"We've been stuck in this car for two years now, Brendan. I've got a numb backside, me."

"Well what can we do? Unless that writer of ours pulls her finger out and writes our next scene, we're not getting out of here any time soon. Guess she's forgotten about us…"

I was re-reading this story today and remembering how much fun I used to have writing it. I know it's been forever and I wouldn't expect you to want to re-read it to refresh your memory, but I thought I'd go back and finish it anyway. So for anyone who's interested, this is chapter 11

RECAP: Ste joins Chester's Major Incident Team as the new Detective Constable and meets Sergeant Brendan Brady. After a rocky start they find they have a mutual attraction to each other and Ste begins to see that Brendan does have a human side after all. Then he gets a call from the mother of his children telling him they're all in danger and with the Irishman's help, he brings his family back to the village with him in a bid to keep them safe.

Ste walked alongside Brendan as they arrived back to work, trying not to look like he'd just been kissing him minutes before while still on duty. There was no doubt that he was feeling a lot calmer thanks to their heated encounter, though.

They had expected to find Nancy grumbling under the pressure of paperwork as usual, but instead found her working away with a relaxed smile on her face.

"What's with ye, Hayton?" Brendan asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Meaning what?" she replied, her voice as cheerful as her face looked.

"Meaning, ye look far too happy and it's putting me on edge."

Ste chuckled to himself. Nancy smirked at Brendan and sent a wink Ste's way.

"Oh I get it, you think my good mood is something to do with you. Like maybe you're finally getting your comeuppance for being lazy, moody and arrogant?" she laughed. "Don't worry Brady, you're safe…for now."

Brendan shook his head at her, and her smile became affectionate as she rolled her eyes at him.

"So why do ye look like you're high on life, then?"

"Well, if you really want to know…while you two were out, DI Walker told me that Jack asked him to give me some news. The boss thinks I should go for my sergeant's exam."

Ste picked up a few of the files she had been trying to get through, ready to share the workload. "That's great! Congratulations," he said sincerely.

Brendan pretended to seem unbothered, but Ste spotted a twinkle in his eye that told him the Irishman was secretly proud of her. "Trying to steal my job, are ye?"

"With any luck," Nancy shot back playfully.

The office door swung open and broke up the banter. DI Walker looked straight at Brendan and Ste. "So, this domestic?" he asked loudly. "What have you found out for me?"

Brendan looked at Ste as much as to say, 'you do it – I'm not answering to Walker.'

"Right," Ste gathered his thoughts and cleared his throat. "The victim's name was Karen Martin. Died from strangulation. Her sister found her; she told us that Karen's husband Luke had been violent towards her in the past. No one in the immediate family knows where he is now."

Walker nodded along to the facts. "Luke Martin is our first port of call on the suspect list then. In that case-"

"In that case, DC Hayton I'd like you to go with DC Hay and start making enquiries in the area about the husband," the DCI startled them all by once again appearing out of nowhere. "DS Brady, I need that report on the Humes and Collins cases by this afternoon please. I need you free to question this Luke Martin by the time we apprehend him. DI Walker, a word please?"

Brendan looked a lot happier now that he didn't have to answer to Walker, and actually looked like he was going to do some genuine paperwork for a change. Nancy and Ste disappeared off to follow Jack's orders.

While they were en route, Amy sent a text saying that she and the kids were all fine, and not to worry like she knew he would be doing. The truth was, since making the call to DI Chambers that morning Ste's panic had subsided somewhat. His family's wellbeing was still lingering in his mind though.

"Everything all right?" Nancy asked as he put his phone away.

"I'm hoping it will be," he smiled at her, and then changed the subject. "So now the boss is back, is there any news on his granddaughter?"

"Well, I spoke to Darren this morning and he said that Esther's awake now and through the worst of it. She needed a kidney transplant, so it was lucky they found one in time."

"Wow," Ste was suddenly reminded of how lucky he was to have his health despite the other issues he was facing. "I'm glad she's going to be okay."

"So am I. She was being bullied and apparently couldn't see any other way out. I really hope those girls are punished for tormenting her so much."

The next few hours were busily spent finding out as much as possible about Luke Martin. They spoke to neighbours, friends and colleagues of both Karen and her husband. By the afternoon they had called at the house of the sister, Mrs Turner. Ste was pleased to see that her husband was still with her, and he and Nancy were able to get a few more pieces of information, as well as a photo of the victim and her husband that would be more than useful in narrowing down their search for the man.

They were no closer to locating him by end of the day, though. DI Walker was nowhere to be found when they got back to MIT; Jack left for the night after Ste and Nancy had briefed him about the latest developments, and Brendan waved Nancy off to the pub and told Ste he was driving him home, no arguments.

"You mean you're not going to the pub straight after work?" Ste remarked, pretending to look shocked.

"No, because I know ye aren't," Brendan replied with a knowing smirk, but then his face turned serious. "Less fun without ye. And I know ye want to get home to Amy and the kids."

"Yeah, I do." They reached the car and got inside, and Ste was struck by how in tune the man was with what he needed, what his priorities were. "Let me just ring Ames," he said, picking up his phone.

Five minutes later they were heading for the local takeaway, with Amy having told him that the kids were already asleep and that no, she hadn't eaten yet. On Ste's suggestion she was more than happy for Brendan to join them for the evening, too.

Once they'd arrived, placed their orders and were sat waiting for the food to be ready, Ste took a deep breath and decided it was time to let Brendan in on more of his past. It was a strange time for him to choose for this conversation, but the place was quiet and he didn't want to go into the basics in front of Amy. She didn't need reminding.

"My stepdad, Terry…he's in prison for killing my mam. He strangled her," he announced in a small voice. He didn't look at Brendan as he spoke. "She wasn't the best mother, but she was still mine, you know? Terry used to beat me when I was a kid too, and the last time I saw him he attacked me in front of Amy and our Leah. She was only two at the time."

Brendan said nothing, so Ste continued, needing to get the words out quickly so the explanation was over and done with. "Terry's got mates on the outside and they've found out where Amy, Leah and our Lucas live. He sent them a letter in the post – that's how she knew. I can't let him get to them. Sooner or later he'll end up finding out where I am too."

Before either of them could say anything else, their order was ready to go. It was only when they were sitting back in Brendan's car that he spoke.

"He won't get to ye, Steven. Any of ye."

"You can't know that."

"Ye think I'd let anyone hurt ye?"

Ste looked at him, stunned. This was the most intimate thing Brendan had said to him. He knew that he cared, but this was the closest he had come to confirming his feelings for him. He wished those feelings actually had enough power to stop Terry, but it would never be as simple as that.

"Brendan, I…"

"Are the police involved?" he cut Ste off, going back to the practicalities. "He can't get away with sending threatening messages from behind bars."

"I spoke to a DI up in Manchester on the phone this morning. He was on Terry's case when it all kicked off years ago and he knows me. He said he's going to investigate and I believe him. He was my mentor when I trained up there, see, and if he says he's going to do something he never lets you down."

Brendan didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway. "In the meantime, if Terry's cronies come anywhere near you then our lot will put a stop to it."

"You don't know him, Brendan. He's too clever, that's how he got away with sending that letter to Amy. All he wrote was that he's happy he's found us and we'll all be 'reunited' soon. To us it's a clear threat, but the prison checks won't have detected anything sinister."

"Evil scumbag," Brendan muttered, leaning back in the drivers' seat.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just blurted all this out. But you seemed to get it without even knowing what was going on, and…I trust you."

"A wise decision, Steven," he grinned at him, relieving them momentarily from Ste's worries.

Ste smiled back softly. "I suppose we'd better get back with this food before it all gets cold."

There was a devilish smile from Brendan now as he moved closer to him. "So maybe there was a bit of traffic on the way home…"

"Seriously? You still want me after everything I just told you? I've got trouble coming after me – therefore I am trouble."

Ste's breath caught in his throat when Brendan, instead of responding with words, reached over and held his face in his hands. He paused to look him in the eye, and then closed the gap between them. A kiss that started off gentle soon became heated and yet again Ste couldn't have torn himself away even if he'd wanted to.

They finally broke apart, and Brendan surprised him by leaning in for one more lingering kiss. This one felt like it had a message to it; it said 'to be continued.'

"Ye are trouble, Steven, but only because I can't stop wanting ye."