Chapter 1: Coping?
Jack inwardly groaned as he pulled his kit out of the back of his car. The crime scene had involved a body found in a car park and he had spent the last three hours crawling around on tarmac attempting to recover any forensic evidence that might help the police find out what happened. It was a cold, grey day and the drizzle had done nothing to improve his mood. In fact the mood of the entire Lyell Centre had been cold and grey ever since Leo had died. Jack had not realised just how much Leo had held the place together. Even though Jack had not worked at the lab for very long, without Leo, the place just felt so empty.
Leo had been a father figure to Nikki and an idol to Jack. But more than that, he had been a friend. A truly good and genuine man. Such a person was hard to come across these days, in a time where people would just walk on by and ignore all the bad things in the world. But Leo hadn't done that. He would always try to find the good in people. He's looked into Jack and discovered his potential even though Jack's face had been covered in cuts and bruises when they'd first met. Plenty of people had avoided Jack and scorned him, judging him on his appearance, just seeing him a brawny but Leo had seen past it and found the talented, headstrong scientist underneath.
But now he was gone. Jack knew of course that everyone had to die and that death was just a part of life. That was something reinforced every time he went to a crime scene, but this time something was different. This time death was not anonymous and striking at random, but personal. It had taken a good man. A great man, and possibly the only decent man Jack had ever known.
Pushing the glass doors open, he made his way down the winding corridors towards the lab. He knew he should start processing the evidence he had gathered but his heart just wasn't in it today. It hadn't been since the events of Afghanistan.
As he got closer to the lab, his ears picked up on the sound of voices, muffled at first but getting louder as he got closer. He could make out a male voice and a female voice, the latter he came to recognise as Nikki's clipped tones. The ones she used when she was trying to be professional. Something she had been forced to be, since taking over temporary leadership of the Lyell Centre.
Just as he was about to approach the lab, he noticed a young woman sitting in the waiting area by the doors. A small waif-like young woman, Jack estimated to be in her early twenties. She was staring at a magazine article, tapping the leg of the chair with the toe of her scuffed boots. It took a moment for Jack to realise that the magazine was upside down.
"Can I help you?" Jack said, shifting his heavy kit from one hand to the other, whilst scrunching and releasing his hand to relieve some of the cramp that had set in.
She looked up and Jack was met with a pair of blue bulbous eyes enclosed behind some thick framed glasses, which only served to enlarge her eyes, making her look quite bug like.
"No I'm fine. I'm just waiting to see my father," she said politely gazing up at him
"Is he…erm…?" Jack stuttered, trying to delicately frame the next question "Has he passed away?"
"I don't think so," the woman shook her head "Though it has been almost twenty minutes since I last saw him. All sorts of thing could happen in twenty minutes and I suppose it is possible he was cut down by an axe wielding maniac on his way to see Doctor Alexander, unless Doctor Alexander herself is the axe wielding maniac…" her sentence drifted off as she fell deep into thought.
Jack couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Nikki as an axe wielding manic. He realised then, that this was the first time he had smiled in weeks. The last time had been in Afghanistan, just before…
He steered his mind away from that thought. It was still too painful, too fresh and too real.
"Are you aware that you're holding your magazine upside down?" he asked her
She nodded "I'm reading an article about Australia," she offered as a way of an explanation
Jack was about to reply when the voices got louder and much closer. He glanced into the lab and saw a man carrying a mountain of files storm out of Leo's office, for they still referred to it as Leo's office, with Nikki following close behind.
"Mr Williams, please!" Nikki called after the man
"I knew it. You may mock my research Doctor Alexander but I know the truth. You can keep your scientific knowledge for it is tainted with the bias of the system. I shall publish my findings in 'The Underground' and the whole world shall know the truth!" the man replied, waving his arms about dramatically.
"Mr Williams if you would just come back and we can talk about this rationally," Nikki pleased and Jack could see she was near to breaking point.
Her usually neat blonde hair was falling out of the hairclips and the bags under her eyes were showing even in spite of her carefully applied make-up. She still looked attractive though, Jack smirked as he took a sneaky glimpse at her backside.
"My dear, your science is irrational. It cannot help serve justice when it is infected by the system. You must break free and until you do that you cannot help me. Come Molly," he called to the young woman "We're leaving,"
And with that he swept off down the corridor, clutching at his precariously balanced pile of files.
"I'm sorry," Molly smiled awkwardly at Nikki and Jack "Thanks for your help,"
"It's no problem," Nikki assured her "If there's anything else I can do, here's my card," Molly nodded her thanks as she took the card and stowed it away.
"MOLLY!" her father bellowed from down the corridor.
Molly smiled apologetically once more before hurrying off after her father. It was only after she had scurried off, that Jack had noticed she'd left her magazine behind. He called after her but she was long gone.
"What was that all about?" Jack said following Nikki into the lab
"Nothing really, just another conspiracy theorist," Nikki said supressing a yawn "How was your crime scene?" she asked him as he sat down at his desk, shrugging off his jacket.
Jack shrugged "Looks fairly straightforward. The car park was where the murder took place judging from the amount of blood found at the scene. I retrieved a fair amount of samples so I just have to analyse them. Police think it was just a pub-brawl taken too far," he informed her "How're you doing?"
"Busy as usual. I've done three post-mortems today but they are all open and shut cases. Nothing too complex but we do have another body scheduled to come in later this evening and I'm going to need you to help me take some samples,"
"That's not what I asked…" he said cautiously
"I know," Nikki said softly "I don't know how I feel Jack. I just don't know anymore,"
He nodded sympathetically "Guess that nutcase didn't really help matters?" he suggested and she made a murmur of agreement
"Nikki, the body you were waiting of has just been brought in, you just need to sign the relevant paperwork" Clarissa said entering the room
"Thanks," Nikki nodded moving towards the direction of the cutting room
"She's not coping," Clarissa said softly
"None of us are," Jack sighed "What was all that about with that guy earlier?"
"His name is Jonathan Williams. He wanted to meet with Nikki to discuss his wife's death. I don't know the full details nut I gather he was challenging his wife's cause of death. He appeared to think it was some type of cover-up," Clarissa told him "Nikki didn't seem to think that there was anything suspicious at all. She thinks his claims are unfounded and he's just trying to find meaning where there is none,"
Jack nodded before turning back to his kit and unpacking it "I found a fair amount of evidence at the scene. Police think it's a simple case but want us to try and get this analysed as soon as possible. They want to process this case quickly as it seems so simple. No point hanging about,"
Clarissa and Jack lapsed into an easy conversation as they sorted through his samples, settling in for a long night at the lab. The drizzle had turned into forceful rain which was rudely splattering at the windows, interrupting their gentle chatter.
In the cutting room Nikki was filling in the relevant paperwork. Her progress was impdeded as her loopy handwriting was smudged by the hot tears that streamed down her face.
Author's Note: I know I haven't written anything in a while, but Series 16 seduced my muse into writing this. I'm still in shock Post Greater Love, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! (It as like bloodiness all over again). Series 16 was so great and it just shows how talented all the Silent Witness cast and crew are!.
The title of this story is taken from Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' series. It is a pun on the Latin 'Tempus Fugit' (time flies) and it means 'Time Breaks'. Something I felt probably sums up how the characters were feeling at the end of the series.
Also, just a little disclaimer here. I don't own any rights to Silent Witness etc.