Piece By Peace

A Number

The two fell asleep for an hour or two, waking only due to the sound of sirens passing outside the hotel. Leah groaned a little, pressing her body more tightly against Niamh's as some kind of you're not leaving statement and relishing in the feeling of Niamh wrapping her arms even further around her frame.

"Do you not wonder where the sirens are going every time you hear them?" Leah asked.
"I used to. Then I realised that doing that was just heightening the anxiety I had about getting a call."
"Did you drive the cars?"
"On blue lights, you mean?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, sometimes."
"Was it scary?"
"Not really. We get trained loads before we're allowed to do another like that.
"What about the other stuff?"
"What stuff?"
"Going undercover."
"Yeah, it was scary. Mostly because you can't show you're scared." Niamh chuckled.
"How do you do that, though?"
"Do what?"
"Pretend to not be scared."
"I suppose when your life is at risk, you go into survival mode, and survival mode undercover is not showing that you're scared."
"I don't think I could do it, you know?"
"No?"
"Nope." Leah chuckled, popping the p in the word.
"You want to try?"
"How?" Leah chuckled again.
"Let's go undercover. Today."
"How do we do that?"
"Do you trust me?" Niamh smiled at the blonde.
"Yeah."
"Then that's all we need. And maybe some new clothes." Niamh chuckled.
"How do we get those?"
"Michael."
"Won't he be angry that you're with me again?" Leah sighed.
"What? No. Why do you ask that?"
"I thought he might hate me now."
"He would only hate you if you had done something wrong." Niamh said softly, brushing Leah's hair back from her face.
"I let you go, Niamh. That was wrong."
"For the right reasons. Plus, I don't know about you, but I would say I have some excellent proof right here that you never really let me go." Niamh smirked.
"Shut up." Leah chuckled.

The two showered, patiently waiting for Michael to arrive at the hotel with the bag of undercover supplies that Niamh had requested. They felt like they had secured a position on cloud nine as they basked in the company of one another, Leah's smile finally a true representation of her innermost feelings, and Niamh's head filled with personal life matters that day instead of work-related stress.

She'd expressed that thought too soon, though.

"That's your work phone ringing, isn't it?" Leah said sadly.
"Yeah." Niamh sighed.

Leah wasted no time in beginning to pack her stuff together and look for flights as Niamh disappeared into the bathroom to take the call. Devastation could've been used to describe how she felt, but she found it more apt to describe it as realisation. The realisation that nothing had changed; they'd just restarted the same old routine.

Niamh, meanwhile, was in the bathroom cursing the desk duty officer that had called her to say she was needed. When she couldn't get any information as to why from the woman on the phone, she demanded she be put through to Gillian, the woman who ranked between Niamh and the governor.

"Quinn." Gillian tutted at Niamh's annoying presence on the phone.
"What's wrong? Why do I have to come in?"
"24 hours have been added to questioning time for Cillian Platt."
"Right, and?"
"And I want you to do the interview."
"With all due respect, ma'am, I'm off duty today and I can't actually attend." Niamh said nervously.
"Someone dead?"
"Sorry?"
"Is someone dead? In your family?"

Niamh thought carefully.

"Yes."
"Who?"

Fuck.

"Just a distant relative."
"I see. So, you need today off?" Gillian asked, showing little empathy in her tone for Niamh's fake family death.
"Yes."
"Right. Well, there's nothing we can do. When is the funeral?"

Ah fuck. Again.

"Tomorrow." Niamh shrugged.
"I see. Well, I'll grant you an extra day of leave for tomorrow, then. See you after that."