Buffer's

by Whitechapelfangirl

ITV Whitechapel - SLASH - Chandler didn't know when the young DC's presence had changed from being a nuisance to a necessity.

Title: Buffers

Author: Claddagh

Pairing: Chandler/Kent
Rating: PG
Summary: Chandler didn't know when the young DC's presence had changed from being a nuisance to a necessity.
Disclaimer: If I owned them, they would be MUCH closer than they appeared in the show! Also the icon belongs to kimbachezza.

Chandler didn't know when the young DC's presence had changed from being a nuisance to a necessity.

In the beginning he had resigned to having to bring one member of the team along with him whenever he went anywhere, due to protocol. Seeing as how he disliked Miles and the feeling was evidently mutual, while the rest of the team seemed half asleep the majority of the time, Kent was his last resort. He was young, eager to learn, surprisingly naïve considering his job title, but most of all he seemed highly inexperienced.

That was one of the few perks of babysitting the kid. He was nearly as inexperienced as Joe himself, acting as a buffer for the DI, who was determined to look like he knew what he was doing. So he continually brought Kent along with him during the Ripper case, to the hospital, Maduro's, the burned out Wilkes Street, hoping that the youngsters being there would detract from his own uncertainty in his actions and questions that he posed to those they met.

He didn't think it worked, as people hardly ever responded to him the way they would respond to Miles. He thought that by trying so hard to look professional and sure of himself, he unintentionally made it more obvious that he had no clue what he was doing. Even if Kent was as inexperienced as he was, the young man still fit in with the group, admittedly as the youngest he was at the bottom of the ranking order, but he was still accepted.

Joe wasn't until later.

Maybe that is what made it hard to look like he knew what he was doing, if you were accepted within the group, you always had that backup, even if you hadn't a clue, they would help.

Kent was kind of his backup, he was the first to accept him, he risked his own recognition in the group to be nice to Joe, when the rest of them had made it difficult for the DI. He believed his theory when no one else would even listen to him and he always treated him with respect.

At first, the constant 'Yes sir's' were just plain irritating to Joe, he felt like the kid was sucking up to him, maybe trying to climb the career ladder, but later, he had realised that he was just being respectful…and maybe a slight touch of misplaced Hero-worship.

Once Joe had realised that Kent was genuinely a nice person and wasn't just trying to get somewhere, the irritating shadow act and the constant questions became less of an inconvenience, slowly morphing into almost a comfort for the DI. He no longer brought the DC with him to act as a buffer for his inexperience; he brought him with him as a colleague, as a person he could trust. He brought him…maybe even as a friend. After some time the smaller man behind him became reassuring and solid presence that he could count on to always be there and trust him. He didn't condescend to Joe's words like Miles did sometimes; he listened attentively and treated him like a person, not just another DI to get rid of.

Then Joe noticed the looks.

He would occasionally catch Kent looking over at him from the cluttered desk at the other end of the incident room, the young man's eyes quickly snapping back to his own work. Then after some time, he grew bold and the dark eyes held Joe's own blue ones for an extra few seconds. By the closing week of the Ripper case, when Joe was constantly in his office, pouring over the gruesome pictures, his eyes aching to close, his head screaming from over use, Kent would not only hold his gaze, he would send him a tiny, reassuring, kind smile, that made Joe feel like the case wasn't nearly as impossible as it seemed.

After Miles was stabbed and they were on their next case Joe found himself wanting to keep Kent close by his side, for fear of what transpired with the DS happening to the younger man. The mere thought sent Joe's stomach into knots, so he always made sure he knew where the kid was. He told himself that he did this because Kent was the youngest member of their team and it was natural to feel protective of the young man's innocent nature. But somewhere Joe knew that wasn't entirely the reason.

Then, after six months since the Ripper case, he started to turn down other team members company when he was out on a case, instead requesting Kent's presence. They would no longer only talk about the case when they were alone, they would also talk about each other, getting to know the other person. Occasionally they would deem it necessary to casually touch each other; sometimes it was an encouraging hand on the shoulder, or an accidental brush of fingertips when passing files around the office, or even just their arms touching as they stood next to each other. Either way Joe couldn't get enough of the younger man's company.

That's when he knew he was in trouble. That's when he started wanting to touch Kent in less than innocent ways, he was not a touchy-feely person by nature and this sudden need scared him, but he knew he could deal with it.

Simply because it was Kent.

The kid who had been nice to him, who had accepted and followed him willingly, the same Kent who never lost his faith in Joe, that in itself meant more than a hundred compliments and ego strokes from the commander.

Chandler didn't know when the young DC's presence had changed from being a nuisance to a necessity, but it didn't matter. All that mattered to Joe was the shy smile directed at him when Kent came into the office every morning, the angelic sight immediately brightening his day.