. His DNA was found at the scene and he did know the woman personally. But what if…well its undeniable he was there, but what if he wasn't the only guy there? What if he interrupted something and is too scared to talk?" Tony grimaced.

"I must admit, his reaction when we said 'rape', he looked genuinely shocked and scared. I guess I just didn't want to believe we were chasing a dead lead."

Silence fell between the two men, both trapped in their own thoughts. An awkward stillness settled in the office, the atmosphere becoming cold and confusing. They had honestly believed it was Conrad, pinned all their hope on him. After all, there were no witnesses and no other DNA links. It was one of those cases where even nothing was something, because it had to be. After what seemed like hours, Tony spoke.

"Sarge, we need to release Conrad. We have nothing on him, and soon enough his brief will kick up a fuss." Smithy nodded grimly. "But we will find this guy Sarge. It's just a matter of time, I know it is!" Tony stood up, stretching as he did so. "Shall I go and inform Sergeant Stone that Conrad's to be released?" Silence. Then Smithy slowly nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah you'd better." Tony nodded before leaving, his recognition to Smithy of their situation. Once again a solid silence settled in, and Smithy was once again lost in his thoughts. If it wasn't Conrad, then who was it? How could they get him? Would this woman receive justice? It was times like this that made Smithy question his abilities as an Inspector, and after what happened with Jason Devlin, he often felt he didn't deserve the position anyway. As far as he was concerned, he got it under false pretences and that bothered him. A lot. Turning back to face the wall, Smithy reverted back to the photo on his wall. Mickey, Roger and Tony, all smiling at him, confident in their role and their abilities. Could he begin to believe in himself like that? I need this. I need to find this guy, to prove I'm good deep down. He was going to do this. Tony had faith in him, and maybe that was all he needed. A friend. But it still felt false, like his hope was conjured by his brain trying to keep him happy, and it wasn't working. A sad feeling sat in his chest, and he slowly turned up the heater in his office. Why was it so cold inside?

End of Chapter 2.