ALL USUAL DISCLAIMERS APPLY

A/N: This short one is for my friend Cats. Lynley and Havers have pains and aches. Nkata wonders about all those little...

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Ouchies

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They stood in the open plan office with three white boards. This morning a body was found near the Thames. By noon they had discovered - in pieces - another three dead men. A task force was installed immediately and the Met's best team was co-ordinating the different DIs with their officers. They had brought together all information they could gather until now and had sent the Constables out to do some bell ringing. DC Winston Nkata, as part of the coordinating team, was the head of them all and interface to DI Tommy Lynley. That was why he was exempted from this annoying duty. DS Barbara Havers was Lynley's right hand. That was why she still was here.

It was half past five in the evening and actually the three hoped to go home like most of the other detectives but there still were a few things to sort out.

Barbara groaned and stretched at her modern wound up desk.

Lynley looked up from a file about an old unsolved case that could be related to these murders at hand. "Wind it down and sit, Barbara. You look tired."

"Nah." Barbara shook her head. "Actually I don't know what to do. I can't sit on my aching bottom nor can I stand properly with my back still hurting."

"Shall I give you another rub?" The way his boss emphasised the word 'another' made Winston look up from the map of London where several pins indicated the crime scenes. Barbara's answer surprised him even more.

"No, thanks." she declined. "I don't want your fingers cramp again."

Lynley laughed. "They're not as aching as my knees are. I guess I'm too old for such actions."

Winston only stared at them. He swallowed. His mind was running on overdrive but he dared not to ask.

For a while they kept on working in silence. Then Tommy looked at his watch.

"Ah, blimey. I have to leave you. I have an appointment with Ardery. It will last a while. Fancy a pint after you've finished here, Barbara?"

Barbara barely looked up. "No." she murmured. "I have to clean up the mess we've left in my kitchen."

Winston could not suppress his fit of chuckles. Lynley quizzically looked at him but the Constable did not explain and so the DI left shaking his head.

A few moments after the door had closed behind their boss Winston turned to Barbara.

"Congratulations, Barbara!"

This time her head went up. "What?" She frowned.

"Congratulations that you've finally caught him."

"Whom?"

"The boss." Winston's grin grew wider.

Barbara looked even angrier. "What are you talking about, Nkata?"

"Well, I thought you... and Lynley...?"

"I can't quite follow, Winnie."

"The mess in your kitchen?" Winston gave her a juicy grin. "Your little ouchies?"

Barbara put down her pencil in absolute calm and turned to the Constable completely. "Winston. A few days ago the electrics of my old dishwasher have failed. There was a small fire. Big enough to destroy parts of my kitchen. I had to re-plaster the walls. And the DI has helped me painting them at the weekend. Due to unexpected circumstances during the renovation ... with the floor, Nkata! Due to those circumstances we weren't able to finish, so there's still a huge chaos in my flat. And my little ouchies, like you deign to name it so nicely, are of no great help."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Barbara." Winston looked contrite. "It just sounded... I just thought..."

"Don't think, Constable." Barbara shook her head in disbelief and returned her attention to the screen of her computer. His presumptions had made her blush. She knew that Winston suspected that she had a crush on their boss for many years. And he was right.

And Winston was more than right with his presumptions.

But Barbara would not have told him yet that she and Tommy had not even finished half of the necessary work in her kitchen. He had offered his help after he had heard what had happened and she had happily agreed. Without any ulterior motives of course.

Then the little accident with her slipping on the wet floor and him helping her up on her feet again had led to circumstances neither of them had seen coming. But it had turned a deep look into a deep kiss and the deep kiss had turned the weekend into a wonderful journey into unknown regions of love.

It was in fact the bumpy landing on the floor that had made Barbara's bottom ache.

It surely was not anything related to painting the wall that had made her back ache.

It was not frequent climbing of ladders that had made Tommy's knees ache.

And it actually was not the massage that had made his fingers cramp. Well, at least it had been no back rub.

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;-)