Sometime after their heated argument, more guests started to arrive for the Christmas dinner that Jo had planned. Uncle Steve arrived sporting his best Christmas jumper and Yaz had also made her presence known. Surprisingly Kate's mum wasn't on Yaz's arm. It seemed that the Doctor and Carmichael had their own discretions to get out of the way first.

Nancy had made herself at home and Olivia had made conversation with Steve. They got along well, discussing their own jobs and what they do in their respective fields, but Kate found herself thinking about El and what she had said to her earlier. It certainly put a damper on the festivities for her. The way Kate still saw it was that she was doing what she thought was best for El. As it turns out, dishing out her own justice only served to make things worse.

Olivia was chatting away with Steve when she had to excuse herself, 'I am so sorry Steve, but I need to go to the bathroom. Could you hold on to that thought for a moment?'

The gentleman that Steve was, simply nodded, 'Of course.' He then watched Olivia as she left. Walking by Kate, the sight of Olivia pulled Kate out of her deep thinking. Of course, Jo had noticed that Kate had gone quiet but she wasn't going to ask her about it yet.

Olivia walked over to Jo as she stood in the open kitchen area preparing some sides for the big dinner. Politely, she asked where the bathroom was and Jo happily gave her the directions. After Olivia had left the room, Kate walked over to Jo. She couldn't keep it in her head any longer, she needed to talk to someone about this, 'Hey Jo?' Kate asked her, 'Could I talk to you, in private? Please.'

Jo stopped what she was doing for a moment and followed Kate to the hallway, closing the door behind her as they went. Jo jumped to her own conclusions immediately, 'I knew she wasn't right for you. You've been far too quiet.'

Kate frowned. She wondered where this had come from, 'What?' She sounded horrified, 'No, it isn't that.'

'What is it then?'

'The argument El and I had this morning.'

Jo looked confused.

'El and I had an argument this morning and I think she made some very good points, and I also think that I might have gone too far.' Kate voiced her concerns, but it wasn't making her feel any better about her previous actions. At the top of the stairs, Olivia kept herself hidden as she listened in on the conversation.

Jo crossed her arms, and scowled, 'What we did was the right thing to do! That man would have kept trying to find her no matter what-'

'That's all he will keep doing! El isn't stupid, she knows that I did something to him because in the end, there was never a second trial or another opportunity to lock him up!' Kate snapped, 'It's alright me wanting my revenge, but I think that it's cost something this time. I don't kill for no good reason, you know that.'

'I know that you should have killed him.' Jo replied. She then sighed, 'What do you suppose we do? Find him and actually kill him this time?'

Kate nodded, 'If it allows your daughter to live a normal life again, yeah.' There was something nagging at her and Jo could see it. It actually made her scoff.

'But you have a guilty conscience. I never thought I would see the day, after everything that you've done through your what? Two hundred years on this planet?'

Olivia frowned at herself. She thought the alien thing was just a joke, but as she listened to their conversation, it was meant in a literal sense. It was a lot to get her head around, but she continued to listen for the sake of her own sanity.

Jo continued on, lowering her voice, 'You had no moral qualms about chopping his dick off and burning the building that he was in down. Why do you have a moral compass now?' She frowned, 'Have you heard yourself?' Her tone became more serious, 'You've gone soft.'

Kate glared at her now, 'I haven't gone soft.'

'No?' Jo asked, 'I wonder what Olivia would have to say if she knew that you were an alien? Right now, she thinks that it is a joke doesn't she? You don't want her to know because you've seen what it's done to the rest of us.' She stepped closer to Kate now, 'One day you'll have to tell her, because you can't keep this family secret.'

'Can we just get back to what we were talking about?' Kate hissed, 'We have to get rid of him.'

'We?' Jo laughed, 'I did my bit. I gave you the choice to kill the bastard but you didn't. That's on you Kate.'

'I can hardly do it now, I have someone that I care about deeply, I'm not going to prison for the likes of him.' Kate hissed.

'Oh no, but you happily went to prison for our daughter, didn't you?' Jo argued back.

'That's not fair, you did the same some time before.'

Jo practically backed Kate into the wall, and her intentions changed completely. Her gaze softened and so did her voice, 'You want El to be safe and happy, but at the same time, how can you be happy with Olivia when she doesn't know you? You don't have to keep trying again when I'm right here.'

Kate scoffed and was about to reply when Jo kissed her. Deep down, Kate wanted this. She thought about kissing her back, and she really considered it. Upon hearing the exchange, Olivia made her presence known and she walked down the stairs to see the pair of them at it. Once she was halfway down the stairs, she cleared her throat, 'Am I missing something?'

Kate looked up at her. She looked guilty as sin, but she didn't know what Olivia did. Olivia knew that Jo was setting her up on purpose. The one thing that Olivia wanted from that entire conversation was answers. Still, Olivia laughed, 'Jo, you really are a desperate bitch aren't you?' She sneered, walking down the last couple of steps until they were face to face, standing opposite one another, 'I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but Kate is mine.'

Jo scoffed, 'You don't own her.'

Neither do you.' Olivia sneered, 'You keep acting like she owes you something. She owes you nothing. You were the one that called it off, not her.' Olivia looked between them both, 'The pair of you have an option, you either tell me what you both did to Max Tyler or I go to the police conduct authority. I might be a cop from NYC, but I am still a cop regardless.'

Kate and Jo exchanged a look. Both were busted.

Olivia looked back at Jo and got into her face, 'If I see you go near my woman again? It'll be the biggest mistake you ever made, do you understand me?'

Jo now glared at her. This felt like a challenge she wanted to take on. Instead of backing down, Jo sneered at her, 'She was never yours to begin with, and I hate to break this to the pair of you, but you won't last.'

'Is that so?' Olivia asked, 'Just because there are a few odd quirks in this family, it doesn't mean that I'm going to run away. In fact, it makes me even more intrigued. Call it my detective instinct.' She smirked, 'Right now I have more questions than answers, but I'm here for the long haul. I can play the long game Jo. Can you?' Instead of walking away, she turned to face Kate and kissed her instead. The jealousy within Jo was like something she had never felt before and seeing Kate relax into the kiss made things even worse. As much as Jo didn't want to admit it, and nor did she see it, she was starting to become controlling and manipulative because all she ever wanted was Kate, and she was determined to get her back no matter what.

…..

Jo quickly vanished back into the living room in a strop. Seeing Kate with other women revealed one thing to herself, she couldn't let go, more specifically, it was Kate that she couldn't let go. Almost fifty years old and after having a lifetime with Kate, it was desperately hard.

Olivia knew what she was doing. When she looked back at Kate, she smiled, almost breathlessly, 'I think that rubbed her up the wrong way.'

Both women chuckled, but Kate enjoyed being so close to Olivia like this. With Olivia's hands still around her, Kate didn't want her to let go, 'So…what you heard…It doesn't bother you?'

'Which part? The fact that you've killed before or the fact that you insist that you are an alien? I want to know more Kate. Jo wants to scare me off and that isn't happening, alright? We are together.' Her gaze and voice softened, 'There is something about you that draws me in…And I can't find myself wanting to let go. I'm in this for the long haul if you are.'

Kate nodded, 'I am.'

Olivia hesitated for a moment, 'You…You wanted justice for El…You and Jo, you both took it into your own hands and after that argument this morning? You know that perhaps wasn't the best thing to do.' She took a breath, 'El has spent the rest of this afternoon upstairs in her old room…I've got experience when it comes to stuff like this and if you want? I can talk to her. She needs to know the reality of the situation, but she also needs to know that the guy who did this? It's not over for him, even if you did take justice into your own hands. Do you want me to talk to her?'

Kate nodded slowly. The shame she felt over the situation was draining on her. She knew what she did, she just didn't know how to make it right. If Olivia could help, that took some of the pressure from her shoulders, 'I'd like that….If you talked to her, I mean…I'm at a loss because I just-'

'It's okay.' Olivia assured her, 'It's okay, I'll talk to her and see what's going on, alright? You go and catch up with your friends and try not to worry about El. I've got this.'

Kate gave her a small smile, 'Thank you Olivia.'

'Go on.' Olivia gestured back towards the living room, 'Let your hair down.'

….

In Isolation

Gently, Olivia knocked on El's bedroom door and waited for El to give her permission to enter. When Olivia walked in, she saw that El was playing on her gaming console. It looked like she was in the middle of a gun fight with a rival gang. Olivia came and sat beside El on the bed and waited for El to pause the game, 'I just thought I would come and talk to you if that's okay?'

El merely shrugged and put the remote down. She knew how impolite it was to play her game and talk to someone at the same time.

'What are you playing?' Olivia asked her.

'Grand Theft Auto.' El replied, 'I was just gaining my gang territory from the Ballas, they are the opposite gang.' She explained.

Olivia nodded, 'Why don't you come downstairs and join the festivities? I heard that Uncle Steve is one of your secret favorites.'

El shrugged, 'I didn't fancy being social with people.'

Olivia nodded. She had many conflicting thoughts going through her mind, but right now she was doing her job both as a police officer and as someone who cared about El's welfare, 'That was quite the argument you and Kate had this morning…Do you want to talk about it?'

'What is there to talk about? Mom- Kate took the law into her hands like she has done lots of times before, but this time, it doesn't affect her, it affects me. He's still out there. He won't give up. He raped me twice.' It was hard for El to say those words and saying it out loud made it real. It was hard to understand what happened to her, because she, like Kate, had become very good at blocking this sort of stuff out.

'What if I said that I might be able to help you? You wouldn't believe me, would you?' She asked softly, 'Because he got away with it once and it's been too long since the last time.'

Slowly, El nodded, 'Mom, Jo, she was meant to take him to the police station. I know she didn't because nothing became of it. I…I know they wanted to do their own justice because he got away with it last time, but to me, they were only thinking of their own needs and not me.'

'And what is it that you want El?'

'I…I want justice…I want him in jail for what he did.' A stray tear fell down El's cheek, 'I want my parents to think about what I want. Yes, I know I screwed up the first trial because I was in denial, but this time, I wanted to do it right and they took that from me.'

Olivia nodded, she understood both sides, but most importantly, she was on El's side. On the spot, she decided something, 'Would you be willing to work with Carmichael again?'

El frowned, she wasn't expecting the conversation to go this way, for someone to hear and listen to her. She was taken aback by it, 'What?'

'I'm serious. You want justice and I want justice for you. I can help as best I can, so would you be willing to work with Patricia Carmichael again?'

El nodded, 'Yes.'

'Okay then.' Olivia gave her a reassuring smile, 'After the holidays, I'll put in an application to stay here longer for work purposes and I will see that you get justice. This isn't about what your parent and sister wants, it's about what you want. It might have been a couple of months and that makes it harder, but I can expand on the case that has since been closed. El, chances are, if he did this to you, he has done it before. Me and Carmichael, we dig in our heels, and we will get him this time.'

Unexpectedly, El leapt forward and hugged Olivia. Finally, she had someone who listened to her, rather than having their own motives and methods of justice, 'Thank you Olivia. Thank you so much.'

Olivia smiled and rubbed her back as she kept a hold of her, 'I'll help you however I can, alright? You just…Try and relax and enjoy the rest of today. Uncle Steve wants to see you and there is an amazing dinner on the way. I'll see you down there, right?'

El peeled herself away and nodded, 'I'll be there soon.'

Olivia stood up slowly and looked down at her, 'I'll see you soon, alright?'

Again, El nodded. She finished her game and as she did, a weight felt lifted from her shoulders. She needed someone like Olivia in her life and she knew things would be better for it. Olivia was just glad that she could try and help. It wouldn't be easy, but she was up and ready for the challenge.

…

After coming downstairs sometime later, El walked over to Kate and wrapped her arms around her shoulders from behind. Though it startled Kate a little, she relaxed into El's arms. After their argument earlier, this was nice to have. El sighed gently, uttering quietly, 'I'm sorry about earlier…I know you were trying to protect me. I'm sorry for what I said.'

Kate rubbed the back of El's hands gently and replied to her, 'It's alright sweetheart. It's alright. I should have listened to you and what your wishes were instead of jumping the gun.'

El nodded slowly, 'You're forgiven.' She kissed her cheek. All the affection was out of habit, something that was hard to break. They spent a moment longer together before she walked over and gave her Uncle Steve a hug, 'Hey Uncle Steve.'

Steve gave her a hug and rubbed her back, 'Hey Squishy, how are you?'

'I'm good.' El replied quietly. She then pulled away from him and frowned, 'Since when were you gray?'

Steve laughed, 'Since I got older. How about you? You're a lot taller now than when I last saw you.'

El smiled, 'I'll have to come round to your place more often. I've told Kate that you keep getting neglected. I've also told her that she needs a woman detox, and she still came home with another woman!' She laughed.

'Your sister can't help who she falls in love with.' Steve replied to her, 'Is Ruby a nice sister?'

El nodded, looking over at Ruby who was now helping Jo in the kitchen with the dinner, 'She is great Steve, she really is. I'm glad that you're here.' She then gave him a hug again and headed over to Nancy, someone else she needed to make things right with.

Her hearts raced heavily in her chest as she walked over to her. As she came to stand beside her, she nervously wrung her hands, 'Hey Nancy.'

Nancy scowled at her, looking down at her, 'You have a nerve. How long have you been sober?'

'Two months.' El replied, 'I…I've been trying my best. You can't hold this against me for the rest of your life.'

'Can't I?' Nancy hissed, 'You took drugs even after I asked you politely not to. I'm sympathetic to you and your situation, but you know what the rules are around drugs and you keep breaking them.' She turned to face her properly, 'Tell me that you don't have a hidden stash somewhere. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't.'

Now El found herself looking down at the floor, 'You know I can't. I am trying my very best, but sometimes, on the odd occasion, I need it.'

'And this is why I don't like having the kids around. My kids could-'

'They can't because the drugs are under a floorboard beneath the carpet in my room. Yes, I have some at Kate's and I have some here, but you can't tell anyone.' El hissed quietly, 'I need those drugs.'

'El!' Nancy hissed quietly, 'You have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, imagine how those drugs would affect you even more so now! Are you so stupid?!'

'I have things under control.' El was trying to keep herself calm now, but with everyone standing or sitting talking to each other, it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that there was something going on between Nancy and El.

'You do not have this under control! If you did, you wouldn't have a secret stash! Does Olivia have any kids?'

'What?!' El snapped.

'If she has kids and she brings them here, I know for a fact if they got a hold of them, your head would be out straight into a guillotine!' Nancy hissed quietly, 'Get yourself sorted out!'

Nancy then walked away from her, just as Jo called over that dinner was ready. This would be a nightmare for almost everyone involved.

…

After twenty minutes, the festive dinner had been served. Around the table were Olivia next to Kate, Jo was at the head of the table, Nancy and El sat opposite each other, as were Steve and the Doctor. The kids had a little table to themselves where Nancy could watch and help them eat.

For Olivia's first Christmas with the family, there was nothing like being thrown in at the deep end. Conversation flowed well for a short while until Jo started to get a little too personal. She leaned forward on the table, resting her elbows on the top. She had a game to play, and not one that everyone else wanted to be dragged in on, 'So, Kate, Olivia…How did you two hit it off? Kate, you were out there for two months, how did you manage to find someone so quick?'

Olivia knew the game she was playing. Gently, she put down her knife and fork, picking up her glass of wine, 'It was me who initiated our relationship, does it bother you that Kate and I are together?'

'Not in the slightest.' Jo commented, 'I can't help but notice that you're a bit older than I am.' She looked directly at Kate now, 'I didn't know you had a thing for older women. Usually, they're all used up.'

Steve cleared his throat, not wanting to get caught in the middle of this argument. But he also had to defend Kate, 'Jo, why is it any of your business?'

'It's okay Steve.' Olivia assured him. Now she was pissed off, glaring at Jo the entire time, 'If you must know, I'm 56 years old, have you seriously got a problem with that?'

'Given that Kate is 47, yeah, I do. Actually, that's not strictly true about your age though, is it Kate?' Jo sneered, 'You used to be about honesty and integrity, but now you're just nothing but a weak bitch that can't fight her own battles.'

El and Nancy both looked down at their plates, while the Doctor just sat there awkwardly. Much like Steve, he didn't want to get involved in the argument, but the way Jo was talking about his daughter didn't sit well with him at all.

Olivia looked back at Kate, 'What is she talking about?'

Kate shrugged, 'I honestly don't know. Control freak through and through, I'm glad I walked away now.'

Jo laughed, 'You're an alien Kate! You're three hundred years older than the rest of us! Give Olivia that honesty for God sake!'

'And you're delusional as well! Did it ever occur to you that the alien thing was a joke?!' Kate snapped at her.

Jo scoffed now. Her gaze darkened, 'You really can't be honest, can you? Your own father is sitting here at the table.' She looked at the Doctor, 'Tell Olivia Doctor.'

The Doctor looked around, 'Tell Olivia what?'

'About the TARDIS, about the fact that you can travel in space and time.'

Olivia frowned, 'Jo….I hate to break this to you…But you need serious help.'

'But rich coming from you. Deciding to get with Kate?' She laughed, 'That's a lunatic move right there! She slept behind my back with some other woman!'

'Funnily enough, that some other woman was the person that you slept with for two years and I found out on my wedding day!' Kate snapped, 'Are we really doing this?! Today, of all the bloody days that you could have chosen?!'

Nancy couldn't help herself now, feeling the pressure of the others in the room, she blurted out what El had told her earlier, 'EL HAS TWO SECRET STASHES OF DRUGS HIDDEN BENEATH THE FLOOR IN HER BEDROOMS AT BOTH YOUR PLACES!'

Everyone else stopped bickering and immediately turned their attention to Nancy. Kate stared right at Nancy and then El, and back to Nancy again, 'What?'

'El.' Nancy stated, 'She has drugs hidden beneath the floor upstairs and at your place.'

Kate looked back at El, her face pale now, 'You what?'

El protested, 'She doesn't know what she's talking about! She has it in for me as much as Jo does for you!'

Kate got to her feet now, 'But Nancy has no reason to lie about that.' She put on a firm voice, 'What have you got?'

'I haven't!' El snapped, 'I haven't got anything!'

'Right, well, if you're telling the truth, you've got nothing to hide, have you?' Kate sneered, 'So I will ask you again, are you hiding any drugs?'

El didn't reply, which didn't help the situation.

'I'm going to look and if you do, you're in serious trouble young lady. What have I told you about coming to talk to us? You can talk to us about anything and we would help.'

'The same way that you helped by dishing out your own justice to Max Tyler rather than helping me get the justice I deserve?!' El snapped at her.

Kate stormed off and headed upstairs, calling back to the Doctor, 'DAD KEEP HER THERE!'

The Doctor uttered beneath his breath, 'I will.'

El went to stand up, but the Doctor snapped at her, 'Stay there!'

Reluctantly, El did as she was told, whilst Olivia followed Kate up the stairs. By the time she reached El's room, she saw that Kate had torn up the carpet beside her bed, and she found the loose floorboard. Olivia merely watched as Kate took out the old biscuit tin from the depths of the floor, 'Can't fault her, she's clever.'

'Yeah, and she has been told. She has already been arrested once for possession because of the sheer amount she had. Next time, it carries a custodial term.' Kate replied, before tearing the top of the tin off. Inside, she saw the contents with a small bong, some wraps of a white substance and a few needles which she knew would be used for heroin. Deflated, Kate sighed to herself, 'Oh El, you idiot.'

'Where has she been getting this stuff from?' Olivia asked. As much as she wanted to arrest El herself, she wasn't a police officer in the UK, so it wasn't of any concern to her, but it was clearly a concern enough for Nancy.

Kate ran a hand through her hair, 'There is no proof that she's been taking anything…Maybe she's had it as a clutch.'

'Maybe she's been struggling to cope.' Olivia realised, 'You can't blame her for this.'

'Can't I?' Kate asked her, 'Nancy's concerns are right.'

'And I'm not saying that she or you are wrong. We don't know if she has used them or not, but maybe talking to her could help.'

Kate sighed, slowly getting to her feet with the tin of El's paraphernalia in her hand, 'I'm sick of this, I'm tired of this and everything. If she wants help, how can I help her with this?'

'You can help her by helping me to secure a conviction on Max Tyler.' Olivia said firmly. She could see the confusion in Kate's face and she further explained after taking a sharp inhale of breath, 'I've spoken to El and she wants me to help her. Me and Carmichael, we go way back. If we all club together, we could get the conviction El wants.'

Kate frowned, 'I chopped his fucking dick off, he will come after me as well! I'm not getting locked up for defending her!'

'I see.' Olivia nodded, 'This was never about helping your sister was it? It was about you protecting yourself from prosecution because of handing out your own version of justice.' She gestured towards the tin of drugs in Kate's hand, 'Have you considered that this might be her way of coping? He is still out there because like she said, you and Jo both went and decided what justice would be best, as a consequence, he's still out there and she's always looking over her shoulder. Kate, I love you, but you really need to sort your priorities. I will always side with her when she hasn't had justice.'

'I never did!' Kate snapped, 'I never got justice from when I was raped-' She looked down, 'But he's long dead now.'

'And Max isn't.' Olivia said softly, 'Please Kate, work with me to help your sister get justice lawfully.'

Kate nodded, giving her a sad smile, 'Okay…But we need to have a word with her about this. We can't let it slide again.'

'And it won't.' Olivia assured her, 'Let's just go home, I'm sick of listening to Jo anyway. Let's go home and sort everything out.'

'Sounds like a plan to me.' Kate smiled sadly, 'If I listen to anything more than she has to say, I'm going to end up slapping her. I'm pretty sure she wanted to ruin today for us anyway. The selfish, vindictive bitch. She never…' She shrugged, 'She never used to be like this, so controlling and horrible.'

'It's because she can't let go of you. She ended it between you and every time she looks at you, she realizes what she lost and it makes her bitter. She can't imagine being with anyone else because even when she tries, they aren't you.'

Kate sighed gently, 'Let's just go home and…Sort this out with El. We need to get to the bottom of this before something bad happens to her.'

'Let's get home.' Olivia said softly to her.

…