A/N: this is for KK456, who wanted a homecoming scene. (Be careful what you wish for...)
A/N 2: Just a heads up on a more serious note- in this chapter there is mention of an outsider's perspective from someone without all the facts, and assumptions are made. I've tried to be as gentle as I can, given the subject matter, and I hope I haven't offended anyone.


She thinks she might just be becoming addicted to the way his kisses her. She's surprisingly ok with that. She feels the press of his tongue against her mouth again, and is quite happily about to let him in when the door bangs open behind them.

"Hey, Jack, how's it… Whoa."

The sudden words freezes her, and she pulls away. Whirling around, she is met by the sight of a tall, blonde, well-muscled man. He gives them both a wink, a knowing smirk emerging on his face. She can't remember a time she has felt more embarrassed than she does right now. Feeling herself blush (honestly, she feels like a teenager!) she ducks her head down.

Behind her, Jack clears his throat a little. "Ok. This is a little… Um, Nikki, James. James, Nikki."

"Hi." She peeks up, gives him a little wave. (See? Teenager.)

"We were just…" Jack motions over his shoulder to the direction of the door.

"Right." James' smirk shows just how much he believes that. Nikki can't really blame him; she for one had been quite happy where they were.

"So we'll just…" bending down, Jack picks up his once more discarded clothes with one hand, the other still entwined with hers, (and when did that happen?!) and pulls her along with him. They push through the door into the corridor together, letting it fall close once more before they share identical slightly embarrassed looks and burst into laughter.

He quietens first. With a nod to the changing room they have stopped outside, he says, "Let me just grab my bag. Two minutes, yeah?"

She nods in response, and turns to rest her weight against the wall. She sees him pause outside the door, glancing over to her again. Before she can blink, he is back in front of her. "What…?"

"Here." He reaches up and rearranges her all but forgotten scarf across her neck, hiding her marks from view once more. Holding her gaze for another moment, he nods. "Won't be long." And then he is gone, and she left there, leaning against the wall, suddenly feeling very alone and exposed in the corridor.

She brings her hand up to gently massage the bruises under her scarf where they have begun to ache again, (the painkillers she had taken back at the Lyell beginning to wear off) the slightest tendrils of fear and doubt setting in now she is alone with her thoughts. Because what if Jack was only being like this now because he felt guilty? What if he realised, now she's no longer beside him, what a betrayal she had committed, and finds it's too much? What if he leaves her after all? What if he…

Her thoughts are interrupted by the reappearance of the trainer she's just been embarrassingly introduced to. Dropping her hand to her side (not wanting to draw attention to where it had been), she smiles a greeting, only for it to be dropped when he doesn't smile back.

"Hi. James, right?"

He nods, face serious. "Look. I know it's not really my business, but I saw…" he gestures towards her throat, and she freezes. "Anyway. No matter what you feel for the guy, he shouldn't be doing that to you. I know you seemed all fine in there," he points to the work out room, "but that's no excuse to…"

"What?" A horrible realisation dawns. "Ja- You think JACK did this?"

"I know he has a temper on him. But that doesn't mean he should take it out on you."

"You… Are you serious?! He didn't…" She is standing up straight now, anger and defiance in her gaze. (How dare he suggest…)

But James continues. "Look, my sister had a real tough time of it. I know it can be hard. And you might not like what I'm saying…"

"Because it's ludicrous! Jack didn't…"

"But help's out there, if, when, you need it. Anyway, here..." she finds a business card being thrust into her hand. Reflexively, she looks down, eyes skimming it. James keeps talking though, and her attention flies back to him as words filter through her shock. "…Specialises in domestic abuse."

She gasps, immediately trying to give the card back. "I told you, I don't need…"

"I know what I saw." He motions to the card. "Look, just keep it, alright? And don't be afraid to call. She's very good."

"Who's very good?" Jack's voice from behind her startles her; she hadn't even heard him approach. Shoving the card into her pocket next to her phone, she turns, an overly bright smile on her face. "One of the personal trainers here. James is trying to get me signed up."

Jack gives her a searching look, and she knows she has to move this along before he can suspect anything. With a nod to his now fully clothed form and the bag hanging loosely from his at least rinsed cleaned if not bandaged hand, she asks, "Ready to go?"

Jack gives a slow nod in return, before glancing up at James behind her. "Thanks."

James gives a nod back, before making eye contact with her again, his gaze hard. "Think about it, yeah?"

Before she can tell him again she doesn't need any help, he turns and walks back into the gym. They watch him go, Jack's face slightly puzzled. Wanting to put off any questioning for as long as she can (indefinitely, if possible) she reaches for him with one hand, the other delving into her coat pocket for her keys. "C'mon."

Exiting the building, she sees him eyeing her keys she has produced for a second, before shaking his head. "Nope. I meant what I said earlier. I'm taking you home."

Instantly, she's protesting. "But… What about my car?"

Jack glances at her, then between their two cars. Evidently coming to a decision, he nods. "Ok. You drive." He moves to stand next to her passenger door, motioning for her to unlock the door.

She points to his car. "What about yours?"

"I'll get a taxi or something back for it later."

"But…"

"Nikki." He moves to stand in front of her, face serious. "I'm taking you home. You can either drive there yourself or let me drive you, but if you think I'm letting you out of my sight after what happened yesterday for the foreseeable future…" he breaks off, giving a small shake of his head.

She's shocked by the look on his face. "But, you told Clarissa you'd go back to work after…"

"I know. I lied." He gives her a shrug and a quick grin. "She'll get over it. Now," he motions between the two cars, "who's driving?"

Nikki glances over both their cars, before her fist closes more firmly around her keys. "I am."

Jack gives her a grin, and she begins to feel more like herself than she had since he had first caught sight of her bruises at the lab earlier that morning. Unlocking the doors, she waits until they are both seated before turning the ignition over. Jack instantly reaches for her radio, and she shoots him a glare. She has shared enough car journeys with him over the years to know what might happen if he turns it on. "No singing."

He smiles back innocently. "Scout's honour."

She snorts. "Yeah, like you were ever in the scouts…"

"How dare you. I'll have you know, I was a proud member of the scouts for a very long time." She looks at him in disbelief. "Ok. Maybe a month. A week." She raises an eyebrow, holding back a smile as he finally admits, "Ok, fine, a day, and they kicked me out."

She cannot help the quiet snicker of laughter that bursts out. Jack gives a mock sigh in return. Motioning to the road before them, he demands resignedly, "Just drive."

He lasts five minutes before he starts drumming along on her dashboard to the beat of the songs on the radio. It's still better than his truly atrocious singing, however, so she doesn't say anything. But as the drumming continues for the next few miles, she does give him a pointed every chance she gets until he stills his fingers. "Sorry."

The quiet in the car lasts another few minutes, and she begins to wish she'd let him continue with his drum solo; at least it didn't make the air in the car feel quite so oppressive. Trying desperately not to let him see how the silence is begging to get to her, she starts humming along to the next tune that comes on. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him give her an appraising look.

Before she can work out what it means, he dramatically joins in with the chorus. Badly. "Ain't no mountain high enough! Ain't no valley low enough! Ain't no river wide enough to stop me from getting to you babe."

She can't help it; she bursts out laughing, the tension in the air evaporating. "Oh my god. Stop."

His smile is more genuine now, even as he mangles his way through the next verse, before his face falls sombre. Nodding towards the radio, he says, "It's true, y'know."

The seriousness in his tone sobers her. Stopping at a red light, she takes the opportunity to study the man sat next to her, thinking back to all the times he has come through the lowest of odds. Hell, even death hadn't stopped him from coming back (to her) in the end. He doesn't break her gaze when she finally meets it, and she finds herself nodding at his assertion. "I know."

The car behind them gives a beep, and she turns back to see the light has turned green. With an apologetic wave, she pulls forward once more. They spend the rest of the journey trading sly glances at each other, trying not to get caught. But she can tell when his eyes are on hers; the heat behind his stare warming her. Her next attempt at her own subtle glance fails miserably, however, when she is met by his intense gaze.

She blushes, turning back to the road, determined not to look his way again. Another ten minutes, and she is pulling into her parking space outside her flat. Turning to look at him, she nods back towards the front door, suddenly feeling shy. "Do you want to…?"

"I'm coming in." His no nonsense tone should annoy her, but she finds this time she's just grateful. Leading him through the main door and down the hallway to her own front door, she pauses outside it, fumbling with her keys, an unexpected nervousness taking over her.

"Hey." His sure hands reach out from behind her, plucking her keys from her shaking hands and smoothly settling it in the lock. "It's just me."

She gives an embarrassed laugh, shaking her head at her own… what? Stupidity? Weakness? Taking a deep breath, she pushes the door open, feeling him follow her inside. Suddenly desperate to put a little space between them, she quickly shrugs off her coat and scarf, heading towards the kitchen, thankful when he doesn't immediately follow her.

"I'll make us some coffee."

Boiling the kettle, she pulls two mugs down from the cupboard before her hand goes to her jeans pocket searching for her phone, intending to call Thomas to explain apparently neither of them will be in the rest of the day after all, before remembering she had put it in her coat pocket earlier. Calling out into the hallway, she asks, "Hey Jack? Grab me my phone, would you?"

She hears him muttering to himself as he rustles in her pocket, but when he falls silent and doesn't immediately appear, she wanders out into the hall searching for him. What she sees there freezes her. He has her phone in one hand, but his eyes are trained on his other. Specifically, on the business card he's also pulled out from where she had stashed in that pocket in her hurry to hide it from him earlier.

His eyes full of confusion and a little bit of hurt, he eventually meets her gaze. "Why do you have… where did you get this?"

She knows better than to lie to him. Besides, it's not like she needs it; she'd already forgotten it was even there. "James. He thought…" She trails off, the implication clear without her needing to voice it.

His blinks, his eyes filling with anger and pain. "But you put him right, yeah?"

She nods, then shrugs. "I tried. He didn't…"

When she trails off, he asks, "What? Believe you?"

Nikki shakes her head helplessly. "I…"

Jack looks down, his own hurt radiating off him in waves. This is why she didn't tell him. She knew how he'd react. "Jesus Christ. That's what he meant, isn't it?" He looks up at her, sudden understanding in his gaze. "At the gym. When I came out and you two were… Fuck."

He turns away from her, fist coiling around the small piece of card, and she instantly reaches for his hands. At her touch, he glances at her neck, the pain and hurt on his face bringing tears to her eyes. "He thought I did…" he waves in the general direction of her neck, "that to you."

"I…" she sobs, her heart feeling like its breaking with this pain on his face, unable to find the words to bring him back from whatever brink he has found himself on.

"Save it." The cold, hard words scare her more than any physical power he had shown her he had earlier.

"But…"

"I cannot fucking believe this." He breaks her hold on him, leaving her feeling bereft.

"Jack. Please."

"Here." He presses her phone into her hand, and she reflexively looks down at it. Apparently, it's all the time he needs to leave.

She lets out a quick curse as the door slams behind him.


TBC.