Chapter Fourteen: Red Sky at Night

Wrapping her gloved hands around the cold, still heart of a dead man on the slab in front of her, Nikki carefully extracted it from the body and held it up to eye level just as the doors opened at the other end of the cutting room and Harry walked in.

"There's something so beautiful about the heart, isn't there?" she asked rhetorically, gazing at it. "The way such a small organ has the power to keep our whole body going. Or not, in this guy's case. Coronary artery is completely blocked off. He must have had a massive myocardial infarction. More commonly known, of course, as a heart attack." She smiled at Harry, who had ground to a halt on the other side of the slab.

"You're so bloody morbid," he said, causing her to giggle.

"I've missed this!" she said defensively. "You're just jealous because Leo's got you doing paperwork."

"Paperwork which I have come to do down here," he said, signalling to the pile of folders under his arm. "Leo's having a row with the DI on his latest case up there and I can't concentrate."

Frowning, Nikki said, "A row about what?" as she passed a biopsy of liver to Zak.

"I don't know really," Harry shrugged, "I couldn't hear what they were saying clearly."

Clearing his throat, Zak said, "Leo can't give Narks a definitive cause of death so Narks, annoyed, isn't letting Leo have full involvement with the case."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked, looking mildly impressed.

"Because they've been having the same argument for days," Zak said, rolling his eyes. "Leo's been in an atrocious mood. I think he missed you two as well. We all did." He smiled.

Mockingly, Harry narrowed his eyes and said, "What are you after? A pay rise? Because it's not us you have to creep around."

Nikki giggled while Zak grinned slightly and said, "It's just good to have you back. Anyway, I'll go and get this to toxicology."

He disappeared from the room and Nikki stepped back from the slab, peeling off her gloves. "I guess this means we shouldn't tell Leo about us yet," she muttered nervously to Harry, who was clearing a space to work next to a sink at the side of the room.

"Why not? It might cheer him up."

"Or push him over the edge. What if his bad mood elevates his disapproval and he hates us forever?" she asked worriedly.

To her surprise, Harry laughed. He stopped what he was doing, turned to face her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "He is not going to hate us," he said assuredly. "Far from it. He'll probably be relieved more than anything else."

"But-"

"Nikki, stop worrying," he told her, and briefly pressed his lips to hers. "We'll persuade him out for drinks tonight and tell him then, it will be fine."

"Okay," she conceded, permitting Harry to kiss her again. When they broke apart she ran a hand through his hair, a small smile on her lips. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Oh, I know," he grinned smugly and she slapped his chest with a tut.

"Do your work," she ordered, the corners of her lips twitching.

"Yes, Ma'am," he said with a mock salute, winking at her as she laughed.

. . .

"Fancy coming out for a drink, Leo?" Harry asked as he and Nikki walked into their boss's office that evening.

"I can't, sorry," Leo said apologetically, buttoning up his coat, "Janet's cooking me a meal."

Shooting an apprehensive glance at Harry, Nikki said, "Well then, can we talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course," Leo smiled, setting down his briefcase and looking between them. "Nothing's wrong, is it?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Harry said quickly. "Far from it, in fact."

"All right, what then?"

Harry put his arm around Nikki's shoulder and tugged her against him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Nikki watched as the realisation crashed over Leo's face, his mouth falling open and his eyes widening.

"You two are-? At last, you're-?" he said, seemingly unable to string a coherent sentence together.

"Together, yes," Harry said, smiling.

"Wh-when?"

"Last night. Well, early hours of this morning," Nikki told him.

"This is – This is … Well, it's a miracle, that's what this is!" Leo spluttered, but a smile was rapidly spreading across his face. "Finally! Congratulations!"

"You're not angry?" Nikki asked quietly.

"Angry? Why on earth would I be angry?" he laughed. "I'd almost given up hope waiting for this moment! Ha, there's going to be a lot of money changing hands tomorrow when everyone else finds out."

"What?" Harry asked weakly, half-outraged and half-amused.

"Can I ask you something?" Leo continued. "Was this as a result of you being undercover together?"

"That was a major contributing factor, yes," Nikki nodded.

A triumphant laugh escaped Leo's mouth, "Excellent. That means Zak owes me fifty pounds."

"You've all been betting on us? All this time?"

"Well, everyone else has. I only joined in last week while you were away," he grinned. "So, come on then? How did it happen? Which one of you initiated things?"

Nikki giggled, her cheeks blushing scarlet. Beside her, Harry cringed slightly and said, "Don't you have to be getting home to Janet?"

Glancing at his watch, Leo said, "Yes, I do. But this does not mean you're off the hook. I did not wait all these years just for a brush off, an 'it-doesn't-matter'. Tomorrow, we'll all go out for drinks. Janet included. Oh, wait until I tell Janet!"

He bustled excitedly out of his office, leaving a slightly dumbstruck Harry and Nikki behind. The pair turned to look at each other and simultaneously laughed.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would," she said.

"I told you," Harry grinned. He outstretched his hand. "Come on, let's go back to mine."

"Can we stop off at my place first so that I can get some things?" Nikki asked as they put on their coats and gathered their bags.

"Of course. We'll pick up a takeaway, too. Fish and chips?"

. . .

With the food eaten and plates cleared away, Harry and Nikki were curled up together on the sofa watching the ten o'clock news. Well, Harry was watching the news; Nikki wasn't paying much attention to it all. All she could think about was whatever Harry was going to tell her if she hadn't been attacked, and – more importantly – why he refused to tell her now. The only conclusion that this led her to was that whatever it was, it was bad news.

"You have to tell me," she blurted out suddenly, unable to help it.

"Tell you what?" Harry asked.

"Whatever it was you were going to tell me the other night!"

"Drop it, Nikki!" he said firmly, pulling away from her and leaning forward to reach his wine glass.

"I don't understand why you won't tell me!" she cried. "We're in a relationship now, Harry. That's what couples do, they tell each other things!"

"It's not important anymore," he insisted, getting to his feet and turning the television off. "Can't we just forget about it and go to bed?"

"No!" she shouted, also standing. "There's no point us being together if you're not going to talk to me. I mean, what is this to you, Harry? Is it just about the sex? Friends with benefits or something? Because I'm not doing that."

Harry looked utterly baffled. He stepped towards her and took her hands in his. "Of course not!" he exclaimed. "I told you that I loved you! I haven't said that to anyone in a long time. Not since I met you, which should tell you something."

Nikki's face crumpled. "So why won't you tell me?" she asked again, more softly this time.

Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Harry said, "Because I promise you it doesn't matter anymore. You have to stop worrying about it."

"How can I stop worrying about it?" she said desperately. "How can I, when I keep imagining all these different scenarios? Like you're really ill, or you're still hung up on some other woman, or you're leaving-"

A muscle twitched in Harry's jaw. Nikki's eyes widened. "You're leaving?"

"No," he said quickly. "Harlow mentioned my name to someone, who mentioned my name to someone else, who mentioned my name to someone else and so on, and I had an email from Cambridge University asking me to be part of their research team. I said no."

"But you must have been thinking about it. That's why you wanted to talk to me," she realised, in shock slightly.

"Nikki, you have to understand that I explicitly told them no."

"But you were tempted?"

Clearly deliberating for a moment, Harry eventually said, "Initially, yes. But then you were attacked and I realised that if I was in Cambridge then who would be here to save your life?" He smiled at her, but Nikki didn't even notice.

"I stopped you going? Oh God, I'm one of those clingy women who won't let their boyfriends go anywhere or do anything," she muttered.

"No, you're not," Harry assured her. "I've turned down job offers in the past, haven't I? Before we were together."

Nikki scoffed at him and they both understood the unspoken meaning: would he still have turned them down if she hadn't been working at the Lyell Centre? If they'd never met?

Placing his hands either side of her face, Harry said quietly, "Is it so wrong that perhaps you did stop me going? That I won't even consider a life without you in it? I love you, and I'm not about to throw what we have away just for some job that pays more or gives me my own office."

"At least I wouldn't be able to take your desk," she muttered with a sad smile.

"Ooh, I didn't think of that. I hope I've still got the guy's email address…" He winked at Nikki and she laughed slightly. "Come on," he continued. "I've told you what it was, I've told you it wasn't important, now can we please just go to bed? I'm tired, it's not like I slept much last night."

"Wait a minute," Nikki said, tugging at his arm as he went to walk away. "Promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Don't ever not tell me things again, okay?" she asked in a whisper, aware of just how vulnerable and pathetic she sounded.

He looked her right in the eye, his gaze unwavering. "I promise." A smile graced her lips; the honesty shining in his eyes meant that she couldn't not believe him. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of his bedroom. "You coming?"

Slipping her fingers through his, she said, "Of course."

They got changed and climbed into bed as if it was a habit; something they had done every day for years. Somehow, it felt so natural that the pair of them just slipped into the routine immediately. There was no thought given to permit any awkwardness as she pulled herself against Harry, resting her head on his chest. It was like the previous week all over again, only this time they were allowed to be close to each other.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Harry Cunningham," she whispered into the darkness. When she received no reply she looked up at Harry, only to be met with the sight of his sleeping form. His lips were parted slightly, his breathing slow and even. He looked totally at peace with the world. Smiling, Nikki lay her head back down and let her own eyes flutter closed.

I know, I know, it's been far too long since I last updated; exams and life and blah got in the way. But now I have no more college EVER, which means no work until university in the Autumn. So I'm back. :)

I'll probably only do one ... possibly two ... more chapters after this one. I don't want to drag it out, but you all asked for more and seeing as you're so lovely in your reviews I can't say no. ;)

Oh, I also have a couple of one-shots that I'm working on, which should appear sometime in the foreseeable future.

Charlotte
xxx