Preparation is the best defence

"Gerry," Sandra looked around the office. The white board was clear; the ghosts from Brian's past being carefully re-filed by the man himself while Steve cleaned the board with a cloth. The tidy table was tidy apart from the three box files they had deliberately put there in readiness for the afternoon. They'd been hard at it since half past eight. Sandra had personally been in the office since eight, writing up and finalising their report for the CPS. The plan was to have a relatively easy day and to prepare the office for their new recruit's arrival on Monday. And there was something that was bugging her. She took a breath as she addressed the soon-to-be only remaining member of the original UCOS team; the man who Don Bevan had objected to her hiring five minutes after telling her she could chose whoever she liked. "Will you take Jack's desk?"

She hadn't meant to use the words 'Jack's desk' in her question. Damn it, she'd meant to say 'the desk by my office' instead. "It's just…" what? That she didn't want the new person to have Jack's desk? Pretty much.

"It's fine," Gerry said, understanding completely what she'd said, what she'd meant to say and why she couldn't explain herself.

"So, who gets my desk?" Brian asked suddenly. It hadn't crossed his mind, which he considered odd as most things did, that someone else would be sitting at his desk when he left next Friday. The 'newbie' (for they had all to Sandra's dismay coined Steve's turn of phrase) would logically take his desk as well as his place; yet then there would still be the empty desk: Jack's desk. He turned over Sandra's sudden decision in his mind as he asked his own question and found her request to Gerry quite sensible.

She hadn't thought that far ahead, she realised as she looked at Brian. "Well… I thought, I guess I thought that if Gerry takes the desk by my office, because he'll have been here longest. The newbie," damn it, she hated that word since Steve had said it and now she was using it too! "Can take Gerry's desk. And if Steve needs to use a computer, the one on your desk is closest to him."

"Can't fault the lady's logic there," Steve stepped back and admired the once again gleaming white board. "Eh Brian, don't forget to take those magazines out the bottom drawer will you? I don't wanna get a scare when I'm looking for a spare paperclip!"

"Paperclips are in the top left," Brian replied dryly. "Oh, by the way, Esther said to invite you all over for dinner tonight. She's doing chicken apparently."

"Smashing," Gerry replied. "I'll be there."

"Sorry pal, Charlie's coming down for the weekend," Steve took the file Brian had finished with and crossed the room to place it on the table.

"So? Bring her. She said Strickland's invited too," he added to Sandra who suddenly became very interested in some imaginary mark on Jack's former desk much to his amusement. He shrugged as Steve queried him in a look. "Esther likes to entertain," he explained. "Plus she wants to thank you all for putting up with me for so long."

"The more the merrier?" Gerry grinned as he distracted Sandra's attention to non-existent furniture blemishes by depositing a pile of whatever had been on his old desk onto his new desk.

"That's a happy thought to come into," said an unfamiliar voice as it entered through the main office doors and stood drawing attention to itself and its owner as the clock showed five to nine.

Four pairs of eyes were drawn to their intruder. Four brains devoured immediate sensory information and formulated first impressions. Four heads mentally checked their calendars. It was definitely Friday. The newbie had arrived. Early.

"Sorry," the newbie sounded sincere even though they were all sure that this wasn't an accidental encounter. "I know I don't start until Monday, but I thought I'd pop in and try to get settled a bit before the whole deep end routine."

Sandra blinked. The newbie had balls. Contradicting, self-assured, cock-sure with an annoying turn of phrase balls. Damn it.

Gerry groaned inwardly. The newbie was a moron. Damn it.

Brian and Steve looked at each other. Brian shrugged. Steve glanced at the kettle. Brian raised his eyebrows and grinned. Steve questioned silently, Brian answered.

"How do?" Brian said gruffly. "Brian Lane, kettle's over there."

Gerry let out an almighty choke of laughter. Sandra slapped his arm. He stopped abruptly and faced her. She giggled at the taken aback look on his face.

"Sugar's in the tin marked 'Gerry and Steve'," Steve calmly informed the newcomer who hadn't moved. "You'd best add your name if you take it too. I'm Steve by the way. That's Gerry over there."

Brian was now struggling to hold his chuckle even with the effort of acting normally and sitting at his desk. The newbie looked like a deer in headlights.

"Hi," was all Gerry could manage as he ducked out of catching anyone else's eye by arranging his clutter into it's new homes.

"Yes," the newbie responded slowly in a London drawl. "We've already met. You were at the interview. It's nice to see you again. DS Pullman, ma'am."

"Hello again, Nick," Sandra pulled herself together with a magnificent effort and crossed the room with her hand outstretched. "You'll have to excuse the rest of the team, we've just got back from our morning exercise class. It makes the day begin so much more efficiently when all the endorphins are kicking about and everything's just more relaxed, don't you find?"

Brian snorted. Steve had his hands over his face trying desperately to contain his laughter while Gerry had given into the titters and was practically hugging the back of his chair to keep upright.

"Also," she lowered her voice and leaned towards him as if about to let him into the biggest secret of all. "We weren't expecting to see you until Monday."

"No…" Nick replied slowly. He looked at the three men inexpertly hiding their very real need to explode with mirth and wondered if he'd been right when he'd said that retirement sent you crazy and why would he want to work with a team of retired detectives who would most likely be crazy? His partner had replied simply that he must be crazy.

"Ah, good morning Nick," Rob Strickland entered the office and took in at a glance the sight of the UCOS team trying to disguise the stitches they were about to bend over in. "I thought you weren't joining us 'til Monday?"