As the waiters cleared away the starters Dempsey found time to take in the surroundings; noting the grand, highly decorated ceiling towering above, the tables of police officers – they seemed a very mixed bag and then the rest of the SI10 table, his attention so far having been focused firstly on Chas and subsequently Harry.

Airs and graces, people with pretension didn't faze him at all – he rather despised it and had learnt to ignore it. Fry and Billy especially had talked on about the evening for days asking questions about what was right and wrong and posh until he had wanted to scream. Sergeant Makepeace, he had to admit, had been far more charitable, helpful and reassuring but he had done his bit in lending Fry a suit for the night.

"Hey Fry stand up – let's see the whistle and flute" he called across the table.

It was obvious that Fry was not going to stand alone so Dempsey stood and made his way round the table to stand by Fry. The jacket wasn't that bad a fit, but Fry's nervousness and his resulting curved posture meant the jacket did not hang that well.

"Fling you shoulders back into it" Dempsey advised but the result was like a monkey jerking around on the side of the dance floor. "Ok you're looking good now kid" Dempsey encouraged as he patted Fry on the shoulder and he then noticed Fry's trousers

"You're not wearing my pants" Dempsey observed

Fry coughed nervously

"Not that many people would notice" Dempsey added trying to offer false reassurance, making a mental note that although a very similar black the style and cut was quite different. "I guess they were the wrong size?" he postulated

Fry blushed

"Me - I like a good fit, well hung but with room to move freely.

Fry coughed and spluttered, more so when he realised that the whole table was now focused on him. He had been in the changing rooms when Dempsey came back off of a surveillance, he knew Dempsey wore those Calvin Klein shorts sort of things… "Dempsey" he mouthed "you didn't loan me any pants – no one can see my pants can they?" Fry panicked hoiking his trousers up around his waist

Harry moved and whispered into Dempsey's ear and as the penny dropped he grinned. "Believe me Fry I can tell they're your pants, your type not mine."

"It doesn't matter does it?" Fry asked pitifully as he sat down to hide himself

"Each man to his own" Dempsey patted Fry on the shoulder again and returned to his seat as dinner was served

Each person was served with chicken in a red wine sauce

"I take it there was no choice" Harry asked Tom sitting next to her

"Only this or some vegetarian thing with green tagliatelle"

"Serves me right for being late I suppose" Makepeace mused

"Coq au vin" Dempsey pondered out loud as he placed some vegetables on his plate "this reminds me of that dinner in the French Bistro"

"What Morocco Jack's?" Makepeace asked as she signed him to put some vegtables on her plate as well

"Now that was a night I remember" Dempsey passed the dish onto Chas but looked back to Harry

"I seem to remember a conversation about guys treating their women in the same way as their car Danny…." she looked at him whilst she tried to remember "Sapalutro"

Dempsey sucked his cheeks in slightly but decided to tease Makepeace would annoy her more than correcting her would

"What I liked was that sequin dress on the back of the chair" he said deliberately looking to see if any of the others were listening and ready to get the wrong end of the stick again

"It's not the sort of dress you can sleep in" she answered very matter of factly, innocently falling into his trap and laying herself wide open again.

"You know I could smell your perfume on my shirt after you slept in it" he recalled with rather an unplanned soft reminiscence

"I was glad it had tails, it protected my dignity" she replied as a myriad of pleasant recollections about that night surfaced. Their eyes locked.

"What I've never forgotten was waking to a vision of a blond bombshell wearing my shirt and not a whole lot more."

Spikings coughed

"I don't think the boss approves" Makepeace grimaced quietly

"I don't think the boss should be listening" Dempsey coughed back but then at the realisation that the whole table was listening Dempsey burst out laughing and Harry joined him.

"So what does Dempsey say about cars and women?" asked Tom

"That he's never got such a bad tune out of his car as he has from some women he knows"

"Now that wouldn't be referring to you would it Harry?" teased Tom

"You drive somewhat more responsibly" Harry replied as if that was an answer to his question

"Mmmmm" Tom acknowledged making his own mind up about his question

A sort of silence fell as everyone tucked into the food, but after a while the conversation continued.

"Well at least we didn't get that nouvelle cuisine stuff" Chas commented

"What's that" asked Dave
"Three pieces of mangetout on a plate" Tom said at exactly the same time as Spikings said "Teeny tiny bits of food with artfully squiggled on sauce"

"That's not mans' food" Dempsey said

"Damn true" Spikings concurred "Mrs Spikings thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread" he rubbed his forehead "…the trouble is I have to sneak into the kitchen and butter several slices of sliced bread as soon as her meal is over"

"Mangetout?" Billy whispered to Tom

"Flat peas in the pod before the peas grow"

"Sounds disgusting" Fry mooted

"Hey Fry" Dave wound the table up "Where do you get your pants from? C&A?"

"No Fry's mum shops at M&S" Tony joined in

"Fry do you have a VPL?" asked Watson

Spikings coughed a warning but Fry asked anyway "What's one of those?"

"A visible panty line!" Tony clarfied

"That's a woman's thing" Fry blushed and he felt the rest were being merciless and cruel

"Well Dempsey can see his pants!" Dave reminded everyone

"Dempsey's American" Watson pointed out

"And?" asked Fry innocently

"They have potato chips and cookies" Watson hinted

"So?" the clues went straight over Fry's head

"And elevators" Tony added

"And sidewalks, vacations and windshields" Dave contributed

"Not sure where we're going with this" Fry sighed

Everyone groaned

"Dempsey asked you about your pants" Watson tried again

Fry looked down again "I still don't see how he can see them"

"Because Fry Americans call trousers pants and pants underpants" Dave explained

"Boxers" corrected Dempsey

"I'm guessing underpants here" Makepeace whispered in Dempsey's ear "Y fronts in particular"

"Makepeace are you telling me you want a rundown of the guys changing room" Dempsey whispered back directly into her ear as he leaned right into her

"No I can live with my imagination thank you" Makepeace smirked, once again returning the whisper into his ear with an intimate proximity.