Response piece to the episode "The Way Through The Woods" (TV, not
book).
Characters beloved creations of Colin Dexter, based on characters portrayed by
John Thaw & Kevin Whately
A Path Through The Woods
by elfin
The sudden sound of the shot had seemingly echoed in the trees for too long.
Lewis wondered if it was in his head, if it would be there forever to remind him
how close... how very close he had come to dying. Would they have searched for
his shallowly buried body for so long? Or would they have given up? He
glanced over at Morse. His Chief would never have stopped looking for him,
never have given up until he held his sergeant's bloody, dirty corpse in his arms,
or touched the very bones with his fingers.
Lewis was cold now. Michaels' blood had soaked through his shirt and was
dying against his skin. It could so easily have been mixed with his own. He
should have called in, he knew. He would be in trouble for not doing so. He
just wanted to prove to them - to himself - that he was capable of independant
thought, that he didn't need Morse or Johnson ordering him around. And he'd
wound up staring down the barrel of a shotgun. If it hadn't been for Morse....
He thought back on everything he'd said, the argument in the pub and the row at
the station. He'd always seen Morse as arrogant, pigheaded. Once the man had
an idea in his head he wouldn't let go. But wasn't that just how he'd been
behaving himself these last few days? He'd refused to believe they'd been
wrong. He'd returned to Johnson's side again and again. Why? Because Johnson
had offered him a promotion? At what cost? And again, why? Because Johnson
hated Morse. Because Morse had what Johnson wanted; him. Detective
Sergeant Lewis, CID.
Morse had been right, of course. There was a price to pay. Working under
Johnson would have meant turning a blind eye to the brutality and terrorism that
went on in his team. Morse would never hit a suspect! He had other ways of
getting what he wanted.
So it came down to what Lewis wanted. How badly did he want that
promotion? And why did he tell Morse about it the way he had? Just to see his
Chief’s reaction? To see the hurt and betrayal in his eyes? If that had been the
reason, then he hadn't been disappointed. His announcement had deflated
Morse, stopped him in his tracks. What kind of person did that to another? Was
that his only weapon against Morse's fierce determination to get to the truth?
The ability to cause hurt. He remembered his own accusation, 'this was never
about Johnson, it was about you and me'. Was that the real reason then? 'You
and me'. 'Us'. What 'us' was there?
He heard his Chief step up behind him.