#sandbrook case

[crawley-fell]

Broadchurch | S2EP1 | Alec Hardy’s Wettest Moments (Part 36)

[excessive-levels-of-lesbianism]

Wdym he's pleading guilty??? He was arrested, he confessed, there are pieces of evidences!! He even told his defendent that he was guilty damn it.

[depresseddepot]

the sorts of things I was hollering during s2e8 of broadchurch would be used against me in a court of law

[hecatesbroom]

Suspiciously autistic things about Alec Hardy

because i'm rewatching broadchurch for the first time in 8 years and having a Moment about why, exactly, this show made such an impression on me

Has literally no regard for his own boundaries. Like, none whatsoever. You could say he's just a self-loathing bastard, which I guess he is, but the extremes he's going to aren't very neurotypical if you ask me

We never see him talk to people outside work, or at least outside of an "I need you/you need me so that's why we're talking"-type of situation. This man has no way how to initiate social contact; I'm not even sure if he feels like he needs it at all.

Ellie's dinner! Literally everything about it, from the invitation to that whole evening, screams autism. Like the way he decided to bring her three presents because he didn't know what would be appropriate, the fact that he continues to call her Miller because apparently he sees no reason to change out of office formalities for a casual dinner.

I'm pretty sure this man doesn't know the definition of casual in general. Evidenced by the fact that he wears a suit (which I'm pretty sure is always the same suit?) literally anywhere he goes. On- or off-duty.

Oh and continuing on the dinner: the way he drinks the wine he didn't want, probably thinking "eh, won't kill me" only for it to almost kill him? Another example that he really doesn't know his own boundaries.

Very very good at his job, because he's analytical and methodical. Not that good with the actual people he has to deal with, because a methodical approach tends not to work with real human beings.

He's extremely good at looking at things from an impersonal angle, and seems to be unable to understand why other people (Ellie!) can't separate themselves from an investigation.

Just really stubborn in general. The way he does things is best, period. (Debatable, but absolutely not for him)

He's extremely blunt and either doesn't care much that people dislike him for this, or doesn't understand why they would

The scene in s2 where he finds Ellie crying in the restroom and awkwardly offers her a hug (because that's what people do in these situations, right?) which she declines because it's not like him? Yeah.

He has a very strong sense of justice. Which I guess most (good) detectives have, but the way he felt like he had to do penance for how the Sandbrook case ended and still kept working on it, really shows how he goes above and beyond for justice, compared to what others would probably do.

(to be continued probably, because I've only watched s1 and two episodes of s2 for now)

[aceofwhump]

Broadchurch - Alec Hardy Whump Fanfics

Heart and Lungs by orphan_account Summary: Set between S02E05 and S02E06. While Ellie is at his house working on the Sandbrook case, Hardy passes out and falls in the river. Ellie rescues him and is determined to get him warm again. Whumps/TWs: near drowning, heart condition, heart attack, shower to get warm, water trauma/ptsd, caretaking, worried Ellie,

a habit takes twenty-one days to build and two years to fester by PUNK_MENACE Summary: Ellie finds Alec on the floor of his kitchen one morning. She's worried it's his heart again but when he wakes up, she realizes he hasn't been eating or sleeping properly, and it's been going on for a while. It's time for Alec to really start healing. Whumps/TWs: exhaustion, malnutrition, not taking care of oneself, collapsing, passing out, emotional whump

Deep Wide Ocean by orphan_account Summary: Post S2 AU. Claire Ripley revives the accusations of rape and abuse she made against Hardy, leading to the arrest of both Hardy and Miller. As the detectives race to clear their names, things are complicated by the revelation of new secrets and the return of Joe Miller. Whumps/TWs: rape mention, accused of rape, arrested, nightmares, ptsd, emotional whump, crying, heart condition, panic attacks, poisoned, collapsing, hospital,

Understanding of the Dark by everythingmurky Summary: Hardy becomes the focus of Joe Miller's revenge after he's forced to leave Broadchurch. Tipped off by his daughter, Ellie works to find him before it's too late. Part 1 of Valley of the Shadow Whumps/TWs: non con touching, rape/implied rape/sexual assault, kidnapped, tied up, strung up, pacemaker/heart condition, hospital, rescue, recovery, nightmares

Losing the Light by everythingmurky Summary: After being the target of Joe Miller's revenge, Hardy stayed in Broadchurch and resumed his duties as detective inspector just before a serial rapist attacked another victim. An alternate telling of season three, following the events of Understanding of the Dark. Part 2 of Valley of the Shadow Whumps/TWs: sexual assault/rape/rape recovery, trauma, nightmares, collapsing, hospital, heart condition, not taking care of oneself, intubation, worry, heart attack, non con touching,

Down By The River by nannyogg123 for Hazelmist Summary: Have you ever wondered how Alec Hardy’s and Ellie Miller’s lives would have gone, if the pendant would never have been lost? Fate still brings them together in this AU story, united in seeking justice for those who can’t speak for themselves. A slightly different take on the story we are all familiar with (eventual Alec/Ellie). Whumps/TWs: AU/alternate meeting, heart condition, exhaustion, sick, passing out, hospital, collapsing, past trauma, heart attack, aed usage, he's basically a walking mess the whole fic and it's amazing

A Million Holes Poked In The Soul - Part One by nannyogg123 Summary: This is Part One of the story - Alec Hardy's weeks leading up to the Sandbrook case... Where Alec is planning on taking his daughter to a wedding, but life gets in the way. (AU as we don't know much about life before Sandbrook) Part Two will focus on the Sandbrook case and how it rips Alec Hardy's life apart. There is no Ellie Miller in his life yet, but there is Daisy...Part 1 of A Million Holes Poked In The Soul and is a prequel of sorts to Down By The River Whumps/TWs: AU, heart condition, lightheaded, dizzy, passing out, hospital, heart attack, nightmares, emotional whump/angst,

A Million Holes Poked In The Soul - Part Two by nannyogg123 Summary: This is the story of the Sandbrook case and how it will rip Alec Hardy's life apart. It's a direct continuation of "A Million Holes Poked In The Soul – Part One", and we will meet familiar OCs. So, reading Part One is recommended to put certain things in context, but you can chose not to. A brief synopsis is provided. It may all be AU. Naturally there are spoilers for both seasons. Part 2 of A Million Holes Poked In The Soul Whumps/TWs: This is insanely whumpy and so good. Lots of scenes related to his increasingly worse heart condition, emotional whump and angst, hospital stays, passing out, nearly dying, and more.

A Million Holes Poked In The Soul - Part Three by nannyogg123 Summary: This is the conclusion of “A Million Holes Poked In The Soul”. It’s the final part that deals with the Sandbrook case aftermath and leads up to Alec Hardy coming to Broadchurch. Reading Part One & Two is strongly recommended as this story is a direct continuation. Part 3 of A Million Holes Poked In The Soul Whumps/TWs: Pretty much the same as part 2

the light fails and the fog rolls in by Anonymous Summary: Of course it's Miller who finds him crying on the office floor. Whumps/TWs: emotional whump, crying, tears, comfort,

Wrong Moves by marshmallowfluffiness Summary: Alec decided to stay in Broadchurch and got his job back, and his daughter's life is in danger. An unexpected and highly unliked character returns and it's up to the people to defend themselves. Can the people of Broadchurch take another emotional blow? Can Ellie and Alec survive this? Whumps/TWs: kidnapped, waterboarded, torture, beaten, left to die, hospital, nearly killed, coma, nightmares, strangled,caring broadchurch members, caught in an explosion, character death, severe depression, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, major character death, unhappy ending

Her eyes look sharp and steady into the empty parts of me by SubwayToHellAndBack Summary: Breathe. He can’t stand watching Miller be so much better at this than him. He doesn’t know how to help and keeps asking Trish the wrong questions. Even though they are the only questions he knows how to ask right now. He can’t tell her what he would like to tell her. So, he keeps on asking these bloody, insensitive questions and letting Miller do all the comforting and talking with that stupid soft voice she’s got. He’s mostly just concentrating on trying to breathe and keeping a calm exterior. It's been working quite well so far if he says so himself. It is making him seem a little grumpier than he would like to be at the moment but it's fine, it’s nothing Miller’s not used to from him by now. She’ll get over it even if she looks at him with this sort of motherly disappointed look. Breathe. Or. A season three rewrite in which Alec deals (tries to avoid) with some past trauma of his and when Ellie finds out about it she's there to help him with it and they become closer than ever. Whumps/TWs: rape, panic attack, past trauma

Alt. Day 28 - Sensory Overload by biscuits_and_whiskey Summary: There’s a reason Hardy hides in his office. Why he generally abstains from prolonged socialization. Why he only has Ellie as a friend. Because generally? People are a lot. And massive social gatherings are not his forte. Whumps/TWs: social anxiety, sensory overload,

Garbage Bins and Denial by twelvehotairballoons Summary: Alec Hardy did not take sick days. Except for when he did, apparently, and Ellie was not about to let him take it all alone. Whumps/TWs: sick, nauseous, emeto/vomiting, caretaking

Broken/Break by InSpaceYoghurt Summary: Hardy was going to murder the person who lost their booking. He had specifically called in and asked for two SEPARATE beds. He would have asked for separate ROOMS if he could afford it. And for good reason, too. The last thing he needed was for his colleague // only friend to find him crying, alone, sitting on the bathroom floor. Whumps/TWs: nightmare, heart condition, caretaking

Save Me by Ilovecastiel18 Summary: Post-series. Hardy almost drowns during a case. Ellie has to calm him down. Hurt/comfort, angst, some fluff. One-Shot. Whumps/TWs: near drowning, panic attack, caretaking/comfort,

Never Again by Rosencrantz95 Summary: In which Alec gets hurt while pursuing a suspect, but he’s fine, really. At least he thinks so. Nothing can be wrong with him because he’s had that damn surgery! He’s fine now! Nothing can be wrong with him. He can’t go back to the worst year (what was almost the LAST year) of his life. He can’t do it. Never again. Whumps/TWs: hit in the chest and goes down hard, heart condition, lightheaded, exhaustion, chest pain, emeto/vomiting, collapsing, passing out, Ellie whump, surgery, Daisy is kidnapped, choked,

Kinsley Road by biscuits_and_whiskey Summary: Broadchurch is dealing with a street gang problem. Hardy and Miller have arrested the leader of a local gang, the Kinsley Road Boys. The gang, in turn, retaliates by targeting Hardy. Whumps/TWs: badly beaten, nearly killed,

Petrol Burns by biscuits_and_whiskey Summary: Alec has been kidnapped; Ellie and Katie are on the trail of his kidnapper and discover the terrifying fate he'd planned for Hardy. Whumps/TWs: kidnapped, captivity, emotional whump, tied up, gagged, beaten, rescue, crying, hugging

Seventeen Suits and a Beacon by RuntotheForest Summary: Ellie and Alec find themselves in a dangerous and seemingly impossible situation. How will they get out of it? Part 1 of Forged in Fire Whumps/TWs: shot, bleeding out, can't get to medical treatment, field medicine

The Grief That Does Not Speak by RuntotheForest Summary: Ellie and Alec deal with physical and emotional fallout from their harrowing day (as described in "Seventeen Suits and A Beacon") Part 2 of Forged in Fire Whumps/TWs: recovery, injury recovery, emeto/vomiting, emotional whump, bleeding, passing out, pain, nightmares, fever, hospital

The Trouble With Normal by RuntotheForest Summary: After the events described in the previous two installments in the series, Alec and Ellie attempt to ease their way into a 'normal' life and relationship, but various issues arise that seem to make 'normal' more challenging than it needs to be. Part 3 of Forged in Fire Whumps/TWs: injury recovery, physical therapy, pain, drugged, non con cuddling, passing out, sick, nightmares, fever

A Shoulder to Lean On by RuntotheForest Summary: When Alec and Ellie head out to make an arrest, things don't go as planned. Whumps/TWs: hit by a car, shoulder injury, pacemaker, injury recover, concussion, sick, dizziness, emeto/vomiting, caretaking,

Pacemaker series by TheBasilRathbone Summary: Alternate First Meeting - If Hardy had never taken the job in Broadchurch in the first place. 7 part series Whumps/TWs: heart condition

Late night in the police station by fan_fics_are_life Summary: Alec ignores his headache and ends up passing out on Ellie. Whumps/TWs: headache, pain, passing out, caretaking

Open Water by biscuits_and_whiskey Summary: Post-S3 For Ellie Miller, life can only be normal for so long. When a figure from her past reappears and takes D.I. Hardy, Ellie struggles dealing with fears both past and present. D.I. Hardy, meanwhile, struggles to survive when his fear is leveraged against him. Whumps/TWs: kidnapped, torture, tied up, starvation, hallucinations, drowning/near drowning as a torture technique, fear, whipping, rescue,

The shift by keyrousse Summary: Alec gets hurt as a consequence of his last case. Ellie has to help him during his recovery and discovers a new side of him in the process. Whumps/TWs: hit by a car, attempted murder, hospital, broken bones, traumatic amnesia, inujry recovery,

Stopgap by sunbeamruins Summary: A slight season 2 AU picking up between the events of episodes 3 and 4 where Lee uses his break in to Hardy's house for more nefarious purposes, and the fall out from said actions. Whumps/TWs: Graphic depictions of rape, rape recovery,

Friends and foes by marlowe78 Summary: Even as he realized where he was – in a field, wet and wobbly and confused, about ten miles out of Broadchurch – he knew that something very, very not good had happened. Because the last thing he clearly remembered was picking up his daughter from school. Whumps/TWs: traumatic amnesia, kidnapped, casefic, noncon touching, strong language, drugged,

Stained Red by Ellezaria Summary: Alec gets in the way of a bullet aimed for Ellie and Ellie is not pleased. Whumps/TWs: shot

Cold Case by shambling Summary: A man has been reported missing, and its all routine; Alec goes off to talk to his boss and Ellie stays behind to direct resources. But things are never that simple. Whumps/TWs: knocked out, locked in a freezer, hypothermia

There Is One Consolation In Being Sick; And That Is The Possibility That You May Recover To A Better State Than You Were Ever In Before by Lord_What_Fools_These_Mortals_Be Summary: When Hardy doesn't turn up to work one day, Ellie goes round to his house to investigate. She finds a very sick, or in his words "completely fine" Hardy, and takes it upon herself to care for him, even if that means force-feeding him chicken soup. Whumps/TWs: sick, emeto/vomiting, caretaking,

Five Times Alec Hardy Was Inconvenienced by His Pacemaker (And One Time He Wasn’t) by GnomeIgnominious Summary: Ellie notices a lot about Alec in the year following his pacemaker surgery. He goes through a very subtle personality change, as though the Dorset weather is finally eroding him into something a little more happy. It's not without its teething problems, though Whumps/TWs: pacemaker, heart condition

She Hates Him, She's Sure of It. At Least, She Was Sure of It. by WhumpTown Summary: "No more broken heart." Episodes come far and few between, nightmares send him into wheezing fits but they don't nearly kill him anymore. One episode, one he can't even remember, ruins everything they'd fought for. He finds himself on the table again but this time, it's not nearly the same. Whumps/TWs: struggling to breathe, pacemaker, heart condition, surgery, collapsing, defibrillation, recovery,

[denaliwrites]

Love's Perfect Ache

Alec Hardy x GN!Reader

Summary: You have news for Alec and he doesn't take it the way you'd hoped.

Soundtrack: Arsonist’s Lullaby by Hozier

Requests: Open!

Warnings: Pregnancy, Mention of Abortion. No pronouns but Reader has a functional uterus.

You hold one end of a pregnancy test in one hand and tap the other end against the palm of the opposite hand while your legs aimlessly take you in circles around the kitchen. It's an anxious tick, something you've been doing for the last two hours. Since you took the test and saw the result.

Positive.

You can't help it -- it's not even good or bad news yet (that'll be figured out once you tell Alec). But learning you're carrying a baby is rarely something that people feel neutral about. And now, all you can focus your energy on is pacing and tap tap tapping the test against your palm while you wait for Alec to come home.

Of course, you want it to be good news. You've seen Alec with kids -- he's great with them when he actually cares enough to put in the effort to be. You've met Daisy a few times, and every time you see the two together you see that he's putting in the work to be a good dad, that he cares and does his best for her.

You'd be lying if you said seeing him with Daisy, or any of the neighborhood kids, didn't make you want kids of your own with him. Or even just a kid. One would be enough, really. You're not sure his heart could take more than one, anyway.

Your pacing came to a halt when you heard the door open and shut, panic suddenly filling you. As he rounds the corner and his eyes land on you and he starts to smile, you anxiously blurt out, "I'm pregnant."

You wait with bated breath, hyperaware of his expression, the way it changes from joy at seeing you to confusion to realization to panic and finally settles on...

"Fuck!" he growls in anger, and you shrink back, clutching the test tightly. "I thought we were being careful."

"I... I don't understand," you whimper. "Why are you angry?"

"Because I can't have another kid!" he turns his ire on you, but stops when he sees your devastated expression. "Darlin', I don't have it in me to raise another kid. I'm not as young as I used to be."

You nod, trying to hold back the tears. "I understand."

"And -- and think of Daisy," he went on, seemingly on a roll. "She's sixteen now, think how weird it'd be for her to be sixteen, seventeen years older than her little sibling."

"Y-you're right," you said, trying to placate him, trying to stop him. "Honestly, I should've expected you to react this way..."

He goes on, rambling about his heart and his career and at one point he circles back to his age, before moving on to the trauma of the Sandbrook case. He's completely missed that you're in tears.

That is, until you finally have enough. "Fine," you sob, and that stops him, that finally gets him to shut up. "Fine. You clearly... you don't want it. I'll make an appointment at the clinic tomorrow for termination."

He pauses, caught between having gotten, presumably, exactly what he wanted and a need to comfort you. Eventually, though you're not sure how, his need to comfort you wins out, and he pulls you into a tight and loving embrace. "Not... not yet," he says with a sigh.

"Why?" you ask meanly, squirming in his embrace to try to break free. He doesn't let you.

"We're both emotional," he says softly, hold loosening once he's sure you won't run away. "Let's... let's take some time, y'ken? Maybe we'll... maybe I'll come 'round. Who knows?"

"Why on Earth would you do that?"

"'Cause I love ye," he says simply, like there could not possibly be any other answer, like you should know that there is no other answer. "And your happiness means the world to me... and if that means ye get a kid, then..." He trails off, but you feel him shrug.

"I'm not gonna force you to have a baby with me, Alec," you whimper, eyes fixed on the wall ahead of you.

He slips a hand under your chin, tilting your head up so that you'll look at him. "You're not forcin' me to do anythin', darlin'," he assured you, planting a loving kiss to the corner of your mouth. "I want what'll make your heart sing."

[thealogie]

Just finished rewatching Broadchurch s2. Truly forgot the show had the audacity to go quite that hard on building the 'trust no one' show on a trusting relationship.

Also, huge fan of this sequence of events:

Hardy: *forgets the name of Miller's youngest son* > Miller, that evening: *refers to Hardy as that same son's "Uncle Hardy"* > Hardy: *no reaction* > Hardy: "Don't get pulled into the Sandbrook case Miller, it's ruined enough lives" > Also Hardy: *has spent the whole season dragging her into the Sandbrook case* > Miller: *making Hardy's house into a conspiracy wall* "You okay Hardy?" Hardy: *actively dying outside* *no response* *collapses to die harder on the concrete* *puts off dying and takes a long walk alone by a cliffside to make his will* *returns home to find Miller still going at the walls* *has not slept* "Miller, have you slept? > Miller: *has picked up on -0% of Hardy's midnight saga and never will* "No :D"

True love 🥺

It’s so funny and good. They were truly platonic soulmates and yet they won’t even go grab a pint together in the series finale. They love each other but they won’t hug. And this sequence further encapsulates that.

Miller plotline:

Hardy subplot:

[patrice-bergerons]

Oh but the unspeakable act of trust that is Hardy bringing Miller into the Sandbrook case -- both in how much of himself he is willing to share when the case caused him such immense grief and also in how he trusts Miller as a cop and thinks that she may catch something that they he missed. And this when not that much time has even passed since s1 and their rocky start there.

[leupagus]

It's all fun and games until Hardy reminds everyone he is an undead eldritch horror

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

She put Daisy's remark about "true love's promise" out of her head for the next few days, pushing hard against the case; against Katie Harford and her stupid certainty; against Tom and his stupid certainty; against Hardy himself, although that was about as effective as punching a brick wall. Besides, he was looking bedraggled enough without her nagging.

It was a different sort of bedraggled than she'd seen during the Latimer case, or Sandbrook. There was none of the stretched-thin-ness, as though he were about to give out at a moment's notice. Now it was a coiling sort of tension in his movements, as though he were waiting for the chance to strike. It might have bothered her once; but sat across the table from Leo Humphries as he proudly recalled all the women he'd terrorised, the brutality he'd forced on young Michael Lucas, she was almost impatient for it to start.

And then it did.

"Makes you feel in control," Humphries said, smiling and serene. Ellie watched him closely and hardly noticed the room darkening, as though the lights had been submerged. The shushing pulse of the sea, never far off, grew louder. "For that moment, there's nothing else. Just you in charge. There's a moment where you're in harmony with the world, and it's just… beautiful."

"It is, isn't it," said Hardy. Ellie'd been focused on Humphries throughout the interview, his lawyer and Hardy on the edges of her vision, so it wasn't until the lawyer gasped that she realised something was wrong. She looked over at Hardy, who—

But he wasn't a who, in that moment. The thing next to her shifted and pulled at Hardy's bones from within, skin stretched and sagging in ways no living creature could withstand. And then it stood up, taller than Hardy; taller than the ever-shrinking room, stooped and looming.

"Power over someone, it's such a pleasure," it hissed. The cups of half-drunk water began to bubble and seethe; the recorder made a ghastly hissing noise and sparked out. "Someone pathetic and helpless, who can't even scream for help."

The lawyer made a dive for the door but Hardy was too quick for Humphries, arms twisting as they stretched across the room to pin him into a corner with one blue-grey hand clapped over his mouth, its fingers blackened with rot.

"But there's greater pleasures than that, Leo Humphries," said Hardy, through a mouth ruined and twisted, the jaw hanging at an unnatural angle. (Not unnatural, of course — nothing more natural than than a corpse.) "You can have all of them. I'll show you every one. Do you want that, Leo Humphries? Just ask me."

The hand lifted away and Humphries collapsed to the ground. "Please," he babbled, trying to crawl still further away, though there was nowhere left to go. "Please, please, no—"

Ellie was on her feet, grabbing at the thing beside her; even as she did she wondered why. What she could possibly do? Did she even want to? Wasn't this what she'd imagined — the rapist forced to endure horrors, fear and pain, with no hope of escape.

But instead it was Hardy who pulled himself back. Slowly, like the receding of the tide, the room expanded and lightened until it was real again. Ellie now held handfuls of cheap suit jacket, and Hardy's form contracted and folded in on itself until he looked almost, very nearly, human.

The door, still open from when the lawyer had escaped, fell off its hinges and landed with a clatter on the floor.

"You just had to ask," Hardy said, as Humphries shivered in the corner.

It was well past dawn by the time the paperwork was done. IT assured her that the confession had been recorded, even if there'd been a glitch toward the end of the interview that fried the device. The accused had been remanded to custody and his lawyer had requested a transfer — she was moving to be nearer her mum and dad, she said, in Northumberland. "I don't think I'll ever be back here," she said, her smile waxy and fixed. "Not ever. My firm will be in touch to provide him with new counsel."

Ellie finally left the station with enough time to get home and help the boys get ready for school, before going over to Trish's and telling her the news. Instead she sat down on the front steps, breathing carefully in and out and trying not to cry, or vomit, or scream.

He followed her, of course he did. Was she supposed to be afraid of him now? She'd been afraid of people before, even with her badge and her taser. For the past few years she'd been afraid of her own husband, though not as afraid as she'd been of herself. But as Hardy came closer she felt her heart unclench, the furious grief in her stomach dissolve.

"Ed Burnett's gone," he said. "And Jim Atwood." He paused; she could picture him now, looking down at her. "You okay?"

What a question. "No."

Hardy sat beside her, uncomfortable and comforting. "We have him now. That footage will send him down."

He was right; even if the confession didn't hold, even if Michael tried to change his story, those horrific videos had a solid chain of custody. Leo Humphries would stay in prison a long time.

Not long enough.

"He is not what men are," Hardy said. "He's an aberration."

"Is that what you are?" she asked, finally looking at him. "In there. Was that the real you?"

He didn't seem angry or offended. "It's all the real me, Miller."

"Is that why you told me about the iron and the wood and the ashes and everything?" She curled further into herself. "So if you go too far, I can—"

"I'd hope you'd arrest me first," he said. "Or at least talk to the Chief Super." When she didn't say anything, he shook his head. "It's my responsibility to not go too far, Miller. Not yours or anyone else's. Just mine."

"Then why tell me?"

"Because I trust you," Hardy said, as though it were simple as that.

Perhaps it was.

She untucked her hand from under her arm. He didn't move away as she put her hand to his jaw; the skin was cool and damp, as though he'd been standing too close to the spray of the ocean. "I don't know if you should," she said, holding back a shiver. It was too cold for June. Hardy's doing, maybe. Summers before him had been warm and grey, full of lazy mornings on the beach interrupted by a friendly pattering of rain. But there wasn't a cloud in the sky today. "I don't know if I'm worth it."

"You are," Hardy said, his voice low and soft, barely louder than the wind. The stubble on his cheek rasped against her palm.

Ellie shook her head. "I would've let you kill him. I think I even wanted it." She let her hand drop. "But I trust you, too." It felt like a confession. Or a promise.

[sardonic-the-writer]

𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬

↳ summary: ellie finally finds out why alec is so uncomfortable around hospitals

↳ warnings: a hospital environment, mentions of needles (ew ew ew)

↳ notes: a com for my friend @snekdoodl !! find my coms here!

↳ song: mary—alex g

masterlist!

It was so cold here.

The infirmary was always cold to him. And not just in the traditional sense. It was filled with crying families and stone faced nurses tending to patients long gone. Full of shitty cafeteria food and hours upon hours of staring at beige walls waiting for either the worst of news or the best. Often it was the former.

Alec supposed he really needed to stop ending up here.

From his lonely room, he could hear a lot. Squeaky carts of medical equipment rolling down the halls, all the way to the dusgruntled murmurs of visitors trying to see their loved ones.

And for the past hour he had been listening to a specific one.

"I don't see why I can't visit him! He's my partner for christ sake!" Ellie snapped at a nurse for the umpeenth time, successfully frustrated.

The woman's hair was unruly, and her fury unmatched by none. She had been standing at the front desk for quite a while now demanding to see Alec. They had been in the middle of investigating a case when he had collapsed, and she was eager to see him.

"Ma'am—" The receptionist drawled, looking as uninterested as possible, "—you must wait to see your husband until we can finish taking care of him."

"He's not my—I'm not his—we're not—" She groaned, "I just want to know what room he's in."

"Room 62, but—"

By the time the receptionist had looked up from her computer, Ellie was already gone. Stomping up and down the hospital coradors until the faded gold numbers 62 stared her directly in the face.

She didn't have to walk very far into it to spot who she was looking for.

"Miller." Alec grumbled lowly, clutching his side as he sat himself up. He didn't look surprised to see her.

"Sir." Ellie responded, coming over to sit at his side. She took a brief look at all the beeping machines around him before flitting her gaze back to his face. He really didn't look well.

"Are you alright?" She started off with, unsure of what else to ask now that she had barged her way into his room.

"Er, yeah. I will be." Was all he offered in response.

A pregnant pause settled over the room. For a brief moment the only sounds came from the surrounding medical equipment.

"Could you hand me that kit over there, Miller?" Alex broke the silence. He was quick to gesture to the bedside table on his right with a bag on it, conveniently just out of his reach. Ellie nodded slowly, picking the thing up and handing it to him.

She watched as he awkwardly took the contents out, pulling a needle out of the plastic container before sticking it in a bottle of liquid.

"Sir—?" She went to ask, but paused when he grunted uncomfortably.

"I've been wanting to tell you for a while." Alec went on as he continued with whatever it was he was doing. Not sparing a glance at her. "But I didn't exactly know how. I suppose now is a better time than ever."

"I'm not sure I follow." Ellie watched as he slowly injected the clear liquid into his arm. For a moment, the thought of drugs passed her mind before dissapeaing like early morning fog on the top of a lake.

"This—" Alec tapped the side of the now emptied needle with his finger. "—is testosterone. I take it twice a day. Once in the morning, once in the evening. It helps me to keep my beard and my voice low."

"I'm not sure I follow."

Alec shuffled in his bed sheets uncomfortably. The longer the conversation dragged on, the more he was unable to hold Ellie's gaze.

"I'm transsexual, Miller." He finally confessed.

Ellie blinked once. Twice.

"I wasn't exactly sure how to bring it up. To you or anyone in the station really. I knew how it would look if the media found out the detective that fumbled the Sandbrook case also happened to be trans."

"I still don't understand, though." Ellie held up a hand to cut his rambling off. Alec stopped abruptly, watching her with an unreadable emotion swimming around in his eyes.

"You're a man." He nodded at her words. "Always have been. You just happened to be born in the wrong body. Am I right?"

Alec nodded again.

"So why would that change anything?"

Now it was his turn to be confused. His brows furrowed slowly, silently asking her to elaborate. Ellie obliged.

"Well, being trans doesn't make a difference with who you are. You're still detective inspector, you're still Alec Hardy, and you're still my—" She hesitated for a moment. Swallowing felt like trying to get through a throat full of cotton wads.

"—and you're still my friend sir. So I'm sorry, but I just don't understand why you were so tentative to tell me."

Alec waited a while before saying anything. Just watching as Ellie sat on the bed with a cautious expression. Watching as the clock on the wall across from him ticked away slowly.

Finally he spoke. The detective spoke slowly and gratefully, not a fool to take this moment for granted.

"Thank you, Ellie." He cleared his throat. Alec didn't trust his voice to not waiver.

Nothing more was said, but nothing more had to be. They both understood the importance of the moment and meerly sat in it, happy to let it pass.

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

What if Alec Hardy tried to be “cool” and “spooky” for Halloween? Drabble idea, no pressure at all!

Not sure if he can try cool, but he'll try spooky, haha.

This is just a normal fic, not related to any of my aus.

On with the fic!

--

"I'm not doing this." Hardy tossed the paper onto the desk.

"It's just something fun that the department wants to do." Miller said in that damn tone that made Hardy feel like he ticked off the wrong person.

"But what's the point of it?" Hardy frowned, leaning back in his seat.

"It's for fun, alright? Halloween is a fun time, can you just... try to participate in anything here that isn't strictly work?" Miller asked. "You've been here for ages and you participate in nothing we do here! It's a little Halloween party, for an hour or two! You don't have to wear a costume for the whole day!"

"I don't want to wear a costume."

If looks could kill, Hardy was sure that his pacemaker would malfunction right now. He sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "One hour, that's it."

"Great!" Miller smiled, pushing the flyer closer to him. "Wear something scary."

"Why?"

"Cause it's different from your sad outfits." She snorted and headed out of his office.

Hardy glared at her before picking up the flyer. He didn't want to buy a costume to wear for an hour only. This was stupid, he didn't see the point of this other than to kill time for a bit because not a lot was happening around town.

He rubbed at his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Something scary..."

He could do something cheap and typical, 'scary', probably what you'd expect to see.

Or he could just do something that might throw Miller off.

He grabbed his phone, he was sure that Daisy could help him out with the makeup.

--

"Where's Hardy?" Ellie asked, looking around the office. "Did he lock himself in his office to get out of this, or did he escape when he had the chance?"

"Last I saw," one of her coworkers spoke up, "he went into the restroom, I think he said something about getting his costume on?"

"How long ago was that?"

"Ten or fifteen minutes ago?"

Ellie frowned and turned to go to see if he was done yet. She walked up to the bathroom door, knocking on it. "Sir? Are you in there?"

"Just a second." Came Hardy's voice from the other side.

Ellie sighed and leaned against the wall, waiting another two or so minutes before the door opened and out stepped Hardy. She blanched as she looked at him.

His suit was pressed and actually buttoned correctly, hell, his tie was straight. His hair was brushed and styled and his beard had been shaved off, and the bags under his eyes seemed to be... gone.

God, he looked like a totally different person, and it freaked her out. "Jesus, what the hell are you wearing!?"

"Something that I knew would scare you." Hardy said before walking past her. Ellie swore he smiled just a little smug-like when he said that.

"Damnit, you're a nightmare like this!" She said once she started following him.

"Good, exactly what I wanted, makes this all worth it."

"I get it, I get it, we won't get you involved in any more activities like this."

"Thank you."

--

I feel like he's not the kind of person to dress up, but I couldn't resist including that really, REALLY weird moment we saw in season two of what Hardy looked like when he worked on the Sandbrook case.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Perhaps I was wrong, and the Vikings are the perfect fit for our current moment. They, like us, lived in an intensely dangerous, competitive world, where rival warlords struggled for resources. They, like many of us, shook their heads with disbelief at the naïve optimism of their American (or rather, Christian) neighbours, since the Northmen knew life ended only in unspeakable disaster. And they, like us, knew that winter was coming: in their case, the Fimbulwinter, the terrible wolf-winter foreseen by the gods, which would bring the battle of Ragnarök and the end of the world.

They loved tattoos, fancy fashions and stupid haircuts; they liked drinking, having sex and smashing people’s faces in. And the people they really, really hated were pious, hypocritical do-gooders who were always telling them to behave themselves. So they weren’t so different from us, after all.

- Dominic Sandbrook, Adventures in Time: Fury of the Vikings (2022)

[anera527]

This right here is one of my favorite moments for the dynamic between Hardy and Ellie. Throughout the first series he’s the one teaching her the finer points of interviewing suspects, he’s the one who leads. Then things go all to hell the last couple episodes and Ellie has to be the one who leads the questions. (Her talk with Susan Wright is fantastic, and showcases exactly what sort of detective Ellie is-- hard and steely when needs be, but soft and sympathetic when that’s needed too.)

And then here we have the climax of Sandbrook, when they’ve got their suspects in custody. Hardy leads initially, as he’s done throughout so much of the series, but as soon as Ellie finds a way to crack their suspect’s armor there is no moment of hesitation, no glances aside to see if Ellie should take the lead or not. No, he simply sits back and lets her.

He has absolute faith in her abilities as a detective, and this moment right here is where he proves it.

Also that grin on Ellie’s face conveys so much, and I love it. She’s been constantly looked down upon and underestimated in her abilities as the DS and it turns out she’s the secret weapon that breaks Sandbrook’s case wide open. That grin and her sitting forward like that is a hound smelling a hare, and it’s both thrilling and terrifying to see it.

[crawley-fell]

the Sandbrook case is my roman empire

[aceofwhump]

I know that it’s not realistic to headcanon that all of my favs are ace especially when there is canon evidence that says otherwise but it’s not my fault that all my blorbos are actually ace so 🤷‍♀️

(I have only seen broadchurch s1 and s2, but spoilers for those, and TW for not entirely enthusiastic sex/internalized acephobia/Tess being Not Nice to Alec and also Alec being Not Nice to himself…)

Alec Hardy is ace and always has been. The thought of sex makes him mildly nauseous. He might not know precisely how to label how he feels but as gross as the deed makes him feel he really truly did love Tess romantically and he tried to make her happy and do what she seemed so enthusiastic to do (and he got Daisy out of it so he’ll never regret it), but his reluctance (“Can’t I just hold you instead?” Tess rolls her eyes and shifts away from him on the bed, brushing his hand away when he reaches for her) may have been a contributing factor to things falling apart.

He asks Becca because he’s so confused and he’s such a mess and people keep saying it will help (it never has) and if part of him is so disgusted with himself he thinks he’d deserve it anyway nobody needs to know…

Nonny! Oh my god! Now to preface, I tend to do the same and just headcanon all my favorite characters as ace because I'm ace and I can do what I want. BUT! I've headcanoned Alec Hardy as asexual since I first watched the show!!!! He's one of my favorite ace headcanoned characters!!!! Oh I'm thrilled to talk about this.

Alec Hardy is totally asexual!!! All of what you said. All of it. My headcanons incoming! So he has ZERO interest in sex and always had. He did it just to please Tess but would never initiate and after a while Tess got pissed off and annoyed at always having to be the one to initiate and believes he doesn't care about her since he doesn't initiate anything physical. That, coupled with Alec never being home because of work, was a major contributing factor to her cheating on him during Sandbrook. Alec never liking sex but yes like you said he got Daisy out of it so in the end he can't regret having sex with her (even though he didn't want to have sex).

After Daisy starts living with him she notices how little he dates and how disgusted he usually looks when anything sex related comes up that she asks him if he's asexual. He's never heard of that before and she shows him some websites and he finally finds the word for what feels.

Ahh god I love it! So many ideas!

Oh guess what! I've found a couple of fics with ace Hardy! Please enjoy!

It's not like love at first sight is an actual thing by thisisarandomuser Summary: A night out in the pub and a conversation with his daughter help Hardy to make sense of his sexuality.

Recalibrating by pulse_in_the_pages Summary: Alec Hardy didn’t understand what all the fuss was about sex. Or, four times Hardy didn't know he was asexual, and one time he did.

Admissions Aren't Easy by Asexual_Enjolras Summary: When forced into sharing yet another hotel room with just one double bed - once again - for a new case, DI Alec Hardy and DS Ellie Miller soon discover that their relationship is a lot more developed than what it was the first time this mess-up happened at a reception desk. While settling into their new room, Alec reminisces about the hotel, having stayed their with his ex-wife in the past. In their discussion, Alec finds himself admitting that he is - in fact - an asexual man. Ellie tries to comfort him as all of his truths begin to spill out, and then they find their feelings for one another also beginning to come to light.

italicized oh for the realizations by strawberryopals Summary: Daisy Hardy talks to her dad, and they both realize something about him.

Our experiences have shaped us by brokenlycan Summary: Alec had been very stressed lately so the two of them decide to surprise him with something to help him relax. But it backfires.

[flintstill]

Welp

Yeah I kinda new the case was gonna go that way. Was hoping it wouldn't but couldn't quite convince myself.

Pleasantly surprised Beth didn’t turn on Ellie again and blame her for the case being lost. Was Beth in the lobby when Ellie screamed at Tom after his testimony?

We finally know what happened at Sandbrook. Dang. Tess's "Ill sit in with you" and Alec's immediate "No--I need Miller" <3 FUCK Claire for playing those games during questioning by saying Hardy did shit he didn't do but putting the allegations on record. Big fuck her for that.

Go Paul good for Paul yessss--I was stressed about how far it might go tho and what that would mean for everyone

Ellie being vicious was awesome. is it vicious if it was fully deserved? I think Tom must've gone thru all the grief stages after his testimony and accepted that his dad did it. Was he in the hut during that.. meeting? He must've if he wasn't that conflicted about it (even if he were showing it would not be convenient). Eh he prob has complicated feelings about it. anyway.

YO. Fuck, if Hardy packing his bags and saying goodbye to Miller makes me feel this bereft, I will likely not be okay when the series finishes :|

I wanted them to hug! Yeah the handshake was more them but I WANTED. I could fucking see you feeling the "I'll miss you" you didn't say, Miller. I saw it. These two hoes--I love them