BETA: None. WILL have spelling and grammar mistakes. (Please don't complain as I've just warned you.)

Sex: Not in this chapter.

Swearing: None

Setting: Chapters One - Six take place during episodes 1 & 2 of season three.

A/N: As the previous chapter was so short, I'll post two. But don't get used to it.

CHAPTER TWO

Emerson was glad to be dragged into a fresh murder case. Not because he had some twisted enjoyment of them, but because it would distract him and Joe from the fool he'd made of himself. He'd woken up that morning with the horrifying memory of coming on to Joe and the man turning him away. He'd tried to leave four months ago but Joe had insisted that he stay and he'd figured that he'd hang around for a few weeks then ask for a transfer again, but thing had gotten hectic once they'd been moved to their larger office. Before he knew it, a few weeks had turned into a few months. It had actually surprised him to find that Joe was right and they could work easily with each other. There hadn't been any sniping or disobeying of orders. It was almost as if they'd never been together in the first place.

And then last night had happened, and now Emerson was on edge, unable to keep his gaze off the older man. Joe of course was better at the ignoring thing that he was, he slipped back into his role as Detective Inspector.

"What have we got?" Joe suddenly announced from behind him.

Kent turned, pulling his own mask into place. "Lots of friends. Lots. Hundreds on the social networks. Plenty of real ones too. No enemies though. From what I can gather, Ben Salter's an all-round nice guy. - His family's a bit more complicated though, his dad John, as a family from his first marriage. They've been arguing over money."

"Normal family squabbles or motive?"

"I don't know yet. His family's huge."

"Okay." Joe murmured, staring at the board.

Emerson watched him. How easy would it be to go back? He wondered. To pull Joe aside and say that he wanted them to try again. Would Joe even want him? His reaction the night before indicated mixed feelings. And if Emerson was honest with himself, he wasn't sure he was ready to give them another go. The scars were still too fresh, both physically and emotionally.

"Good job." Joe nodded.

"Thank you sir."

~WHITECHAPEL~

Emerson returned to the station around eleven with Riley and Mansell. They'd been canvasing the local estates all day and most of the night, he was exhausted and just a little freaked out, but at least they had good news. They walked into the incident room to find Joe cleaning the office and Emerson's stomach tightened, sensing the beginnings of an episode.

"I thought you guys had clocked off?" Joe said, trying to looked casual.

"Do you….Do you do this every night…sir?" Emerson asked, glancing around the office before fixing Joe with a concerned look.

"What? No, of course not, that would be strange." he scoffed.

Emerson knew he was lying, could see it in his features.

"What are you doing him?"

"A witness said she looked out her back window an hour after the murders happened." Emerson replied, handing over his notebook, still worried about his ex. "Cause she heard all the sirens."

"Saw lots of people out on the streets, heading towards the tailor shop." Riley added.

"But this is the thing…" Mansell interrupted, tugging at his tie. "….she saw one bloke going against the flow, going in the opposite direction to everyone else, in a hurry."

"Yeah, and she thought it was very strange because everyone was going to see what happened, except for one man going the other way." Emerson added.

"He had a limp too." Riley informed him.

"Which made it easier to find him on CCTV." Mansell said proudly, handing over the disk.

Joe's face lit up like a Christmas tree and Emerson felt his heart skip. He loved that look, always had. It was the look he got when he was excited, when he knew they were onto something, he hadn't seen it in a long while, not since the day they'd brought down the Krays, well the fake Krays. He wasn't all that sure it was a good thing sometimes, it tended to lead to trouble. He just hoped it wasn't going to lead to more pain, for any of them. Joe turned away and headed for the room where they kept the video equipment and they followed. Emerson stood back watching over Joe's shoulder, too scared of what he'd do if he got any closer. They watched the CCTV twice, before Riley and Mansell left. Emerson took his time, weighing up whether he should speak to Joe, apologized for what had happened the previous night. Taking a breath he strolled into Joe's office. "You….going home?"

Joe looked up briefly. "Got some work to do."

Emerson sighed. "You need to rest, or you'll make yourself ill."

Joe stiffened in his seat, taking a deep breath. "Goodnight, Kent." he whispered.

Emerson drew in a sharp one of his own at the dismissal, straightening his back. "Goodnight. Sir."

Joe watched him leave regretfully, deeply wanting to call him back, to try and fix things. Instead he let him go, turning instead back to his work.

~WHITECHAPEL~

The case was going nowhere, his hope that the past could help guide them thought cases wasn't working out as he'd planned. It wasn't giving them the information they needed. Joe sat at his desk going over the papers again and again, but seeing nothing new. He rubbed at his temples, glancing up to see everyone heading for the doors as they clocked off for the night. He caught Meg, Riley and Emerson talking.

"What about you Emerson? Night on the town?" Riley asked.

"Nuh, I'm staying in. My flat-mates are out."

"On your own? Don't turn the lights out….Ohhhhhh." Mansell mocked, Riley joining in the taught.

Hearing that Kent was going to be home alone send Joe's imagination running. Once upon a time, the younger man would have asked him back. Joe's mind pulling up memories of what they would have done. Needing to distract himself from the thoughts he walked over to his sergeant. "Miles? Would you like to go for a drink tonight?"

"Oh, um, sorry I can't. Judy."

Joe smiled understandingly, tapping Miles on the shoulder. "Of course, send her my best."

"Are you okay?" Miles called.

"Absolutely." Joe smiles insincerely, heading back to his desk.

"Goodnight then."

"Night."

"Goodnight Skip." Emerson said, carrying the wastepaper basket back to his desk. He knocked lightly on Joe's office doorframe.

"Can I do anything for you sir?"

Joe only looked up briefly, not wanting to encourage his mind in imagining just what the junior officer could do. "There's no overtime in it for you."

Emerson shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't mind."

Joe looked at him, slowly. "Everything alright?" he asked, seeing the discomfort and nervousness in Emerson's stance. He walked around the desk to stand in front of him.

Emerson rubbed at the doorframe. "Local people say that the killers some kind of evil spirit, that can create itself out of darkness."

""We can't be irrational." Joe snapped with frustration. "You can't start thinking superstitiously." He stared as Kent shift under his gaze, and sighed, he hated seeing him like this, it brought back bad memories. "Look…" he grabbed his coat. "Come with me, there's something I want to show you."

Emerson followed Joe out of the office and climbed into his car. He swallowed and shifted uncomfortably at the memory of two nights previous, and the thousand time he'd felt so at home in that seat. Joe rarely took him anywhere any more, Miles was at his side now. Not that he was jealous of that, it was just he missed being the one Joe called on, asked to accompany him to interviews and investigations. He glanced over and noticed that Joe shared his discomfort. But despite the awkwardness of their past, Joe didn't chance his mind, continuing to drive away from the station.

They pulled over at a crossroads a few minutes later, both getting out to go stand on the cur, Emerson having no idea of the relevance of this outing.

"This was where the John Williams, the man accused of the Radcliff highway murders was buried after he committed suicide in prison. He was buried here at a crossroads so that if his tortured spirit emerged it would be confused and wouldn't know which way to go." Joe explained. "They dumped his body in a small pit so he'd feel discomfort for eternity, and drove a wooden stake through his heart to prevent his restless soul from wandering."

"They thought they'd captured a bogyman." Emerson murmured.

"John William's wasn't a bogyman, he may have been innocent." Joe murmured, marching into the center of the crossroads, crouching down; he ran his hand over the cement. "Circumstantial evidence, a hysterical public and a terrible fear, they made a mistake. - We can't afford to be wrong about Wilkey." he said firmly, walking back to Kent.

He stopped directly in front of him, toe to toe. "There's nothing to be scared of Em." he murmured.

The younger man looked up. Joe didn't know how wrong he was, there was everything to be scared of. And giving Joe another chance only to having it thrown back in his face was his biggest. It had taken a lot to put his trust in Joe the first time, he wasn't sure he could do it again. No matter how much he wanted to.

Joe watched the man closely, saw the doubt in his eyes and felt his heart tightened, that small flame of hope diminishing a little more. But while the hope slowly died the desire didn't.

"I better go, it's late." Emerson murmured, turning away from Joe and the temptation he held.

Joe released a warily breath. "I'll give you a lift."

A/N: Thanks for reading.