Disclaimer not mine.

Family?

Richard rested his head back against the cold hospital wall. Janine had been wheeled away for her brain scan and he was terrified. Janine was the strongest person he had ever known so to see the look in her eyes as he had kissed her hair had terrified him. She didn't get scared. Annoyed, frustrated and highly pissed off on a regular basis but never scared to the point she shook.

"Richard." He turned as he heard a familiar voice call his name. In seconds he had a teenage girl wrapped in his arms.

"Ellie. Ssh, come on." He soothed as he looked up to see Michael and their Auntie Helen arrive.

"How's Mum?" Michael asked as Helen folded her arms. For a moment he realised why Janine and her sister didn't see much of each other.

"She's awake. They've put some stitiches in the wound on her head and she's gone for a scan."

"But she's ok?" Ellie stepped back as Richard smiled slightly.

"She's going to be a bit sore for a while but I hope so." He smiled at the teenager, a carbon copy of her mother. She had the same need to cut straight to the facts. Like the older Lewis woman she was not going to accept any old story that was peddled to her. Without looking at Helen he ushered the teenagers to the chairs at the edge of the waiting room.

"Richard." Helen frowned. He looked across at the older woman, knowing she wanted to know why he was here.

"She was attacked." He started slowly. "But the doctors know what they are doing. She will be fine."

"You sound very sure." Helen stared at him.

"I am. It's Janine. She has to be."

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"This bouncer." Butchers stated as Kat drove towards the city centre. "He didn't really seem to want to talk tous last time we went to the club."

"Nah, I know." She narrowed her eyes as they approached the junction that lead towards the nightclub. "But a young girl died. Kezia was on her own. Just a kid."

"I know." Butchers sighed heavily. The case had begun to affect them all. "And now the Guv."

"You think it's the same killer? The one that killed Kezia attacked the Guv?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." He gripped the edge of the seat as they turned the corner. "Same pattern of injuries, just that we got there in time. Something tells me that Mason has something to do with it. I know you don't believe me."

"I do." Kat glanced at him as a bus pulled out in front of them. "I do, but I wasn't here in those days. Richard and the Guv close in those days too?"

"Oh yeah." He nodded. "Always have been. Thick as thieves."

"Funny."

"How?"

"You'd think they'd have got their act together by now. Maybe this will mean they realise they aint getting any younger." Kat smiled cheekily as Butchers' smirked.

"Right, then. 'ere we go." He sighed as Kat killed the engine. Neither were looking forward to facing the stoic wall of muscle and tattos that was Ian Jones.

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Shapps stared out of the car window as the early spring sunshine bounced off the windscreen. He hadn't felt so useless or angry for a very long time. The team were like a second family to him even though he would never admit it. The fact the glue that held the team together were in hospital while he tried to keep Kat and Butchers concentrating on work didn't help matters. He knew that if Hogg or Janine knew where he currently was there was a very good chance he would be off the team. Stepping out of the car he tried to focus on why he was there rather than the fact he wasn't supposed to be. He jogged across the road towards the small council house across the road. The net curtain had already began twitching. He knocked the door and stepped back.

"Hi."

"Bloody Hell. What are you doing here?"

"He's out. Isn't he? Your boy, he's out." Shapps stated as the older woman cursed fluently before nodding.

"You safe?" He looked down the road. "You know what he said."

"I was in court when my son went to prison detective." She folded her arms across her navy blue cardigan.

"Mrs Mason."

"Mrs Tyler now. Remarried since you last saw me. Thanks for worrying boy, but I'm ok. It was that boss of yours he was going after. Not me. Now go and warn her." Shapps nodded as he stepped back. He knew she was right but he also knew she was lying to him.

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"Family of Mrs Lewis." The young nurse yelled as Richard and the others stood up. He couldn't help but smile at the way Michael rested a hand on Ellie's arm. The younger girl bit her lip as Helen stepped forward.

"Is she alright?" Richard hated the way he sounded so insecure. He knew it was being picked up by the rest of the team and Janine's family. He knew how he felt about her even if she didn't feel the same way.

"The scan has been completed. Look, the doctor wants to talk to her family. Are you the next of kin?"

"Yes." Ellie nodded. "He is, I'm her daughter and .." She glared at the nurse as the doctor joined them. For a moment Richard couldn't help but fight the urge to be sick as he saw the look on the doctor's face. The doctor met Richard's eye and sighed as he realised how young her children were.

"As the nurse said Janine has had her scan. She needs to go to theatre for an operation in the next few minutes. The neurosugeons."

"Hold on." Richard raised an eyebrow as Helen swore. "You said she was ok. That the scan."

"She was holding her own but she has a bleed in her brain which is increasing the pressure in her skull. We need to operate to stem the bleeding and relieve the pressure in her brain. The bleed is fairly near the surface so the operation should be fairly straightforward."

"Can we see her?" Michael asked as the doctor turned to him.

"I'm afraid she went straight from the scan room to the operating theatre. We need to get that bleed sorted out straight away. You can wait here or you can go to the ward to wait." He stood up as Richard did the same. Both teenagers sat in silence as they tried to absorb what they had just been told. Richard followed the doctor out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"Doc."

"She's very poorly DI Mayne." He met Richard's eye. "She's fairly young and healthy which will help her but she is a very unwell lady at the moment."

"What are her chances?" He hated asking but he had to know.

"My collegues know what they are doing." The doctor smiled. "Just look after your children. And get some rest. Your partner is going to need you when she wakes up." Richard frowned for the moment but didn't have the strength or inclination to correct the doctor when everyone they met seemed to make the same mistake.

"Thanks." He sighed before returning to the relatives room hoping that Kat and the boys were nearer to catching the person responsible for his best friend being in hospital. Closing his eyes he realised that whatever he said and whatever she said there was definately something between them that everyone else saw even if they ignored it. He didn't want to ignore it anymore.

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A/N Please review.