This kind of just happened... again. I'm sure this would be finished by now if there wasn't so many Harry/Nikki chapters, but they just seem to write themselves. Ooops :P

Thank you as always to everyone reading, and a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Thyqua, freitazal, Lizziginne, EmmaJ1996, Terriah, pinkswallowsun, gem.S, Starr123, dinabar, Emilybubblestoby and shiningbeacon. You are all amazingly amazing :D !

I'll try to update quicker :)

xXx

Chapter 36 – You Did What?

Shaw arrived at the Lyell centre only minutes after Nikki had left, and Harry couldn't help but groan as he strolled through the door and straight to Leo's office. Knocking once, he pushed open the door and disappeared inside without turning to look at Harry.

"Perfect," Harry mumbled to himself, glaring at the office door. "I get out of seeing Maddox, and instead get Detective bloody Perfect."

It wasn't that Harry didn't like Shaw, it was just, well… who was he kidding. He couldn't stand Shaw! He was professional, he was likeable, he made Nikki smile… He made Nikki smile. Surely that should be enough of a reason to actually like the guy, and yet he couldn't bring himself to start a conversation with him.

After a few minutes, the door to Leo's office reopened, and both Leo and Shaw appeared, each wearing a concerned expression.

"Harry, Shaw's come to fill us in on what he found during the interview with Lemming. Conference room please, whatever you're doing can wait," Leo raised his eyes knowingly, as Harry closed the card game on his computer.

"No Nikki today?" Shaw asked casually once Leo had entered the conference room.

"Nope, she's at the station actually, we didn't expect you here," Harry couldn't help but smirk to himself. "She went to see Maddox."

"Maddox?" Shaw asked suddenly, stopping in his tracks.

"Yes, Maddox. He wanted someone at the station and Nikki offered to go. Is that a problem?"

"Why would it be a problem?" Shaw smiled, yet Harry could see it catch in his eyes.

"Nikki is more than capable of standing her ground against Maddox, believe me," Harry stated with a smile that even he knew was far from genuine. "I'm sure she'll call you later if she needs anything."

"Oh, it's alright," Shaw smirked. "I can catch up with her tonight at the pub."

Shaw walked through the door to the conference room, leaving Harry alone, glaring after him. Harry knew that whatever Nikki got up to in her own time had nothing to do with him, and yet the thought of her spending an evening with Shaw, of enjoying herself and laughing without him, of taking him back to her apartment afterwards… it caused so many emotions to swirl around in his stomach, and yet he couldn't quite place what half of them were.

The meeting had dragged on, despite the fact that they were only together for about half an hour. Harry had watched Shaw pace the room, going over the details that had been brought to light in his interview with Lemming, whilst Leo nodded, scribbling down notes as he did so.

"At least we know why the girls were taken now," Leo said eventually, waking Harry from his day dream. "Well, it gives us some idea anyway. There is no way that any of the victims were prostitutes, so they wouldn't have willingly agreed to what went on. They were raped, yet the rapists weren't aware of what they were actually doing. They believed that they had consent from the victim. It was all set up for them."

"But Shara Davis got away," Harry interjected, and Leo nodded in response. "She ran. The murderer followed. He killed her, but it was unplanned. He forgot to clean her fingernails, and the DNA was still present from the 'rapist,' unlike with the other girls. Frank Lemming was a client, but I don't think he was aware of what was going on."

"He could be our link between these cases though," Leo added. "He's given us the information concerning the playing card killings, and now all we need to do is find out how everything fits together with the Yates' case."

Harry felt his mobile vibrate in his pocket again. It had gone off ten minutes before, but he knew that he couldn't have answered it without getting a disapproving look from Leo, and he really was partial to a quiet life, so had ignored it, thankful that he had remembered to put the settings to silent.

"I better be getting back to the station," Shaw announced, picking up the files that scattered the desk. "I'll let you know if we get any more leads, but until then-"

Shaw nodded at Harry, before leaving the conference room, Leo following right behind him.

Harry sighed, sliding his arms across the table and leaning his head on top, feeling his eyes drift closed. He felt as if he could sleep for a week, and yet when he thought about waking up again, it wasn't Julia that he pictured lying next to him. Shaking the images from his head, he fumbled around for his mobile in his pocket, leaning his head to the side on his right arm that was still on the table.

Unlocking his mobile, the '3 missed calls' flashed across his screen, and he was not surprised at who they were from.

"Ha, I knew you would hate him too," Harry laughed to himself, hitting the button to listen to his voicemail.

"Harry, it's me. Can you pick me up from the police station as soon as you get this? I'll explain later."

Harry replayed the message before staring at his mobile, as if it would answer all the questions that were now running through his head. It was a short message, and yet he could hear the shake in her voice that she had obviously been trying to hide. And she had driven to the police station, so why would she need picked up? Shrugging, Harry dropped his mobile back into his pocket, forcing himself to sit up again. If Nikki was phoning to be picked up, that meant that she forgave him, surely.

Harry pulled into the police station car park, checking his mobile again as he stepped out the car to make sure that he hadn't missed another call. Flicking through his messages, his head down against the rain, Harry startled as he almost walked into someone making his way down the stairs as Harry was about to walk up them.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled, looking up from his phone, surprised to see Maddox glaring down at him, the left side of his jaw slightly swollen, a large purple bruise starting to form on his cheek. It looked a new injury, and by the expression on Maddox's face, he could tell that he was having a bad day. Harry smiled to himself slightly at the idea of Nikki having to put up with a pissed off Maddox, after her amusement at Harry having to do so in the past.

Harry dashed past Maddox who had just pulled out a cigarette packet, not wanting to stop for a conversation if he was in such a bad mood, and into the dark, noisy police station.

"Dr Harry!" Lottie waved from reception as soon as he entered. "Are you looking for your friend?"

"Yeah, is Nikki around?" Harry smiled. "I got a strange message asking me to pick her up."

"Oh," Lottie said, biting her lip. "Yes, well, I think her meeting with Maddox has finished. The last time I saw her, she was in the bathroom. Do you want me to see if she's still there? She looked a little upset."

"No, you're alright thanks," Harry answered, already walking backwards in the direction of the bathrooms. "I'll give her a ring, I'm sure I'll find her. She's probably just sorting her make up for the millionth time."

Lottie waved as Harry spun round, quickly finding himself outside the ladies toilets. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure why he hadn't taken up Lottie's offer. He couldn't exactly just walk in, not in a police station. But Lottie had said Nikki looked upset, and Harry knew that she hated sympathy.

Harry waited a few minutes, and once he was sure that anyone who was inside had had enough time to leave, he phoned Nikki. She answered on the third ring, like she normally did. Even if her mobile was in her hand when Harry rang, it was always the third ring.

"You took your bloody time," she sniffed, and Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Niks, I was in a meeting. You know what Leo's like. Any excuse to treat me like a child-"

"You are a child Harry," Nikki interrupted.

"Shut up. Why did you want picked up anyway? Your car is just as good as mine. Well, its not, but it still works, doesn't it?"

"There's nothing wrong with my car," Nikki said, her voice still shaking slightly. "Can't I just explain later?"

"Where are you?" Harry asked, ignoring her question and knowing exactly where she was.

"I- I'm-" Nikki started, yet the rest of her sentence was lost through her tears, her breath catching as she sobbed.

Pushing open the door after a quick glance around, Harry entered the bathroom to find Nikki sitting against the far wall, her knees tucked up and her arms hugging them tightly.

Sliding down next to her he threw an arm over her shoulder, pulling her in close to his chest as she cried.

Once her breathing began to steady, Harry gently took her hand in his to pull her to her feet, surprised when she gasped and pulled away from him.

"Nikki," he said softly. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Nikki shook her head, leaning against his shoulder.

Taking her hand in his again, he slowly brought it up to eye level, and could see her swollen knuckles which were already beginning to bruise.

"Nikki, what-"

"I'm not vulnerable Harry," Nikki stammered, yet her eyes were set in determination. "I'm not stupidly vulnerable."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Harry said quickly, running his thumb over her knuckles. "I didn't mean it like that, I swear."

There was silence between them, Harry continuing to run his thumb over her hand until she seemed to have calmed down.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened before I get locked up for being in the ladies bathroom?" Harry asked gently, noticing the small smile play on Nikki's lips. Yet it quickly disappeared.

"I punched him," Nikki sighed, mater-of-factly.

"Who?"

"Maddox."

"What about Maddox?"

"I punched Maddox!" Nikki almost shouted, spinning around to face Harry.

"Why?" Harry stuttered, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Because of the things he was saying Harry," she cried, her eyes wide. "He was being really- I don't know! I just didn't trust him. I felt like he was threatening me. And he wouldn't let go, or get out my face and-"

"Ok, ok," Harry said quickly, taking Nikki by the shoulders and noticing the marks on her other wrist. "I believe you. I don't doubt he was being an arse, I've had to put up with him acting like this before."

"It wasn't just like that though," Nikki shook her head. "We've both had to deal with idiot detectives before, but I've never actually hit one before! He was scaring me Harry. He wouldn't let go."

Harry lifted her right hand, kissing her knuckles gently, and sighing slightly at the smile that appeared on her lips.

"How about I deal with Maddox from now on?" Harry suggested. "To be fair, it was supposed to be me anyway, wasn't it? I won't let him scare you again, ok?"

"Ok," Nikki nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I feel so stupid."

"You're not. You're not stupid, and you're not vulnerable. I'm sorry," Harry smiled, standing up and pulling Nikki to her feet, immediately wrapping her in a tight hug.

"You're lucky I wasn't there, or I would've punched the other side of his face so hard he'd be seeing stars for a week," Harry laughed, knowing that if he had been there, there was no way that Maddox would have been able to get close enough to lay a finger on Nikki.

"I think I'm just lucky I wasn't stuck in a cell for insulting a police officer to be honest," Nikki said quietly against his chest.

Harry leant back, lifting her chin with his finger.

"He had nothing to hold you for," he said seriously. "You still have the marks on your wrist where he grabbed you."

Nikki looked down at her wrist, as if noticing for the first time.

"Yeah, and on my knuckles where I punched him."

"True," Harry smiled. "Now come on, let's get out of here."

Wrapping his arm around her waist, Harry pulled her towards the door and left the bathroom, just as a uniformed officer was about to enter, shooting them a disapproving look.

Catching Lottie's eye on the way out, Harry winked, raising his hand in a farewell, Lottie waving back in return, a wide smile on her lips. Stepping out of the station into the cold winter afternoon, Nikki froze, gripping Harry's hand as she did so. Maddox stood at the bottom of the stairs, sheltered by the side of the building, the cigarette smoke swirling around him in the breeze.

Pulling her quickly down the stairs, Harry tried to ignore him, yet Maddox had obviously noticed them.

"I could press charges you know," Harry heard Maddox growl as they passed, and could feel Nikki stop in her tracks, her hand tightening around Harry's.

Harry felt the anger that had been building up almost explode at his words, and let Nikki go, striding over to face Maddox.

"I don't think it's you who should be pressing charges Maddox," Harry tried to push his shoulders back in an attempt to look taller, yet Maddox was still towering over him. "Don't you ever, ever, go anywhere near her again. If you have any information about the case, then you speak to me. Otherwise, stay away from the Lyell centre, and away from us."

Maddox looked furious as he blew the smoke in Harry's direction, before stubbing out his cigarette on the wall and walking back into the office, glaring at Nikki as he did so.

"Can we go now?" Nikki asked, her hands shaking and the tears falling silently down her cheeks.

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "As long as you let Dr Cunningham have a look at your hand when we get back."

Nikki laughed weakly, stepping in closer to him as they made their way back to his car through the rain.

"Harry," she whispered, barely audible through the sound of the wind.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you. For being there. Again."

"Hey, that's my job," Harry smiled. "You know I'll always be there for you. I wouldn't be much of a best friend if I wasn't, would I? But we really should be getting back; I told Leo I was only going out for a coffee. I better stop and get him one on the way back as a peace offering, what do you think?"

Nikki nodded, the smile returning to her lips as he quickened his step, the rain now starting to drip off the end of his nose.