A/N: I can't believe it's been over a year since I updated this story… I am so crap! The past 14 months have been hectic, with events including my getting married and publishing a book, and I have therefore seriously neglected my stories on this site. It was only when I read some of the lovely reviews that have been left here that I gave myself a kick up the arse and decided to try and continue 'Aftermath.' Please be warned that this chapter was created after a night of no sleep and severe toothache, and also that, after not writing about these two lovely ladies for over a year, I fear it may take me some time to slip back into their roles. And finally, thank you so, so much, those of you who have read and reviewed. Although I haven't been around, those words of encouragement really do mean an awful lot.

Chapter 13

Uncharacteristically paying far less attention to the road ahead than usual, Janet instead found herself shooting a pasty-looking Rachel glances every few seconds as she drove them both through the roads she knew like the back of her hand. She'd barely managed to coax more than a sentence from the previously cheerful brunette since the phone-call they'd received an hour ago, and she felt concern well in her stomach as she tried to fathom just what must have been going through Rachel's mind since the news of her brother's arrest had been imparted. Now they were heading to the place that acted as their second home – the station, Gill having promised that she would gather all the information she possibly could about the situation that had now been thrust upon them. For now, all they could do was wait.

Janet barely noticed her hands gripping onto the steering wheel, her knuckles white with the pressure enforced, as she sneaked another sidelong look at her passenger before biting the bullet. "How are you doing?"

It took Rachel a moment to realise that her girlfriend had said something, and she blinked slowly as though even that natural task was proving arduous. With her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach, an almost inaudible sigh slipped past her lips. "I dunno," she murmured, her normally lively eyes dull as they stared blankly ahead.

Janet nodded, unseen, as a small noise of comfort sounded from the back of her throat. Allowing one hand to release its death grip on the wheel, she reached over to give Rachel's knee a squeeze. "I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but it's going to be okay, love. We'll work through it. Together."

A small sliver of comfort permeated the brunette's otherwise dour mood at the minimal physical contact offered, though when she tried to turn her lips up into a smile, she found it impossible. While she knew she was beyond grateful for the support Janet was bestowing upon her, and while she was well aware she would be absolutely lost right now if it wasn't for the woman seated to her right, the situation at hand mixed with her god-awful pregnancy hormones made such gratitude fade considerably in the face of the current drama that surrounded her. "Thanks," she said, her voice faint but the single word undeniably heartfelt. She sighed again then, wondering how just an hour ago she could have felt so upbeat. It felt like another lifetime right now. "Christ, I could do with a fag."

Janet grinned in spite of herself, giving Rachel's knee one last squeeze before relocating her hand on the gearstick. The small smile died on her lips as the magnitude of what they were about to be confronted with dawned on her once again. If Dom revealed that his big sister had helped him run… well, trying to pick the best time to tell the world that she and Rachel were now in a relationship would be the very least of their worries. She didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse that she had to press her foot to the brake and effectively slow the car to a crawl as traffic suddenly overwhelmed the small street. Lowering her window a fraction, she released a sigh of her own, trying to figure out how ridiculous it would be for her to take up smoking now, anything to take the edge off the stress that flowed mercilessly through her veins.

xxx

With a hand covering her tired eyes, Gill relaxed into her seat, her muscles almost crying out with relief as they started to unfurl. She'd been planning to leave work relatively early today, to treat Sammy and Orla to a nice meal, maybe unwind with a glass (or bottle) of red, probably give Julie a ring for a nice catch up, before indulging in a long bath and an early night. Of course, she should have known by now that such plans rarely worked out. Instead of tucking into a rather large plate of spaghetti bolognaise and bemoaning the youth of today as her son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law paid more attention to their mobiles than the art of conversation, she was still tucked away in her office, long after the rest of her team had gone home. "Home," she muttered to herself darkly as she brought her hand down from her face and stared up at the ceiling through narrowed eyes. "I wonder what that's like."

Giving her watch a cursory glare, she noted that Rachel and Janet would be there shortly, and suddenly her own woes seemed not so important. Busying her hands with piling paperwork neatly next to the phone on her desk, she paid little attention to the medley of messy scrawls and professional fonts that swam in front of her, her mind now firmly on her young detective. Of course, being used to celebrating catching the bad guys, she'd felt the addictive sense of achievement sweep through her that always did after a successful capture when she'd been told about Dom's arrest. Until her brain had caught up to the consequences, that is. And then she'd felt the satisfied rush leave her body as quickly as it had arrived. It would have been hard enough for Rachel with her brother being brought in and now facing life in prison as it was, add pregnancy to the mix and Gill couldn't begin to imagine.

xxx

"And you've been in this job long enough to know how these things go, kid," Gill said with a wry grin, polishing her glasses before sliding them up her nose and turning her beady gaze on Rachel. It was certainly a rarity for the young brunette to be so quiet for such an extended period of time, and while the DCI often thought that when that time came she'd practically do cartwheels and rejoice in the silence, now it was here she just found it disconcerting.

She tilted her head slightly, eyes scrutinizing, looking every inch the high power officer of the law that she was. "The CPS will have been working on their case ever since he went on the run, now they've found him it'll all be rather cut and dried I expect. Of course, they'll want to talk to him, ask him some questions, that kind of thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up going to trial rather quickly, if I'm honest." A thought came to her then, and she reeled herself in. "Sorry, I just assumed he wouldn't be pleading guilty. If he does, it'll be an ever quicker process. Do you think he will?"

A prolonged silence ensured that Rachel knew she had no choice but to reply, and she dragged her gaze away from her crooked fingernails and tried hard not to wither and confess all when she found herself under Gill's penetrating stare. Now, more than ever, she craved the comforting feel of Janet's arms winding their way around her and holding her close, an unspoken promise that she wasn't so alone in all of this, and she felt vulnerable without it. "I… I don't know," she replied, her voice low enough to hide the shake she knew would betray her if she applied any more volume. "Will I be able to talk to him?"

The older woman sighed and raked a hand through her short brown hair. "You know the rules, kid. You're family. Heck, I'd be surprised if any of Syndicate 9 is given authorisation to work on this case." She gave a light, apologetic shrug, though found her rarely seen maternal streak protesting loudly when she saw her colleague's shoulders slump. A quick glance over to the silent but worried-looking Janet only consolidated this. "Then again, you're family," she continued after a beat. "Dodson's still on the case, and I'm pretty sure I can use her last residue of guilt of placing you as a suspect to pull a couple of strings."

"Really?" Rachel interjected quickly, sounding stronger than she had since that fateful phone call.

Gill raised her hands in self surrender. "No promises. I'll give her a ring tomorrow, all right? In the meantime… I'm afraid I've got nothing else to tell you. You should take the next couple of days off." Her soft tones hardened suddenly, until she sounded like her usual self. "You need to sort yourself out. It's not just you you've got to think about now, it's that baby. Doing light duties at work won't make a jot of difference if you're stressed out to high bloody heavens." She turned her gaze to Janet. "You'll have to keep an eye on her. You know what she's like."

"Yeah, course," Janet replied with a small smile, her blue eyes as piercing as ever. "Someone's got to, haven't they?"

xxx

Huddled up in bed with warm safe arms enveloping her and a cup of hot chocolate steaming away merrily atop the bedside cabinet, Rachel felt calmer than she had in hours. The visit with Gill had gone as expected, the only silver lining being the hope that she would be able to slip in and see Dom. This had been followed with the necessary phone call to Alison, who had ranted and raved before finally ending the call in a subdued manner.

It was odd, Rachel mused now. Usually it was the other way around, with Ali reverting into herself and the younger of the two sisters having a good old shout about things when the going got tough. Not everything had changed, though. During the call, Alison had managed to elicit a promise from Rachel that she would pop around for dinner the next weekend. While the tall brunette still held the normal reservations about dining out with her sister, she accepted more readily than usual. Whether this was because the events of the day had reminded her quite forcefully just how important family was, or because now Ali knew about her relationship with Janet, it was one place the new couple could be accepted, she didn't know.

"I'm sorry about today," she said now, craning her neck to look up at the gorgeous face which had never been far from her side throughout the disaster that had imploded that afternoon. Even now, when she'd not been able to do anything but cuddle and think, Janet hadn't strayed, simply holding her close and reading one of her mystery books. "So much for a nice evening without the kids, eh?"

Janet smiled and reached down to tuck a lock of silky brown hair behind Rachel's ear. "You don't need to apologise, love. And besides, it's not as if the kids live here, is it? We can have nice relaxed evenings whenever we want. At least we got to enjoy a nice carvery with them before all of this happened. It's fine." She put her book away then, and drew her girlfriend closer, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss atop of the brunette's head. "How are you doing?"

Rachel made a noise, her accompanying shrug portraying her answer perfectly. "Been better."

"I bet." She allowed her fingers to lightly trace up and down the detective's arm. "Do you want to talk about it? You've been virtually silent since… you know. It's not good for you, love."

The brunette gave a wan smile. "Can't win with you, can I?" she teased feebly. "Most of the time you can't wait for me to shut up, and when I do you're practically begging me to spill my guts."

Appreciating the effort she knew it must have taken Rachel to try and lift the atmosphere, Janet scoffed playfully before answering in kind. "When you do? This is the first time ever that I've been able to get a word in edgeways!" She nudged her lover gently. "Call me contrary," she conceded with a grin though her voice adopted a more serious tone. "But if you do need to talk about it… I'm here."

"I know," Rachel replied, gratitude ringing clear through her words. She sank back into the embrace then, staring at nothing in particular before she thought of something. "He's not a bad kid… Dom. I mean, he's fucked up big time, I know that, but… in his own stupid little way he did it for me."

Surprised by this sudden announcement, the DS recovered quickly. "I know. It's okay, Rach, you don't need to defend him. Not to me."

Her girlfriend nodded slowly. "Yeah, but… I just wanted you to know that. All anyone is going to know about him now is that he's a killer." Goosebumps formed on her skin as realisation dawned of her baby brother's crime once more. "But he's so much more than that. I really… I really thought he was beginning to sort himself out." She exhaled slowly, reaching for her cocoa and cradling it in her hands as she watched the steam billow and disappear. "I don't know, Jan. He's still just Dom to me. Harmless, pain-in-the-arse, cheeky Dom. It's hard to integrate that with the fact he's murdered someone."

"Just give it time, love. I don't think you've allowed yourself to properly think about all of this since it happened, I think you've blocked it out to try and protect yourself, because you knew he was still out there somewhere and there was nothing you could do. Now comes the hard part. Now you've got to come to terms with everything that's happened."

"Christ, when did you get your psychology degree?" Rachel retorted, though the hint of jest in her voice alluded to her humour. She sighed abruptly and paused to take a sip of her drink, closing her eyes as the chocolatey goodness slipped down her throat. "You're probably right. Doesn't make it any easier though."

"I know, darling," the blonde soothed, shifting position slightly and wrapping an arm around Rachel's waist, her hand resting lightly on her stomach. "But try and take it easy, eh? Gill was right. Our baby needs it's mummy in to be fighting fit."

"What it needs is for its mental uncle not to go blabbing his mouth off about how I told him to do a fucking runner, that's what it needs," came the weary reply. "I can't even think about how that would play out…"

"Then don't," Janet interrupted softly, "We don't know what's going to happen, what he's going to say, but I doubt very much he's about to drop you headfirst into the shit. And worst comes to worst? We'll deal with it. You're not alone, Rach. Not anymore."

Brown eyes suddenly filled with unshed tears as Rachel returned her cocoa to its original place and turned until she was facing the woman she loved. Shuffling up the bed until their thighs were touching, she shook her head slowly. "What the hell did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked hoarsely as the first of many tears dropped atop her cheeks and made fast work of racing down her face.

Janet grinned, using the pads of her thumbs to wipe away the salty droplets of emotion. "Silly sod," she chastised kindly before pushing herself from the headboard and planting the softest of kisses against Rachel's lips. "Now… I think we've had enough drama today for a lifetime, and someone needs their beauty sleep." She poked her tongue out, jerking to one side suddenly to avoid a swat from her lover. "Try not to dwell on anything more tonight, love, yeah? Let's just lay here, you and me, and leave everything else at the door. How does that sound?"

The brunette reached for her mug and drained its contents quickly before scooting down the bed until she was horizontal. "Bloody perfect," she replied sincerely, waiting for Janet to extend an arm of invitation before she curled up to her partner's side and pulled the duvet up around her. There would be plenty of time tomorrow and the next day and… well, the foreseeable future, unfortunately, to try and muddle through the remains of her topsy-turvy life, but here, right now, she was going to do her damndest to just enjoy the moment.

"I love you, Jan," she murmured into the darkness, her eyes try to acclimatise to the darkness now that the light had been extinguished.

"I love you, too, Rachel. Always will," Janet replied before a silence descended upon them, and soon only heavy breathing filled the air as the two women escaped the toils of reality for a few hours of much needed respite.