Not The Evening He Had Expected.- A Whitechapel Fan Fiction.
A short, relatively light hearted, fic to fill the Kinkmeme prompt: When Kent needs help (off-duty) it's Chandler he calls. Chandler/Kent as always...
Not The Evening He Had Expected.
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Its embarrassing if nothing else. He's an idiot. It's like he's trapped in a bad situational comedy but instead of finding himself in the middle of a dilemma where hilarity would surely ensue he's sat in the medical bay of an unfamiliar police station holding a cold compress over a black eye waiting for his boss to show up so he can convince the arresting officer that he is not, in fact, a prozzie.
fuck. my. life.
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"We've picked a young lad up, claims he's a detective, said you could vouch for 'im"
Chandler hadn't known what to think, he couldn't imaging what they had picked him up for, he's hardly going to be out boosting cars and if it's anything really serious he'd need a solicitor not a word from his DI to get him out of trouble. What are young lads picked up for at 3pm on a Sunday morning anyway?
Oh god what if it's drugs?
Chandler doesn't know what his DCs get up to out side of work, he'd like to think they lead calm, responsible, law-abiding lifestyles but Kent's young and single and he does have a life. He really really hopes Kent hasn't used his name to get off a drugs charge because although he has no doubt that he'd put his reputation on the line for the young DC he likes to think Kent would have enough respect for him to never put him in a position where he'd have to.
The station's much smaller then the one in Whitechapel and has an outdated and uncomfortable feel about it that Chandler can't quite put his finger on, it could be the group of smoking PC's outside the front door or the grey that colours the walls and worn out carpet, perhaps it's the stern looking officer at the front desk working on an old CRT monitor, what ever it is he doesn't like it and wants nothing more than to retrieve Kent and leave.
"Hi, I'm DI Joseph Chandler" he holds up his ID "I received a call regarding a Detective Constable Kent"
The officer at the desk looks surprised and takes the ID from his hand for closer inspection "Excuse me while I just get someone.." and he shuffles off leaving Chandler standing alone without his badge.
"DI Chandler" he's greeted by a short rough looking officer who shakes his hand and passes back his ID. "I'm really sorry to have had to bother you at this hour but one of the lads we picked up tonight is claiming he's one of yours, says we've made a mistake and he was just out with his mates, says he's a detective of all things"
Chandler's led towards the back of the hall way and along a corridor to a window covered with a heavy curtain and a door simply marked 'Medical'.
"He's got no ID on him other than a couple of bank cards so if you just want to take a quick look at him and tell us if you recognise him then you can be on your way"
The officer pulls the curtain aside just enough to give Chandler a view into the room and can't hide his shock when he is informed that the boy they have arrested is in fact a Detective, One of the best in the country he's told, and the DI will attest that there's certainly NO WAY that this isn't a case of mistaken identity.
"Are you sure sir? No disrespect but are you certain you can vouch for 'im?"
"Yes, without a doubt, he's one of the most respected members of my team"
"ah, right, they say all sorts you see, always trying to get out off it, and it's a well known area for 'em. If you'd like you can take him home, might be best for both of us if there's no paper work on this one"
"No paper work on what exactly? What exactly was he picked up for?"
"Well, soliciting sir, you need to tell him to be careful where he chooses to hang about"
The door is pushed open then and Chandler finds himself lost for a moment. soliciting?. where had Kent been? What had he been doing?. He takes in the DCs appearance, unused to seeing him outside of work, his hair's a little tousled and thin leather bracelets hang on his wrists, Chandler notices the various coloured stamps on the back of his hand indicating he'd visited a number of nightclubs before his arrest, the t-shirt he wears is just that little bit too tight and as a small uncomfortable coil unfurls somewhere in the pit if his stomach Chandler can suddenly see how the mistake has been made.
Then he forgets it all as he sees the angry purple bruise marking Kent's too pretty face.
"What happened?" his hands are up to the young mans cheek "who did this?"
"It's nothing Sir, there was a bit of a scuffle"
"Did the police do this to you?, Kent look at me..."
"I said its nothing, guess they don't like fags much round here, I may have resisted arrest..." he's quieter now "please Sir can we just go"
Chandler's angry and protective, he wants to know exactly who has done this, he wants them called out and punished and to regret ever laying a finger on him but he sees the pleading in Kent's eyes so instead he takes him by the arm and leads him out of the station and as for away from the situation as he can.
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The journey back isn't as awkward as expected, Kent had apologized far more times than was necessary and Chandler had repeatedly reassure him that it was fine, that he's always there if he should need him although he'd appreciate it if this didn't happen again, and they'd both laughed as Kent made a promise to try to never be mistaken for a hooker again.
When Chandler finally builds up the nerve to ask exactly how the events of this evening came about Kent figures there's no point being embarrassed now.
"We'd not long left the Queens and I'd had one too many, anyway, all I was doing was looking for somewhere out of the way to have a slash, should have known not to wander off down dark alleys in the queer quarter I suppose.."
"So you are?" the questions quiet and Chandler hopes it's not too intrusive to ask.
"What? Are you asking if I'm gay or a rent boy?" Kent laughs but decides not to tease the DI too much, he's obviously uncomfortable with the subject "are you really saying that you don't know if I'm gay or not?"
"Well, I wasn't sure..." he thinks of all the times Miles had said that the young DC had been 'making eyes' at him and how he'd joked that his work had improved now that he had a boss he fancied.
Kent turns to the DI slowly, a look of humour and disbelief on his face and he laughs as he replies "Sir, are you insane?"
So Miles had been right.
"Well I'm not very good at..." He waved his hand in the space between Kent and himself, he doesn't know whether the say 'Picking up on these things' or 'Noticing' or even 'Flirting' perhaps but as he hears Kent snort at his discomfort he just laughs out a "Oh shut up" and keeps his eyes on the road.
Once back in their own district Chandler risks a glance toward Kent, he looks tired and the bruise seems to be darkening into a fierce looking stain which he thinks has no right to tarnish the mans otherwise perfect features.
"You should come back to mine, let me see to that eye properly"
"I'd be careful sir, that sound a little like you're trying to pick me up"
Chandler only hesitates slightly as he replies "Maybe I am".
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When he'd left his flat the previous night Kent had no idea where the evening would lead him. He hadn't expected to stay out too long, certainly hadn't expected to spend the night in a police cell. And when he'd asked them to call Chandler he can say in all honestly that he had never expected it to lead to him going home to have sex with his boss.
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