A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed/followed/favourited chapter one of this a very long time ago! To be honest I'd almost forgotten about it until the lovely Sarah reminded me…anyway, apologies for the wait, hope it doesn't disappoint. See chapter one for disclaimer.
She moved her eyes slowly away from the blank screen of her computer, an irritated expression already formed on her face at the dull sound of a newspaper being dropped on her polished wooden desk. It had already been opened deliberately at page nine, with the headline 'Corrupt DAC's Dirty Secret' clearly meant to be the focus of her attention.
"Care to explain?" a male voice which she quickly identified as Jack's asked dryly. She glanced up at his face through her eyelashes, knowing that failing to meet his eyes would be a mistake, given the way he was looming over her despite the option to sit down. He raised his eyebrow.
"I mean," he begun, taking a step back, "it is the Mirror after all. It could all be a huge misunderstanding, or something they've taken completely out of context to make Strickland look even worse than he already does, but the photograph of him emerging from your house late last night looking slightly dishevelled does imply that-"
Her withering look cut him off mid-sentence. That was the third time this morning she'd seen that picture with headlines of a similar nature in three separate tabloids, and it wasn't even nine o clock yet.
"I had you down as more of a Guardian man, Jack." She replied innocently, blatantly avoiding the subject at hand as he finally lowered himself into the chair opposite her, rolling his eyes at her childish remark.
"Sandra. Look. All I want to know is this: are you and Strickland an item, yes or no?" he questioned bluntly. She hesitated. This was Jack- sometimes she thought he knew her better than she knew herself. He always had possessed an uncanny ability to predict her actions before she even could. On the other hand, this wasn't just her standard boyfriend troubles. This was serious. The relationship side of things was just the icing on the cake when Rob's entire future was at risk, and at the mercy of the unrelenting media. Involving Jack would complicate things even further.
"Sandra?" he repeated her name, with a softer tone this time. "I'm asking because I care. If I'm going to help with fending off the press and sorting this sorry mess out, then I need to know the truth."
She sighed, massaging her weary eyes. If she could trust anyone to help, then it was Jack.
"Nothing is certain, what with all this going on, but yes, I think so." She replied honestly, a faint smile appearing on her face.
He stared at her for a moment, scrutinising both her response and her facial expression.
"You really like him, don't you?" He said, finally relieving the tense pause.
She simply nodded.
"Alright." He paused once again, concerned for the woman he had cared for since she was a child, even when she didn't know it. Countless times over the years had he seen relationships develop within the Met, and he knew that nine out of ten ended in tears. Particularly the ones involving Sandra. She was right, though- this was serious, but not entirely for the reasons she believed. She had proved that she could handle almost anything the press threw at her, but heartbreak, of any kind, never got any easier. He, of all people, could attest to that.
Reaching across the desk, he took hold of her elegant, manicured hand, not even flinching at the cold touch of her silver ring against his palm. "I promise I will do my best to help, but like I said, you need to be straight with me. I'm not going to try and stop you having a relationship with Strickland, I know what you're like when you get an idea into your head, but just be careful. Take things slowly. Don't give the press any more reason to crucify you than they already have." He said carefully, staring directly into her gaze, the blue intensified by the shadows underneath her eyes.
"I won't." she almost whispered, her voice cracking under the pressure of his intense warning.
The tense atmosphere was disturbed by the creak of the main doors into the UCOS arena as they swung open, admitting Gerry and Brian. Whereas Brian headed to his desk, Gerry walked straight forward into Sandra's personal office, taking advantage of the open door.
"Bloody hell, Guv, you aren't having it off with Jack as well are you?" he asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at their hands, still interlinked on the wooden surface between them.
"Shut up Gerry." She said with gritted teeth, noticing Jack's look of warning to his colleague that hinted 'don't mess with her'.
"Just trying to lighten the mood Guv'nor," he said, feigning innocence, with his palms held up in mock surrender. "Not my fault that the press have caught wind of your late night yesterday…"
Sandra closed her eyes as Gerry left his comment hanging whilst he went to make the morning coffees, leaning back in her chair. "Now that's one thing I can deal with," Jack said with aplomb, a smirk forming on his face as he rose from the chair. "I'll leave you to it."
"Thank you." She said gently, waiting until he had closed the door behind him to slump forwards on to her desk. It was going to be a long day.