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Chapter Text

"Shit," said the Doctor, trying to fix loose cables in the TARDIS. He'd been struggling with the ship for the last hour.

After the last landing in London when Rose had wanted to visit her mother, the TARDIS started to act weird. The Doctor decided to go to the 18th century to eat crêpes, but unfortunately, the ship seemed stuck in London and nothing looked like it would go anywhere else soon.

"Is it ever going to work?!" growled the man and hit the cockpit. Suddenly, all the lights started to flicker. The blonde looked around himself and managed to cursed before the TARDIS teleported itself to an unknown place.

***

An angel and a demon were sitting on a bench in St. James Park. They enjoyed each other presence. People around them didn't really pay attention to the two of them. Unaware of passing by two supernatural entities.

"Have you ever contemplated the world?"

"What do you mean, Crowley?" asked Aziraphale, turning his face to look directly at the demon. He laughed with confusion.

"You know, do you really think that there is only us?" Crowley stared at the sky like he was daydreaming.

In fact, he was looking in Aziraphale's eyes, but fortunately the angel couldn't see that because of the ginger's sunglasses.

"Crowley, you were the one who wanted to go to Alpha Centauri, so..."

"No, no, no, that's not my point, angel," interrupted the demon. "I thought about dimensions."

It took Aziraphale a while to get what Crowley was talking about. Suddenly, his cuffs started to be very interesting.

"I didn't really think about it."

Crowley exhaled loudly, turned sideways and carried on:

"Really? You've never ever thought that maybe in a different dimension you were somebody else?"

"I like my life here... with you" Aziraphale said, but his last words were told so quietly that Crowley didn't hear them. Thank God.

The demon threw his hands in the air and gasped. He leaned on the bench and crossed his arms on his chest. His sunglasses almost fell down, so the demon fixed them and started to talk again:

"You're boring, angel." Aziraphale wanted to argue with that statement, but he didn't manage to do that because Crowley quickly continued. "Maybe in a different world you are a doctor or a rock star or..." he thought for a second. "A vampire!"

"Vampires don't exist, Crowley."

"Oh, come on, angel. Let your imagination run wild! I'm sure you can come up with something."

There was a short silence and the demon started to grow impatient with the angel. Suddenly, Aziraphale giggled and Crowley had to admit that it was one of the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. However, he really wanted to know, what was so funny.

"Well, Crowley, don't be offended, but I thought about you being a grumpy detective," the blonde laughed again and covered his mouth.

"Very funny, angel. Me? Grumpy? Never." Crowley turned away from Aziraphale and crossed his arms on his chest.

After a couple of seconds the angel stopped laughing and noticed the ginger sulking. He came closer to him and put his arm around Crowley's waist.

"Crowley, dear, please, stop sulking," said the blonde with a slightly worried smile and remains of a laugh. The demon turned his head ever further from Aziraphale but didn't brush off his arm. Instead, he nestled in the angle's shoulder.

"Even grumpy, you would be very handsome," whispered the angle and kissed Crowley on his cheek.

"I'm not grumpy!"

***

Coughing from the amount of dust, the Doctor went out from the TARDIS and tried to see where he had landed. Around him was a thick forest. The man could barely see anything through it. Although his surrounding did look like the Earth, the Doctor noticed that something was different. It was already night, so the Doctor took out a torch and his screwdriver. He didn't really want to go far from the TARDIS, but his natural curiosity didn't let him stay in one place.

As he explored the woods further, trees started to thin and soon the Doctor found himself in the middle of a glade. The night was cloudy and quiet. Both of his hearts started to beat slightly faster. Well, the Doctor wasn't chicken-hearted, but taking into consideration that just a couple of minutes earlier he had landed in a completely unknown place, emotions got the better of him. He wished he hadn't been there alone. Rose would probably figure something out. Her point of view was crucial for the Doctor. She had helped him numerous times before. Now her help would be priceless.

Suddenly, noises from bushes nearby came to the Doctor's ears. He quickly drew out his screwdriver and turned around, but he was too slow because a very pale and fast creature had already grabbed him by his throat.

"Who are you?" growled the creature. It looked like an old man, but it was definitely nowhere near as weak as an elderly person. The Doctor was hanging above the ground and tried to catch a breath. When the stranger noticed his efforts he loosened his grip and repeated the question.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor of what?"

"Just the Doctor," muttered the Time Lord. "And if you were so nice and put me on the ground, I'd be grateful," said the Time Lord, and soon he found himself on his feet. He wiped off the invisible dust and stood straight.

"Would you mind telling me the year, mister...?"

"Tanis, and it's 1402, how can you not know that?" the man grew impatient and came closer to the Doctor.

"Well, I came a long way, lots track of time. Now, please excuse me, but I have to go." The Time Lord took a few steps, but he was stopped by a tight grab on his collar.

"You're going with me, Doctor."

Fortunately, the walk to their destination was not long. The Time Lord tried to strike up a conversation, however Tanis wasn't in a mood for talk. When they went through the fog, a big castle appeared before them. Guards stood every two meters on the castle's walls. At first, they were aiming at the Doctor, but when Tanis gave them a sign, they lowered the crossbows. But even though they kept an eye on the newcomer.

"Open the gates!" one of the guards shouted and two, enormous wooden doors opened. Inside there were a lot of blacksmiths, craftsman and armourers. The thing that drew the Doctor's attention was the amount of chains around them. He noticed also spiked collars around their necks. They looked like... slaves. One of them kept staring at the Time Lord and seemed to be particularly interested in the stranger. However, he couldn't continue staring because he spotted Viktor going out to meet the newcomer.

The Doctor quickly found out that the Viktor was the lord of the castle. He invited the Time Lord in and served him the most delicious food. The weird thing was that only the Doctor was actually eating. The rest of "people" were just staring at him and whispering in one another's ear. Although the Doctor didn't really think that they were a completely different species, he had his suspicious. One glimpse told him that something was wrong. Viktor and his people lived in a dark castle where the Doctor had to squint sometimes to see properly in that poor light.

"So where do you come from, Doctor?" asked the young lady whose name was Sonja. She was Viktor's daughter and a very good warrior. She seemed more friendly than the rest of her "family".

"Well, I’m a traveller," he said with pride. Sonja started to ask him many questions about his journeys, people he'd met and the most dangerous encounters. In fact, they were the only one talking. The subjects didn't dare to interrupt the conversation, in addition that Viktor seemed pleased with his daughter's new acquaintance.

The pair had been talking for over two hours when Sonja noticed that the Doctor grew tired. He still carried on with his story but started to lost his strand. Actually the man didn't really see the time change because outside the weather was exactly the same as earlier.

"Excuse me, Doctor," interrupted Sonja. "I think that you should go for rest, you seem very tired."

The Time Lord looked at her with gratitude. He hadn't wanted to be impolite and leave his hosts. Relieved, he stood up, thanked for the meal and followed Sonja. They went through many corridors and from time to time they passed by a torch which gave a small amount of light in the darkness. At some point they had to leave the main part of the castle, so again the Doctor could see all those people outside. They looked at him with suspicions but only in the blacksmith's eyes he could see something like anger mixed with jealousy. Thank God, he was chained because otherwise the Doctor would be in big troubles. However, he thought that he had seen somebody similar to the blacksmith. Curiosity took the better of him and when they finally came to his room, when Sonja bid him goodnight and was about to leave, he asked.

"Why all these men outside are chained? Isn't it a little immoral?"

The woman froze in the door frame and slowly turned around. The look on her face showed annoyance and a bit of worry. The distance between them suddenly decreased and Sonja wasn't that excited person as before.

"You shouldn't stick your nose in somebody else's business," she whispered with a growl. The last thing that the Doctor noticed was the doors closing. Something was indeed wrong here, and he had to find out what. Probably the best person to talk to would be the blacksmith. But now, he had to rest.

Chapter Text

The next day wasn't much different from the previous one. Still there was really dark, so the Doctor couldn't feel like he woke up during actually the day. He thought about finding something to eat but surprisingly there was a plate with breakfast laying on a chair. The food was excellent but the man didn't want to think how they had caught the animal to prepare the meal. For a couple of minutes he thought about what to do with the plate but eventually he placed it back on the chair and after a quick dress-up he went out. The torches were lit all the time but the Doctor didn't complain. Without them, he wouldn't even know where he was heading. His goal for that day was to talk to the blacksmith and find out about what was going on. He seemed like a good source of information even though he looked at the Doctor like at a prey.

"Doctor!" he heard from behind. It was nobody else but Sonja greeting him with her bright smile.

"Hello, Sonja. Thank you for the delicious breakfast," he replied politely.

The woman told him about the arrival of new people. However, when the Doctor asked her who exactly were those people she refused to answer. In fact, Sonja had to prepare herself for the journey, so she abandoned the man. It was the Doctor's perfect moment to talk to the blacksmith. Still, the surrounding people were looking at him with anger. Although that, he tried not to notice them. As soon as he entered the blacksmith's building the smell of burned metal hit him. A variety of axes, swords and other kinds of weapons hung on the walls. What was interesting was that most of them were made of silver. Many of them had their blades covered with leathers. It gave the Doctor some guesses. The man was admiring the blacksmith's work when he felt a hot blade slightly touching his neck.

"What are you doing here?" asked the bearded man.

"Calm down, mate. I just wanted to talk," answered the Doctor. "I though that maybe you would answer some of my question," added the man with his bright smile.

"You ain't getting any answers from me." The blacksmith put down the blade and came back to his previous work. He looked like he didn't care about the Doctor's presence but his body language showed that he was still very cautious.

"Isn't iron easier to extract?" the Doctor said touching a sharp blade.

"It's none of your business, man," growled the blacksmith forging a new sword.

"You can call me the Doctor."

"Whatever."

"Well, you're not very talkative, are you?"

"Lucian!" Both men turned around and found Sonja entering the smithy. She was quite surprised noticing both of them together.

"So, Lucian it is," the Doctor smiled at the blacksmith. He looked at Sonja then again at Lucian. The tension in the room grew thicker, so he decided to leave the smithy and mind his own business. However, he knew that something was about to happen. The Time Lord sat on a bench against the wall and observed the surrounding. Soon, a few horsemen appeared before the gates and waited for their commander. It turned out that it was Sonja herself.

"Lady Sonja, your father has ordered you to stay behind," announced Tanis. The Doctor still remembered his disgusting breath.

"I intend to see our guests safely through the gates," replied Sonja with confidence. "Gate master!."

"This is not a request," Tanis stopped her once more. "Your father is ruler of the coven."

"So he keeps reminding me." The Doctor chuckled a little, drawing the attention of a few guards.

After a short argument Sonja and her company rode away. The gathering stared to disperse and the only person nearby was the blacksmith, Lucian. Soon he was approached by Tanis who came closer with a mischievous smile. He said something to Lucian and the Doctor could see fear in his eyes. However, he shook his head and came back to his previous job.

The Doctor decided that talking to Lucian is not going to help him and came inside the main hall. Viktor was walking in circles in the middle of the room, visibly mad.

"Doctor!" he shouted when he saw the man joining him.

"I'd like to ask you a question," he started. "Did you see my daughter anywhere near the blacksmith?"

The Doctor thought for a second. He didn't see a point in ruining the couple's life.

"Well, my lord, I've seen Sonja ordering the blacksmith to create new weapons but I guess it's nothing unusual."

"As much as I love her, she is too reckless. I told her to stay here but she doesn't listen to me!"

"I know a person like her," said the Doctor smiling at the thought of her blonde friend.

After a short silence the two men heard howling from the outside. Viktor momentarily put his goblet with wine down and rushed to the exit. At the last moment Viktor turned to look at the Doctor.

"You wanted to know why those people are chained, so come with me."

Chapter Text

When the Doctor and Viktor found themselves on the courtyard, guards were already alert.

"My lord, the blacksmith has escaped!" shouted one of the men. Viktor's eyes glowed with anger. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists. After a while the Doctor and Viktor mounted their horses and followed Lucian's tracks. As they rode further the noises grew louder and more terrified. The Doctor quickened his horse and overtook Viktor and his company. At the battlefield blood was everywhere and the Time Lord could smell the smell of dead bodies. In fact, those bodies didn't look like humans' one. They were too big and furry. The Doctor was convinced about his previous assumptions. He met Sonja's gaze who was trying to help Lucian. The man was laying naked on the ground whining with pain. There was an arrow stuck in his back that Sonja managed to pull out. As soon as she did it, she turned her gaze and noticed her father coming closer. The woman immediately stood up.

"He did it to save me," she said taking a defensive attitude. But Viktor didn't pay any attention to her.

"Am I not master of this house?" he growled looking at exhausted Lucian. After those words he slapped the blacksmith across his face. The Doctor wanted to rush to them but he was stopped by guards.

"You know you are forbidden to remove your shackle," Viktor continued. Sonja knew better than to interrupt her father.

"Yes," Lucian gasped. His voice was barely audible.

"Yet you break my law after I gave you your life." The blacksmith looked down. He was utterly terrified. It wasn't the same Lucian who could growl and snarl at the Doctor. He didn't even want to know what Viktor must have done to him that now Lucian was so scared of him.

"Your days of plush living are over, slave." The Doctor hated that word. He'd been to a lot of places and every time he'd seen slavery he had been furious. That was not the world that the Doctor was fighting for.

Lucian looked at the Time Lord with shame in his eyes. It was not surprising. He probably didn't want to be seen as a weak slave. Particularly, in front of a stranger. When Viktor noticed that he slapped him again.

"Alright, stop!" shouted the Doctor escaping the guards' grip.

"You're not the one to interrupt me, man."

"I'm more powerful than you could ever think," answered the Doctor with a serious face. He stood right behind Viktor. The tension between them grew thicker. Lucian and Sonja were observing their movements. Just one move and the Time Lord was ready to defend himself. He knew that Viktor was a calm person but taking into consideration current circumstances he really had to control himself.

"Hold your tongue, Doctor," Viktor hissed not even looking at the Doctor.

"Then be more gentle, my lord," the Time Lord said with irony but Viktor didn't care about his words.

"You have defied me for the last time," he said to Sonja. "Get her out of here!" Sonja looked at the Doctor and mouthed thank you.

Viktor ordered to burn the bodies and came back to his horse. Two guards took barely alive Lucian's arms, and they virtually dragged him back to the castle. The Doctor looked around for a while and noticed an abandoned shackle on the ground. He quickly picked it up and put in his pocket. 'It might be helpful,' he thought and followed the rest of the people.

The fog was so thick that the Doctor wondered how Viktor or anybody else were able to find the right path. It only gave the man more proofs for his theory about his new "friends". Big, furry creatures against pale, sharp-teeth people. It was quite obvious to the Doctor who he was dealing with. Although, he didn't want to show that to them. The Doctor mounted his horse once more and caught on with the guards who were dragging Lucian. They were marching too fast to Lucian to catch on with them so that his feet were constantly hitting various roots and stones. That had its consequences in the blacksmith's moans and the guards threats to shut up. Sonja turned her to see how Lucian was doing and a single tear fell down her cheek. She quickly wiped it off and tried to stay strong. After another Lucian's cry followed by a guard's shout the Doctor couldn't help himself. He rode closer to the guards.

"Put him on my horse," he ordered with steady voice. The guards look at each other, snorted and continue walking. This time the Doctor stood on their way leaving no other path.

"Out of the way!"

"No until you won't do what I asked for." Lucian looked up at the Doctor with hope.

"Out of the way, man!" shouted the guard and pointed his sword's blade.

"Let him do what he wants," the deep voice of Viktor came to their ears. The Doctor dismounted his horse and simultaneously the guards let go of Lucian. If the Doctor had been slower, Lucian would have landed on the ground. Fortunately, he managed to catch him and help him get on the horse.

When Lucian's was finally on the horse, the Doctor sat behind him and stabilized his weak body with his arm. Blood that was trickling from Lucian's wounds and slowly soaking in the Doctor's jacket. The man's head was tilted forward and he looked like his mind was floating somewhere far away. The Doctor couldn't see his eyes but he was quite positive that they were nearly closed. From time to time he felt that Lucian's muscles tensed when he was regaining consciousness. But the Time Lord was holding him tight. The surrounding guards were gazing stealthily. It wasn't an everyday view that somebody was so protective and gentle over a mutant. Well, the Doctor was also different from them. He had moral values.

After approximately thirty minutes of riding they finally made it to the castle. Lucian was still half conscious and the Doctor had bad feelings about what would happen next. He had known Viktor for only two days but that was enough to know that he was not a forgiving person. Especially when it came to Lucian. As soon as their rode through the gates two guards took Lucian and tied him to two poles. They chained his wrists and ankles. People started to gather around them. The Doctor stood in a short distance. After a while the crowd stepped aside and revealed Viktor getting closer to the chained man.

"For removing the collar, thirty lashes!" shouted Viktor and then spoke to Lucian.

"You have stung me, Lycan, with your betrayal," he said. Lycan, so that was what they called them. "You were to me like a son. I gave you your life.

"You gave me chains," Lucian replied looking at Viktor with anxiety.

"I would have thought, after all these years, you would have known you cannot have one without the other." Well, the Doctor must have said that Viktor had very original thoughts on bringing up children.

"Do it," was the last thing that he said to Lucian before walking away.

Soon after that a hideous guard took the whips. They had sharp hooks attached at their endings. The Doctor could feel the pain that they would cause. Lucian's breath quickened and soon the Doctor could hear a horrifying scream. The hooks went deep in the man's skin leaving terrible wounds. The Time Lord wanted to do anything but he knew better than to put his life in danger. Instead of that he studied Lucian's expressions which showed ineffable pain. However he looked at the Doctor and then turned his gaze towards a window in the castle. For the man it was an obvious sign.

The Doctor deftly passed by the crowd and headed upstairs. There were a lot of rooms there but light was coming from just one of them. The Time Lord quickly entered the room and saw Sonja standing in front of the window and a woman next to her. Sonja heard the Doctor coming and asked her friend to leave. When they were left alone another scream was heard from the outside. New tears were falling down her cheeks. The Time Lord quickly took off his jacket to prevent Sonja from seeing his lover's blood.

"Maybe you'd better not look at that," the Doctor said and squeezed her shoulder. Sonja quickly turned around and pressed her tearful face in the man's chest.

"I'm so sorry, Sonja. I tried to help."

"You've done a lot already, Doctor," the woman sobbed. "More than anybody could in just two days." After the Sonja chuckled a little and stepped back. She sat on her bed and hid her face in hands. The Doctor was just about to join her when he heard noises from the courtyard. He came closer to the window. Other slaves tried to save Lucian but they were brutally stopped by the guards. The Doctor drew the curtains and took something from his jacket's pocket. The rattle drew Sonja's attention, so she kept her eyes on the Doctor. He kneeled down in front of her and showed the mysterious thing. It was Lucian's shackle.

"I promise I'll help him."

Chapter Text

When Lucian's tortures were done guards went to dungeons with the rest of the salves. Even the guards on the walls had to go down to stifle the riot. It gave the Doctor a perfect way to go of the castle without being seen. He waited until Sonja calmed herself. She has asked him about his rescue plan but the Doctor didn't want to tell her much.

"The less you know, the safer you are," he said and left the room.

Every person he passed through in corridors look at him angrily. One of them told him to leave the castle and mind his own business. Unfortunately for them, the Doctor really like to mind somebody else's business. That's why he sneaked out of the castle and took a horse with him because the path to the TARDIS wasn't that short. While he was riding strange thoughts haunted him. Once more he was alone, and it didn't feel fine. For eternities the Doctor had had to leave the people he loved and cared about. After the encounter with Sarah he was still concerned about leaving Rose. Even though he didn't want to think about that, he knew that it was inevitable. He still remembered when he had rescued her from the Autons. When he had almost lost her because of those stupid games. The world was too dangerous for Rose and he wouldn't forgive himself if something had happened to the girl. He dragged her to his life and in moments like that he regretted it. Sometimes he still found it unbelievable that Rose could just leave her mother and Mickey to travel with him. Sooner or later he would have to let her go. The feeling of being alone came to him again. How much time would it take for him to find a new companion? For how long would they stay? It was impossible to stay with somebody for eternity. Not while being the fucking Time Lord.

The Doctor dismounted the horse and tied him to a branch nearby. As soon as he entered the ship he took the shackle from his pocket and threw in on the cockpit. He hanged the jacket on a pipe and started working.

Making a suitable key for the shackle wasn't really difficult. The TARDIS was far more advanced and could handle much more complicated devices than a simple key. Of course the Doctor wouldn't be himself if he didn't add something. The key he made was unusual. It could fit every lock that it's owner wanted to open. Ideal way to escape. He hoped that Lucian would make a good use of it. Well, Lucian seemed like he would survive more than an average human's 80 years. It would be nice to stay with him but the Doctor knew that he shouldn't have left Rose without saying a word. Also, he still had to deal with the broken TARDIS.

After some time the Doctor was ready to come back. One could have asked him why wouldn't he just escape? Leave those people and just go away. Well, the Doctor wasn't that kind of person. That's why he mounted his horse again and came back to the castle. Fortunately for him the guard hadn't come back on the walls. He had a free way to the courtyard. His horse was quickly put back to its stable among other animals and the Doctor headed to the dungeons. However before that he placed a few mirrors around the castle so that they reflected the sunlight which blocked the way to dungeons. Right after that he rushed downstairs. It wasn't difficult to find the right cell due to the blood that led the Doctor. Inside Lucian was laying on the ground. He was panting and he barely noticed the man standing in front of his cell. The Doctor took the key and opened the cell. Simultaneously a bedlam set up among other prisoners. The closer he got to Lucian the louder were the noises.

"Shut your mouths unless you want to bring here all the guards," hissed the Doctor and kneeled near the blacksmith who started to regain consciousness.

"Back off, man, and go back to those monsters!" screamed one of the slaves. He looked like he was the strongest of them. Fortunately, he was locked for now.

"It's alright, Raze. The Doctor helped me back there is the forest," whispered Lucian who was studying the Doctor's face. He tried to get up twice but failed and hit the ground once more.

"Easy there, wolfie," said the Time Lord and helped him lean on the wall. But when the used nickname came to him, he looked at the Doctor with utter disbelief.

"How..." he tried to say but was quickly cut off.

"Oh, I've seen creatures far more dangerous than you or you bloody friends." The Doctor flashed a wide smile at Lucian and handed him the key. "That's why I came here. This key can open every lock you want. Use it wisely because there is only one." Lucian was fiddling the key with his fingers. It didn't look very unusual. A normal key. However, Lucian knew that the Doctor wasn't a usual man. After a while he looked at the man with concern.

"Why are you helping me?" Lucian's eyes were filled with doubts. It hurt the Doctor that the man must have been so suspicious after all those years in slavery. Lucian, the Lycan, one of the most dangerous creature on the Earth, was now looking at him with disbelief. Through his whole life he had been struggling with surviving. Probably the only person who showed sympathy towards him was Sonja. So it wasn't surprising that he didn't want to believe the Doctor in his good intentions. To cheer him up a little the Time Lord squeezed gently his shoulder. Lucian tensed at first but when nothing happened he relaxed and

"Because I'm not like them." After saying those words he stood up and headed towards the exit. Lucian stood up as well and grabbed the Doctor's wrist. He stopped and turned his head with confusion. For a while they were staring in each other's eyes.

"You can go with us. After all, it is you who is helping us." Lucian looked at him with hope but when he realized that his hand was still around the Time Lord's wrist he stepped back, letting go of the Doctor.

"I'm sorry, Lucian. I don't belong to this world," said the second man and when he was just about to leave Lucian spoke again.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"I don't think so," answered the Doctor. Little did he know that his words were just a half-truth.

When he left the dungeons he heard Lucian's confident voice that encouraged his inmates to escape. The Doctor smiled subconsciously and carried on walking. He hoped that the werewolf would help his own kind and finally put a foot down on that slavery.

Also, finally the Doctor could take care of the TARDIS. He locked the doors and took his screwdriver. The fixing part took him more than earlier and the Doctor had to find some spare arts that he kept in many boxes. It'd been such a long time since the TARDIS broke down. The Time Lord didn't have to care about it and that's why he was struggling with it now. Tons of cables were laying on the floor and from time to time some sparks almost burnt the Doctor. He took off his jacket and tie and worked just in his dress shirt. Sweat was dripping down his face and when he finished his work he sat on the floor and loudly exhaled.

"Alright, darling. Let's find out if I helped you," said the Doctor, and he carefully entered the coordinates. "18th of January 2005," muttered the man. "Please, work."

There was a short silence and the Doctor started to lose his temper. He was just about to kick the cockpit when he heard some rumbling and suddenly the TARDIS teleported itself. The Doctor crashed into the railing but fortunately regain his balance.

When he opened the door everything looked normal. He found himself in a park. Very beautiful one. It reminded him of that park where he said goodbye to Sarah Jane. For a split second he thought that he came back in time too far. Additionally, his head was aching so much and he felt like somebody wanted to enter his thoughts. Some very weird pictures appeared in his mind. A woman with slightly red hair, a man who resembled him but was a bit younger and had longer hair, a man who was introducing himself as Rory, then an old grey-haired guy and finally...

"What on the Earth are you doing here?" The Doctor heard from the behind and when he turned around he saw the woman who had he had just seen in his 'memories'. She had blonde hair, dark eyes and was shorter than him. She was wearing a long coat, suspenders and a slightly striped shirt. She seemed somehow familiar to the Doctor. He knew that she hadn't been a danger.

"I'm sorry, lady, but I got lost. Unfortunately, I don't have time for a friendly chat, bye!" He waved at her at wanted to come back to the TARDIS but the lady stopped him.

"Well, I almost forgot these sideburns." The stranger get closer to the Doctor and studied his face precisely.

"Have we met before?"

"To be frank, we meet daily when we look in a mirror. Nice to meet my old self. We're still not ginger but being a female is a nice difference." The Doctor stared at the woman with utter disbelief. She offered her hand but the Doctor was still quite suspicious.

"Oh please, ask me about the invasion of the Slitheens in London or sharing a body with Cassandra, which wasn't a nice experience. Well, now we are a woman but you know, this is different." 

The Doctor looked at the stranger and tried to gather his thoughts. 

"Wait, wait. You mean we?" 

"Let me introduce myself. I'm the Thirteen Doctor," the lady- he- she- they- oi, whatever, drew the hand which the Doctor took.

"Alright, since we got to know each other I have to ask, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean here?" the Tenth Doctor asked.

"It's 2021 and I don't remember meeting the Thirteen self before. So you must have messed something up."

"You're not wrong. My TARDIS stopped working and I've been trying to fix it but nothing works. If you got some more experience you may want to help me." The Thirteen Doctor walked around the ship and studied it precisely. She looked at it from every perspective and finally went inside. The man followed her and observed her movements. 

"When were you previously?" she asked.

"In 1402, Budapest."

"Well, I would advise on going back in time just a year or two and maybe stay in the same country." The woman started setting the coordinates. The Tenth Doctor came closer and touched her on the shoulder. They felt a painful knock of energy. The Doctors fell on the floor and held their heads.

"What did you do?!" shouted the Thirteen Doctor.

"I touched you which I guess I wasn't suppose to do and I feel like you shared your memories with me. I see so many people in my head, so many bad things happened, so many people died," the Doctor started mumbling and was overwhelmed with the amount of new things. 

The Thirteen Doctor came to him and knelt before him. She was at first hesitated about touching him but she thought that nothing worse could happen.

"Hey, Doctor, it's alright. I know it's a lot but we have to take care of the TARDIS." The Tenth Doctor shook his head and got up. She was right. His priority was now the TARDIS.

"You think that this will work out?"

"We shall see," she answered, activating the ship.

One good thing was that the TARDIS worked more fluently without any rapid moves. After a couple of seconds they felt that they had landed. The Tenth Doctor went to the door and opened it slowly. They found themselves on a high cliff next to the see. The surrounding again didn't look very exotic. The breeze ruffled his hair and coat. In fact that feeling was quite soothing. The Doctor could stay there longer. However, he had to see if the TARDIS had fixed.

"Nice view we have here," the Thirteen Doctor said, standing next to him.

They enjoyed the silence for a longer while and let their bodies and minds (especially the Tenth Doctor's) relax. They stood there until they heard some weird noises from the TARDIS. Both of them turned around and headed the ship. They realised that it started to teleport without their knowledge. They rushed forward but only the Thirteen Doctor managed to get inside.

"I'll find you!" she shouted and disapeared with his TARDIS.

"Great," he muttered to himself and looked around. Not a living sould nearby. But maybe it was good since nobody would ask about a disapearing police box.

The Doctor spotted a town way off in the distance so he decided to go there. Maybe he would find out about the place a little more. He had to admit that the town was settled in a beautiful surrounding. If only the Doctor didn't have to look for his other self.

The walk to the town took him about ten minutes and he had actually came across an old man who looked at him with confusion. The Doctor only nodded a little and contined walking. He saw the sign which had the name of the town written on it...

Chapter Text

“Broadchurch,” the Doctor read the sign and go on walking towards the centre of the town. 

The hour must have been quite early because people were just going out to work. Not only them, he spotted a few groups of teenagers heading to school. 

“Good morning, sir,” said the tallest boy. The other nodded at the Doctor but they seemed quite scared of him. 

“Morning, lads,” he replied which confused the boy. All of them speeded up and left the Doctor.

He went on down the street. People were constantly staring at him. A few men greeted him and were surprised when the Doctor gave him a wide smile. Unfortunately, the Time Lord didn’t know where to go. He knew that he had to look for his female self. The problem was that he didn’t know how to do it. The Doctor kept looking around and suddenly he spotted a familiar face. 

The man who was standing in front of a church was wearing a long coat and was about to enter the temple. In the Doctor’s mind popped up a lot of strange memories. Rory? Was that the man’s name? The Doctor saw himself looking slightly different but the man that was with him in that memory was indeed the one standing in front of him.

"Rory!" he shouted but the man didn't react, so the Doctor jogged forward. "Hey, stop!" he tried again and that time the man turned around.

"Good morning, DI Hardy, has anything happened?" said the man.

"Listen, Rory, you probably don't recognize me right now because we met when I looked differently but it is still me, the Doctor, and I really need you're help," he said on one breath and added. "Wait, what did you call me?"

"DI Hardy, are you okay? And who is Rory?" the priest looked at him with confusion.

"Who is- Fuck!" the Doctor swore and run his hands through his hair. The other man raised his eyebrows and waited for an explanation. Fortunately, the Doctor had already come up with a plan. 

"Oh, yes, Hardy, that's me, sure," he said and stood straight. He decided to play along, so that nobody would be so suspicious. "I came here because I'm looking for a woman, this tall." He pointed at his chin. "Blonde hair, green eyes."

"Are you talking about Beth Latimer? You know here well, don't you?"

"Yes! Yes, I do, that's why I'm looking for her. I really have to talk to her," he clarified but still the priest didn't seem convinced. "Would you, please, tell me her address?"

The man, who turned out not to be Rory, waited for a couple of seconds and studied the Doctor's face closely. Eventually, he shared the address and didn't manage to ask any other question because the Time Lord had been already on his way. It was an odd encounter but Paul decided to let go of it.

The Doctor walked towards the particular street quickly. He didn't care about the people that he nearly bumped into. His only aim was to find his other self and fix the TARDIS. The town was reather small but it didn't stop it from being bustling. Also, it was quite lovely and under other circumstances, he would stay there for a couple of days. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone like he wanted them to. 

After a fifteen-minute walk he appeared in front of the particular house. It didn't differ from any other so it was a good hideout from aliens. The Doctor knocked loudly and waited for anybody to open. Suddenly, he saw a young girl before his eyes.

"Oh, DI Hardy, is everything okay?" she asked looking a little concerned. However, she was quite taken aback by the detective's look.

"Yeah, is Beth Latimer at home?" 

"Please, wait a second, I'll get my mum."

"Mum? You want to tell me that I have a daughter?" he managed to ask before the girl disappeared in the house.

"Well, yes you do," she answered and went inside.

A daughter? I have a daughter! I'll have to tell Rose about it! he thought with a broad smile. He had never really thought about a family but the perspective of having one was quite tempting. It would be nice to care about the people he loved. But still, the biggest problem was his immortality. Sometimes he wished it hadn't existed.

"Yes?" he heard and finally saw the person he had been looking for. 

"Great! Finally! Alright, where is the TARDIS?" The woman gave him a confused look.

"The what?"

"Oh, come on, the police box. Don't say that you... don't know what I'm talking about, of course." The Doctor threw his hand in the air. Again he forgot about that weird situation. It started to be irritating not to be able to find the right person among all those people who looked so familiar.

"I don't really know what you are talking about, detective, but I'd advise you on going at the police station." Well, that was some plan. He thanked politely and left the woman. 

That time he had to rely on signs because he thought that it would be suspicious if he asked for a direction to his workplace since he came to the conclusion that it was where the DI worked. He started to get tired because of all of these. Just think that he could have just waited for Rose. At least he would have been here completely alone. At that moment he really wished to go to her and just enjoy her company. 

Finally, he got to the station and noticed that so many people were greeting him but simultaneously trying to get out of his way as fast as it was possible. Alright, now he had to pretend to be the DI that everybody mistook him for. Just be casual, he thought and entered the main room.

"Hello and good morning everybody!" he shouted which drew the attention of every officer there. They shared hidden smiles and looks of worries. But one person came closer to him.

"Are you fine, Hardy?" she asked and the Doctor made big eyes when he saw her. That was it, the disgusting creature that he had met before, well actually in the future but it didn't matter right now. "Boss?" the lady said again and the Time Lord shook his head reminding himself that she wasn't the thing that he took her for.

"Yes, of course, I'm..." he suspended his voice and looked behind the woman to see the name label on her desk. "Ellie, I'm fine." He gave her a wide smile.

"Ellie? You don't have a fever, do you?" she said with a chuckle but decided to enjoy Alec's good humour. 

The Doctor wanted to reply but he was cut off by some officer.

"DI Hardy, DS Miller, you are expected on a crime scene."

"Off we go!" exclaimed the Time Lord and headed toward the exit.

Meanwhile, he was still looking for his ship but it was nowhere near. He kept walking fast so Ellie had to jog behind him to catch on. When they were next to each other, she examined him a little more closely. 

"What happened to your previous outfit?" 

The Doctor looked at her and Ellie expected a snappy comment. "Don't you like it?" Miller was silent.

When they entered the car park the man stopped and hesitated. The woman showed him the right car and when she was about to get into it, the Doctor opened the door's for her. Ellie said a quiet 'thank you' and waited for him in the vehicle. He took a sit and started messing with the radio. Surprisingly, he left it on a pop song and Ellie would never expect Hardy to like that type of music.

"So what do we know about the case?" he asked finally. The Doctor had to keep up appearances. So far it hadn't been so hard.

Miller briefly told him a little about the victim but couldn't focus and had to raise an important subject.

"What's with your accent?"

"What do you mean?" He looked taken aback and waited for some explanation.

Ellie cleared her throat. "As far as I'm concerned, you are Scottish, sir."

"I'm Scottish?!" he shouted out of happiness. "I mean, aye, I'm Scottish, lass," he said with a more calm voice. Ellie nearly lost the control of the car because of his outburst.

"I just have to keep my profile low so I don't stand out in the crowd, you know."

It didn't really satisfy Ellie but she decided not to carry on with that topic. Instead, she focused on the road but it was quite impossible while the Doctor was constantly talking and admiring the landscapes. Since when has he got so talkative.

There had been already a lot from the staff on the crime scene. They were all surrounding a single woman who stood there anxious. The crime happened in the forest so both Ellie and the Doctor had to take a short walk to get to them.

"Why did you decide to shave your beard? I didn't think you actually had a razor," she giggled but when he saw his confused look, she turned her head and asked Brian about the details.

"What's got into him?" the man whispered to Ellie when they looked at 'their boss' greeting everybody and talking with them. 

"I don't know, he's been like that from the morning."

They went on to examine the scene. In fact, the Doctor had no idea what to and he started growing impatient because he still couldn't find the TARDIS. There were so many people around him but nobody looked like his female self. Given up, he came to Ellie because she seemed like a nice person. It would have been so bad spending the rest of his life here. But there was still somebody who was waiting for him in London.

"Sir, we found out that the wo-"

"MILLAH!" they heard from the behind and soon Ellie turned around to see actually her boss rushing towards her with anger on his face. Miller looked at her previous companion who started sweating.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Ellie," he said. "But I've got to go!" And he run away from her into the forest. 

He couldn't let anybody see him, much less catch him. He was lucky that his stamina was better from a casual mortal but after some distance he started getting out of breath. For a while he was running backwards to see whether somebody was after him and suddenly he bumped into a man who was casually walking on a path.

"Oi! I'm so sorry, mate," he said and  sped up because he wasn't sure if that guy wasn't anybody from the police. Although, he looked like an everyday citizen, with neatly set greyish hair and a two-day stubble. He didn't manage to say anything because the Doctor was already too far away.

Find the TARDIS, find the TARDIS, the Doctor was telling himself. Finally he went out of the forest and found himself on the beach again. He got a good view of the whole area and happily heard a familiar sound of his ship. 

The police box appeared in front of him and when the door opened, the Thirteen Doctor peeked out of them. The man rushed towards her without second thoughts and run to the cockpit.

"What are you-"

"We have to get out of here! As soon as possible!" He pushed random buttons and let the TARDIS land anywhere it wanted.

Chapter Text

"Why the bloody hell are you here without talking to me?!" Alec shouted and threw his hands in the air. It drew everybody's attention, especially, when they'd just seen him all happy and kind. 

"What do mean, sir? But you've just-" She looked around to find... well, her boss.

"I what?! I've just left the station and they told me that you'd already left WITH ME." Hardy looked at her with anger and waited for a proper answer.

"I- I'm sorry, sir, but-"

"A'right, I'm done with it. I need somebody to tell me what's going on here." The detective walked away and started taunting the people who didn't answer his questions immediately. 

Both of them spend there about thirty minutes, until Hardy decided to go at the station and talk about the suspects. There was an irritating silence between them. Well, irritating for Ellie because Hardy was completely fine with it. He was still angry with her for disobeying him and not informing him about her activity. They got in a car and Alec slammed the door so hard that the DS checked if the wing mirrors hadn't fallen off.

"We will have to contact the doctor who takes care of Judy," Ellie spoke.

"Who's Judy?"

"Our victim, sir."

Hardy only groaned and looked through the window. Ellie still couldn't get what had happened during the last couple of hours but didn't want to dig deeper. Not now at least. Instead, she had to think about how to calm Alec. Then he rembered about an invitation that she got from Brian.

"Brian invited me and a few of other officers to a pub tonight." No reply. "I thought that it would be nice if you came too." 

"I don't go to pubs, Miller," he groaned. 

"Oh, come on, Hardy. It would be nice. I won't force you to be there all night but only spent there some quality time." She gave him a quick smile since she still had to watch the road. "You don't have any plans for tonight, do you?” Before he could reply, she added. “I know it’s Wednesday, but we are going to be there for a couple of hours and it won’t affect our work tomorrow.”

Hardy thought for a while and admitted that Miller was right. He thought about spending the evening as usual, paperwork and maybe go to sleep afterwards. That didn't sound very tempting and, in fact, since some time he had wanted to go out but didn't really have with who. He wasn’t a big fan of clubbing but recently Daisy had told him to enjoy his life a little more. At first he ignored her of course, but now it seemed more appealing. 

“Fine,” he said with a forced kindness. “But I’m not taking you drunk to home.”

Ellie of course ignored his words and focused on the fact that she had finally encouraged him to go out. Her goal was also to make the relationship between him and his colleagues better. It was sometimes sad to hear so mean things about Alec coming from other people at the station. 

“I’ll send you the name of the club. We should meet before the entrance,” Miller said.

“Aye.”

After another four hours spent interrogating, Alec was ready to say that he was too tired to go out. Unfortunately, Ellie was too excited for that to let him back off. So they met around 8 pm before a well-known club in Broadchurch. Even though, it was a small town, that club was relatively famous. People from bigger cities came there to have fun. 

“Did you even change your clothes?” Ellie asked when he say the man standing in his casual suit and loose tie. She started to miss the clean shaved Alec with his brownish suit and coat. He looked more like a decent human being. 

“What’s wrong with it?” 

“Oh, God. Come here,” she said and took off his tie and jacket. 

“Oi!” he shouted and tried to push her away.

“Stay still, knob.” Ellie unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt and tried to fix his hair which was messed so much that every strand was turned differently.  

“And now, don’t you look better?” she said, standing before him with a proud smile. 

Soon she dragged him inside, giving his tie and coat to a cloakroom. Immediately, Alec’s ears were attacked with loud music and he had to squint because of the amount of lights. Ellie quickly found their friends sitting in one of the osier. She waved at them and took Hardy to them.

“Hey, guys! Sorry, we’re late, but I had to fix that wanker a little,” she said it so that Alec didn’t hear the last part of the sentence. 

All of them sat together and start a casual chat. At first they were a bit awkward having their boss with them but after the first round of alcohol they relaxed. Of course, Alec didn’t drink. 

“I think it’s time to dance!” One of the officers announced and push through the rest of them and grabbed Ellie with him. They were followed by everybody except Hardy who didn’t feel like dancing. Instead, he went to the bar and sat on the stool. 

He had that weird feeling that somebody had been watching him since he had gone here. Although, he didn’t want to focus on that today, his detective instincts didn’t let him do it. There was a moment when Alec wanted to actually join his colleagues on the dance floor but then somebody patted him on his shoulder.

“Hey,” said the stranger. He was around Alec’s age and looked at him with his blueish eyes. He had grayish hair that curled a little. “Aren’t you the man who bumped into me in the forest?” he asked but he didn’t mean to be mad or anything. More like interested.

“Nah.”

“Okay, you’re not the talking type, I get it. So, do you enjoy going there?” the man was desperately trying to keep the conversation with Alec.

“I know bettah places to spend time in.”

“So maybe if I buy you a drink, you’ll like it better? Whiskey I assume.”

“Assume on what?” Alec asked surprised. 

“You’re a Scot so I thought that this is what you drink,” the stranger said with an innocent voice.

“How do ya know?”

“‘Bettah places’, ‘how do ya now’. It’s quite obvious,” he chuckled but seeing Alec’s worried look he stopped.

“It’s really that obvious?” he asked seriously.

“Well, it is but hey, it’s nice. In fact, I’ve never met a Scot before,” the man said soothingly. “So what’s with that drink?” Alec nodded in approval and soon they were served with two glasses of whiskey. After just one sip, Hardy could feel that he won’t keep on drinking for so long. He wasn’t much of a heavy drinker.

“Shit, sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. Bill Masters,” he said, drawing out his hand. 

“Alec Hardy,” he replied and shook Bill’s hand. 

And when the detective wanted to add to call him Hardy, the other man said.

“Alec, that’s a pretty name.” His name in Bill’s mouth sounded so nice that Hardy didn’t want to correct him. 

They started talking about their lives. Well, at first it was mostly Bill who talked because Alec was still too sober to say anything about himself. But after a couple drinks more he had a goofy smile plastered to his face. He propped his elbow on the table and stared at Bill. The man occasionally asked Alec about something, but the Scot was more interested in just listening to Masters.

“Are you here alone?” he asked suddenly and momentarily Hardy straighten and looked towards the dance floor where he could see Ellie’s curls. 

“Nah, not really.” He looked at the table and tried to avoid Bill’s confused glance. 

“Then why are you not with them?” 

Alec gave Masters a sad look and turned on his stool to face the bar. 

“I don’t think they actually wanted me here.”

“Ow, that’s terrible. Why would they say such a thing?” Bill leaned towards Alec and patted him lightly on his back. Hardy’s view was a little fuzzy because of the alcohol so he leaned into the touch and surprisingly didn’t push the man away. 

“I think I’m too complicated and messed up.” 

Bill came closer to the detective and whispered in a low voice. 

“You know, I don’t really like straight men.” 

Alec blushed at his words and tried to hide his face in the collar of his shirt. His attempts were stopped because of the hand that gently grabbed his chin and moved it to the right. Hardy was facing Bill and couldn’t help looking into his eyes. 

“Don’t hide from me, Alec, please.” 

Both men were getting closer to each other. The music buzzed in their heads and suddenly Alec could even smell Bill's cologne. They were getting closer and suddenly Alec took a look at Masters' lips and jerked away. Suddenly, Hardy's common sense came back and he turned away from him. Bill looked sad but Alec didn't want to give him a disappointment. There was a silence between them and it was getting awkward. Hardy was ready to leave the place when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hardy, I'm coming home, you are going with me?" asked Ellie who took a curious look at her boss' companion.

"Yeah, sure. But you're not staying with the rest?"

"What rest?" she laughed. "We are the last to come back. It's been three hours since we got there." Indeed, apart from Miller, Alec couldn't see anybody from the station nearby. He had spent three hours talking to some stranger. It was quite unbelievable for him.

"Well, then-" Bill gave him an innocent smile and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess, I'll be going too."

"Alright, I'm going to the loo before we go."

And she left them. They were alone again. Just now Alec noticed that there were just a few people in the pub. Most of them were about twenty years and probably didn't have to go to work the next day. Hardy pretended that the surrounding situation was so interesting that he didn't have time to look at Bill. He grew a little impatient and ask.

"I'll be going too, but could I borrow your phone for a while? I really need to call somebody and my battery has died." Alec took his phone from his pocket, unlocked it and gave it to Bill without paying much attention. The man disappeared with his possession and at that moment Hardy realized what he had done.

"Did I just gave my phone to a complete stranger?" he asked the barman who nodded boringly. Alec rubbed his face to sober up quicker and be able to chase the man. But before he could do it, Bill was already next to him, thanking him for lending the phone.

"Thanks, Alec. It was really nice meeting you," Masters said with a broad smile. Hardy only responded with a quiet mutter. After a while he was left by the man and had to wait for Ellie. 

When she came back she asked about Bill but Alec refused to say anything. Instead, he jumped off the barstool and almost collapsed on the floor. Too much of sitting made his legs woobly. What's more, he had been still drunk. The DS giggled at that sight and offered to pick him up. The man didn't have really a chance to turn the offer down because before next thing he knew was sitting in Miller's car who still looked at him from time to time. Fortunately for them, she hasn't been drinking so much and could drive safely. For Alec his current state didn't make much difference because he still couldn't drive a car. 

Ellie parked her vehicle in a car park and decided to escort Alec to his house. Leaving him alone near the water wasn't a good idea. In front of the door, Alec had problems with finding his keys, so again Ellie had to help him and after a short struggle they'd made it inside. Hardy was in such a miserable state that he didn't care about his collegue standing in his leaving room and started taking of his shirt and pants. Fortunately, Miller stopped him soon enough.

"I hope you will manage on your own from now on," she said and giggled when Alec's head was stuck in his shirt.

"Yeah, yeah, Miller. I'm totally fine!" 

The woman left his house and took a look through the window and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Hardy dealt with the stubborn piece of clothing. She drove away with a smile on her face.

Alec on the other hand gave up the idea of showering and stripped to his boxers and went to bed. He had never felt so exhausted. The amount of alcohol and emotions were too much. Sometimes he just wished to have an ability to sober up immediately. 

His inner voice told him to stay up even more and work on the case. But when he touched a pillow with his head, he wasn’t able to force his body to get up. Instead, he thought about Bill Masters. In fact, it has been his first encounter with a stranger since his unsuccessful date. It’s was nice to meet somebody new and Bill seemed like a nice guy. However, Alec want really ready to get involved in new relationships. Frankly, it was quiet extra ordinary that he thought about a relationship while thinking about newly met person. That was not Alec-like.

Chapter Text

The next day was awful. Alec swore to himself that it had been the last time when Ellie took him to a pub. His head was aching and he nearly fell from the bed trying to get up. Sun was shining outside but Alec came to the curtains and drew them immediately. Fortunately, he woke up at a decent hour so he would have to explain himself before his colleagues for being late. 

The best option for him was to take a shower. He took off his boxers and stepped in. A cool stream of water refreshed him and after a ten-minute shower he felt a lot better. He opened the wardrobe and took clean clothing. Nobody could really spotted that Alec changed clothes. His every suit look exactly the same. When Hardy was in a good mood he would say that he got inspired by Seth Brundle from The Fly. In fact, that had been the first time Alec mentioned something like a film in a conversation. 

“You watch movies?” Ellie asked but Alec snapped something in response. 

Well, he did enjoy something that teenagers would call ‘Netflix & chill’ but most of the time he would do it alone. What’s the best, with Daisy. But she went to collage and he was quite lonely in Broadchurch. Of course, he wouldn’t say it out loud. Frankly, if Ellie offered him to go out sometime again, he wouldn’t be very as opposite to that idea, despite his current state and previous swear. 

A one good thing that day was that he didn’t have to go on foot to the station. Since his surgery he had been waiting to be finally able to drive. He remembered times when he used to be an excellent and daring driver. He had to chase a witness twice in his life and that kind of adrenaline was really tempting at times. When he was younger he dreamt of driving a Bentley which was his favourite car. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had a chance to even stand near that kind of vehicle.

On his way to the station he had time to think about the previous night. The stranger who Alec had talked to seemed nice. Under other circumstances, Hardy would be willing to meet him again but his obstinate manner didn’t let him admit that. And just then he remembered that Bill used his phone the other day. When he parked the car and got out, he took the phone out and examined it closely. It looked fine so he entered the history call and find the last number. Surprisingly, it hadn’t been deleted. The dial code showed everything and Alec knew that it was an American number. He didn’t even want to think how much would the call cost him. But it lasted only three seconds and it was far to short for even a quick chat. For a split second the detective wanted to call it but when he thought about the possible bill, he didn’t. 

“Good morning, sir,” Ellie greeted him as soon as he entered the station. Some officers hoped that maybe that time their boss would also greet them with a smile but sadly it didn’t happen. 

Alec mumbled something to Miller in response and asked her to follow him to his office. As soon as he sat on his chair, Ellie placed a paper bag before him.

“Take it. I assumed that you didn’t eat anything in the morning so I brought you a sandwich.”

“What is it?” 

“Painkillers for your hangover.”

“I’m not hangover…” he said but unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite which caused a chuckle from Ellie. 

There was a short silence between them and Hardy knew that Miller wanted to tell him something. She sat on the couch opposite to him and kept wiggling. 

“Wat?” he asked with full mouth.

“Who was that guy in the pub yesterday? she said with too much interest if you asked Alec.

“Don’t know him, a stranger,” he disposed her and shrugged.

The detective could see a sparkle in Ellie’s eyes before she said:

“Well, you know, my friend has recently seen you on the TV and she’s visiting me in two days and would like to meet you, so I wanted to ask if you would like to-”

“No,” Alec cut her off because he didn’t want to pretend any more. 

She took an irritated glance at him. “Come on, Hardy. You don’t even know her! Why do you have to be such a knob?!”

“No, no, Ellie, I’m sure that your friend is a wonderful lady but…”

“But what?”

Alec knew that he had to say it now. He exhaled loudly and whispered so that only Miller could hear him:

“I’m gay.” 

The woman looked at him with wide eyes and shock. She couldn't say a word for a while and when she got over it, she felt so embarrassed.

“Shit, I’m so sorry. I should have asked beforehand.”

“No, it’s alright. You know now and I’m not mad at you,” he told her with a soothing half-smile. 

Again neither of them said anything and the silence started to overwhelm them. Alec came back to eating his sandwich and suddenly he saw a cheeky smile forming on Ellie’s lips. 

“So, that guy yesterday…”

“Shut up, Millah and back to work!” Ellie laughed and leave the office. But she didn’t miss that Alec’s corners of lips went up when she mentioned the mysterious stranger. 

After taking the painkillers Alec felt a little better. His head stopped throbbing and he could again come back to the paperwork. Ellie told him that they got the recording from the CCTV near the entrance to the forest where the victim had been attacked. They studied them for a while until Jenkinson approached them.

“Ellie, Alec, the doctors have the results of Judi Wright examination.”

“I’ll open my mailbox in a while ma’am,” answered Alec and came back to watching the videos.

“Alec, you have to go the hospital and take it personally,” Jenkinson clarified. Hardy growled.

“Why? Can’t they just send it to me?”

“They had some changes in the staff and said that it would be easier for them if you get it on your own,” she said and turned around, not wanting to continue the conversation. 

Alec rubbed his face and looked at Ellie with annoyance. She only took her jacket and left the station. Hardy groaned once more and followed her.

As soon as they entered the building, Alec felt sick. The smell of medicine, all those people in white coats conjured up bad memories. Even though, it had been four years since his surgery and everything had been quite fine so far, he still didn’t like being around doctors.

“Excuse me.” The detectives stopped by a reception. “DI Hardy and DS Miller. We are looking for Doctor Blair.”

“Oh, yes. You’re here to get the results of that poor lady.” Both of them nodded and the young girl checked something on her computer. She frowned a little but turned to the detectives.

“It seems that doctor Blair wasn’t the one who did the examination. It was our new doctor instead. I informed him that you want to see him. His office is in room 34. Straight forward and second doors on your left.” 

Miller thanked the lady and caught up with Hardy. His face showed growing annoyance. He felt like the people around were constantly looking at him and knew about his depraving condition. Even after so many years, Alec was still embarrassed about the fact that he wasn’t THAT old and still had to have a pacemaker. 

“Don’t scare away the doctor with your deadly look,” Ellie joked and knocked on the door. After a while they heard a polite ‘come in’. 

“You must be the detectives,” said the man who looked too familiar for Alec but still he could see only his back because he was looking for a particular file. “I’m new here but I’ll try my best to help you.” He turned around. “My name is-”

“William Masters,” finished Alec who looked at the man with big eyes. Bill bit his lip in an anxious manner. 

“Wait, aren’t you that guy from the pub?” asked Ellie who was a little amused by the situation. Masters only gave her a shy smile in response.

They would stay in that silence longer but suddenly Miller’s phone rang so she excused them and left the room. The two men were there alone and didn’t really know what to do. Alec avoided Bill’s look but didn’t know why. They were adults, right? And nothing really happened yesterday. So why he was so ashamed of him? 

“So,” started Bill. “You came here for the files.” He gave Hardy the documentation and the detective felt shivers down his spine when his fingers accidentally brushed Masters’ hand. “I found pieces of DNA under her fingernails and I sent them to the lab. You should expect the results after two days. Also, she had scratches on her neck which proved her testimony that she didn’t see the predator.” Listening to the man, Hardy was only looking at him, not daring to interrupt. He seemed so different from the Bill in the pub. His hair was neatly set and he was clean shaved. He was so professional that Alec wondered if he looked similar while giving a speech. 

“That’s probably all.” Those words woke Hardy up from his deep thoughts and he realized that he hadn’t listened to the other half of Masters report. 

“Anything else?” Bill asked and he was so emotionless that it made Alec a little sad. Masters looked more interested in him the other day. 

“Who did you call yesterday?” Hardy said and just after that it hit him that he had said it out loud. 

Bill frowned. “What do you mean?”

Alec wanted to say ‘never mind’ but decided to carry on.

“When I lent you my phone, who did you call?”

“Why do you want to know?” The constant questions and postponing seemed suspicious to Alec but his detective curiosity couldn’t let him go of it. 

“The call lasted only three seconds. I don’t know which conversation would last that short.”

Masters shrugged and smiled innocently at the other man. “Why don't you see for yourself?” 

Alec thought for a while and took his phone, eyeing the doctor who didn’t show any signs of stress. He slowly chose the right number and placed the phone near his ear. For a while they didn't hear anything but then, Bill's phone rang.

"Could you pick up? I can't hear anything because of your-" And then it occurred to him. Masters kept smiling and didn't move.

"But you said that your phone was dead..."

"It was a white lie, I must admit," Bill explained and stepped a little closer. Even though, Alec was taller than him, he felt like he was the smaller one in that conversation. In a good way of course.

"Why?"

Bill exhaled. "I didn't know if you would give me your number if I asked you. So I decided to tricked you a little. You can always delete it if you want."

"But why would you like to have my number?" Alec kept asking which made Masters laugh. However, when he saw that it was a serious question, he stopped.

"Em, well, to keep it touch with you. I was actually thinking of inviting you for a dinner." Hardy blinked a couple of times to see if it wasn't a dream. It had been such a long time since somebody wanted to go with him anywhere (excluding Ellie). He didn't know if he should believe him or not. 

"A dinner? With me?"

"Yes. I can send you the date and the adress. You would have to write yes or no, that's all. I won't force you but I will encourage you," he winked at Alec and he felt like in the pub again. He begged that he wasn't blushing. 

"Sure, I can do that," Hardy whispered and turned to leave the room.

"If you need more information, DI Hardy, you have my number!" Alec only smiled politely and opened the door. 

As soon as he closed it, he bumped into Ellie who was obviously ear-dropping. 

"What are you doing, Miller?" he growled.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with doctor Masters," she smiled and Alec just shook his head and went towards the exit. 

"So... a doctor."

"Shut up, Miller."

"And he's quite handsome I must say."

"I'm begging you, Miller."

"What? You would be just like Sherlock and Watson! You even remind me of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman!" she laughed again. Hardy groaned loudly when he heard about those stupid actors. He remembered when Ellie had started watching that crappy TV show and had been comparing him to Sherlock Holmes constantly. 

Suddenly, during Ellie's chatter, Alec heard that he got a message from an unknown number.

11 Highfield Street, 7 pm, today's evening, sounds good?

Alec immediately shoved his phone in his pocket when he saw that Miller looked at the screen.

"Was it him?" she asked excited and grabbed him by his wrist when they stood in front of the hospital. "You should give him a chance."

"I barely know him," he answered and pulled his hand away from the woman.

"This is why people go on dates!"

"Don't call it a date." Alec started walking to the car and tried to ignored Ellie's encouragements. 

However, when they were finally in the car, Hardy grabbed his mobile once more and change the name of the unknown number to 'William Masters' and sent a short text:

Sounds good.

Chapter Text

Probably for the first time since the end of his marriage, Alec had been so stressed about going out with a new person. His Tinder dates were nothing like that. But of course it wasn't a date. He just decided to follow Ellie's advice and find a new friend in Broadchurch. But still he couldn't focus on his case. Suddenly, his thoughts wandered away and couldn't settle whenever Alec let himself think about the da- meeting. 

"Hardy!" shouted Ellie who all of a sudden appeared in his office and desperately tried to draw his attention.

The detective was sitting at his desk and staring blindly in the monitor of his computer. He was about to check the alibi of their suspect. Instead, he was just looking in the distance with a small smile plastered to his face. At first, when Miller entered the room, she was quite amused with his current state but when he stopped responding, she grew impatient.  

"Wat?" 

"Did you check Gates' testimony?" she asked.

Alec took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Not just yet." He looked at the clock. 4.54 pm.

Normally, he wouldn't even care about the time because he would stay at work probably till late evening. Well, that wasn't going to be a normal day. 

"You seemed a little distracted, sir," she teased with a cheeky smile. Alec groaned and turned to the screen again. Suddenly, the text that he had to read turned out to be so boring that he couldn't focus on it completely. First time in his life he had felt like that.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped at Ellie who didn't seem very hurt. 

"I'm gloating over your behaviour."

"I'm behaving well, thank you very much." He sat, crossing his arms on his chest and kept staring at Ellie.

Finally, the clock chimed 5 pm and just that, Alec stood up, turned off his computer and grabbed his coat. He passed Miller who looked at him with disbelief. Actually, not only her stared confused at him but the whole station. Among those people appeared also Jenkinson. 

"DI Hardy? It's only 5 pm. You're leaving us that early?" she said to him but her voice didn't show anger.

"Well, I really need to go today. But I'll catch up with everything tomorrow," he started explaining himself, but Jenkinson placed her hand on his shoulder and just tell him not to worry and go. One could say that immediately Hardy relaxed and went out. 

He had to go to his house on foot because in the morning Ellie had picked him up. They had to talk to one of the victim's cousin who said that they had had some information. It was unfortunately a dead end. The girl desperately tried to help her cousin but it turned out that she started to constantly accuse her ex-boyfriend who had been in London. 

That's why Alec was more stressed about running out of time. He would also have to go back to the station's car park to take his car. Since their meeting in the hospital, he had been picked up by Ellie. In fact, it was easier for them to drive together. However, he would rather go on his own to meet Bill.

As soon as he entered his house, he stopped somebody's backpack in the living room. Some noises came from his kitchen and soon he was embraced by two friendly arms.

"Surprise, dad!" Daisy said, hugging his father. Alec immediately smiled and kissed the crown of her head.

"Hey, sweetie."

They sat together on a couch and started talking. The detective asked Daisy about her studies, new friends and living in London. He was so happy when he had heard that she really enjoyed her adult life. That was everything he wanted for her. Finally, she was able to enjoy her life. The conversation was so good that Alec didn't realize what time it was.

"Oh, God, sorry, Daiz, but I have to excuse you," he apologized and came to his bedroom. The confused girl followed him and tilted her head slightly when she saw her father looking for something in his wardrobe. 

"What are you doing, dad?" she asked finally but Hardy didn't feel like telling her the truth. He tried making something up but having a daughter of two detectives proved to him that it was pointless. Eventually, he revealed the truth and Daisy nearly jumped from happiness.

She started walking around her father, looking at him from every angle. She frowned her brow and smiled widely.

"Okay, dad, we need to give you a makeover!"

Firstly, Alec was totally against that idea but eventually agreed and sat patiently in the bathroom. Daisy took razor and scissors and came closer to Hardy. He took a glance at her hands with scare. She started from his beard. She giggled a little when Alec hissed at the feeling of cold metal on his skin. At first, he didn't really trust his daughter since he had been a little to oversensitive about his beard. He had always thought that it had made him more confident. He had decided to grow a beard after Sandbrook. It was a border that separated him from his previous, tough life. That was now a closed chapter and today he got a chance to start over.

After forty minutes he looked much better. Daisy did a great job, trimming his beard so that it didn't cover his whole neck. Also, she shortened the sides of his head so that he looked slimmer. Probably the first time in his life, Alec had a product in his hair. Daisy managed to style it a little so it didn't fall right on his forehead. When her work was done, she stood proudly next to his dad, revealing a mirror in front of him. The change wasn't big but for Hardy it was enough to feel different. He felt exposed in some way. That all scruffy hair worked for him like a cover from surrounding people.

"See? Much better," said Daisy. "Now, do you have any other suit?" He nodded slowly and took her to his wardrobe. 

On the left, next to many similar suits, hanged a white one that Alec kept for special occasions. He didn't even remember when was the last time he had worn it. Fortunately, he hadn't gained weight really, so it still fit him. Daisy fixed some details, straighten every wrinkle and tied a black tie around Alec's neck. Finally, when Hardy was about to leave, concern hit him and his hands started trembling. Young Hardy saw the rapid change in his behaviour and told him to sit down for a while.

"What happened, dad? You should be happy!" 

Alec lifted his head up and gave his daughter a sad smile. "I am. But I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship." 

Daisy hugged herself to his side. "I know it is difficult for you after mum's affair-"

"What?" He jumped in his place and his eyes went wide. "You know?"

"Dad, of course I know. Mum told me a year ago when she took me to France." Hardy was filled with anger. It should have been their both decision. Tess should have told him about it before.

"I know that you are mad at mum, but she came from a good place."

"Daisy, I'm sorry, maybe we should have told you earlier." Alec hid his face in his hands and groaned.

"I'm not mad at any of you, dad. It happened but life still goes on, right? And you deserve to be happy, dad." After that Alec sat straight and hugged his daughter tightly. She was his oasis of calm. His life would be so much worse if he didn't have her.

"Okay, dad." She pulled away and looked at him. "I have to go now so you have to pull yourself together." 

Both of them stood up and Alec followed the girl to the door. They stopped before the entrance and the last time Daisy turned to him and said:

"Just be yourself, dad," And then added with a cheeky smile. "But not too much, we don't want to scare him off!" Alec just shook his head a kissed Daisy's forehead. Soon she left the house and Hardy was alone with his thoughts. 

He had fifteen minutes to arrive on time so he decided to go for his car. He automatically reached for his key cars, but they weren't there. They weren't in the shelf or on the hook. Rushing to his bedroom he took his previous suit and checked every pocket but there was no sign of his lost.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he swore and took out his phone. He didn't want to be last or cancel the meeting. So he did the only thing he could.

***

"How could you lose your keys?!" Ellie shouted, while Alec was getting into her car.

"I don't know, I must have left them somewhere. Maybe at the station," he answered and tried to calm his heartbeat. He had been already late. Bill hadn't texted him yet so that was a good sign. He would be approximately 10 minutes late but it was better than not coming at all.

Miller probably broke a couple of laws while driving but she didn't care. When they finally reached the restaurant, she said a quick 'good luck' but Alec had already been inside, looking for his companion. What ashamed him was that a few people recognized him and stared at his new outfit.

Masters was sitting at the table, checking something on his phone. He looked rather calm, so he probably wouldn't be very mad at Hardy for being late. The detective had to admit that Bill was stylish. He was wearing a grey suit with a checked bow tie.

"Um, hey, Bill, I'm so sorry for being late," he said, sitting on the opposite chair. Bill smiled immediately and listen to Alec. "I was just about to go but I couldn't find my-"

"Car keys?" the doctor interrupted him and shake them in front of Alec's eyes.

"Yes." He grabbed them with confusion and again felt shivers when touched Bill's hand. "How do you have them?"

"They fell out from your pocket yesterday when you reached for your phone," he explained casually.

Hardy carefully put the keys inside his pocket. "So why didn't you stop me?"

"Well, if you didn't show up today, I would have an excuse to see you again." Bill shrugged and eyed Alec more closely. His eyes stopped at Hardy's hair, beard, suit and for a split second on his lips. "But I'm glad you're here today, because you look amazing." The detective looked away and blushed slightly. He wasn't good at receiving compliment. 

"Thanks," he muttered. "You look, erm... good too." Bill chuckled but thanked. 

Meanwhile, they were approached by a waitress who asked them about their orders. Alec had no idea what he should order. Fortunately, Bill let the waitress choose something for them. 

"Of course, sir," she answered and gave him a bright smile which surprisingly made Hardy see red. He followed her with his eyes until she disappreared in the kitchen. 

"Have you ever been here?" Bill's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I have to admit that I made a wild guess."

Alec looked around. "No, I've never been here. I don't really eat out. Or eat at all." Fortunately, Bill took that as a joke.

"So, why police? You wanted to be like Sherlock Holmes?"

"I'm actually more of a Hercules Poirot fan, to be honest," Alec answered. He rembered reading Aghata Christie's books day and night when he was younger. He could spend hours solving cases with Poirot. 

"Why a doctor? What's your specialization?"

Bill gave him a teasing smile. "A gynecologist. I've always been interested in people's sexuality."

They were speaking about their jobs for a while and even a waitress who served them their meals couldn't interrupt them. It turned out that Bill came from Ohio and came to Broadchurch because he got a better job there. However, Alec felt like he had hidden something. But he didn't want to push him because he himself didn't want to say about some things right now. Meanwhile, Bill asked for a bottle of wine and wanted to raise his glass.

"To our meeting," he said.

"To out meeting." Alec clinked their glasses with broad smile and took a sip. Immediately, he felt a lot more relaxed. First time in his life he had felt so comfortable. 

As the time passed, they were covering new topics. At one point, Bill's hand reached Alec's and rubbed the back of it gently. Hardy nearly melted. He didn't remember the last time he had been so intimate with another person. Suddenly, he felt more confident and leaned towards Bill so that the void between them was smaller. After a couple of hours they noticed that more and more people started leaving the restaurant.

"Maybe we could go to my place, have another drink and then I could drive you home." 

Alec, being a little dazed with alcohol, nodded in approval. When it came to paying, Bill didn't even want to hear about Hardy paying for them.

"I invited you, so I will pay."

Right after leaving the building, both men went to Bill's car. Before Alec could open the door, Masters passed him and open the door for him. He recieved a smile from Hardy and go to the other side of the vehicle. When they all got comfortable, Bill started the engine. He took a glance at Alec who was admiring the landscape through the window. He grew to like Broadchurch's scenery. His hand layed on the armpit and was soon covered by Bill's one who held the wheel with one hand and entwined the fingers of the other with Alec's hand. At first, he jerked a little but when Masters took the hand away, Hardy grabbed it quickly again. Under other circumstances, that silence would be awkward for both of them, but that time it was complately fine and peaceful.

When Bill parked in front of his house, Alec felt a little tired. It was half past eleven and even though Hardy knew he had to be at work the next day, he didn't want to end that meeting. The house looked like a typical British one. Narrow and quite tall. He wondered how Bill got used to living there. The doctor unlocked the doors and let him go first.

"After you," he smiled.

As soon as he stepped inside, he was amazed with the interior of the house. The walls were kept in dark colours with dark wood. There were a lot of windows there but they didn't give much light inside. However, when Alec haerd a click all lights turned on. The living room were filled with some souenirs from different countries. The whole room reminded him of a medival tavern from the Witcher books he used to read. Next to the stairs stood a tall bookshelf with a lot of medical books but also some about mythologics. 

"Nordic Mythology by Neil Gaiman? You like mythology?" he asked, taking the book and turnng some pages.

"There was a period in my life when I got really interested in it."

Bill led Alec toward a couch and offered him to take of his jacket and tie which he hanged next to the door. He went to the kitchen to grab two glasses and something stronger to drink. Meanwhile, he turned on a radio so the music reverberated in the room. It was a soothing and peaceful song and suddenly it felt like home. A place that Alec had been looking for a long time. 

"Do you want to watch something?" said Bill, sitting next to Alec and placing the glasses and a bottle on the table. He also get rid of bow tie and jacket and hanged it next to Alec's one. 

Hardy nodded and waited for the doctor to put something on the TV. After a while they started watching some dull comedy so neither of them had to really focus on it. From time to time Alec laughed at somethings and even for himself it was quite an extraordinary thing. He rarely laughed near Ellie and it was so odd for him that he felt so comfortable with Bill. At some point, subconciously, he put his head on Masters shoulder and let his body relax. The first time since a really long time. He could stay like that for eternity.

Chapter Text

Alec had never slept in such soft bed. He borrowed his head in the pillow and didn't want to get up. The smell that filled the room seemed familiar, like Alec had smelt it some time earlier. It was some kind of cologne. He knew just one person that used that cologne. Bill. Alec was in his bed. It must have been his bedroom. Hardy tried to remember how the evening ended but the last thing was that they had been watching a film. Bill promised to drive him home. Suddenly, his breath quickened and he sat on the mattress. Fortunately, Bill was not there, but also, nothing seemed like he had slept in the bed. But maybe he had just made it already? The curtains were drawn so the room was dim. Alec looked around and noticed that the whole place very minimalistic. In the opposite to the rest of the house.

When Alec got up he noticed that he still had his shirt and pants on. That was a good sign. He spotted his phone and keys on the bedside table, so Bill didn't rob him. It calmed him a little but still he didn't know how he had found himself in Bill's bed. He grabbed his possessions and put on his shoes that were neatly placed next to the bed. The door was closed so the detective pushed them quietly and headed downstairs. Approximately, in the middle of the stairs, he felt a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. After that he heard Bill's hum. The feeling was so overwhelming, that Hardy let himself lean on the rail and admire him for some time.

Finally, he went down and met Masters in the kitchen, wearing his casual clothes. Again, his curls were messy that if Hardy wasn't himself, he would call them adorable.

"Oh, Alec!" Bill exclaimed when he turned around. "Please, take a sit. How did you sleep?"

Hardy obeyed and sat at the table, following Masters moves. "Good, but how did I end up in your bed?"

The doctor laughed loudly. "Well, you were quite tired, so I decided not to wake you and just took you to my bedroom." Bill took him to his bedroom? That would mean that he had to lift him up... touch him. 

"Did we- um- you know-" Alec scratched the back of his neck, trying to find suitable words. Bill looked at him with curiosity. "Did we... have sex?"

"No, no, we didn't, I slept on the couch," Bill laughed again, but more because of Hardy's terrified expression.

"Good," Hardy said and Masters seemed a bit sad.

Then a silence fell and it wasn't so comfortable as the day before. Alec's knee started bouncing and he tried to avoid Bill's look. After a while the man served both of them breakfast. It wasn't an exquisite dish because you can't really describe scrambled eggs like that, although it had been the first time from a long time that somebody made food for Hardy. They started eating slowly, not talking to each other. Eventually, Bill cut off the silence.

"I hope you're much more rested than yesterday," he said and Alec nodded. Suddenly, he spotted a clock on the wall which showed 8.47 am. It was quite late for Hardy to be up...

"8.47?! Fuck!" The younger man swore and quickly got up from his sit. "I'm late!"

He run towards the door and took his jacket. It was a risky thing to go to the station in a white suit but he didn't have enough time to go change.

"Bill, it was a really nice meeting but I have to go now," he said to surprised but a little amused Bill who wanted to offer the man a drive but he had been already outside. Fortunately, Bill lived closer to the station than Alec so it took him around seven minutes to go there. He checked his phone which was muted and found three missed calls from Ellie, two texts from her asking how was the date and also a text from Daisy who asked him to call her in his free time.

He rushed inside the building with a loud thump caused by the doors and went straight to his office. Furthermore, he was quickly followed by Miller who didn't look really happy.

"Where have you been?! Why didn't you answer my calls?!" she shouted and if looks could kill, Alec would be dead already. "Since when do you wear bow ties?"

"Bow ties?" he looked down and noticed that he had been trying to tie a bow tie like a tie. "Shit!" 

"Wait a minute," Ellie took a closer look at him. "White suit, trimmed beard, styled hair, or I rather assume it was yesterday, and not your bow tie. You came here straight from the date with Bill!" Miller clapped her hands and smiled brightly at Alec.

"Maybe," he snapped and threw the bow tie on the desk. 

"So tell me, did you shag?"

"Millah! Remember that I'm still you're boss!"

"Oh, come on, Hardy. You can tell me."

"No, we didn't." Ellie made a surprised face on that. However, she tried to get more out of Alec but he refused to talk about it. Instead, he busied himself with tons of files. 

After a while Miller left the office and as soon as Hardy could hear the door closed, he exhaled loudly and leaned on his chair. He tried to sort things out in his head but couldn't. The evening was obviously wonderful. The best he had in a long time. But things were moving too quickly for him. He didn't recognize himself the day before. How could he be so relaxed with Bill? There was definitely something in him that made Alec want to spend with him his every spare minute. For a split second he wished Bill had slept in bed instead.

Suddenly, he heard some loud noises from the outside of his office. Lots of shouting that drew his attention. He got up from the chair and left the room. There was a stranger man standing near the entering door. He was screaming and struggling with the two police officers. Ellie tried to calm the man down but with her every word he got more and more angry. 

"Mister, please, calm down, I'll try to help you." Miller stood in an adequate distance but didn't notice Alec.

"What's going on here?" he growled. 

In the same moment the stranger threw a tantrum. "You fucking piece of shit!" He screamed and managed to get away from the men holding him. Alec had no time for a reaction because he knocked down. The last thing that he heard was Ellie's screams before he blacked out.

***

Bill's shift seemed quite peaceful. Well, barely anything happened around 10 a.m. Masters was still quite down after hearing Alec's relief that they hadn't slept together. It sounded ridiculous but Bill thought of it like of a direct sign that Hardy hadn't wanted to do anything besides being friends. Still, on the other hand, he seemed happy during the whole evening. After their meeting in the hospital, he asked a few nurses if they had known Hardy All of them told him to get away from him because he was so antisocial and grumpy that only DS Miller was able to cope with him. Today, Bill couldn't believe that the grumpy detective turned out to be a very funny and interesting person. Fortunately, he still had his tie. He even brought it with him so that he would go at the station and give it back himself. Well, little did he know that Alec decided to visit him instead.

The doctor was just heading to his office when he heard the paramedics talking loudly from afar. Bill spotted a man, laying on the stretcher but wanted to go on walking when he saw DS Miller among the paramedics. Well, if she was there, Alec would be there too. He came closer to the group and his eyes went wide when he realized that the unconscious man was in fact Alec. His eyebrow was bleeding, just like his lower lip. He had an oxygen mask on but still his breath was to shallow and panting. 

"DS Miller, what happened?" Bill stopped the woman right after the paramedics took Alec to a separate room where the other doctor took care of him.

Ellie looked so shocked that she couldn't focus her eyes on Bill. He took her by her shoulders and told to take deep breaths and asked again about the situation.

"There was a man, Judi's brother, who came at the station and accused Alec of not taking care of the case. He literally jumped on him and started punching him in the face! Three officers had to drag him off Alec!” The woman was shaky. Bill told her to sit down and wait for him. 

Masters went inside the room and talked to the other doctor who was examining Hardy. It turned out that the man hadn’t broken him any bones but gave a slight concussion. Apart from a couple of bruises and small wounds he was alright. Although the sight of a beaten Alec broke Bill’s heart. He quickly informed Ellie about her boss’s state. She stayed next to his bed for a while but had to go and deal with the aggressive man. 

“Take care of him, he needs that, even though his is a stubborn knob,” she said and left Masters in Alec’s room. The man’s breath had stabilized but he was still unconscious. The nurses managed to change his clothes into a hospital gown. It showed Alec’s slightly hairy chest and a faded scar in the middle. Bill wondered what had happened to the man but left that subject for another day. Instead, he sat quietly and studied Hardy’s peaceful face. Suddenly, he felt quiets groans coming from the laying man. His eyes opened and he reached to the mask in order to take it off. 

“I would leave it there, if I were you,” Bill said, making Alec jump a little. 

The detective looked around with confusion and stopped and Masters, casually sitting next to him. Maybe the whole morning was a dream and the truth was that Bill attacked him in his house? 

“DS Miller told me that you were attacked by your victim's brother." Well, that situation sounded more possible. Although, Hardy frowned, trying to remember either the man or the fight. Nothing. A blank space. 

Bill saw his growing anxiety and grabbed his hand with a soothing gesture like the one he had done during their dinner. He gave the detective a while to take away his hand but when nothing like that happened, Masters said.

"It's okay, you have a concussion. They want you to stay in the hospital for at least a day." Alec gasped loudly and started at the celling. The only drawback of his job was that he was constantly in danger of some mentally unstable person that could send him to that awful place. Hospitals were Hardy's least favourite places to be in. However, Bill's presence beside him made the stay less annoying. At least that time he had somebody near.

"Well, I have your tie in my office," the doctor joked and fortunately saw a little smirk on the other man's face. 

The detective took the mask off this time and turned his head to look at Bill. His gaze was tired but happy that he saw Masters in the room.

"I might not be able to give you back your bow tie, I guess it's a little dirty." Masters laughed but jerked away when he heard the doors opening. Soon, they were approached by the attenting doctor. Bill had known her since his first day in Broadchurch and she seemed very nice. 

"Hello, doctor Masters," she said and it was highly possible that she had seen Bill's taking away his hand. 

Bill nodded, being in fact quite surprised that the woman hadn't said anything about him and Hardy in the same room. 

"DI Hardy, I can see that you've already disobeyed one rule," she said, looking at the taken off mask. "My name is doctor Sarah Slumber and I'll be taking care of you for the next two days."

When doctor Slumber started talking to Alec about his medical state, Masters wanted to leave and gave the detective some privacy. However, Hardy looked at him with confusion and asked him to stay. Sarah just smiled to both of men and kept talking. Fortuantely, Hardy's state wasn't fatal. Just a concussion and couple of bruises and scratches here and there. Probably nothing unusual for a police worker. Wven though, after the doctor's leave, Bill sat again next to Hardy and took his hand, fixing him on his bed beforehand. 

"Why did you come here?" Alec asked finally after a short silence.

"I thought you wouldn't want to be here alone, but if you want I can call for DS Miller," he answered and was just about to stand up when he felt a tight grip on his wrist.

"I like Miller, but I'd rather you stay here."

Chapter Text

For some time Alec had been asleep. Bill had stayed with him for the whole time and looked at the peacefully sleeping man. Unfortunately, at some point he had to go back to his work and leave Hardy. Right before leaving, he took the last look at Alec and smiled a little. Hopefully, the DI would get some rest after a couple of very busy days. 

In his office, Bill met with a few patients, and none of them were particularly unpleasant. Although, his mind was always next to Alec who was laying in the bed just a few rooms away from him. Masters wondered if the man actually remembered their conversation... and the hand holding. However, he wished he did. At some point, Bill was ready to strengthen their bond. Maybe those were just a few days but Hardy was different from other people. The nurses told him not to meet with the detective because he was grumpy, boring and rude. In fact, Masters didn't notice any of those features. Yes, at first Alec was a little shy and quiet but that didn't mean he was less attractive. The man had many interesting things to talk about and Bill was more than willing to listen to him. 

Suddenly, when he followed his another patient to the door, he saw a couple of nurses running somewhere. At first Bill didn't really care but when he realized it was Alec's room, he also rushed there. He froze when he heard that high sound that came from the cardiac monitor.

"What's happening?" he shouted and turned to doctor Sarah who also immediately came. She looked a little more calm but she had to work fast. Bill on the other hand was terrified. His steady attitude was completely ruined. He wanted to help but his limbs denied obedience. The only thing he could do was to stare with disbelief. Alec's face was as white as a sheet of paper. One could say that he looked like he was sleeping. But the only difference was that his chest wasn't moving. 

"Bill, please, you have to leave," Sarah said and tried to take Masters outside the room but his limbs denied obedience. He felt completely helpless. The was no sign of his peaceful nature when it came to patients. His mind was  filled with so many bad thoughts that he didn't even noticed when he was sat on the corridor bench. 

Momentarily, he hid his face in his hands and felt single tears falling down his cheeks. He felt pathetic. He'd known Alec for just a couple of days and yet he was crying. Also he was angry at himself that being a doctor he couldn't help the detective. Since his divorce he hadn't felt so worried about the other person. Sitting there, Bill couldn't think of the worst scenario happening to Hardy. Suddenly, after a while, the door opened and doctor Slumber came outside. Masters immediately stood up and asked questions.

"Is he alright? What happened? Can I see him?" The woman looked quite overwhelmed with the amount of words but politely answered.

"We steadied the pacemaker, so DI Hardy is stable right now," she said and added. "You can visit him, although he's asleep."

The doctor left just then and Bill was alone again. He was just about to enter the room when he thought for a while about what Slumber said. Pacemaker? Alec had a pacemaker? Well, that certainly wasn't a thing that Hardy would have shared with strangers. But still it was good to know such thing.

When the man entered the room, his look landed right on the detective. Again, he was pale and sweaty. Fortunately though, his chest was moving slowly and regularly. Bill sat on a chair nearby and stared at Hardy. He tried not to cry again but couldn't prevent a few tears falling down his cheeks. There was so much he wanted to tell Alec and today it occurred to him that he can't wait any much longer. Suddenly, he heard the door opened so he quickly wiped off the tears and turned around.

"Oh, DS Miller, I didn't expect you here," he said, smiling a little. He hoped that the woman wouldn't ask him about his presence in Alec's room.

"Hello, doctor Masters, and please, just Ellie." She reached her hand and shook it with Bill's. "How is he?"

"The doctor said that he's stable..." Bill answered and scratched the back of his neck, wondering if asking a certain question would be appropriate. "And that they steadied his pacemaker."

"His pacemaker?! What happened?" Ellie asked and the doctor described her the whole situation that happened when she was absent. He also asked the woman about Alec's pacemaker.

"Listen, Bill, I don't think I should be the one to tell you things about Hardy's healthcare. Besides, I think that he will be willing to tell you that himself." Masters looked at the woman with confusion, not getting her message. 

"I can see that he likes you and believe me, that doesn't happen often," both of them chuckled. "He might not show that at first but you're important to him." The man thought about her words and he felt a pleasant warm forming inside him. It'd been so long since he heard somebody talking things like that about him. 

They started talking about more casual things, looking at the sleeping Alec. Ellie couldn't stop smiling when she saw Bill's caring look. Hardy was her friend and she wanted the best for him. Especially, knowing about his efforts and many failed dates. The knowledge that he had finally found somebody decent, made her happy. 

After about twenty minutes of their talk, they were approached by doctor Slumber who informed them that Alec would need somebody who would take care of him for about two or three days. When Bill heard that Hardy didn't have anybody like that in Broadchurch, he was ready to offer his help. The female doctor took that as a good idea, since Bill was a qualified person when it came to taking care of patients. Ellie also didn't seem to have anything against that idea. Masters was informed about every medication that Hardy would have to take and that he would be able to come home at the end of that day since his heart was under control.

Soon after that Miller left some of Alec's spare clothes that she took from his house then excused the man and went back to the station. She wished Alec fast recovery and thanked Bill for taking care of him. Again, Masters was alone with Alec who was still sound asleep. The doctor looked around and when he didn't see anybody, he took Hardy's hand in his own and caressed it with his thumb. He hoped that the detective wouldn't mind such gesture but since Hardy was unconscious it didn't seem really inappropriate. Besides, they'd done that before.

"Mphm..." Bill heard and saw the other's man eyes slowly blinking and escaping the hospital lights.

"Alec, thank God, you're alright," he said and tried to take away his hand but it was grabbed by Hardy.

"Leave it, you're warm." Oh, yes, doctor Slumber warned him. They had had to give him some strong painkillers that might have made him loopy. He looked so soft right now. No sign of that strict DI Hardy. Just the same Alec that Bill had a chance to see during their first date.

"You're still here, Billy?" he man asked with a goofy grin. Master smirked at the name but nodded. "Didn't grow annoyed with me?" Alec's accent was much thicker when he didn't control it. 

"No, I didn't want you to wake up lonely," the doctor answered, and Hardy made a long 'awe'.

Both men looked at each other for a while and didn't say anything. The silence between them was relaxing, and Bill no longer felt so worried.

"You're going to be discharged today's evening." Hardy frowned and tried to process what Bill had just said.

"So you're going to leave me?" he asked eventually and his voice trembled a little.

"Actually, you'll need somebody to stay with you for about three days and I offered my help, but I can ask Ellie if you want her instead."

"No!" he shouted and tried to get up but the pain in his chest preventing him from doing that so he collapsed on the bed again. "I want you, Billy, please," he moaned and looked at the man with the cutest eyes that Bill had even seen. It was so incredible to see Alec in such a state. But only after Masters assured him that he would stay, Hardy was more calm. He kept losing focus or started humming suddenly, which made the doctor smirk a couple of times. 

The problem appeared when Masters still had an hour of his work and had to leave Hardy. The detective almost cried at that point but fortunately Bill was able to calm him and asked him to wait just an hour longer and then they'd be ready to go home. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't really focus on his patients so he tried to make the appointments as short as it was possible. When he was finally done, he went straight to Alec's room and heard laughs from the inside. What surprised him was the view of Alec joking with one of the nurses who just a day ago had told him that Hardy is a boring and grumpy man. Well, he behaved differently due to the painkillers but still Bill felt a tug of jealousy.

"Alright, Alec, time to go home," he announced, cutting off the conversation.

"Oh, see? This is Billy!" the detective shouted and pointed his finger at the man. Master only shook his head and came closer to him, slowly unplugging the IV and the cardio monitor. He took a glimpse at the scar on Alec's chest but didn't say anything.

"Your clothes are laying on the chair."

"Billy! Won't you help me change?" the detective said making the nurse laugh. But soon when she met Bill's annoyed look, she left the room.

Embarrassed, Masters helped Hardy to his feet and led him behind the medical screen. Alec had that wide smile plastered to his face even when he started clumsily taking of the gown. Of course he couldn't reach the knot at his back so Bill quickly helped him. He wanted to gave Hardy time until he turned around but soon the gown was laying on the floor and Alec was standing before Bill completely naked. What's more, he looked very proud of that. Masters tried so hard to keep his eyes on the detective's face but he couldn't help looking at his chest which now didn't look so lithe. Bill could spot muscles on it, not big, but still. Fortunately though, he didn't go lower with his glance but only gave Hardy his clothes and waited for him to dress up. Of course, it didn't do without Alec almost falling on Bill when he tried to put on his underwear and pants. His acts were followed with his own laugh and when he was already dressed, he turned to Bill and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you!" Masters stood in disbelief and tried to keep in mind that Hardy's behaviour was caused by the painkillers. So he just smiled, took the rest of Alec's clothes and went with him to the reception. Fortunately, the receptionist didn't make them stand there long. She just made sure that Alec was under Bill's care and let them go. 

Through the whole walk to Masters car, Alec was leaning on him, from time to time tripping over his own feet. When they finally made it to the vehicle, Bill placed the stuff on the backseat and carefully seated Hardy on his place. Fortunately, Ellie had sent him the detective's address because he wasn't sure if Alec would be able to tell him it. Their ride went well. Only Hardy was constantly changing the radio station, looking for something that would draw his attention. Unfortunately, he didn't so for the whole ten minutes Bill had been listening to two seconds of each radio station. 

"Okay, we're here," Bill said and took Hardy by his arm and led them to the door. He searched the pockets of Alec's dirty suit and found the keys.

"How did you know my address?" the man asked, swaying and finally entering the hosue.

"Ellie told me," the doctor answered quickly and threw the dirty clothing to the washing machine although he knew that it wouldn't help much with the blood. 

Meanwhile, wooly-minded Alec made his way to his bedroom and Bill only heard a loud thump. Masters quickly followed Hardy and saw him, collapsed on the bed. Fortunately, he was already in some baggy clothes so that Bill didn't have to bother changing the man once more. Although he wanted to move him into a more comfortable position. Alec was so exhausted right now that he barely felt that somebody was touching him. However, when Masters finally covered him with the duvet, he heard Hardy speaking.

"Cuddle with me, Billy, please. The last time I slept without you and I felt so alone!" he whined. He had troubled keeping his eyes open but still Bill hesitated for a while. He didn't want to take advantage of Hardy in any way. Eventually, he decided to lay next to him for some time until the man falls asleep again. 

The doctor got rid of his tie, jacket and boots and hopped on the bed. It was really soft but a little to narrow for two adults. However, Alec didn't care becasue as soon as he felt the other man joining him, he scrambled on the top of Bill's chest and gasped loudly. When Masters felt the man's body touching him, he held his breath for a while like he was afraid of disturbing Hardy. Only after some time he felt confident enough to make himself more comfortable. The look of the man looked so tempting that Bill had to touch Alec's surprisingly soft hair. He run his hand through and heard a quiet purr came from Alec's mouth. Having Hardy in his arms felt just amazing and now he was sure to stay like that for a longer while. However, Bill hoped that the detective wouldn't remember it the next day.

Chapter Text

Alec woke up due to the pain in his chest that was caused by his too rapid move. He groaned but was relieved that he recognized the room he was in. Finally at home. Although, he didn't really remember how had he got there. The last thing he remembered was waking up in the hospital with… Bill. And then, his eyes went wide. Bill. He was the one who had brought him home. Everything else was a little blurry so Hardy hoped that he hadn't done anything stupid. 

He decided to finally get up and the first thing he realized was that he was wearing a more comfy track suit. How did he manage to change clothes? And when? Did Bill changed him this time? So that would mean that he had seen him naked! Immediately, Hardy blushed but wanted to make himself a cup of tea. However, he stopped right before going out of his bedroom when he heard a rumbling coming from the room. Alec slowly went inside and saw Bill trying to find something in his cupboards. The detective cleared his throat and it successfully drew Masters’ attention. 

“Alec!” he exclaimed, turning around and facing the other man. 

“Did you stay safe overnight?” Alec asked because he remembered waking up during the night because of the chest pain. He felt two strong arms embracing him and quiet but deep voice that made him come back to sleep. Now it seemed too familiar to Hardy.

“Yeah,” answered the doctor and scratched the back of his neck. “I wanted to be there in case you felt worse.” 

Alec nodded slowly and looked down at his bare feet. Meanwhile, Bill handed Hardy a mug.

“I wanted to make tea but then I found hot chocolate in one of your cupboards and decided on that instead.”

In fact, the hot chocolate was there for Daisy. Alec didn’t really like that. It was too sweet for him. Although he didn’t have the heart to just tell him that so he grabbed the mug and took a sip. Surprisingly, it didn’t taste that bad. The hot liquid certainly help with his current state. 

“Thank you,” he mumbled which made Bill chuckle.

“Would you mind taking a seat?” Hardy quickly obeyed and was soon served with a deliciously looking omelette. 

To Alec’s surprise, he immediately grabbed a fork and a knife and started eating. He must have admitted that Bill was a good cook. 

“You don’t eat breakfast?” asked Hardy with full mouth and the other man smirked at that adorable sight. 

“I did. Two hours ago.” Alec choked a little when he heard the answer. He then looked at the clock and saw that it was already 10 p.m. That had been probably the first time that he woke up at such hour. 

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You need rest now, Alec. You were quite worn out when we came back from the hospital.”

Hardy felt a little ashamed. He wasn’t really used to be taken care of. But when Bill referred to them as ‘we’ it made Alec’s heart beat faster. 

“Before you decide to ask about your work,” Bill started when he saw Hardy looking at the files laying on a table. “I know that you use to work even during weekends but you are banned from any form of work.” The detective groaned but continued eating. 

For some time they were sitting in that silence until Alec finished his meal. But before he could stand up and wash the plate, Masters grabbed it and did this for Alec. It felt so weird that Bill was so willing to help him. Under other circumstances, Hardy wouldn’t let anybody do things for him. But seeing Bill’s happiness, he didn’t say anything. 

“Did I do anything embarrassing yesterday?” Alec asked quietly. 

“Well, you acted very adorably,” Bill chuckled and Hardy blushed. 

“I’m sorry that you had to put up with me.”

Masters came to Alec and patted him on the shoulder. “Oh, no. Don’t be sorry. Everything was okay.”

Alec smiled a little. Honestly, he felt weird having somebody around him for so long. Especially, that he was in his house. So far, the only people who were welcome there, were Ellie and Daisy. 

“Okay, Alec, hurry up because we have to go to the hospital,” Bill said and was quick to clarify when he saw the detective’s terrified look. “Doctor Slumber wanted to check up on you.” 

The detective wasn’t very keen on that idea. Any reason for which he had to come back to that awful place was bad. Suddenly, he came up with an idea. 

“Can’t you do it?” he asked quietly, surprised with his own confidence. 

Bill looked at him with confusion. “I’m not qualified enough to do it,” he said but noticing Alec’s exhausted state, he decided to agree with that plan. Quickly he was thanked with Hardy’s smile that he knew hardly anybody could see. Although Bill really had to convince Sarah that he would be able to do the check-up himself. She gave him some useful advice. Still Bill was a little nervous about doing the examination. It wasn't meant to be anything complicated but it was about Alec and the last thing that Masters would do was to hurt the man. 

He asked Hardy to sit on a couch. Meanwhile, Bill grabbed his stuff that he managed to bring from the hospital in the morning. When he came back to Alec, he was sitting with his hands on his thighs. He looked just as nervous as the doctor. Masters took a chair and placed it in front of the detective. His stethoscope was hanging around his neck.

"Okay, first of all, how do you generally feel?" he asked with a slight anxiety. He couldn't believe that talking to a patient would be so difficult. Well, but it wasn't a casual patient. It was Alec.

"Um... I'm fine, I guess," Hardy answered but was quickly forced to broaden his answer. "My chest still hurts a bit."

"Alright, thank you, Alec," Bill said which made the other man smile a little. It didn't go unnoticed for Masters who immediately knew that Hardy liked being praised. "Could you, please, take off your hoodie?" 

Hardy looked at the man with scare. Although, he didn't want to look so tense. He grabbed the collar of his hoodie but failed to take it off. Bill, seeing his struggle, came closer and help him. 

"There you go." As soon as Alec felt the coldness caused by the lack of his clothing, he shivered a little. When he saw Bill looking at him, he crossed his arms on his chest. Masters had to keep himself from laughing when he remembered the very proud and naked Alec at the hospital. However, the current Hardy was far more adorable. Bill took the stethoscope and bring it closer to the man's chest who slowly placed his hands on the couch, revealing his hairy chest. He shivered a little when the cold device touched his skin.

"Sorry," Bill apologized and breathed a few times at the chestpiece to make it more comfortable. 

When he touched Alec's chest again, right above his heart, he heard a fast heartbeat but judging on Hardy's red cheeks, it was caused by the whole situation rather than his condition. Bill slowly moved the device and examined Hardy's heart. It seemed that the act relaxed the detective who leaned forward which made the check-up more difficult to get done, so Masters touched Alec's shoulder to straighten him. Hardy jerked a little when he felt Bill's hand and immediately sat straight. Masters also wanted to check Alec's lungs so he ask him to turn a little so that Bill could also sit on the couch and have free access to Alec's back. 

"Take deep breaths."

Hardy waited patiently for Bill to start the examination and again he leaned a little, this time backward, so Bill had to keep him in place, touching his bare shoulder blade. After a while, Masters was pretty sure that he heard Alec purred.

"Everything seems in order. You can put on the hoodie," the doctor said, putting the stethoscope back inside his bag. Meanwhile, the detective dressed up and waited for Bill to face him again. 

“You don’t have to do this…” Alec admitted but refuse to look Masters in his eyes. 

“Alec,” the man sat again at the front of Hardy. “I want to help you,” he smiled and finally their eyes met. Hardy both wanted to keep staring at the doctor and get away from the situation. He was torn apart. Not even with Tess did he feel in such way. 

“Why?” Alec blurted out without thinking.

“Because you don’t have anybody here and I really liked you,” Bill answered and he did that with such ease that Hardy at first didn’t take him seriously. “I like your sense of humor, seriousness and goofiness. I like that you can stay professional when it’s necessary. I like it when you blush when I talk about you and you feel so shy. And what’s the most important is that I like that you don’t hide away from me.” 

Alec was sitting there on the couch, listening to all those things. At first he wanted to stop Bill but when he carried on, all the things that he mentioned sounded so good that Hardy felt a little overwhelmed with them. At some point he felt a single tear falling down his cheek.

“Oh my God, Alec, I’m so sorry, did I say something wrong?” Masters asked, being worried about Hardy’s reaction. 

“No, it- it’s just that nobody has ever said such things about me,” he answered, wiping off the unwanted tear. “And you barely know me which is even more unbelievable that you feel that way.”

“So let’s get to know each other better,” Bill offered and took Alec’s hand in his own. 

“You wouldn’t want that…” the detective whispered and his voice trembled. 

“I think I would.” Bill gently grabbed Hardy by his chin and lifted his head up so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. 

“Can I kiss you?” Masters whispered when they were just centimeters away from each other.

“I don’t know,” the man said and bit his lip. 

“Do you want me to kiss you?”

Alec’s breath quickened and he for a while he was thinking about the answer. For the first time in his life he couldn’t get his words out. But when he saw Bill’s disappointed and sadness, he finally answered.

“Yes.” The doctor immediately smiled and connected his lips. 

Their kiss was a little shy at first because Alec had to sort things out in his mind. But when he did, he straddled on Bill’s lap and let him deepen the kiss. It wasn’t anything rough and rapid. Masters was gently and slow in order not to scare Hardy away. He slowly caressed Alec’s nape and from time to time, run his fingers through his hair. 

Meanwhile, Alec didn’t know what to do with his hands. He awkwardly kept them on his thighs. Although when Bill noticed that, he took them and put around his neck. Fortunately, Hardy quickly understood the gesture and entwined his fingers. 

They kept kissing for a while and Alec had to admit that it was the most amazing feeling in his whole life. Bill was so delicate with him that he felt like the most precious thing for the doctor. Something, that he hadn’t felt since his divorce. 

And then they broke the kiss, coming back to just staring at each other. But suddenly Alec felt a need to be the closest to Bill as it was possible. So he buried his face in Masters’ neck and stay like that for sometime. Nothing and nobody would interrupt them. 

“Thank you for letting me do that, Alec,” the doctor whispered.

“Thank you for staying with me,” Hardy answered and then he knew that he had made the right decision.

Chapter Text

When Alec finally got off of Bill's lap he felt a little ashamed. He fixed his hair a little and waited for Masters to get up too.

"Alright, since I'm also your doctor, I'm taking you for a walk," the man announced, pecking Hardy on his cheek. It made the detective feel butterflies in his stomach. He could definitely got used to that feeling.

Bill also asked Alec if they could go to his house and take some of his clothes since going all the time in his dress shirt and pants wasn't very comfortable. When they found themselves outside, a strong wind hit them and Hardy shivered. Masters quickly embraced him with his right arm and cuddled him to his side. The detective didn't know what to do at first and tried to hide his face behind the collar of his hoodie. Suddenly, he felt that his left hand was grabbed and put around Master's waist as well. They carried on walking and being so close to each other. Alec couldn't believe that the let somebody got so close to him after everything that happened in his life. For a longer while he just let himself be led by Bill to his house but suddenly he was taken back to the reality when he heard a familiar voice.

"DI Hardy!" the woman, who turned out to be Beth, shouted from the distance.

Alec quickly jumped away from confused Bill and turned around to face Mrs Latimer. He offered her a forced smile.

"I heard about your accident," she said and looked at Masters who was observing the whole situation in silence. "But I can see that somebody takes a good care of you." She gave both of them a knowing look and introduced herself to Bill who did the same. 

When the woman left them, Alec and Bill were standing in silence. Hardy put his hands in his pockets and kept staring at his shoes. The doctor knew why Alec acted that way. It was obvious that he didn't want people to know immediately that he had just started a new relationship. In a second, Bill felt guilty.

"Hey, Alec, I'm sorry," he said, placing his hands on the detective's hips, having checked that they were there alone. "I should be more cautious with the display of affection." Then, Alec looked at Bill with his brown eyes.

"Nah, it's fine. I mean, they would find out sooner or later," he chuckled sadly but took Bill's hand in his own and squeezed a little. Maybe it was a very small gesture but Masters' knew that it meant a lot to Alec.

Both of them continued their walk with their hands held together. Still the doctor saw how tense and alert the detective was. When they entered the town, Alec put on the hood, trying to hide himself under it. It could look ridiculous at first but Masters understood him completely. He guessed that Alec might have not been open with sexuality and still felt insecure about it. Also, for a very long time he had been seen like a lone wolf and grumpy detective who happened to be the second important person at the station.

"So, I'll wait outside..." Alec murmured but was quickly dragged inside by Bill.

"Don't be ridiculous, darling," Masters' said, kissed Hardy lightly on his cheek and went upstairs, leaving the confused detective. Darling, Alec liked that. Not even Tess had called him that. In fact, she wasn't very keen on pet names. In fact, Hardy also hadn't known that he would like them.

He sat on the couch and patiently waited for his... boyfriend to come down. But just then he got that sudden need to somehow repay Bill for his kindness. Alec stood up and followed the doctor upstairs. Fortunately, he remembered where Bill's bedroom was. But unfortunately, he hadn't thought that he could have found a suitcase laying in the middle of the door.

"Um, Bill, I thought I could-. Oi!." And at that moment he tripped over the suitcase. He waited for a hard meeting with the ground but he landed in Bill's arms instead. Masters' touched the ground with a loud thump and groaned a little.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, are you okay, love?" Alec said with worry and quickly pulled Bill up and looked for any possible painful place. However, he stopped when he heard Masters' chuckle. "What?"

"Nothing, just I liked the way you called me... love," Bill claimed, winking at Hardy who blushed and turned his look. "Oh, no need to be shy, Alec," he added, lifting his chin up and staring for a while into his eyes before he kissed him.

Right after that, the doctor got up and took his boyfriend with him. Together, they packed Bill's things quite quickly and were ready to go back to Alec's house. Suddenly, Masters' phone rang. The man groaned and Hardy knew that it must have been a call from work.

"Masters," he picked up. "Is it necessary?" He looked at Alec with an apologetic look. "Alright, I'll be there," he gasped and put his phone in his pocket. "They need me to examine one patient." Bill put his hand on Alec's shoulder and rubbed it. "We'll take my car and I'll pick you up and then go to the hospital. It shouldn't take more then half an hour. You think you'll handle it?"

"Oh, come on, I'm a detective," Alec answered with confidence but the truth was that he didn't want Bill to leave. Not when they started to have such a good relationship.

One way or another, they get in the car and drove back to Alec's house. Masters' started talking about the patient he was going to meet and Hardy just nodded because the thing he focused on was the doctor's voice. He didn't really care about the words, just the pace and timbre of his voice was so relaxing for Alec. Also, they kept their fingers entwined on the armrest and it happened to be their obvious thing while being together in a car.

"Alright, I'll be back in thirty minutes, take care of yourself and try not to die," Bill said when Alec was leaving the car, holding a bag with clothes in his hand.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Hardy answered but let himself be kissed before closing the car door. 

He entered his house and stood in the middle of them room. For a while he didn't really know what to do with Bill's stuff. He brought his toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo and shower gel, favourite book and other important things. All of them Alec placed in the most suitable places in his house. But the problem were the clothes. He didn't know if he should take them to his wardrobe since he thought that it might have been too straightforward. But they were a couple, right? So it shouldn't have been weird if Hardy put Bill's clothes there... Eventually, he decided to move his clothes a little and made more space for Masters'. He folded them neatly and closed the wardrobe. Everything was set and just now Alec felt lonely. Fortunately, Bill should have come in ten minutes so Hardy thought about something that would busy him for that time. Suddenly, he heard knocking. It couldn't have been Bill since he'd rather just enter the house.

"Hey, Hardy!" he heard after opening the door.

"Miller."

"I came to ask how are you feeling?" Alec let her come inside.

"'m fine," the detective murmured. He was glad that Ellie came of course, it was just that he hoped it had been Bill instead.

"So, I see that Bill's taking a good care of you?" she asked with a cheeky smile.

"What do you mean?" the man asked and swallowed loudly.

Miller chuckled at his nervousness, "Beth saw the two of you outside your house today."

Alec nearly fainted. That woman was impossible. He couldn't believe that she had already told Ellie about their sudden encounter.

"And?" he tried to pretend to be very much oblivious.

"Oh, come on, Hardy. You don't have to hide!" she poked him jokingly on his shoulder. "She told me that you looked very lovely together."

"That's none of you business, Miller," he said but didn't really want to be so harsh. It was just his way of defence.

"Hardy, we're friends, you can tell me that you and Bill-"

"No, Miller, I can't and I won't! I told you, it's none of your business!" Alec shouted which surprised the woman. "And we are not friends!" Hardy wished he hadn't said the last part of his sentence. He obviously didn't mean that  but it just slipped out of his emotions. What broke him even more were the watery eyes of Ellie after hearing his statement.

"Alright. You should have said that earlier, sir. I won't disturb you more," she said and when she opened the door, she almost bumped into Bill who had just come back from the hospital. Ellie said a quiet 'hey' and left both of them. 

Masters followed her with his look until she disappeared in the distance and then turned to Alec who was standing in front of him, visibly ashamed.

"What happened?" he asked but Hardy only sniffed and went to his bedroom.

At first, Bill wanted to follow him but then decided to give him some space. He only came closer to the door and listened carefully for any suspicious noises but fortunately he hadn't heard any. Whatever happened, Alec definitely needed some time alone.

It turned out that Alec's time alone lasted for nearly three hours. The detective went out only to go to the bathroom or to take his pills and eat something. Fortunately, he was still willing to take them because that was Bill's biggest worry. Around 9 p.m. Masters' decided to enter the room and check on Hardy. He was laying on the bed still in his baggy clothes and was hugging the pillow. Not a single noise came from him so the doctor quietly asked him where had he put his clothes and when Alec pointed on the wardrobe, he took his and Alec's pyjamas and dressed up firstly himself and then encouraged Hardy to do the same. When both men were changed, Bill was ready to leave the room and lay on the couch when he heard a quiet voice.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you, Alec."

Hardy rolled on his back. "Stay here, please." The doctor took the offer and laid next to Alec on his thin bed. Soon, the detective found himself on Bill's chest, grabbing the material of his t-shirt nearly into a desperate manner. 

"I push everybody away," he mumbled.

Bill frowned, "What do you mean?"

Alec lifted his head up and looked at Masters' with watery eyes. "I think I lost my only friend today..." he sobbed and a single tear fell down his cheek. Bill quickly wiped it off.

"You're talking about your meeting with Ellie?" 

Hardy nodded. "She came to ask about my well-being and then she told me that Beth had told her about us... I guess I overreacted and was too rough for her. She's been always so good to me. She's always helped me when I needed her and I treated her like a nobody important." At that point Alec started crying and hid his face in Bill's chest who was gently rubbing circles on his boyfriend back and run his hand through his hair.

"Shh, Alec, it's alright. You were under big emotions. Listen." He made the man look directly at him. "I'm sure that if you go to her and explain everything peacefully, she'll forgive you, love. As you said, she's your friend and she'll understand."

Alec looked like he was considerating that option for a while and eventually nodded slowly. "Thank you, Bill."

"You're welcome, my love." Hardy smiled at that name and cuddled closer to his boyfriend. In fact, he couldn't stop smiling. It was nice to have somebody who would help you in any situation. Alec really appreciated having Bill at that moment.

Chapter Text

Bill yawned loudly and stretched his muscles. The room was already bright because he had forgotten to draw the curtains in the evening. It was pretty hot and both men subconsciously took off their shirts in their sleep. That's why, Masters felt Alec's hair tickling him in his armpit since the detective was laying on his back with his head laid in the crook of Bill's shoulder. He was snoring quietly and his arm was thrown around the doctor's belly. 

Bill was moving his finger up and down Alec's slightly hairy chest. From time to time he was tracing Hardy’s scar that was in the middle of his chest. He wanted to ask Alec about his condition but didn’t feel confident enough to do it. 

Suddenly, the man stirred and opened his eyes slowly. He looked at Bill and smiled, rubbing his sleepy eyes. After a while he realized what Masters was doing. Alec rolled away from him and covered his chest with the duvet. 

“Alec, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you, darling,” Bill said quickly, rubbing his boyfriend’s back soothingly. 

They laid like that for a while, until Hardy decided to turn back and cuddled closer to Bill.

“I’m so weak,” he murmured in his chest.

“What do you mean, darling?” Masters asked, confused.

Alec smirked, “I have a pacemaker, Bill…”

“I know.”

The detective started at the doctor with disbelief. Was it so obvious? But if Bill had known, why would he have wanted to bed with Alec? Who would be willing to be with a person like him?

“Doctor Slumber told me in the hospital. You gave me quite a scare when she said that your pacemaker stopped working,” Bill explained, holding their hands together.

They laid like that for a longer while, just staring at each other. Alec didn’t really know what to say to that. He expected a different reaction. Certainly not that Masters was worried about him in the hospital. 

“So,” Alec started quietly. “Don’t you think that I’m weak?”

Bill smiled, “Of course not.”

“But this scar is disgusting…” 

Masters unrevealed Alec’s chest from under the duvet and got up so both of his hands were on the two sides of Hardy’s head. He leaned towards him and kissed the man deeply. Alec, being more experienced, started moving his hands on Bill’s back and moaned into the kiss. What he liked about Masters was that he was gentle with everything he was doing. Hardy didn’t feel pressured or uncomfortable next to him. 

A while later, Bill went down and kissed Alec’s scratchy jaw, then neck, collarbones and finally the unfortunate scar. He kissed the whole length.

“It’s beautiful, Alec,” he said. “You’re beautiful.”

The detective ran his hands through Bill’s hair, messing up his already messy hairstyle. 

But Masters didn’t stop at the scar. He took both of Alec’s nipples in his mouth, one after the other. Hardy moaned loudly at that, arching his back to meet Masters’ mouth again.

Bill slowly went down Alec’s chest to his abdomen and then he stopped right before the waist of his pants. He looked at Hardy, seeking for any form of discomfort and when he didn’t find any, he lifted the man’s hips and pulled down the piece of clothing in one smooth move. Alec’s cock had been already hard and leaking. Although, the detective shivered a little when he noticed his nakedness. Bill had a wonderful idea, how to make Alec feel warmer.

“Oh, fuck, Bill!” he screamed when the man’s warm mouth took all his member at once.

The doctor was licking and kissing the cock, listening to Alec’s beautiful noises. However, he didn’t want to end at that. He took his one finger and rubbed it around his boyfriend’s entrance.

“Wait, wait, Bill, stop,” Alec said and pushed himself away. 

“I’m so sorry, I went too fast, didn’t I?” Masters asked, immediately giving Alec more space. It was meant to be their first time and he wanted both of them to feel as good as possible. Hardy was breathing heavily, trying to articulate his words.

“No, no, you didn’t,” he started and Bill could see him blush. “It’s just that I… I’ve never… with a… a man…” Alec stuttered. He looked away, still blushing. 

Bill sat legs-crossed in front of the man and took his hand, rubbing it gently with his thumb. Alec was still catching his breath. His hair was even messier than before and he could see a hickey forming on Alec’s collarbone. The detective looked so nervous and shy right now.

“Alec, we don’t have to do this if you-“

“No! I want to!” Alec cut him off and blushed even more realizing his sudden outburst. “Just… I want to do this slowly…”

Bill smiled, “Don’t worry, love, I’ll be as gentle with you as I can.”

He asked Alec to lay down again.

“Do you have lube?” Hardy shook his head.

“But you can still use spit.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Alec,” Bill said and was ready to back off when the man added.

“I thought that you had enough knowledge about these things.” Masters’ eyes had gone wide. He would have never expected Alec to say such a thing. But one way or another, he was right. 

“Do you have condoms?” Another shake from the detective, but simultaneously he said that he was healthy and didn’t need them. Masters, being a doctor, didn’t want to agree at firstly but looking in Alec’s begging eyes, he gave up.

Bill quickly wet his fingers and brought one to Alec’s hole. At first he was just moving it around his rim.

“Are you ready?” Alec nodded but Masters could see nervousness in his eyes.

He slowly pushed the finger inside, just the tip so it wasn’t that uncomfortable. Alec whined from a slight discomfort and for a split second considered the whole act once more. But he trusted Bill and wanted to continue. He was laying on his back and moving his hands on the mattress, not knowing what to do with them. Suddenly, he felt Masters’ hand grabbing then when he simultaneously pushed the second finger in. It wasn't a completely uncomfortable feeling. Bill was really gentle with him, moving his fingers slowly in and out. 

“You’re doing so wonderful, darling,” Bill whispered and was sure that he heard Alec purr. 

After inserting the third finger, he noticed that Alec was quite relaxed by then. The grip on his hand decreased and he was moaning with pleasure. 

“Bill, please, I want you,” he whined when the fingers were not enough for him. 

Masters smiled at the sight of Alec and told him to lay on his side. 

“It’ll be the most comfortable position for the first time,” he explained and kissed the detective passionately. 

When Alec was in his position, Bill took off his pants and spat on his hard cock. He was so ready to be rough with Hardy but didn’t want to hurt him. He positioned himself behind Alec, lifting one of his legs up. 

“If anything hurts you, tell me,” he whispered to Hardy.

Bill took his cock and slowly pushed it inside Alec. He was right about this being his first time, since he was so tight that Masters really had to bite his tongue in order not to say it out loud. The detective moaned, clenching his fists on the duvet. The feeling of being full felt so good. At first he felt a little discomfort. He was quite disappointed that he couldn't see Bill's face but just then two strong arms embraced him from behind and kept him as close as possible. 

“Don't hold your breath, love,” Bill said and made Alec blush even more. He grabbed Masters’ bicep, moaning with every gentle thrust. Not only it felt good to be full, but the most appealing was the feeling of proximity with Bill. They were in constant touch and it made Alec the happiest man in the world. 

He could never say that he would be in a relationship after Tess. Still sometimes he thought that Bill would leave him sooner or later.

“Don't think too much, Alec,” the doctor said, taking the detective’s cock in his hand.

“Oh, fuck, yes!” Hardy couldn't hold his scream when Bill started stroking his member.

“You're so good, darling,” Masters whispered. “I'm so proud of you, you're doing so well.”

Bill kept stroking Alec’s cock, matching it with his thrusts. He could feel Hardy’s nails scratching his skin but he was still moaning which made Masters sure that he was doing the right thing. For a while both of them could hear only each other’s breaths and moans. The detective couldn’t believe that it was happening. The feeling of Bill’s body plastered to his was amazing. From that moment Alec knew that he could trust the doctor because he wouldn’t hurt him in any possible way.

Suddenly, he felt that Bill was pushing him away but Alec desperately sought for the proximity and didn’t want to let the man go.

“Alec, I’m close, I don’t want to-”

“But I do, please, Bill,” Hardy moaned and just then he felt that Masters quickened his thrusts. With every move the doctor was reaching his prostate and caused a loud whine from the younger man. Right now, Bill didn’t want to stop, he tightened the embrace, making him even closer to Alec.

“Alec, oh my god, you’re so wonderful,” Masters whispered and kissed the man on the back of his neck. 

When he felt that he was close to his climax, he started stroking Hardy’s member faster until he heard a loud scream that told Bill that Alec had cummed. After a couple of thrusts, Masters did to, shooting his seed inside Hardy. 

They laid like that for a couple more seconds when Bill started to pulling his cock out. He kept caressing Alec’s bare arm to make the process more comfortable. Masters turned Hardy on his back and went for a wet towel. When he came back, the detective was laying on the bed, limbs spread and panting. Bill gently sat between Alec’s legs, cleaning his entrance where he could see some of his seed leaking from it. With one hand, he was cleaning Alec and with the other one, rubbing his inner tights.

“You were so good, love,” he said, looking at his tired boyfriend who only smiled slightly at him.

When Bill was done, he laid again next to Alec but this time, Hardy climbed on the top of his chest and burrowed his head in it. He laid his ear exactly on Masters’ heart and listened to the slowing heartbeat. The detective felt content and happy. He felt the other man’s hand running through his messy hair. It was the happiest day of his life. Finally being with somebody who cared about him.

“Fuck,” Alec swore suddenly, which drew Bill’s attention.

“Everything’s okay? Are you hurt?” The protectiveness of this man was so beautiful that Alec asked himself what had he done to deserve him.

“Bill, I didn’t tell you something…” he started. “I should have told you that much earlier but I didn’t know that our relationship would actually develop.” Hardy was looking at Bill with nervousness, but it all disappeared when he felt Masters’ hand on his cheek.

“It’s okay, darling, you can tell me now.”

“I have a daughter… and I’m a divorcee…” he said, turning his look away from the doctor. But soon the man grabbed gently his chin and made him came back to him.

“Alec, it’s alright, I told you that I also have kids and an ex-wife. Don’t worry,” Bill answered and kissed his boyfriend on his lips.

Hardy once more felt relieved and loved. He felt like he could have said Masters anything and he would still love him. Although, he remembered how he felt with Tess, it was nothing comparing to what he felt around Bill.

“I’ll have to go to the station,” he murmured which didn’t make Masters’ happy. “I have to apologize to Ellie…” That was more reasonable. It was good that Alec felt the need to actually talk to the DS. Somebody could say that Bill had a good influence on the detective.

“It’ll be fine. She will appreciate that you came to her willingly.” Bill kissed the man on the top of his head and just stared outside the window, until he heard a quiet snoring. If Alec felt like the happiest man alive, Bill didn’t know how to describe himself.

Hardy was a mystery to many people in Broadchurch. He was said to be grumpy and rude. Professional, but antisocial. Well, maybe Masters saw those features, but he had a chance to see the soft side of the detective. The caring and shy DI Hardy who would call his boyfriend ‘love’ and let him have with him his first time. He was fucking lucky to be probably the only person around who Alec could be himself.

Chapter Text

When both men woke up properly, Bill made them breakfast and gave Alec his pills. They talked for a while until the detective decided to finally go to the station. Masters kissed him good luck which Hardy appreciated. For that whole time Alec had been thinking what he should have told Ellie. He wasn't good at such things. He rarely had to apologize to anybody because in most cases he hadn't cared. But with Miller it was different. She actually liked him and considered him her friend. She accepted all his odds and moods. In fact, thanks to her he had met Bill... Alec couldn't just leave her now.

"Good morning, sir," he was greeted by some officer. Hardy only nodded in response. He didn't want to cause any scene so he quietly went to Ellie's desk but she wasn't there.

"Where is DS Miller?" he asked out loud.

One of the women turned to him and said, "She's in the kitchen, sir, but she doesn't look in a good mood today."

The DI gasped and went to the kitchen. His stress increased, suddenly his hands started sweating and heart beating faster. He was so close to talking to her and somehow he had that feeling to just back off.

"Alec!" he heard from behind. "You are supposed to be at home!"

"Good morning to you too, ma'am..." Hardy said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I have to talk to DS Miller and I'm going to go back to my home."

Fortunately, Henchard didn't ask more questions so Alec was ready to move on. In the entrance to the kitchen, he spotted Ellie talking to Brian. They were enjoying their coffee's and laughing occasionally. For a split second, Hardy was happy that Miller had somebody that she could talk to properly. Especially, after Joe. And Brian wasn't as bad as Alec had thought. Of course, he wouldn't say it out loud. 

After a while, the detective stepped into the room and cleared his throat. Brian did greet him while Ellie kept silent, avoiding the eye contact.

"Alright, Brian, I think we have to come back to our duties," she said when she pushed the man slightly forward. They went past the DI but then the woman felt a grip on her wrist.

"Please, talk to me," Alec said with almost a begging look. Ellie turned to face Brian and eventually asked him to go without her. 

The DS leaned on the counter and crossed her arms on her chest. She really didn't want to talk to her boss but she had known that I would have happened one way or another. For some time, Alec couldn't find the right words so he kept gasping.

"Cat got your tongue?" Ellie snapped.

Alec looked at her and started talking, "I came to apologize for yesterday."

"Oh, did you?"

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry that I shouted at you, Ellie-"

Then the woman burst out. "So it's Ellie now?! Do you really think that you can just come here, say sorry and everything is okay?! I've been trying to help you all that time! When people were talking behind your back, I was defending you! I helped you with Claire and Lee! I was worried about you when you had you're bloody operation, you wanker!" The DS started walking in circles in the room, trying to calm herself down. But just then, Alec spotted tears falling down her cheeks.

"I know, Ellie, you are the best friend I've ever had. I do appreciate all those things you've done for me."

Miller stood right in front of him and looked deep into his eyes. "You hurt me, Alec. You hurt me so much." That hit the man like a bullet. He couldn't look at Ellie's sad face. 

"I'm so sorry, Ellie. I know I shouldn't have said all those things. But I didn't mean them. I was just so overwhelmed with the situation with Bill and meeting Beth Latimer that I couldn't control myself."

Miller wiped off her tears and sniffed. 

"I don't want to lose you, Ellie." 

And in that exact moment, the DI felt two arms around his waist and Miller's face burrowed in his chest. She was hugging him. Something she had never done before. But it felt good. Being more experienced now, Alec returned the gesture and hugged her tight to him.

"I don't want to lose you too, you knob," she laughed.

He placed her chin on the top of her head and rubbed his hand on the woman's back.

"I see Bill's influence in that."

"Shut up, Miller!"

When both of them backed off, they felt much better. Alec was proud of himself that he was able to handle that conversation and that Ellie actually forgave him. He made a mental note that he really had to control his emotions. Especially, when he had two wonderful people in his life. Three if you added Daisy. 

"Actually, Bill wanted to invite you for dinner today. Daisy's going to be there too," Alec said and took Ellie by surprise and immediately made a joke about Hardy social skills. But one way or another, she happily accepted the invitation.

When Alec came back home, he sat down on the couch with a loud gasp that drew Bill's attention. He asked Hardy about the meeting and listened to every detail that Alec was about to say. He put his arm around the detective's waist and let him lean on him. Masters knew that such confrontations were stressful for his boyfriend so he wanted to help him relax as well as he could.

"I'm so proud of you, love. You were so brave today," the doctor said and was immediately thanked with Hardy's bright smile. They sat like that for a short while until Bill kissed the detective on his forehead and asked the man for help in preparing the dinner. 

Alec had to admit that Bill had been wonderful in the kitchen. To Hardy's surprise, while he had been at the station, Bill had gone to a supermarket and bought every necessary ingredients. Honestly, the detective didn't one most of them so he kept asking Masters many questions. He tried to be as helpful as he could however the doctor was giving him the simplest tasks like chopping vegetables. But many times he caught himself on just admiring Bill devotion to the meal he was about to prepare. He also turned on the radio and was occasionally singing some random songs. And Alec could just stand right next to him and listen.

"Hello!" he heard suddenly. "Are you listening to me?" Bill was waving his hand in front of Alec's face.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," he blushed and looking away from Masters.

Bill chuckled and scooped some icing he had been preparing for the dessert. "Try it." Hardy looked at the man and licked the icing from the man's finger.

"It's good, a little too sweet for me which means that it's just sweet enough for anybody else."

"Oh, really? Let me taste myself." And just when Alec was positive that Bill would turn to the bowl, he grabbed his chin and kissed him deeply, using his tongue to taste the sweet icing. But then he pushed Hardy to the counter and grabbed his thighs, placing him on the counter. He didn't stop kissing the detective, only moving his lips down to his jaw then neck and finally the visible part of his chest underneath his shirt. 

Alec moaned when he felt Bill's hand, rubbing his nipples through the thin material. His hands wandered to Masters' hair and messed it up. When Bill grabbed Hardy's crouch, he arched his back, exposing his pale neck so that Masters had a better access to it. Suddenly, the detective felt his soft hands under his shirt, rubbing his hairy chest and then going lower to the waistband of his pants.

"Fuck, Bill," Hardy whined, feeling his cock getting harder with every second.

"I've got you, darling," the doctor whispered and just then they heard knocking at the door. Both men quickly pulled away from each other and tried to fix themselves. Alec straightened his shirt and fixed his belt while Bill fixed his hair. They took a quick look at each other and nodded in approval.

Hardy went to the door and opened them. Immediately he was greeted with a bright smile of Daisy's and her thin arms around his neck.

"Hey, dad!" she said. "I know I'm a little too early but my train came before time." Alec only smiled and kissed her on her forehead. After a while, they were approached by Bill who greeted the girl with a happy 'good evening'. 

"So Daisy, this is Bill, my boyfriend," he said a little scared about the girl's reaction. She had already known about Bill since she had been the one to help Alec prepare for their date, but it was the first time she meet him properly.

"It's really nice to meet you, Daisy." He withdrew his hand but then was pulled in a warm embrace by Daisy. He took a look at the DI who was as surprised as Bill but smiled slightly at this gesture. Fortunately, the first impression went right. 

"Me too, Mr Masters," she said but was quickly interrupted by the man.

"Oh, please, just Bill," the doctor smiled and led the girl inside the house.

When the three of them were already in the living room, Daisy noticed the nearly prepared food.

"I can help you finish this, since I came earlier. And believe me, Bill, I'm a far better cook than my dad," both Daisy and Bill laughed while Alec only shook his head. 

And basically their work looked simple. Masters and young Hardy helped each other with cooking while the detective task was to set the table. Of course from time to time he received teasing jokes about his poor cooking abilities but after each comment he also got a cheerful kiss on his cheek both from his daughter and boyfriend. Never before had he felt so loved. Also, it made him feel so happy when he saw two of his most important people laughing together and just enjoying their time. He could see that they felt completely comfortable with each other. 

Right after they set everything, they heard somebody knocking at the door. 

"I'll take that," Bill said before Alec could go and welcome Ellie.

"I'm really happy for you, dad," said Daisy and squeezed his hand. The detective looked down and her and smiled, kissing her on the top of her head.

"Alright, everybody, I think we can finally eat!" Masters announced and a while later the fourth of them were sitting together at the table and started complementing Bill's food. Of course, he mentioned Daisy's significant help.

"Well, Alec helped too, he set the table, didn't you love?" he laughed, rubbing the man on his cheek and making him blush. In fact, for Ellie and Daisy it was a new experience, seeing purely embarrased Hardy. However, they knew that the detective felt really comfortable around Bill. When they stopped eating, he grabbed Masters' hand and was casually rubbing it with his thumb. It was a small gesture, but if you're talking about Alec, small gesture is actually very big.

They were talking on multiple subjects and sharing a laugh when Ellie shared some funny stories involving Alec in them. Hardy only rolled his eyes, hearing them but smiled one way or another. He actually enjoyed their meeting. It was in fact very relaxing. Hardy would definately wanted that to happen more.

It was around midnight when Miller decided to go home. She thanked Alec and Bill for the dinner and when she was just about to leave, she whispered to Hardy, "You're lucky to have him, knob."

I am, Alec thought and came back to help with cleaning. Again, the room was filled with laughter and when they finally sat down on a couch, they felt content. Daisy decided to put on some random film because she wanted to just relax with them more. At some point, she put her head on Hardy's shoulder but just then it fell on his lap. She curled up on the couch, with her head on Alec's lap and Bill sitting right next to them. The detective tuck her hair behind her ear and whispered, "Daiz, sweetheart, you'll be more comfortable if I make the couch for you."

She only groaned and burrowed her face in Alec's abdomen. Sunbonciously, she straightened her legs and put them on Bill's lap who firstly was a little surprised but smiled. Hardy was ready to get up when Bill stopped him.

"It's alright, I don't mind," he whispered, grabbing Alec's hand in his. 

They kept watching the film when Hardy felt an urge to talk to Bill seriously. He knew that her should have said more things to the doctor but he didn't know where to start. He started feeling sleepy and so did Masters who laid his head on Alec's shoulder. The detective heard his slowing breat and knew that it was the last moment he could have spoken. 

"Bill," he whispered.

"Hm?" The doctor yawned and nuzzled his face deeper in the man's shoulder. 

"I'm afraid, Bill." Masters momentarily sat straight, being careful not to disturb Daisy.

He look at Alec with worry. "Why, dear?"

"You know me," he gasped. "And you know that I'm not a likeable person. I'm just afraid that I'm not going to give you the love you deserve." The doctor looked at bit concerned at his boyfriend.

"Alec, love." He grabbed Hardy's hands. "I know you're a little insecure but, darling, now that I'm here, you're not going to get rid of me that easily."

The detective turned his head and was facing Bill. He could see the honest worry on his face and suddenly he felt bad for making him feel like that. He tried to stay strong but one way or another made a made a single sob. Immediately, he wanted to move his head away but then a gentle hand grabbed his chin and prevent from doing that. Alec could see Masters in that darkness only thanks to the turned on TV and the light that was coming from sudden brighter scenes. 

"I just want to say that I love you so much and I don't want you to leave... I don't want to be alone anymore," the last part he whispered but it was audiable enough for Bill to hear it.

"What do you mean alone, sweetheart?" 

Hardy cleared his throat and said, "I feel so alone here. Yes, I have Daisy but she's not here all the time, she has school. And I have Ellie but she has the boys and her own family. I've been always the lonely one and I thought I got used to it but then you came and I felt so good having somebody around me that I don't want to come back to my previous life."

The doctor listened to the man closely and didn't interrupt him. He knew that talking about such things was stressful for Alec so he really appreaciated that the detective felt confident enough to talk. But when he was sure that Alec had said everything he had wanted, he answered.

"You're not going to be alone anymore. I'll stand by your side till the end. Because I love you so much, Alec. I'm so happy that I met you." And just then he got closer to the detective and connected their lips in a gentle kiss that was just a summery of everything they had said to each other. They tried to stay as quiet as possible, not being aware of a constant smile plastered to Daisy's face who had heard their whole conversation.

Then, the three of them remained on the couch and after some time the men fell asleep too, officially starting their life together.

And just think that it all started of that strange man in the forest, Bill thought and drifted off next to his boyfriend. 

Chapter Text

"What have you done?" Thirteen asked when Tenth entered the TARDIS and messed with the buttons.

"Let's just say I had to evacuate very quickly," he answered and again tried to fix the ship.

The woman looked at him with confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Fixing the TARDIS, what else could I be doing?" Thirteen grabbed him by his arm and dragged away from the cockpit. 

"Don't be so boring. Let's at least see where we've landed."

Tenth groaned and reluctantly followed his companion. He grew more and more worried about Rose. He felt bad for leaving her alone, even though he could easily manipulate the time. 

When both Doctors left the TARDIS, they were greeted by a flush of light and a wave of heat. Around them, Tenth could spot many trees and colourful flowers. Many people were passing them by, wearing white togas. The man took a few steps forward and stood in front of a big temple that had multiple gods craved in its walls.

"Are we in Greece?" asked Thirteen, standing next to Tenth.

"Probably, but it doesn't look like modern Greece." 

They were admiring the beautiful architecture when the woman squeaked with joy and run away, following some Greeks who were in a middle of some ceremony. Tenth tried to stop her but the amount of people slowed him significantly down. And soon, the Doctor lost his other self in the crowd.

"Do I have to be so reckless?" he asked himself and blended in people. Although it was quite difficult, due to his quite modern outfit. He started calling for Thirteen but he couldn't see her anywhere.

"Are you maybe lost, sir?" the Doctor heard from behind and when he turned around, he saw a slightly shorter man than him with black, combed back hair and dark eyes. The Doctor felt like he had seen the man before.

"Lucian?" 

The stranger smiled, "I don't know any Lucian, sir. My name is Aro." He withdrew his hand and the Doctor shook it. In fact, he was a little disappointed that the man turned out to be somebody else. 

"So, are you, sir? Lost?" the man asked again.

The Doctor answered, saying that he had been looking for his friend that had got lost in the crowd. Aro offered his help and decided to lead him to the biggest temple in the town, since that was the place where the people were heading. The man was talking about the town and its ruler. Mostly, he was focusing on the bad sides, repeating that he would have been a better lord. Tenth tried not to question his statements, so he just listened to him in silence. At some points, Aro turned a little angry with what he was talking about. Even in his hazel eyes, the Doctor could see a sparkle of lust.

Suddenly, Aro grabbed the Doctor and pulled him into a smaller, empty alley. He looked pretty alert but continued walking, without looking back.

"What are we do-" Tenth wanted to ask but was interrupted by a group of three men appearing in front of them. They were pale as a sheet of paper and their eyes were bright red. When one of them smiled, the Doctor saw his long fangs. 

"Aro, what a lovely meeting!" said one of them. "Who is your friend?" The man found himself in a split second next to the Doctor and sniffed him. "Oh, he smells wonderful." 

Suddenly, Tenth felt a cold hand and sharp fingernails on his neck. Subconsciously, he tried to find his screwdriver but it was nowhere in his pockets. The only thing one was to wait for the best moment to escape. He was pretty sure he was just facing a group of three vampires.

“Leave him alone. He has nothing to do with any of this,” Aro growled and tried to push away one of their attackers. 

"I see no reason, why shouldn't we drag him into our business. I bet he'll be less stubborn than you, Aro." One vampire made his way to the Doctor and held his wrists in one hand, preventing him from moving.

"Hey, hey, guys, we can deal with this more peacefully!"

Two of the other vampires came to Aro who tried to interrupt the act. Unfortunately, the attackers were much stronger due to their powers. Aro started to struggled to set himself free but his efforts failed. 

"Don't worry, it'll take only a while. It won't hurt... that much." Two sharp fangs were not touching the Doctor's neck who started trembling from fear. In fact, he didn't know whether the vampire's power would work on him, but he didn't want to find out.

"Please, no," the Doctor mumbled, being prepared for the pain. But after a second he felt two arms that pushed him forward so that the landed on the ground. 

When he turned around, he saw Aro being held by the two vampires and the third one getting closer to him. They tore Aro's toga apart, revealing his slightly tanned chest. His whole body was trembling but he's face was steady and serious. His eyes didn't move away from the vampire for even a second. 

"You shouldn't have moved," one of them hissed and kept Aro's head in one place. He smiled, showing his sharp fangs and not long later the air was filled with a terrifying scream that came from Aro who tried to let his limbs free but he couldn't. 

"We'll see each other soon, Aro." And the vampires vanished, letting the man's body collapse on the hard ground. 

The Doctor quickly run to him, taking him in his arms. He could see a stream of blood running from his neck. Aro looked like he was trying to catch a breath but something was preventing him from doing so. Tenth was oblivious. He had no idea what to do. Aro's hands grabbed his suit subconsciously and held him tight like he had been afraid of the Doctor leaving him. His trousers were slightly covered with blood but he didn't care about that. The other man's skin turned pale. 

"Aro?" the Doctor said, when his body turned completely numb. "Can you hear me?"

And just then, Aro opened his eyes that were bright red, just like the one's of their attackers. He quickly pushed the Doctor away and crawled to the wall, leaning on it. He was breathing heavily and trying to focus on one thing. He ran his tongue on his teeth, noticing two sharp fangs. Next were his hands. His fingernails was longer and the skin paler. There was no sign of his tanned skin. It was also softer and smoother. Aro looked at the Doctor who was looking at him with interest. Soon the vampire noticed why. He sat in the place where the rays of sun could reach him. His skin was shinning. Aro sniffed.

"Run," he said to the Doctor.

"What?" 

"Run, now!" he shouted and stood up, scaring the other man who quickly left the alley.

The Doctor was scared, worried and surprised. Never before had he met a vampire. It wasn't a nice encounter and definitely didn't end well. He felt bad for the man and just running away. But Tenth guessed why Aro wanted him to run. If he hadn't done that, the Doctor would have been Aro's first prey. Again he was mad at Thirteen for leaving him so recklessly. He felt like with every next travel, he had been making more and more problems around himself.

"Doctor!" he heard suddenly and found Thirteen waving at him with a laurel wreath on her head.

"Don't leave me like that!" Tenth shouted and dragged his companion back to the TARDIS.

When they found themselves inside, the man sat down with a trembling gasp.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked, kneeling in front of him.

"I will be eventually. Let's just go back to London, please."

Thirteen noticed blood on the man's pants and frowned. She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed a little. 

"Whatever happened, it's over."

He hoped that he would never meet Aro again in his life. The feel of guilt was eating him from the inside. The worst thing was that on the other hand, he wanted to see him again. Just like Lucian. He wondered what he had been doing right now. But no. That wasn't a time for thinking about him.

"Do you like rock music?" Thirteen asked out of blue, fixing the ship.

"Why are you asking?"

Chapter Text

After his break-up, John started to stay at home all days. His usual optimistic attitude completely faded. From time to time he said a silent 'hi' to Olivia and Alex who he met outside, but apart from that he was totally cut off from the world. The feeling of being lonely overwhelmed him and the only stepping-stone was playing his bass. 

"I would do anything if he played something more happy!" said Olivia when she met him after her walk with baby Charlie. 

"Is he like that all the time after Carol?" she asked and Olivia nodded. 

Both of them knew him as that happy, cheerful guy and seeing him down in the dumps was heartbreaking for them. Summer was just about to start and Alex couldn't let him be miserable all that time. Especially, when John was always willing to go out, see something. It would be against him to hide in his home. 

Olivia said something about John's playing. Alex heard once that he used to play in a band a couple of years ago but it eventually dissolved. Since that day Helm had been willing to join a band once more. Unfortunately, after some time he became more insecure about his skills and didn't have enough courage to try. So, Alex had to do it for him. Fortunately for her, she found an announcement about a casting to a rock band called Thorne and the Needles. Alex had heard about it before, probably even from John so she knew that it was a good idea. The only thing she had to do was to write an email to their manager that John Helm is willing to show himself on the casting on the next Saturday.

"And sent," she said, proud of herself. Now she had to tell John about it. And that was the more difficult idea. 

The next day, John was sitting on his bed, tuning his guitar. It was a nice, sunny day, but he didn't feel like going out. His phone was lying next to him and from time to time he was checking whether Carol replayed to his previous messages. But nothing like that happened. His friends had told him to let her go, although, it was easier said than done. Suddenly he heard a loud knocking on the door so he gently put down the instrument and opened the door.

"Hi, John!" exclaimed happy Alex who immediately entered the house.

"Hey, Alex. I'm sorry but I'm not in a mood for much today," he said, looking at the woman with an expression that showed 'go away, I don't want to talk'.

"Yes, I know, I know. Olivia told me that since your break-up, you turned into a walking corpse!"

John smirked and collapsed on his armchair. At the moment, it was obvious that he wouldn't get rid of her in any time soon.

"I didn't want to see you so sad all the time, so I did something for you." The woman took out her phone and opened a particular message and handed the phone to John. 

At first, he gave Alex a confused look but they started to read the mail.

Hi, John!

We are happy that you would like to join our band! 

Be in the community center on Saturday at 12 a.m. and show us your best side!

See you soon!

Jodie Twist, the manager of Thorne and the Needles

"What?!" John shouted and stood up from his sit. He started walking around the room and reading the message again and again. Alex kept looking at him to see any signs of anger.

"Do you like it?" she said quietly.

Helm stopped and stared at her. "Do I like it?! Fuck yeah!" However, then he added. "But wait, I didn't send them any message. I didn't even know they would be here."

Alex fixed herself on the chair. "Well, I guess that was my credit."

John looked at her with big eyes and also a big smile. He immediately took his guitar and started to improvise something. The woman saw how quickly Helm was changing the chords and strumming the strings. The music filled the room and again Alex could experience how talented he was. 

Chapter Text

The next day John couldn't focus on anything else but his bass. He knew that playing it wouldn't have helped him much since he wouldn't know the background on the concert. But still he did really let go of the instrument until he got into the car and drove to the stadium. He saw people already gathering near the entrance. Fortunately, they weren't aware of the fact that John would be the one playing on the concert.  In fact, he didn't really know where to go and he was dragged by a suspiciously looking man inside the building. 

"Calm down, John. It's me," the man said and it soon turned out that it was Greg. "Come with me, we have to prepare you."

The drummer took Helm backstage where he met with every other band member. Although, he couldn't see Thorne anywhere near. He assumed that he must have been still changing. Mark told John everything he needed to know and then took him to his make-up artist. She looked quickly at the bassist and smiled soothingly. Frankly, John had never worn a make-up before. Fortunately, the lady didn't put a lot of in on him. Only an eyeliner and some shadow around his eyes. In the end, John liked his make-up. It wasn't too much.

"Okay, guys, we're about to tear this place apart!" they heard a shout and soon was approached by Thorne. 

John looked at him and stopped his gaze on his thighs for a little too long. Jamison smiled and him and licked his lips.

"Good to see you, Johnny boy. Ready for your first appearance?" the singer asked getting closer to the man.

"I think so, yeah," John answered but wasn't completely sure about the answer. The last time he had been performing on a stage was years and years ago.

"Alright, Johnny boy, your part is simple. During our performance I'll introduce you spontaneously and you'll just do your work and play whatever you want, got it?" Thorne asked him and patted on his shoulder.

Soon, the whole band was already on the stage with the crowd shouting and screaming their names. Jamison started talking and laughing with the people. John, being backstage smiled to himself when he heard how comfortable Thorne felt on stage. Still he couldn't believe that he was actually going to play with the band. He remembered when he had been younger and Thorne had been just a raising star. Helm had come across his name accidentally and had already been jealous for his success. And now he was about to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

John leaned on the wall and held his bassist tightly. He had checked the cables three times already and tried to steady his breath. He didn't know when he would be supposed to go on stage so he had to be prepared all the time.

When the last song ended, Thorne started talking, "Hey, Glasgow!" the audience cheered. "We have something to tell you! You know that our friend Jake left the band," the audience went quiet and a little sad. "Yeah, I'm sad too." Jamison took a few steps backwards. "But yesterday, as you know, we had an audition. And our approval is one thing but you are all the part of the band too!" Thorne shouted and the whole crowd cheered. "So we brought somebody here with us so you could listen to him. He's a damn good one, but we need your approval too!" The singer got closer to the side of the stage. "Alright, people! Let's meet John Helm!" he reached for the bassist and threw his arm around his neck, leading him to the middle. "Do what you can the best," Thorne whispered in John's ear and the man immediately felt shivers.

Suddenly, Mark started playing and Helm had only about a few seconds to get prepared. Fortunately, with Thorne standing right next to him, he had enough motivation for that. When he finally started playing he didn't even care of the amount of people chanting his name cheerfully or the blinding lights. In fact, the only thing he felt was Thorne walking around him, brushing his hand against John's lower back. After sometime, Mark stopped playing so John's bass was the only instrument that the audience could hear. He felt sweat falling down his face but being in his current state, he didn't care about it at all.

The next minutes passed and finally John played the last sounds before ending with a riff. And just then he opened his eyes, noticing all the people cheering and shouting. He was breathing heavily, not believing that he had done that.

"Once more, John Helm!" Thorne shouted and pulled the man closer to him. He brought the micro closer to him, expecting the bassist to say something. 

He takes a few deep breaths, "Hello, people!" he started a little unsure but when he felt Thorne's hand on his back, he felt more comfortable. "It's a dream come true to be with you here," the crowd cheered. "I hope you'll welcome me in the band."

The people screamed excited. Thorne looked at them with admire and just then his eyes meet John's and he smiles at him. 

"Alright!" he says, coming to the edge of the stage, fans' hands trying to reach for him. "The most important question this night, do you want John?!" After saying the words, the crowed screamed a loud 'yes' that almost made the ground shake.

Helm was proud of himself but exhausted too. The whole band took a few steps forward and bowed to the cheering crowd. After a while, all of them were on the backstage, sweating but excited. The members were congratulating John on his first performance. Helm was so happy to hear the praises that he nearly didn't notice Thorne, who embraced him from the behind. "So, guys, I think we should go and celebrate with our new bassist."

The two men agreed, exchanging smiles. Fortunately, they weren't really expected to take any photos with the fans so they were ready to go. They didn't bother changing, knowing that they would be even more sweating after the night. Of course, as a meaning of transport, they chose a limo. Probably the most expensive and luxurious that John had ever seen. And now he was sitting inside! Thorne was the first to reach for a bottle of whiskey and pouring each of them a glass. He made a short, crappy toast and drank the whole liquid in one sip. Just as the rest of the members. John was a little unsure at first but followed his new friends. After one glass came the next one and another. Then Mark and Greg refused more but John was already so in the mood, that he kept drinking with the singer.

When they arrived at the club and were just about to enter, Greg and Mark pulled John. 

"What happened?" he asked, confused.

"Listen, man, after his divorce, Thorne started to be a little... intrusive, so to speak." John didn't really know what to say to that so he just chuckled and followed Thorne inside the club. 

There were already a lot of people inside. He could spot Jamison spiky hair in the crowd so he quickly went to him. He's moves were quick but they all matched one another. John at first just admired the other man but was soon pulled by the skirts of his black waistcoat. He could feel Jamison body, how it was brushing against his. Thorne's eyes were closed and his shadow was almost gone due to the sweat. Helm was so close to him, could have done everything right now. He was just still too sober to actually do anything. But not long later, he felt Jamison's hands on his hips and his bright smile when their eyes met. John was thankful for the poor light that the singer couldn't see him blushing. Thorne was getting closer to him and at some point he steadied John and pulled him in a deep kiss, moving his hands to the man's hair, ruining the styled hairstyle. Just when Helm realized what had just happened, Thorne pulled away and smiled at him proudly. Immediately, he pushed the younger man backwards until he hit the wall.

"You're so damn sexy John," Thorne said, sliding her lips down on the bassist neck. John tried to stop himself from moaning but when he felt Thorne's hand on his crotch, he just couldn't. "Let's get out of here." 

Jamison took John by his hand and led them to the exit. The people around them kept shouting and pushing them, not knowing who they were. Fortunately, at least none of them had to answer some question. When they went outside, Thorne came to the limo driver and gave him an address. Soon, both of them sat inside the car, Thorne on John's lap, kissing him deeply.

"Wait," John broke the kiss. "What with the rest of the boys?"

Thorne smirked, "We don't need them."

Quickly, they came back to kissing each other while their hands were wandering on each other's body. John slid his hands under Thorne's tight shirt and rubbed it gently, while the singer tried to unzip his pants. Thorne moaned in the kiss, when John's cold hands touched his sensitive nipples. Fortunately, the driver didn't pay attention to the suspicious noises coming from the back of the car.

The limo stopped in front of the hotel that the band had booked rooms in. Thorne once more dragged John after him but he didn't want to waste any more time. That's why when they made it to the elevator, the shorter man jumped at John, crossing his ankles on his back and pulling him impossibly close. Helm tried to keep his balance and walked forward on his wobbly legs. Thorne's cheeks, brushing against his pants weren't much of a help. 

"Room 54," Thorne whispered between the kisses and brought John's hand to his back pocket. When the bassist felt it, he squeezed the bum, making Thorne moan.

"I wanted you to take the room card but that was good too," Thorne whimpered. John said a quick 'sorry' and found the right room. He struggled for a bit with the card but eventually opened the door and then slammed them with his leg. 

He looked around the room, spotting the bed and immediately going to it. Thorne was still plastered to him but just then he felt John bending over and throwing him on the mattress. John crawled onto him, grabbing his wrists and placing them above the man's head. Jamison's breath quickened. He looked at John with lust and tried to lift himself up to kiss him once more. Helm immediately went for the kiss and simultaniously took off the man's pants and underwear. Thorne's cock had been already hard and leaking with precum. He hissed when he felt John's cold fingers around it, stroking slowly. 

"Come on, Johnny boy, stop the teasing," he moaned, throwing his hips up to meet the man's crotch.

Fortunately, John was so absorbed with the older man's body that he obeyed, taking his clothes of so quick that Thorne didn't even notice when the man had let go off his hands. The singer lifted his back and took off the rest of his clothes. After a while, both of them were completely naked, eyeing each other.

"So damn sexy," Thorne growled, pushing John on his back and kissing deeply. The bassist burried his fingers in Jamison's styled hair that was now a complete mess. "Wait," Thorne said and got off from John. He looked for something in his drawer. John looked at his perfect ass the whole time he was bent forward. Soon, the singer came back with a bottle of lube that he quickly poured on his hand and started stroking Helm's cock. He was teasing the tip of it with his thumb, enjoying every pleased noise that Jonh made. 

"You're eager to fuck me, aren't you, Johnny boy?" Thorne smirked and then moved his fingers to his hole, pushing one of them inside. "Ah ah ah." He placed his other hand on John's chest when the man tried to get up and do the work himself. "You're just watching."

Helm, laying on the bed, was looking at Jamison stretching his hole with his fingers. He was sitting on his abdomen so the lube was leaking down his thighs and on John's chest as well. He bit his lip when he saw John's look. The bassist's chest was moving up and down quickly and his stare was fixed on the man's fingers. After a while, when Thorne had already had three fingers inside, he pull them out and took Helm's cock. "You're ready, Johnny boy?" he asked with a teasing smile and John nodded quickly. 

Thorne slowly slid himself lower, until he had Helm's cock fully inside. He moaned loudly and wiggled a little.

"Fuck, Thorne," John whined, his mind still dizzy from the alcohol. His hands wandered to the man's hips and squeezed them. Not long later, Thorne started moving up and down on the shaft, arching his back so that the other man could see his whole body properly. 

"I wanted to do this from the first time I saw you, Johnny boy," Jamison moaned. John was still too overwhelmed with the whole situation to even say a word. He just kept moving his hips to make his thursts go deeper inside Thorne. "You're so good, fuck," Thorne moaned again, bending over and pulling the other man for a kiss. Helm had enough time to wrap his arms around the singer's back tightly so that he had a better access to fuck him.

"Please, Johnny boy," Thorne screamed when he felt John's hand stroking his hard cock between their chests. The feeling of being full and the hand on his cock was so overwhelming that Thorne couldn't hold any longer and finished, his cum covering their bodies. Soon after him, John found his realease, filling Thorne's with his seed. The older man collapsed on his chest, trembling.

"It was so fucking amazing," he whispered. John tried to steady his breath so he burried his face in Thorne's hair. It smelt of sweat but also some sweet shampoo that Jamison must have been using. 

"We should move a little, Thorne," John mumbled and moved Thorne on the middle of the bed. The man was half asleep and Helm still had to clean himself and him. From the bathroom he took a wet towel and removed the cum both from his chest and Thorne's. He then opened the signer's legs a little, causing a quiet hiss. The towel was really fluffly so it didn't really bothered Thorne's sore areas. 

After that, John, being exhausted and still drunk, laid himself on the bed. For a while he had been staring at the ceiling until Thorne climbed on his chest and fell asleep on it. John smiled tiredly and kissed Thorne's head the last time before going to sleep as well.

Chapter Text

John woke up with a painful headache. He groaned and stretched his body but soon realized that something was blocking his moves. When he opened his eyes, he saw black hair tickling him a little. It took John a few seconds to remember what had happened the previous day. He slowly moved his hands from under the covers and sat up a little. The sleeping body slid down on his abdomen and that was when John realized it was Thorne, cuddled to him and sleeping like nothing had happened. Helm started to panic. He grabbed his phone and looked at the hour. 11.23 am. Fortunately, neither of the band members had texted him. But still he couldn't believe that he had had sex with Thorne. Technically, he was his boss and they fucked only after their first concert. Of course, John didn't regret it. He barely remember it but he could remember how he had felt then. However, he couldn't just wake up with Jamison in one bed. What would he say?

The bassist moved Thorne as gently as he could on the other side of the bed. The singer only rolled over and hugged the pillow, still sleeping. John threw the covers around the man and got up himself, taking all his belongings and clothes that were laying all over the room. He quickly put on his shirt and pants. When he was about to leave the room, he turned around and looked at Thorne. He must have admitted that he liked this side of Jamison better. The makeup was now barely visible, hair were messed up without the product now. He was drooling on the pillow and snoring quietly. John could say he looked really cute in such a state. The idea of cuddling to the singer was very tempting but it would cause John more problems. Instead, he left the room and went for a glass of water for his hangover.

He leaned on the counter, drinking the cold water slowly when he suddenly heard footsteps, coming closer to him.

"Leaving me so early?"

John almost dropped the glass when he saw Thorne, wrapped in a blanket, still a little sleepy.

"Thorne, I- I'm sorry for what happened," John said and looked down. He didn't look at the man because he was afraid of his reaction. However, he didn't expect that.

"Oh, come on, Johnny boy," Jamison smirked. "We had fun, didn't we?"

The singer collapsed on the couch and casually turned on the TV. Helm stared at him for a few seconds, before he cleared his throat and spoke. 

"So um, maybe I should go now."

In fact, John really wanted Thorne to stop him or encourage to him stay but... nothing like that happened. He only said a quick 'okay' without even looking at him. Helm knew he shouldn't have cared because all this happened while they were both drunk. Throne probably took it as a simple one-night stand... John wondered if he had done the same with the other members of the band. After all, they'd known each other for less than a week. John took his things and left quietly the room.

When he got home, he went to look on social media and smiled when he saw the amount of positive comments about himself. The fans really liked him and wanted in the band. Looking at the photos, he couldn't believe that his dream came true. Of course, nothing like that would have happened if not...

"John! Open the fucking door!" Alex screamed banging on the front door.

The man quickly went to the door and let the woman inside. She gave John a big hug.

"You were fucking awesome, John!"

The man smiled slightly but didn't feel trurely happy after hearing the compliment. He was still thinking about the morning and what Throne told him. 

"Thanks, Alex," he said and invited the woman in. He suggested making her a cup of tea but she was too excited to drink anything. 

"John, you were fucking great! Why are you so moody?" she asked, a little worried about the man's face. 

The bassist just shrugged. 

"Okay, what's going on?" Alex moved closer to the man and patted him on his back.

Helm knew he wouldn't be able to hide it from Alex. She was too stubborn to just let it go, so he decided to tell her the whole story from the beginning to the end. It wasn't pleasant to talk about the night and how it turned out. Particularly hurtful was talking about how Thorne treated John in the morning. Probably, he shouldn't have bothered. Jamison was a star, a celebrity. However, the 'I wanted to do it from the second I met you' sounded quite serious and honest.

"You fucked?!" Alex nearly screamed.

"Stop shouting, I don't want everybody you know about it," John grumbled. "Besides, it was nothing special. He didn't really care about it, as it turned out," he looked down at his hands. He went back to that night when he could feel the man's body. It was so smooth and delicate.

"No way, he just kicked you out?!"

John sighed. "No, not really. I decided to leave myself. He just sat down on the sofa and focused on the TV. I didn't want to bother him..."

Right after these words, Alex gave John the 'decide whether you want to develop this relationship' talk which made the bassist felt a little better. The least he could do was to talk seriously with Thorne and explain everything. He couldn't just be a coward. However, the next meeting was about to be in two days, but John didn't want to wait more. He decided to see Jamison the next day.

Hi, Thorne, can we meet tomorrow at around 6 pm?, he texted and didn't have to wait long for the respond.

No problemo, Johnny boy, meet me in the café you told me about.

John knew well what place Thorne was talking about. Now the only thing was to get prepared for the meeting.

Maybe it was rather too quick to assume things about one sex but the words Thorne were saying couldn't be meaningless. Also, the singer wasn't indifferent to John. 

"That's dumb, I've known him for what? A week?" he said out loud, looking at Alex.

She smirked. "John, I know you well enough to tell when you're in love with somebody."