Two's Company, Three's a Crowd?
Author's Note: Just to warn you, there's a little bit of swearing in this.
She was watching them from Leo's office.
Well, no that wasn't quite right.
Technically it was her office now, temporarily at least until they found Leo's replacement. A wave of anger bubbled up inside of her at that last phrase. 'Leo's Replacement'- there was no such thing. No-one could ever replace him, not really. But someone would have to eventually fill his job. Currently, Nikki was doing just that.
Temporarily, not permanently.
She knew she was a good pathologist, but she could never fill the gap left by Leo and quite frankly she didn't want to. She wanted to preserve his memory and not assimilate it by taking over his job. Still, she was awfully lonely now both Harry and Leo were gone. Maybe that was why she felt a pang of jealously as she watched Jack and Clarissa laughing and joking as they worked.
They had both tried to help her after Leo's death. Checking she was alright, making her cups of coffee and asking her out to the pub for a drink, but she had always turned them down. She missed her gang: Leo-Nikki-Harry. They were the formidable Lyell Centre team. Now the trio had been reduced to one. Now it was just Doctor Alexander.
She liked Jack and Clarissa, but she just felt like an outsider. That wasn't so unusual given that Jack and Clarissa had known each other for years before joining the Lyell Centre. And they worked well as a pair. Clarissa could keep Jack in line with just a sarcastic comment and Jack found himself grounded by Clarissa's level-headedness.
So where did Nikki fit in this new gang?
She supposed the old saying was true: Two's company. Three's a crowd. She was just extra baggage to the duo. The flotsam and Jetsam of the past; a mere echo of what had once been. And what could never be again.
"Hey Nikki?" she looked up startled and saw Jack standing there. A quick glance at the clock showed it to be the end of their shift and she was shocked at how long she had sat there lost in her own thoughts.
"Off home?" she asked as she shuffled some papers about on her desk, trying to make it seem as though she was busy.
"Not quite," Jack said adjusting his bag on his shoulder "Clarissa and I are going out for a drink,"
"That's nice," she said forcing a smile onto her face
"Want to join us?" he asked and she could seem him tense as he waited for her reply. Jack had asked her this almost every week since Leo's death and she had always turned him down "Please Nikki…" he said softly "You've been working really hard, you deserve a break,"
She shook her head "I won't be very good company. Anyway you know the old saying 'Two's company, three's a crowd,"
"Bullshit" Jack said shaking his head "The more the merrier," he grinned
"I don't know…" she shrugged
"You have to come," Jack pleaded "Please, I'll even get the first round in. It's a once in a lifetime event"
"If I come for one drink, will you stop bothering me?" she asked
"Yes," he nodded "Scout's honour,"
"Were you ever a scout?"
"Girl-guide actually," he quipped and Nikki let out a snort of laughter as she shrugged her coat on and grabbed her bag.
They left her office and met Clarissa who was waiting for them in the corridor. She greeted Nikki warmly; seemingly glad Jack had persuaded her to come along for the drinks
"He thinks I deserve one for working so hard," Nikki told Clarissa
"What would Jack know about hard work?" Clarissa said
"I work very hard," Jack said pulling a face in mock-hurt "Today I performed an experiment seeing how many times I could spin around on my desk chair,"
"And nearly fell off in the process," Clarissa explained and Nikki laughed
"Hey, I didn't bring you two out so you could gang up on me," Jack said
"No, that's just a free service we offer," Clarissa smirked "Someone's got to keep the Lyell Centre going and that means keeping you in line"
"And that's your job is it?" Jack asked
"No, it's Nikki's job," Clarissa said "Nikki's the one who keeps us all together. She was the one who kept the Lyell Centre going even when we all felt like we were falling apart,"
Nikki smiled softly to herself. That was her role then. She wasn't just flotsam and jetsam of a dead past, but the one binding the Lyell Centre together. That was her role. She bridged the gap, past and present, holding everyone in place and kept the Lyell Centre going. The pang of jealously had subsided now as Nikki understood that letting go of the past, didn't mean forgetting. It just meant moving on.
She had left one trio behind, and joined another one.
The formidable Lyell Centre team had not gone, it had just shifted.
And as Leo said: 'Change is good'.