Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!

Thank you to whimsyfox and Saemay for the reviews so far! Enjoy! x

Chapter 3: We Meet Again

"Looks like your little mate's been up to his old tricks again. Over."

"Not again. Where this time? Over." Bethan sighed into the radio.

"The Cafe On The Corner, off Alexandra Road. You know it? It's close to the murder scene, will you be alright to attend? Over."

"Yes, fine. I'm only five minutes away. Over." Bethan shook her head at the misplaced concern of the controller on the other end of the radio. Why could people not just accept that she was fine?

As she arrived outside the cafe, she hesitated, taking a deep breath. Deciding that she needed to return to get some more answers had been the easy part. Actually going there hadn't been so simple. It wasn't that she was scared of Tom and Hal, not quite anyway. It was simply that she didn't know what to say to them. Tom was friendly enough, but Hal had made it pretty clear that she wasn't welcome. He had been polite, most of the time at least, but it was abundantly clear that he didn't like her knowing their secret. She wasn't exactly comfortable about it herself. But fate had made the decision for her, and here she was, about to go to their assistant for once. Well, in a manner of speaking...

"Police." She called, knocking on the door after finding it locked. She heard footsteps approaching and the scraping of metal on metal as the bolt across the top of the door was released.

"You? Uh... I mean... hello." Hal frowned as he opened the door. He seemed genuinely abashed by his first brusque attempt at a greeting, even attempting a solemn smile as he stepped aside and gestured courteously for her to come in.

"False imprisonment! They've took me hostage they have! I weren't doin' nothin' wrong B!" Billy shouted, standing up as soon as she entered. Tom had been leaning lazily against the wall next to him, but stood up straight as soon as he saw her.

"That's Officer Arthur to you. What did he do?" she asked.

"He tried to run off with a burger and chips without paying, so we locked him in and called you." Tom explained.

"Right, well. I'd better call for transport then hadn't I Billy." She said, pulling her radio from its holster.

"You don't have to do that do you? It was only a burger B." Billy whined.

"I'm sorry Billy but this keeps happening, and I have warned you before haven't I?" she shook her head and brought the radio to her mouth.

"I'll pay for it then, here!" Bethan let her thumb hover over the button on the radio for dramatic effect, as he fumbled in his pockets and emptied a handful of change out onto the table. "Jus' don't take me down to custody again. My sister said she'd thump me if she had to bail me out again this year." He pleaded. She narrowed her eyes at him, but turned to Hal and Tom.

"Mr..?"

"Yorke."

"Mr.?."

"McNair."

"Mr Yorke, Mr McNair, if I could have a word please." They looked at each other bemusedly and followed her to the other side of the cafe.

"If he pays up, I'd like to let him go with a warning, is that Ok with you both?"

"I don't see why not."

"No!" Tom and Hal answered at the same time.

"Come on Hal, it's hardly the crime of the century." Tom appealed to the irritated vampire.

"But it is a crime. And by the sounds of it, this isn't the first time he's done it either." Hal protested.

"No it's not. But he's a good kid really and he's had a hard time of it at home." Bethan explained, trying to appeal to the better nature she wasn't sure he possessed.

"A hard time! He doesn't know the meaning of the phrase!" Hal snapped, just managing to keep his voice down.

"Oh and I expect you've always been an angel haven't you?" she retorted crossly. He stared at her, stunned.

"She does have a point mate." Tom said, failing miserably at stopping himself from grinning.

"Fine! But he's barred and if I so much as see him in here, I'm calling the police again." He huffed sulkily.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "Alright Billy, these nice gentlemen have agreed to let you pay up and be on your way. But be warned, the next time I hear you've been up to anything dodgy, I will arrest you alright? And believe me, I am not kidding."

"Thanks B." He smiled apologetically at her.

"Officer Arthur. Now sling your hook before I change my mind." He ran for the door and out into the street, leaving the money on the table.

"So. We meet again." She said, trying to lighten the mood. "I've been meaning to come back..."

"Don't tell me, you've got more questions." Hal said testily, grabbing a cloth and beginning to wipe the tables in a peculiar, precise square motion.

"Yes, but it's not what you might think." He stood up straight and studied her for a moment, his curiosity getting the better of him. She took the opportunity to sit down at one of the tables, and he moved cautiously to join her.

"I won't be a minute, I just need to make a phone call." Tom excused himself before diving into the kitchen. She watched nervously as he disappeared, a little uncomfortable at the thought of being left alone with a slightly peeved vampire. She shrugged the feeling away and turned her attention back to Hal. He seemed to be the one with all the answers anyway, and if he did try to attack her, she could always just punch him. She balled her hands into fists under the table, just incase.

"The coroner's report on the vampire's victim came back. You were wrong. I think someone is trying to cover this up from the inside."

"It's possible."

"But you said you didn't think there were any vampires left at the police station?" she questioned.

"I could be wrong. I don't associate with other vampires nowadays. You know in the long run, it might not be such a bad thing if there is."

"What do you mean?"

"There's only one reason vampires ever pose as police officers, and that's to help with the clean-up operation. Pardon the expression. We've been keeping ourselves and other supernaturals secret for years by that method, among others. And you yourself have been keeping quiet about what happened, have you not?" he asked, the tone of his voice ensuring she knew it was a question and not a statement.

"Of course. Don't worry about that. I know enough about the human race to see it would be catastrophic for them to find out about you lot. And I'm not about to drop you and Tom in it." He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer. "So what, I just sit back and watch while it all gets swept under the carpet?"

"Yes. Keep yourself to yourself and don't dig any deeper into this. If it is vampires it wouldn't be safe."

"Be careful, I might start thinking you care." She smirked, feeling braver. She even unclenched her fists.

"Of course he cares, he's a big softy really aren't you Hal." Tom grinned, appearing again from the kitchen. Hal pursed his lips irritably.

"Jesus!" he jumped suddenly, staring past Bethan at something. She whipped her head around, startled, but found nothing alarming, just empty tables and chairs. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if there was something wrong with him. She looked to Tom for help but he was just chuckling at his friend. "What do you want?" And now he was talking to nothing. She wondered if she should move away from him, just to be safe.

"Just checking that you're honouring our little deal." Alex grinned at him.

"How did you know she was here? And anyway, I can't ask her to do that now. Things have changed." He shook his head.

"I asked Tom to call me if she came back. And look, here she is." She smiled smugly.

"Can't ask me to do what?" Bethan asked confusedly. "Who are you talking to?"

"Alex. She lives with us, but she's a ghost so you can't see or hear her." Tom explained. "Bethan, meet Alex. Alex, meet Bethan."

"Uh, hi... Alex. Not that this should come as a great shock, but ghosts are real too?"

"Yes." Hal answered surprisingly softly.

"Of course they are. Silly me." She muttered.

"Yea, tell her I said hi, what's changed exactly?" Alex asked, folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

"It looks like there could be a vampire working at the police station. We can't exactly ask her to look into your murder, it's too risky."

"Why? I know who killed me, I just need to know who moved my body and... what they've done with it." She finished uncomfortably.

"I think we can safely assume it wasn't the police who removed your body from the basement, otherwise it would have been returned to your family by now."

"Yes, but you said it yourself, it wasn't vampires either." She argued.

"I'm sorry, body? Basement? Murder? What exactly do you want me to do?" Bethan asked, perplexed.

"Ask her Hal." Alex demanded.

"No."

"Do it!"

"No!"

"Tom, make him ask!"

"I'm staying out of it, this is between you two." The werewolf held his hands up and sat down next to Bethan.

"Fine then. I'll do it myself." Alex stormed behind the counter.

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Hal asked dismissively. Alex emerged triumphant, waving a piece of chalk and a cloth at him. She strode over to the chalk board menu and with a broad sweep, wiped away a section of the lettering. Tom gaped. Beside him, Bethan was torn between looking at the writing forming via an invisible hand on the board, or at Hal's outraged face. "Alex! Stop it! I spent half the afternoon filling in that board! Do you know how much concentration that takes!?"

"Well then I'm doing you a favour aren't I. You're always looking for things to do." She answered calmly, carrying on with the writing. He growled at her and shut his eyes, seeming to be trying to keep a lid on his temper.

Slowly, the message became clear:

I was killed by a vampire dick head called Cutler. You think that's bad afterwards I got stuck in a basement with Hal. My body was taken away by some blokes in grey suits and never given back to my family. We think that's why I can't go through my door or whatever. Please could you look into the case for me, and see where my body was taken? Alex.

"A few months ago there was a bomb hoax at a nightclub in town. Well that's what it was reported as anyway. It was part of a cover-up. Tom transformed in the club..." Hal began to explain, cut off by the sound of the chalk banging on the blackboard again, alerting them to more of Alex's writing.

Because of that bastard Cutler again.

"Yes, thank you Alex. Because of Cutler. Anyway, long story short, we watched them take Alex's body away and have no idea what happened after that. Alex would like you to look into the police file of that incident to see if there is any record of a murder or a body." He finished. Alex smiled smugly at him and he rolled his eyes.

"I'll see what I can do." Bethan nodded, first at Hal then at the space next to the blackboard where she assumed Alex was standing.

"Great!" Alex grinned.

"Just be careful. Don't let anyone know what you're doing and don't dig too deep. If you think someone's paying attention to you, stop." Hal warned. Tom got up and walked over to the counter, rummaging behind it for a moment.

"Here, take this." He said, passing her a stake. She took it, feeling the point tentatively.

"Thanks. I can't promise anything, but I'll try." She looked up as Alex hastily scribbled the address of the B&B onto the blackboard.

"What? She's hardly a threat is she?" Alex responded to the indignant look that Hal shot her.

"Anyway I'd better be off. Work to do. I'll get back to you when I know anything." Bethan nodded her goodbyes to Hal and Tom, and in the direction of the chalkboard for Alex, and made her way out of the cafe.