Emma was feeling quite dazed the next morning as she got ready for her day. Alec had left soon after the kiss, bidding her a soft good night. Unfortunately, she had not slept well, instead kept awake thinking about him. His lips on hers. His dark eyes that could fill with such emotion or be quite cold. She surprised herself when she realized she even found that attractive about him. She had felt like a teenage girl, which was quite weird in it's own way considering her teenage years had been everything but ordinary. But… it was oddly nice.

She was disappointed, however, when she did not see Alec that morning during her run. Nor did she see him for the rest of the day although that was pretty ordinary. She knew she could at least expect to see him that evening when Tom did the reconstruction for Danny's case but that was going to be anything but private. And so it was that for the entire day, again feeling like a besotted teenager but unable to help herself, Emma found herself staring hard at Alec's card as she wondered whether she dared to text or call him.

"No." She'd sighed to herself for the upteenth time, tucking the card away, when the door to the preschool opened.

Emma looked up curiously; all the parents had come and gone by that point to pick up their kids and she was (supposed to be) cleaning up for the day before clocking off. She grinned when she saw who it was.

"Hello, Freddie!" Emma cooed as she bent down to greet the little boy who waddled in determinedly beside his father. "How are you, gorgeous boy?"

"Ma." Fred mumbled around his dummy and Emma nodded.

"That's right, I'm Emma." She said enthusiastically before she grinned up at the man who was waiting patiently for her to acknowledge him. "Hi, Joe."

"Emma." Joe grinned, cocking a brow at her as he looked from her to Fred. "Should I be worried?"

"Yes, you should!" Emma laughed although she got up to kiss his cheek. "Because Freddie's my new best friend, aren't you Freddie?"

Fred mumbled in the affirmative as he wobbled precariously on his legs and Joe jerked his son a little to make sure he stayed upright.

"You look better, Em." Joe noted. "Good news?"

"You could say that." Emma mumbled, using Fred as an excuse to hide her blush. She knew she hadn't fooled Joe however when his brows shot up and he oohed.

"Do you hear that, Fred? Auntie Emma's cheating on you!" Joe gasped and Emma elbowed Joe.

"Don't say things like that in front of kids, Joe!" She scolded.

He just laughed as he bent down to let Fred lean on his knees and use them to balance upright. The little boy was really starting to walk well on his own but it was clear he had yet to go for very long without support.

"So, who's the lucky man?" Joe asked and Emma made a face at him as she crouched down beside him to let Fred reach for her too.

"I'm not telling you." She answered, smiling as Fred reached up and pulled at her lips after she'd made a face at his dad.

"Oh, ho, so there is someone." Joe laughed. "Man, to think this day would come eventually! We were so sure you'd die alone."

"Gee, that's lovely, thanks." Emma said, pouting and letting Fred kiss her with his dummy still in his mouth. "And by we, I assume you mean you and Mark?"

"Yeah. We had a bet on who'd be left standing longest, you or Nige." Joe admitted. "Mark owes me ten quid."

"Charming. I hope you plan on buying me a drink with that money." Emma said dryly and Joe scoffed.

"No way, your new man can buy you one. And I'm still waiting." Joe stared at her expectantly and Emma pretended to think about it.

"Nope."

"Aw, Em!" Joe groaned but Emma shook her head with a grin.

"Sorry, Joe. Besides, you'll find out when I tell Ellie. You two and your bloody no-secrets." Emma pretended to grumble and Joe smiled but it seemed slightly strained.

"That's how a marriage works, Em. Communication." He answered and Emma rolled her eyes.

"All right, all right, we get it, you two are still like newly-weds sometimes, I swear." She complained but it was in jest. Truthfully, she'd always loved Joe and Ellie's relationship. They were the perfect examples of parents Emma had never had growing up. Mark and Beth's relationship had already started to become a little bit strained by the time Emma got to know them (although nowhere like they were now) but Ellie and Joe appeared to just stay in love forever.

"You know, you could tell me and I'd tell Ellie." Joe tried and Emma shook her head.

"Nope!"

"Nop!" Fred copied her and Emma nodded enthusiastically for the little boy.

"That's right, Fred, you tell your dad. Good boy." Emma praised while Joe pretended to clutch his heart like he'd been stabbed.

"Oh… that hurts. That hurts." He pretended to whine until Fred patted him.

"What wrong, dada?" Fred asked and Emma sighed.

"He's so precious." She murmured, patting Fred's curly head gently. "And already growing so much."

"Yeah." Joe went silent; Emma had no doubt he was thinking of Danny like she was. And naturally, thoughts of Danny led to Joe's other son.

"How's Tom holding up?" Emma asked quietly, the laughter gone now.

Joe was as serious as he answered with a sigh, "He's all right, I suppose. He puts on a strong front."

"Is he sure about tonight?"

Emma was, truthfully, worried. She had no idea how Alec had convinced Ellie to let Tom do the reconstruction even if he was the same age; it was precisely because he was the same age that Emma rather dreaded what it might do to the boy.

"Tom can't be ready, not really, but we…" Joe exhaled sharply. "We all just want to help to do right by Danny."

There was a strange note, almost of despair, in Joe's voice and Emma looked up at him. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she waited until he looked up from Fred to tell her friend firmly, "He's a good boy, Joe. You should be proud. You and Ellie, you guys are wonderful and your kids are lucky."

Joe smiled sadly and nodded in thanks before they were distracted as Fred began garbling his baby talk at them again. Half understandable and half baby talk filled the next few minutes of their interaction and then Joe was taking Fred off with a wave at Emma.

She waved after them; and after they were gone she sighed. She'd appreciated the small break, the distraction, even if it had reminded her yet again of Danny. But it was starting to get normal for them, having Danny's memory pop up and knowing he wasn't going to be there anymore. It was somewhat depressing to think about but she knew that they were luckier for it: it was Beth and Mark and Chloe who had it harder, unable to get to the point where Danny's memory could bring some small peace instead of just sorrow.

Shaking off the morose thoughts, Emma thought about the more enjoyable part of Joe's visit. Specifically, his teasing. She could just imagine how he would react when he found out it was Alec; and that was only one reason why Emma had been only too happy to deny telling him anything just yet.

Besides… Emma wanted to be able to bloody see Alec one more time before everyone started getting wind that she was potentially seeing the new, grouchy DI.

Emma pulled out the card again and stared hard at the number before groaning and tucking it away again. It was going to be a very long afternoon.

As Emma had expected, it was a very long day. She'd ended up visiting Patricia for half of it, only to regret it when the woman also quickly figured out that something was different about Emma. The truly unfortunate part of the whole thing, however, was that Patricia had very quickly figured out who it was that had caused the change.

"It's DI Hardy, isn't it?" Patricia gasped and Emma groaned, smacking her head against the table. "Oh, my God! Emma!"

"Patty, please don't." Emma groaned but Patricia was already squealing excitedly.

"Come on, Em! You haven't dated anyone in three years, you haven't been serious about anyone that I know of, and now you're telling me you're in love-"

"I'm not saying that." Emma said very quickly and cutting off her friend fast in case someone heard them. It wasn't like the bakery was exactly private. "I'm just… interested."

"Oh, okay, sure." Patricia rolled her eyes before she propped her chin in her hands. "And is he, uh, interested?"

Emma wrinkled her nose at her friend but admitted carefully, "I hope so."

Patricia stared at her friend, the excitement dimming slightly as genuine happiness took over.

"You really do like this guy, don't you, Em?"

Emma blinked and Patricia gestured at her friend as she sighed, "I've never seen that look on your face before but I've seen it on plenty of women. I can't believe it's that guy," she screwed up her face a little as she tried to picture it, "but I can tell you really do like him."

"I don't know." Emma hedged skeptically. "I've barely known him for a week when you think about it and didn't like him for half of it."

"Ah well, they don't say things like 'the woman doth protest too much' for no reason." Patricia shrugged. "Hearts are funny things but the thing about love, Em, is that it's not correlated to time at all. It sometimes does just happen and more often than not, you're in it before you realize."

Emma groaned and dropped her head.

"I don't know if I'm ready for that." She mumbled and Patricia snorted.

"I think you are if the way you've been staring at your phone the entire time you were here is any indication."

Emma lifted her head in shock and Patricia smiled knowingly.

"You came here to be distracted, but you haven't even noticed you've been distracted the entire time. Just call him." She pushed Emma's mobile closer for emphasis. Emma sighed.

"I don't want to bother him." She admitted. "He's kind of in something important at the moment, in case you forgot."

"So's most everyone, if you think about it." Patricia countered wisely. "We're all busy, we just make the time for the people we love."

Emma grimaced at the word but Patricia patted her friend's hand. Emma glanced at her curiously and Patricia said kindly, "I'm sorry if I sound pushy about it, but Em… I've always thought you have… you know. A hard time trusting. Opening your heart. I didn't say it before because it's something you ultimately need to decide. But this time… this time, I can see you love him, clear as day. It's in your eyes, Em. And I don't want to see my best friend lose a chance at happiness because she's scared."

Emma's face softened and she murmured gratefully, "Thanks, Patty."

Patricia smiled before adding with a wink, "And if he breaks your heart, I'll chop off his balls and feed them to the sharks for you."

"There are no sharks here, Patty." Emma laughed.

"Pity."

The two women had chortled and Patty pushed Emma's phone closer.

"Now, go on." She prodded. Emma sighed but finally picked up her phone and walked out the door to have some privacy, ignoring Patricia's complaints behind her.

The phone only rang once before he answered.

"What?"

"Hi." Emma breathed; was it a little bit pathetic that just his voice made her heart skip a beat (or two)? Probably, but she found she couldn't really care.

"Hang on."

Emma heard a small thump on his end and then he was back. "Emma?"

"Yeah, it's me." Emma grinned. "Did you just shut the door?"

"I don't want to be disturbed." He answered. There was a beat of silence between them. "So, was there something you wanted?"

"Um… I was just calling." Emma admitted, wishing she'd thought of something before actually dialing. She'd had all day, and she couldn't think of anything? 'You have reached a new low, Emma.'

"How's your day been so far?"

"Busy." His short answer made her make a face but then he surprised her as he added, "I thought you'd call earlier."

She looked at her phone to make sure she'd heard right before pressing it to her ear again. "You could have called first then."

"I don't have your number."

She scoffed. "Liar - you have my file."

"Yeah, but that might constitute stalkerish behaviour and is just a wee bit illegal." He answered dryly, making Emma smile.

"You could have asked Ellie."

"No." His short, decided answer made her smile wider.

"All right, you win. Although technically you only gave me your number to use in case of emergency."

"That was before." It was strange how his short answers could create butterflies in her stomach. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm at Patty's." Emma answered, glancing back and then making a face as she saw Patricia pressed up against the window to watch her. She waved at her friend crossly to go away, which Patricia ignored, as Alec continued to speak.

"Okay. I don't think I can leave the station before reconstruction. Sorry."

"It's fine." Emma answered, turning her back on Patricia instead. "Just don't skip dinner."

Alec didn't answer so Emma said sternly, "Don't you dare do it."

"Fine." He was clearly reluctant but there was also something about his voice that told Emma Alec was amused. "You're quite bossy. Has anyone told you that?"

"I'm a preschool teacher." Emma answered. "You may deal with thugs, but I deal with ten under-five year olds at a time. I'm pretty sure I could take you on any time."

"I bet you could." He agreed and this time the amusement was far clearer in his voice.

Emma heard a sharp rapping sound from his end and she asked, "You have to go?"

"Yeah." His tone was apologetic but Emma smiled as he asked, "I'll see you later?"

"See you later." She agreed softly.

He hung up and Emma turned; and she shrieked as she found Patricia leaning casually in the doorway.

"Aw, that's sweet." Patricia smiled innocently while Emma held a hand to her heart.

"When did you get there? What are you, some kind of pregnant ninja?" She cried. Patricia just laughed and jerked her head inside.

"I take it you're staying for dinner after all."

Emma made a face but she was still smiling as she followed her friend back inside.

"Hey, Patty? Thanks."

Patricia smiled more softly. "You are very welcome."

Emma ended up staying with the family until it was so late it would normally have been Emma's bed time. But not that day. Patricia stayed, regretfully, behind to look after her son who was asleep while Andy walked with Emma out to the middle of the town.

People were already starting to gather at the communicated location, milling around as they waited for the reconstruction. Emma spotted Mark and Beth standing near the front of the growing congregation; not far from them were the police and Tom with Joe at his side.

"I'm going up front. Thanks again for dinner." Emma told Andy, who nodded.

"See you later, Em." Andy moved to the back of the group, joining some of his own mates and their families while Emma made her way over to the Latimers, Millers and… Alec.

Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted him, standing with a group of officers and talking quietly. He looked tired - he really had had a very busy day. Emma hesitated for a very brief second before she joined Beth and Chloe instead.

"Hey." She murmured, hugging them both. "How're you doing?"

Liz joined them, breaking away from her fellow parishioners who had also shown up in support, as Beth murmured softly, "I don't know if I'm ready for this."

Emma hugged her tighter while Liz reached over to pat her daughter. Beth jerked a little bit away from her mother and Emma sighed. She drew Liz closer and murmured for the whole family, "You are strong because you still have each other. Don't forget that."

Beth nodded and she softened to her mother as Liz hugged her daughter. Ellie had spotted Emma by then and she broke away from her family to come over.

"Hey." She whispered as Emma broke away from the Latimers to hug Ellie.

"Busy day?" Emma asked, noticing how tired Ellie looked too. Ellie nodded.

"Like every day lately."

"You're really brave, El, letting Tom do this." Emma motioned to where Tom was standing nervously beside his father, skateboard in hand as he waited for the police to finish making sure everything was completely safe. "And he's brave for doing this."

"I know. I just wish he didn't have to." Ellie whispered in a low voice so Beth wouldn't hear. Emma nodded; didn't they all.

She glanced around and that was when she caught Alec's eye. He'd noticed her arrival at last and he nodded at Emma briefly, the action a little too gruff to be casual. An officer called him aside before she could respond and Alec turned away again; Emma also turned her head away wistfully… to find Ellie staring at her.

"What was that?" Ellie muttered and Emma felt her face heat up.

"Just saying hi?" Emma said weakly.

Ellie gave her a look of such skepticism that Emma grimaced but Alec called Ellie and Tom at that exact moment.

"Oh, that's me." Ellie cringed slightly, already dreading what was coming before she hurried over to be moral support for Tom as he prepared to kick off the reconstruction. Emma met Alec's gaze again as he glanced at her for a second before turning to Tom, and she used the opportunity to send him a small smile. He turned away and she thought she could see him clearing his throat in embarrassment.

It would have amused her but the weight of the night was really sinking in as Emma rejoined the Latimers, where Mark and Nige had rejoined the women. They stood in silence as Tom started off down the street, following the path Danny had gone the night he died. Ellie and Alec followed him along with several uniformed officers while more lined the whole stretch of road they would go down to ensure everyone's safety. Emma and the Latimers were next to start off as they walked right behind the police. A large crowd followed behind them: most of the town had come out to walk in silent support behind the grieving family as they followed Tom.

As the walk stretched, however, the crowd became less congregated. People were walking at different speeds and the officers slowed down around the crowd to keep an eye out for trouble while Alec and Ellie stuck close to Tom. Chloe was one of the ones who slowed down to stay with her grandmother as Liz walked more slowly behind, but Beth kept a faster pace and Emma followed her as they stayed close to Tom. Emma could only imagine how she felt as she pictured her son making the same journey exactly one week prior, only alone. And he hadn't been safe in the end.

Eventually, they had made it to be right next to Ellie and Alec and Beth engaged Ellie into their huddle as she murmured desperately, "Tell me this will make a difference."

"I'm sure it will." Ellie soothed. Beth shivered as she looked around the mostly dark town. It was brighter than it would be on normal days as people who hadn't joined the march itself, including Patricia and Jack Marshall, stood in their doorways as a sign of their own support. But it was still dark and with most of the townsfolk behind them, it was too easy to see how deserted the town would have been when Danny rode through.

"I hate the thought of him out here alone at this time of night." Beth admitted softly as she watched Tom's small, solo figure ride ahead of them, mimicking Danny's movements.

Ellie couldn't answer; she hated seeing Tom like that even right in front of her and she knew he was safe. Instead, Ellie linked her arm with Beth's and held her tightly, offering her what comfort she could.

Emma meanwhile slowed slightly to walk beside Alec. He glanced at her when she did before looking back to the front where Tom was skating around the bend in the road that would take him onto the road that eventually led to the path going up to Briar Hill. They wouldn't go that far, only to the edge of town, but there was still a good mile left.

"Did you eat dinner?" She asked after a moment and he grumbled. "Alec."

He glanced at her, quirking a brow slightly.

"It's Alec now, is it?" He asked lightly and Emma cocked a brow in imitation of him.

"Well, I think it's hardly appropriate to call you 'DI Hardy' now."

They walked in comfortable silence for a while although Alec quickly grew grim as he glanced around at their surroundings continuously. Emma wrapped her arms around herself to brace against the chilly air and she watched Tom for a second.

"Do you really think this will help?" She asked at length and Alec shrugged.

"We'll have to see." He answered grimly.

Mark joined them then, having sped up from where he'd been walking at a slower pace with Nige. He nodded to where they could see Jack standing in his shop doorway. "Do you think it was him?"

"I'm not speculating about anybody." Alec answered in a neutral tone while Emma glanced at Mark warily. She could feel a fight brewing, although she suspected it would be one-sided.

As per her prediction, Mark countered a little aggressively, "Yeah, you might not be, but everybody else is."

"Mark." Emma chastised, and he shrugged.

"Just calling it out like it is, Em."

"No, you're not, actually." Emma frowned at him. Mark frowned back before he looked at Alec.

"You could give us a clue."

"Mark!"

Emma was appalled but Alec just answered neutrally, "People just need to calm down."

"Yeah? They'll calm down as soon as you arrest someone." Mark scoffed and Emma elbowed him, hard, in the side. "Ow! Em!"

"Don't start pointing fingers, Mark." Emma warned. "We're not all completely innocent either."

Something in her tone had Mark looking at her sharply; did she know? Had Beth told? Or Ellie? But they had reached the end of the reconstruction by that point and he lost his chance to ask as Beth joined them tiredly.

"Well?" She asked Alec. "What now?"

"You'd best get home, try and rest." Alec advised. "We'll review the reconstruction scene and keep you informed of any updates."

Beth nodded. With barely a glance at Mark, she moved to start thanking everyone distractedly for coming while Emma moved to hug Tom after Ellie.

"You were really brave, Tom." Emma whispered, kissing the top of his head. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Em." Tom mumbled, hugging her back before he looked up at his mother. "Can we go?"

Emma meanwhile drifted back to Alec and she murmured softly, "Do you have to go back to the station?"

"Yeah." He sighed grimly before he glanced at her. "I'll be late. Sorry."

She shook her head. "I sleep early, remember? I'm already up past my usual time." She paused. "What time do you go to the station tomorrow?"

"Uh, seven." Alec answered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I'll bring tea." Emma offered before a smile tugged on her lips. "And I'll even let you buy breakfast."

He snorted but he took her hand surreptitiously and squeezed it. "Deal."