Fic: Old Harry's Game - part 2
Title: Old Harry’s Game, Chapter 2
Author: Kirsteena
Fandom: Life on Mars
Spoilers: Set after 2.02
Rating: White Cortina.
Pairings: None
Word Count: 1134
Summary: The search begins.
a/n: Part 2 is here. Finally. I wanted to write further down the line before posting this. Find part one, and bunny explaination here. Thanks to marsorbiter for the bunnies, and emeriin for her wonderful beta reading. Necessary exposition herein!
DISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
It was a quiet morning in CID. After the last few days, probably just as well. Ray was asleep at his desk, as usual. Chris had vanished on some errand. Annie was typing up some paperwork. Gene had been summoned to Superintendant Rathbone’s office. Sam sat at his desk, looking through some papers, smiling at the scene, feeling more at home here than he had done for a while.
Superintendant Rathbone walked into CID, followed closely by Gene and two strangers. Gene was looking unusually sober. He looked over CID, woke Ray up by slapping him on the shoulder, and walked over to the blackboard. “Alright you lot, listen up to what the Super has to say.”
Rathbone bowed his head at Gene, then cleared his throat. “We have just had an all-division alert come through. A police officer has gone missing. DCI Hunt will be in charge of the search across the divisions. I’ll let him fill you in.” Rathbone walked out of the room.
Gene stepped forward. “OK. This morning, DC Glen Fletcher didn’t turn up for his new assignment in D Division. He was last seen by his landlady yesterday morning. He didn’t come home last night, but all his gear is still there. This is DI Meadows from B, and DI Peterson from D Division. I want you all to start by getting information about his last years worth of cases sent over here, see if there is anything that would be worth taking an officer for. Talk to any informants, see if they know anything. We don’t know why he has vanished, he might have be kidnapped, he might have run away with a bird, he might be dead, who knows. But I am not having a police officer in this city disappear. Ideas will be welcomed, no matter how stupid. Let’s find him people.”
Gene started to walk over to Sam, who had gone pale at the news that his future mentor had gone missing. As he walked past Ray, Carling muttered “Why the hell we bothering to look for some coloured bloke anyway - so many of them one missing won’t make any difference.”
Sam moved to respond, but Gene reacted quicker. He grabbed Ray by the collar, and pinned him against the wall. “Don’t you EVER say anything like that in my presence again, Sgt. Carling,” he snarled in a dangerously quiet voice. “I don’t give a rat’s arse if he is coloured, a poof, female, or a United supporter. He is a copper. A copper who has gone missing in MY city. When this happens, I make it my personal pledge to find whoever did this to a member of my team, and I make them wish they had never crossed me. I expect the same from my detectives, or they will find themselves back in uniform for the rest of their career. Do I make myself clear?”
Ray glared at Hunt, then sagged. “Yes Guv, perfectly clear.”
“Good. Now I want you to ring round the hospitals, check no one has been brought in, and to ring us if he appears in hospital. Tyler, with me.” They walked into Gene’s office, leaving the two visitors outside.
“Guv...” Sam began.
“I know Sam. But you have to snap out of it. I need your picky brain on this, to see what we are missing. No-one has a bloody clue what has happened.” Gene sighed, and reached for his whisky bottle. Pouring two glasses, he handed one to Sam. “Drink. You look like you need it.” Sam gulped the whisky down in one, watching Gene grimace. “God, you are worse than me when I get going. My missus would have a field day on you.”
Sam laughed gently, then for the first time allowed his fears to show on his face. “Gene - do you... do you think...?”
“No reason to think he is dead Sam. Dead copper would have been left somewhere obvious, proud that they had killed one of us. No, I’ll bet Ray’s pub money he has been kidnapped, but I’ll be buggered if I know why. But, after what he did for... me... I’m going to find him, I promise you.” Gene allowed rare emotion to colour his face, as he acknowledged what Fletcher had done when they were confronting Harry.
Chris suddenly poked his head round the door. “Guv, we pulled in Tim Crandall, like what you asked. He’s in Lost and Found.”
“Good. Good.”
“Tim Crandall?”
“Informant of a long time ago. He has dried up recently, going to see what I can get out of him.”
“Any reason why this one as opposed to other informants?”
“Last time we got anything useful out of him was when a uniform was killed 4 years ago after disturbing a robbery in progress. Seemed like as good a place as any to start. Let’s go.”
*********
“Chris, those cases come in from the other divisions yet?” Three hours later, a frustrating session with Crandall which produced nothing had left Sam with a horrible headache. Strangers were crawling around CID, officers from the other divisions drafted in to help. Sam just wanted to sit in a corner, and shut the world out, and process what had happened.
“Just starting to come in now, boss” Chris replied, bringing Sam a file and a cup of tea, which was gratefully gulped downed in one.
“Thanks Chris. Gonna be a long day.”
“Too right, boss. We will find him though.”
Sam walked over to Annie, who had a pile of folders on her desk. “Anything in the files?”
“Not really. Least, nothing that would explain why he would go missing.”
“Shit.” Sam slumped into the chair next to Annie, rubbing his hands over his face. “Why would anyone do this?” he wondered aloud.
Annie just looked sadly at Sam - it was the same question which had been on their lips all day. Sam smiled wryly at her, and grabbed some of the files, time to start looking though and see if they could find anything out. He wandered over to his desk, sat down, and started ploughing through them. God, where to start?
Suddenly, Sam’s phone rang. He looked at it suspiciously, wondering who on earth was going to give him messages today. Slowly, he picked the handset up.
“Hello?”
“Sam?” That voice, the one that was becoming oh-so familiar, was at the end of the line.
“What do you want?”
“Listen to me Sam. Everything is in jeopardy. You need to find Fletcher, quickly, and get him out of there. They can’t know what you are doing. We won’t be able to help you if they find out.”
“Wha....? Who is this?”
“Find him Sam. Help him. He needs you desperately.”
“I would if I could...”
“Find him.”
Author: Kirsteena
Fandom: Life on Mars
Spoilers: Set after 2.02
Rating: White Cortina.
Pairings: None
Word Count: 1134
Summary: The search begins.
a/n: Part 2 is here. Finally. I wanted to write further down the line before posting this. Find part one, and bunny explaination here. Thanks to marsorbiter for the bunnies, and emeriin for her wonderful beta reading. Necessary exposition herein!
DISCLAIMER: Life on Mars is copyright Kudos and the BBC. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made.
It was a quiet morning in CID. After the last few days, probably just as well. Ray was asleep at his desk, as usual. Chris had vanished on some errand. Annie was typing up some paperwork. Gene had been summoned to Superintendant Rathbone’s office. Sam sat at his desk, looking through some papers, smiling at the scene, feeling more at home here than he had done for a while.
Superintendant Rathbone walked into CID, followed closely by Gene and two strangers. Gene was looking unusually sober. He looked over CID, woke Ray up by slapping him on the shoulder, and walked over to the blackboard. “Alright you lot, listen up to what the Super has to say.”
Rathbone bowed his head at Gene, then cleared his throat. “We have just had an all-division alert come through. A police officer has gone missing. DCI Hunt will be in charge of the search across the divisions. I’ll let him fill you in.” Rathbone walked out of the room.
Gene stepped forward. “OK. This morning, DC Glen Fletcher didn’t turn up for his new assignment in D Division. He was last seen by his landlady yesterday morning. He didn’t come home last night, but all his gear is still there. This is DI Meadows from B, and DI Peterson from D Division. I want you all to start by getting information about his last years worth of cases sent over here, see if there is anything that would be worth taking an officer for. Talk to any informants, see if they know anything. We don’t know why he has vanished, he might have be kidnapped, he might have run away with a bird, he might be dead, who knows. But I am not having a police officer in this city disappear. Ideas will be welcomed, no matter how stupid. Let’s find him people.”
Gene started to walk over to Sam, who had gone pale at the news that his future mentor had gone missing. As he walked past Ray, Carling muttered “Why the hell we bothering to look for some coloured bloke anyway - so many of them one missing won’t make any difference.”
Sam moved to respond, but Gene reacted quicker. He grabbed Ray by the collar, and pinned him against the wall. “Don’t you EVER say anything like that in my presence again, Sgt. Carling,” he snarled in a dangerously quiet voice. “I don’t give a rat’s arse if he is coloured, a poof, female, or a United supporter. He is a copper. A copper who has gone missing in MY city. When this happens, I make it my personal pledge to find whoever did this to a member of my team, and I make them wish they had never crossed me. I expect the same from my detectives, or they will find themselves back in uniform for the rest of their career. Do I make myself clear?”
Ray glared at Hunt, then sagged. “Yes Guv, perfectly clear.”
“Good. Now I want you to ring round the hospitals, check no one has been brought in, and to ring us if he appears in hospital. Tyler, with me.” They walked into Gene’s office, leaving the two visitors outside.
“Guv...” Sam began.
“I know Sam. But you have to snap out of it. I need your picky brain on this, to see what we are missing. No-one has a bloody clue what has happened.” Gene sighed, and reached for his whisky bottle. Pouring two glasses, he handed one to Sam. “Drink. You look like you need it.” Sam gulped the whisky down in one, watching Gene grimace. “God, you are worse than me when I get going. My missus would have a field day on you.”
Sam laughed gently, then for the first time allowed his fears to show on his face. “Gene - do you... do you think...?”
“No reason to think he is dead Sam. Dead copper would have been left somewhere obvious, proud that they had killed one of us. No, I’ll bet Ray’s pub money he has been kidnapped, but I’ll be buggered if I know why. But, after what he did for... me... I’m going to find him, I promise you.” Gene allowed rare emotion to colour his face, as he acknowledged what Fletcher had done when they were confronting Harry.
Chris suddenly poked his head round the door. “Guv, we pulled in Tim Crandall, like what you asked. He’s in Lost and Found.”
“Good. Good.”
“Tim Crandall?”
“Informant of a long time ago. He has dried up recently, going to see what I can get out of him.”
“Any reason why this one as opposed to other informants?”
“Last time we got anything useful out of him was when a uniform was killed 4 years ago after disturbing a robbery in progress. Seemed like as good a place as any to start. Let’s go.”
*********
“Chris, those cases come in from the other divisions yet?” Three hours later, a frustrating session with Crandall which produced nothing had left Sam with a horrible headache. Strangers were crawling around CID, officers from the other divisions drafted in to help. Sam just wanted to sit in a corner, and shut the world out, and process what had happened.
“Just starting to come in now, boss” Chris replied, bringing Sam a file and a cup of tea, which was gratefully gulped downed in one.
“Thanks Chris. Gonna be a long day.”
“Too right, boss. We will find him though.”
Sam walked over to Annie, who had a pile of folders on her desk. “Anything in the files?”
“Not really. Least, nothing that would explain why he would go missing.”
“Shit.” Sam slumped into the chair next to Annie, rubbing his hands over his face. “Why would anyone do this?” he wondered aloud.
Annie just looked sadly at Sam - it was the same question which had been on their lips all day. Sam smiled wryly at her, and grabbed some of the files, time to start looking though and see if they could find anything out. He wandered over to his desk, sat down, and started ploughing through them. God, where to start?
Suddenly, Sam’s phone rang. He looked at it suspiciously, wondering who on earth was going to give him messages today. Slowly, he picked the handset up.
“Hello?”
“Sam?” That voice, the one that was becoming oh-so familiar, was at the end of the line.
“What do you want?”
“Listen to me Sam. Everything is in jeopardy. You need to find Fletcher, quickly, and get him out of there. They can’t know what you are doing. We won’t be able to help you if they find out.”
“Wha....? Who is this?”
“Find him Sam. Help him. He needs you desperately.”
“I would if I could...”
“Find him.”