So, after little under a year, I have another chapter...Ooops. This was originally written for princessozmaofoz, and she very kindly said I could post it here as well, thank you very much :) Also, I have no idea about the police regulations that James quotes, I made them up.

Enjoy :)

There was a loud noise in the corridor, and Jean stuck her head out of her office to see what all the commotion was about. She didn't have to look far.

Robbie and James had come back to the station, triumphant grins on their faces, and the suspect firmly held between them. The man was screaming profanities at the two of them, but it didn't seem to dampen their spirits.

"Bastard posh copper!" The man spat, "I should have thrown you from the fucking roof."

"Yeah well," James countered easily. "Now I'm going to throw you in a cell, so we're all square aren't we?" James walked away with the culprit, as Robbie stayed to brief Innocent on what went on.

"Well done Lewis, good arrest." Robbie shrugged, looking down the corridor after his sergeant's dissapearing back.

"I didn't really do much. It was James that caught him. You should have seen it Jean, Jim flew after him like nothing else." It didn't surprise her, James had been determined to catch him after he'd assaulted an elderly lady.

"Well as long as there wasn't too much violence. I can't have an allegation of police brutality, no matter how much we wanted Turner in custody." Lewis smiled at her.

"I'm sure James behaved impeccably ma'am." She rolled her eyes at the inspector, Lewis and Hathaway could be as cheeky as ever when they wanted to be. She'd seen Turner when they brought him in, there was no obvious bruising. Still, it wouldn't hurt to remind the man who was boss.

"You just keep him on the straight and narrow Lewis, the last thing we want is your northern-ness influencing that nice young man" She grinned at Robbie's mildly offended expression and walked back to her office, the mutterings of "James? Nice?" following behind her.

.

Unfortunately, Michael Turner had accused Hathaway of 'police fucking brutality', and she had no choice but to call her the quiet young sergeant into her office.

"Ma'am," James said as he knocked lightly on the door. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Is Robbie with you?"

"Julie said nothing about him coming, shall I get him?"

"No sergeant. I have a feeling this meeting will only be a short one, and I doubt Robbie will be helpful."

"Ma'am" James replied warily, unsure what was expected of him. Innocent took a breath and gestured for him to sit down.

"Turner has made accusations of police brutality against you Hathaway." James immediately sat forward, anger on his face. She held up a hand to stop him. "Now I don't believe them at all, but I have to investigate." She truly didn't believe Turner. Ignoring the fact that he was a lying scumbag, Hathaway's reaction had convinced her. He wasn't the kind of man that would try to lie his way out of it. No, James would own up, and then try to justify his actions. He had, many a time. It seemed like the right psychology. He was a complicated, and unpredictable young man, but he wasn't a dishonest one.

"Ma'am. I can assure you, that I used exactly as much force as necessary, maybe too little in fact. But I did not do anything that violates the PACE act. Of course, if you need to suspend me-" At that moment, Jean's secretary walked in the a tray of tea that Jean had asked for ten minutes previously. Se smiled to herself as she realised that there was a mug there for James too; She had a sneaking suspicion that her secretary had the hots for the young, blond sergeant.

Her thoughts were cut off as the secretary tripped and nearly spilt the drinks all over her desk. It would have happened, but for James throwing his weight against the chair and grabbing the tray as he moved backwards.

"Oh I'm..s-sorry. Thank you."

"No problem," James said graciously as the secretary took the tray from him and set it down properly. Jean would have found her stuttering sweet, but something that she had heard just then had worried her. She waited until the secretary had left before speaking.

"James, are you sure there was no violence?" He cocked his head at her, looking slightly hurt and confused.

"No ma'am. I acted well within regulations, nothing untoward-" Jean sighed mentally. The man was like a closed book. It'd take a crowbar to prise him open enough to get some feelings out of him sometimes. Luckily, she was known for her ability to coax answers from people.

"James, Melanie might have been too dazzled by you to hear it, but I wasn't." Hathaway now looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Jean knew she was onto something.

"I d-don't know what you mean ma'am."

"I heard you hiss when you hit that chair. Did Turner hit your back?"

"No Ma'am."

"...Sergant."

"Ma'am, I can categorically state that Turner did not hit me anywhere apart from my left arm and a swing at my face, that fortunately missed." She didn't accept that for a minute. Innocent had seen the look of pain that had crossed his features as he'd moved, and she'd heard the hiss that he'd thought the noise of the crockery had covered up.

"So why do you have pain on your back. Do NOT deny it sergeant." Her tone of voice brooked no argument and he shrugged.

"It just hurts, its nothing, all part of an arrest." Jean inwardly counted to ten. Hathaway could infuriate and worry her in equal measure too easily.

"Show me Hathaway."

"ma'am I-"

"As your superior officer, I have a duty of care to you James. And since you clearly haven't told Robbie, you're going to have to tell me." He hangs his head and then stands up slowly. Hathaway unbuttons the bottom of his shirt, and barely suppresses a shudder as the fabric moves against the injury. Jean gasps.

"I thought you said he didn't hit you!"

"He didn't, not technically. If we're being precise, I, hit the side of the Bodlean."

"Have you seen this? You've taken the skin off the lower left of your back. Christ, there are chips from the wall in here James." He shrugs for the second time.

"We got Turner, this isn't important."

"Sergeant Hathaway! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Stay where you are" She leaves the office for a few minutes, and James desperately hopes that she isn't going to go and get Lewis. One lecture is bad enough, and he knows Lewis will go ape-shit if he realises that James hid the fact he got hurt, even if its only minor.

When Jean returns, she is carrying a small green box.

"Shirt back up James." He realises its a first aid box and ignores her request.

"I'll be-"

"-Hathaway, I don't believe you. You never even told Robbie you were hurt. And that needs to be cleaned up." James finds that he's lost the fight, and reluctantly pulls his shirt up again. He quietly allows Jean to wash the wound out, and to put antiseptic cream on it (which stings like hell and reminds him of many scraped knees in his childhood). He accepts it all without fuss though. Because, under the annoyance that no one can see how minor this is, and the embarrassment of having his boss see a weakness, he feels a strange sort of comfort at being taken care of.

Once she was done, and he had a wound gauze on his back (he's not going to admit that his eyes widened when Jean took the biggest size out of the pack,) he stood up, testing the stretch of his skin.

"Thank you Jean." Her frown softened a little.

"James, I shouldn't have to insist that you get medical help if you get injured. And you shouldn't feel like you can't tell anyone. What if it had been something more serious? Like a head injury. You could have passed out at home later and none of us would even know that we needed to worry."

"I don't want you to worry."

"What do you think it would do to Laura and I if you got seriously ill from something like that and we didn't help? What do you think it'd do to Robbie if he had no idea you were hurting and then he finds you the next day, with no knowledge of what happened?" James hangs his head again, its beginning to be a habit.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't think..."

"I know. But do next time James please." She rested an arm on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I won't tell Robbie James, not if you don't want me to. But please, and I'm saying this as a friend now, not your boss, please tell us if you get hurt on the job again." He nods contritely.

"I will. I'm sorry." She nods now, satisfied that he means it.

"As for Turner, I don't believe a word of what he says, he's lucky I don't add assaulting a police officer to his charges...He did push you into the building didn't he?"

"Yes Ma'am." James replies quietly, clearly expecting another bollocking for not telling her that either.

"Well, he doesn't have a leg to stand on then does he? Go on James, back to the office. And tuck your shirt back in."

"Of course ma'am, an officer of the law must always look presentable." he says with a smirk and she's ninety percent sure that he just quoted the actual regulations at her.

"Get out sergeant." He goes, and she shakes her head fondly.

While James may be one of the cleverest and most resourceful officers in her station, sometimes, she thinks he's also one of the stupidest.