Chapter Text
Ben sighed, rolling his shoulders as the wedding ceremony started. Weddings were always stressful, but working on an active murder case during the days leading up to it didn’t help. Ben hadn’t even been that involved with the preparations, he was only the usher… and Cully’s confidant. With what horrors he had heard about the catering and the drama surrounding the honeymoon, he was glad that he wasn’t in the middle of it. That could wait till his own wedding, if that was ever going to happen. Ben looked over to Sally. At least he didn’t seem to have a problem finding dates; however, keeping them around was another thing altogether. He mentally shook himself to clear his mind. This was the time to celebrate Simon and Cully’s happy future, not to mull about his own slow-going love life. He better pay attention, Cully wouldn’t react kindly if he missed anything because he was thinking too much.
After the ceremony, Gavin made it his mission to catch Jones. He hadn’t seen the man in years, probably the longest time since they had first met. Yet, Jones had still managed to say ‘nice to meet you’ like every other time they saw each other again in a ‘new capacity’. It annoyed Gavin to no end, because the longer it went on, the more confusing Jones’ habit became. Really, when he did it for the first time, Gavin had just assumed the other had forgotten that Gavin had tutored him. Though Gavin didn’t like the thought that he was so forgettable to Jones, it made some sense. After all, Jones was attending another school and they were both playing for their schools’ cricket teams. Very different setting than a classroom, so one could be excused for not making the connection. However, Jones had insisted that he did, but that they had never met as members of opposing teams. Sounds like a cover for an embarrassed kid (really, Jones had been the youngest by two years, covering embarrassment could be excused), but then why hadn’t Jones stopped after more than a decade? The fact that Gavin couldn’t be sure if Jones was just petty or if he was serious continued to get under his skin. It got under his skin so much he had forgotten to look for the man and had instead been glaring at a wall. He resumed his search before people would start to think he was unhappy about the wedding or something. Gavin easily spotted the Barnabys (and Dixons), Cully’s white dress was a dead giveaway, but the usher seemed more elusive.
“Looking for someone?”
Of course, he was right behind him, how could Gavin expect any different? With only a small heart attack and a quick turn, Gavin ended up facing Jones.
“Yes, you.” Gavin grinned, Jones might get under his skin, but this, along with his general oddness, ensured that he remained on Gavin’s radar. This meant that Gavin knew Jones was a massive gossip and had been able to utilise this back when he still worked in Midsomer. Right now, it meant that Gavin knew exactly who to ask about the latest Barnaby related shenanigans. There was also another thing he needed to confirm.
“So, Cully told me that someone called Jones became Sergeant after I left. Seeing that you’re the usher, am I correct in assuming that you are Detective Sergeant Jones?” Jones nodded.
“Sure are, there was a guy called Scott between us two though.” Gavin knew this, of course; Cully had told him about the reluctant city boy.
“Still, congratulations.” This got a grin from Jones, why should it not?
“Thanks, Troy.” Jones eyes narrowed. “But that’s not the only reason why you went looking for me, was it? Not just popping by to say hi to your replacement’s replacement.”
“Of course not, don’t be daft. You need to tell me about how Barnaby has been doing. Cully keeps me informed, but I know there is a lot that goes on at the job that the female Barnabys don’t know about. The old man needs someone to keep an eye on him.” This got a snort from Jones. Clearly, the man had had this job long enough to know exactly what Gavin meant. Not that that was a very long time, though; Barnaby was not one to hide his more peculiar methods of investigation.
“What do you want to know? Quite a lot has happened since you got promoted away.” Why did Jones have to phrase it like that? “I could talk for days about just things that happened while Scott was in town, never mind the stories from my own time as his lackey.”
“You could start with telling me why he was getting driven home in a cop car, rushing to be on time… well, not as late, for his daughter’s wedding.”
“How did you know about that?” Jones looked a little confused, Gavin guessed he had been too busy being usher to notice Gavin arriving in said cop car.
“They drove me off the road and I ended up getting a lift from them.” Jones’ look of suspicion felt undeserved. Gavin knew that he wasn’t the best driver, but surely Jones would not immediately assume he was at fault?
“So, you want to know about the murder case we solved less than-” Jones looked at his watch “- two hours ago?”
“I didn’t ask what the cop car was about at the time, but almost being late to his daughter’s wedding because he needed to apprehend a murderer seems almost to be expected with Barnaby.” This got another snort from Jones.
“Yeah, we only had one car and I needed to be here earlier than him.” Gavin’s eyes widened as Jones told him the abreviated version of the who how and why of the latest murder case.
“Sound like a typical Midsomer mystery.” He sighed and shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe the looks I get when I try to talk about past cases in Middlesbrough. They just refuse to believe me until I pull up the records.” Jones made a face which seemed to be stuck somewhere between amusement and pity.
“I’ve stopped mentioning them as much since I felt like they were starting to treat me like some mythical creature who came from a far and distant magical land.” Gavin was glad to see that amusement was now the winning emotion on Jones’ face, which had been his intention. Gavin may act as if he was upset about his reputation, but he actually quite enjoyed the element of chaos it brought and the fear and trepidation in the eyes of his colleagues whenever he uttered the words ‘that reminds me of this case where’. Perhaps this was why Jones never made any effort to come across as less weird than he was. The amusement. Either that, or Jones honestly had no idea everyone else thought he was odd.
“Not that I completely lost the image, of course; I don’t think I will ever get them to stop calling me the station cryptid behind my back.” He shook his head and looked the other man dead in the eyes.
“Take this piece of advice from me, when you land yourself a job outside of Midsomer, keep from mentioning the more bizarre cases and details.” Or handpick the weirdest ones if you want people to build you a shrine. They hadn’t built Gavin a shrine in Middlesbrough, but Jones’ natural otherness combined with the might of Midsomer madness, the younger man might pull it off if he tried.
“Like getting attacked with a mace by the brother of the actual murderer?” Gavin looked to his left at the unfamiliar, female, voice. The woman it belonged to was pretty, and completely unknown to Gavin.
“Actually, that would be one of the more cool than odd things that I think he could get away with mentioning.” He grinned and held out his hand.
“The name is Gavin Troy, I had this man’s job before him.” She introduced herself as Sally Fielding. A quick look at Jones confirmed that she was one of the people involved in the mace case (ha, that rhymed, and as long as it rhymed Gavin didn’t care that the mace didn’t really play a major role in most of the investigation). He thought it a bit odd to ask someone to accompany you to a wedding as what was quite possibly their first date, but he wasn’t going to question Jones about it, it wasn’t his life (which was sadly very empty of any romance at the moment). They said their goodbyes and Gavin left Jones to his date as he tried to see if he could catch another familiar face (and a lift to the next venue, perhaps he should’ve asked Jones before they separated). Maybe Bullard would have a spot free for him.
Ben laughed and waved at Sally as she made her way to the bathroom. The reception party was well underway and Ben was having a great time. He waved away an offer for another drink. He was pretty sure he already should no longer drive home once the party was over and he didn’t think Cully would appreciate it if he became so sloshed that he would go play human jukebox or cause a scene in some other capacity. Ben also knew that getting very drunk was a bad idea with his job, especially in an area like Midsomer where everyone would know about it in no time. He needed to keep some respect, and passing out drunk in the middle of the road was a sure way to lose it. It had been hard enough to gain it when some people still remembered that time he cycled into a street light back when he was 13. He stared into the distance for a moment, he felt like he forgot something important in his train of thought. Oh, yeah, Sally might also not appreciate him getting pissed enough to puke all over her (very) nice dress.
A tap on his shoulder caused him to turn around and a smile split his face when he saw whose hand it was.
“Cully, beautiful bride Cully, how can I be of service?”
“Gavin here,” She shook the arm she was holding. Ben had previously assumed that the man next to her was her husband, but now he could see it was the one and only DI Gavin Troy.
“Hi!” Only right to greet him, no?
“Hi…”
“So, Gavin here hasn’t danced with anyone yet.” This confused Ben, Troy wasn’t a bad looking guy and he was friendly, there had to be some single girl that was interested in dancing with him. Wasn’t that the thing with weddings? That no one wanted to be on their lonesome? A silence stretched before Ben noticed she was waiting for him to respond.
“Oh no?” He tried to sound empathetic, really, Ben wanted Troy to have fun, but he was still confused as to why Cully brought this to him.
“I thought you could help.” Cully smiled. Had Ben been more focused, he would have been more suspicious of the mischievous glint in her eyes.
“What do you expect me to do about it?” He looked around, maybe he could find someone looking vaguely interested in dancing. Not that Ben could see a lot, it was pretty dark.
“Well, I recall you being a very good dancer and willing to help people out who don’t have a date.”
“You still miffed about that?” Ok, it had been a little rude of him to go dance with that girl when Cully had just gone to get them both drinks, but she had been so shy and polite that Ben hadn’t been able to say no.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s my wedding so you have to do as I say.” Perfect logic, Ben wholly agreed. So he shrugged and turned to Troy, who seemed a lot less comfortable with the arrangement. Perhaps because they’re both men. Which was when Ben remembered Troy was pretty homophobic. Oh boy, this was going to be interesting. Well, Cully had demanded it, so Ben wasn’t going to pay too much mind to that.
“You heard her, to the dancefloor with you.” Ben took Troy’s arm from Cully and pulled him to said dancefloor. They danced for a while, well, more like Ben trying to make Troy dance while Troy tried to escape without being too rude. Ben was actually pleasantly surprised that Troy had yet to make some casual homophobic comment, so even if he refused to dance, he still counted it as a win. Quiet discomfort was better than vocalised assholery. Eventually Troy won and they moved back to the fringes of the dancefloor. Actually, they moved all the way to the chairs where the old folk had been sitting previously (Ben guessed they had gone home by now as it was getting pretty late, he was also guessing that Cully and Simon had gone as he didn’t see them anywhere either). After a minute, Troy finally broke their silence (there was music so Ben couldn’t really think of it as the silence).
“You know what?”
“No.” Ben had yet to learn how to read minds, so he didn’t really know what Troy was on about.
“It’s just wrong like this.”
“Like what?” Oh, no, had Ben been to quick to count his win with the absence of the homophobic commentary?
“We’re incomplete!”
“I have absolutely no idea what you’re on about.” It wasn’t what he had feared it to be, but that just left him with less of an idea what Troy’s, probably drunk, mind was thinking of.
“There are only the two of us!”
“Should there be more? There are plenty of other people around?”
“Yes! But not like that. We’re missing that Scott man. Why isn’t he here? From what I heard from Cully she got along quite well with him.” Ben shrugged, Scott had been a city guy and barely interacted with PCs.
“It’s just wrong.”
“Yes… We should find him… Make us complete.”
Both their faces turned thoughtful as they started planning their completion operation.