"Dot?! Hi!" greeted Kate as she opened her front door. He was an unexpected visitor and she didn't know if it was a good thing or not. "I haven't missed a meeting have I?" she asked unsure of the reason behind this late night visit. She hadn't been able to focus on the case at all that day as she been thinking about her argument with Steve so it was quite possible.
"No," replied Dot before he produced a bouquet of flowers. "Thought you might need cheering up. Steve's been like a bear with a sore head all day,".
"Really?" asked Kate. At least Steve seemed as upset as she was. "They're lovely," she continued as she accepted Dot's present. "Come in," she invited as she stood back.
Dot stepped over the threshold and followed Kate to the kitchen where she began to arrange the flowers, snipping the ends of the stalks with a pair of scissors before putting them in a vase. Dot was pleased he had chosen well. They were just to soften her up. He was going to try and push his luck tonight.
For Kate, It gave her time to think. Flowers were a little OTT for what had happened, especially as it wasn't even Dot that she had had the argument with. Was he up to something like Steve had suggested? If she didn't know better she would say the two men seemed to be in some sort of pissing contest over her. Not what she needed in the middle of an undercover assignment.
"Did Steve tell you what happened?" Kate asked curiously.
"No, not really," Dot said. "He barely said two words to anyone all day," he explained. "Just said you had a bit of a falling out,".
At least he was being honest about not kissing and telling, Kate thought.
"I.. err...think he might be a bit jealous actually," Dot said. "We're spending a bit of time together on this case and he's feeling a bit left out. I know I would if the roles were reversed,".
"But it's just a case. As soon as it's done I'll be back working with him," Kate pointed out. Men could be so childish at times, Steve wasn't an exception.
"Kate...look," said Dot. "I'd be gutted if this Steve stuff came between us," he admitted. "If you hadn't noticed, I quite like you," he continued. "It's sort of like a second chance for me at being in a relationship again and I don't want to mess it up,".
He moved closer to Kate and leant forward to kiss her. Their lips met and Dot sought entry to her mouth. He didn't fancy her at all, but was willing to sleep with her just to ruin her friendship with Steve.
Maybe it was caution after Steve's words of warning the night before, or maybe it was the fact that Dot's kiss wasn't as nice as Steve's, but Kate refused his kiss and withdrew from it quickly. She noted her heart rate had remained steady the whole time instead of the thumping she had felt in her chest when Steve's lips had been where Dot's had just been. "Maybe not, eh, Dot," she said, awkwardly.
"Did I do something wrong?" Dot asked, aware the kiss hadn't gone as well as he had hoped. Sex would definitely not be happening that night.
"No. It's just we've got the regs to think about" Kate suggested, not having the heart to tell him she hadn't liked his kiss.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," Dot agreed, dejected.
"But thanks for these, they're lovely," Kate said, turning back to the flowers, hoping Dot would get the message.
"I'm glad you like them," Dot said. "I better be off," he announced, keen to get away.
"All right. Night," said Kate as she showed Dot to the door.
"Night," Dot said as he left.
Kate closed the door behind him, relieved that the awkward scenario was over.
Dot pulled out one of his many burner phones to make a call as he walked away from Kate's flat. He knew rejection when he saw it and had seen through Kate's bullshit about regs. He realised his plan of sleeping with Kate to break up Steve and Kate's partnership wasn't going to work. He had made a fundamental error in that he had failed to realise that Kate reciprocated Steve's feelings. It was most unlike him to be so unobservant and he was annoyed with himself.
It was time to cut his losses and try something else. He'd been thinking about this for a while. If Kate and Steve couldn't be separated by a simple falling out, then he would have to separate them physically. Time to make sure one was removed permanently from AC-12. He was surprised to feel a little guilty as he made his call but he couldnt let his feelings start to get in the way. The Caddy did not get emotional.
"What is that supposed to be?" Kate asked the next day in the station cafeteria where the late morning shift were currently on lunch break. Kate had settled for jacket potato with cheese and baked beans after seeing what else was on offer.
"I think it's some sort of attempt at Shepherds Pie," Kate's partner for the day replied as she poked at it carefully with a fork.
"Just as long as it doesn't give you food poisoning," Kate teased as she tucked in to her meal. "I'm not pounding the streets alone this afternoon,".
The two women chatted over their food, not really paying attention to what was going on in the rest of the lunch area until a male voice spoke up. "Everyone pay attention!" it bellowed. Kate looked around to see the male PC who was the target of her undercover assignment stood up with a gun in his hands. He was tall, easily over six feet tall and was quite stocky in build. "I've got it on good authority that there is an undercover officer amongst us trying to infiltrate our unit and betray us," he informed his audience of about fifteen. "They will identify themselves or I'm going to start shooting,".
"Is this some sort of a joke?" another male PC asked as he approached the gun toting officer. Nothing like this had ever happened before in this police station and seemed very far fetched to him.
A crack was heard that caused everyone to jump before the male PC fell to the floor with the force of the bullet hitting him. A red patch of blood quickly appeared at his shoulder and kept growing indicating he had received a non fatal shot.
"No it isn't," the gunman said.