Archive of Our Own ^beta

Steve made his way to the Hill with a spring in his step. He’d recently learned of Kate’s relationship with Jo and he was absolutely ecstatic for them both. Plus… he couldn’t wait to tease Jo about it. Over the last few months, Steve really felt like an honorary member of MIT - often finding himself in the pub with the team after work, often by Jo’s invitation. He was particularly fond of Lomax, the two men bonding easily over football and their shared interest in when Kate and Jo would finally admit their feelings for each other. (As it turned out, he wasn’t as good a detective as he gave himself credit for because Kate and Jo had been sneaking around on the sly for months).  So here he was, early on a Monday morning - heading in to see Jo and tease her for the worst-kept secret relationship ever.

“Well, well, well DCI Davidson. Kate finally told me your big secret last night. Now that you’re dating, I think it’s about time we had the talk.” Steve announced as he placed a cup of coffee down in front of a startled Jo. “Don’t worry, I asked Kate what your favourite was, cappuccino right?”

Jo nodded, reaching for the coffee, “Thank you… but what talk are you on about?”

“The best mate/girlfriend talk, the one where I ask you your intentions and warn you not to harm Kate” he said with a easy smile.

Jo frowned, feeling sick to her stomach, that coil of dread she felt upon revealing their relationship coming back full force, “You think I’m going to hurt Kate?” she whispered, nervously wringing her hands.

“I hope not, but if you do I have a gun!”

His teasing tone was lost on Jo, who felt her hands start to shake as the insecurities raced through her head. “A g-gun…” She muttered, as her trembling caused coffee to spill all over her wrist. She hissed in pain, dropping the cup and cursing silently as tears pooled in her eyes.

“Jo, are you okay?” Steve asked worriedly, reaching out to look at her wrist only for her to pull back.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about Kate. I… I know I’m not what you want for her and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll… I’ll leave her alone… she won’t get hurt…” she trailed off, looking up to see Steve’s look of absolute confusion.

“Woah, hold on Jo. That’s not what I-“ Steve started to say, but was cut off by Jo’s loud sob as she fled her office.

****************************

Steve stood in the empty room, frowning deeply as he questioned whether he should go after her when he heard footsteps behind him.

“Mate, what are you doing here? Where’s Jo?” Kate questioned, her eyes searching Steve’s for an explanation.

“I don’t know” he said, “I came to give her the talk… I was only joking but she seemed to take it to heart, and then she spilled the coffee on herself and said something about leaving you alone and not wanting to hurt you. Kate I think I’ve fucked up. She looked so scared and she left the room crying. Honestly mate, I was smiling the whole time - not intimidating her at all. I swear.”

Kate nodded, sighing, “I know you meant well Steve, and that you were joking but one of the reasons we didn’t reveal our relationship sooner was because she was so scared to.”

“Scared?”

Kate nodded again, “Yeah…she’s worked really hard to build a friendship with you and everyone else and she doesn’t want to lose that. She was so worried, that with your history, you wouldn’t think she was good enough for me and your talk probably went straight to the heart.”

“Fuck! I’m sorry Kate, I didn’t realise. Do you know where she’s went?”

“I’ll go to her, you get to work before Hastings has a nervous breakdown.”

Steve shook his head, “She’s part of our family and I upset her so let me put it right.”

“Alright, she’ll be on the roof - the door is the last one on the right, 6th floor” Kate relented, “I’ll give you 5 minutes and then join you both, I’m not having you bloody upset my girlfriend even more!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it mate” Steve promised her, then jogged away to find Jo.

He spotted Jo on a bench, shivering slightly and staring at her feet and walked over to her, immediately draping his coat over her shoulders, “I didn’t meant to upset you.”

Jo shook her head, hastily wiping her tears away, “It’s fine.”

“No it’s not. I didn’t know how worried you were to tell me and everyone else. I talked to Kate and I want you to know that you are part of our family now and I know you won’t hurt her Jo.”

“But you still don’t think I’m good enough for her?” Jo whispered.

Steve sat quietly in thought, thinking how best to reassure Jo that this was absolutely not the case but before he could answer, she spoke again. “I know I’m not good enough for Kate. She deserves someone so much better, someone without all this baggage. I think about it a lot Steve. I lie awake at night and I feel sick at the thought of keeping Kate from finding the person she deserves. And it HURTS. I tried- I tried so SO hard to push her away in the beginning, I promise you I did. But she wouldn’t let me. She wore me down, broke down every wall I put up… and yet, I’ve never felt safer than I do with her. I just- c-can’t-“.

Steve cut Jo off by taking her into his arms and squeezing her in a soft hug. He rubbed circles on her back and whispered gentle reassurances that everything was okay. When her tears finally subsided, Steve realised it was time to set the record straight.

“Look Jo, if Kate had told me a year ago that she was dating you I’d have thought she was crazy. I mean seriously. I didn’t know you then… but now I do. I hope you don’t mind me saying this Jo, but I love you. Not in the way our Fleming does obviously but, I really do love you. You’re so smart, and warm, and you’re good. But you don’t give yourself any credit at all. The way you’ve allowed Kate to be who she really is… it’s more than a wardrobe upgrade” he said with a laugh, “She is so happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen her. And it’s because of you. I think with Mark she felt suffocated, forced to try and conform to his idea of what a partner should be and it was killing her. With you it’s so different. She is besotted with you. Head over heels for you, and I know you feel the same way. So although you don’t need it, I’m giving you my blessing Jo. You are a good, beautiful person - and Kate deserves you as much as you do her. Okay?”

Jo finally offered Steve a big smile, her eyes still swimming with tears. “Okay” she agreed quietly, and gave his hand a squeeze.

Kate, who had been secretly listening to the entire conversation, silently thanked the universe for both her amazing girlfriend and her best mate. She made her way over to Steve and Jo, helping them both up and checking they were okay.

“It’s bloody freezing out here! Plus, my boss is totally strict so I need to get back to work” Kate laughed.

“Idiot!” Jo rolled her eyes affectionately as she pressed herself against Kate’s side.

They made their way to the front door of the MIT offices to walk Steve out, and just as he was crossing the threshold of the door, Jo shouted to him.

“STEVE?”

“Yeah?” he said, slight worry in his tone.

“I love you too. Thank you for today.” she whispered, giving him a squeeze on the arm.

“See you at the pub tonightttt!” she exclaimed, before rejoining Kate and heading in to brief the team on their new case.