After laying Carol on the couch Tony grabbed the phone and dialled Alex.

"Hey it's me, you should get Kevin and Paula and come over… there's someone they need to see".

Without waiting for a response he ended the call and turned back to look at the women lying on his couch. Without thinking he reached down and brushed a strand of Carol's hair out of her face. It had been a long time since he had the chance to look at her this way. She looked different; something about her had changed, it was if something inside of her had died. Before he could continue his pondering there was a sharp knock at the door. He opened it to Alex, walking up the steps behind her was Paula and Kevin. With a slight nod Tony invited them in.

-- "Tony what's going on?"

Instead of telling them what was going on Tony lead them into the living room where Carol lay. Paula audibly gasped when she saw the women lying on the couch. Kevin just stood there wide eyed with shock; and Alex stood there with a look of curiosity on her face.

Paula was the first to speak "What… what's going on?

Sitting down on the edge of the couch Tony just shrugged. "To be honest I don't know, I came in and she was sitting at the kitchen table. I asked her what was going on, but before she could really tell me anything she collapsed".

Alex began pacing the room, --"This doesn't make any sense... why would we receive a tip saying that there was a drug ring in that apartment? And why wasn't the operation flagged? This doesn't make any sense".

Carol began to stir on the couch, Tony grabbed her just as she was about to fall off the couch. Sitting up in Tony's arms Carol took in her surroundings; she saw four sets of eyes staring down at her. It was only after a few minutes of everyone staring at her that Carol realised that she was still sitting in Tony's arms. She shifted so that she was sitting on the couch beside him, their thighs touching. She needed that bit of contact; she had been without closeness for so long now she had forgotten how good it felt to be near him. The room was silent; it was as if everyone was waiting for her to say something, waiting to see if this was real.

"What… what happened? I don't remember coming here, I shouldn't be here"

Paula was the first to move rushing to hug the woman who were her friend and co-worker for so long. "Oh my god it's so good to see you". Carol returned the hug, and noticed that Kevin was there also. Alex attempted to stay back and out of the way of the reunion taking place not knowing whether or not she should say anything.

Carol pulled back from the arms of her friends "Someone please tell me what I'm doing here, where are the guys… I'm supposed to be with them".

She stood up and if it wasn't for Tony catching her she would have hit the floor. "Carol you're obviously not up to anything other than sitting right now. Let us call a doctor and get you checked out, you've just been blown up god knows what that does to a person".

"No…. no-one else can know that I'm here, they can't know I'm alive…you're already in trouble by my being here, it's best that I just leave so that none of you are in any more danger".

Carol stood to leave again and this time her legs held. She headed towards the door this time her path was blocked by one DI Fielding. "I'm sorry but I can't let you leave, you're the only witness to what went down today, and you're the only person that can properly identify the bodies we recovered. I'm sorry DCI Jordan, but I can't let you just disappear, at least not until the case is solved". To say Carol was shocked would have been an understatement. Who was this woman to stand in her way, to tell her what she could and could not do? Summoning whatever authority she had left Carol stared down the woman who stood in her way. "Forgive me… but last time I checked DCI outranked DI in the police force, and if I'm not mistaken, I hold the higher rank here."

The other three people in the room where shocked by what was taking place before their eyes. Never in the time that they had known Carol Jordan had they seen her play the superior card. It was obvious that whatever it was she was working on was important, and dangerous. Whatever it was was enough to scare the seemingly fearless woman, and see her do anything to go back into hiding.

As shocked as he was Tony knew that he had to step in before something went down between the two women. "Carol maybe we can help with whatever it is that's going on… Alex is right, you can't just disappear, you know that no matter where you go you won't be able to forget about what you saw, I know you Carol, no matter how hard you try you're not the type of person that can just walk away from something like this". They stood there staring at each other, Tony's hands still gently holding Carol's arms. "Talk to me Carol, if you can't talk to anyone else that's fine, but at least tell me what's going on, I deserve that much".

He felt the tension leave Carol's arms. Tuning her gently, he led her back to couch. The lack of space between them when they sat was noted by both Paula and Kevin. It had long been a cause of gossip and speculation among Bradfield Police as to whether or not Carol Jordan and Tony Hill had ever been in a relationship outside of work parameters. Now the two young officers would see first hand the depth of the relationship between Carol and Tony, and the sway that they had over each other.