Hardy had not smoked in a long while, it's must've been months since he last picked up a cigarette, let alone lit it. Recently however, the stress had been catching on, with the Danny Latimer case passed and the Sandbrook case too, Alec had trouble coping. Coping with what? Well, a lot of things. Probably too many to list here.

Now Alec found himself at the sea, smoking his second cigarette in a row, planning for a third one already. The tide brushed the sand and got washed away by another wave. Hardy watched on. The salty air fills with smoke as he exhaled and the wind blows back his hair. The sun begins to set.

Suddenly there were footsteps behind him. First he didn't acknowledge them, probably just someone passing by. When they neared him however, his eyebrows knit together in slight irritation, assuming it was Miller following him or something. He slowly turned around, letting his cigarette fall into the sand as he stepped on it. He didn't want anyone to know he'd been smoking.

But he didn't see Miller, he saw someone else entirely. They stepped next to him, and he turned back to look at the sea, a few seagulls flew past. "Are you new here?" He asked.