Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sunday 13th January

Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

"Hi Nikki! What's new?"

"Blimey you're chirpy this morning. Did you get lucky last night?"

"No, but I had a good night."

"Were you out with Jorge and Beto?"

"Yes, Jorge is really improving and he's getting quite a following. The bar was packed! He started talking about entering a competition."

"You've not been tempted to go out on stage yet?"

"No way! We just add a few harmonies in from backstage. We got another memo about professional behaviour again. I don't think singing in gay bars is one of the acceptable hobbies in the NYU professional behaviours document."

"They can't dictate what you do in your spare time."

"Oh but they think they can and this is the land of the free!" Harry laughed hollowly. "They'd be pretty pissed though."

"Is that in the English or American definition?" Nikki asked.

"Definitely the American," Harry admitted. "What about you?"

"More of the same. I seem to have an entirely different interpretation of the events and evidence to the rest of the team, AGAIN."

"Have they realised yet that you're always right and they'll always be wrong?"

"Harry?"

"What?" Harry asked non-plussed.

"How much of our lives did we spend arguing through the evidence of the cases and taking different sides?"

"Didn't we just do that for fun?" Harry asked seriously.

Nikki blew out a big angry breath until she saw Harry's smile and realised he was teasing her.

"He must be good, this Jack."

"How can you say that?" Nikki said.

"Well for you to get this riled up, to fight your corner, it's the way you do your best work, keeps you tight to the evidence."

"You think Jack's doing it on purpose to make me do a thorough job?" she asked incredulously.

"No, I doubt he's got the brains to work that out, not yet anyway but I bet you're getting results."

"Yes I am, but it is exhausting being on a different page to everyone else, all the time." She admitted.

"It'll come," Harry promised.

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"You never took the opposite view with me on purpose just to make me work my corner harder did you?"

"Me!" he said with mock insult. "I wouldn't have dared!"

"So all those times we disagreed, it was because you genuinely disagreed with me!"

"Oh yes!"

"Even when I was right?"

"Especially when you were right!" He admitted and Nikki smiled.

"I seem to remember being quite good at apologies," Harry insisted.

"Maybe." She screwed her mouth into a wry smile. "How's the office?"

"Don't ask! We've got a new Dean, she thinks she can terrorise our entire department and many of the others."

"And?"

"She's the poster girl for NYU equalities: she was brought up in Harlem, attended public school, got her big break with some scholarship to Harvard on the affirmative action ticket and has fast tracked her way through academia since. She's younger than you and Dean!"

"You're just jealous!"

"Scared more like, her name is Candy, and she is not sweet in the slightest, she's brash and outspoken and anything said against her she always counters with one of her minority trump cards. 'I'm black, I was poor, I'm dyslexic, I'm a plus size woman,' she's untouchable."

"Can't you just keep out of her way?"

"Unfortunately not, she's working her way through our department amalgamating jobs, and allegedly raising standards wherever she goes."

"I thought you said, your students liked your classes."

"They do, but it doesn't mean Candy will."

"Candy, what a name! Well hopefully the vice chair of biochemistry will leave her alone."

"Why?"

"They'd be Candy and Randy!" Nikki laughed.

"Nikki! Just because my office is a soap opera, you don't have to laugh!"

"No, I'm sorry, it's just that with all that going on at work, it's making you spending your weekends with Jorge and Beto look positively normal!"

"I'm going to go now!" Harry insisted.

"Alright Harry, I'll tune in next week for the next exciting episode."

"You're not funny Nikki."

"See you next week then,"

"Next Sunday," Harry agreed, "Oh and Nikki?"

"Yes,"

"Sorry about last week… Thanks."

"You alright then?" she asked not really expecting him to answer.

"Better than I was."

"Good."

"Thanks for… for…"

"It's ok Harry, I understand."

He looked at her then; she really did understand. He hardly had to say a word and she knew. Hadn't she even said that last week? The she just knew. He wished it was more than a shared heartache and lifetime of tragedy that bound the two of them together. He wished it was something entirely different but that would never be, not now, he'd been the one to make sure of that.

"Harry?" he heard her ask.

"I think the Skype just got stuck," he lied, hoping it would mask the last few moments where he was evidently just staring at her.

"Next week then."

"Thanks Nikki," Harry smiled and switched off the connection.


The Star Spangled Banner: Francis Scott Key

Special thanks to KiwiSFFan and owl-eats-waffles for their reviews and inspiring awesomeness. Come on the rest of you... I know you're there!