As the door closed behind her, Frank steeled himself for the onslaught he knew was about to come. How he played the next few minutes would no doubt set the tone for how the whole sorry mess was going to inevitably play out. Uppermost in his mind was the need to try and protect Christina from the fall out at all costs.

"Don't take it out on her," he said, turning back to face Jack. "None of this is her fault."

"So, who am I supposed to take it out on then Frank?! You?! No, you're too arrogant to think that any rules or regulations apply to you! I've only been here a matter of months, but even before that, I knew exactly what you were!"

He felt his hackles rise. "And what's that?"

"A chancer. Someone who doesn't care who he steps on, who he hurts or what the consequences of his actions might be!" Jack shook his head. "Do you think I wasn't briefed about all of this before I came here?! Do you think I wasn't told what the two of you had been up to?!"

"I'm sure you were."

"I asked her about it the first day I arrived here!" Jack gestured angrily towards the door. "Made it clear to her what the consequences would be if I found out that it was still going on and she told me that it was over! And now you're telling me that, not only has it been going on the entire time, but that it's escalated to the point where you've actually got married?!"

"It hasn't been going on the entire time," he replied, trying to latch onto something vaguely positive. "It only started again shortly before you arrived here. Before that, it had been long over."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth."

"You wouldn't know the truth if it smacked you in the face!"

"Look," he stepped forwards. "My relationship with Chris has had no bearing on anything here. I've never favoured her, never asked her to do anything I wouldn't ask of anyone else, never treated her any differently…" It felt like deja-vu. Everything he had said to Kim and more, even if it was only a half-truth.

"You think that makes a difference?"

"Part of the reason for having the stupid rule about relationships between senior and junior officers…"

"That stupid rule is there for a reason! One that you're clearly too arrogant to understand!"

"The fact that it hasn't affected our work has to count for something!" He knew that wasn't the point Jack was trying to make, but defending himself against accusation of taking advantage of someone younger and more vulnerable didn't sit well with him on his wedding day.

"I'm sure it did, the first time around! But this is your second indiscretion! The two of you received unofficial warnings last year and you were both lucky to get away with just that!"

"It's not an indiscretion as you put it. She's my wife."

"Jesus…" Jack shook his head.

"You're a married man. You understand how it feels to fall in love with someone…"

"Not when that someone is my junior officer! You're in a position of responsibility Frank! Not that you seem to care about that unless it suits you!" Jack sat down heavily behind his desk. "Why in God's name didn't you tell me about this earlier?!"

"We were going to but…well…it never seemed like the right time. There was a lot to consider, not least of all our future careers."

"Well, you can kiss DCI goodbye, can't you? I doubt any board would consider you for promotion when you can't keep it in your trousers around the young, female officers!"

It seemed stark when laid out like that, when the words were spoken by someone else. "I can explain that we're married, if it comes up."

"If it comes up?" Jack laughed shortly. "You do realise you're both going to be in the shit over this, don't you? I'd be surprised if the board even allows you to go forwards!"

He had known there was every chance, but the reality of potentially forever being stuck at his current rank couldn't fail to hit home. "Well, I can cross that bridge when I come to it. It doesn't change how I feel about her or make me regret the choices I've made."

Jack looked at him for a long moment. "I should suspend you right now."

"Well, with all due respect, Guv, you don't have that authority."

"One phone call and I will have! I don't think Mr Brownlow's going to enjoy hearing about your complete disregard for the rules a second time, do you?" Jack rubbed his hand over his face. "Out of curiosity, why tell me now?"

"Guv?"

"Well, by all accounts, this should be your wedding night. I'm sure you had other things on your mind than confessing your sins to me."

"Uh, yeah, well…" he shifted slightly, aware that what he was going to say would probably only make things worse. "We didn't really plan on telling you today only…well…Chris had a slight transport problem getting to the registry office, so she flagged down a panda car. Just so happened, it was from Barton Street. The officers recognised her and, well, put two and two together."

"I see. So, you've told me out of necessity rather than any sense of what's right or wrong. I suppose it's halfway round the whole station by now."

"I don't know Guv, but I would imagine that it would filter through eventually, yes."

Jack paused for a long moment, then lifted the phone on his desk and punched in a number. "Get in here, now." Moments after he replaced the receiver, there was a soft knock at the door before Chrstina pushed it open.

"Guv?"

"Close the door." He eyed her carefully. "I'm guessing the last time this all came to light, you were treated like somewhat of a victim."

She frowned and glanced at Frank. "I don't…"

"Well, I certainly don't consider you one. I'd wager that you knew exactly what you were doing when you climbed back into bed with him, and you certainly don't have the excuse of an alcoholic husband, a toxic marriage or a near fatal stab wound to fall back on this time." Jack glared at her. "As far as I'm concerned, you're equally culpable, a fact I'm sure Mr Brownlow will agree with."

"I accept that," she said calmly.

"Good." Jack looked between them. "Both of you, go to the DI's office and stay there until further notice."

"It is our wedding night, Guv," Frank said. "Isn't there any chance this could wait until tomorrow?"

"I don't think you're in any position to be making demands about anything, do you?!" Jack glared at him. "Your office. And stay there."

Christina turned to open the door and he wordlessly followed her back out into the corridor and into the CID office where Jim and Alan had clearly been whispering together, stopping when they entered. "Haven't you pair got work to be getting on with?"

"What's going on?" Jim asked.

"Never you mind," he replied, closing the door of his office behind him and then turning to look at her. "You ok?"

She nodded. "What's going to happen now?"

"No doubt he'll be on the phone to Brownlow as we speak."

"Do you think we'll get suspended?"

"Maybe. At least then we could have a honeymoon." She smiled slightly. "I don't care, you know, if I get suspended."

"Yes, you do," she met his gaze. "As do I. Just because we know we've done what we needed to do to be together doesn't mean we don't care about the impact on our careers."

He nodded, aware that she was right. "I don't regret it though."

"No," she smiled, "neither do I."

XXXX

It was a good hour before anything happened and, in that time, more people flitted in and out of the CID office. Tosh appeared and then disappeared again, Ted came in and sat down at his desk and then Viv followed suit. All of their gazes swivelled regularly towards her with only Viv offering a small smile of reassurance. It felt as though the time was simply creeping past and there was nothing she could do. In the fishbowl of Frank's office, they couldn't even physically comfort one another, though she was fairly sure by that point that the others must have at least guessed something of what was going on, even if they didn't yet know the full story.

"What a waste," Frank said suddenly.

"Of what?"

"That hotel room. We should have shagged at least a dozen times in there by now."

"A dozen? You are confident. I suppose we'll get the chance at some point later to make up for lost time."

"Yeah…" he leaned forward across his desk. "When we get back there, I'm going to unbutton your blouse and then I'm going to take my hand and…"

"Stop it," she said, laughing, then jumping as the office door opened and Jack appeared, causing her to rise automatically to her feet.

"Well, I'm glad to see you can still laugh and joke under the circumstances," he said. "Mr Brownlow wants to see both of you now."

Under the watchful eyes of the others, she followed Jack back through the office, Frank at her heels, and together they made their way along the corridor and through the swing doors towards Brownlow's office. Something inside told her that it couldn't possibly be as bleak a picture as was being painted. Loving someone, marrying them…well, it could hardly be a sackable offence and, as Frank had said often, they were both good officers with mostly good records.

Mostly.

Brownlow's face was grim when they entered, nothing pleasant or welcoming about his expression. He rose from behind his desk and faced them both and she felt a sudden sense of dread in her stomach.

"DCI Meadows has explained to me what's been going on," he said tightly. "Do either of you have anything to say about the matter?"

She opened her mouth and then paused. The automatic response was to apologise and, yet she wasn't sure what she would be apologising for. "We're sorry this has all caused so much trouble."

"Are you?" Brownlow looked at her. "You were both warned last year. Given the benefit of the doubt with unofficial reprimands and this is how you repay that generosity. I'm particularly surprised and disappointed in you, WDS Lewis. Prior to all of this, you would have been the last person I would have expected to be before me in a disciplinary capacity. You on the other hand, Frank, well…some might say it was only a matter of time."

"Sir…"

"The force takes this sort of thing very seriously and clearly, we at Sun Hill didn't take it seriously enough last year. You especially, WDS Lewis, were given a lot of leeway given your circumstances at the time and, what some considered to have been, the influence of others. But, having spoken with DCI Meadows about the new…developments, I can only surmise that you have been a willing participant in all of this."

"I've always been a willing participant," she replied. "Everyone tried to make out last time that I had somehow been coerced or taken advantage of, and that was never the case." She knew she probably wasn't doing herself any favours but, in her mind, it needed to be said.

"Yes, well…loyalty always has appeared to be your strong suit, even if it hasn't always been directed appropriately." Brownlow sighed. "There's no way to overlook this, especially given that I'm to understand that the news is most likely all around the station by now. Unofficial reprimands cannot be issued for the same conduct twice, it would render the whole process farcical. However, I also consider both of you to be effective officers, with much still to contribute to the Met. Your further prospects in the job are clearly out of my hands. Only time will ultimately tell what the longstanding repercussions might be." He glanced at Jack. "I've spoken with DCI Meadows at some length, and we are in agreement as to the course of action to take. Neither of you will be suspended. However, WDS Lewis will transfer to Barton Street. Effective immediately."

"Barton Street?!" Frank exclaimed.

"Yes. There's a vacancy for a DS. I've already spoken to my counterpart there and he understands the situation. He's discussed it with his DCI and they're willing to accept you." He looked at her. "I appreciate the years that you've given Sun Hill but, under the circumstances, I feel it's the correct course of action."

"Sir, I should be the one to go," Frank said.

"The decision's been made," Jack replied.

"But…"

"As DCI Meadows has explained, the decision has been made," Brownlow replied, turning back to her. "Your record will require to reflect the reasons for your transfer and will be marked with an official reprimand regarding your behaviour. However, it'll do you no harm in the long run, WDS Lewis, to make a fresh start somewhere else given your recent promotion. I have no doubt that you will be every bit the asset to Barton Street that you have been here."

"She can't go to Barton Street, of all places!"

"That's enough Frank!" Brownlow snapped. "You, unfortunately, will also be receiving an official reprimand! By taking the course of action that you have, you've forced my hand! You were both given the benefit of the doubt last year on the basis that the relationship was over. The fact that you're now married…"

"Should lend credence to us being able to stay at the same station!"

"We cannot be seen to be legitimising your behaviour! I'm sorry, but my decision is final. WDS Lewis will report to DCI Paul Ferguson at Barton Street tomorrow morning at nine am." He paused. "I wish you all the best in your new role."

"Sir," she heard herself say, though the pounding of her heart in her ears made it almost impossible for her to hear herself. Barton Street. It was the worst possible outcome for her. Far from being placed somewhere where she could make a fresh start, she was instead being sent to the one place where they would revel in her situation. Swallowing hard against the emotion threatening to overwhelm her, she turned and left the office, forcing one foot in front of the other back to the CID office, where a silence descended as she entered.

Lifting an empty box by the window, she moved over to her desk and slowly began emptying the contents of her drawers. All the personal items, nick nacks and other rubbish that had accumulated over the years either went inside the box or into the bin. All official paperwork she pushed to the far corner. The silence around her was deafening, broken finally by Jim.

"What's happening?"

"I'm leaving," she replied, her voice sounding far brighter than she had thought it would.

"Leaving? But…why? What's going on?"

"I've been transferred to Barton Street."

"Barton Street?!" Viv exclaimed.

"Yep. I've to report there tomorrow morning." She kept her head down, kept moving things from her desk, unwilling to look at anyone, lest her emotions came too near the surface. "It'll be a new start for me. I'll maybe get some proper respect as a DS there." It was meant as a light-hearted comment, but no-one laughed.

"But why?!" Jim demanded again.

"Leave it Jim," Ted said quietly. "I'm sure we can all guess."

"Well, I'm glad you can, because I haven't got a clue!"

She looked up and met Ted's gaze, sympathetic, under the circumstances, and she watched as his eyes flickered to her left hand. Slowly she followed suit and stared at the rings placed there. The ones that symbolised the start of her life with Frank, but also the end of her tenure at Sun Hill. "Frank and I got married today," she heard herself say.

Jim's eyes almost bulged out of his head. "You what?!"

"Congratulations," Ted said.

"Thank you."

"You got married?! I…I mean…I don't…what?!"

She couldn't help but smile. There was something almost comical about the reaction of one of her oldest friends. "Yes, we got married. We love each other so we got married and, because we broke the rules again, I'm out. But it's fine…really it is."

For a moment, Jim said nothing, then his expression grew angry. "The hell it is! Why should you have to go to Barton Street? That's ridiculous!"

"Rules are rules," she replied drily.

"Stuff the rules! I don't want you to go! Meadows won't let you go, surely?"

"Oh, I think Meadows is all in favour of me going."

"Well…we should start a petition or…or go on strike or…something!"

"We're not allowed to strike," Tosh spoke up and she turned to meet his gaze. "Congratulations love."

"Thanks," she replied, surprised.

"Burnside won't let you go," Jim continued. "There's no way he'll let you go, not to Barton Street!"

"I'm doubting he'll have much choice," Ted said. "Not if he wants to protect his own career."

"Listen…" she smiled, trying as hard as she could to inject every bit of positivity she could muster into her response. "Ok, so it's Barton Street. It's not ideal but it's not the worst outcome. It would have been worse if I'd been sacked and I haven't been so…who knows, maybe if I'm at Barton Street I'll be able to help improve relations between the two stations. And it's not as if we won't ever see each other again, is it?"

"But surely if you go to Barton Street, everyone's going to know why," Jim said.

"They probably already know," she replied. "Viv can fill you in. This is supposed to be my wedding night after all, and there's a suite at the Dorchester just waiting for me, if I can find my husband, that is." She could tell that her cheerfulness was unnerving them all and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep it up, so she was grateful when Frank suddenly appeared at the office door. "I've told everyone the good news," she said, pre-empting anything he might say. "All of it."

"Congratulations," Ted said, rising from his chair and extending his hand to Frank. "I hope you'll be very happy together."

"Thanks," Frank replied, clearly somewhat surprised.

"Are we going then?" she lifted the box from her desk and moved over towards him. "Like I was just telling the others, we've got that suite waiting for us."

"Oh…uh…"

Before he could reply, she turned and took a last look around the office, at the people she had been with for so long and fought hard to retain her composure. "Well, I guess this is it then. Be good everyone. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Before anyone could react, she turned and started walking down the corridor and through the swing doors, Jack emerging from the other side as she did so. Their gazes locked and a million different opening lines came into her mind. Sense dictated however, that she stuck to the simplest one. "Goodbye Guv."

He paused. "Goodbye Chris. Good luck."

"Thank you." She turned and kept walking, carefully making her way down the stairs, suddenly aware of Frank at her side.

"Give me that," he said, taking the box from her. "I told Brownlow, and Meadows, that I wouldn't stand for this. I told them they're not shipping you off to Barton Street without a fight. I mean, Barton Street? Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire! That Paul Ferguson's a grade A bastard, not to mention a complete letch to boot! I wouldn't put it past him to try something on with you, even if he knows you're married to me. This isn't over, Chris. It's not over by a long way!"

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to look at him, loving him for everything that he was trying to do and yet realising that all of it was ultimately futile. "Yes, it is."

XXXX

Trying to argue the toss with Brownlow and Meadows had proved nigh on impossible, not that he hadn't given it his best shot. Being officially reprimanded wasn't exactly something he welcomed, but it paled into insignificance when confronted with the fact that, not only was she receiving one too, but that she was facing the indignity of being shipped out to Barton Street. Neither of his superiors had appeared to care, however, not even when he had pointed out that the impression such a move gave was that she was the one in the wrong when it was clear he was equally, if not greatly, to blame. In the end, further argument seemed futile and, much to his surprise, she appeared to be taking the decision well. A little too well.

Now back at the Dorchester, he found himself hovering behind her as she looked out of the window, desperate to know what she was thinking about. "Look, you don't have to pretend with me like you did with them," he said finally. "Going to Barton Street's going to be hell for you. You can rail and scream and cry if you want."

"What would be the point?" she asked, turning back to face him. "Doing all of that isn't going to change the decision, is it? And besides, maybe it will be good for me to have a fresh start as a sergeant somewhere else."

"Yeah, but Barton Street…"

"I just need to make the best of it. I'm a big girl and I can handle myself. If anyone at Barton Street wants to throw anything at me, let them. It's all sticks and stones at the end of the day."

He surveyed her admiringly. "Well, you're certainly taking it a lot better than I would in your shoes."

"What about you? How will the reprimand affect you?"

"At the moment, it won't, though Meadows was keen to point out to me that the promotion board might not let me go forwards for DCI with it on my record." Her face fell. "But what does he know anyway? He's not exactly got a spotless record himself and I doubt his career's stuck in the doldrums."

"I'm sorry," she sighed.

"I'm not," he moved towards her. "At the end of the day, we've got each other and that's all that matters, right?" she nodded. "There's something quite sexy about the thought of making love to your wife for the first time. If you're up for it, that is," he added hurriedly, lest she think he was making light of the gravity of their situation.

"Of course I'm up for it," she replied, brushing her lips against his. "I've only got one request."

"What's that?"

"Make it good."

"Has it ever been any other way?" She didn't reply, instead she kissed him properly, fully and passionately, pressing herself against him, leading him back across the room towards the bed and pulling him down on top of her. His hands moved over her body to the buttons of her blouse, sliding them out one by one as he had told her he would, then peeling the fabric from either side and dropping his lips to the warm skin of her chest. Her breathing grew shallow as he moved lower over the swell of her breasts and she arched her body towards him, allowing her to reach around and unclip her bra. Slipping it from her, he focused on her breasts as she gasped above him, before moving lower down her stomach, his fingers slipping the button of her jeans and his hand sliding inside to meet the damp arousal on her pants.

"I think we need to get rid of these," he said, gently gripping her jeans and pulling them slowly downwards over her ankles, following swiftly by her pants. "Now, what do we have here?" Before she could respond, he dipped his head between her thighs, his tongue probing her inner heat and, mere moments later, she was bucking against him, her release violent and vocal. "Someone needed that," he commented, sliding back up her body, kissing her sensitive spots as he did so. Her flushed gaze met his own, the naked hunger that lingered almost surprising him. Wordlessly, she started pulling at his shirt, paying no heed to niceties as she tore it from his body, her fingers grappling with his belt, button and zip before pushing him over onto his back and climbing on top of him. It was a definite turn on, seeing her seemingly so desperate for him, but he couldn't help but think that she was trying hard to mask something else. "Easy tiger," he breathed as she lowered herself down on top of him.

A gasp left her throat as she encased him inside her, her gaze locking with his as she began to move against him, slowly at first and then faster, aided in no small measure by her own slickness. Taking his hands in hers, she held them to her waist as she moved harder against him, then he pulled himself up and wound his arms around her, crushing her against him as they continued to move together.

"Yes…" she gasped breathlessly, "Yes, yes, yes…on my back…on my back…" Pushing upwards, he lifted her and then pressed her down into the mattress, sinking deeper inside her and pulling her legs around his waist as he did so. "Yes…oh God, Frank…yes…"

He moved harder and faster inside her, his lungs seeming to burn with the very effort. She was his. His wife. And she was Sun Hill's. She always would be. Barton Street be damned.

He buried his face in her neck as he felt the orgasm sweep through him and then he was griding hard against her, pushing her deeper into the mattress, hearing her cry out beneath him as he unleashed his desire inside her, over and over and over until he felt his body slow and almost immediately be taken over by exhaustion. For a moment, they lay there together before he slowly withdrew from her and then flopped down on his back beside her. "Bloody hell."

"Yeah…"

"I hope that was as good as you were expecting."

"Better." She turned her head to meet his gaze, her body rapidly rising and falling. "Thank you."

"Five-star service, as always."

She laughed and then grew serious, rolling onto her side and stroking his face gently. "I'm going to be ok. At Barton Street, I mean. I can take care of myself."

"You shouldn't have to. You should still be at Sun Hill, where I can keep my eye on you."

"Well, all the more reason we should make a decision on where we're going to live. Otherwise, we're never going to see each other."

"I've been looking at you every day for the best part of four years. It'll take a bit of getting used to not having you there every time I look up from my desk."

"Things change."

"Not always for the better."

"Well, look at it this way; if I'd been transferred last year, when we decided to end things between us, that would probably have been it. Over. Finished. For good. Now…"

"You're legally all mine," he said, pulling her close to him. "Until death do us part."

"Exactly." She paused. "I love you, more than anything."

He kissed her again. "I love you too. Don't ever forget that."

"How could I?"

"And don't you let those arseholes at Barton Street give you any grief. You're Frank Burnside's wife, remember? Take a tip from me and make your platform from the moment you walk through that door."

"Probably the less said about being your wife, the better. I need to be DS Christina Lewis at the end of the day, regardless of who I might be married to."

"Of course," he backtracked. "I didn't mean anything particular by it, just that you need to be firm, right from the start. Take no prisoners. I've got every faith in you."

"Well, I'm glad someone has." Sliding away from him, she swung her legs over the bed and got to her feet, padding to the bathroom and closing the door behind her before he had the chance to ask her what she meant.