A Tale Of Love, a waking the dead fanfic

A/N: Here I am again with another Waking the Dead story! It is not Boyd/Grace, but I hope you'll like it none the less. I was challenged to write a story about this pairing by my best friend, and I just had to accept. Especially since I want to write a story about avery possible pairing on the show! Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! Oh, and feel free to leave a challenge if you'd like. I might write a story on it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, unfortunately...

This is how the story went
I met someone by accident
It blew me away
It blew me away

The first time detective superintendent Sarah Cavendish had laid eyes on

detective inspector Spencer Jordan, her breath had caught in her throat. The man was one of the most attractive specimens she had ever seen. And the longer she had worked with him, the more entranced by him she had become.

She had quickly discovered that his dark, chocolate colored eyes could speak more than a thousand words. Whenever they came to rest on her, she would be able to tell exactly what he was thinking. If he was angry, they smoldered like dying embers in a fireplace. When he was sad, they seemed like pools of liquid black, growing so dark she could hardly distinguish the pupils anymore. When he was happy, there was this nearly unnoticeable twinkle that made them seem like pure chocolate.

From the very first day, it had been nearly impossible to concentrate when the man was around. She had been trying to get him out of her mind, but his smell seemed to linger in every room of the building, he seemed to turn up wherever she went.

Upon coming home that evening she had unceremoniously dropped onto the couch, had groaned and had tried very hard to scream. She had only fallen asleep at four in the morning, after drinking more than half a bottle of wine. And three hours later she had been out of bed again, had brushed her teeth and had made her way back into CCHQ.

When she had found out she was being transferred from counter-terrorism to the Cold Case Unit, she had expected a great many things. She had expected to have to work with a boss she'd be unable to cope with since Peter Boyd's reputation was known to every officer of the Met, a team that would be hard to fit into after it had already been in existence for nearly nine years and to have to explain to her psychiatrist why she wasn't dealing with it all very well.

What she had not expected was to fall in love at first sight with a part of the team she would have to work with. Or to find herself falling even deeper in love with every day that passed. Or to find herself thinking about actually speaking to him about it, in an attempt to find out whether he was interested in her as well.

She had decided against that, though, because she had felt like she was too new to take a risk like that. And even more because she did not want to add to the problems being the newest member of the team would present her with. And as long as Spencer did not give her any indication that she might get a positive answer to her question, she would not pose it.

A little while later, she had started to notice that Spencer's eyes were following her around quite a lot. They burned holes on her back when she walked across the bullpen or in front of him when they were out to pick up suspects. She would often catch him staring at her over the files he was holding.

Still, she could not be certain. She had told herself that Spencer was probably worried about her, trying to figure out whether she would be able to hold herself together. He was anxious, did not want to add to the burden his team was already carrying after losing Stella, which she had soon heard about from Grace. The profiler had said that any trouble that might arise because of her coming in to basically take Stella's place would resolve themselves, and that she would do whatever she could to make sure she wasn't given a hard time.

So she had spend her days at CCHQ hoping that things would settle down, that she would find her position on the team.

It was only a short while, however, before she found that Spencer might have begun to harbor feelings for her as well.

It was in the darkest of my days
When you took my sorrow and you took my pain
And buried them away, you buried them away

It had all happened on that dreadful day that they were so desperately trying to help Claire Somers's mother, that day when a woman who had been grieving over the loss of her daughter for twenty five years had been brutally beaten up.

When she appeared back at CCHQ reeking of gin and cigarettes and Eve had told her that, she had hoped only the scientist would notice before the day was over. She didn't think Boyd would pay her enough attention to smell the alcohol on her. After all, he wasn't exactly too fond of her. Grace would no doubt be trying to keep Boyd on the straight and narrow, so she would not have that much time to spend with Sarah today. And Spencer was not really close enough to her to be aware of anything out of the ordinary.

But that was where she had been mistaken. Because as soon as she had returned to her desk and had started listing what still needed to be done before they could go home, Spencer had been beside her.

"What do you want, Spencer?" she had asked.

Granted, she hadn't been very nice. She had been taciturn and broody all day, and the gin had by that time made it even worse. She had been terrified Spencer would smell the alcohol and have her head, really.

"To find out why you went to Trish's house without telling anyone," he grumbled.

Those words had cut straight through her, making her see that she had overstepped the boundaries. She had not been one to admit to having made mistakes back then, though, and she sure as hell was no better at it now.

"Because we might be able to catch whoever locked Abigail in that closet in that hotel room if we can figure out why Claire was involved. Or who she was involved with, whichever way you want to look at it," Sarah had shot back.

Spencer had simply stared at her for a couple of minutes, which had made her feel very uncomfortable. She had felt a blush appear on her cheeks, her heart had begun to beat much faster than normal.

"I'll grant it, you're right about that. But raiding her cupboards for alcohol was not a very wise decision," he had told her darkly.

Quite a few emotions had gone through her at that moment. There had been anger as a result of him lecturing her, even though it was just a little, there had been shame because she was well aware she shouldn't have turned up at work still stinking of booze and there had been sadness because she realized that the one person she had begun to feel close to was now obviously grieved by her loss of control.

"I'm sorry," she had finally managed to whisper.

Immediately, she had seen something about him change. A part of the tension that had been in his body before had drained away, he had untangled his arms.

"I know you are. But you have to beat it, Sarah. Don't let Boyd pull you down. He's a good guy, honestly, but don't let him pull you down when he's gloomy and moody. You're better than that," Spencer said.

Those words had been the start of their friendship, a small opening in the brick walls the two officers had drawn up around themselves to protect themselves from the harm that came with the territory.

Exactly one week later, they had found themselves in a small pub not nearly far enough from CCHQ. They had sat in silence lost of the time, but after a few hours, some words had been exchanged. Both had still had trouble wrapping their heads around their first "argument", for lack of a better words, but as soon as that tension had disappeared, they had quickly discovered they had much more in common than they could have ever thought.

The both of them liked books, for example. Not a characteristic anyone would attribute to either one of them, but it was no different. They also both liked to tire themselves out by sporting. Sarah would go for a run, not stopping until she could not longer breathe. Spencer would continue boxing until the punching bag had drained all of his energy. And they both liked movies.

Which was why, after having spend a couple of more weeks deepening their friendship, Sarah had invited Spencer over to watch one of her favorite movies. She had prayed that Shanghai Noon would prove to be a good choice.

And it had proved to be, because by the end of the movie, they had kissed. It had been a sweet kiss, full of promise that had made her head spin and her heart sing.

Spencer had spent the night on her sofa, and about a month later, he had begun to spend his nights in her bed.

I wish I could lay down beside you
When the day is done
And wake up to your face against the morning sun
But like everything I've ever known
You disappear one day
So I spend my whole life hiding my heart away

But as Sarah sat on her bed in the dark, unable to sleep because she was afraid the nightmares would come back to haunt her, Spencer was not there.

Because Spencer was visiting his family. His mother had called a few days before to ask whether he could spend a few days at his childhood home. Apparently, she was under the impression that a family should meet at least once a month. Which was something Sarah wasn't sure she agreed with, as she had never been particularly close to her parents and was an only child.

Of course, her lover of three months had offered to ask his mum if it was okay for him to bring her over. But Sarah knew that she was not yet aware of the fact her son was in a relationship. They had been keeping their love for each other a secret. After all, people working on the same team were not at all encouraged to pursue a romantic relationship. Although Grace would be more than happy for them, Boyd would probably only grudgingly admit to being okay with the relationship and Eve would give them her full support, those of higher rank would most certainly throw a temper tantrum about it.

And with that realization had come Spencer's decision to keep silent to his mother as well. He had told Sarah that they would get to meet very soon right before he left, as he had no intention of ever leaving her. He had assured her that there was nothing he

wanted more than spending the rest of his life with her. But he wanted to prepare her first, as finding out her son was dating a woman who carried so much luggage with her would not be easy on the poor woman.

Sarah was glad Spencer was obviously not ashamed because she was still suffering from PTSD or had to see a psychologist –shrink, she thought humorlessly- every week. He was happy to give her all the time she needed. She just couldn't help but feel a little uneasy with the fact he was putting her in front of his mother. Or at least, that was the way she felt about it.

Spencer had quickly said that was not what he was doing at all. They were both very important to him, equally important. And that was what she should be focusing on instead of thinking about nothing but the unnecessary guilt she was harboring.

Sarah had been alone for a week now, and it would be another week before Spencer would return. And during those days, she had spent a lot of her time thinking about those words. She realized Spencer was right. The guilt tired her, much as it had tired her after she had lost Mick. It was even as fruitless now as it had been then, because Boyd had been right in saying that her bosses would have been happy no matter what and hadn't cared about the consequences at all, and nothing she did would be able to change the outcome. And in this case, she would only become irritable if she made herself lose precious hours of sleep by mulling over things, which could damage her relationship.

Drop me off at the train station
Put a kiss on top of my head
Watch me wave
You watched me wave

She remembered how Spencer had pushed her hair behind her ears before kissing her ever so softly as they waited for his train to arrive. She had felt so treasured, invaluable, alive in that moment.

"If you need anything, just call me, all right? No matter what time of day or night," he had said.

Sarah had rested her head against his shoulder, pressing herself as close to him as was humanly possible.

"I promise," she had said.

Sarah had never been one to actually need people. Since she was a young girl, she had taken care of herself. Relying on other had never been her strong suit. But at that moment she had not wanted to let go of Spencer. For the first time in her life, she had found someone she needed. And she was okay with that, which had surprised her more than anything.

"And I promise those two weeks will fly by. I'll call you every night, I'll text you until it drives you absolutely crazy," he had smiled.

Sarah had playfully punch his chest, but had laughed at his words none the less. She had known he was being serious, and she was touched he would do all of those things for her.

"Just make sure not to get on your mum's bad side by spending more time with your phone that with her, all right? I wouldn't want her to have to ground you for bad behavior," Sarah had giggled.

Giggling was something she had almost never done before that, but since she had been with Spencer, it had become part of her daily life.

Then you went on home to your skyscrapers
Neon lights and waiting papers
That you call home
You call it home

"My mum wouldn't even ground me when I was a teenager. And trust me, I did more than my share of nasty things that would have warranted worse punishments than being grounded," he smirked, a hint of mischief in his voice.

He had never been one to do overly bad things, Sarah was well aware of. But he had done things like break curfew, sneak out behind his mother's back to smoke in the dark alley not far away from his house and drink more alcohol that he should. Nothing more than what most teenagers did when they became fed up He was right in saying that most parents would have done more than ground their children for the smoking in a rather dangerous alley, though.

"I think I like the way your mum thinks," she had told him.

Spencer had pressed a kiss to the top of her head, but had not verbally responded to what she had just said. Instead, he had said:

"My train is here."

And indeed, even before he had finished that last word, she had heard through the speakers that the train leaving at eight fifteen would be arriving at platform two in mere seconds.

Sarah had swallowed hard.

"I don't want to let you go," she had admitted.

Spencer's grip on her had tightened for a second, but he had had no choice but to let her go when the train came to a stop beside them.

"And I don't want you to let go of me. But you'll have to, or I'll never make it to my mum's on time," he had said.

After one final kiss, he had boarded the train. But he had held onto Sarah's hand until it became physically impossible to hold on any longer.

As the train disappeared from view, Sarah was still waving. She would always remember Spencer doing the exact same from inside the train, as it was such a sweet and innocent gesture.

People always say that the first night you spend away from your lover is the hardest. But Sarah wholeheartedly disagreed with that. The first night, it had been enough to hear Spencer's voice to be able to sleep soundlessly. But very consecutive night had proved harder.

When Spencer had called her three hours ago, she had had to fight very hard not to beg him to come back. Hearing his voice over the phone was not enough anymore after a week. She wanted, needed, to hold him, to smell him.

I woke up feeling heavy hearted
I'm going back to where I started
The morning rain, the morning rain
Although I wish that you were here
That same old road that brought me here
Is calling me home, It's calling me home

About two hours after Spencer had called her, Sarah had decided to crawl into bed. There was nothing else to be done: the dishes had been washed, the table cleaned, all of the papers laying around had been cleared away.

But instead of the fitful night's sleep she had hoped she would be granted, she had only managed to sleep for three hours. So at two in the morning, a very tired and rather sad Sarah was sitting on the edge of her bed.

Just like she had done the first night, she was staring at her cell phone, which was laying on her nightstand. She was seriously contemplating calling Spencer, as she was feeling close to tears.

And that did not only have to do with Spencer not being there. Earlier that day she had found out that Tristin was not very happy about her telling Boyd about him. Grace had called her, telling her that she should not let her guard down. Apparently, Tristin was already making plans to get her back one way or another.

Sarah had not asked how she knew. The profiler was a friend, she must have heard it from someone she trusted. Else, she wouldn't have told Sarah about it.

The blonde was surprised to find she was scared. In the dark, it was not hard to come up with a lot of nasty things Tristin could do to her and probably get away with. It hadn't even been hard to imagine those things in the broad light of day. That man was an evil genius, she was load to admit.

Which was why she had wanted to call Spencer immediately after Grace had called her. But it had been close to noon, so she hadn't wanted to interrupt the family meal Spencer would probably be having. And after that, she had found other reasons not to call, for example saying that Spencer would call her that evening anyway, that he would be so worried about her that he would come back to her without any explanation.

Laying down, Sarah thought it would probably be best to try to get some more sleep. She was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes open with every second that passed, the bed was beginning to feel more and more comfortable.

Closing her eyes, she thought of all of the times she had lain here like that with Spencer. She thought about his smell, the way he would always hold her, the kiss he would land on the top of her head every evening.

Before she knew it, Sarah was safe and sound in the land of dreams with no other companies. It was just her and Spencer.

Suddenly, Sarah was pulled halfway out of her dreams because she felt the bed dip. Groaning, she pushed herself a little more upright.

"Shh, it's only me," a soft voice tried to reassure her.

Sarah began to smile through the sleepy haze she was still in as she realized who the voice belonged to. Turning onto her other side, she immediately extended a hand and laid it against his shoulder. In turn, his hand came to rest on her hip.

"You're back," she whispered, afraid to say it out loud because that might break whatever spell is was that had brought Spencer back.

Spencer nodded, albeit a little uncomfortable because he was in the mean time trying to support his head with his free hand.

"I noticed something was wrong when I called. So I talked to Boyd, who told me about Tristin," Spencer said, spitting out the name.

She ducked her head, crawling closer to him. She should have known he would notice she wasn't her normal self.

"I didn't want to worry you," she whispered.

Spencer rubbed circles on her back.

"I know. But I'll always worry about you. That comes with the territory, I'm afraid," he smiled.

Sarah sighed, letting her lover pull her flush against him and envelop her in his arms. She knew all too well how he felt, because she would always worry about him as well. Just because she loved him.

Yes, some things in life indeed were simple. Some.