Alec Hardy X Reader - Tumblr Posts

I'm literally foaming at the mouth-

I lovelovelovelove how it's not just that the reader struggles and needs help, but that they try on their own as well, but in some instances it's too much, I apprecuate that soooooooooo much <3333

Also, don't be worried about the fic being with Alec, honestly, I was kinda hoping you'd write it with him (but Aziraphale and Crowley would be interesting to see in that scenario, as well)

All in all, I am SO glad I discovered your blog, I wish I had stumbled upon it sooner.

Unconditional Support

Alec Hardy x GN!Reader

Summary: It takes a while for you to get used to receiving love and affection, but this time it was just a little too much.

CW: angst, light crying, hurt/comfort, hiding things as a trauma response, mentions to past trauma (non-specific)

Broadchurch tag list: (send an ask to be added to a tag list!)

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

You loved to dote. Gifts, compliments, adoration. You loved to dote on your partners. You always had. Alec hadn’t quite known what to do with that when the two of you first got together. While he was incredibly loving, it took a while for him to grow comfortable enough to reciprocate. Sure, he’d gotten you flowers and held your hand walking to and from dates and things, but in terms of true and unadulterated affection? Well, that took a hot minute. 

And you were fine with it being that way. In some ways you even preferred it. You’d never been huge on physical touch, and receiving gifts? Even small ones were not within your comfort wheelhouse. 

And when Alec started bringing you home trinkets and gifts from work, or just because he could with his new promotion, well, you weren’t sure how to handle it. It had gotten to the point where you had started withdrawing from Alec, shrinking back from cuddles and only allowing small pecks on the cheek or the lips. 

The two of you still lived separately for now as this was all still relatively new and he had his daughter to take care of. In a panic one day you had shoved all his trinkets and gifts into a trunk under the end of your bed. You got things out if he was planning to come over for dinner, but other than that they stayed locked away where you didn’t have to think about it.

That lasted for a little while before you’d begun to heal. Bit by bit you started to deprogram yourself from making those responsive choices. Now, you had the items out, decorating your rental place and while they still made you vaguely uncomfortable to look at, you just kept reminding yourself that while you felt you didn’t deserve the love and the kindness, the gifts were reminders that you received it anyway. In some small degree of hope, you thought that with prolonged exposure to them, you might grow to have different opinions. After all, if Alec didn’t think you deserved them, he wouldn’t have got them for you, would he? 

“What’s wrong, love?” Alec asked, snapping you completely out of your thoughts. The two of you were at dinner, enjoying a meal that wasn’t the Broadchurch standard of fish and chips. You’d never understand why Alec didn’t like chips. They were a food staple. At least in your opinion, anyway.

You held the little square box in your hands, ribbon still tied over the top. Alec was looking nervous. Today was your anniversary, and he’d just handed you your gift. It felt like a weapon, sitting there in its soft silk ribboned wrapping. It felt like it was a grenade about to explode in your face. You hoped Alec didn’t notice that particular expression as you weren’t always good at schooling your expressions. 

“Nothing, darling,” you responded with a stiff smile. “It’s fine, this is good.” You’re not sure if you’re trying to convince him or yourself. 

Alec frowns, starting to fidget uncomfortably. 

“If you don’t want it, I can- erm, I can take it back.” You’re pretty sure you’re not imagining the hurt in his tone. He reaches out to brush your wrist and you yank your hand away as though you’d been burned. Alec looked away, shrinking back in his seat. He puts his hands in his lap, no doubt fidgeting with them there.

“No- I,” you chew on your lip hard enough to break the skin. “I don’t deserve this?” It’s phrased like a question, but- in actual fact, you mean it as a statement. You don’t deserve this. Gifts like this? Especially expensive big declarations-of-love-gifts. 

“What d’you mean?” Alec asks, making eye contact with you. The look on his face was heartbreaking. “Course you do. And it’s not about ‘deserve’, anyway.”

You averted eye contact, feeling much akin to a turtle wanting to hide in its shell. You felt tears springing up in the corners of your eyes and Alec was suddenly beside you, concern evident on his features. 

“Shit, are you alright? Maybe it was too much. I just thought- Y’ken, it’s our anniversary.” 

You were doing your best to keep the tears from falling, though one escaped anyway. Alec wiped it away with a soft tut.

“I’m sorry,” you say. “I’m just- I’m not great with gifts. I don’t know how to process them?” Again, not a question of itself, but a question begging for Alec’s understanding. 

“I see,” was his response. You dared to make eye contact. His expression was thoughtful. You could almost see the cogs turning in his mind's eye. 

“How long’s this been goin’ on then, eh?” He asks. You should have known he’d have some sort of training in understanding trauma responses. 

“Uh, for a while.” 

“Mm,” Alec hums. “Y’could have told me, love.” 

You shrug, nudging your way into his side softly. A silent plea. He wraps an arm around you and presses a kiss to the side of your head. Of course, Alec does. Alec always knows exactly what’s going to make you feel better. 

“Alright, forget the gift, eh? Let's just eat. ‘M starvin, aren’t you?” 

You’re not really all that hungry, but you nod. Grateful for the way he surreptitiously scoops up the box on his way back to his seat. He sits down again, pocketing the box. 

He doesn’t bring the box up again, not anytime soon, anyway. He doesn’t return it to the store though. 

Alec keeps the gift safe and sound. He gives it back to you one day a couple of years later- when you’ve worked through some of your trauma and he knows that he can gift it to you without incident. 

It’s a necklace with an ‘A’ in the centre. It’s gorgeous, and you wear it with love from that day on. It serves as a reminder of all you’ve overcome both individually but also as a couple as well. Alec’s heart swells with love every time he sees it glint in the sun. 

He really does adore you. You never have to question that again.

Alec Hardy: A Messed Up Situation

Imagine your step-father abuses you, and you finally break; leading to an investigation and interview/questioning with a detective(Alec Hardy):

- Lil warning: mention of parent death, eludes to drugging, alludes to rape, pedophilia, rape, molestation, minor reader/underage reader, abuse, battery, alludes to non-con -

"Help! Someone! Please!!"

My voice strains against the hand, I've never been attacked, let alone raped before, and I certainly didn't think I ever would be. The only thing making a bad situation worse, is that fact that this is my step-father.

_______

My father was killed in a car crash when I was 12, my mother was all I had left, but it seems I wasn't enough.

The month after his funeral, she returned home, hanging on the arm of a 30 something year old man, his smile seeming to grow even wider when he spots me.

His name is Steven, and he looked to be 5"11, with dirty blond hair that was brushed to the side and light stubble on his jaw. He seemed friendly enough, and he was always playing games with me whenever he was over.

He came over often after that night, practically living at our house, so I got to know him fairly well. He always wanted to be near me, sitting next to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

Something I always found odd was how it seemed he would lightly flirt with me whenever my mother was gone. He would do it quickly, so quick you would miss it if you blinked; but I ignored it because he made my mother happy.

After a year of them dating, he officially moved in, right in time to celebrate my 13th birthday. That night was great, I invited all my friends over to the beach, we spent most of it in the ocean, but also had a lot of fun chasing each other and building sand castles. When I got home that night, he helped my mother to bed, and I quickly disappeared into my bathroom.

Though I had a great time, I had been making an effort to avoid Steven. His flirting was getting heavier and making me uncomfortable, he always stares at me, and always wanted to be touching me, whether it be him holding my hand or grasping my arm.

That was the night he first kissed me, he had cornered me after my shower, and his facial expression looked restrained, almost as though he was holding back a wild beast. He made me feel disgusted with myself, why was he doing this? He said I had been teasing him ever since I met him, but this just makes me even more confused, how did I tease him?

_______

The following year after that was normal, he would still hold my hand or hold me in a lingering hug, but he never kissed me again apart from kissing my forehead. He started to feel more like a father, or maybe that is what I made myself believe.

He married my mother the day I turned 14, it was sort of a special wedding-birthday mix thing. It was a lot of fun, my friends and their families were invited to the wedding, and my mother looked the happiest I'd ever seen her. Her white dress was beautiful, but she said I stole the show with my light lavender dress. That whole day and night, I felt eyes lingering on me, but I pushed the thought away, instead choosing to enjoy the wedding.

When we returned home from the wedding, my mother was acting strangely, her words were slurring and her movements droopy, this level of exhaustion seemed abnormal.

Steven put her to bed as I headed to my room to do the same. I was about to begin undressing when I heard the door to my room creak open, I quickly turned around, spotting Steven entering my room. He seemed so awake, but his calm demeanor made everything feel eerie.

"Here, let me help you." I didn't even have time to stop him, he had already grabbed the zipper for my dress, pulling it down my back slowly, almost as if savoring the moment. My body reacted in paranoia, I don't know why he's in my room, shouldn't he be with mom?

"Y'know... I've been waiting all day to take this dress off." At that moment, my paranoia seemed immensely justified. I immediately stepped away from him, but he moved quicker than me; yanking my dress down, the wispy material softly pooled around my ankles. I go to guard my body, but he's already shoving me down onto my bed, roughly holding his hand over my mouth, all the while whispering what he's going to do, and how much he loves me.

___

That night, he took everything from me, not only my innocence, but also my will to care.  It hurt so much, I was pleading for him to stop half the time, before falling silent and closing my eyes, praying that this was all a nightmare. I could feel the tears streaming out of my eyes as he hovered over me, his panting and movements forcefully reminding me of my horrifying reality.

The next morning I limped into school after rushing away from Steven and my mother. I spent the whole day in silence, never raising my hand, refusing to talk when called on.

This behavior continued for the next week, going to school barely half-alive, and then going home and laying in bed; Steven coming in any time possible to satiate his hunger. I don't know how my mother never noticed, but I pray she wasn't turning a blind eye to my fucked up situation.

I began making myself throw up, I don't know why, but it was something to help distract me. Some of the teachers pulled me to the side, asking me why I didn't play with the other kids anymore. I always shrugged my shoulders, refusing to speak.

After a month of Steven's continuous abuse, I finally did something that put all the teachers on edge.

___

It was an unnaturally hot day, and I made the mistake of taking my jacket off during recess.

My arms had a few bruises along them, but the most worrisome things they saw were the bruises around my wrists, they had distinct marks where Steven's fingertips had dug into them too harshly.

A small group of school teachers and others approached me. Mr.Rivers, a kind younger man who had the role of vice principal, made the mistake of lightly grasping my shoulder to get my attention. I shuddered away from his touch, cries of fear escaping my mouth as I fell backwards and to the floor. They all seemed shocked by my reaction, Mr.Rivers tries to comfort me, but I curl into myself, pulling my knees up and hiding my face against them.

I know he is distressed by my reaction, possibly feeling guilty, thinking he made me do this, but I hope he knows that he isn't the one making me cry.

The female teachers immediately move forward, some of them shooing the men away, and another carefully hugging me. I wrap my arms around her as she embraces me, holding and comforting me the way I wish my mother would.

___

I spend the next 30 minutes in an empty classroom, the same female teacher and a counselor sitting with me. They kept trying to get me to talk, but I gave only sparse answers. From the looks on their faces, they already have assumptions as to what happened to me.

My mind keeps replaying everything Steven has done to me, all the nightmares that plague me with each second of sleep I managed to attain.

I'm dragged out of my conscious terror when I hear a commotion outside of the classroom, the counselor and teacher glance at each other before getting up to investigate, but the door opens before they reach it.

A man and woman walk into the classroom, taking a quick scan of the room with their eyes before settling on my huddled form.

The man has messy brown hair that falls lightly over his forehead and a thickish layer of stubble on his jaw, he has deep brown eyes and looks eternally tired. The woman has dark brown curly hair that is pulled up in the back, she looks a lot more approachable, and is wearing a comforting yet sad smile as she gazes at me.

The counselor goes to stop them when they try to approach me, but they seem to show some sort of badge. After whispering some words, the counselor begrudgingly motions for the teacher to follow her out of the classroom.

When the door closes, I finally realize I'm left alone with these two strangers, I'm about to freak out when the woman starts to speak.

"Hello deary, I'm Ellie, and this is my partner Alec. We work for the police and we were wondering if you can help us?" She kneels down onto the floor, her voice is soft and comforting, drawing me to want to open up. I glance at the man, Alec, and my eyes tear up in fear when they meet his gaze, I quickly look away and back to the woman, hesitantly nodding my head.

She smiles, patting the chair next to her, I carefully walk over and sit in the chair, Alec pulling up one next to Ellie yet refusing to sit, instead standing behind it. They don't talk for a couple seconds, almost as though thinking of what to say.

"Can you tell us your name?" Ellie delicately asks. I glance at her eyes, before stiffly nodding.

"...Y-Y/N." I was worried that they didn't hear my hoarse whisper, but the smile she gave alerted me that I was heard. She asked me a few more questions, how I'm feeling right now, what my favorite subject was, how my parents were doing, just simple questions to establish a dialogue.

I stuttered a lot when answering the last question, I don't know how they are doing, and I don't want them being called my parents, not with what he has done to me and how she ignores what he does to me.

After the last question, a few moments of silence swirls through the air. It almost stings when I breathe in, I want to cough and yell, anything but be stuck in my mind.

"How'd you get those marks on your wrists?" This is the first time I've heard Alec talk, his voice isn't harsh like I thought it'd be, he actually spoke quite gently. This is the second time I've made eye contact with him, but instead of fear, a feeling of warmth and comfort seems to flow soothingly through me. He doesn't scare me like Steven, he actually reminds me of a teddy bear, I don't know why he is making me feel safe.

I don't answer the question, shifting my gaze to the scuffed up floor of the classroom. I can tell that Alec and Ellie are sharing a knowing look.

"You said you have a step-father, right? Steven?" I visibly recoil at the name, pulling my arms over my chest, almost as though subconsciously trying to shield myself from him.

"Don't say his name." My voice is weaker, I haven't talked this much in a while, I practically became a mute ever since he first raped me.

"Y/N... Y/N!" Alec calls my name gently at first, but the second time was a little sterner, though I don't know if stern is the right word. It's the voice my dad would use when I would ignore my chores even after he reminded me. Or when he learned I was being bullied, but I refused to tell him the bully's name.

I look at Alec, sighing in contemplation as I gaze up at him.

"Did he do this to you? Did Steven hurt you?" His question makes my heart beat faster in trepidation over what I was going to say. Was I going to tell him the truth, or was I going to lie and be abused for the rest of my life until I can leave home?

Something came over me, maybe it was how I was starved of real fatherly affection, or maybe it was how I finally felt seen and understood that caused me to stand from my chair and rush over to Alec's standing form.

One second I was rigidly sitting in a cold chair, and the next I was wrapping my arms around a man that represented the father figure I so desperately needed to comfort me.

Alec seemed stunned, this was probably the last thing he expected to happen, but after realizing what was going on he delicately wrapped his arms around me, hugging me back. I can't hold it in anymore, I cry and sob against him as he comforts me, hugging me tightly to him as he calms me down.

"Steven, he... he... he rapes me."

Unraveled Ch.1: Introductions

Ch.2

My original name is Elswyth Carlisle, but my friends now call me 'Elspeth' or 'Els', and to strangers I always introduce myself as 'Carlisle'. 

I am a 5"6 female with short, black hair, brown eyes so dark they could be considered black if the sun wasn't shining into them, and light honey colored skin.

I moved to Broadchurch not too long ago. My childhood friend and I both worked together as D.I.'s, and ended up going through a very serious case, and I simply couldn't stand being there anymore after it all fell apart, so I packed up and switched stations to one of the quietest places I could find, Broadchurch. 

I never did tell my friend where I was going or that I was even leaving, but that's because even just seeing him brought back memories of the case and the poor family. Not to mention he would probably somehow talk me out of leaving.

So far my life could be better, I suffer from depression, insomnia, and anxiety because of my last case. Panic attacks are something new that I've gotten since moving to Broadchurch because of a traumatizing event happening to me here, which I've made sure absolutely no one knows about. Though I've gotten a little bit better over the time that I've been here. I don't really want to go into detail at what happened to me, I wasn't even in Broadchurch when it happened, I was actually on my way home from a friend's party. As I said, I won't go into detail, but that event left me traumatized and reclusive, and it has led to me having reoccurring nightmares, and the scars on my wrists don't exactly make it easy to forget.

Luckily no one here knows about my relation to my past case, they simply think I'm a city D.I. who was looking for a quiet town; which is really good because I think my new best friend, Ellie, would hate me if she knew the truth. So far Ellie has been the most welcoming person, inviting me over, helping me get settled, and introducing me to all her friends and family, who quickly became my friends; we all became really comfortable and close to each other in the year that I've been here. 

I remember the first time I arrived at the station everyone gave me a warm welcome with faces clad in friendly smiles, it really helped me to move past some of the traumatizing events.

Ellie and Beth have even learned about some of my health issues and are trying to help me, though I refuse to go to therapy or the hospital, luckily they don't ask about my past or what caused these problems. Not to mention I'm really good at hiding them when I'm going through a serious episode, I never allow anyone of the public to see my issues, only Beth and Ellie know about them.

I pray nightly that this life of mine will only continue to improve, but like all good things, they never do end up lasting as long as you'd like.

Ch.2

Unraveled Ch.2: Unhappy Ellie

Ch.1 Ch.3

It's my first day back to work in a week since I was called out on a family issue back in Scotland, and luckily I had a week of vacation days stored up. Ellie has been out too on a family vacation to Florida, and we decided to meet up and go to work together.

Walking down the sidewalk, I ran into her and Joe pushing around little Fred with Tom walking alongside them, talking with a joyful Mark. As soon as Ellie saw me her smile grew even wider.

"ELS!!!!!"

"ELLIE!!!"

Ellie quickly handed the stroller over to Joe before tackling me in a hug, nearly squeezing the life out of me as I returned the favor to her. We finally separated after a few more seconds of hugging, smiling widely at each other before I looked over to greet her family.

"Hello Joe, Tom, little Freddy!" I exclaimed, my Scottish accent thicker than normal due to my visit back to Scotland. I lean down to tickle Fred, his laughs of glee ringing through the crisp morning air, helping to renew my spirits.

"Hello Els, are you coming to sports day with us?" Joe questioned as we recommence walking, the stroller being returned to Ellie as he pulls Tom into his side to ruffle his hair.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss seeing my favorite godson play." I state as I ruffle Tom's hair as well. Him laughing, pushing my hand away before hugging me quickly.

"So Miller, first day back at work, how do you feel?" I question sarcastically, falling in step next to the family as they continue along.

"Honestly Els, we've known each other for almost a year and you still call me Miller sometimes." Ellie states in fake annoyance, having grown accustomed to my habit.

"I know Ellie, but it's a habit, just think of it as my nickname for you." I respond honestly, frowning slightly as I briefly think back to who gave me this habit.

"Fine. I'm super excited to be back, because they said I would have the D.I. job, so I can't wait!! How about you, CARLISLE. I know you just got back from a week off, so how are you feeling?" Ellie smirks as she mocked me using last names.

I let out a slight huff at her, "I'm feeling the same as always, just can't wait to get back to work. Being with my family is overwhelming sometimes."

"Hope your family is doing alright... How about you come with me to drop the kids off and then we can go to work together." Ellie smiles as she looks at her family quickly.

I smile back and nod in agreement.

——————————

"Morning! Hi! Hiya, morning! Hi, I'm back!" Ellie exclaims jubilantly in her happy personality, everyone clapping as they welcome her back. I simply lean against the counter of the small kitchen area with a small smile as I watch her enjoy herself and give gifts to some people. Everyone always loves Ellie's warm and welcoming personality.

Stuck in my thoughts, the sounds and the applause starts to fade into background noise, my skin beginning to sweat slightly and my eyes shuttering closed. I quickly get up and walk as calmly and casually as possible, slipping out the door and rushing into the bathroom, locking the main door after assuring that it's empty. My memories are fighting me, forcing me to relive the case that caused all these problems, all the welcoming and cheering that mixed together at Ellie's return sounded far too similar to the sound of rushing water. It didn't help that on my visit to my family they brought up that dreadful case.

I try to calm my quick breathing, desperately attempting to think of something else but the only image in my head is of my friend and I looking into the water and him immediately rushing in with myself following soon after, watching him nearly drown before dragging him and the body out of the water. I can still feel the icy water encompassing my body, my lungs being suffocated by water as I allowed myself to be pushed under so that I could push my friend up.

I almost stumble to the floor, grasping onto the counter for stability as I try to steady my breathing, slowly pulling myself up and patting my face with wet paper towels before looking at my reflection and seeing a tired and lonely person.

Ever since I was called out to my family the flashbacks have increased and have been stronger than usual. I have been avoiding my family because they remind me of the case and of my childhood best friend; the sudden rush of having to see them, and then being forced back into a life of crime solving was a little much. But I have to pull myself back together, this is Ellie's day after all, she's going to get the job she wanted, and I can't trouble her with my stupid issues.

Putting on a facade I walk out of the bathroom, heading back to the room to see it quieting down. I stride over to Anna and quickly ask, "Hey Anna, do you know where Ellie went?" My eyes scanning over the room to see no sign of her jubilant self.

"Oh yes Els, she just got called in by the head, most likely telling her the bad news right now."

"Alright." I say about to walk off to the office before immediately stopping as I comprehend what she said.

"What do you mean 'bad news'?" I question, the confusion overflowing my voice as I look at Anna. Her face showed slight surprise before remembering I was gone. I don't wait for a response, rushing over to the office only to run into a very unhappy Ellie.

"Can you believe this Els! They gave my job to someone else! And a man at that!" Ellie whisper-shouted at me as she dragged me outside of the station. Her anger was overflowing, so I tried to calm her down, but my attempts were futile.

"And not only a man, but one with a case so bad that it's going to screw our station over!" She exclaimed as she stomped her foot in contempt.

"Alright, easy Ellie, I had no idea this was going to happen and it's awful, but let's evaluate the situation. If he's as bad a D.I. as you say then you will get his job, if he's a good D.I. then we should try and learn from his experience. I know you may not like it, but you haven't experienced a lot in this station. I've been through homicides and rapes on a daily basis, but the worst you get out here are misdemeanors. So let's calm down." I explain firmly as I grasp her shoulders, making her look at me. She lets out a slight huff of irritation, knowing that I'm right in that she does lack some experience to be a D.I.

"Fine, let's just go back inside and see how it goes." She mutters before trudging back inside. I can tell she's going to definitely hold a grudge against this new D.I., and it's going to be a new experience, because an angry Ellie has never been seen so far.

Ch.1 Ch.3

Unraveled Ch.4: Reacquainting

Ch.3 Ch.5

"Was it an accident? Did he fall?" Beth questioned, trying to get a grasp on the situation after having calmed down.

"We don't know yet." Alec responds, though he and I know the grim truth that Danny was most likely kidnapped and murdered.

Ellie and I had been making tea for everyone, hoping to calm their nerves slightly. I could tell that Chloe wasn't okay with this situation at all, she was just leaning solemnly against the wall.

"Can you think of why he might've been up on the cliffs last night or this morning?" Alec starts questioning, trying to get as many ideas as to why Danny was up there, and who some suspects might be.

"He wouldn't have been." Beth states, just trying to stay calm, her mind still having trouble believing Danny is dead.

"Well, he obviously was." Came Mark's quick and blunt reply, causing me to subtly glance over at him, wondering why he would snap slightly at Beth like that.

"He didn't have any reason to be." Beth quickly recovered.

"How was Danny over the past few days. " I immediately voiced, wanting to get the tension between the pair gone.

"He didn't kill himself, if that's what you're suggesting Els." Mark stated, looking directly at me, almost as if slightly offended by my question.

"He's been just... normal." Came Beth as she tried her best to reply.

"He wouldn't kill himself. He knows he can talk to us about anything." Mark states, Chloe finally walks away from the wall to sit down next to her father.

"And you last saw him when?" Alec asks, attempting to understand the situation and create a timeline of the events.

"I looked in on him about 9:00 last night. He was lying in bed, reading." Beth states as she rocks herself to try and gain comfort. There is a short silence that follows, Alec thinking about what to ask next.

"Anyone see Danny this morning?" Alec questions as he looks between the family members.

"No, he's up and out before anyone else, he's got a paper round. But he didn't turn up for that. Jack, I spoke to him, he runs the paper shop." Beth states slowly as she recounts what occurred that morning.

Alec continues to question them, but my mind goes to thinking about suspects, so far Beth, Mark and Jack will have to be individually questioned, We're going to have to get the family's alibis as well as Jack's. My thoughts are suddenly brought back to reality when Mark asks if he can see the body. Everyone looks at him in slight shock and disbelief, especially Beth, but I understand his reasoning of wanting to make sure it's Danny and not someone else.

——————————

Ellie leaves to take Mark to go view the body. Alec and I are left at the house, he's goes around to Danny's room, and I'm left with the family.

"Auntie Els, are you sure it's Danny?" Chloe questions timidly, her grandmother looking at me as well. I look down at the floor before looking into Chloe's eyes.

"Yes Chloe.... the body we found is Danny's; and I know that our D.I. is a new person, and that you don't know him, but I can assure you that Alec, Ellie, and I will make sure to find out the true story as to what happened to Danny." I assured them. Chloe only nodded whilst her grandmother attempted to comfort her.

——————————

Back at the police station Alec and Ellie we're giving a debriefing, I was asked to join them but I always preferred to watch, one of the reasons I never went for the D.I. position after my last employment. Alec being the softy he is for me, allowed me to watch instead of give the debriefing; which earned a surprised expression from Ellie, almost as if she didn't believe he would cut anyone some slack. But she quickly pushed away the shock, probably thinking of confronting me at another time as to why the abrasive D.I. got along with me.

"Was Danny Latimer abducted? Did someone gain access to the house, if so, how? If it wasn't forced entry, who has the key? We need to collect any CCTV from a mile radius around the house...Miller, the family, who are they and where were they?" Alec voices, walking in front of the whiteboard before leaning against it during his last few sentences, the group in front writing down what they say.

"Beth had Chloe, their eldest daughter, when she was 15 and Mark was 17. Mum and daughter were at home watching telly, they say they didn't leave the house until school the next morning. Dad was out on an emergency call-out, he's a plumber, he got in around 3:00. Neither parent thought to check on Danny. Gran lives nearby, she was there all evening, the other Gran lives in Wales." Ellie recounted, looking like she was falling apart inside at the thought that her closest friend's son is now dead.

After taking in all the information, Alec sternly looks at the group, stating,

"Until we're ready, all of this remains confidential. No gossip. You understand?...Right, go on." His voice stern and serious, not wanting any of this information to get out in the press. Everyone getting up to follow up on the information given.

——————————

I was down near the pier, taking in everything that had happened. After the debriefing I had rushed out of the department and to my home near the water because I was right on the edge of having another panic attack. There was a pushy male coworker who seemed to have more than a crush on me, he also didn't understand boundaries or how to take no for an answer; leading to him sliding his hand onto my lower thigh while I was sitting at my desk. This movement brought up the traumatizing event that happened only a month after moving into Broadchurch, the memories hit harshly, and I simply rushed out of there immediately. Luckily I made it home and got inside just before my mind was taken over. When I finally calmed down enough to make myself look proper I headed outside, and sat down on a bench, able to see a lot of the ocean and pier.

As I'm looking along, I see our Chief Super talking with Alec. I can only imagine that she's talking about him handing the case over, but knowing him he would never stand down just because of the past. God, I've never really paid attention to how much I've missed Alec, how I've missed his headstrong personality and his ability to stay focused. How he would chew someone out to the point where they were practically crying and then turn back to me and ask if I would pick up Daisy with him. I especially miss his daughter, Daisy, now that I think about it.

My chest tightens as I reflect back to right before the case, his family life struggling, but when it was just me, Daisy, and Alec, he would always be smiling.

Back then, Alec and I were always together, and Daisy absolutely adored me, I never really realized how empty my life has been without them. Even though I befriended the Miller's and the Latimer's, my life was depressing, though I always put on a facade so no one asked questions. Alec and Daisy were my life, sure, his wife hated me and my closeness to her husband and daughter, but that didn't stop Alec and Daisy from loving me.

Sometimes, when I am reminiscing about before the case, my mind will drift to my favorite memory of the three of us.

It was a total of one day before we would get called onto the Sandbrook case. Alec and myself had our off day, and were sitting down in a park. He had been explaining to me about the troubles he was having with Tess, how he had heard rumors in the office about her cheating, and how when he confronted her, she barely argued about it. Alec has only been getting more stressed out, he was even more stressed out than back in high school when his parents would constantly fight and argue in front of him.

Since I knew we would be busy the next day, I suggested we spend this day with Daisy. I texted her that we would pick her up from school and take her to ice cream. As I drove us to her school, I explained to Alec to forget work and his issues, and to focus on enjoying the moment.

At the ice cream store, Alec and I both got mint ice cream whilst Daisy got strawberry, we had just finished eating when it started bucketing down outside, not taking more than a few seconds for puddles to form. Me being the child I am, sprinted out the door to stand in the rain, splashing in some puddles as I ran to the park down the street. I could hear Alec and Daisy running after me, Daisy laughing gleefully at my childish personality whilst Alec chuckled as well.

At the park I finally stopped running, taking deep breaths as I looked back just in time to see Daisy run and jump onto me, causing both of us to fall back into a puddle since she is practically my size. Alec just stood there smiling at us, helping me out of the puddle and finally dragging me out of the rain and to the car, Daisy dragging me as well with a smile on her face. We were still drenched and smiling when I drove them home and walked them to their door, hugging Alec bye and giving Daisy a hug and a kiss on the forehead before waving goodbye. That was the last day of real happiness I can remember, everything else only causing a fake show or shallow version of joy on my face.

A shout harshly brings me out of my thoughts, my eyes drifting off the water to spot Alec walking off from Jenkinson, heading off towards town, I immediately ran to catch up with them.

"Alec!" I shout as I near him. He halts so suddenly I barely have enough time to stop, he turns around to face me, having to look down seeing as he is much taller than my 5 foot 6 form. His messy brown hair being blown by the wind as the previous scowl on his face disappears when he realizes that it's me who shouted his name. A ghost of a smile forming on his face as he visibly softens his harsh features.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure, Carlisle." He states in his rugged accent, his accent thickening as he says my last name, which caused my right eyebrow to raise slightly.

"Shut it Hardy, I know you're glad to see me too." I state sassily back. He glares into my eyes when I use his last name, and I glare back, only able to hold it for a few seconds before breaking into a smile. Stepping forward, I wrap my arms loosely around his neck and drag him down in a tight embrace. His stature immediately tenses, and for a second I even think he's going to shove me away, but then his arms delicately envelope me in return before pulling me tightly against his chest. We stay like this for a few moments before releasing. He looks at me questioning as to why I broke off the hug.

"Don't give me that look, I know you've got the mean, hard-ass D.I. image to hold up, you hugging me in public is not going to help maintain it." I smirk as I poke his chest. He thinks for a moment, then widely grins as he grabs my hand poking his chest and yanks me into a tighter hug, to which I gladly return. We release each other after a minute or so and begin walking down the sidewalk, smiles on both of our faces as we talk.

"So, is this where you ran off to all that time ago?" Alec finally asks after a few moments of silence, his voice not harsh or confronting, but more of a soft questioning and wondering tone. He looked at me, awaiting my answer, his eyes always seemed so vulnerable to me.

"Yes... I've been here the whole time. It brought back good memories; and when I left, good memories were the only thing that kept me alive." I hesitantly state as I look away from him. He nods his head slowly while glancing down in thought.

"I heard Miller call you Elspeth; but you and I both know that isn't your name." He gruffly voices, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets as he glances up at me questioningly.

"I was wondering if you had noticed that. I no longer go by Elswyth, I'm mainly doing that to... prevent any connections to Sandbrook." I speedily state the second part, shutting my eyes quickly as if that would block out the memories of the case, my whole body shuddering slightly at the thought of it.

"It's alright if you still want to call me Elswyth, though I'd prefer not in public. When we are around other people just act like you normally do, call me Carlisle and be rough and rude like normal so that no one knows of our past connections." I follow up, stopping our walk as I look over to Alec. He seems conflicted, but understands why I would go through such hassle to avoid connections with the case. He lifts his eyes from the ground, his gaze looks softer, his tough guy facade always seems to fade when he's around me. He simply nods his head and we start walking again quietly.

"Want to know what I was thinking about when I saw you talking to our Chief Super?" I suddenly voice, a smile spreading across my face as I remember. Alec looks up from the floor, releasing a grin as well when he sees mine.

"What were you thinking about Els?" He questions softly yet slightly sarcastically as he looks at me expectantly.

"I was remembering that day when you, Daisy, and I went out for ice cream and ended up splashing in puddles at the park. You remember that?" I explain, my smile brightening as I look over at Alec. He smiles back at me, but I can see that among the joy of the memory there is some pain.

"How are Daisy and Tess?" I ask, wanting to know what I've missed since I've left. His smile immediately falls as he breaks eye contact, seemingly thinking about how to answer.

"Well Els... Tess and I are divorced now.... I haven't seen Daisy for quite a while. We got divorced shortly after the case, turns out those rumors were true, and Tess has Daisy." At hearing this my steps sharply stutter to a sudden halt. My eyes wide at hearing the news of my best friend's divorce and loss of custody, guilt flooding my eyes as I think of how I left and didn't contact any of them, thinking they would recover with each other, but in reality Alec was all alone. The guilt that had been buried is resurfacing, a sharp pain welling in my chest as I look guiltily over to Alec's tired face.

I'm about to say something when Ellie walks up to us. We all start walking down the sidewalk in silence.

"So what did Jenkinson want?"

Ch.3 Ch.5

Unraveled Ch.3: The Family

Ch.2 Ch.4

After doing some paperwork for about an hour Ellie suddenly runs into the office, rushing over to my desk.

"Come on Els! The beach has been blocked off and we're both being called down there. Apparently there is a body." Ellie whispers quickly to me in distress.

I look up at her, feeling my memories attempting to resurface, but I quickly push them back, swallowing my nerves as I put on my cold, stern exterior. We quickly walked out of the department, hopping into our respective cars and heading over to the beach. I can constantly feel the memories of that little girl's body in the water trying to pick its way into my vision, but I shake it off. I couldn't avenge her, but I can try and solve whoever it is that we find.

Flashing our badges we park our cars and get access to the beach, I stumble slightly in the sand as Ellie and I weave through the small group of people beginning to crowd against the police tape.

We walk straight up to the tape, quickly being allowed in by the uniforms, Ellie going first and walking towards the body. I, however, feel myself slowing down, the waves rolling and the image of a child's dead body being all too similar. My mind and my body feel disconnected, like I am physically here but my mind is simply watching the nauseating scene unfold.

The only thought in my mind being, 'Is this penance for my downfalls, God?', closing my eyes and sharply reopening them I push myself forwards, watching Ellie beginning to get emotional, I think I heard her saying 'no' and 'I know this boy.' Both of these caused my blood to run just that much colder.

I trek towards the body with false confidence, keeping my eyes trained on the body. I can see figures of the D.I. and Ellie having a slight confrontation in my peripheral vision, but I pay them no mind as I spot the body of Danny Latimer lying in the cold sand.

I then look up when I hear an all too familiar accent and tone. The buried feeling of longing resurfacing as the voice awakens old memories.

"Shut it down. You're working a case now!" His voice was serious and his accent Scottish, I finally look up to see his face. He luckily hasn't seen me yet, but seeing him causes my striding over there to hesitate greatly as I feel my facade of confidence crumbling in mere seconds.

He introduced himself to Ellie but I care not about that, all I can focus on is the face of my best friend, Alec Hardy. Luckily they are talking about Danny, him turning around as Ellie identifies the body, Alec turning around as he learns this information. The sickening feeling in my gut is only growing in this whole situation, but I push myself forward. I've got a crime to solve now and I can't let past personal experience interfere with that.

I walk forwards, my feet feeling heavy, the type of heavy like when your boots are filled with water that can never be emptied. I only stop when I reach Ellie, trying to stay out of Alec's view.

"Ellie? Is that who I think it is?" My question rang through the tense air, my voice soft and accent not as noticeable. Ellie jumped in fright before realizing it's me.

"How bad are the uniforms at keeping civilians out of a crime scene?!" Alec exclaims in anger, luckily not looking at me yet.

"They're not that bad, seeing as I'm no civilian Alec." I state. Ellie looks at me in surprise and confusion as I call our new D.I. by his first name. Even he freezes at my tense greeting, almost as if having a moment of realization at hearing my voice. He slowly turns to see my face, the face of his missing best friend, the face of a person he desperately longed for though thought he would never see again.

"Elswyth?" His soft yet gruff voice is full of longing and questioning. His eyes seemingly darkening in sadness as he remembers our past together. Sadly we don't get long to remember as I hear the sound of someone who is not going to take this situation well at all, Beth Latimer.

"Oh, God, who's that?" Alec questions as he shifts his gaze to the distraught mother.

Ellie and I both looked as well with wide eyes, seeing one of our closest friends and mother to the now deceased Danny. We both glance at each other before stumbling forwards, holding our arms out to catch Beth before she can reach Danny. Ellie is telling her she can't be here, but my only focus is to keep her from reaching Danny. I grab her, struggling as she pulls me slightly forward, Alec grabbing her too until the uniforms finally rush over and drag her back, Beth fighting violently as she screams about how those are Danny's trainers, screaming both of our names in despair.

I quickly look away, stumbling backwards slightly, this is all wrong, it's happening all over again. I feel as though I'm going to collapse and be sick when two strong arms grasp me quickly, holding me against their chest as comforting words are spoken quietly. I recognize him, his smell and touch are the same even after not seeing him for so long. He turns me around, as I rest my head against him, his arms wrapped tightly around me as we both understand how this is affecting each other.

After a few more moments I push away from him, I can't let Ellie see this, she would quickly catch on to what happened in my past, and I don't want her hating me like how she loathes Alec. He looks at me as I stumble back again, reaching out to steady me but I push his hands away, he stops immediately, looking down slightly and lowering his hand at my rejection. I can't stand looking at him sad, so instead I turn to Ellie, her hands against her forehead at the despair of Beth. I quickly pull her into a hug, I know this is going to be one of the worst experiences of her life, and I have to be there to make sure it doesn't end up how my case did.

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We're walking along the cliffs, the tape now blocking the edge. We all walk through the y'all grass, I cross my arms across my body as a form of comfort, the waves below splashing loudly.

"They let people walk along here, no safety barriers?" Alec questions, his tone confused as to why.

"It's the coastal path, people know to be careful." Ellie responds simply, all of us continuing to trudge through the tall grass.

"It's a death trap." Alec states as he looks behind us then back around. I give a small, almost nonexistent smile at how blunt he still is, hopefully he doesn't realize how much I've missed his rudely blunt and socially awkward personality.

We continue walking, finally running into SOCO at the crime scene.

"How's it going?" Alec asks as we stop to speak with Brian.

"Well, from what we've got up here, sir, it's looking like the rockfall around the body was faked." Brian responded solemnly. My eyes going dark as I now know for sure that this is a murder.

"What do you mean?" Ellie questions. I hold in my sigh of annoyance as I remember that I can't be mad, this is after all her first murder, as well as this town's first murder; I'm going to have to be patient for Ellie. Brian continues to talk but I feel my mind wandering elsewhere as I examine the area in my head, already having seen that there was no proof Danny was even up here, I then begin to think of all possible suspects, the family are always suspects at first, as well as anyone he might've seen on a day to day basis.

I don't even realize we're leaving until I hear my name being yelled, "Els! Let's go!" I quickly look over to see Alec glance over at my frozen form before walking down the path and Ellie waving me over before following Alec. I quickly run over to catch up, hearing Alec telling Ellie to get the pathologist to hurry up even if it's preliminary. I walk a few feet behind them both, my head looking down at the steps until I hear a sharp yell that grabs my attention.

"D.S. Miller! D.S. Carlisle!"

"Who's that?" Alec questions Ellie as to why someone is shouting our names. I look up to see the one and only obnoxious reporter, Olly Stevens. I push in between them, pushing both of them forwards faster.

"Just keep walking." Ellie sighs as she picks up the pace.

"Ellie! Els!" Olly shouts as if we're best buds.

"He seems to know both of you." Alec states, albeit a little bitterly as he looks at me. I roll my eyes knowing exactly what he's thinking.

"Auntie Ellie! Auntie Els!"

"No no no, don't pull that bullshit Olly." I angrily snarl as I continue walking, now leaving the other two behind as I head to my car.

"I told you, don't do that!" I hear Ellie practically growl at him in annoyance. I ignore them as I go to open my door, looking back to see Alec scowl and release a disgusted sound when hearing Olly works for the Broadchurch Echo. I smile slightly at that scowl upon his face, it makes me remember back to when I would call him Hardy when we were younger and he would scowl in annoyance before returning the favor and calling me Carlisle. I realize what I'm doing and wipe the smile off my face, slipping into my old Alfa Romeo and waiting for Ellie to leave, hearing bits of their conversation and how they're not giving statements.

Olly, seeming to not have any luck with them, instead rushes over to my car.

"Auntie Els, I heard there was a body?"

"Don't pull that shit Oliver, we're not giving statements right now, and you are not allowed to speculate. Now shut it and wait till we give a proper statement." Feeling pissed I slam my door, harshly shifting gears before I speed off to follow Ellie to the Latimer house.

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We all exit our vehicles, Ellie looking a little confused and perturbed. Alec must've told her to tell him if the family we're acting odd. I understand why she's acting like that, but she needs to understand that right now everybody's a suspect. Ellie walks up to the doors first, Alec hangs back and pulls me aside.

"Els, I know this case is bringing up bad memories, if you want to hang back in the cars I understand." Alec states, his normally rough Scottish voice now quiet and concerned. I smile slightly, resting my hand against his shoulder as he looks at my eyes.

"I would love to take up that offer, but this is Ellie's first homicide, and I can't let her face that with you, I know you understand what you're doing, but Ellie won't listen to you, she needs me there to guide her." I pat his chest before walking up to the door, Mark answering it. A flash of uncertainty streaming across his eyes as he greets Alec, Ellie, and myself.

We enter their home, meeting the whole family in the living room. Beth standing up, anxious and restless as she already knows why we're here. Her daughter Chloe, gazing up at me as if begging me to tell them it's not Danny. I look away, the ground becoming my sole focus as they take their seats.

"Hi I'm Detective Inspector Alec Hardy, and I believe you know D.S. Miller and D.S. Carlisle" Alec introduces, inviting them to sit down as he grabs me and himself a chair. We all sit down, the whole family distraught, Ellie barely keeping it together, and Alec being the one forced to keep it together. I'm simply there, I'm there for Ellie and the family, and now I'm also here to make sure that Alec is alright as well.

"The body of a young boy was found..." Alec starts before Beth interrupts, being hushed by Mark before he tells Alec to continue.

"We believe it's Danny's body." Alec states.

Beth looks over at us as she breaks down, "Please Ellie, Elspeth... Was it him?" Beth's question destroys Ellie, she looks over at me before nodding in confirmation to Beth. Beth breaking down even more now, Ellie being unable to hold in some of her tears.

The whole family shudders, the dread of the situation amplifies as everyone cries and Mark attempts to keep it together and hold the family.

I have a feeling of complete emptiness, this is the second murder of a child I have to investigate where I know the family personally, and this is going to be the one to destroy what was left of my shattered soul. My hands shake slightly, and Alec discreetly reaches over to hold them, running his thumb over the top of my hand to calm me down whilst still keeping an eye on the family's reaction. I knew this case was hitting close to home for him as well, so I attempted to soothe him as well, squeezing his hands in thanks and comfort.

Ch.2 Ch.4

Unraveled Ch.5: Tough Times

Ch.4 Ch.6

"Jenkinson?" Alec questions back, looking forward and shoving his hands in his pockets as he continues forward, as if our conversation never occurred.

"The Chief Super. I saw you walking with her." Ellie quickly states back, looking over at him.

"No." Alec quickly denies, his blunt and stubborn attitude making it hard for me to stifle the smirk begging to appear.

"I did, you were having 99s." Ellie pursues, looking over to me for help. I simply smile and continue walking.

"Miller, your son went to school with Danny. Does he know yet." Alec voices as he continues to avoid her questions by changing the subject, instead getting straight to talking about the case.

"...No." Ellie reluctantly replies back, looking at the ground in thought as Alec glances over to her.

At this point I begin to space out, something I've been doing way too much of, but I have too much to think about. How will Tom take the news of his friend's death? Does Tom know anything? I also should probably go and check on Beth and her family after this.

I continue walking until I hear Ellie asking Alec to stop calling her Miller, causing my head to turn up to watch the conversation play through, already knowing he's not going to call her Ellie.

"Why?" He questions, genuinely wondering why.

"I don't really like the surname thing. I prefer Ellie." She quickly replies, looking over as she talks. I look over to Alec as he thinks about it.

"Ellie..Ellie... No." he states after speaking her name, striding away after deciding 'No'. This time I'm unable to hold in my slight giggle at her facial expression, sliding an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a side hug.

"Oh Ellie, you'll get used to him." I voice as I continue to grin widely. I quickly release her before I run to catch up with Alec. Looking back to see her look of shock dwindle into one of annoyance. Elbowing him slightly, he looks at me before breaking a smile at seeing my obnoxiously happy grin. Myself laughing even more as I hear Ellie shout at how he calls me by my first name.

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We have just arrived at Jack's, we're here to question him because he interacted with Danny regularly. In my time at Broadchurch, he's probably the third closest person to me, Ellie and Beth being tied for number one, with Reverend Paul being second.

As soon as we walk in Jack slightly smiles at me in welcoming.

"Hello Elspeth. What can I do for you?" I smile back as Ellie replies.

"Jack, we need to ask you a few questions. Danny didn't turn up for his round this morning?" A look of sadness engulfs Jack's face at Ellie's question, Alec over to the side looking through some papers as he listens.

"I assumed he was sick." Jack replies.

"Did he often miss his round?" I question, Jack's vision shifting to me.

"They all do, one time or another." He responds, Alec looking up finally to make eye contact with Ellie and me. I could see immediately that Jack was going to be in for it if Alec thought he heard something incriminating. I know about Jack's past, I did some digging up on everyone I met here, after finding the news I made him explain what really happened. I believe that there is only one other person who knows about his past wife and son, and I can only pray that it doesn't get dragged into this investigation.

"How was Danny yesterday?" Ellie replies as Alec looks away. Jack's expression looked as though his eyes were watering in grief.

"No different than usual." He replies, slight exasperation in his voice.

"Did you notice anything on his mind in the last couple of weeks?" Ellie continues questioning.

"He was only in here 15 minutes first thing. I-I'm not a psychiatrist." Jack answers, I notice Alec lifts his head up and looks at Jack. I know Alec is a great detective, but his blunt questions always have startled me, even when we were just children.

"You married?" Alec suddenly asks, I glance over at him then back to Jack, knowing Jack's response.

"No. Are you?" Jack fires back, his eyebrows scrunched down at the question. They stare at each other for a second, Jack turning to me as Ellie glanced over at Alec, I just slightly cringe seeing as I only recently learned of my best friend's divorce.

"They brought him in here, Mark and Beth. Three days old, he was. It's not right." Jack states as he looks between me and Ellie before glancing at Alec at the end.

Ending our questions, Alec and Ellie walk out of the shop, not noticing how I didn't follow. I waited a few seconds before going over to Jack and grasping his hand, a few held back tears escaping his eyes.

"Jack, I know this is an awful thing, especially with what happened to you. You're like a father figure to me, as well a guide for the young children in the Sea Brigade, but you need to tell them what happened in your past." I explain in sympathy as he grips my hand.

"I know Els, but my past is mine, and mine alone." Jack states as he releases my hand and wipes away his tears. I sigh, knowing that would be his response.

"I promised to never tell anyone about it, and that promise still stands; just know that with this case, reporters are going to try to get a story out of anything, guard yourself." I state as I nod my head bye and run to catch up to Alec.

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"What'd ya have?" Alec asks solemnly. I look away from the man to the screen as he gives us the rundown of his injuries.

"Superficial cuts and bruises to the face. Traces of domestic cleaning fluid on the skin. Cause of death was asphyxiation. He was strangled. Bruising to the neck and the windpipe, and at the top of the spine. Patterns of bruises suggest large hands, I'd suggest a male. It, um, it would've been brutal. The angle suggests he would've been facing his attacker. He would've known." The man finishes. Throughout his explanation I stayed leaning against the wall by the door, looking down. Child murders have always been the worst experiences for me, and it seems this one plans to leave a lasting effect.

"Any sexual violence?" Alec questions after the explanation, throwing a glance over to me, but I don't return his look as I continue to stare at the floor. Silently holding my breath, praying the answer is no, ever since that terrible event happened to me I have become excessively sensitive when this question comes up.

"Mercifully, no." I let out a quiet sigh of relief, finally looking up. Glancing at Ellie to see she's nearly crying. I slowly step over and grasp her hand.

"Time of death?" Alec continues.

"I'd put between 10:00pm Thursday night, and 4:00 am Friday morning." Alec sucks in air noisily as he closes the folder before saying thank you to the man and shaking his hand, I release Ellie's hand and shake the man's. We turn to leave, Alec grabbing my upper arm and leading me with him before we hear the coroner start talking again.

"We don't get these around here. Make sure you find them." The man voices. Alec looked from me to Ellie. Before continuing on his way, myself being pulled with him.

Alec drags me out of the station as we're already on our way to inform the family. Ellie looks questioningly at his actions, especially at how he is holding my arm and is about to say something when Alec interrupts.

"Go grab the car Miller." he harshly vocalizes, not even sparing her a glance. Ellie looks like she wants to say something, but leaves to grab the car with a huff of annoyance, leaving us alone.

"Are you alright?" Alec quietly questions as he releases his harsh grip on my arm. I rub it slightly staring down at the ground.

"I'm fine, why?" I respond, though my voice quivers slightly, the memories of Pippa's decomposing body flashing through my mind, causing me to scrunch my eyes close in an attempt to rid my mind of the image.

"Els...Els... Elswyth! Look at me dammit!" Alec nearly shouts after a few seconds of me not reacting. I look up at him shouting, the tears blurring my vision, his frustrated gaze immediately softening at my state. He reaches over, but I flinch and back up slightly. He hesitates before he reaches over again, but confidently continues as I don't move away. He tenderly grasps my left shoulder and drags me into a soft hug, my face pressed into his neck as I hug him back, his head resting against the top of mine. One of his hands rubbing soft circles against my back, his other softly resting against my neck as he calmly hushes me, some tears managing to escape my tired eyes.

After a few seconds of his comfort I am significantly calmer and try to pull myself together, Alec softly kisses the side of my head before we pull back from the hug, myself blushing slightly, Alec having a light tint of pink on his cheeks. I look at him before smiling despite my burning eyes.

"Thank you, this case has been harder to deal with than I expected." I say as I sheepishly lower my gaze.

"It's alright Els, I knew this would bring back bad memories... for the both of us." Alec softly replies. He's about to say more when Ellie pulls up in front of the station.

"Are you riding with us?" Alec questions, looking back at me.

"No, I'll grab my car and meet you at the Latimer's." I reply after thinking for a second. I was going to hug him before remembering Ellie was there, deciding a smile was better before heading off to my car.

————————

"We have some preliminary findings.... We are treating Danny's death as suspicious." Alec states to the family. Ellie is trying to hold it together as I watch their responses. Beth looks like she's falling apart, Mark looks like he's bottling it all up, and Liz looks heartbroken.

"We think he may have been killed." Alec finishes.

"I should've checked on him before I went to bed. If I'd checked..."Beth voices, immediately blaming herself. I want to tell her this isn't her fault, but I know it's best to let them run their mouths. I look over at Chloe to see her leaving as Ellie talks.

"Beth, this is not your fault. Whatever happened, this is not down to you." Ellie immediately emphasizes. I can see Alec glancing over at her as a silent 'shut up'.

"I promise, we will find the person responsible....You have my word." Alec promises after a pause. I look at him, knowing that he's probably going to overwork himself to find this killer, and I'm going to have to work even harder to make sure he doesn't kill himself in the process. I know how this case is bringing up memories of our failure, and Alec is making a personal promise to this family.

————————

After informing the family we all head out, Alec and Ellie in one car and myself in my own. We pull over at a shell station, I pay and start filling my car before heading in to buy some food, bumping into Ellie.

"Els, do you and Hardy know each other or something?" Ellie questions, I glance outside to see Alec anxiously waiting. I'm about to respond when Ellie gets a call, I quickly grab two granola bars, and pay for them, heading out while Ellie is on the phone. I walk out to see Alec hold up his watch as a 'hurry up' to Ellie. I sit next to him and hold out one of the bars, he looks down at it skeptically, then back to me as if to say 'I'm not eating that'.

"Don't give me that shit Alec, I'm not stupid enough to miss how much weight you've lost since the last time we saw each other. Not to mention you look like a dead man walking." I state sternly as I stare straight ahead, still holding out the bar for him. He grumpily mumbles something as he lazily yanks it out of my hand.

"So, do you think Miller's noticed that we know each other?" He questions, the sound of the crinkly wrapper being pulled down off the bar filling the already noisy atmosphere.

"Funny thing, she was just asking me if we knew each other when she got a phone call." I state. The air between us quiets down as he takes a bite of the bar, giving me an incredulous look after swallowing it. I look over at him, eyebrows raised in amusement at his look of disgust.

"Why would you buy this, it's appalling." He questions rhetorically, his accent thickening in his last word. I hum humorously at his expression, earning a small smile from him. He tentatively wraps his arm behind my back, pulling me into his side slightly. I lean against him as I gently sigh in exhaustion.

"Y'know, I've really missed you Els." He voices as he looks down at me, his smile turning into a pleased grin when I look up at him and return the smile. I'm about to respond when a disgruntled Ellie exits the shop, both of us instantly separating from each other.

I slide off the hood and head back to my own car as Alec and Ellie get into hers, the expression of worry was very obvious on Ellie's face, which is only prompting me to worry about what that phone call was about.

Ellie and Alec head off, and just as I start my car I get a notification on twitter, one that immediately infuriates me. My only thoughts are on how I'll postpone going to the station and make a detour to slap Oliver upside the head.

Ch.4 Ch.6

Unraveled Ch.6: I Fucking Hate Reporters

Ch.5 Ch.7

The anger continues boiling inside me as I cut off from the road to the station, instead driving towards the Broadchurch Echo; the audacity of Oliver to publicly give Danny's name is appalling and a new low for him. This is going to be gaining too much attention, we're probably going to have some uppity reporter from national down here to stir up some trouble now.

I park my car right in front of the Echo, revving my engine in irritation before turning it off, stepping out, and slamming my door noisily before turning to look inside the building. Everyone near the door looks at my angry movements hesitantly, knowing I'm not just there to pop in and say hello; I ignore them, slamming the door open and furiously stride over to Oliver's desk. As I near him he looks up at me, almost as if he might smile until he realizes that I'm incredibly agitated right now. He opens his mouth, about to ask what is wrong, but I quickly silence him by harshly smacking him, everyone immediately quieting down at the audible smack that interrupted them.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!" He shouts at me, holding his cheek as he looks at me as if I'm crazy. My messy hair falls slightly into my eyes as I harshly grab his arm tightly, forcefully ripping it off his face and dragging him to Maggie's office, Oliver tripping slightly as I make no move to slow down. Maggie looks over at me in welcoming before seeing my facial expression,

"Elspeth! What can I do for you petal?" She questions as she looks at me, I harshly push Oliver forward, himself stumbling to the floor, both of them giving me an extremely surprised look due to how I'm usually quite a kind and mellow person.

"Sorry for barging in like this Maggie, but it seems you need a little help controlling your reporters." I grate out through clenched teeth, my face blank but my voice and eyes conveying the rage I am withholding. Oliver quickly brushes himself off as he fixes his now ruffled shirt, looking at me incredulously.

"What's he done this time?" Maggie sighs as she gets up from her desk.

"Go on Oliver, tell her what you did." I sternly growl as I sharply push him forwards. He looks down as though only now feeling guilty because he was caught, eyeing me before quickly turning away from the ferocious glare I was giving him.

"I announced that the body on the beach was Daniel Latimer's." He hesitantly spoke, sheepishly looking up at Maggie to see she was now just as angry as I am. We both make eye contact, I give her a look and she nods as a 'go ahead', I quickly give him another harsh smack, but this time on the back of the head, sending him reeling forward from the impact.

I slowly take a step back as I attempt to gather myself, the last time I got this angry I ended up attacking a man I knew was guilty but got let off. Needless to say, I don't want to almost kill someone again, I like my life in Broadchurch too much to give it up for some lousy reporter.

Taking in a deep breath, I ignore the yelling Oliver is receiving, clenching my fists and closing my eyes as I think back to when I was happy, mainly memories of when I was with Daisy and Alec. The anger in me gradually dissipates, though not completely, but enough that I can restrain myself. Finally opening my eyes, I glance over at Oliver, my first slap having left a bright red imprint that is sure to bruise later on, and he is currently still holding the back of his head. Maggie seems to still be yelling, but my mind is ignoring it. Finally stepping in I calmly explain,

"Maggie. You know what he's done, I'm not going to allow the Latimer's to blame Alec over something one of your reporters did." As I look over at my friend I watch as she runs a hand over her face in frustration, sighing as she nods for me to go on.

"You're both coming with me to explain what happened to Alec, then you're going to explain to the Latimer's, the last thing this case needs is the family not wanting to cooperate with the police." I sternly state in a tone of finality, glowering at Oliver one last time before motioning for them to follow me out. I don't wait for them to respond, I simply walk out of the office, knowing that both will follow.

Leading them down the road we approach the Traders hotel, I nod over to Becca in acknowledgement before herding the two into the bar. I leave them and head back over to Becca.

"Hi Becca, how's the hotel?" I ask out of politeness, leaning against the desk as I rub my tired eyes in hidden frustration. She smiles at me before responding,

"It's been fine, business has been a little bit slow, but that is to be expected. Can I help you in the bar?" She responds back with an uneasy smile, Becca and I have had our fair share of altercations, most were nonviolent, but I know she's being polite now cause she needs the money.

I motioned for her to walk to the bar, "Please, and while we're waiting in the bar, will you please tell D.I. Hardy that he has visitors when he arrives." I say as more of a statement than a request, Becca simply nods as she finally walks behind the bar and starts getting us our drinks.

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Oliver and Maggie were having a quiet conversation as we waited, mostly Maggie explaining to Oliver what he was going to say, how his actions will cause problems for the police, and that he should know that his actions were incredibly rude and inappropriate. She had attempted conversation with me as well since we are friends, but right now I am still irate at the situation. To be as nice as possible I only give short replies to avoid any possibility of snapping, and I completely ignore anything Oliver says, instead focusing on the Italian soda I am drinking, the peppermint syrup taste watered down slightly.

After a few more minutes of waiting I can hear footsteps entering the hotel as well as Becca trying to make conversation and find out if the beach will be open. People wondering that already just angers me even more, my tightening grasp on the glass is starting to turn my knuckles white. I look over my back to see my favorite disgruntled D.I. entering the room, looking warily at the two reporters sitting beside me before giving me a subtle friendly glance.

I run my eyes over his appearance swiftly, his hair is messier than usual, his loose tie is disastrous, and his shirt wrinkled. Judging by his stressed look, he most definitely is feeling pressured by the information being leaked, and probably gave the team a good shouting at.

He looks between us, having a harsh glare on Oliver before Maggie speaks,

"Well, go on." She urges, seeing Oliver's hesitance when facing the rigid D.I.

"I was, uh, I was wrong to post that news. I'm sorry." Oliver explains, I release my grip on the glass in fear of breaking it, turning away from them both and walking next to Alec, eyeing Oliver as I stop.

"I should hang him by the bollocks from the town hall spire. All reporting on this will come through me now. The Echo works with the police. I'll, uh, I'll speak to the Latimer family, give them our apologies." Maggie states, exasperated that one of her reporters would do such a thing. Our gazes drift away from Maggie and back to Oliver, who I know for a fact is not going to stop reporting on this whether Maggie likes it or not.

"Stay out of my way." Alec voices, his words not harshly spoken, but seeming to carry a silent threat. Oliver's slightly scared look is enough for me to allow myself to be pulled away by Alec as he walks away from them. He let's go of my arm and I turn to leave as well when he reaches out and stops me.

"You and I need to have a talk before the press conference." He states in his business tone since we are in hearing range of Becca, lord knows neither of us want this town to know about the past. After observing Alec's stern gaze I simply nod, knowing that we're talking whether I agree or not, allowing him to lead me to his room.

As we enter I hear the door close, taking a deep breath I turn and face Alec. Not expecting what happens next, I am pleasantly surprised to be pulled into a lingering embrace, returning it happily. We both pull away, and it is only now that I glimpse a boyish grin I haven't seen in quite awhile.

"What's got you all happy and smiley?" I tease with a questioning smirk, squinting my eyes playfully at his expression. He maintains the grin as he pushes me away bashfully.

"Oh nothing extraordinary, I've just finally come to the realization that my best friend is back." He states in his thick Scottish brogue, glancing over at me before back to the ground in embarrassment of how he's acting. I can't withhold my joyous smug grin at knowing he missed me as much as I missed him.

"You have no idea how much I've missed that accent." I state just above a whisper as I pull him back towards me, my arms resting on his while his rest lazily on my waist, both of us smiling at each other in glee in spite of recent events. Pushing away from him gently, I pull him over so we are both sitting on the bed, myself glancing at the time before quickly around his room while missing the fact that he is simply looking at me.

Finally stopping my wandering gaze I focus onto Alec, giving him a sheepish smile, my eyes drifting to the ground as I wring my hands slightly.

"Sorry... about Oliver. He's quite a brat, first he claims he's my boyfriend, and now he's giving away a dead child's information to the world." I explain in disgust, emphasizing on how he's a brat. Alec reaches over, grasping both my hands delicately to stop me from wringing them, his eyes visibly soften at how I'm apologizing for Oliver.

"No need to apologize Els, I knew from the first time I saw him that he was going to be a thorn in my side, so don't you dare go apologizing for him." He answers in a serious tone as he subconsciously runs his thumb lightly over the top of my hand. I grin back at him, I've always noticed that he was kind to me and only me, even with Tess he never seemed to be this gentle and vulnerable.

"I've really missed you." He quietly states, bringing me out of my thoughts, looking up into his amber brown eyes. A slight smile formed on my lips at their warmness.

"I'm really sorry about leaving, I understand if you hold a grudge against me for that. After all, I didn't even tell you where I was going, or that I even was going." I respond and retract my hands, fearful that even with him being so kind, he would still hold a grudge. I am pleasantly surprised when he lets out a gruff chuckle, not sinister or anything, more of an amused one. I looked up at him in confusion, I was sure he would hold a grudge against me.

"Oh Els, after all our years of friendship! I was sure you would know by now, that it is impossible for me to stay angry at you." He exclaims in amusement, holding out his hands for me to grasp them again, which I willingly do.

After talking with him, we ended up with us laying down and staring at the ceiling as we talked, almost forgetting about the conference in a few hours. We quickly catch up on what we've missed since we've been separated. I learned more about the divorce, like how the rumors about Tess cheating were true, how he didn't even fight to get her back, and how he and Daisy seem to have an even greater tension in their relationship now, apparently she barely even answers let alone returns his calls; and then, worst of all, how Tess lost evidence and Alec took the blame for it.

The guilt of me leaving returns, I openly apologize for leaving him alone, but he is so forgiving to me that it makes me feel even more guilty, though I withhold telling him that. In return to his explanation, I explain how I've been doing in Broadchurch, how I've become a fairly popular person, most people in the area at least know me, though my closest friends would be Ellie and Beth. The things I do keep from him are all my health issues I have now, depression, insomnia, and panic attacks would only make him worry, and I am most definitely not going to tell him about what happened in my first month of being in Broadchurch that caused the panic attacks. Continuing on, Alec questions how I can even put up with Ellie, which ends up with both of us having a laugh as we argue about Ellie.

"She's not that bad, she welcomed me without a question when I arrived." I state as I look over at Alec with a giggle, thinking back to when I first arrived and felt like a fish out of water.

"I can't bloody stand her, she just smiles so much, and can't remain objective, and she acts like she's everybody's bloody solicitor." He replies with slight frustration at Ellie's friendly attitude. I simply give him a grin as I turn over onto my side and poke his chest in an amused way.

"Maybe if you weren't such an ass, you would get along with her better." I playfully accuse, emphasizing him acting like an ass to everyone. He glares at me before quickly grabbing my hand, though surprisingly gentle. His playful glare slips away as a new look enters his eyes, one I haven't seen him give me since back in high school.

The look in his eyes is one of love, placing a soft kiss on my hand as he looks up at me. My eyes widened slightly, I've liked him since high school, but I never acted on it in fear of the repercussions and my feelings became dormant, and when he married Tess I thought his feelings for me were gone, but clearly not.

"Never knew you as the romantic type Alec." I state quietly, trying to play it off as if he were simply teasing me. We both sit up now, still looking at each other in silent tension, both unsure about what to do next, though neither of us is uncomfortable. I make no move away from him as he lightly cups my jaw in his hand, and slowly brings us closer together.

We are mere centimeters away from each other now, he hesitates slightly as he glances down at my lips momentarily before searching my eyes.

"Tell me to stop, and I will." He voices, slightly hoarse in anticipation and nervousness. I swallow slightly as I look into his warm and welcoming eyes, only nodding my head in fear my voice will fail me.

He quickly searches my eyes once more for any signs of rejection before swiftly moving forward, our lips meeting before I can truly believe what's going on.

Once, then twice, the first seeming as a hesitant one, almost as if testing the water to make sure it's safe to go further. The second was far different, almost as if all his pent up emotion was trying to be conveyed in one moment, it was during the second that I realized I'd never have enough of him. Both of us feel a fervent, almost urgent need for each other, as if all our years of dormant feelings are trying to make up for it in this one moment.

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The conference was now only about 40 minutes away, and Alec still hadn't changed out of his disgruntled clothes and into his other suit, but then again, we both were a bit distracted.

After a couple more minutes of indulgence I finally had enough self-control to break apart, both of us panting slightly though still looking at each other hungrily.

I softly place my hand on his chest before giving him a short kiss and pushing him away.

"Come on, we had a couple hours to get ready for that conference, and now we are nearing only having a half hour left." I say as we continue to look at each other. Neither of us truly want to separate, but knowing that we have to. He slowly pushes himself up and stands, holding out his hand and helping me up as well.

"I have to pop off back home to get changed, but I'll meet you at the station." I explain as I walk towards a mirror and straighten my shirt and hair to make it look like I didn't just have a snog.

"Fair enough." Alec responds as he grabs another suit, though surprising me by walking up and softly kissing my cheek.

"I'll see you at the station." He states, his voice hoarse as he smiles at me before I leave.

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Driving back to the station, my normal blue business suit changed to a formal black one, a pair of black Dr. Martens boots shined to perfection, my hair also neatly combed.

I enter the code and drive into the parking area, quickly pulling the top up and locking the doors. Entering the station I greet the uniforms before heading off to our section of the building.

As I walk in I am greeted by Alec nearly bumping into me, a blush rising on my cheeks before our attention is pulled over to Ellie talking to us.

"Look at this. CCTV from the town center, last night." Both of us walked over to different sides of her chair and leaned over her desk to watch.

"Is that Danny?" Alec questions.

"It matches his clothes and his height. And that looks like his skateboard. He wasn't abducted." Ellie states as we watch the footage.

"He snuck out?" I mumble, wondering why, where or who he would possibly be going to see that late at night.

"Why? Where was he going? Who was he meeting?" Alec vocalizes everything I was just thinking.

"And where's his skateboard?" I fire back, earning a 'yeah' in response.

"Oh, and another thing. I was checking through the list of belongings recovered from Danny's body and at home, and there's no mobile phone. He definitely had one, because he and Tom, my son, had the same model. Virtually identical." Ellie continues, causing only more questions to pop into my head. Ignoring the rest of what they were saying as I think about what I've heard, where is his phone and skateboard? Someone is definitely keeping them, so who? They would've had to either be out really late/early, or be the killer, did the phone have proof of them meeting?

I'm dragged out of my thoughts, realizing Alec had just walked off and Ellie looked surprised.

"Spacing off again, CARLISLE?" Ellie sarcastically questions, over-emphasizing my last name.

"No idea what you're talking about, MILLER." I sassily reply before walking off, both of us giggling to ourselves because of our childish antics.

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Alec is a few minutes away from going up in front of the cameras. I quickly pull him aside, fretting over his messy hair and loose tie, only earning an amused look from him.

"I'll be fine, I always look this way." He says as I do up the top button, brushing his hair out of his face.

"That's what worries me." I respond before finishing his look by tightening his tie and smoothing his shirt. Giving him a small smile before kissing him on the cheek and sending him to wait to be called up. The only thought running through my head is,

"What am I going to do with that man?"

Ch.5 Ch.7

Unraveled Ch.7: Frustration

Ch.6 Ch.8

After the conference I had a feeling Alec was withholding something from me, something that brought back bad memories for both of us. I let it slide for now though, simply happy to have him back as company, though this time a little bit more than friendship.

Afterwards we both went back to his room, laying down and talking a little more, I invited him to stay at mine instead of living in a hotel, even offered him my spare house near the pier if he didn't want to stay with me in my other isolated house on the hills, but him being him, he refused, and I know better than to try and change his stubborn mind. I left his room afterwards and drove to my small home near the water, falling into another night of nightmares, waking up several times as the haunting experiences continued to replay in my mind.

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Waking up early after barely having slept, I throw on my normal work clothes, tucked in shirt with trousers and a jacket, only eating a piece of toast with black coffee; a habit I've gotten into, slowly having it become what I'm living off of, with the random dinner invitation from Ellie every month or so.

Walking outside I am immediately greeted by the eager waves splashing about, and the sun already having risen slightly. Pulling the cover off my car and sliding into the leather seat, pushing the stick shift into gear and speedily heading off towards work.

Clearly, I still don't get up early enough to beat Alec, running into him up as I reach the steps to the station. Both of us glance up from the ground, and smile when we see each other. Alec is about to say something to me when a little demon from the past decides to make an abrupt appearance.

Karen White. The reporter who ruined our lives. Well not exactly, more like turned us over.

I hide behind the side profile of Alec, hoping his hunched over self would be able to hide me from this reporter, and Alec seems more than willing to oblige in hiding me.

"D.I. Hardy. Karen White, Daily Herald." She states as though he's never met her before.

"I know. You came to the briefing last night." Alec responds, trying to keep her attention away from me and on him. My anger was growing though, who does she think she is, coming here, acting like we've never met her before, acting as though she never did what she did to us.

"I just wondered if I could buy you a cup of tea." Karen asks, completely taking me off guard on how casual she can be after what she did to us. Clearly Alec feels the same as he suddenly stops right before the door, I didn't expect it, so I kept walking, allowing Karen to finally see me. Her eyes instantly widening at the sight of myself, clearly only thinking Alec was on this case.

"D.I. Carlisle? Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" Karen immediately asked, causing me to glare at her, about to respond and say 'piss off', but Alec beat me to it.

"You're astonishing." Clearly pissed at her question, walking over and holding the door open for me, then quickly following me inside.

"Well, if you need me I'm staying at the Traders." Karen manages to get in just before the door shuts.

"This is bloody great! Now she knows we're both here, and bonus, she's staying in the same hotel as you!" I exclaim in sarcasm, tossing my short messy hair out of my eyes as Alec rolls his. We continue in silence and walk into a VERY busy reception.

"Oh, sir, for you. You need to get yourself organized up there. It's Saturday, the phone lines can't cope." The uniformed officer states, handing Alec some papers whilst I wait at the elevators.

As we enter our area, the busy reception seems like nothing, people are moving benches, some moving tables, everyone noisily at work as we both walk over to his office.

"Morning. We got you a coffee." Ellie says in an attempt to be nice to her grumpy boss.

"Oh no, he doesn't drink coffee" "I don't drink coffee." Alec and I state at the same time as he walks into his office. I let out a humorous laugh as Ellie replies,

"Course you don't." Making me give a small smile and walk over to her.

"I'll take the coffee since grumpy doesn't want it." I reply as I reach over and take it from her, getting a slightly shocked look from her due to how I openly called him grumpy in the office without even lowering my voice. I go over to my desk and sit down, straightaway not liking how busy the office feels, and getting slightly uncomfortable at the strangers who are putting in the phone lines. After trying to work for several moments I give up, walking over to Alec and Ellie at the whiteboard while trying not to run into anyone.

"SOCO are at work on the beach, it's going to be a long one. Oh, we're still going through the Latimer house." Ellie states as she leans against the whiteboard, smiling over at me in acknowledgment before looking over at the distracted D.I. Who was looking at Danny's photo in thought.

"Sir, are you listening?" Ellie questions.

"Danny's skateboard. Danny's mobile - Priority. Also, main suspects. Both of you know this town, I've heard you're pretty popular Carlisle, who's the most likely?" Alec questions, causing me to back up at having to think about any of these people as murderers, but I quickly shake the feeling off as Alec continues.

"If the boy was killed before he was left on the beach, where's the murder scene? What're you doing now?" He suddenly asks, catching Ellie off guard, myself being used to his multiple questions and then a sudden blunt one.

"We've managed to find a Family Liaison Officer, I'm gonna take him over to the Latimer's. Oh. And Jack Marshall, owns a paper shop, rang in. He said he'd remembered something." Ellie says, walking over to her desk, then back with a paper in hand, Alec grabbing it and heading off, grabbing my arm and pulling me along with him. Ellie giving a confused look whilst saying,

"You're welcome." Although Alec, ever the rude one, never said thank you. Almost dragged out of the office by Alec, I quickly shout a 'thank you' to Ellie and wave before out of hearing range. Alec dragged me down to the parking lot, myself grabbing the keys, unlocking my door then leaning over and unlocking his. Watching his tall frame squeezing into my two seater literally made my day.

"Jesus Els, I don't know how I forgot how small your car was." Alec sighs in annoyance as he lowers and backs up the seat to make leg and head room. I simply let out a laugh, reaching over and ruffling his hair slightly, earning a playful glare from him as he returned the gesture and ruffled mine, making it even more messy.

"Oi, don't mess with the driver or you'll be walking." I threaten jokingly as I point at him, Alec holding up his hand in fake surrender. I put the car in reverse, then switched into first gear and exited the lot.

"So where are we off to then?" I question as I can hardly remember the conversation.

"Have you been spacing out?" Alec asks right back, seemingly genuinely concerned at how much of the conversations I've been missing. The spacing out is an effect from the thing that happened when I got to Broadchurch, so I'll have to make something up.

"I don't know what you're talking about Hardy. Now answer the question, where are we heading?" I state sassily as I shift gears.

"You don't get to call me Hardy, it's Alec to you. And we're heading to Jack's shop, I'm sure you know where that is." Alec states pointedly at first, then drifting off as he looks out of the window.

"Spacing out Hardy?" I say mockingly as he takes his attention away from outside and gives me a playful glare, earning a smile from me.

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"Couldn't stop thinking about him all last night. I help run the Sea Brigade. Danny had been coming for about 18 months, on and off. Cheeky lad, but a good heart. It matters, a good heart." Jack finishes, I smile slightly, knowing Alec cares little for sentiment. His arms are crossed, and that scowl on his face looks permanent. The wind blowing his hair slightly as I hear him breathing in before speaking,

"You said you remembered something about seeing Danny." Alec voices, clearly wanting to get to the point as to why he's here. I give him a glance at his impatience as we listen to Jack.

"Must've been end of last month. Around a quarter to 8:00 on a Wednesday morning. On the road leading up to the cliff tops on the way to Lingo Hull, I saw him." Jack states as he leans against his shop, remembering the occurrence.

"What was he doing, Jack?" I inquire.

"Talking to the postman. Well... Not talking. More like arguing. He was quite a way away. But the body language was pretty clear. Then Danny stormed off. The postman was calling after him." Jack says, wandering into his store as he continues work.

"You're certain it was the postman?" Alec questioned as he leans against the cash register.

"Well, he has a bag. And one of those high-visibility jackets. Who else is going to be out that time in the morning." Jack responds, I watch him as Alec takes out his notepad.

"Can you describe him for me?" Alec questions, clearly wanting to get the information and interview the guy already.

"Well, he was a long way off. Medium height, short brown hair, I think. It was only after you were in yesterday that I remembered. I should've mentioned." Jack says as Alec looks up at him. I have a feeling Alec doesn't trust Jack at all, and I know that I'm not supposed to take sides, but I just know that Jack would never hurt Danny, especially after what happened to his son.

Alec heads off to the car after getting a call from Ellie, I stay back a bit to speak to Jack real quick.

"I urge you to tell them about your past, Jack. Alec is already suspicious of this sudden sighting, please, just tell him, I'll make sure to find the truth, but he will never trust you if you don't tell him and it gets out!" I state, exasperated at this whole situation.

"I've already told you Elspeth, my past is mine, and mine alone." Jack states stubbornly. I walk over and calmly place my hand on his arm as I stare,

"I know Jack, but..." I'm cut off as Jack turns and harshly grabs my arm, backing me up a few steps as his grip tightens.

"But nothing Elspeth, you promised to speak nothing of it and you will keep to that if you don't want everyone knowing what happened to you!" Jack coldly threatened. He was the one who found me after the altercation, that is one of the reasons why we had become so close.

I look at Jack with fear in my eyes at his betrayal, ripping my arm away from him and leaving. I pull down my sleeve and I slip into the car, knowing that my wrist is going to bruise from his tight grip.

"What took you so long." Alec sighs as I start up the car.

"Just wanted to check out the newspapers." I state, looking over my shoulder as I reverse, too lazy to think of a better excuse. Alec leaves it alone after hearing my tone, instead telling me to head over to the hotel where we would meet Ellie. I'm mulling over my thoughts, thinking about what happened back there at Jack's. All I had been trying to do was help him, but he took it as a threat and threatened me back. Christ knows everyone would treat me like a fragile piece of glass if they found out, and Alec, well Alec would either leave me, or kill the person who did it.

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"So why are we meeting Ellie at the hotel?" I questioned as I pulled in across the street.

"I don't know, why don't you want to tell me what really happened back there at Jack's?" Alec asked back, his question seeming to hold a sarcastic sass to it whilst remaining completely serious.

"Don't start Alec, I'm not in the mood." I nearly growl as I get out and slam my door shut after locking it.

"Lock your door." I yell before walking over, not caring to wait.

Inside the hotel we take Becca into an empty room before talking to her.

"Chloe Latimer says you supplied her with a wrap of cocaine." Ellie suddenly states, causing me to almost do a double take out of surprise. I already don't like Becca, but this made it worse. The thought of Becca supplying someone I thought of as my niece with cocaine made my blood boil.

"What? You're kidding?" Becca replies, myself maintaining a glare at her, which Becca promptly avoids.

"Why would she say that if it's not true?" Ellie replies, probably wanting to find out the truth as much as myself. Becca lets out a sigh as she thinks about how she's going to answer us.

"Tell us the truth, or I will get your license removed." I harshly threaten as I eye her coldly. Ellie looked over at me, not only surprised by my tone, but also by the fact that I said that, Alec also gave me a questioning glance before returning it to the now fearful hotel owner.

"There was this couple down from London for a long weekend, in a suite, spending money. They asked me if I could get them some coke." Becca replies after a sigh and stumbling upon her words slightly as my threat floated in the air.

"Chloe was working for me that weekend. I asked her if she knew where I might find some. She took so bloody long, the couple had gone. I just gave it back to her." Becca continued exasperated at how she might get in trouble. My glare on her only got colder as she continued, making her squirm, slightly uncomfortable. Alec, with his arms still crossed, slightly nudged my ribs, making me turn to him, his facial expression telling me 'lighten up, being a hard ass is my job'. I almost listened, but then remembered how Becca just asked my "niece" where to find cocaine.

"Where did Chloe get it from?" Ellie continued questioning, both Alec and I staying silent with our arms remaining crossed.

"Um, she said a friend. She didn't tell me his name. She said he didn't deal, but he knew where to get stuff." Becca replies, slightly calmer since I'm no longer glaring daggers at her.

"Did her brother have anything to do with it?" Alec suddenly questioned. Getting looks from both Ellie and Becca at his question.

"It's, it's nothing to do with that." Becca replies. A moment of silence ensues as we all mull over a possible connection, even Ellie thinking about it while Becca just looks more and more nervous about the situation.

"Do I get arrested?" Becca suddenly asks.

"We will have to process the offense." Ellie responds, myself looking around now bored of this conversation.

"Is there any way we could keep this quiet? As Elspeth clearly said, I could lose my license." Becca questions, nervously glancing over at my rigid form.

"Fix a time to come down to the station, make a formal statement." Alec explains. Becca gave an anxious and questioning look between all of us before nodding.

We leave the hotel, Alec and myself getting into my car. Still angry and shocked at my conversation with Jack I tightly clench my fists around the steering wheel before I place my hand on the stick, about to shift gears when Alec gently places his hand on top of mine. The frustration in my mind suddenly stills, I feel slightly calmer as I slowly look at our hands before looking up to him.

"Y'know, out of all the people I thought you'd snap on, the hotel owner was not who I expected." He says in an all too familiar tone, picking up my hand and lightly gliding his thumb over the top. I let out a sigh in displeasure knowing that my frustration was so obvious. Letting my head fall back against the headrest lazily, I stare up at my car's ceiling before responding.

"I'm just having a bad day." Blunt, vague, but that was how it would stay. I'm taking no risks on anyone finding out about Jack, because then they would find out about me, and that is not something I need during this case.

"You want to talk about it." Alec asks softly as he looks over at me. I really do, but I know I can't.

I pause in thought, letting a few seconds of silence float stiffly in the air before replying, "Nope."

Taking my hand out of his, throwing the car in reverse then into gear, heading back to the station in silence, mostly because Alec rarely ever sees this side of me.

Ch. 6 Ch.8

Unraveled Ch.8: Dull

Ch.7 Ch.9

"Cocaine though... Must be a one-off." Ellie spoke as Alec poured himself a cup of tea.

"They're not that type of family, Chloe's not that type of girl." Ellie continued to say - though she seemed to be attempting to reassure herself. Her hands on her hips as she observed Alec at the kitchen; myself standing to the side of Alec, peering through the blinds to the gray sky.

"Nobody ever is." Alec states in response, continuing to make his bitter tea.

My mind drifts away from the conversation, it's not that I'm uninterested, it's just that I can't seem to focus. What Jack said to me at his shop still replays in my mind, the confrontation still fresh. I just can't believe he would say that to me, after how close we've gotten, I've even started to think of him like a second father. I understand why he doesn't want to tell anyone, but he should know that I would never break my promise, and that him threatening to tell others of my experience frightens me more than anything.

In my peripheral I notice Ellie walking away, probably something to do with the dull phone ring I heard a few seconds ago. Shaking my thoughts away, I attempt to settle back into reality when I hear someone - I presume to be Alec - speedily walking out of the door and down the hallway. I turn just in time to see the door close, quickly following after him. I just manage to catch a glimpse of him as he slips into the restroom. I'm a little confused as to why he left in such a hurry, it's not like we haven't had the restroom available at all times.

I decide to just go back into the room and wait for him to return, sipping the bitter tea he made whilst daydreaming.

_______

Alec walks back into the office and I quickly put down the now empty mug, slowly walking after him until he enters his private office. Deciding to give him his space I head over to my own desk.

The workers in here still make me uncomfortable, their eyes are scanning everything, and I don't like how that one guy is looking at Frank's desk. Having strangers here in general makes me uncomfortable, though there ain't much we can do about that at the moment.

I glance up as I hear Ellie telling off a phone line guy, this guy specifically makes me feel nauseous. I don't know why, but just being in the same room as him makes me uncomfortable, uncomfortable to the point of having an internal argument on whether I should just continue working at my desk or walk into Alec's office with my laptop and continue work from his couch. However, I don't have time to decide as Alec quickly strides out of his office, calling for us to follow him.

"Carlisle, Miller. Postman, come on." He speaks as he shoves on his jacket, not even sparing us a glance. Ellie pushes me forward as I stumble back into reality, hastily tossing on my jacket as well before following after Alec.

_______

We're out here in a nice, quiet part of town. I remember looking for a house out here, but everyone living in this area has a family, and being around them just made me sad. The children of said families either reminded me of Pippa or Daisy, both of which left me feeling guilty, ashamed, and morose.

Deciding I need to pull myself together and get back into this investigation I listen carefully to Kevin. He's a nice lad. I've seen him a couple of times on my occasional early morning walks, but we've never said any more than 'hello's' or just the normal greetings.

"Yeah, that's my round, up past Briar Cliff." He responds, hands shoved in his pockets casually.

"And did you work the route last month?" Ellie questions, hands folded politely in front of her as she awaits his answer.

"I think I've done every delivery out there for the past eight or nine weeks, I'd say." Kevin states as he estimates how long he's been working his route, glancing slightly between Ellie, Alec, and myself.

Ellie also gives the both of us a small glance, about to say something before I decided to speak,

"Did you ever see Daniel Latimer during your rounds?" My voice is steady, holding no accusation, maintaining a neutral tone.

"Yeah, all the time. He used to deliver papers up there to a couple of houses, including the hut... When I heard, I thought, 'I've only seen him a couple of days previous'." I can tell he's answering honestly, I really don't think Kevin was involved, but I know we have to be thorough and be completely sure.

Stepping back I allow Ellie to continue her questioning,

"And did you ever talk to him? I'm thinking particularly the last week in June."

"I might've waved, and maybe said 'hello'. I didn't really know him to talk to." Kevin replied, his voice holding a hint of confusion as to why last week in June was important.

"That's it? Just 'hello'?" Ellie clarifies, her mind likely wondering as to why the information Jack gave us isn't adding up, myself wondering the same thing.

"What else would I say?" Kevin asks, curious as to what else he would say and why he is even being questioned about it.

An empty pause fills the atmosphere, the information we were given isn't adding up. I look over to Alec's stern and stoic figure, he hasn't said a thing the entire time, just listening and reading Kevin's body language. As the silence drags on, Kevin's curiosity turns into confusion, his mind now realizing that something must've been said about him that led the police to warrant questioning him.

"You didn't ever have a conversation with him?"Ellie breaks the pause

"No" Kevin responds.

"Or an argument?" Alec's voice is steady and calm, he must also know that Kevin is more than likely not a suspect. I cross my arms and glance away from him as I listen to Kevin's answer,

"What am I gonna be arguing with a paper lad about?" He responds, probably a little weirded out as to why they would ask if he ever argued with Danny.

"And where were you Thursday night?" Ellie continues, asking him for his alibi.

"Thursday, I'd have been with the boys. We got hammered. Six of us, there was. Finished at 4:00, My missus woke me up at 7:00, I was out cold." Kevin explained, nodding his head as he remembered his whereabouts.

"We're gonna need the names of all those you were with." Ellie replies, Alec glancing over at her before going to me, then back to Kevin.

"But I mean, you don't think I had anything to do with it?" Kevin concerningly asks, pointing at himself in disbelief.

"Oh, it's just to rule things out. Nothing to worry about."

"Alright, thank you Kevin." I quickly say as I attempt to draw Alec's attention away from Ellie, pushing them forwards.

I can almost feel Alec's struggle to hold back telling her to shut up. The questioning was going good, and Ellie is doing fairly well for her first murder, but her and Alec will most definitely continue to butt-heads on this case.

"Don't say that." Alec speaks in a quiet and frankly tired tone, being careful to not allow Kevin to hear their conversation.

"Don't say what?"Ellie asks, confused as to what she's done this time."

"No need to worry." Alec replies.

"Why not?" Ellie questions, finding no fault in her past words.

"Don't reassure people. Let them talk." Alec states. Hearing him talk like this reminds me of when he would be forced to mentor new recruits back at our old station.

"Can I just say, you can't just walk up here and try to mold me. I know what I'm doing, and I know how to handle people. And you can keep your broody bullshit shtick to yourself." Ellie frustratingly rants for a moment as they approach her car.

Releasing a tired sigh I lazily grab Ellie's arm and pull her away from the car and a little down the sidewalk.

"What are you doing?" Ellie questions, still frustrated from her prior conversation.

"Ellie, I get that you don't like our new boss, but that doesn't mean you ignore everything he says!" I grunt as I glance over to see Alec leaning against Ellie's car.

"Don't tell me you're taking his side!" She responds, now even more frustrated.

"Listen, whether you like him or not, what he is saying should not be ignored. You shouldn't have reassured Kevin, he would have continued talking had you not said that." I explain calmly.

Her expression goes from frustrated to conflicted, hopefully my words get through to her, the last thing we need is for her to make her first murder case harder than it already is.

She releases a quiet sigh before looking up at me, giving a small nod. I smile in reassurance before giving her a playful shove and walking off to my car.

_______

I decide to take a detour, sending a quick text to Ellie before turning my car away from the station, instead heading towards the grocery store.

The real reason I postponed going back to the station was because I needed a breath of air away from everything. With everything that's going on, feeling bad and haunted by my past makes me feel selfish, but that doesn't stop my memories from affecting me; I feel disgusted and shameful of myself, I should be worrying about Beth and finding Danny's murderer, not worrying about what happened to me.

I pull into my parking spot, the steady foot and car traffic isn't really helpful, but it's a welcome change from the foot traffic of the phone men in our office.

I just sit in there, my eyes glazed over as I stare through the windshield, trying to convince myself to get out and buy something I want to eat. The only thing that awakens me from my internal thoughts is the sound of a loud scrape.

I jump in my seat, praying it's not a crash that will require my attention. Instead of finding two drivers arguing, I see Beth, who, in a fit of rage, is slamming her hands against her car.

My recent thoughts forgotten, I speedily shove my door open, and run towards Beth. I grab her arms lightly but firmly, attempting to stop her from hitting the car and possibly hurting herself.

"Beth...Beth stop." I calmly speak as her rage simmers down, only her sadness remaining as she leans herself against me, slowly crouching to the ground, myself following.

I can hear someone else calling her name, but I'm too focused on her to care. I only realize it's Paul when he crouches down across from us, a concerned look displayed upon his face.

"Are you alright?" His question is obvious and stupid, but it is what you would expect anyone to ask. Though I saw his question coming, Beth's answer was far from expected.

It takes her a few moments before she responds, her entire face seeming dazed at everything that is truly happening to her.

"I'm pregnant." She states, leaning against the car as though both physically and mentally exhausted. Her response shocks me, I can only imagine how this affected her when she first found out.

Shaking myself out of my thought-filled daze, I assist Paul in helping Beth up, Paul lifting her by her left hand whilst I provide stability on the other side.

We sit in her trunk for about a minute before Paul breaks our silence.

"Have you told anyone?" His question was, once again, obviously going to be asked. But that's not to say that it hadn't preoccupied my mind for the past 60 seconds.

"I only found out about two weeks ago." Came Beth's reply. Usually when someone talks about their pregnancy they are filled with happiness, but with Beth I can hear how exhausted she is.

"You don't want to tell Mark?" Paul asks as he glances over at her.

"It's complicated" Was Beth's short reply.

"Of course." Paul accepted, though you could see the worry and confusion at her current situation.

Placing my hand gently on her shoulder, I give her a small smile as she glances at me.

"Do you have anyone you can talk to? Your mum, maybe?" I question calmly.

"No. Not now, and don't you go telling her either." Beth states, her voice serious and her tone final.

Another silence ensues for a couple of moments, and I know for a fact that Paul is going to ask her another question. As much as I love Paul, he tends to ask a lot of questions whenever he's in a situation like this.

"What are you gonna do?" He questions, I hide my grim smirk, knowing now is not the time to find humor in knowing your friends so well.

"Can you stop asking me bloody questions?" Beth retaliates, beginning to become frustrated.

"Beth, you know he isn't trying to upset you." I state, trying to calm her growing tension and Paul's growing uncomfortableness.

"No, no, it's alright, I do ask a lot of questions, apparently." Paul explains.

"I'll leave you alone." Paul continues, standing up, nodding his head to both Beth and myself before heading on his way.

I can practically hear Beth thinking, though I don't know what to say. So much has happened in such a short amount of time, and finding out your pregnant after your son's murdered must be a very shocking and unnerving thing to deal with.

"Beth.. I know you don't want to talk about this, and that's okay, but are you going to be alright on your way home?" I question softly, trying not to enrage the already on-edge Beth. She simply gazes forward at the bustling people before glancing towards myself, offering a short smile before replying.

"I'll be fine Els, you go on." Her voice is strained, almost as though her body has had no rest in quite awhile. Unsure of her answer I simply nod and get up to leave, but not before saying,

"If you ever want to talk, whether it's just in general or about this, I'm always here." I state comfortingly before nodding to her and heading off to my car, the thought of buying myself a snack long having left my mind.

Ch.7 Ch.9