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The roads were empty so the drive along the familiar route was faster than usual. It was probably for the best since he really shouldn’t be driving considering the events of the evening. Looking at him, you wouldn't have guessed he’d won, but nonetheless the other guy had come out more battered than Jack. After the long day he had at work he couldn’t take another loss so he put every inch of anger, exhaustion and regret into throwing punches at his opponent.
It had just gone 11pm as he pulled into the car park, glad to have made it without further injury to himself or anyone else. The headache he had as a result of a particularly harsh shot to his left temple was getting worse and he could feel blood drying over his eyebrow from the cut on the right side of his forehead. Gingerly, he walked through the doors of the building and into the lift heading up to the office clutching his side where a dark purple bruise had started to develop.
As the doors to the lift opened, he was surprised to see that there were still lights shining through the glass of the Lyell. Hoping that somebody had just forgotten the lights on the way out, he scanned his ID badge and walked in. He really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone or to explain the mess he’d made of his face.
Walking over to his desk, he dropped his badge in the middle and rummaged through on of his draws looking for the first aid kit he kept in there. He could make a quick job of cleaning up the blood and collapse on the sofa for a few hours before Nikki, Thomas and Clarissa came in to start work. As he rummaged through the kit he heard the distinct sound of heels clicking behind him.
Nikki.
“Jack? What are you doing here?” She asked as she came around the corner behind him, a file pressed between her arms and stomach.
“I should be asking you the same, it’s late you should be at home,” He replied calmly, keeping his face down.
With a slight scoff, she kept walking towards her desk, placed the file down and went to sit down when she saw the blood on his face.
“Oh my god, Jack, your bleeding,” she said, coming closer to his to get a better look.
“It’s nothing Nikki, just a little cut that’s all”
“It’s not nothing, you went to a fight again didn’t you,”
There was an edge of sadness at the end of her sentence, not the sadness he heard initially when she saw he was hurt but the sad disappointment that he did this to himself again. She always hated that he went to these fights, it was stupid. They saw injures all day long that led to death and here was doing it what? Fun? After they started getting closer again after Mexico, she thought he had stopped, thought she had convinced him to stop. Maybe not.
Neither of them said anything, it was clear what had happened, Jack had no excuse and technically Nikki had no right to tell him what to do. He knew what she thought of the sport so there was no need to repeat it all again. Silently, she took the antiseptic wipe from the first aid kit and pointed at the chair for him to sit down as she sat on the edge of his desk. He did, wincing as the bruise on his side caused more discomfort, Nikki sucked in a deep breath, holding eye contact, he could have read the disappointment and worry from a mile away.
“Ow,” He flinched back at the sting of the wipe on the cut and she delicately cleaned the skin.
“So you can get battered in the ring but flinch at a wipe?” It came out sharper than she meant it to but the point was made now and she needed him to hear it.
“It was take it out on a guy who volunteered or on somebody who didn’t ask for it or deserve it,” He sighed, looking away from her.
“Is this about today? It wasn't your fault Jack, I know that, Clarissa knows that, Thomas knows that and so does DCI Ford, it wasn't your fault,”
“It’s fine”
“No, jack it’s not, I’m not going to sit and watch you get yourself hurt,” She stopped the task of cleaning up his face, they needed to have this conversation and she really needed him to hear what she had to say.
“I should have noticed that the scene was revisited. If I had then maybe Harrison wouldn't have be killed,” He said it quietly but Nikki heard every word.
“Harrison was a grieving father, he would have gone after his daughter’s killer whether you noticed that he went to the crime scene or not, this is not on you,”
“I feel like I’m screwing everything up Niks,”
“Your not Jack, I can promise you that and your just going to have to trust me,”
He gave her the faintest smile and she returned to cleaning the cut on his forehead. Once cleaned she applied steri-strips to keep it closed while it healed before checking his brow bone, nose and cheek for any serious damage. Luckily all that was left were some bruises that would definitely end up worse tomorrow morning.
“There, you’re all patched up,”
“Thank you Nikki,” He gave a genuine smile, reaching for her hand after she finished putting all the things she had used on his face back into the small first aid kit. Her hand was much smaller than his but it fit perfectly. He traced small patterns on the back of it with his thumb absent-mindedly while she watched, he knew she needed to say something else about the fact he went to a fight so he waited for it to come.
“I know I said this before but I hate that you do this Jack, I hate that you feel you need to and I hate seeing you hurt. It makes me hurt too because… well I don’t know but it does ok?”
As she spoke she had kept her eyes on their hands, intertwined in front of her. They have had this discussion before but it hadn't felt like this, before she had told him how he was statistically more likely to have issues as he got older or that she didn’t understand the appeal of the sport but now she was being more honest than she had been to anyone.
“You can talk to me, I’m here for you, we can talk or down your sorrows or watch one of those movies that you like, whatever it is that means you don’t end up like this,” She looked up at him for the first time since she started this speech, nervously searching his face.
“Nikki, you are the loveliest person I have ever known, but I love you too much to have you deal with my shit,”
It wasn’t until the silence that followed lasted a little too long before he noticed exactly what he had let slip. ‘Oh shit’ he thought. She just stared at him, no words, no expression just blankness. He tried to find a way to backtrack but he couldn’t, so he just sat their with his mouth slightly open. His head was pounding and suddenly he felt very exposed. Looking down, unable to meet her eyes any longer he waited for her hand to pull away from within his.
Reaching forward with her other hand, she gently cupped his cheek, careful of the bruise on his temple and forced him to look at her. Leaning forward she cautiously pressed her lips against his. She pulled back to find the biggest, goofiest smile plastered on his lips. He leant in again, all nervousness gone instead desperate to feel her lips against his again. When they both pulled away, slightly breathless Nikki whispered the words “I love you” only to hear the same sentence in return.
“You know the sofa over there is pretty comfy,” he added, standing up slowly and reaching for her hand.
With a slight groan caused by the pain from bruises littering his body, Jack laid down on the sofa and invited Nikki to lay with him. She kicked of her heels and snuggled into the space on the sofa, their bodies pressed together, hands intertwined and Nikki's head resting on his chest.
“From now on, we talk and we are there for each other no matter what ok?” She said.
“I think that’s the best idea I’ve ever heard,” He replied smiling and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
It didn’t take long before they fell asleep in each other arms, holding onto each others like they would never let go. It only took them nearly 10 years but they were finally right where they were meant to be.
The next morning, Thomas and Clarissa walked into the doors of the office talking about how Thomas had been helping Rosie on her latest science project from school. As they walked into the main office space, they both stopped in their tracks at the sight before them. Fast asleep on the sofa were their colleagues, Nikki’s head tucked into Jacks neck and his arms wrapped around her waist holding her close to his body. Looking at each other, Clarissa just laughed.
“I guess they finally released they loved each other,” Said Thomas.
“Took them bloody long enough” Sighed Clarissa.