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It was early in June and Jamie was really nervous. His first year in Midsomer had went by way to fast for his liking. Everything was nerve wreaking by this point and even cooking didn’t take his nerves off. He was waiting for the answers to his message to the former Barnaby Sergeants. All the Barnaby Sergeants. He had figured out how to make connections in Midsomer fast enough and so he quickly found out that all the former Barnaby Sergeants had been seen at pride events before. He had gathered that information a year earlier, just when the station was talking about the pride events in Midsomer. But now he had their numbers and he was nervous.
Planning the event itself hadn’t been to hard, all things considered. His Job hadn’t given him the time he really needed for it, but his friends had made up for it. But now he was hoping to get the old Sergeants on board with it, just to make a point. Ben and Charlie didn’t worry him to much, having met Ben on a case and Charlie through just sheer luck a few months ago. But he didn’t know the other two Sergeants, who never worked under his Boss.
So he was cooking, just for the sake of doing something while waiting for an answer from any of them. Pasta was the only the thing he had the nerve for and was already making way to much for only himself. The first noise of his phone surprised him only a few minutes after sending them and anxiously he took a look at his phone, to find an answer from one Ben Jones. The now Inspector didn’t have many words, only saying that he was still at work but would help for sure and was already clearing his schedule. A warm feeling went through Jamie’s whole body, before settling in his stomach.
*---------------*
The Day had come and Jamie was very nervous. It was the first time since coming to Midsomer that he would show or say his stand in the whole discussion, having struggled with Homophobes a lot on his Job. It was still very early, just five am, when he stood in front of the mirror and looking at what to wear. After what felt like hours, he choose a Rainbow coloured button-up and some simple short pants, seeing as it was June and already way to warm. He got out his Rainbow Boots with their little Pride-Patches on the sides, before he went to pack his bag. Water and Food was already prepared, the bag had the fitting Buttons and Patches on it, he checked if he had sun cream and something to protect him from the heat if needed. Then he started his journey to the old farm outside of Causton.
He parked his car a few minutes away from their Location, being way to giddy and needing to calm down a bit, so he chose his way of taking his mind of it. Running. So he ran the way to the farm, even though it was starting to get warm and he would sweat and be in the outfit for the rest of the day. He did it nonetheless and came to a stop at the farm just three minutes later, panting but with less thoughts on his mind. He went through the Gate, finding Ben, Charlie, his friend Alicia, Lucas and Eliot already carrying tables outside. Eliot, who was coordinating the other four, was the first one to see him and greet him loudly. Eliot themselves wore some ripped jeans and a simple flannel, but on their Cap, under that their short brown hair came out, they were wearing a Non-Binary and Bi Button as well as the Event Button they created themselves.
The Button was made to make sure people would see who was managing the event if questions were there or there was need for them in any way. Alicia, who was the closest to Jamie was smiling brightly at him. She was wearing her long Blond, green hair in a bun, keeping them out of the way. Her shirt was just as colourful as his own, bound up to give her more air. Lucas ran over to him, leaving the table behind, and hugged him. The shorter men, has his head shaved short, wearing a bandana and some very colourful clothes. Ben and Charlie were more decent when it came to their outfits, both wearing some fitting clothes but nothing as drastic. But they both had gotten their Buttons before he even got there. Ben was wearing a button up, much like his own, just in red and orange, a simple short jeans and some vans. Charlie was wearing a nearly see-through T-Shirt in some shade of blue and some shorts. Both looked stunning in Jamie’s opinion and he only found himself able to smile shyly at them, both returning the gesture with more confidence.
“Jay is inside with the other two you invited. They are helping decorating inside so if you would do the outside it would be amazing.” Lucas said, letting go of the taller. “Sure, I will just put my stuff down and get the decoration.” Jamie answered, patting the younger’s head, before making his way inside. His nerves had returned, knowing that the old Barnaby Sergeants all really had come. Inside he found Jay talking to two older men while putting up some Bi-Flag. After taking a deep breath, he pulled himself together and walked over. “Good Morning Jay.” He greeted the youngest of the group, who looked at him, beaming. “Good morning Jamie!” She said, her pronoun pin on full display. The Sergeant nodded, turning towards the two older men. “You must be Troy and Scott. It’s a pleasure to meet the two of you and thank you for coming down to help.
“Please, you can call me Gavin and this is Dan. Thanks for inviting us, this is really nice.” The older said, running his hand through his short hair. “I hope you have a good time. I have to help outside, but maybe we find some time later to talk a bit. Pride Pins for us are in the bag area if you want any, otherwise just enjoy the day I guess.” Jamie said, smiling politely, before bringing his bag into their room and grabbing the outdoor decoration.
They were finished at seven, just when the first few sellers were arriving and Jamie had his hands full with making sure everybody got to their stand. While explaining to one of their participants where they could set up, a familiar face entered the farm and walked up behind him. He took a breath, just for the sake of a quiet minute. “Look who we have here.” Came a teasing voice from behind him, which made him turn around and look at Kam, who was standing next to a woman, a few years older than the raven. “Kam. What are you doing here?” He asked, surprised, but still hugged her. “Charlie invited us and how could I say no when you set up a sweet pride event.” Kam explained, taking a few steps back after breaking the hug. The other woman smiled at him. “Kate, I was once Kam.” She said, what made him nod. “Enjoy your day here then.” He said, but Kam just laughed. “We are helping you guys out Jamie.” After a few moments a confused Jamie brought them inside, where Charlie and Ben took the lead, so Jamie could go back to helping outside.
The Day was actually going good, everybody was having fun and the team didn’t have to much work. They had expected to have some Homophobes showing up at the event and they were right, but also managed to keep everything civil. Kids were running around, Parents looking around and people were supporting small businesses and charity. Jamie was just standing near the gate when somebody screamed and a men was sprinting through the gate. “He stole our money!” A young woman shouted from her desk, pointing at him. The Sergeant didn’t even hesitate, turning around and running after the men. He was fast, just like Jamie himself and sprinting through the forest.
Charlie had followed to the gate, not being able to see them anymore, so he dialled 999. He just explained the situation in short, mentioning that the Sergeant was running after the suspect. “We will send out a team to your location.” The woman said, tapping on her keyboard. “The Person running after the suspect is DS Winter, he might need help, the suspect seemed quite strong.” Charlie explained, getting short agreement before she ended the call. Ben had taken the lead and followed into the direction of Jamie, leaving Dan, Gavin and Charlie to make sure the Police would find them.
*--------------*
John had spend his day doing paperwork. There had been no new body, which was a wonder for Midsomer, and his Sergeant had the day off. He had the hopes of no incidents he had to report to and with that an early ending to his work day, finally being able to get home on time for once. But all his hopes went out of the window when DC Jem Jefferson entered his office. “What can I do for you Jefferson?” He asked, looking up at her. “There was a report of thievery at a Pride Event.” “And what does that have to do with me?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. “DS Winter is following the suspect.” That made the DCI stand up and make his way to the location.
*------------*
DS Jamie Winter was sitting on a chair when he entered the area, DS Charlie Nelson and DI Ben Jones kneeling in front of him, his shirt unbuttoned. “Jamie, don’t play this down. He kicked you multiple times.” He heard the oldest say. None of them seemed to have realized that he was there as well, so he looked around for a moment. They were all in a corner of the farm, Jamie sitting on one of the walls. In the corner itself he saw two people he could only guess were, by now, DI Dan Scott and DI Gavin Troy, the two Sergeants from his cousin. He only had heard of them sparingly, but Joyce had shown him pictures. In general he was just confused as to what they were all doing there. The Officers went over to the suspect, who was hold down by Scott and Troy, so John decided to look at his Sergeant.
When he stepped closer he could see Charlie press around on Jamie’s upper Body, a few red marks already showing. “You need to go to the Hospital, he could have hurt you seriously.” Ben said, worry in his voice. “I am fine Guys. It was just some light kicks and it’s just going to bruise.” Jamie tried to tell the others, mostly because the older where way to close and even John could see how flustered he was. “Go to the Hospital Winter. You got hurt. Because you had to run after a suspect alone. Again.” John said, making Jamie look up with panic in his eyes. “Sir. What- What are you doing here?” He said, gripping his shirt and pulling it closer around himself. “DC Jefferson told me that you ran after a suspect. Now should I call an ambulance to check you over or do I have to drive you myself?” He asked.
“I am okay sir, just a few bruises nothing more.” He tried to argue, but the DCI looked at him, a warning in his expression. “I can drive myself.” He said, standing up, but John had none of it. “I will drive you Winter. You are not driving.” For a moment the young Sergeant wanted to protest, but again saw his Bosses face and just nodded, buttoning up his shirt. He didn’t say more, just standing up and walking towards the gate, looking at the ground, embarrassment floating through him. John gave his two former Sergeants a nod before he followed his current one to his car. He took his seat as the driver, while Jamie just slumped into his seat.
The first few minutes went by in silence, until John spoke up. “So Ben and Charlie.” He said, having picked up their vibes. “There is nothing and there never will be anything.” Jamie just said, looking out of the window. “What were you doing there?” The DCI asked, keeping his eyes on the street. “Organised the event with a few friends. Invited them.” He said, still not looking over at John who accepted it and understood that he didn’t want to talk. The DCI stopped the car in front of the ER and went inside with him, even though he insisted that it was nothing big. When Jamie was getting checked, John just waited in the waiting room for his Sergeant.
Jamie was quiet when he came back, just telling him to drive him back so he could get his car. The drive over, the older tried to get his colleague to talk and tell him what the doctor said, but Jamie stayed quiet. He finally snapped when he was about to get his bag and Charlie and Ben decided to push him into talking about what the doctor said. The reaction was harsh and unexpected. “Can you all just leave it alone? I am fine and I do not want to talk about it. What is so hard to understand? Just leave me alone.” His tone wasn’t like normally but rather did he sound pissed. The two former Barnaby Sergeant took a step back, being fully surprised. The youngest just walked past them to his car, walking the way down the street, before he just drove off.
*------------*
Jamie was laying on his couch in his cottage, wrapped up in a soft blanket. His ribs where burning even though he tried to not put to much stress on them. He had ignored the calls and texts from everybody for the last two days, lucky that it was the weekend anyway. His sick notice had he sent in when he got home on Friday, not wanting to see anybody else. He was embarrassed.
It was early in the afternoon when the doorbell rang. Jamie groaned, he just wanted to stay on the couch and never stand up again, but the door rang again. Annoyed, he got up and left his blanket on the couch. When he opened the door, he wished he never stood up. In Front of his Door stood Ben, Charlie and Kam, bags in hand. “Hi Jamie”, the woman said, just walking past him into the house. The youngest didn’t even have time to react to it happening, when Ben and Charlie also entered his Cottage, leaving him in the door. It took him a moment to realize what just happened. He closed the door and went into his Living room. Charlie was sitting on the Floor, while Ben was sitting on the armchair behind him. Kam was in his kitchen, putting food into the fridge.
“Did you eat already?”, she asked and Jamie knew he was meant. A sign escaped his lips before he answered. “No, I didn’t wanna stand up earlier.” He said honest. The woman signed, turning towards the stove and started to prepare Food for the youngest. “What are you even doing here?”, he asked, looking at the two men. “John said you send in your sick notice and we thought we would look after you in the meantime.”, The oldest explained, smiling. Jamie didn’t know what to make of that, so he nodded and went back into his Space on the couch. A few Minutes later Kam returned from the kitchen, a plate in hand. She put the plate down right on front of the young Sergeant, before settling down herself. She took the other side of the Couch without even thinking about it and picked up a conversation with the other two, leaving Jamie to eat in peace.
*------------*
The Three of them stayed overnight, Ben and Charlie sharing the Couch, while Kam took a mattress on the floor, leaving Jamie alone for the night. His sleep was rough to say the least. The thought of having both of his Crushes just one room down was keeping him awake for a while and when he finally drifted of to sleep it followed him into his dreams. He ended up sleeping two hours that night, standing up bright and early. When he left his room, he saw the light from the kitchen. As soon as he stepped into the, fairly large, kitchen, he saw Ben and Charlie. Charlie was sitting on the kitchenette, watching the older Inspector make breakfast. Unwillingly he listened to their conversation, not even knowing the context.
“This isn’t the time to talk about this”, Ben said, cutting some tomato's. “But he needs to know!” Ben looked up at the Sergeant, even Though Jamie isn’t able to see his Face he guessed it was a glare. “Please Ben!” the younger man pleaded. “Charlie, this is a bad time.” The Inspector said, trying to get back to cooking, but the younger didn’t want to let him, letting out an annoyed huff. “Ben!”, he said, his voice a bit annoyed, trying to get the older ones attention. Ben just smiled at the others antics, before putting the knife to the side and walking the few steps over to the former Barnaby Sergeant. “It’s not the time Charlie. Another time we can talk about it, but not today and not tomorrow. Jamie isn’t great and we are taking care of him”, Ben said, before giving a kiss to Charlie.
Jamie’s heart felt like it stopped, he felt so wrong. He was witnessing something he never wanted to see, he wasn’t supposed to see. He wanted to go home and be alone, but they were in his Home and he couldn’t kick them out without them asking why. He wanted out, he wanted to run but he had nobody to run too. He wanted to hide away, hide in his room, no he wanted to run further, he wanted away. While he was sneaking through his own house back to his room, he remembered. He still had time off, but John didn’t. It wasn’t late enough for Sarah and Betty to be out of the house, so before he could even think about it further, he was out of the Cottage, just running.
*---------*
His body was burning when he stopped at the Barnaby house. His Ribs were burning up, everything hurt, tears had dried a while ago, his breath was fast, unregulated. He tried to get it under control, not really succeeding. He just decided to ring the bell, the door being opened a minute later by Sarah, who looked surprise. “Jamie, shouldn’t you be home resting?”, she asked, still letting him in. “I feel like the ceiling might fall onto my head if I stay another day there.” Jamie didn’t want to lie to her and it wasn’t a full lie, he just didn’t disclose the reason why he didn’t wanna be home. Sarah nodded, walking towards the kitchen area, Jamie following suit.
Half an hour later Sarah had left, leaving Betty in his care. Betty was always happy to get to spend some time with the Sergeant, who didn’t have the time he wished he had for her. He loved the little Girl with all his heart, he might not be in any way related to her but she was his little princess. He would do everything for her. The Girl had just turned four but unlike his boss, got the empathy from her Mother. Which also meant she was able to see right through him. He had tried to just have fun and not think about the Chaos he left behind, but he slipped up. And the beautiful child in front of him picked up on it. That was also how he ended up on the couch, Betty cuddling up to his side in a blanket. And if that was how Sarah found them in the evening, Betty asleep and Jamie dissociated, he wouldn’t know.
He came back when he felt something cold in the palm of his hand. His Vision came back in Focus and he felt the pain of the freezing cold. He slowly moved his head to look down, being met by an ice cube in his hand. His head didn’t seem to be up to speed yet and needed a moment to realize why it was there. Looking up, he saw Sarah sitting in front of him. “Hey, you were a bit out of it”, she said softly, keeping her voice low. He blinked lazily, trying to fully focus on her. The ice helped him stay grounded, but he still wasn’t to sure what was happening around him. “Are you with me Jamie?”, the older woman asked, only getting a small nod as an answer.
“Jamie, could you tell me five things you see?”, she asked, watching him closely. She had seen Students in the same state before, though that didn’t hit as hard as seeing a member of the Family like it. Jamie’s eyes seemed to Focus a bit more while he was looking around. “Glass, Table, Blanket, Couch, You”, he said, a bit more focused. “Very Good, Four Things you can feel?” The younger took a solid minute to give an answer to her question, feeling barely anything and to much at the same time. “Blanket, Ice, couch, Betty’s weight?”, he said, though the last sounded like a question. “You are doing so good. Can you tell me about three things you can hear?” Another two minutes went by, which Sarah did understand, the house was unusual quiet. “The Wind, Rain I think, breathing”, he answered, still hearing even the smallest things while being pulled out of the nothingness. “Great, Two Things you can smell?”, her voice was soft, not to loud, Jamie liked it. “Your Perfume, Flowers”, he answered, being further out of the Fog. The older nodded. “One thing you can taste?” “Blood”, Jamie said without thinking about it, looking at her.
Sarah smiled at him. “Back with me?”, she asked gently. “Yeah, sorry about this.” The older woman just shook her had, taking his hand. “Don’t worry about it. You sure didn’t mean to.” “I didn’t”, he said, not really looking at her. “You seem exhausted and John will be home in a bit. Let’s get you to the guest room so you can rest.”, she proposed and he honestly wanted nothing more than to sleep. Together they managed the way up the stairs and into the guest room. Jamie sat down on the bed, while Sarah left him for a few minutes to come back with a fuzzy blanket, Jamie claimed it every time he got the chance to, and more comfortable clothes. She gave the Sergeant the privacy to change, before returning with some simple Food and water, which she sat down on the table next to the bed.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”, she asked gently, sitting down on the bed. Jamie debated it, not sure how to feel about it. He was embarrassed and felt like a teenager. He had run away from his stupid problems because of some stupid crush he had. Sarah watched him, her eyes soft, making him break. “Charlie and Ben came to look after me and I just can’t. It hurts so much”, he said, quietly. If he thought the woman’s eyes couldn’t soften any more, he would be incorrect. “Oh Jamie, you like them, don’t you?”, she asked, slightly stroking through his hair. It took him a moment, but he nodded, pushing himself up a bit. “I think I liked Ben already when he was here for his Case, he is smart, looks good. I just liked him. I met Charlie once and I just knew that he was great, he is hot, charismatic, smart and just so stupid at the same time. Maybe it is the Sergeant curse, I don’t know. But they are in some kind of relationship, so it doesn’t matter.”
The older woman just looked at him full of sympathy. “And they are in your Home, so you went to the next best home you have.”, she concluded. Jamie nodded, looking down at his hands. “Don’t worry about it. Sleep for now, eat and drink. Don’t worry about any of that.” The Sergeant moved further into the blanket, closing his eyes. “You can stay as long as you need.” With that Sarah left the young man to rest.
*----------*
John came home half an hour later, his jacket in hand. Sarah looked out of the kitchen motioning for him to be quiet. Her Husband followed her back into the kitchen, seeing the usual reason for quietness, Betty, sitting at the table. He gave her a kiss, before walking to his wife. Sarah looked at him, giving him a kiss. “Jamie is sleeping in the Guest Room.” The Police officer nodded, having assumed to find the Sergeant in his home. “Thought he would be here, Jones and Nelson came by this morning to ask if I knew where he was.” As much as John liked to pretend he didn’t care about his Sergeants, in particular Jamie, he did care and he did know that if his Sergeant just left he wanted to be alone. So he had made up some excuse and send them on their way. He just wanted the sergeant to be fine.
Jamie showed up in the late evening, Betty had been brought to bed two hours prior and only Sarah and John were still sitting on the couch. When they heard the stairs, they looked up. The Sergeant seemed a bit awkward, but that went away, when Sarah smiled at him and motioned for him to sit down, so he took his place on the couch. “Are you feeling better?” She asked. For a Moment Jamie looked between the two and then nodded. “Thanks for letting me in, but I should probably go home.” “Bullshit. You will not walk home. You can either Stay overnight or I drive you back. You aren’t walking anywhere, you have a broken rib”, John said firm expression on his face. The younger man nodded. “I would stay the night and go home in the morning.” The DCI nodded, smiling a bit. “I will bring you home on my way to work”, he decided, leaning back.
*----------*
It was fairly early when John stopped the Car in front of Jamie’s Cottage, before driving off to work. The Cottage was dark and Jamie wasn’t sure if it was because everybody was asleep or if they left the prior day. He opened the door quietly, not wanting to wake anybody in case they were still around. On his way to the kitchen, Sarah had insisted that he took the leftovers with him, he saw his three friends in the living room, laying in their places. He kept his steps as quiet as possible while putting the food down and preparing the table, before he sneaked into his room and got a new set of clothes. He took a short shower before getting dressed. When he left the Bath, the others had woken up as well, already waiting at the table. “Morning Jamie”, Kam said, smiling like nothing had happened. “Morning”, was everything Jamie said, before sitting down. He just sat their while the others ate in silence, apparently nobody wanted to start the conversation early in the morning.
Only after the table was cleared and they had settled into the living room, Kam started talking, only to tell them that she would return to her hotel to spend more time with Kate. Afterwards it stayed quiet for nearly half an hour till Charlie finally decided to speak up. Charlie, the most unsocial one of the three, decided to start the conversation. “So, we don’t know what happened but we will listen if you want to talk about it”, he said, uncertain. The Inspector pinched him. “That’s a horrible start to this conversation. Jamie, we are very sorry if your decision to go to Barnaby was in any way because of us. You don’t have to tell us why you did it, but we will always listen if you choose to do it”, Ben said, trying to make the youngest more comfortable. It didn’t calm the Young Sergeant one bit.
“I saw you two kissing yesterday. In my Kitchen.” The Fact was just there and for a moment the two didn’t react at all, speechless. Charlie was the one scrambling to his feet and nearly falling onto Jamie, while rambling on. “Gosh Jamie, we are so sorry. I wanted to tell you but you are hurt and Ben thought it was the wrong time, because you shouldn’t have to deal with all that. We shouldn’t have felt so safe within your house and we are so sorry you had to see it and that we didn’t tell you beforehand.” Ben also chimed in a moment later, having sat up straighter, “We are sorry, you shouldn’t have seen what we do in our personal time.” Jamie nodded shortly, trying not to cry out his pain but also not dissociating again.
Charlie spoke up again, even though he was very hesitant about it. “It’s not easy to explain, but we wanted to talk to you about Ben and my Relationship. We met a while back, just after I left Midsomer for my Undercover course and we just started talking. In the beginning just about Barnaby but then more about us. It just happened and then we just fell for each other, nothing to do about it. We were together for two Month when Ben had to go on that undercover mission and met you.” Charlie stopped his explanation, looking over at Ben, who nodded and took over. “You are smart, caring, thoughtful, understanding, passionate. I was so impressed with you, how easy you were able to follow Barnaby’s thoughts. And just how sweet and Handsome you were, How much you cared about Barnaby and me when I was in danger.”
“He was so excited when he came back. He couldn’t stop talking about you and maybe I should have been jealous, but I wasn’t. He seemed so happy and I just want him to be that, happy. And then I met you as well, on Betty’s Birthday Party, and I understood what he meant. You are everything he said and so much more and when I returned, I couldn’t say anything differently then he did. I was just in Love and so was Ben.” Jamie didn’t even realize what the others were saying, his head swimming. Just when Charlie wanted to talk again, he raised his hand to stop him from talking. The mouth of the other man fell shut just as fast, staying quiet for the next few minutes. Ben and Charlie were unsure of what to do, not wanting to push Jamie further away.
“You two fell in love with- me?”, the younger asked a few minutes later. A small chuckle left the oldest one, before he nodded. “Yes Jamie, god how could we not.” “I don’t know. I am nothing special.” Charlie practically launched over to Jamie just to shake him. “You are incredible. You are special to us in every way!”, he said, making sure the younger would understand how much he meant it. Jamie was quiet for a minute. “I feel stupid now.” He said, a small chuckle leaving his mouth. The other two were just looking at him, not sure what was happening. “I thought I had no chance with either of you any more.”, he said, laughing. “You love both of us?”, Ben asked, hesitant and unsure. “God yes, since I met you.” Ben took a moment before he was practically on Jamie who was laughing. “We thought we had ruined everything.” He exclaimed, hugging the young Sergeant, Charlie joining in.
“You could never make me not Love you.”