Season 1: Episodes 7 and 8 from my perspective (WiP)

1. E7 Under The Umbrella

2. E7 Call That a Dance? (4 parts)

3. E7 A'Roaming no More

4. E7 Who the cat, who the mouse?

5. E7 Fragments - 2 VERY short bits: Fidel Makes a Mistake & You Have No Romance in Your Soul

6. E8 Essence of Eastern Book About Greek Character

7. E8 Adieu Aidan

8. E8 Dwayne 2.0

9. E8 His Own Company (3 parts)

S1 E7 – Under the Umbrella

Upon leaving the widow's interview, she precedes him down the steps, huddling beneath their shared umbrella as the torrent pounds down. Halfway to the vehicle, her frustration causes her to halt. He runs right into her, the force of his momentum almost throwing her out into the storm but she keeps her footing as she turns to face him.

"You were too hard on her."

His eyes had been lowered but now glance up, a tiny crease showing between his eyebrows. He knows she is upset with him. Again. "I can't go easy on a murder suspect, no matter their sex or supposed mental state. Fidel learned that last night." He sees her emotions warring with her logic. Good.

Why does he look nervous? "She just lost the man she loved... someone she wanted to grow old with… someone she adored above all others. What despair and grief she must be feeling!"

Who is she talking about? Certainly not Solly and his widow. "He lied to her, cheated on her, probably left a string of children in his wake. That's not the sort of man a woman should love."

"But we can't always CHOOSE who we love. Sometimes it hits like a bullet or a knife to the heart. No matter what he is, who he is, all that matters is that you have whatever bit of love he can give you."

Something in her eyes… it tugs at him, "And… is it enough?"

Very quietly, "Oh, yes, for the right man, anything would be enough."

A cold dollop of rain on the back of his neck breaks the spell. He shivers. She turns and they lock-step to the Defender.

On the drive back to the station:

Arms crossed, staring out at nothing, she wrestles with her emotions. She is reliving the solid mass of him, the yielding weight of him, running into her back. Her circling thoughts are interrupted when he suddenly pulls over. She looks to him. What's he thinking?

He is thinking of how firm and alive she'd felt when he'd walked into her. When she'd turned to him, his heart had leapt. Kiss me, it had whispered, kiss me then I can kiss you. His eyes had been drawn irresistibly downwards, so close, almost brushing, but her words had broken his reverie and seemed to have double meaning. She might have been talking about another couple entirely.

His mind is chaotic. He has to order his thoughts and so he pulls over.

They glance at each other. A single thought rings in both their minds.

Kiss me.

But the moment passes.

He desperately begins running through the clues, anything to calm his mind.

Her response makes him realize that she believes he has solved the case already. Her trust and faith in him lights a hot little flame of pride in his chest.

As he starts up the vehicle again, he knows he will move heaven and earth to prove himself worthy, to justify her opinion of him…

… to be the right man.

END – S1 E7 – Under the Umbrella