Chapter Text
‘Jesus, Steve, what have you got in here?’ Kate staggers through the door with a huge box.
‘Just clothes, can’t be that heavy!’
‘Cheeky git, sat on your arse while I’m slaving away! And how many bloody waistcoats do you need?’
‘I thought you loved my waistcoats!’
She lowers the box to the floor carefully. ‘That’s the last of your stuff, I’m going to start getting mine out the van now, then I’ll help you put all this away.’
‘Cheers Kate. I can’t believe we’re doing this; we’re like bloody 20-year-olds at uni again! Roommates, at our age!’
‘And it’s not helping the rumours either. Jeez, can’t a guy and a girl be friends? Drives me nuts.’
‘Tell me about it, mate. Still, it’ll be good for us – no good getting lonely and depressed when we could be winding each other up all day every day!’ He grins at her, ‘AC-12 is over, but I’ve still got my partner!’
She smiles widely, ‘soppy twat!’
Kate heads out the door back to the van, and Steve sighs, looking at the huge pile of stuff to unpack. He knows she’ll insist on doing it all for him because of his back, and sighs in frustration. Fucking Occupational Health. The job was all he had left, except Kate. So, when she moved halfway across the country to be closer to her son, what else was there to do but follow? When he suggested they move in together as roommates, at first she laughed in his face. But when she thought about it, she realised it wasn’t actually such a bad plan. Shared rent, no lonely evenings with just her and a bottle of wine, and they could keep an eye on each other.
Steve knew that Kate had primarily agreed to be his roommate to make sure he looks after himself and gets off the codeine. But he has his worries about her too – and half suspects she was itching to get out of town even before Mark moved away with Josh. She’d been through a lot with Operation Lighthouse – and Steve suspected that Jo’s betrayal had hurt Kate more than she was letting on. Or perhaps it was Jo leaving for witness protection without the chance to say goodbye. Anyway, there was no way that Kate was staying at the Hill a second longer than she had to, and with AC-12 disbanded, Steve suspended, and the Gaffer retired, it was time for a fresh start.
***
‘Lucy, any applications for the job opening yet?’
Lucy stumbles over her words, flushing at the gorgeous Scottish accent of the woman 20 years her senior. ‘Umm, yeah, a couple, none with any experience though, just kids after first jobs.’
‘Hmm. Bring them in for a chat, see what they’re like, but keep an eye out for an actual adult. I’m sick of working with TikTok kids all day.’
‘Oh, sure thing Jo. I um … I don’t have TikTok by the way!’
‘I didn’t mean you, Lucy,’ she rolls her eyes and heads back into her office, leaving Lucy to tend the till. She’s getting bored of the wide-eyed, transparent crushes of the young lesbians that work for her.
It’s been five years since Jo went into Witness Protection, got a loan, and set up a Queer Bookshop Café, and it’s going well - turns out she’s pretty good at running a business. Every day she wakes up grateful to be free from the double life that had once been forced upon her. The fresh start was easier for her than it would be for most people, she reckons. She didn’t have any friends, after all. Well, no friendships that she hadn’t fucked up spectacularly and violently with her cowardice. But that was another life away. She takes a deep breath and gets back to the spreadsheet.
***
‘Steve! I saw the cutest little LGBT Café while I was having a wander around! And I thought, I bet I’d be a great barista! Whatd’ya reckon?’ Steve raises his eyebrows.
‘Kate, you’re a DI. You’re an excellent detective with a huge skillset. You’ve extensive experience of undercover operations, high-speed car chases, and a firearms license. Are you really telling me that you want to work in a coffee shop?’
‘Yeah! You know, fresh start, new things! It could be good for me!’
‘Won’t it be soul-crushingly boring? And let’s not forget that you hate coffee!’
‘Nah, getting to know the regulars, gossip, strange coffee orders, sounds great! Besides, now that I’m finally out as bi I want to get involved with the Queer community. And they also have tea, so there.’
Steve sees that she’s set on the idea and doesn’t want to quash her enthusiasm.
‘Sounds sweet mate, why not give it a go,’ he shrugs, ‘but thank god you’ve got your savings from the DI payroll!’
‘It’ll probably just be temporary until they can fit me in at the local station here! Though I’m not sure there are many murders in this part of the world. Probably for the best I guess.’
‘Yeah, nothing like a bit of peace and quiet.’
‘Ahh, sorry mate, you were chilling, and I bounced in all hyperactive! Sorry about that.’
‘Nah no worries, mate, though I don’t know how you have this much energy this late in the evening.’
‘Steve, it’s only 6:30,’ she laughs, ‘lazy sod. Not bedtime yet, fancy a takeaway?’
***
The next day, Jo is pulled out of her focus on the business accounts by a knock on her office door at the café. ‘Come in, Lucy,’ she sighs.
‘There was a new application for the job! She’s quite old – well, no, sorry, not old, but like, older than me, um, you wanted someone older, right? She’s like, late 30s, I guess, anyway, ridiculously overqualified, but she seems lovely, so um, do you reckon we give her the job?’
‘Yeah, I’m happy to trust your judgement on this, Lucy. When can she start?’
‘Tomorrow!’
‘Perfect. It’ll be nice to have a fellow millennial around.’
‘Haha, yeah. Cool, that’s all, Jo.’