Title: Moving On

Author: Raven Shadowrose

Rating: M

Pairing: ?/?

Summary: Dixie has been left broken hearted by Cyd's departure from the Holby team, what will happen when Cyd is replaced by Hannah Darbyshire and Dixie takes a liking to her? Will she find the happiness that she has been searching for, or will she end up with even more of a broken heart?

Disclaimer: I do not know or own any of the characters from Casualty, any original characters and the story are my property and I do not give permission for anyone to use this story.

A/N: This story will contain some femslash, if you do not wish to read then, by all means, back away slowly the way you came, other than that, enjoy the story and reviews are appreciated.

Thank you to chan. nelson4444, BeethovenRIP and olivia. c. king1 for your reviews and support, they really are appreciated. Enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Dixie wheeled her patient into the ED with Jeff, something felt a bit strange, like people were staring at her for some reason. Dixie shook off her odd feelings and went over to Sam. 'Hi Sam, this is Bethany Harper, twenty-two, she slipped on some of the snow outside the shopping centre. She has dislocated her shoulder, but her mother told us that she didn't hit her head or go unconscious. She's had ten of morphine and entonox for the pain, GCS is fifteen.'

'Thanks Dixie. Hi Bethany, I'm Sam, if you could move over on to the bed for me, nice and slowly.' Dixie helped support Bethany as she moved over to the other bed, she started to wheel the trolley away but Sam called out to her. 'Dixie, Zoe was looking for you.'

'Did she say why?' Perhaps it had something to do with why she had got some funny looks from some of the nurses when she came in.

'No, just that she wanted to speak to you.'

'All right, thanks Sam.'

'Jeff, can you take the trolley back to the ambulance while I speak to Zoe?'

'Sure thing princess.'

'Thanks Jeff.' Dixie went in search of Zoe, she was definitely getting odd looks from the nurses, she wasn't imagining it. 'Noel, have you seen Zoe?'

'She's in the staffroom on her break.'

'Cheers mate.' It was time to get to the bottom of what was happening and why people were staring at her.

Dixie opened the door to the staffroom and found Zoe sat in there with a magazine. 'Sam said you wanted to speak to me.'

'I do, close the door.'

'That sounds bad, what's wrong?'

'I heard the nurses gossiping on my way in, normally I ignore them, but it is hard to do when the name of a friend is mentioned.'

'I don't understand.'

'It is you they were talking about.'

'Me, what did they say?'

'That one of them heard you say that you loved Hannah and then afterwards she saw you kiss her.'

'How many people know about this?'

'I'm not certain, it is hard to say, this is a big department, but I've heard Noel talking about it.' Dixie sighed, Noel had a big mouth and it was likely that most of the ED knew about it already. 'I've tried to stop them gossiping about it when I hear them. Is it true?'

'Yeah, I have been seeing Hannah.'

'You should tell her as soon as possible that people know about you two.'

'I know, I would hate for her to hear it from someone else. Thanks for telling me Zoe.'

'No problem, I've told Tess and she is stopping the nurses from talking about it when she hears them.' Dixie smiled at Zoe, she was afraid that it was a very weak smile though. Everyone in the department already knew that she was a lesbian, but Hannah was a different matter. Nobody knew that Hannah was bisexual, except for some of the staff on the crew, until now that is. Dixie left the staffroom, she was going to have to tell Hannah, no matter how difficult it was going to be.

Hannah was sat with Polly in the rec room. Despite the snow that had fallen overnight it was a somewhat quiet day with only a few shouts to deal with and she was a little bit bored. Polly had gone off to get herself a hot chocolate from the coffee shop while they were on their break, but she had come back again, and was staring out into the hospital grounds. 'Polly, I'm bored, perhaps we should entertain ourselves.'

'What do you have in mind?'

'I'm not sure yet, between us we must be able to come up with something.'

'Let me have a think.'

'You seem preoccupied, are you okay?'

'Yeah, I always think too much when it is quiet .'

'I know how you feel, are you looking forward to your birthday?'

'I am looking forward to spending time with my lovely friends.'

'Good, I can't wait to give you your present.'

'Will you tell me what it is?'

'Nope, sorry Polly, you will find out soon though, two more days.'

'Please.'

'No, trust me, the surprise will be worth it.'

'Okay.' Hannah knew that there was something wrong with Polly, maybe she was just thinking about things that she wanted to keep private, but Hannah would be there for Polly if she needed to talk.

Dixie walked towards the ambulance station with a heavy heart, everyone knew about her relationship with Hannah. She knew that was why everyone had been looking at her strangely when she'd dropped off her patients. Dixie wasn't bothered that they knew, her sexuality was old news. She was worried about Hannah, she hadn't chosen to reveal her sexuality to the whole department. This situation wasn't going to go away, she couldn't think of anything that was bigger gossip for the department than the duty manager that was in a relationship with an employee ten years her junior. It was an even bigger piece of gossip because they were both women. Dixie sighed, telling Hannah was going to be hard, but she had to do it, it was better that it come from her than Hannah hearing it from someone like Noel.

Hannah saw Dixie coming, she looked preoccupied, something was wrong, she had been happy this morning, what had happened to change that? She opened the door and sat down heavily in one of the chairs. 'Dixie?'

'Hannah, I have something to tell you and I'm not sure that you will like it.'

'What is it?'

'Someone heard me say that I loved you yesterday and saw us kiss as we left to go home. Apparently we are the latest bit of gossip for the department. I can't be certain how many people know, but I think it is most of them. If you want me to deny it and say that it is false then I will do.' Hannah took in what Dixie had just told her, someone obviously thought they had the right to spread things about her personal life around the hospital. 'No Dixie, I don't want you to deny anything, we fell in love, that isn't a crime. If people want to gossip about us then let them.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes, I'm not going to make our relationship into a filthy secret like it is something to be ashamed of.' Hannah found herself enveloped in a hug.

'Thank you Hannah, it means a lot that you don't want to hide our relationship.'

'I don't, I'm not ashamed, I love you.'

'I love you too.' Hannah stayed in Dixie's arms and hugged her, she loved Dixie and no amount of gossiping from people would change that.

Polly had a warm feeling inside her, she had been worried that Hannah and Dixie might find it tough with the whole department gossiping about them. It appeared that Hannah had learned confidence from Dixie, she was so happy that they weren't going to hide their relationship from anyone. It pleased her to see her friends so happy. What she had said to Hannah was true, quiet days always made her think, especially at this time of year. Christmas was coming closer, it always made her wonder what her real parents were up to, whether they thought of her or not. She had been in a care home until the age of eighteen. Polly had always held onto the hope that they would have come for her until the day that she left and got her own place. Polly hadn't told anyone about her past, she didn't want them to pity her, not even Jeff and Dixie knew. She had friends and a family in Jeff, Dixie and Hannah now, she had made a success of her life and she was determined that she would continue to do so.

Jeff went into the hospital, he wasn't sure what was going on, something was weird. He went to the reception desk, if anyone would know what was going on in this hospital then it was Noel. 'Hey Noel.'

'All right Jeff, someone is a lucky man.'

'Excuse me?'

'Dixie and Hannah, I've heard they're together.'

'Where did you hear that?'

'One of the nurses. She said she saw them kissing, I wouldn't mind seeing that.'

'Noel, you're talking about my friends, what anyone does in their personal life is none of your business.'

'So, is it true?'

'I'm not answering that, tell whoever it is to stop gossiping about Hannah and Dixie or they'll answer to me.' Jeff stormed out of the hospital, he wasn't happy that people were talking about Hannah and Dixie behind their back.

Dixie saw Jeff coming back into the station, he looked angry. 'Jeff, what is it love?'

'Do you know what people are saying about you and Hannah?'

'I do, so does Hannah. We've decided that we're not going to hide our relationship from people, let them gossip, it will all blow over soon.'

'I'm not sure that I can Dixie, Noel is saying that he wants to see you two kissing.'

'I seem to remember you saying that you wanted to record us kissing and sell it on the internet.'

'I was joking, I think he means it.'

'Let it go Jeff, Noel is harmless.'

'Okay, if I have to.'

'Yes, you have to, if you make a big deal of this then it will hang around for longer. We need to carry on with our lives and do our job like nothing is wrong.'

'Right.'

'I mean it Jeff.'

'I know you do, you're probably right.'

'Make sure you remember that Jeffrey.'

'I will.' Dixie hoped that Jeff would remember what she had said, if they ignored the gossips then all of it would blow over and they'd be talking about someone else in a week or two.

Hannah thought that everyone needed cheering up, she'd heard Dixie and Jeff almost start arguing over the gossiping business, they needed something to take their mind off things. Polly was quiet too, she just wanted to help everyone feel better. A thought popped into Hannah's head and she smiled, she knew just what to do. She went outside and quickly picked up some snow, packing it into a snowball, she made a few more and put them on the ground. 'What are you up to?' Hannah spun around at the sound of Polly's voice.

'Isn't it obvious?'

'You're making snowballs.'

'Yes, you'll see why in a minute, want to help me?' Hannah offered one of the snowballs to Polly and she took it. 'You aim for Dixie, I'll get Jeff.'

'Why do I have to aim for Dixie?'

'Because I really want to get Jeff.'

'Okay.' Hannah detected a small smile on Polly's face, she hoped that it meant Polly was starting to feel a little bit better.

Jeff knew that Dixie was right, the gossips would stop talking about it faster if they weren't given any fuel. 'Jeff, Cyd starts back next week, you will be all right with her, won't you?'

'Why should I?'

'Jeff, she's my friend.'

'Have you forgotten what she did, how she went behind your back and hurt you in the process?'

'No, I do believe that she deserves another chance.'

'I'll believe that when she proves she deserves another chance.'

'Please try and be nice to her, for me.'

'I'll try, I can't promise anything, but I will try.'

'Thank you.' Jeff was going to say something when he felt something hit him on the back of the head.

'What was that?' He touched the back of his head and felt ice dripping down his neck, he looked at Dixie just as a snowball hit her on the front of her coat. Jeff turned to see Hannah and Polly stood behind them and armed with snowballs. 'What's going on?'

'War,' Hannah said. 'If you're interested.'

'Terms of engagement?'

'No holds barred, all out war.'

'You're on.' Jeff looked at Dixie and smiled, he liked Hannah's idea, this could be a lot of fun.

Dixie watched Hannah and Polly leave through the doors. 'We need a plan Jeff, they've already got a head start on us. I'll get Hannah if you get Polly.'

'Okay, I hope you're good at making snowballs Miss Dixon.'

'I am, how about you?'

'I'm an absolute genius.' Dixie followed Jeff out of the doors and looked around, Hannah and Polly were nowhere to be seen.

'You have a minute to make some snowballs and then we're coming to get you.' It was unmistakably Hannah's voice, Dixie picked up some snow and started making some snowballs, she was really looking forward to this.

Hannah looked at the pile of snowballs that lay at their feet. 'Do you think we have enough to beat them Polly?'

'Definitely, they don't know where we are so we have the advantage.'

'Agreed, this is such a good idea.' Hannah picked up the first snowball. 'I think we have given them enough time. Are you ready Pol?'

'Yes.' Hannah peered out from behind the ambulance.

'They're stood in front of the station.' Hannah grinned and threw her first snowball, it landed squarely on Jeff's chest. 'Game on Pol.' Hannah shook hands with Polly and they picked up their weapons ready for the game.

Jeff looked at the melting snow on his coat. 'They're behind the parked ambulance over there.'

'Sneaky women.'

'I've got a plan, you go to the left and I'll take right.' Jeff grinned and picked up a few snowballs, he quietly moved towards the ambulance and stopped just before the end of it. He peered around the edge and was confused to see that Polly and Hannah weren't there. Jeff felt another snowball hit him on the back and he turned just in time to see Hannah run away. He threw one of his snowballs at her only to have her move just as it landed where she would have been. He quietly ran off after her and threw a snowball that ended up hitting Dixie instead. 'What was that for? You're meant to be on my team.'

'I was aiming for Hannah.'

'Yeah right.' He tried to duck to avoid the snowball that Dixie threw at him, but it hit him right on the head.

'You've asked for it now Miss Dixon.' He threw another one at her that missed, but she got hit by one thrown by Polly from somewhere across the other side. Jeff aimed a snowball in the direction he thought Polly was and laughed when he heard her squeal.

Polly chuckled, she was enjoying herself, Dixie and Jeff had forgotten all about being a team and were throwing snowballs at each other. Hannah was throwing snowballs at both of them, she had quite the deadly aim and seemed intent on hitting Jeff more than anyone else. Polly quickly gathered a large pile of snow and sneaked up behind Jeff, she shoved as much of it as she could down the back of his coat. 'Let me help.' Dixie dumped the pile of snow that she had gathered over his head and they both ran off before he could get to them. Polly spotted Hannah laughing in the corner and she threw a snowball at her for the hell of it. 'Hey, you will pay for that Miss Emmerson.'

'Only if you can catch me.' Polly ran off as fast as she could but she still felt several snowballs hit her on the back.

Hannah found Dixie and Jeff sat in the garage, Jeff was trying to get all of the snow out of his coat, she couldn't help but laugh at him. His uniform was wet where the snow had melted. 'Are you laughing at me?'

'Yes, it is too funny.'

'It is a good job there isn't any snow in here or you'd be for it princess.' Hannah stuck her tongue out at Jeff and she laughed again, she went and sat by Dixie who was squeezing water out of her hair. Polly came in soon after and she joined them on the bench. 'I really enjoyed that.'

'Me too Pol,' Hannah said and chuckled, the fight had been a lot of fun and they had needed the downtime. 'I think we should get changed, these uniforms are going to need a wash.'

'I wonder whose fault that is?' Jeff piped up from the corner.

'Not mine.' Hannah tried to look innocent.

'You were the one that suggested war, Miss Darbyshire.'

'I know nothing.'

'Right.' Hannah chuckled at Jeff's expression, she knew that he wasn't really mad and had enjoyed the snowball fight as much as she had. She was pleased that her plan of cheering everyone up and taking their mind off the things that were bothering them had worked.