Some of the events in the second part of this chapter are taken from the Season 7 episode 'Domestic' and therefore I don't own any of that dialogue.

7 July 1991

She was tired, exhausted in fact from the night's activities. After transporting Patterson and his friends down to the station and waiting for legal representation to arrive, the interviews had begun in earnest. Patterson had stared at her across the table, his expression none too pleasant as he had responded with 'no comment' to every question that she had asked. It had been mildly frustrating, but no more than she had expected. But there was plenty of other evidence and by the time dawn had broken, Patterson was going nowhere fast. Charged and with bail denied by the custody sergeant, he was bedded down for the night, which allowed her the chance to shoot home to grab a couple of hours sleep before returning, fresh, to carry on with her other role, namely the fraud enquiry. It couldn't have been smoother, she had thought, as she had climbed the stairs to the CID office, until she had come face to face with Kim, waiting as she was at her desk.

"Good morning, Christina," she greeted her with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Morning Ma'am," she replied cautiously.

"How are we this morning?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Not too tired after last night then?"

She paused, her brain racing over whether or not she could invent some plausible excuse before determining that, perhaps, honesty was the best policy. After all, she had told Frank she could handle it. "A little bit, but not so as I can't do my job."

"Well, I'm pleased to hear it. My office. Now."

She glanced around the empty office as though she could, at a whim, conjure up someone to come to her assistance, but even Frank's office was empty. Her stomach churned with anxiety as she followed her superior along the corridor into her office, closing the door behind her. "Ma'am, if I could explain…"

"I don't want you to explain anything," Kim interrupted her. "I want you to listen."

"Ma'am."

"I chose you for the fraud enquiry because I thought you a capable officer, someone who would be able to investigate it to a high standard, someone who could be committed, someone who wouldn't be swayed by the perceived 'excitement' of other jobs that might come in, someone who knew her own mind and wouldn't be open to persuasion, someone that I had seen something in that, given the right mentoring, could make something of herself. Clearly, I was wrong. I assume you're not going to deny that you were involved in the arrest of Rod Patterson last night, or that you spent most of the early hours of this morning interviewing him?"

She felt her gaze pulled to the floor. "No Ma'am, I'm not."

"And yet, here you are, allegedly ready to start work again on the fraud case this morning despite having, what I can only imagine to be, a few hours' sleep."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Disappointed would be an understatement." Kim pursed her lips. "I can only imagine what, or rather who, possessed you to get involved in DI Burnside's operation."

"This was nothing to do with the DI…"

"Oh, please don't insult my intelligence!" Kim snapped. "The man only has to snap his fingers and you go running like some sort of lovesick puppy!"

She felt her cheeks flame with embarrassment.

"Do you really think I'm naïve enough not to be aware of the feelings that still exist between you, even if you do try admirably hard to keep them hidden?"

"I…"

"I can only imagine how little he had to say in order to get you involved in the operation. Let me guess, it would be something along the lines of 'being on his firm' or 'sticking with him for the good of your career' that would have done it, am I right?" She found she had no words to respond, Kim's shrewdness deserving only silence. "I thought as much." Kim shook her head. "I had credited you with a little bit more intelligence than that, Christina. I thought I had seen something in you that elevated you above those who scurried around after Frank Burnside, desperate to impress him, even despite your past dalliance. Can you honestly not see that, if anything, you're only going to sink your career further into the mire by slavishly adhering to everything he asks of you?"

"He's my Inspector," she found her voice. "Are you saying I shouldn't do what he asks me to do?"

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it. Yes, as your superior officer if he gives you an order you should follow it but I'm talking about him taking advantage of you."

"So, we're back to this again are we, Ma'am? Back to the pep talk you gave me when I was in the hospital?"

"Clearly, it had little effect!" Kim sighed. "I've been in this game longer than you, Christina, and I've seen a thousand Frank Burnside's. Arrogant men who think that rank gives them the authority to dictate to and negatively influence everyone around them for their own gain. Do you really think, really think¸ that if a situation arose whereby Frank Burnside had to pick you or himself that he wouldn't pick himself?"

"He let me arrest Patterson," she replied. "He could have done it himself, but he let me do it because he knew I needed it after what happened before." Kim said nothing. "I know you don't like him or his methods, Ma'am, but he's not like you think he is. He…"

"Loves you?"

She paused and met the other woman's gaze; well aware they were entering dangerous territory. "Yes."

"And you love him."

"Yes."

Kim folded her arms and leaned back against the windowsill. "Are you sleeping together?"

"No."

"And you expect me to believe…?"

"It's the truth. We're not together, not like that," she replied, hoping that nothing in her tone or expression would give the other woman cause to ask anything about Spain or her alleged trip to Brighton. "But we do care about each other. It's nothing something you can just switch off just because your employer doesn't approve."

Kim shook her head. "This can't continue."

"Ma'am?"

"I cannot have an officer working in my department who, when I ask her to do something, disobeys me because she wants to impress the man she's infatuated with."

"That's not how it was. It was my decision to get myself involved in the operation last night because I wanted to nick Patterson. My feelings for Frank had nothing to do with it. He didn't know I was going to be there and he told me to leave when he realised that I was."

"Well then, leaving aside DI Burnside, I cannot have an officer working in my department who thinks herself above the instructions I give her!"

"That's not how it was either. I didn't set out to deliberately disobey you, Ma'am." She paused. "I don't expect you to understand but…after what happened at the club before…it felt like unfinished business with Patterson."

Kim moved to stand in front of her. "I should remove you from the fraud enquiry and replace you with someone more worthy of the opportunity that such an investigation can bring. Someone who won't be so quick to abandon what she's been asked to do when something more exciting comes along. But, somehow, I feel that would be playing exactly in you and DI Burnside's hands." She held up her hand as Christina made to protest. "You will work on the fraud enquiry exclusively from now on. No other business is to be handled by you and that is a direct order from me. If DI Burnside asks you to carry out any other investigation work on any other case, you will refuse and refer him to me. Do you understand?"

She nodded, "Yes Ma'am."

"And if I find that you've gone behind my back again, there will be consequences. I want you to be under no illusions, Christina, I will be watching you very carefully. The Senior Management Team here elected to take no action against either you or DI Burnside for your affair, but don't think for one moment that that decision can't be reversed if it appears that the department is suffering. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Right. Get back to work."

She turned and scurried out of the office, her heart hammering loudly in her chest, well aware that although the meeting hadn't gone particularly well, it could have been far worse. As she made her way back to her desk, she glanced up to see Frank in his office and hurriedly made her way to the door. "I've just had a bollocking."

"What, already?" he looked up at her. "She was quick off the mark, wasn't she? How did she even find out?"

"I don't know, but my card's been marked." She stepped inside, glancing behind her. "I may have told her that we still love each other." He raised his eyebrows at her. "She was saying things about you, and I was trying to defend you and it just sort of came out. That's all I said though."

"I've told you before, I don't need you to defend me."

"I know." She paused as the phone on his desk rang and waited as he lifted it.

"Burnside. Oh, morning Ma'am. Yeah, all right, I'll be right there." Replacing the receiver, he met her gaze again. "I reckon it's my turn."

"Look, I told her that you didn't know I was going to be there and that you told me to leave."

"Don't worry about it. I can handle Miss Reid."

"Frank…"

"I said, don't worry about it." He reached for and squeezed her hand gently as he moved past her. "Anyway, don't you have a thrilling fraud case to investigate?"

XXXX

"Ah Frank, good of you to spare me the time."

"Morning Ma'am," he greeted her, closing the door behind him. "Productive operation last night."

"Yes, so I heard," Kim regarded him carefully. "You think it'll stick on Patterson?"

"I reckon so."

"Good, at least it was all worth it then. So…when was the last time you and Christina Lewis had intimate relations?"

He stared at her, momentarily taken aback. "I beg your pardon?"

"Sex, Frank. When was the last time you and Christina Lewis had sex?"

"I can't remember."

Kim raised her eyebrows. "You can't remember?"

"Due to the fact that it was so long ago, Ma'am. If you're asking me for a ballpark timeframe, I'd have to say…" he paused, as though trying to draw the memory back into his mind, "just before she was stabbed."

"Before she was stabbed."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Which would be…February of this year. Five months ago."

"I would say about then, Ma'am, yes."

"You're telling me that you've not had sex with her in, at least, five months."

"No Ma'am." He paused. "Is there a point to this?"

"The point is, Frank…I don't believe you."

"Ma'am?"

"Christina stood in front of me not ten minutes ago telling me that you and she still love each other and whilst she also adhered to the tale that the pair of you are not currently intimate with one another, I find it almost impossible to accept that neither of you have acted upon these feelings."

"Well, we both know how detrimental such actions would be to our respective careers, Ma'am. That was made very clear."

Kim regarded him carefully, "You've always struck me as a man used to getting what he wants, as least professionally. I'd always assumed that extended to your personal life too."

"I'm not sure I understand you."

"You want her," Kim replied pointedly, "and yet, here you are, professing that there's nothing going on between you and that there hasn't been for five months."

He shifted slightly in front of her, "That's right, not that I think it's really any of your business Ma'am."

"We've had this conversation before, Frank. What goes on in this department is very much my business whether you like it or not. I had specifically tasked Christina to work on the fraud enquiry and when I received a call from DCI Andrews congratulating me on a good team effort, I was rather surprised to discover that she was part of that team, albeit a late part. I specifically told you that she was not to be involved."

He paused, weighing up what to say next and how it could benefit, or hurt, either of them. "I felt differently Ma'am. I felt she deserved to be in on the operation and that she would regret it if she wasn't."

"So, you persuaded her?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

Kim's eyes narrowed. "Did you then ask her to leave when she arrived on obbo?"

He paused again, "I don't recall that, Ma'am."

"I see. So you were, at all times, supportive of her being there?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Kim pursed her lips and shook her head. "You'd do well to remember your place in this department, Frank. I'm in charge, not you. I make the rules and the decisions and when an officer, any officer, deliberately disobeys a direct order, I have to take that very seriously. Very seriously indeed. Particularly when it involves another, junior officer with whom that officer has previously had an affair and gotten away with it."

He bristled at her words, "I don't think either of us got away with anything, Ma'am."

"No? You're both still here, aren't you?"

"Much to your regret, I'm sure."

"I doubt it's of any great secret to anyone that you and I don't always see eye to eye, Frank, but let's just remember who has the rank of DCI and who doesn't."

"Ma'am."

"Right, that's it," she dismissed him. "Christina works solely on the fraud enquiry from now on."

"How long for?" he asked, turning for the door. "We've got a lot of work on at that moment…"

"Until I say otherwise. Is that clear?"

"Crystal…Ma'am," he replied, opening the door and then closing it carefully behind him. Back in the office, the others had started to arrive, and he made his way back into his office, followed closely by Christina.

"Well?"

"It's sorted."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, apparently you've to work on your fraud enquiry until the end of time, but that appears to be it. I'm assuming she rapped your knuckles."

"You could say that."

"Not quite the little favourite anymore?" She looked at him and he suddenly felt the desperate need to backtrack, as though she had sensed his true motivation. "Not that there's anything wrong with being in the DCI's good graces."

"No…" she agreed. "I guess not. "

"Well, you'd best get back to work then, hadn't you, before she finds something else to chastise us for."

"Yes Guv." She turned and walked back to her desk, and he couldn't help notice the slight droop in her shoulders that did nothing to assuage the niggling feeling of guilt.

14 August

She knew that she should feel excited, relieved, happy but, in all honesty, she felt nothing. Five weeks after being pulled up by Kim, of non-stop investigation, of stress and worry that she was going to be able to pull it all off and she had finally reached the end point and yet, she felt nothing. The culmination of the fraud enquiry, the one that was supposed to put her on the map, elevate her in some way, and she felt nothing. The warrants had been signed, premises were to be raided later that day, suspects were to be arrested…this was it, finally…and she felt nothing.

The atmosphere between her and Kim had been strained since the Patterson arrest. They had spoken about the fraud enquiry on many occasions, but the conversations had lost the warmth they had once had, though not the professionalism. Kim had gone to Area more than once to update them on progress and, on none of those occasions, had she been asked to go along. She had been frozen out, her cards marked, and it didn't feel particularly good.

"You raiding this afternoon?" Viv asked, looking at her across their desks.

"Yeah, at some point."

"Don't sound too excited. Jim was practically wetting himself earlier at the prospect of the enquiry being over."

"I suppose it'll be nice to get back to something a bit more mainstream. I'm not sure I'm cut out for white collar crime." Her initial enthusiasm and interest in the enquiry had waned in the aftermath of what had happened. Perhaps Kim knew her better than she knew herself, could see that, deep down, she was more like Frank than she had perhaps believed.

At that moment, as though attuned to her, Frank came into the office, "Viv, you fit?"

"With you in two secs, Guv," Viv replied, taking some paper out of the typewriter and stapling it together. "We've got a nasty assault down at Hammersmiths, you know, that posh furniture shop on the high street."

"What happened?"

"The manager taking the money to the bank got seriously assaulted last night. They got away with about four grand. Smashed her face in."

"Nasty."

"I should say."

"You can NFA the Lorraine James case," Frank called from his office as Viv swung her jacket over her shoulders.

"What, no crime?"

"She changed her mind, woman's prerogative."

Viv sighed heavily, "Terrific."

"Was that the rape case?" Christina asked.

"Yeah. She was raped by her boyfriend, Kenny Burke. He's been knocking her about for a while now, but this was the first time he'd done anything like this. I thought we had him too, she seemed really up for going through with it."

"Wonder why she changed her mind."

"Fear probably. I suppose we don't realise how frightening testifying can be for a victim." Viv paused suddenly and looked at her. "Oh Chris…I'm sorry."

"Forget it."

"No, I shouldn't have mentioned it. It can't be easy, having the case hanging over you like this."

"No, it isn't," she admitted. As time ticked on, the thought of standing up in court and giving evidence of what had happened between herself and Stewart was weighing heavily on her mind. The fact of having to admit to an affair, revealing intimate details of her life to all and sundry…she could well understand why someone would want to pretend it had never happened. At night, when her mind wandered, all scenarios ran through her head, primarily the one where she was made out to be some sort of harlot that deserved what had happened to her. The fraud enquiry had given her something else to focus on and, with its imminent end, she knew she would be back to wondering what the next few weeks might have in store for her. It was at those times that she wished she and Frank could be together and even though she knew that he would listen if she told him she wanted to talk, it wasn't the same as being close and being held in his arms.

"You coming?" Frank broke into her thoughts. "Or do I have to wait until the quilting circle has finished its daily gossip?"

"Yes Guv," Viv replied, rolling her eyes at her as he strode past her towards the door. "Fancy a swap?"

"I wish," she mused as her friend hurried out after him. "I really wish."

XXXX

Hammersmiths was indeed a posh furniture shop, the type where anything and everything would cost him about a month's salary. As he and Viv were shown into the manager's office, he could feel the morning's events rankle him.

Lorraine telling him that she had lied about the rape simply to get back at Kenny for cheating on her and her wanting to drop the charges.

He couldn't believe that she was backing out, not when she had seemed so sure before and he was livid that Burke appeared to have put the frighteners on her. The look on her face, the emphatic way she had tried to convince him that nothing had happened…deep down, she reminded him of someone else he knew and the memory of what had happened to that person still plagued him when he had the time to consider it, consider how things could have been so different if he had just done something when he'd had the chance. Time was marching on; CPS would have to make a decision soon as to when they were going to try Stewart, something that he found himself thinking about with increasing regularity.

"We've got one good witness, a bus driver that was passing," Viv told the manager, Mr Marsden.

"I'm glad to hear it."

"And Miss Lane seems to be recovering well from her injuries."

"So I gather."

"So you gather?" he butted in. "You haven't been to see her then?"

"I shall be going this evening."

"Oh, I see." The man's concern for his employee was almost overwhelming.

"One of the attackers was black wearing a blue jacket. The white one was in jeans, very stocky, may have done weight training," Viv said.

"It doesn't ring a bell I'm afraid."

"Your Miss Lane said the same thing about the stocky build, thick neck, piggy eyes...is that any help?"

"Not at all I'm afraid."

"We'll have to speak to your loading bay manager, Mr Marsden," he said, "see if any of the kids he has working for him fit the description."

"Well, if they did, I'd know. All our staff are hired by me."

He moved to the window. "Is it usual for one of the kids from the loading bay to walk down with the money?"

"Well, the money's usually carried by Miss Lane or the other trainee manager. But we like to send a lad along for extra security."

"Yeah, course," he sneered, "and the bank's only down the road, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"Hardly worth hiring a security firm to transport the money."

"Not for the amount of cash we carry. Most of our customers use cheques or plastic."

"Miss Lane was carrying a substantial amount of money when she was robbed."

"A fair bit, yes, but not in relation to our turnover."

"I'm not interested in your turnover, Mr Marsden," he said brusquely, turning to face the other man again. "I'm interested in a young girl with her face bashed in."

Viv shifted in her chair. "Perhaps it might be a good idea to go down to the loading bay now, Guv."

"So," he ploughed on, ignoring her, "it's the same thing every week. Same girl, same bag and some untrained teenager to act as bodyguard. That sound like good security to you, Mr Marsden?"

"I'm not going to get into a debate with you about this," Marsden sighed.

"Four thousand pounds in cash…I know villains who would kill their own mother to get their hands on a sum of money like that."

"I said, I'm not going to…"

"Of course, she'll get flowers from the company petty cash. I'm sure that'll be a great comfort to her. Won't bother her that she's got to suck her food through a straw for the next six months!"

"I said, I won't discuss it with you! Although I have to say, your manners stink!"

"Oh" Frank made a face at him, "Well that really hurts."

"Guv, we really should be getting on."

"Yeah yeah, I just wanted to tell…"

"You must be out of your mind!" Marsden exclaimed. "I shall be making an official complaint!"

"I just wanted to tell this idiot what I thought of him. Oh, and by the way Mr Marsden, I shall be asking my DCI to contact your head office. I wonder if they know how security conscious you are." Before Marsden could react further, he turned and pushed open the office door, storming back through the store, Viv at his heels.

"Well cheers Guv, you screwed that up good and proper."

"Did I."

"You raise a stink and he'll have you up for rudeness to the public. It's a standoff."

"I don't care!"

"What's got into you?"

"I'm grumpy, you know me."

"Yeah, well I thought I did. Is it Lorraine? Is that's what bugging you."

He stopped on her words and turned to face her. "Yeah. You try to help people and what happens? They don't want to be helped!"

"There's nothing you can do, sir. If she wants to cover for a rapist that's her lookout."

"Yeah, look where it gets you though. Beaten up, coerced into withdrawing allegations, or not bothering to make them in the first place!"

"Not bothering to make them in the first place?" Viv frowned. "Are you talking about Chris?"

He paused. "Maybe."

"But she's going to stand up in court and talk about what Stewart did to her. She's not going to back out, you know she's not."

"I know that, but she shouldn't have to be there in the first place. I should have done something about that bastard long ago!" He started walking again, Viv trailing behind him.

"Guv…"

"Look, just leave it, all right? You're right; it's Lorraine's choice at the end of the day. I just don't want to be visiting her in hospital when he does it again, that's all. I've had my fill of seeing what some men are capable of doing to the women they claim to care about."

Viv said nothing for a long moment as they circled their way towards the rear of the building where the loading bay was located. "She doesn't seem as chummy with Reid anymore."

"Who?"

"Chris. Seems like the shine's gone off their relationship over the last month or so."

"Seen sense, hasn't she."

"About what?"

"About where her bread's buttered."

"With you, you mean?" He stopped and turned to face her, well aware of what she was hinting at. He'd never pulled her up for what she had said that night on the Patterson obbo, but he hadn't forgotten. "Professionally speaking."

"If you've got something to say Viv, which I don't doubt, just say it."

Viv blinked, "Why do you think she took so long to do anything about Stewart? She's loyal, Guv, to a fault. And that's not always a good thing." She moved past him, leaving him to contemplate her words and consider, not for the first time, if their relationship had done more harm overall than good.