DISCLAIMER:  If Gina was mine I'd be dancing.  If Amber was mine, she'd
             have had a BRANE.  And a spanking from Leela.

TITLE:       The Ornaments Look Pretty...
AUTHOR:      kel
PAIRING:     Gina/Amber.  Don't look at me like that. 
             It's not as crack as it sounds.
             Alternatively: don't tell me Gina wouldn't be that daft.  I KNOW THAT. :-D
RATING:      Averages PG with some bad language here and there
CHRONOLOGY:  Eps #264-377 as indicated

COMMENTS:    A series of 24 contiguous drabbles written for femslash100's Around The Clock
             Challenge on LJ.  (One drabble for each hour of the day, representing a stage
             in a given relationship; prompts as indicated).
              


*** 00:00 BEGINNING ***
Chrono:   Ep #264

===========================================================================
The Ornaments Look Pretty But They're Pulling Down the Branches Of the Tree 
===========================================================================

//-- But it may fail your defence... but it may harm your defence when you rely on...//

Gina's appalled.

-- And they call PCSOs toy cops!  How'd she get through probation?

She and Smithy speculate, over a pint.   PC Amber Johanssen's not exactly 
impressive.  All bra and lashes and lies.  What Boyden would have called a 
bungalow, although she seems too sly for that.

-- Even Marilyn would do a better job.  

-- I'm all for scenery.  But there are limits.  I give 'er six months, max.

-- Make it three, mutters Gina, lighting up.  – And that's being generous.  



*** 01:00 PREHISTORIC ***
Chrono:   after Ep #264

======================================
She Helps the Needy In Her Own Fashion 
======================================

Gina can't be gay.  Everyone knows the rankers are sad old dykes.  But Gina's 
monolithic.  Far too real to be dismissed that way.  So it can't possibly be 
true.  Amber says as much, tartly, to Honey in the locker room.

The truth is, Amber can't imagine shagging anyone Gina's age.  She dismisses the 
idea out of hand.

Besides, if she was, she'd *say*, wouldn't she.  She'd have tried something by now.  
Amber's belief in her own irresistibility is unshakeable. 

Still, somewhere in the back of her mind, she files the option away.  An escape 
route, phone-a-friend.  It's always worked before.



*** 02:00 ANNIVERSARY ***
Chrono:   Ep #265


=================
She's Over It Now
=================

-- Well done you, bellows Gina, pulling Ramani into a hug.  -- It's about time your 
lot got some recognition.

Ramani beams, accepting the compliment.  It means more coming from Gina. Even if she 
can't take the new language of management seriously.  

-- It's a start, anyway.  

-- Don't be so negative.  Haringay swears by their VPU.

They step back as June pushes past, in tears.  Again.

-- Poor woman.  Must be hard, retiring.

Gina shakes her head meaningfully toward Jim, some way down the corridor.   He's 
been crying an' all.

-- The flowers of romance, she says, disastefully.  – Bollocks.



*** 03:00 GENERATIONAL ***
Chrono:   post-Ep #275


=================================
Visions From the Spiral Generator 
=================================

--  Tourist, says Jo comfortably.  – I wouldn't, if I were you.

They're sitting companionably at the bar, watching the rest of the relief wind down.  
Gina knows her in that shadowy way women coppers their age know each other.  By 
reputation, inclination.  She's settled in fast.  It's good to have her on board.

Amber's making a display of herself, as usual.  More so, since there's an 
honest-to-God dyke in the room.  The boys seem to like it.

-- What makes you think I would?, she says, drinking up. 

Her back aches, suddenly, as she waves to catch the barmaid's eye.



*** 04:00 INSOMNIA ***
Chrono:   around Ep #282


======================
The Free Rider Problem
======================

Gina's never hidden who she is.  Oh, there were times – inevitable, given the nature 
of the Met – when discretion was necessary.  But it never stopped her fighting.  

That all those years of bullshit paid off, let the Gemmas of the world shine, 
evokes in her a fierce and lasting joy.  The Ambers, on the other hand...

PC Johannsen flaunts it like a chav's handbag, changing to suit the prevailing wind.  
She's lazy and sly; the world's hers by right.  Queer when it suits her.  When it helps.

Gina wanted to change the world.  Amber just wants.  

Bloody nice arse though.



*** 05:00 CONTEMPORARY ***
Chrono:   Ep #287

================================
92 Heatwave, A 22 Stretch Inside 
================================

Given a whole two days without PC Johanssen, Gina finds herself missing the 
silly little cow.  Compared to Andrea and Kennedy and that prick Fairfax, she's 
practically light relief.  

Advanced driving, dear God.  The idea of that creature behind the wheel of a Panda 
is frightening, to say the least.  Not to worry: Amber drinks.  Amber drives.  
Amber fails the test.  

Fancy landing the only dyke instructor in the joint with no bloody taste.  Which 
isn't quite how she puts it to Gina, surprise, surprise. They both know what she's 
leaving out. 

Gina tears her a new one, but half-heartedly.  



*** 06:00 DAWN ***
Chrono:   between Ep #288 and Ep #294

================
Feels Like Karma
================

Gina's one of the lucky ones.  She keeps telling herself that.
 
It's been a cunt of a year.  Two bombs.  Three officers dead, one in psychiatric.  
One raped, one raping.  *Allegedly*.  Three up on charges of violence.  And that's 
just the uniforms.  

Christ.

Watching Reg and Manson, cops that lost *lovers*, is the last straw. Just this bloody 
once, she thinks, I'm going to knock off early.  Find a nice little pub on Stafford 
Row's patch, pick myself up some hot little piece and remember what it's all about.

Sod the doctors.  It's only a frigging pap test, after all.




*** 07:00 AWAKENED ***
Chrono:   post-Ep  #295

========================
Rιpondez s'il vous plait
========================

Research isn't Amber's strong point.  Neither's compassion.  She thinks of Gina's 
illness as something permanent and dirty.

Exciting, though.  Part of her wants to take the Inspector in her arms, heroically, 
and hold her while she cries.  Another aches for the chance to find her weak, slap 
her with a "pull yourself together, ma'am!".  A third wonders idly which pair of shoes 
would be best for the funeral.

Amber's never lost anything dearer than a day's pay.  Maybe a pet. *Whatever*.  
You get over it, right?

Three drinks later, she's in the bogs, crying to a stranger.  It feels ...expected.



*** 08:00 HEYDAY ***
Chrono:   Ep  #296

========================================
Repeating the Holy Names in the Low Room
========================================

There's a reason Smithy's the only person Gina tells.  Once a squaddie, always a 
rampaging hierarch; behind all the – infuriatingly sensible -- protestations he understands 
completely why she can't go public.  Nobody wins when myths collide, and the big C has 
just that little bit more oomph than her indestructibility.

She handwaves the prognosis, caring more about how the fuck to make treatment.  Once a 
day, they say, for two months.  The nick's chaotic enough even when she is on the premises.

Privacy assured, her focus returns.  

When Amber guesses, she thinks only: perhaps she'll make a copper after all.



*** 09:00 PLANNED ***
Chrono:   post-Ep  #306


========================
Short Skirt, Long Jacket
========================

Amber declines the relief's half-hearted invitation to drinks, and waits outside the 
nick.  Gina emerges eventually, walking slowly and with dignity.  She looks awful.  

Amber says as much, without thinking.

It's the first honest thing Gina's ever heard her say.  She laughs, surprising them 
both, and lets herself be helped to the car. Trying not to smile at the production 
Amber makes of it all.
 
-- It's not catching, you know.

Exhausted, Gina accepts the inevitable offer to drive.  She can't be arsed hiding 
her relief. And when at the hospital Amber offers to wait, she says – why not.



*** 10:00 WRISTWATCH ***
Chrono:   post-Ep  #306

====================
Goes Far, Flies Near
====================

Gina can forgive stupidity.  Intransigent refusal to use one's common sense, however...  
The dishevelled, middle-aged woman looking back at her ought to bloody well know better.  
She should send that chavvy little trollop packing, chop-chop.  File ...this... away 
under too much fucking radiation.  Get on with her life.

On the other hand, she's smiling.

-- God, ma'am, this shower's crap.

-- Gina, she calls over her shoulder.  – I'm not ma'am till I've got me knickers on.

The taps squeal.  Amber emerges, public persona firmly in place.  Which reduces 
her appeal considerably.

-- Sweet.  Making tea, Gina?

The smile fades, slightly.



*** 11:00 PUNCTUAL ***
Chrono:   post-Ep  #306

============================
Halfway Up Mount Kilimanjaro
============================

It happens again, soon.

Amber is shallow, ignorant and thoughtless.  Thick as a skip full of housebricks, 
to use Smithy's expression.  Which makes her a king-size administrative headache.

Doesn't change the colour of her eyes under tungsten, or the way her hand in Gina's 
hair assumes an almost gravitational force.

Something about her motives doesn't sit right, but that's easily forgotten in bed.  
Attentive and provocative, somehow *unconstructed*, she's never in doubt that Gina 
will bloody well do as she's told.

Amber takes liberties.  Gina encourages it.  Given the risk she's taking, there'd 
be no bloody point if she didn't.



*** 12:00 LUNCHTIME ***
Chrono:   between Ep  #314 and Ep #318

===============
Diddy Wah Diddy
===============

Gina hates being fussed over.  The idea of special treatment because a handful of cells 
went beserk is appalling.  Amber, bless her, doesn't offend.  She dropped the compassionate 
act pretty much straight away.  

Amber's on cruise control.  Gina's no bother.  She buys drinks, doesn't borrow clothes, 
fends off affection, and won't set foot in the bedsit.  

They don't talk *about* much, but that's all right.  Gina's used to keeping her thoughts 
to herself.  Amber's as deep as a pea, and never shuts up.  

Sex is good, when health permits.

Given time, Gina suspects they might learn to like each other.  



*** 13:00 INSTANTANEOUS ***
Chrono:   Ep  #322


==================
Less Than Helpless
==================

Tiny, silly lies are Amber's first resort, whether she's botched an arrest or "borrowed" 
a toothbrush.  Pathetic, partial blackmails, manipulations as amusing as they are idiotic.  
Mainly on the work front. Gina would call her passive-aggressive, if she was the sort to 
use that term.  Which she isn't.

Jonathan, on the other hand...  Gina's sorry enough about dropping the cancer bomb not to 
pile it on.  He knows her well enough to guess there's someone new; she doesn't need 
his sympathy.  Or his assessment of her choice.

Apart from anything else, she'd agree with him.  And that would never do.



*** 14:00 SEASON ***
Chrono:   Ep  #328

==============
See, She Flies
==============

Gina's ill, clinging desperately to the cool tile floor.  It's nice down here.  Can't 
get up, but you can't fall any further.  Six hours of the chills, the sweats, the 
throwing up.  And all without a drop of booze; how unfair can you get.  

When her mobile rings in the other room, she hasn't the energy to stand. Can't even shout.  
The porcelain absorbs everything; a barely formed "and you can bloody well piss off an' all" 
vanishing into the grout. 

And that hurts more than everything else put together.



*** 15:00 UNPREDICTABLE ***
Chrono:   between Ep  #328 and Ep #331

========================
Your Fortune Teller Mask 
========================

Amber and *Tony*?  It's all round the nick.  Gina really doesn't care. She's got her 
hands full looking after Adam.  And now Honey, unstable and bereaved.

She can't avoid the girl, however.  Responsible for a string of cock-ups, she stands 
there like a bored and resentful child.  A frightened one, perhaps.

Stupid girl.  There's no bloody point in punishment.  She can see it in Amber's eyes; 
no matter what she says, it'll all be labelled jealousy. Nothing's ever Amber's fault.

Gina looks at her, stonily, until the lies stop.  Then says – Should think we both 
need a drink after that.



*** 16:00 EVOLUTION ***
Chrono:   post-Ep  #337

================
Better Judgement
================

There's no such thing as a Sympathy Fuck.  

Watching the girl's slow, easy breathing, Gina's struck by the sense of something missing.  
Defensiveness.  Her desperate need not to be seen giving a toss.  

-- I bet you made a lousy escort, she mutters, and pulls herself, slowly, out of bed.  

Pulling on the – ridiculously frou-frou – gown Amber's given her, she makes up her mind.  
Everyone deserves a last chance.

-- I'll make a copper out of you yet, Madam, she says.  Aloud.  And shakes her gently 
awake.  They've an hour free, but she's well aware Amber isn't a morning person.



*** 17:00 FINITE ***
Chrono:   post-Ep #339

==============================
Get Off On Diminished Capacity
==============================

Done is done, that's Gina's motto.  Okay, so even Adam would have had to carpet her over 
the incident.  It's only fair. But the way Prosser's gone at it... 

No.  That poor plod.  She knows how she'd react if one of Barton Street's finest pulled 
the same stunt on Yvonne or Tony.

She shouldn't have lost her cool.   Somehow she manages to say so, yet maintain a 
dignified defence, to the troops.  They're the ones that matter.  It's telling in the 
extreme that in the cold light of day only Amber really approves of her actions.

Some bloody role model.



*** 18:00 AFTERLIFE ***
Chrono:   post Ep #339

====================================
Right on Track Like James Dean's Car 
====================================

-- I'm still your bloody boss, says Gina, turning away.  – And frankly, you're in the 
wrong job.

-- I'm learning, aren't I? 

Amber slides her arms around Gina, strangely comforted by the weight of those heavy 
breasts; the scent of cigars.

-- Not so's I've noticed.  And don't think this earns you any special favours.

-- This is harassment, says Amber sulkily, a prepared and theatrical speech to that effect 
dying on her lips as she looks up into the mirror.

Gina's laughing.  Mostly at herself.  Her hands close gently around Amber's own.

-- Just you try it, my girl.



*** 19:00 OUTDATED ***
Chrono:   Ep# 342

=======================================
The Doll's House, Darkness, Old Perfume 
=======================================

Gina snores lightly, especially when she's drunk or unwell.  Amber doesn't mind. 
She can always go home.  

Sleep doesn't smooth the lines around Gina's eyes; it deepens them, unveils the pain.  
Her hands curl, twitch, incessantly.  Nails clipped and worn, the first faint signs 
of arthritis, testify to hard work of some kind.  When the uniform's off.

Something inside Amber itches at the idea that she doesn't know what. She's never asked.  
Gina's never said.  Perhaps nobody knows.

With a sudden, surprising, rush of affection, she resolves to ask.  She will.  Tomorrow.

When they awake, she's forgotten all about it.



*** 20:00 TWILIGHT ***
Chrono:   Ep #344

=======================
For Elephants That Sing 
=======================

Amber's supposed to be clubbing it, but halfway there she tells the taxi to sod off and 
walks to Gina's instead.  It isn't far, but she needs, somehow, to have made an effort.

Not for Gina's benefit.  

It surprises her, how angry she'd become, listening to the relief speculate.  Listening 
to herself join in.

Gina's *sick*, ferchrissake.  And a better cop than the rest of them put together.  Stuck 
behind a fucking desk; who wouldn't need a tot to get through the day? 

It strikes her now, approaching the house, how much she fears that Gina won't want her there.



*** 21:00 MOURNED ***
Chrono:   Ep #344-345

============================================
>From This Altitude, It Will Come Back To You
============================================

Reprimands don't work.  Amber simply blames others, learns nothing, and takes it out 
in petty jabs.  Not turning up, when she says she will.  Or turning up, stumbling drunk 
and smelling of someone else.  

And – unbelievably, unforgivably -- doing the job even *worse*.

Gina's too old for this shit.  The relief's under enormous pressure as it is.  Prosser's 
intolerable, Smithy's pissed off,  and frankly the prospect of suspension is beginning to look 
quite attractive.  The private crap she handwaves willingly – it at least has the virtue of 
predictability -- but fucking up the figures for everyone else is another matter.



*** 22:00 HEARTBEAT ***
Chrono:   post-Ep #376

=============================================
If I Can't Change Your Mind, Then No-One Will 
=============================================


Amber, playing it cowed and contrite, breaks the date.  Early night, starting as she means 
to go on, all that crap.  Gina gives her blessing, knowing it's bullshit.  

She settles in at home with a bottle of Glenfiddich.  *Half*-bottle. Not that she needs a 
clear head.  She's known for some time what she's going to do, but hasn't ever quite 
managed to take the plunge.  

*That* in itself is more than enough reason to.  Immediately. Incompetence is contagious.

She-the-Inspector issued the ultimatum today.  Far too late.  Amber, indivisible, is behaving 
as if it matters.  

They both know that's a lie.



*** 23:00 ENDLESS ***
Chrono:   post-Ep #377

=======================
Sleeping on a Dandelion
=======================

-- She had to go, says Gina to Adam for the nth time.  Not remotely defensively.  *He* doesn't 
blame her for her lassitude, her delay in making the decision.

Adam ignores, bravely, her feet on Denise's coffee table.  Her ash, falling on Denise's carpet.

-- I hope you're not expecting me to argue.

Gina exhales, closes her eyes.  

-- I'm losing it, Adam.  That little... Christ.  She'd have trouble working a sandwich board.

-- No accounting for attraction.

-- That's not the bloody *point*, she mumbles, and pretends to fall asleep.  

Unfooled, he leaves her the rest of the bottle.

=== (c) arjuna 2007 ===