(A/N): First Silent Witness fanfic. I watched the last couple of episodes on tv when they aired, and it interested me, so when they all went on iplayer I decided to watch them. Nikki and Harry are just too cute together, despite me already knowing it doesn't work out like that. Don't get me wrong, I also ship Nikki and Jack, just not to the same extent. Anyway, this is a Harry returns after Thomas' death fic, based on the song Lightning Strikes by the Shires. Trust me, it's worth a listen. Anyway, I'm on like series 15 or so right now, though I've watched a couple later ones as well, so I'm not completely up to date on what happens. Please ignore that though as artistic license on my part and not that I simply don't have the time to watch them all in one go.
I own nothing to do with Silent Witness, even if I do wish I could be on it myself. I do try my hardest not to pick holes out of crime shows (never ever get my started on the inaccuracies in criminal minds, for your own sakes), but Silent Witness doesn't seem to get things too badly wrong in terms of science, well, the part I know about anyway. Anyways, enough of my rambling, read on, enjoy, and let me know what you think. Rated T just to be absolutely safe.
Lightning Strikes
Looking back on it all, Nikki Alexander couldn't bring herself to regret everything. Sure, some things she wished could have gone differently, worked out differently, but overall, despite her hard, sometimes messy life, she couldn't help but find herself happy, content even. So much had happened, so much had been said and done, and god only knew she couldn't remember everything, but she remembered the important parts.
Standing just inside the office that once was Leo's, that once was Thomas', Nikki gazed out at the somewhat muted early morning bustle of the Lyell Centre, the lab techs only just arriving to get set up for the day. She was early, far too early, and Jack wasn't due in for at least a couple of hours, but she couldn't help herself, slipping from her bed when it was still dark outside to drag herself to work and just wander about, lost in her memories. Almost involuntarily, Nikki's hand reached up to touch the tiny pendant round her neck, a simple, small diamond on a long silver chain. She didn't often wear it, saving it for days she wanted to commemorate, or that felt special in some way.
"No, this is far too much. You shouldn't have." Nikki gazed down at the small diamond pendant nestled into the navy velvet of the jewellery box, her eyes welling up with tears as she ran one finger over the necklace softly. She glanced up, her eyes darting between the two men stood before her, both looking a little uncomfortable with her tears but mainly proud of themselves for getting her something she so obviously loved. Nikki knew it was a joint present, but it was more than she'd ever dreamed of, not the gift itself but the thoughtfulness behind it.
"Yes, we should've." Leo nodded decisively, placing a hand on her arm gently. "Happy Birthday Nikki."
"It suits you." Harry added gently as she dislodged the necklace from its box and lifted it to glitter in the office light. "Come here, I'll help you put it on." His hands were warm on the back of her neck as he secured the necklace in place, lingering just a touch too long. Nikki suppressed a shiver, knowing Leo would be firmly ignoring their actions for his own peace of mind. "There." His light smile dimmed into a serious expression as he met her eyes. "I know we never managed to get your grandmother's necklace back, Nikki, and we'd never dream of trying to replace it. Just… this is for the new memories."
Smiling softly to herself, she pressed her fingertips to the small stone in a silent remembrance of sorts, a tribute to the happier, more carefree days. Sure, she'd been at the Lyell Centre for a few years by that point, had gotten herself into a fair amount of trouble, but it had been happier times, before Harry had left, before Leo had died, the two men who had become her family leaving her alone in the world. Growing up was hard, Nikki decided absently, moving on autopilot to sit herself behind the heavy desk that dominated the small room. Whilst the lab outside had changed several times over since she'd arrived and strongarmed the two pathologists into letting her take over for a few days, the office hadn't changed quite so much. If she looked closely enough, she could still make out the slight dent in the wall from the doorhandle, made after one of Harry's not so quiet arguments with Leo over something or other, and the tiny holes from where Leo had hung pictures up, a couple of Teresa and Cassie, a couple of Nikki, Harry and Leo. Family.
Nikki settled back into the chair, gazing up absently at the ceiling. She had been so very young when she'd started at the Lyell, a wide eyed, enthusiastic forensic anthropologist who simply had to find out the story behind her latest dig. Leo's patient listening to her explaining what she had and what mysteries she had yet to solve, helping her whenever he had a spare moment, her and Harry breathless and laughing over playing hockey in the cutting room, cheering reverberating round the sterile area. Stupid kids, really, looking back. All of them, but especially her and Harry. No wonder Leo had spent half his time rolling his eyes at them. Now, the mysteries were still there, though the bodies were rarely anywhere near as old as her Brecon Beacons find, but she laughed less, found less childish delight in the small things. Maybe it was just a side effect of growing up, of riding the waves of everything life had thrown at her. Harry, Leo, Thomas, Clarissa. Hospital basements, South Africa, Hungary, Mexico. At least she could refuse to go back to the latter three countries if she could absolutely help it. She'd had to face a hospital basement only the previous week, memories of another time assaulting her constantly that she didn't feel able to share with Jack. He had enough on his plate with Mexico and all the other little times she'd gotten herself into trouble since she'd met him. He didn't need to be burdened with anymore of her brushes with trouble.
She glanced over to the window, still looking out onto the tiny balcony that was hardly used. Was she an awful person to wonder, sometimes, what would happen if she had the chance to go back and change it all, to save the people she cared about, to say the things she never had the courage to the first time round? Her hand reached up involuntarily to clutch at her necklace. Leo was gone. Thomas was gone. Someone should really warn whoever the new boss was going to be about the curse on the position. It wouldn't be her, anyway. The board had asked her to, pleaded with her really, but she'd turned them down, despite Jack's incessant wondering why she'd decline the chance to move up into the boss' chair. It wasn't her chair to take, even if she was currently sat in it.
Still staring blankly at the window, she was vaguely aware of Jack's presence in the doorway, hovering uncertainly. They'd been close practically since they met, though obviously, they'd grown apart after what had happened in Mexico. They'd grown closer again after a while, but it hadn't been quite the same, and Nikki knew she'd pushed Jack away since Thomas' death. She couldn't bear to lose anyone else she let close to her, even if she knew her behaviour was confusing the forensic scientist somewhat. It was her defence mechanism. She felt another presence enter the room beside Jack, though she didn't bother glancing over to see who it was. The presence felt familiar somehow, safe.
"I see some things never change." Nikki's eyes widened at the sound of a voice, not Jack's, but a voice she hadn't heard in nearly eight years. Not in person, at least. Her head shot round to the door in shock, finding the last person she'd expected stood beside a bewildered looking Jack. He had greying hair at his temples, and a fair few more wrinkles than last time she'd seen him, but his hair was still unkempt and messy, stubble still adorning his face as though he'd forgotten where he'd left his razor, weary eyes still lighting up for her. "You've still got the nasty habit of stealing my desk when you have a perfectly good one of your own." He set his briefcase down on the sofa just inside the door and strode over to her, where she was still sat in the chair, stunned. "Nikki."
"Harry!" She sprang up without thinking about it, her arms wrapping round his neck instinctively as she held to him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. Harry Cunningham's arms moved to her waist, holding her just as tightly to him and burying his own face in her hair, both clinging to each other as though they'd disappear if they didn't. She pulled back just barely enough to look him in the eye, her brow furrowing slightly. "Your desk?"
"Well, I am a Professor, you know." His voice was light, almost teasing, and Nikki felt her lips twitch automatically in response.
"Getting the certificate in a cereal box doesn't count." She found herself quipping in return, just catching Jack's horrified intake of breath from the doorway and turning to him, still wrapped up in Harry's arms. "What?"
"You know what you just said, right Nikki?" Jack checked, looking a little stunned himself.
Nikki opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Harry chuckling. "Don't worry, she's said much worse to me. I have to her as well." He turned back to her, lifting one hand from her waist to brush her hair gently from her face. "Tart." His eyes glittered with amusement as they were both taken back to a bar where he'd called the exact same thing after her. She knew exactly what she needed to reply, more than willing to play along.
"Drunk."
…
Nikki had explained who Harry was vaguely when Jack had first joined the team, but both she and Leo had played down everything, to such an extent that the forensic scientist seemed genuinely stunned and bewildered when, barely an hour into the workday and post the extremely long hug shared in the office, Harry stepped out into the main office with a stack of papers in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, stopping by Nikki's desk almost by rote. Jack watched with wide eyes as Harry bent over Nikki's shoulder to read something on her screen, neither seeming to notice that his chin was actually resting on her shoulder. Had they never heard of personal space? Eventually, Harry stood up with a smile, placing the papers down on top of the report Nikki was working on. "Here, light reading."
Nikki snorted. "My days of doing your reports for you are long gone, Dr Cunningham."
"It's Professor Cunningham, or Your Majesty, thank you, and these aren't reports." Harry nodded at the papers.
Nikki glanced over them, her face instantly softening as she glanced back up at him. "Harry, are you sure? What about your mum?"
Harry shrugged. "Of course I'm sure. No one else I'd rather have, at any rate. As for mum, her exact words were, 'It's about time you're back, and of course I want Nikki as your emergency contact. No one else would do the job better, which she's proven time and time again. Or did you forget the appendix incident? Make sure she knows she's coming to dinner next week.'" Harry shrugged again, a light flush covering his cheeks as he mimicked his mother. He'd been forced to drag Nikki with him to Sunday dinners quite often when they'd worked together, and his mother seemed dead set on bringing it back now he was back in the country to stay.
Jack's eyes widened even further in disbelief as Nikki didn't seem at all surprised by Harry's request or his mother's words. Nikki nodded. "So long as we don't have a case, sure, tell Anne I'd love to stop by for dinner. And yes, I'll be your emergency contact. Jack's mine." She seemed to answer his unspoken question before he'd even fully realised it himself, and Jack couldn't help but wonder just how close those two had been. Close enough for Nikki to call Harry's mum by her first name, certainly. The conversation continued, about a current case Jack and Nikki were working on, but the moment didn't quite fade into obscurity. Not quite.
…
"Do you ever wonder?" Nikki asked quietly, watching as the rain lashed against the windows in Harry's office, the darkness outside only adding to the cosy feel of the small room. Jack had gone out for a second look at a scene and Nikki had finished up a report, handing it in to Harry before stepping over to the window, her question slipping out before she could stop it. She felt more than saw Harry get up from his desk and move over to stand right behind her, his face mirrored in the glass just as hers was, both weary and ready to be done with the world. Aged more than either of them had ever imagined.
"Wonder about what?" Harry's voice was just as low as hers, as though speaking loudly would disturb something. Ridiculous, considering how late it was and they were both alone in the office for at least the next hour before Jack was due back.
"Missed chances." Nikki sighed, running a hand through her blonde curls tiredly. "Sometimes I wish we could go back to the start."
"Which part, appropriating my desk, playing hockey in the cutting room, asking if I'd ever had sex in my car, or taking off your bra in front of me?" His voice was tinged with amusement and Nikki couldn't help but smile in response. Those first few cases together had been odd, to say the least. He sighed, the breath of which tickled the hair against her neck. "I don't know, Niks. Maybe… maybe everything happened for a reason. But yes, sometimes I wonder if we could have the chance to go back. Would I take it, or would I let everything that happened happen again?" She instinctively knew he was well aware of what she was talking about, and it wasn't just about their working relationship. "I never said I was sorry, did I?"
"For what?"
"Penny. The conference, the pub. I'm not apologising for kissing you, never that." His hand reached out to rest gently on her hip, both still watching the other through the reflection on the rain drenched window. "I mean afterwards, how I was with you. Maybe it just wasn't our time. It never seemed right after that anyway. Lightning never strikes twice and all that."
"I thought we'd have time." Nikki confessed in a near whisper. "Leo knew, he knew how I felt."
"When?" She felt Harry sag slightly behind her and knew he'd cottoned on. "Budapest."
She nodded softly. "It's always sooner than you think." She quoted Leo sadly, turning gently to face Harry instead of staring at his reflection. "Harry…"
"I left to try and get clarity, and instead spent the last several years wishing I'd never left." Harry confessed, knowing exactly what she needed to hear. "No adoring twenty-five year olds in quite a while, I'm afraid. What about you and your many thousands of boyfriends?"
"I had one, quite serious, or so I thought." Nikki shrugged, though she knew he'd still be able to read the hurt in her features. "I needed him, after Thomas… anyway, he was never here and eventually I just couldn't do it anymore. I broke up with him about a month ago. Just another unsuitable to add to the pile."
"Don't tell me you offered up the goodies too soon." Harry tried to lighten the atmosphere, smiling as his words caused Nikki to giggle slightly, even if her eyes were still sad.
"I wouldn't know, considering you never actually explained what the 'goodies' are."
"I'm too late, I knew it." He threw his head back dramatically, prompting more giggling from the blonde pathologist.
"Harry." His eyes shot to hers instantly with her solemn, serious tone. "I'm not the same as when you left."
"Neither am I. But that's okay, Nikki. God knows we had to grow up sometime."
"Harry." Nikki scrunched up all the courage she possessed, knowing she'd need it for what she was about to do. Life was too short to ignore second chances. "Sometimes lightning does strike twice." And she pushed herself up onto her toes, her lips colliding with his with instant passion as they clutched each other impossibly close. Sometimes lightning really does strike twice.
The End.