Part of the Jim and June "Lurve" Collection by jimsgirl
Sgt June Ackland is custody sergeant with Jim Carver as jailer. An accident and an electrical storm force the two into uncomfortably close proximity - where they are forced to reveal secrets and admit to their true feelings.
* * *
"Jim. JIM!"
June patted - or rather hit - Jim Carver on the shoulder to attract the drowsy PC's attention.
"What?" Jim squinted up at her.
"Nice to see you're on the ball, PC Carver - prisoner in three's just been sick. Clean it up will you."
Jim's face fell, his nose wrinkled up. "Right�" He levered himself up from the bench with an elaborate groan, and mooched toward the cells.
"Oh, get a move on Jim, for God's sake�" June called after him, exasperated.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Jim whined. He sighed loudly, straightened, grabbed the bucket and mop from where it was positioned up against the wall.
"What's wrong with you anyway. Anyone would think you hadn't slept."
Jim's face pivoted round and glared at June. "I haven't."
"Why not?"
"Arsenal and Middlesborough replay on Sky."
June rolled her eyes. "And you couldn't just look the score up on Teletext or something?"
Jim frowned. "Where's the fun in that?"
"You're right, Jim, sorry. I should have known." June rolled her eyes again and ushered him away with a wave of her hand.
***
Jim mooched back out into the custody area looking more thunderous than he had been when he had gone in. "He threw up again. On my soddin' trousers."
June placed a hand across her mouth in an effort to hold back a laugh which had found its way up. "I'll�I'll, um�call the FME in."
"Yeah, you do that. I'm going to go change." He wandered over to the double doors, then placed a hand to his forehead. "Shit."
"What?"
"I took my spare uniform to the dry cleaners. I ain't got it back yet."
"You got any other trousers with you?"
"Only me jeans."
"Well, you can't wear those. You'll have to�just give those a wash under the tap. It'll be alright."
"What about the smell?" Jim looked incredulous.
"Spray some deodorant on it or something."
"Deodorant. Of course. Why didn't I fink of that." He pivoted towards the doors again.
"Jim."
"Sarge�"
"Could you please at least try to come back in a better mood?"
Jim's eyes shot daggers at June for a moment, then he grinned. So insincerely it was painful.
"Jim�." June suddenly felt tears prickling her eyes. "Please. For me."
"OK. Alright. I'll try."
Smash.
SLAM.
Mooch.
**
Ten minutes later he was back.
"Jim, you stink to high heaven."
"It was the only way I could disguise the smell of the puke."
"You smell like you've used the whole can."
Jim hiked an eyebrow. "I did." He tried to smile but it refused at the first jump.
"You sure you're all right? Apart from being tired�"
"Yeah. Fine. Just this whole, y'know, 19 years, cleaning up puke circular thing going round in my head."
"I know." June left her seat behind the custody desk and joined Jim on the wooden bench. "You're not the only one who feels like that, I assure you."
Jim coughed out a laugh. "I know. Spose I'd just rather be out there, y'know, getting some fresh air."
"In this rain?" As if on cue, thunder cracked overhead.
"I like rain."
"Really?"
"You didn't know?"
"No�" June leant her head back against the glass wall of the custody sergeants office. "Sorry."
"S'OK." Jim shrugged. "Why would you."
June's brow furrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nuffin."
"No, go on."
"Nothing. Look, I said, I'm just tired, I�." Jim ran a hand across his forehead.
"You're just tired�?"
"Look, I told you�" Jim's eyes shot something approximating hate at his blond companion. "I know what you're thinkin' and I'm not losin' it again, alright?"
"Did I say that?"
"No, but that's what you fink. That's what all of you fink, it's what you've all been waiting for, innit?"
"NO!"
"Every time - every time I'm havin' a bit of a bad day, I feel it, I feel all of you lot watching me, y'know, thinkin'�" Jim stood, began to pace.
"We don't�"
"You do. And I don't need it. I'm alright."
"Jim�" June stood to meet him. "We know you are. I know you are. Believe me." She moved into meet him, touched his hand.
Jim gazed down at her for a long moment. "Yeah. I'm talkin' bollocks. I just need some kip�"
June looked thoughtful for a moment. "Go on�have a lie down in number two."
"I can't, it's against�"
"Jim�go on. If anyone says anythin', I'll tell 'em you're coming down with something. Go on."
"OK." Jim walked slowly back toward the cells. "Only half an hour though. I don't want to get you into trouble."
"It's alright. Just go on and get your head down. It's in both our best interests."
***
Half an hour later.
June stepped into cell two and heard Jim snoring softly. She couldn't help but smile. He was lying on the bench that passed as a bed, one arm drooping down over the side, the other lying on his chest, rising and falling with his regular breaths.
The light from the corridor illuminated his face. This way�.he looked so young, so�.
She felt a sudden almost irresistable urge to stroke his face, yet held herself back.
The thirty minutes was up, but now, watching him, she didn't want to wake him�
She turned away, then started at a movement. "Sarge?"
"Jim�time's up."
"Right. That was quick." He sat up, rubbed his eyes. He ran a hand aimlessly through his hair, messing it.
"You feel better?"
"A bit. Look, June, I'm sorry, for being such an umpty-flump."
June laughed. "A what?!"
Jim shrugged. "Dunno. Heard it somewhere."
"It suits you." The two looked up as a thunder crashed and banged seemingly directly overhead. "You'd still rather be out there?"
"There is a limit." Jim joked.
"C'mon."
BANG!!!
Jim jumped.
June jumped.
June wobbled, and fell into the door. The door creaked, swung�
�and slammed.
June rolled her eyes. "Hit the alarm, Jim."
Jim raised a hand.
BANG!
The lights went out.
Though in pitch black surroundings, Jim found the alarm button and depressed it.
Nothing.
He pressed it again.
Still nothing.
He slammed it with the palm of his hand.
"SHIT!" He cursed.
"Jim, I said press the button!"
"What do you fink I'm trying to do!?"
"The electrics must be out�."
"Haven't we got a generator�."
"Yes�."
"I feel a but coming, Sarge�."
"It packed in a couple days ago."
"Oh, great." Silence. "Sarge? Where are ya?"
"I don't know. I can't see."
A loud sigh. "Sorry. That was stupid. Follow my voice."
Jim heard the shuffling of feet, and soon could vaguely make out the image of a hand in the darkness. He reached out and grabbed it, pulled June toward him, down onto the bench.
His eyes adjusting to the darkness now, he could see the _expression on June's face. She was�.was she smiling?
"What's so funny, Sarge?"
"This. Guess it's one of those things we'll look back on and�" She giggled.
"You might."
"Come on�" June placed her hand on Jim's thigh. Then, realising what she was doing, pulled it away. "Cheer up."
"I can't." Jim swallowed. "I'm afraid of the dark."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"So�.you sleep with a night light?" June giggled again.
"It's not funny, Sarge."
"I know. Are you OK?" Her hand sought, and found, Jim's.
"Yeah. For now." He squeezed June's hand tightly. "But if we're in here for to much longer, I might need sedation."
"You'll be alright." June assured him. "Unless there's a spider in here�"
"You're afraid of spiders?" Jim tipped his head back and laughed.
June hit Jim across the upper arm with her free hand. "No�I was just trying to take your mind off of�"
"Thanks, Sarge�but it didn't work." Jim's breathing was becoming more rapid.
"Just relax, Jim, else you'll hyperventilate."
"Easier said than done." Jim sucked in a lungful of air. "God, I can still smell that sick." Jim began to fidget beside June.
"You're really scared, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Dunno."
"Come on, there's almost always a reason�"
"There ain't�" Jim stood suddenly. He made to walk toward the door, tripped over a rogue toilet roll and fell forward.
"Jim? JIM?"
"I'm alright. I'm alright." More noises. "I just need�." A pounding of fist against metal. "I need to get out of here�"
"It won't be long. Either the lights will come back on, or someone will turn up."
"How many prisoners have we 'ad in 'ere tonight June? One. One. In six hours. It's always the same on nights like this."
"Someone will wander through. Inspector Monroe - someone."
"Not if everyone is stumbling round in the dark." Jim gave the door one last hefty thump before sliding down it toward the floor.
"You're a real cynic, you know that?"
"Yeah, well, you may as well accept life is crap from the off, then you cant be disappointed."
"I don't know if I could look at things like that. It might sound ridiculous, but even after all this time I prefer to think that most people are fundamentally good�"
"Everyone's capable of really screwin' up, June. Everyone." Jim sighed loudly.
"Yeah. Guess so." The two shared a companionable silence for a moment. Then: "You feeling better?"
"Eh?"
"You seem calmer."
"Well, I ain't." Jim slammed the door with the palm of his hand once more. "I'm shaking like a leaf."
"Oh, Jim�." June reached a hand out into the darkness. "Come here."
"No�.I need to be near the door. You come here." June stood, placed her hand on the wall and slowly made her way across the room. Feeling with her hands, she found Jim - well, Jim's hair.
"Oi�" He muttered, then laughed.
June slid down to join Jim. She placed an arm around him, felt him quiver. "I don't understand. Why you're so scared of the dark."
"I don�t understand why you don't like Arsenal, but it's none of my business." Jim's tone was a little harsh, he realised this and apologised.
"Because I don't much like football. Not the game�.I like the men in shorts." She squeezed Jim's shoulder as he laughed.
"Remember that five a side match. Mike and Taffy�.and Viv."
"Oh yes. The one you missed 'cos you fell over."
"I did not fall over. I fell�.backwards."
"Reg won the raffle�.Yorkie too, and Abe."
"How things have changed." Jim mused. "Who'd have thought�."
June waited for Jim to finish his sentence. He didn't.
"Who'd have thought what?"
"Y'know. All of it. Viv, and everyone, everything that's happened in all the years we've�" Jim was gesticulating in the dark. "Ignore me. I'm losing it."
"I thought you said you weren't." June pulled her arm from its position around Jim's shoulders and located and squeezed his hand.
"Not, generally. Here�..now. I gotta get out. I�." He suddenly heaved in a sob. "I have to get out of here."
"It won't be long, I promise�.I�.Jim�.?"
"Yeah?"
"It's not the dark you're scared of is it?"
A laugh and a sob intermingled into one. "No."
"And it's not the storm."
"Nope."
"It's being in here, isn't it? In this cell."
This cell. The cell that Jim had been imprisoned in, albeit only for two hours or so, during the most nightmarish time of his life.
"I should have realised earlier, Jim, I'm sorry."
"I'm alright�.alright if the light's on. If the door's open. But in the dark�.knowing, thinkin' that I can't get out�"
"You can get out. And we will."
"It's just like a flashback, y'know? It's like, when I went to sleep in here�back then�when the lights went out I just felt so much like I'd just woken up and�I was still a prisoner. Still looking into my future and seein' nothin'�."
"Don't you think we all do that sometimes?" June sounded thoughtful, distant.
"I dunno, I guess so, I�." A sniff. "Shit, I'm cryin'."
June dug in her skirt pocket for a tissue and passed it over. "Here. I don't like seeing yo�men�cry."
"Yeah, it makes me nose sore." A pause. "What did you mean? About the future?"
"You're not the only one who's looked into it and seen nothing. Look at me, Jim. 46 years old, single, no kids, married to the job�sometimes dunno if that's my choice or just the way things were meant to be, I�I've got maybe 10 years left in the job. I don't even think about retiring�I can't imagine what I'll do, I�"
"What would you want to do? If you had the choice�"
"I don't know. What I do know is that I'd like to share it with someone. To have someone to talk to, go on holiday with�all that stupid stuff. Right now all I've got is a cat."
"Toto."
"You remembered."
"I remember everything."
June laughed. "Like an elephant?"
"Ha! No. But�like the first words you said to me�you were a bit�"
"What?"
"Aloof."
"Oh, thanks!"
"Well, compared to Taffy."
June giggled. "Oh, Taffy. He was a one."
"Yeah. He used to�..he used to think I had a crush on you."
"Re�really?"
"Yep."
A pause. "And did you?"
Another long pause. "Yep."
"Why�.why didn�t you say anything?" June turned to face Jim, her eyes glinting in the darkness.
"Too shy. Remember how red I used to go�"
"To the tips of your ears. Jim�.you should have said�something."
"Why? Would it�.have made a difference?"
"Jim Carver - I have had a crush on you since�." June stumbled over her words, decided to replace them with actions. She shuffled to her knees, placed a hand on Jim's cheek and leaned in, kissing him softly on the lips.
Jim reciprocated for a moment, then pulled his head away. "June�are you�you still�"
"I still. Do you?"
"Yes. I do." Jim turned back to face her, gazed into her eyes. "All this time�"
"Wasted�"
"Not any more�." Their lips met once more.
"June�." Jim whispered, as they came up for air.
"Yes?"
"I'm not scared any more�."
"Oh, Jim�" June ran her hand through Jim's already mussed hair.
Thunk. Whirrrrrrrr�
"The lights!"
June and Jim watched as the cell light flickered back into life. They looked back at each other, both had teartracks lining their faces, Jim had a burgeoning bruise on his cheek from where he had hit the floor, and both wore matching grins.
"Let there be light." Jim quipped.
"Yes. It doesn't�.change things, though, does it?"
"No. It makes it better. Now I can see you." Jim stood, and pulled June up with him. He blinked, focused. "Well, almost." June laughed and hit Jim on the arm. "Ow!"
"June? Jim? Where are you?"
The unmistakeable tone of Matt Boyden. Jim banged on the cell door once more. "In 'ere, Sarge!"
It was a matter of moments before the heavy cell door swung open.
"How did that happen?"
June shrugged. "One of those things."
Jim and June followed Matt back into the Custody Area. "You manage to cheer old grumpy guts up a bit then?" He asked.
"No, she's still a bit tetchy." Jim dodged another swipe.
Matt noted something in Jim's tone and swivelled round to regard the pair. "What happened in there?"
"Just talking about old times�" Jim offered.
"And our plans for the future." June added.
"Right. Well, Jim, your future is in cell 3, cleaning up some more sick."
Jim's eyes crossed, then rolled. Then he saluted Matt. "Your wish is my command, Sarge."
Matt gawped after Jim as he wandered off - whistling.
"What's up wiv 'im?"
"Nothing. Not any more."
Matt gave June an odd look and walked away. He didn't hear when June added:
"I'll make sure of that�"
THE END