A/N: Nikki's POV on her new job; hope you enjoy. If you do, please R&R, as I'm a closet review-junkie, and it makes me happy. :)
I don't own any of them, more's the pity.
Happiness
Nikki regarded her two new colleagues as they sat in the pub over a bottle of wine, celebrating her joining the team. She turned her attention first of all to Leo – lovely, lovely Leo who'd just offered her a locum for six months, which she fervently hoped would be a trial period for a longer stay. Warm, gentle, kind, and understanding, at least once you got to know him, she had already fallen for him as a father figure, someone she could look up to for guidance and help. He was unlike anything her real father was like, and for that, she adored him.
Harry was very different to Leo, but complemented him; and in him, she recognised a kindred spirit. As pathologists went, he was pretty unconventional, bordering on controversial. There was a touch of arrogance, ambition and ruthlessness, but it was tempered by his quick wit, charm, and intelligence, the humour that frequently left her giggling helplessly. So many times he'd followed her train of thought, often getting to the end point of her argument before she did, and holding the door open for her to go through to the finish.
She liked that about him; he was actually quite a gentleman; strangely protective at times, too, which normally she'd kick against, but knew instinctively that he wasn't patronising her, but that it was just the way he was. In fact, she got the feeling that he rather respected her, quietly; he might never admit to it, but he'd certainly been impressed by her facial reconstructions, and her hockey skills… she glowed as she remembered that morning they'd spent in the lab with Harry's experiment, and almost laughed out loud for sheer joy. If the next six months involved things like that, it would be the best six months of her life.
She grinned as Harry teased her, "Yeah, we only want you for your facial reconstructions, you know," echoing her introduction to him.
Leo rolled his eyes as they bantered, muttering about "children" and "growing up", but she could tell he didn't mean it, and in fact, was rather enjoying the light-hearted teasing they were indulging in.
A strange feeling crept over her, one that had flickered through her consciousness ever since she'd been allowed to help in their investigation, and that she hadn't had time to recognise or analyse properly; one that she hadn't felt in a long time. Here, in the pub, with the men she had a feeling would become the entire axis of her world, she finally stared it in the face, and acknowledged it.
Happiness.