Too little too late
Disclaimer:- Don't own them just borrowing!
Episode:- None
Pairing:- Robbie/Laura
Rating:- M
Achieve:- http(:/) . /group/rebeccafrontlewisffarchive/
Summary:- Now though with a single grumpy statement he'd summed up what was wrong with their relationship and always would be. Ultimately she would always be less important than whatever he had going on.
Author's Note:- This is my first multi-part Robbie/Laura fic so I hope it's ok it's in answer to Gee's challenge to write something inspired by the lyric line "We don't have tomorrow only yesterday." Rated for possible sexual content in later chapters (though frankly I have no idea how this is going to end so I don't know!) enjoy and reviews would be lovely!
"Thanks Liz leave it and I'll finish up you get yourself home." Laura Hobson smiled watching as her morgue assistant left closing the outer door behind her before turning her attention back to the computer screen. The heading at the top of the email stood out like it was written in neon lights instead of plain black text and the content felt as explosive as it was interesting. When she's first seen the Trinity College Dublin tag on the email she'd assumed it was her usual yearly invitation to the forensic pathology conference or at most a request that she give a guest lecture at the event as she had done in the past. What she hadn't expected was what it actually said and now as she read it again the letters blurring together slightly she couldn't decide how she felt about it.
Her best friend had been working at Trinity for years, since not long after they qualified and loved it. Years before when she'd first taken the job in Oxford, Sira had wanted her to move there instead and she'd promised to consider it once her one year temporary contract in the city was finished. That had been 15 years ago and yet she'd never once considered leave Oxford in all that time. At first it had been all about the job, for years the diversity of the cases she'd been working and the fact that she really did feel like she was making a difference. For the last decade though it had been something else entirely keeping her from making a move, something that now was praying on her mind making it impossible to reply to the email. For almost a decade the reason she stayed in Oxford, the reason she did most things if she was honest, had been Robbie Lewis and she wasn't sure if that was enough anymore.
Trinity were offering her exactly what she'd envisaged for her life by the time she reached her late forties. Years before when she'd imagined her future she'd seen it going just as it was. Practicing for 20 years, building up her reputation then a teaching post somewhere that allowed her to still get he hands dirty but also meant she didn't have to get called out at all hours of the day and night to crime scenes. The problem was that in that picture there'd been a husband or partner, maybe even kids and that had never happened. She'd never found her prince charming but she had always been sure she had come close to doing so when she met Robbie.
At first she'd been willing to accept that while she was sure he cared for her too he wasn't ready to move on, that the spirit of his late wife was still hanging too heavy in the air and it would take time for him to get over that loss. Now thought with almost 15 years having passed since Val Lewis's death she had come close to giving up on more than one occasion. She'd found herself wondering if things were ever going to change and she couldn't help but wonder if somebody somewhere was trying to tell her with the offer of a full time teaching post so far away that even she would have to accept their chance had passed.
Shutting down the computer she sighed heavily switching off the lights and heading out of the morgue toward her car. Stopping at the junction at the end of the street she knew she should turn left, go home and think the offer over while having a long soak in the bath with a very large glass of wine. She knew that it was a decision only she could make yet she ignored that simple common sense option and turned right heading in the direction of the station and toward him. She knew he'd still be there, he suffered from the same inability to switch off as she did most of the time and the case he was working was complicated and needed time so there was no way he'd have locked off. Maybe if she could suggest they go for a drink or have dinner and told him what was going on her would tell her not to go. Maybe it would be the jump start their relationship needed or maybe he'd tell her she should go for it then she'd know there was no hope for them and could leave knowing that she'd done everything she could to get them together,
"Hey James is he still inside?" She smiled as she got out of the car at the station and saw Robbie's young sergeant coming out of the main door.
"Yeah he is but if you take my advice you'll stay well clear he's like a bear with a sore bloody head. All I said was maybe he should go home and look at it all again in the morning with fresh eyes and he blew a gasket." He grumbled shaking his head again as she smiled sadly.
"You know what he's like when he'd got his teeth into something I'll see if I can persuade him to take a break."
"I wouldn't if you value your life but good luck anyway." James sighed leaving her standing by the door seriously considering turning back. If James was right was right tonight may not be the right time to speak to him but then again she'd dealt with a grumpy Lewis more times than she cared to remember and survived. If he really did need a distraction though maybe helping her make such an important decision would be it.
"I just met James outside trying to reattach his nose to his face since you bit it off." She said cheerily as she reached the small office he and James shared and leaned against the door frame watching him shuffle papers around the desk.
"Yeah well he needs to man up just because he's a genius doesn't mean he knows how to deal with a case this complicated he needs to realise this isn't a nine to five job and develop a bit of staying power." He snapped not bothering to look up as he scanned the witness statement in his hand.
"That's not fair Robbie you know as well as I do that James considers this a 24 hour a day job and he'll probably spend the rest of the night going over the case at home he just knows you need to take a step back sometimes to be able to see the wood for the trees." She replied beginning to wish she'd heeded James's warning and not bothered coming in at all,
"I'm quite capable of knowing when I need a break myself. What are you doing here anyway was there something you needed? Have you got the tox-screen for me?"
"No like I told you earlier it'll be tomorrow at the earliest I was wondering if you had time for a drink and maybe something to eat. Something's come up and I wanted to talk about it."
"Is it to do with the case?"
"Well no it's personal but I could do with hearing your opinion."
"Laura are you joking man? I'm up to my eyes here whatever it is I'm sure you'll make the right choice but right now nothing is as important as this case and I really need to get back to it without any distractions." Robbie replied glancing up only briefly as he spoke then turning the chair he was in to face the small TV screen on the wall behind him pressing the play button on the CCTV footage and leaving her feeling like she'd just been dismissed.
Walking quickly through the station back to the car she tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to engulf her managing to hold it together long enough to get to her care and close the door before they escaped. She'd really hoped that they'd sit down and talk about the offer she'd been made and he'd be shocked into action by the thought of losing her. Now though with a single grumpy statement he'd summed up what was wrong with their relationship and always would be. Ultimately she would always be less important than whatever he had going on. The issue of his wife may have gone but now there was always something else. A case he couldn't let go of, something going on with his children, his latest disagreement with James or the way Jean had irritated him next. Whatever it was she would always be last on his priority list and in the end that was why she knew not only should she take the Dublin job but that she had to. So long as she stayed there she'd always be waiting for that to change and it never would she knew that now so the decision was made for her. When she got home she'd email the college and accept the job then start the process of saying goodbye to Oxford and to him.