Work Text:
As Morse happily bought a pint for himself and a brandy for Bright which was sort of his and Thursday's way of celebrating the end of the case. Fred and Win suddenly apperared behind him newly returned back from their holiday in Malta. "Good heavens Thursday" Bright said in surprise. This was his usual reaction to whenever Morse or Thursday popped up in his office but this was more surprising seeing Thursday coming straight from the airport and Win whom Bright had only met on a rare number of occasions looked rather jet lagged and look more in the mood to be going straight home rather than go to the pub even if Morse was going to be there. Morse noted how tired his boss's wife looked and felt a pang of symphathy for the woman who felt like a mother figure to him.
"Thought you had another couple more days Thursday" Bright declared still surprised. Thursday waved the notion aside "Ah well sir I didnt feel ready to go home yet and I spent so much time appreciating the maltese wine I felt now I was back on home ground a bit of familarity would do us some good. Win seemed to be rolling her eyes behind her husbands back and shaking her head but she couldnt deny she was feeling hungry having not had much on the flight. "Good to see you again sir" Morse declared "The weather has done you good and the tan looks rather surprising". Thursday chucked at that comment "I forgot how much I missed your sledgehammer wit Morse" he said grandly. He then turned to Bright "Didnt give you much grief did he sir"? he asked. "Not at all Thursday" Bright said cheerfully "I quite enjoyed being the acting inspector's sidekick its been alright hasnt it Morse? Morse could only blush at the praise and found the idea of Bright being his "sidekick" rather amusing. He was made acting DI in the Faulkner case because Division were short on Senior Officers. Strange had flu, Mcnutt was recovering from the Simon Albright case. DI Chesney Finch was considered to lead the investigation. Which would have been economical due to him being an old pal of Thursday but he didnt have any experience leading a murder case due to being in The Dirty Squad and there were quite a few DI's that werent keen on working with Morse because of the fallout from Blenheim Vale and neither Bright or Morse fancied the idea of working with Arthur Lott again so George Fancy ended up being Morse's so called "bag man". Morse had found the idea of having Fancy under his wing a bit daunting as he found the boy to be an idiot but surprisingly Fancy was a lot better and focused than expected. Which even impressed DC Shirley Trewlove
All Morse could say in response to Bright's cheerful banter was say "Sir" he then found himself being hugged and fussed over by Win. " Pay no attention Thursday" Bright said still in his banter mode "He's been a lonely little soul without you" .
Then at that moment out of nowhere Joan Thursday arrived and started kissing Morse passionately. " I've been thinking about doing that all day" she said seductively. Morse though surprised responded with "Same here."At that moment Thursday and Bright could only smirk and exchange glances while Win was beaming and all feelings of jetlag and faitgue she was having had suddenly gone. Bright could only say nonchalantly "Evening". Joan being caught up in the throes of kissing Morse had not noticed that both her parents were watching them " Mum Dad Gosh, you're sunburnt." She said blushing. "Thank you". Fred grunted. Win meanwhile had leaped out of her seat and threw herself over Joan hugging her and eventually Morse too and muttering something which sounded very much like "Welcome to the family darling". Morse would have felt intimitated by the word family but now he was with Joan he took it in stride and could only smile. After a moment Morse suddenly decided " I'll get the drinks in." "No, *I'll* get them". Joan offered. "No, no. We'll *both* get them." Morse condeded. And with that Morse and Joan walked away to the bar holding hands and giggling like a couple of Oxford students in the Bodleian. At that moment Bright broke the silence to ask "How long..." ?
Fred could only grunt in response and reply more to himself than Bright "I turn my back for five minutes..." "Oh hush" Win scolded slapping Thursday shoulder playfully. She was rather enjoying seeing her daughter and her new boyfriend getting close at the bar. She made a mental note to google mother of the bride hats for when she got home.
Much further away George Fancy was helping Liam Jay and Ruth Wilson both unfortunate victims in the whole case. "It'll be difficult for the next few days and you will have a lot of things to work out with the coroner but you'll bounce back eventually" George was saying.
This young couple were finding this young copper to be an interesting chap. "When in doubt hold your hand out for a copper" Fancy said cheerfully. "Is that why you became a copper"? Ruth asked brightly. Much as she loved Liam she couldn't deny this young detective was rather cute. Fancy could only blush at the question. "I was sixteen my dad had died a copper held a hand out to me a posh sort too a lad from Lincolnshire". He felt rather wistful at the memory but then shook himself and concluded with "He doesn't remember it." It didnt matter now as Fancy focused on the job at hand by helping this young couple he and Morse had taken a shine to. He had heard that Inspector Thursday was back from holiday and would be starting back tomorrow so it would be business as usual in Kidlington Nick.
Elsewhere Morse and Joan left the pub hand in hand either to another pub or a cruise down the Cherwell or to Morse's bachelor's pad or Joan's apartment in Park Town it no longer mattered. They just seemed happy and content to be together and all it took was for a holiday for Joan's parents, a murder case that Morse risked his life to solve without Fred to help him which involved saving a damsel in distress from a burning boat. This was then followed by a kiss in the pub in front of Joan's parents and Fred and Morse's boss which made the evening interesting.
If solving a case by himself without Thursday was interesting it wouldn't be long till Morse ended up being an inspector for real and with any luck Joan as his blushing bride.
END