Chapter Text
DS Ben Jones peered over the banister at his boss down below who was trying to reason with William. He looked up at his target, the bomb in the biscuit tin.
Ben’s POV
What am I going to do? Damn it. I try to push another stack of newspapers out of my path; God this guy has some serious hording issues. This stack was particularly heavy and would not budge no matter what I did. Time was running out, I knew Barnaby couldn't stall him much longer.
"I'm sorry but I have to go" I hear William say. My heart leapt into my throat. This was not going to be the end of us, not on the second case I’ve worked with Barnaby. I wasn't going to let it end this way.
"No! Don't." I hear my boss shout. Without a second thought I sprang up from my crouched position, climbed onto the banister and jumped, breaking the connecting wire of the bomb and detonator. I felt a rush of adrenaline before hitting a pile of pizza boxes below. Pain coursed through my body and I gritted my teeth, trying not to shout out in pain.
Barnaby’s POV
"No! Don't." I yell, not that it was going to do any difference. William was going to blow the two of us up. Wait, the three of us, Jones was up on the landing trying to reach the bloody bomb. As if on cue there he was but what happened next was not what I expected; Jones jumped from the banister. My heart pounded hard and all I could do was watch my Sergeant fall, saving the day in quite a heroic way. He landed with a thud on top of pizza boxes. I rushed over to him and started lobbing boxes off of him.
"Do not move" I told him sternly but I knew Jones was a stubborn one
"I'm ok, I'm ok" he said a bit out of breath.
I noticed paramedics walk in and waved them over here to tend to Jones while I dealt with the man who nearly got away with killing both of us.
Ben’s POV
With the paramedic's help, I got up off the pizza boxes. My back and neck made a cracking noise. I groaned as I looked back at the height I jumped from. Nothing was broken but the room was spinning and I felt light headed. I slowly but surely made my way out into the daylight. I sat the door step breathing deeply with my eyes closed and head down trying to stop my head spinning. I looked up and saw Barnaby putting William into a police car. A small smile appeared on my face knowing that the case was closed and we were all safe and alive. We got our murderer, that’s what mattered to me, now that the risk of death was in the past.
Barnaby’s POV
I placed William in the police car and took a deep breath. Finally, the case was over and William was going to prison for a long time, probably die in prison considering his age. I turned around and saw Jones sitting on the door step looking a little worse for wear. I walked over to him and sat next to him.
"You ok there, Jones?" I asked softly.
"All good sir" He replied "Perfectly fine" he breathed in the cool air.
"Hm, well you're in no state to drive so come on I'm driving you home so you can get some rest."
Jones did not object and we both headed towards my car. The drive to Jones' house was silent but soon enough we arrived. I looked over at my passenger and noticed Jones was nodding off. I got out of the car and went to open the passenger door which made Jones rub his eyes. Half-awake he unbuckled his seat belt and with a little assistance from me we made it inside.
I had never been inside Jones' house before. It was well kept and clean. Jones plonked himself on the sofa and rested his head on the back of it. A chuckle escaped my mouth. I ventured upstairs to find a blanket for him. His room wasn't as tidy as the downstairs but finding a blanket was easy enough. Before exiting the room, I notice a picture on his bedside table of him and his gran I supposed which made me wonder where were his parents. I headed downstairs and noticed Jones had led down and curled in on himself I draped the blanket over Jones before leaving him to rest.