Fic: Fallen (14/?)
Fallen
by Erin Griffin
Fandom: Murder In Suburbia/Imagine Me And You crossover
Pairing: Ash/Scribbs, Rachel/Luce
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: ITV owns these characters.
Summary: When Ash falls and hits her head one rainy afternoon, she wakes up without her recent memory. What she does remember leads her to believe she is married to Scribbs, so to help her get better, Scribbs has to care for Ash as her wife, which leads to many new revelations about her partner... and herself.
Warning: This story has heavy angst, mentions of murder (duh), rape, and other unpleasant things, which is why it will only be mentioned. There is also hurt/comfort, something I don't do that much if ever in fic, so we'll see how it all works out.
Chapter 14
Thursday
Scribbs awoke the next morning breathing in deeply. She looked at Ash and couldn’t stop the warm smile on her face. She knew then what Ash must have felt for her those six years, and wondered if she too, maybe to a degree, had always felt this way for Ash. She remembered Birch Grove, and she remembered reaching out for her partner in the middle of the night. She’d been more than half asleep then, but she’d wanted to hold her so much. When she had realized that Ash was no longer with her, it’d forced her to wake up. Scribbs used her shoulder to lift her head above her wife’s sleeping form long enough to see her alarm clock. When she saw that she still had over a half an hour, she settled in again, leaning in to kiss Ash on the forehead.
The brunette’s eyes opened a little bit. “Good morning,” she said, her voice thick with sleep.
“Morning,” Scribbs replied. Ash leaned in for a kiss. Scribbs was aware of the desperate need to brush her teeth, but she kissed her wife anyway. “I love you,” the blonde said softly, and then kissed her again.
The two detectives continued their languid snuggling for the remainder of Scribbs’ half hour before the alarm clock went off. Ash twisted her body to turn it off. “Well, there’s that,” Scribbs muttered as she slowly got out of bed.
“I’d join you, Love, but I’m too comfy here,” Ash said.
“Rub it in,” the blonde replied good naturedly. She stretched before she realized she was still nude and was in fact giving Ash a good show of her body. After what they’d shared the night before, Scribbs seemed unconcerned by this, and even gave her rear a little shake as she made her way over to get her clothes for the shower. She could feel Ash’s eyes on her as she got to the bathroom and started the water.
Scribbs’ thoughts were light and carefree, and she let the song in her head take hold of her. She didn’t sing, though she couldn’t help but want to. As she got out of the shower a few minutes later, having shaved her legs and underarms, she looked at herself in the mirror only to see a sight that made her eyes widen. Right on a very visible part of her neck was a red dot about the diameter of a centimeter. She looked through her make up kits for her concealer, knowing that even if there was makeup over it, someone would still see it up close.
Scribbs hurried through getting her clothes on, and then went to Ash’s side. She sat on the bed and leaned in to kiss her wife, pulling away a moment later when Ash’s hand traveled up her shirt. “Are you sure you want to go off to work? This bed is oh, so warm and the blankets are soft and… I’m still quite naked.” Only then could Scribbs sympathize with the men in Greek mythology who crashed to the rocks because of the Sirens’ call. Ash could see that she almost had the blonde hooked to the idea, and pouted somewhat when Scribbs stood up.
“Evil tease,” Scribbs said fondly. “I’d give anything to stay with you, but unlike you, I don’t have many leave days left, so I’ve gotta go in.” She continued, “Besides, one of us needs to keep Sullivan on his toes.”
Ash appeared to be considering this. “Alright,” she finally said, taking the covering off of her body, “but I’m not going to make it easy for you.” The brunette grinned when Scribbs’ eyes roamed her body with a flush of desire on her neck. The blonde swallowed.
“I can be late,” she said, crawling over Ash’s body and putting the blanket over the both of them. “If I was on time someone might worry.” Ash laughed at this, but it broke into a moan as Scribbs took revenge on her for the hickey on her neck.
“You’re late,” Sullivan stated, dipping a tea bag in and out of the mug in his hands.
“Yes- Sorry, there was this… thing… with Ash.”
“Is everything alright?” Sullivan asked with a hint of concern and alarm in his voice.
“Yes, she’s fine. It was just a… uh… thing.” Scribbs finished lamely. Sullivan stared at her for a second, his eyes flickering to Scribbs’ neck and then away. In that moment, the blonde knew that her boss knew.
“Right, yeah, a thing… well… please be on time tomorrow. DI Phillips and I’ve been waiting for you. I want you to accompany him on an inquiry. His partner called in so he could stay with his son who’s got a cold,” Sullivan explained. Scribbs nodded with a small blush on her cheeks. She went to find DI Phillips, which wasn’t too hard, as he was sitting at her desk waiting for her. They left after a nod of acknowledgement.
“Your wife do that?” DI Phillips asked once they got into his car. He gestured to his own neck, and Scribbs shrugged. “Needs more makeup,” he commented before unlocking the door for the both of them and getting in on the right. Scribbs, being used to driving, tried her best to stay quiet the rest of the way, as DI Phillips made her seem like a safe driver.
The inquiry wasn’t very long, twenty-five minutes at the most. The woman they were questioning about the disappearance of her teenaged daughter was changing her story often, and the DI, not having much patience for it, left to the car early on. She got back to the station after giving her notes to DI Phillips. When she got to her desk, she turned her mobile phone back on to find that she had two messages. Looking at her call log, she saw that both Ash and Chelsea, her sister, had called. Chelsea had called first. Her sister never called unless it was her birthday, and, as it wasn't her birthday, as far as she knew, Scribbs hoped there hadn’t been an emergency at the moment she had tried to get a hold of her.
She called her sister. Two rings in, Chelsea answered her phone. “So, you’re Scribbins-Ashurst now,” she said first thing. No hello, as was her way. “Mum’s gonna be angry you didn’t call to let her know that you’d eloped.”
“I thought the point of eloping was to get married and not tell anyone,” Scribbs responded, not answering the other bit.
“Well, you could’ve called afterwards.”
“I would have, had we actually eloped.”
“What’d you do, vow your love in front of a couple of friends in a union or something?”
“No, we never got married.”
“But your friend Ash is your wife now,” Chelsea stated in attempt to get the facts together.
“Yes, I mean… Yeah, she’s my wife,” Scribbs said.
“How?”
“It’s a long story. One you’d probably know if you called me more than twice a year-“
“Hey, I don’t see your name flashing on my mobile on a weekly basis, either,” Chelsea countered. Scribbs rolled her eyes and let it go. They’d been through this argument more than Scribbs had ever recited any of Ash’s rules. She didn’t go into the fact that she’d tried to call once a week, but Chelsea never answered or returned her calls, so she had eventually given up trying.
“Well, the only way you’d know Ash and I are married is if you'd rang my home phone number.”
“I tried to get to you there when you didn’t pick up the mobile, and got Ash. That’s how she answered it by the way, as the Scribbins-Ashurst residence. She sounds like she’s doing well. I’ve only met her a couple of times, but I could almost swear that wasn’t her.” Chelsea said.
Scribbs shrugged, but her sister couldn’t see it, so she said again, “Yeah.” After a few seconds of silence, she asked, “So why are you ringing both my mobile and my home phone number to get a hold of me? Did something happen with you and… your new guy?” For the life of her, Scribbs couldn’t think of Chelsea’s boyfriend’s name. She’d never met the man, but he sounded like he was a good match for her sister. He made her happy, which made Scribbs happy.
“No no, Kael’s still my one and only. I wanted to check up on you. I kept thinking about you lately, and got this urge to call you. Now I know why. I also wanted to let you know that mum’s changed her phone number again. I think she saw something on the telly that got her scared like last time.”
“Okay, what is it?” Scribbs asked, grabbing a pen and a post it note to write on. After Chelsea rattled off the phone number, Scribbs said, “I wish she’d stop watching those shows. She knows that they only scare her.”
“Eh, who knows what goes through her mind,” her sister replied. “Hey, do you have the time to tell me the long story about you and Ash?”
“I don’t, actually. I’m at work. If I ring you near the weekend, will you answer the phone?”
“If I can, yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll call you then and tell you what I can,” Scribbs told her.
“Alright. Have a good day.”
“I will. You too, bye.”
“G’bye.”
Scribbs ended the call and then was about to call Ash’s mobile when her own phone went off with 'Ash' as the display. “Hello Beautiful,” she greeted, and heard a small masculine laugh on the other end as a response.
“How flattering, but I doubt your wife would appreciate you flirting with another man,” David said.
“Hi, David.”
“I’m calling because I’ve got Katie here hostage.”
“Oh no!” Scribbs said, playing along. “Not my beautiful wife. I’ll do whatever you want to get her back.”
“The price is lunch. Yes, a picnic lunch at Britannia Park at twelve thirty.” David’s voice sounded more and more like the Wicked Witch of the West, and Scribbs could hear her wife’s laughter in the background.
“But wait! How do I know that you haven’t already tied her to the railroad tracks?” Scribbs asked. There was a slight shuffling sound and a small laugh right before she heard Ash’s voice.
“I’m sorry Emma, he’s-“ she was cut off with more shuffling.
“ENOUGH! You know my price, and you know what you must do.”
The line went dead after that, and Scribbs wondered what it must have been like for Ash to grow up with David in such a mood. Did she play along then or did it just annoy her.
About an hour later, David and Kate Ashurst walked in, and Ash was stopped a couple of times by well wishers before she made it to Scribbs’ desk. She sat on the desk next to her, and the blonde looked up. Scribbs wanted to mention the many times Ash had frowned upon that, but she wouldn’t have remembered. “Hey,” she said instead. She could feel eyes on them as if people were expecting them to start making love right in front of them. Ash looked good, though, with her hair up in a ponytail and her fringes just about hiding her eyebrows. She wore the Coldplay T-Shirt she had gotten Scribbs for her most recent birthday. Scribbs had forgotten that she even had it. Other than the times Ash had been nude, this was the most casual Scribbs had ever seen her. She looked younger than Scribbs at the moment.
“How’s your day been so far, kidnapping aside?” Scribbs asked.
“I’d still be in bed if David hadn’t stopped by,” Ash said, “Said he took a bus all this way just to annoy me. How thoughtful.” David laughed and Ash scrunched her nose into a face that Scribbs couldn’t help but laugh at as well. Scribbs watched as David went to Sullivan’s office and struck up conversation with him as Ash took a hold of her hand.
A moment later, he came back and said, “You’re free until two thirty, so let’s go.”
Scribbs stood up and followed Ash, who followed her brother outside to their car, where David got out two bags containing their picnic. Scribbs looked up at the sky. The clouds weren’t yet dark enough to make rain, but she doubted that would last. Still, she liked the idea of a picnic. “We’re going to walk to the park there by the school,” Ash informed her when they started walking away from the car. “Oh,” was all Scribbs could say as they walked along path and neared the primary school. “So, was there a memo I somehow missed that says people must bother their siblings today?”
Ash looked at her wife. “Why do you ask?”
“First Chelsea calls me out of the blue, and then David drops by for a picnic. Is everyone out and about with their siblings?” she asked.
“Maybe,” Ash said somewhat noncommittally. She shrugged. The trio walked along the fence that separated the pavement from the school yard. Ash stopped for a second by the playground as if to look for someone, but, though there were the sounds of children in the car park, no one was playing on the grass before them.
Scribbs was about to ask her wife what the matter was when she heard, “Miss Ash! I hoped that was you!” Down the pathway where the fence met with their pavement was a girl of about eleven running up to Ash with a wide smile on her face. Scribbs noticed the uniform tie loosened, as many kids’ did at that time, and she was pulling her hair back as she ran.
“Hello again, H,” the brunette called back; there was also a look of recognition and a happy smile on her face. She watched as the girl trotted over to the trio and Ash stared at the girl until she got closer. “I almost didn’t recognize you without all the mud.”
“Gah, not you too. You sound just like-“
“H!! Where are you going?!” called a familiar voice to the blonde DS. They all looked from Ash and H’s reunion to the woman calling for the girl.
“My sister,” H finished. When Rachel approached, she looked surprised to see Scribbs there. “Rach! This is Miss Ash, the woman I told you about last week, remember?”
Rachel looked between Ash and Scribbs, and then quickly to David. Her gaze went to Scribbs before her eyes flickered to the detectives’ linked hands. “Your Ash is THE Miss Ash?” She let out a small laugh. “Ha, this place IS small.”
The grip on Scribbs’ hand tightened slightly. “Emma,” Ash said uncertainly, looking from Rachel and then back to H.
“Kate, this is Rachel. You know those flowers you love so much that I got you in the hospital? Rachel and her… partner Lucy own the shop I bought them from.”
“Hello,” Rachel said, extending her hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Scribbs- Emma has mentioned you. You already know H, it seems.”
There was a small smile at the girl before Ash gestured towards David. “This is my brother, David.”
David held out his hand as if nothing about this was out of the ordinary. “Hello. Pleasure. We’re on our way to Britannia Park to have a picnic. If you’re not in a hurry, you’re welcome to join us.”
“We sort of are, actually. The shop gets busier close to closing time. We can’t leave Lucy to fend for herself. Thank you, though.” Rachel said, and she really did look regretful. H looked as if she were about to sulk a little bit before she suddenly brightened.
“Could they come over afterwards for dinner then? We’re usually done by six.”
“It’ll be a late supper,” Rachel said.
“He just said they have plenty to eat now. It could be enough that they could wait,” H reasoned. Rachel looked at the Ashursts and Scribbs.
“Would you be interested?” she asked. Ash and Scribbs shared a quick look, and then Ash nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds like it would be a nice evening,” the brunette responded. Scribbs nodded. Rachel looked to David for his answer.
“Sadly, I’ll be unable to attend. I’ve got to make a train by 4 or I’ll be stranded in Middleford for the night,” he explained, and the thought of that didn’t seem to please him.
Rachel nodded at this with a smile, and said, “I’ll talk to Luce, and I’ll ring you. I need paper, H.” The preteen shucked her backpack and in two swift movements had a notebook open and a pencil ready. Scribbs rattled off her mobile number and Rachel tore the page. “It was nice to finally meet you Ash. I did wonder.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Those flowers from your shop are lovely.”
“You can thank Luce for that. Well… I’ll give you a ring no later than four.”
With that, the five parted, and the Ashurst siblings continued to pick on each other. Scribbs listened to their banter and couldn’t help but think about her own sister and the joke about the memo. It was an odd coincidence that Ash knew H and Scribbs knew her older sister Rachel. More than that, Scribbs was glad that H was a real person and not a made up memory. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if Ash had asked after the girl and she didn’t exist. She wouldn’t even know how to tell Ash something like that.
The three made it to the park, and even before the blanket could be set down, David had taken out his camera. Scribbs didn’t mind it, but Ash hid her face a couple of times in Scribbs’ shoulder. “For Christ’s sake, David!” Ash cried when her brother kept practically chasing her around for a facial picture. The curly haired man laughed, then aimed his camera at Scribbs, who stood tall and struck a pose. After that, David was content to take nature pictures while Ash and Scribbs ate and chatted softly together, every now and then being joined by David.
About twenty minutes later, David’s mobile went off. “Ello?” David listened for a moment before a frown formed on his face. “Where was Annie in all of this? I saw her car right before I left for- Yeah. Well, tell Mr. Bloedell I’ll be back tonight. Apparently, Mr. Oxford isn’t so wonderful after all. Yeah. Bye.” There was a sympathetic look that passed between the Ashurst siblings. “Work.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m going to have to go. Sorry to do this to you, Emma, but I’m stealing my sister again.”
“Wha-“
“I’m his lift to the station,” Ash told her, taking her hand. She gave it a quick kiss and squeeze before letting go. The two women packed up the picnic stuff with some of David’s help after he made one more call, then he took a couple more pictures. The three walked back the way they came, and Scribbs saw how empty the school was this time around. They made it back to the station a few minutes later and Scribbs walked the Ashurst siblings to the car. Ash whispered, “I’ll get some wine and meet you here in a couple of hours.” Scribbs gave Ash a parting kiss and watched them exit the car park; slowly, she walked back to her desk and continued her tasks.
At around four as promised, Rachel called to confirm their dinner, and in turn, Scribbs called Ash at home and relayed their dinner plans to her.
by Erin Griffin
Fandom: Murder In Suburbia/Imagine Me And You crossover
Pairing: Ash/Scribbs, Rachel/Luce
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: ITV owns these characters.
Summary: When Ash falls and hits her head one rainy afternoon, she wakes up without her recent memory. What she does remember leads her to believe she is married to Scribbs, so to help her get better, Scribbs has to care for Ash as her wife, which leads to many new revelations about her partner... and herself.
Warning: This story has heavy angst, mentions of murder (duh), rape, and other unpleasant things, which is why it will only be mentioned. There is also hurt/comfort, something I don't do that much if ever in fic, so we'll see how it all works out.
Chapter 14
Thursday
Scribbs awoke the next morning breathing in deeply. She looked at Ash and couldn’t stop the warm smile on her face. She knew then what Ash must have felt for her those six years, and wondered if she too, maybe to a degree, had always felt this way for Ash. She remembered Birch Grove, and she remembered reaching out for her partner in the middle of the night. She’d been more than half asleep then, but she’d wanted to hold her so much. When she had realized that Ash was no longer with her, it’d forced her to wake up. Scribbs used her shoulder to lift her head above her wife’s sleeping form long enough to see her alarm clock. When she saw that she still had over a half an hour, she settled in again, leaning in to kiss Ash on the forehead.
The brunette’s eyes opened a little bit. “Good morning,” she said, her voice thick with sleep.
“Morning,” Scribbs replied. Ash leaned in for a kiss. Scribbs was aware of the desperate need to brush her teeth, but she kissed her wife anyway. “I love you,” the blonde said softly, and then kissed her again.
The two detectives continued their languid snuggling for the remainder of Scribbs’ half hour before the alarm clock went off. Ash twisted her body to turn it off. “Well, there’s that,” Scribbs muttered as she slowly got out of bed.
“I’d join you, Love, but I’m too comfy here,” Ash said.
“Rub it in,” the blonde replied good naturedly. She stretched before she realized she was still nude and was in fact giving Ash a good show of her body. After what they’d shared the night before, Scribbs seemed unconcerned by this, and even gave her rear a little shake as she made her way over to get her clothes for the shower. She could feel Ash’s eyes on her as she got to the bathroom and started the water.
Scribbs’ thoughts were light and carefree, and she let the song in her head take hold of her. She didn’t sing, though she couldn’t help but want to. As she got out of the shower a few minutes later, having shaved her legs and underarms, she looked at herself in the mirror only to see a sight that made her eyes widen. Right on a very visible part of her neck was a red dot about the diameter of a centimeter. She looked through her make up kits for her concealer, knowing that even if there was makeup over it, someone would still see it up close.
Scribbs hurried through getting her clothes on, and then went to Ash’s side. She sat on the bed and leaned in to kiss her wife, pulling away a moment later when Ash’s hand traveled up her shirt. “Are you sure you want to go off to work? This bed is oh, so warm and the blankets are soft and… I’m still quite naked.” Only then could Scribbs sympathize with the men in Greek mythology who crashed to the rocks because of the Sirens’ call. Ash could see that she almost had the blonde hooked to the idea, and pouted somewhat when Scribbs stood up.
“Evil tease,” Scribbs said fondly. “I’d give anything to stay with you, but unlike you, I don’t have many leave days left, so I’ve gotta go in.” She continued, “Besides, one of us needs to keep Sullivan on his toes.”
Ash appeared to be considering this. “Alright,” she finally said, taking the covering off of her body, “but I’m not going to make it easy for you.” The brunette grinned when Scribbs’ eyes roamed her body with a flush of desire on her neck. The blonde swallowed.
“I can be late,” she said, crawling over Ash’s body and putting the blanket over the both of them. “If I was on time someone might worry.” Ash laughed at this, but it broke into a moan as Scribbs took revenge on her for the hickey on her neck.
“You’re late,” Sullivan stated, dipping a tea bag in and out of the mug in his hands.
“Yes- Sorry, there was this… thing… with Ash.”
“Is everything alright?” Sullivan asked with a hint of concern and alarm in his voice.
“Yes, she’s fine. It was just a… uh… thing.” Scribbs finished lamely. Sullivan stared at her for a second, his eyes flickering to Scribbs’ neck and then away. In that moment, the blonde knew that her boss knew.
“Right, yeah, a thing… well… please be on time tomorrow. DI Phillips and I’ve been waiting for you. I want you to accompany him on an inquiry. His partner called in so he could stay with his son who’s got a cold,” Sullivan explained. Scribbs nodded with a small blush on her cheeks. She went to find DI Phillips, which wasn’t too hard, as he was sitting at her desk waiting for her. They left after a nod of acknowledgement.
“Your wife do that?” DI Phillips asked once they got into his car. He gestured to his own neck, and Scribbs shrugged. “Needs more makeup,” he commented before unlocking the door for the both of them and getting in on the right. Scribbs, being used to driving, tried her best to stay quiet the rest of the way, as DI Phillips made her seem like a safe driver.
The inquiry wasn’t very long, twenty-five minutes at the most. The woman they were questioning about the disappearance of her teenaged daughter was changing her story often, and the DI, not having much patience for it, left to the car early on. She got back to the station after giving her notes to DI Phillips. When she got to her desk, she turned her mobile phone back on to find that she had two messages. Looking at her call log, she saw that both Ash and Chelsea, her sister, had called. Chelsea had called first. Her sister never called unless it was her birthday, and, as it wasn't her birthday, as far as she knew, Scribbs hoped there hadn’t been an emergency at the moment she had tried to get a hold of her.
She called her sister. Two rings in, Chelsea answered her phone. “So, you’re Scribbins-Ashurst now,” she said first thing. No hello, as was her way. “Mum’s gonna be angry you didn’t call to let her know that you’d eloped.”
“I thought the point of eloping was to get married and not tell anyone,” Scribbs responded, not answering the other bit.
“Well, you could’ve called afterwards.”
“I would have, had we actually eloped.”
“What’d you do, vow your love in front of a couple of friends in a union or something?”
“No, we never got married.”
“But your friend Ash is your wife now,” Chelsea stated in attempt to get the facts together.
“Yes, I mean… Yeah, she’s my wife,” Scribbs said.
“How?”
“It’s a long story. One you’d probably know if you called me more than twice a year-“
“Hey, I don’t see your name flashing on my mobile on a weekly basis, either,” Chelsea countered. Scribbs rolled her eyes and let it go. They’d been through this argument more than Scribbs had ever recited any of Ash’s rules. She didn’t go into the fact that she’d tried to call once a week, but Chelsea never answered or returned her calls, so she had eventually given up trying.
“Well, the only way you’d know Ash and I are married is if you'd rang my home phone number.”
“I tried to get to you there when you didn’t pick up the mobile, and got Ash. That’s how she answered it by the way, as the Scribbins-Ashurst residence. She sounds like she’s doing well. I’ve only met her a couple of times, but I could almost swear that wasn’t her.” Chelsea said.
Scribbs shrugged, but her sister couldn’t see it, so she said again, “Yeah.” After a few seconds of silence, she asked, “So why are you ringing both my mobile and my home phone number to get a hold of me? Did something happen with you and… your new guy?” For the life of her, Scribbs couldn’t think of Chelsea’s boyfriend’s name. She’d never met the man, but he sounded like he was a good match for her sister. He made her happy, which made Scribbs happy.
“No no, Kael’s still my one and only. I wanted to check up on you. I kept thinking about you lately, and got this urge to call you. Now I know why. I also wanted to let you know that mum’s changed her phone number again. I think she saw something on the telly that got her scared like last time.”
“Okay, what is it?” Scribbs asked, grabbing a pen and a post it note to write on. After Chelsea rattled off the phone number, Scribbs said, “I wish she’d stop watching those shows. She knows that they only scare her.”
“Eh, who knows what goes through her mind,” her sister replied. “Hey, do you have the time to tell me the long story about you and Ash?”
“I don’t, actually. I’m at work. If I ring you near the weekend, will you answer the phone?”
“If I can, yeah.”
“Okay, I’ll call you then and tell you what I can,” Scribbs told her.
“Alright. Have a good day.”
“I will. You too, bye.”
“G’bye.”
Scribbs ended the call and then was about to call Ash’s mobile when her own phone went off with 'Ash' as the display. “Hello Beautiful,” she greeted, and heard a small masculine laugh on the other end as a response.
“How flattering, but I doubt your wife would appreciate you flirting with another man,” David said.
“Hi, David.”
“I’m calling because I’ve got Katie here hostage.”
“Oh no!” Scribbs said, playing along. “Not my beautiful wife. I’ll do whatever you want to get her back.”
“The price is lunch. Yes, a picnic lunch at Britannia Park at twelve thirty.” David’s voice sounded more and more like the Wicked Witch of the West, and Scribbs could hear her wife’s laughter in the background.
“But wait! How do I know that you haven’t already tied her to the railroad tracks?” Scribbs asked. There was a slight shuffling sound and a small laugh right before she heard Ash’s voice.
“I’m sorry Emma, he’s-“ she was cut off with more shuffling.
“ENOUGH! You know my price, and you know what you must do.”
The line went dead after that, and Scribbs wondered what it must have been like for Ash to grow up with David in such a mood. Did she play along then or did it just annoy her.
About an hour later, David and Kate Ashurst walked in, and Ash was stopped a couple of times by well wishers before she made it to Scribbs’ desk. She sat on the desk next to her, and the blonde looked up. Scribbs wanted to mention the many times Ash had frowned upon that, but she wouldn’t have remembered. “Hey,” she said instead. She could feel eyes on them as if people were expecting them to start making love right in front of them. Ash looked good, though, with her hair up in a ponytail and her fringes just about hiding her eyebrows. She wore the Coldplay T-Shirt she had gotten Scribbs for her most recent birthday. Scribbs had forgotten that she even had it. Other than the times Ash had been nude, this was the most casual Scribbs had ever seen her. She looked younger than Scribbs at the moment.
“How’s your day been so far, kidnapping aside?” Scribbs asked.
“I’d still be in bed if David hadn’t stopped by,” Ash said, “Said he took a bus all this way just to annoy me. How thoughtful.” David laughed and Ash scrunched her nose into a face that Scribbs couldn’t help but laugh at as well. Scribbs watched as David went to Sullivan’s office and struck up conversation with him as Ash took a hold of her hand.
A moment later, he came back and said, “You’re free until two thirty, so let’s go.”
Scribbs stood up and followed Ash, who followed her brother outside to their car, where David got out two bags containing their picnic. Scribbs looked up at the sky. The clouds weren’t yet dark enough to make rain, but she doubted that would last. Still, she liked the idea of a picnic. “We’re going to walk to the park there by the school,” Ash informed her when they started walking away from the car. “Oh,” was all Scribbs could say as they walked along path and neared the primary school. “So, was there a memo I somehow missed that says people must bother their siblings today?”
Ash looked at her wife. “Why do you ask?”
“First Chelsea calls me out of the blue, and then David drops by for a picnic. Is everyone out and about with their siblings?” she asked.
“Maybe,” Ash said somewhat noncommittally. She shrugged. The trio walked along the fence that separated the pavement from the school yard. Ash stopped for a second by the playground as if to look for someone, but, though there were the sounds of children in the car park, no one was playing on the grass before them.
Scribbs was about to ask her wife what the matter was when she heard, “Miss Ash! I hoped that was you!” Down the pathway where the fence met with their pavement was a girl of about eleven running up to Ash with a wide smile on her face. Scribbs noticed the uniform tie loosened, as many kids’ did at that time, and she was pulling her hair back as she ran.
“Hello again, H,” the brunette called back; there was also a look of recognition and a happy smile on her face. She watched as the girl trotted over to the trio and Ash stared at the girl until she got closer. “I almost didn’t recognize you without all the mud.”
“Gah, not you too. You sound just like-“
“H!! Where are you going?!” called a familiar voice to the blonde DS. They all looked from Ash and H’s reunion to the woman calling for the girl.
“My sister,” H finished. When Rachel approached, she looked surprised to see Scribbs there. “Rach! This is Miss Ash, the woman I told you about last week, remember?”
Rachel looked between Ash and Scribbs, and then quickly to David. Her gaze went to Scribbs before her eyes flickered to the detectives’ linked hands. “Your Ash is THE Miss Ash?” She let out a small laugh. “Ha, this place IS small.”
The grip on Scribbs’ hand tightened slightly. “Emma,” Ash said uncertainly, looking from Rachel and then back to H.
“Kate, this is Rachel. You know those flowers you love so much that I got you in the hospital? Rachel and her… partner Lucy own the shop I bought them from.”
“Hello,” Rachel said, extending her hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Scribbs- Emma has mentioned you. You already know H, it seems.”
There was a small smile at the girl before Ash gestured towards David. “This is my brother, David.”
David held out his hand as if nothing about this was out of the ordinary. “Hello. Pleasure. We’re on our way to Britannia Park to have a picnic. If you’re not in a hurry, you’re welcome to join us.”
“We sort of are, actually. The shop gets busier close to closing time. We can’t leave Lucy to fend for herself. Thank you, though.” Rachel said, and she really did look regretful. H looked as if she were about to sulk a little bit before she suddenly brightened.
“Could they come over afterwards for dinner then? We’re usually done by six.”
“It’ll be a late supper,” Rachel said.
“He just said they have plenty to eat now. It could be enough that they could wait,” H reasoned. Rachel looked at the Ashursts and Scribbs.
“Would you be interested?” she asked. Ash and Scribbs shared a quick look, and then Ash nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds like it would be a nice evening,” the brunette responded. Scribbs nodded. Rachel looked to David for his answer.
“Sadly, I’ll be unable to attend. I’ve got to make a train by 4 or I’ll be stranded in Middleford for the night,” he explained, and the thought of that didn’t seem to please him.
Rachel nodded at this with a smile, and said, “I’ll talk to Luce, and I’ll ring you. I need paper, H.” The preteen shucked her backpack and in two swift movements had a notebook open and a pencil ready. Scribbs rattled off her mobile number and Rachel tore the page. “It was nice to finally meet you Ash. I did wonder.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Those flowers from your shop are lovely.”
“You can thank Luce for that. Well… I’ll give you a ring no later than four.”
With that, the five parted, and the Ashurst siblings continued to pick on each other. Scribbs listened to their banter and couldn’t help but think about her own sister and the joke about the memo. It was an odd coincidence that Ash knew H and Scribbs knew her older sister Rachel. More than that, Scribbs was glad that H was a real person and not a made up memory. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if Ash had asked after the girl and she didn’t exist. She wouldn’t even know how to tell Ash something like that.
The three made it to the park, and even before the blanket could be set down, David had taken out his camera. Scribbs didn’t mind it, but Ash hid her face a couple of times in Scribbs’ shoulder. “For Christ’s sake, David!” Ash cried when her brother kept practically chasing her around for a facial picture. The curly haired man laughed, then aimed his camera at Scribbs, who stood tall and struck a pose. After that, David was content to take nature pictures while Ash and Scribbs ate and chatted softly together, every now and then being joined by David.
About twenty minutes later, David’s mobile went off. “Ello?” David listened for a moment before a frown formed on his face. “Where was Annie in all of this? I saw her car right before I left for- Yeah. Well, tell Mr. Bloedell I’ll be back tonight. Apparently, Mr. Oxford isn’t so wonderful after all. Yeah. Bye.” There was a sympathetic look that passed between the Ashurst siblings. “Work.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m going to have to go. Sorry to do this to you, Emma, but I’m stealing my sister again.”
“Wha-“
“I’m his lift to the station,” Ash told her, taking her hand. She gave it a quick kiss and squeeze before letting go. The two women packed up the picnic stuff with some of David’s help after he made one more call, then he took a couple more pictures. The three walked back the way they came, and Scribbs saw how empty the school was this time around. They made it back to the station a few minutes later and Scribbs walked the Ashurst siblings to the car. Ash whispered, “I’ll get some wine and meet you here in a couple of hours.” Scribbs gave Ash a parting kiss and watched them exit the car park; slowly, she walked back to her desk and continued her tasks.
At around four as promised, Rachel called to confirm their dinner, and in turn, Scribbs called Ash at home and relayed their dinner plans to her.