Author's note: all usual disclaimers apply. More fluffy romance, I'm afraid. This one was a dream. I woke up at 3 am, wrote down the basics, then fleshed this out into a series of little scenes. Fingers crossed.

For Sparklebright who appeared in my dream as the Commissioner.

"Surely there's someone, Barbara?"

Barbara sipped her beer. "Winston, how many times do I have to tell you? I don't have time for friends, and any I had have long since fallen by the wayside."

Detective Constable Nkata was not going to give up easily. "You have to take someone."

Barbara ran her finger up and through the condensation on her glass. She sighed but did not look up. "Don't tell anyone, especially not the DI, but I'm not going."

Winston nearly choked on his beer. "No! You have to go."

"I don't. I plan to be feeling unwell. I might even take something to make me ill so that it's believable."

"Sergeant Havers! I'm shocked."

She looked up and glared at him. "Oh, don't be so self-righteous, Winston. I know you so that that act won't wash."

"You do realise the Commissioner is holding the dinner in your honour?"

"Partly. It's for the team, and mainly the DI. He will revel in it. No one will notice me missing."

"Lynley will."

Barbara shook her head. "No, he won't. The DI will be too pre-occupied being the Eighth Earl of Asherton for Cleopatra."

Winstons frowned. "His new bird? Her name is Cleopatra?"

Barbara laughed. "No, it's Emma, I just call her that because of her... assets."

"What's she like? Turner said she was an absolute stunner."

"Yeah, flawless skin, teeth whiter than snow, long legs, thick black hair that catches the light, beautiful smile. You know the type."

"And no brains?"

"On the contrary. She's a postgrad from Oxford in Archeology. So they can converse after he's..."

"Barbara!"

"Sorry. I find it hard to like her despite the fact she has been polite to me each time we've met. I have a feeling about her. She's far too, 'Oh, Tommy, how simply marvellous', for mine. I don't trust her."

Winston chuckled at her imitation of a bimbo's voice. "Do I detect a note of jealousy?"

Barbara turned and glared at him. "No! How could you say that? I just think she likes his title more than him. He deserves someone who cares about him for who he is, even if he can be the most annoying man on Earth - other than you."

Winston nudged her in the ribs. "Come on, Barbara. It's me. We've worked together for over five years. You can't tell me you don't fancy Lynley."

"He's my friend. That's all. I don't want to see him hurt. Now change the subject before I get mad."

"At least think about taking someone. Maybe you could hire some absolute hunk and make Lynley see what he is missing."

"No! I do not hire men," she hissed, "and I don't need an escort because I am not going. And I don't need to make Lynley jealous. I'm not his type. Never will be, so even if I did fancy him, it's pointless. Now, last warning. I'm serious. Drop it, Winston."

"Are you looking forward to the award dinner, Winston?" Tommy asked the next night as they sat at the bar of the same pub waiting for Barbara.

Winston hesitated. It was his chance to tell his boss about Barbara's decision. It was not his place, but he felt obliged to say something. Despite her arguments to the contrary, not going would be bad for her career, and reflect poorly on the team. "Yes, Sir."

"You don't seem sure."

"I'm worried about Sergeant Havers."

Tommy looked up. "Why?"

"She isn't keen on the dinner."

"Why not? It's a great honour for all of us."

"You know her, Sir. She'll feel like a fish out of water being alone."

"Alone?"

"She doesn't have friends, Sir. She hasn't got a date. And she won't hire anyone."

His boss raised his eyebrows. "I should hope not. You didn;t suggest that to her did you?"

"I said it half as a joke."

Tommy ran his hand through his hair. "Oh, Winston. You know Barbara is not socially confident. Imagine how she felt hearing someone suggest that the only way she could find a man was by hiring him."

"I hadn't thought of it that way. She was okay. She deserves to be happy. I just wish..."

"What?"

"That the right man would realise what a great person she is."

"He will one day. Someone will come along. In the meantime, we have to convince her to come to the dinner."

"Maybe you can have a word? She won't listen to me."

Lynley cocked his head to one side. "I might have an idea. Leave it with me."

Tommy left it two days before he dared discuss it with her. His plan was a risky one, but he genuinely believed it might work. As they sat in his car driving back from a routine interview in Richmond, he decided to test the waters.

"Barbara, feel free to say no, but I was wondering if you might do me a favour?"

His sergeant was relaxed and smiled at him. "Sure, what?"

"I have a friend I went to Oxford with who has recently left the Anglican priesthood. After nearly twenty years locked up in a monastery, I am trying to help him integrate back into normal society. I was hoping you might come out with us on Saturday. Emma is away at a conference in Ghent, and it would be nice to have mixed company."

"The three of us?"

"Yes, I thought just dinner at the pub and a few drinks."

"I'm not much good at that sort of thing, Sir."

"It's just a meal."

"What's his name?"

"Gary. Gary McCrae."

"Gary? You have a friend called Gary?" Barbara sniggered.

"Yes. What's funny about that?"

It's very... ordinary."

"He's the son of a school teacher from Bolton. He won a scholarship to Oxford."

"Why did he leave?"

"The monastery? He called it a crisis of faith in the church."

"So was he... like the Catholics?"

"Yes, it is a closed, scholarly order. They are celibate if that's what you mean. Gary was one of their historians, specialising in medieval religious manuscripts."

"So he would have absolutely nothing in common with me."

"That's the point. He wants to meet people from other backgrounds."

Barbara shrugged. "Yeah, all right. He might be interesting."

Dinner went far better than Tommy had imagined. Gary had happily discussed the church, and his experiences then retold several stories about Oxford that Tommy would have preferred remained buried.

"Enough, Gary. Barbara doesn't want to hear about my youthful misdeeds."

"Yes, I do."

Tommy glared at Barbara who smiled cheekily at him. "I am not proud of breaking into the Dean's apartments, nor of stealing the flag from Brasenose College."

Gary nudged him in the ribs. "Or of trying to sleep your way through St Hilda's?"

Tommy stared at the table. "No, especially that."

Barbara squeezed his arm once, and he looked up. "Nice to know my boss is human."

"You knew that already."

Barbara smiled at him in a way that made everything in the world seem right. It was unnerving the way she did that. He grinned back in the half-amused, half-loving way that he only ever shared with her.

Gary intruded on the moment. "It's getting late. I should head home. I used to go to my cell at eight and wake at four. I'm still not used to the hours that civilised society keeps."

Tommy glanced at his watch. It was just after ten. "It was a good evening, despite you trying to ruin my reputation. I'll take you home, Barbara."

"You live near Camden, right?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, Chalk Farm."

"I'm staying near Stoke Newington. You're on my way. Saves you traipsing across town, Tommy."

"I don't mind. I often take Barbara home." Gary raised his eyes, and Tommy scowled. "She's my partner. I look after her." Even to his ears, his emphasis on I had sounded proprietary. He noticed Barbara bristle.

"Thank you, Gary. That's kind. We can share a cab. I'll see you Monday, Sir."

"If you're sure," Tommy muttered.

Gary bent down. "I'll look after her for you, old boy. I can see what she means to you."

Tommy tried to smile as they stood. It soon faded when Barbara laughed at something Gary said as they waved before they went through the door. He walked across to the bar and ordered a double whiskey.

"You got home safely then," Tommy said as Barbara climbed in the Bristol on Monday morning.

Barbara pulled on her seatbelt but did not look at him. "Yes. Gary was the perfect gentleman."

"I'll bet he was." Tommy thought he should change the subject. "Did you do anything interesting yesterday?"

Barbara hesitated, and he looked across at her. Colour flooded her face. "Gary and I took a boat to the zoo."

Tommy's knuckles whitened as he gripped his steering wheel. "Nice day for it."

"Yes. It was good. I haven't been for years."

"Hmm."

"Sir, if it's alright with you, I want to ask Gary to accompany me to the dinner."

Barbara sounded nervous. Tommy felt guilty about his overreaction. He had planned for Barbara to like Gary and invite him to their dinner. Otherwise, he would not have bothered introducing them. What he had not planned was the way it angered him. It was ridiculous. He wanted Barbara to be happy, and to have friends. At least that was what he was trying to persuade himself, but he had felt the same way when she had used the dating agency, and of course when she had shown an interest in Azhar. He could not understand why her going out with other men upset him so much. Barbara never showed any emotions about his women.

He painted on a broad smile, hoping it would convince both of them. "Of course it's alright. It'll be good for him, and nice for you to have company. So do you think we should interview the driver again before the wife? Or do you think she was capable of murdering her husband without help?"