Set during S25, Sam gets a visitor.
Sam and Jack were in the observation room watching as Nikki performed one of the various post mortems she had been assigned to when there was a buzz at the door. Jack ignored it, thinking someone wandering the offices would get it eventually; apparently not when they heard the buzzer ring for the third time.
Nikki sighed, placing the scalpel she had in her hand down on the table, a sharper movement than she had quite intended but the buzzing had interrupted her trail of thought, "Jack can you get that?" She looked up at him.
Sam's head turned, watching the grimace evolving over Jack's features, "Why do I have to go?"
"Because I asked you to," Nikki replied with a smirk.
Sam suppressed the chuckle as Jack rolled his eyes and did as he was told. He's well trained, she thought to herself.
Jack passed through the corridors, eventually reaching the entrance only to be met by a man with greying hair and a suitcase by his feet. The shirt he was wearing was crumpled and paired with the tan adorning his skin, it was clear that this man had just stepped off a plane back from some hot country.
Jack clicked the button at the side and yanked the door open, "Can I help you?"
The man's eyes widened at Jack's brash tone but he brushed it off, a Northern Irish man with an attitude was the least of his worries; although swap the gender and he was much closer to what had brought him here in the first place. "I'm looking for Professor Ryan, she mentioned that she would be here," Jack eyed him up, his brows furrowing. He was going to have to explain further to get this man's trust it seemed. He held his hand out, "I'm her partner, Michael Connor."
Jack remained cautious, Sam hadn't mentioned a partner and she certainly hadn't mentioned that he'd be coming this way. And with everything that had happened over the past couple of days, he didn't exactly have a reason to trust a strange man who had just turned up.
"She doesn't know I'm here, I wanted to surprise her," Michael retracted his hand, saving himself the embarrassment of the younger man not wishing to take it. "That and, if I told her I was coming she would've told me to stay where I was, insist that she didn't need me when she really does."
Jack barely knew Sam but from what he had seen of her these past couple of days, he knew that it matched up well with what this Michael was saying; he almost chuckled at how similar it sounded to himself and Nikki.
"Uh, she's just in the observation room," Jack backed away, holding the door behind him and allowing Michael to follow. "You can leave the suitcase there if you want," he pointed in the general direction of the sofa that sat opposite the kitchen before heading towards the observation room once again.
"Professor Ryan," Jack announced, grabbing her attention. "Someone's here to see you."
Sam whipped her head in Jack's direction, her eyebrows pulling together as she wondered who on earth he could be talking about, no one else knew she was here, no one important anyway. But she quickly got answers as she spotted the man appearing from behind Jack, her heart sunk to the floor as she took him in. "Michael?" She made her way over to him, a mixture of shock and relief washing over her. "What the hell are you doing here?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, as his own encircled her waist. "You're not meant to be here," she spoke as she loosened her grip on him.
"You said you were fine so I caught the first plane back to the UK," he grinned, fully expecting the roll of her eyes following his statement.
She shook her head as she removed herself from him, "They need you more than I do."
"No they don't, they can survive without me for a couple of weeks-"
"Sam, can you come and look at this?" The moment being interrupted, Sam headed back towards the window as she waited for Nikki to explain further. "There's something I don't quite understand, could you-"
"Do you want me to scrub in?" She didn't even let the younger woman finish, already knowing what she was going to ask and she would be lying if she said that she hadn't been waiting eagerly for that opportunity to get her hands dirty again. Nikki nodded.
Jack and Michael watched as Sam and Nikki manoeuvred their way around the body, voicing their thoughts as they found new pieces of evidence. Jack rested his elbows on the railings, he'd never grow tired of watching Nikki doing what she was best at. And as he took a second to look in Michael's direction it seemed he wasn't the only one who was head over heels in love with a forensic pathologist. He grinned to himself.
"How long have you and Sam been together?" He had never been one for small talk, preferring the silence but he had gotten better over the years.
Michael glanced at him, "Oh God, it must be what? Sixteen years now?" He shrugged. "It's been so long, it feels like forever. Can't imagine a moment of my life without her in it," his eyes flicked between the younger, blonde pathologist and Jack. "What about you and…" he stopped, realising that he hadn't quite learnt either of their names yet.
Jack's lips parted, it wasn't a question he could answer easily. It had only been a couple of days and him and Nikki hadn't so much as kissed since that day in the back of the taxi, they hadn't even talked about what had happened properly; this case had quickly got in the way of that. But they seemed to have a mutual agreement that this change in their relationship wasn't going to be something they'd sweep under the rug, it was just going to take time. That didn't mean to say she hadn't spent every night as his since that day though, even it was just them lying in the same bed and her head pressed into his chest with his arm snaked around her waist. They were just yet to talk and give a name to what was going on between them.
"It's complicated," Jack answered eventually before turning back to watch Nikki, trying to ignore the heat spreading across his cheeks.
Ah. "Do you know," Michael started. "When I first met Sam, it was in Cambridge. I had moved there on a whim after I found out my wife was cheating on me with one my best friends. I fell in love with Sam the moment I seen her but I didn't do anything about it for years," he paused, leaning his own elbows on the railing. "I convinced myself that I could make my marriage work, that it was just a blip. And we had a son, I had to make it work for him. But I couldn't stop thinking about her. Then Sam moved to London and I thought, okay, a fresh start. Out of sight, out of mind. Until I got a job offer in London and I said yes without thinking."
Michael's eyes searched Jacks for a reaction, an indication that he was listening to what he was saying, a sign that they were on the same wavelength.
"I realised then, that the person I wanted to be with, was Sam," he continued. "It still took me another couple of years to get there though, to finally get a divorce and find her again. What I'm trying to say is, I spent too long fighting against what made me happy. Don't make that same mistake."
Jack shook his head slowly, "Nikki and I, we-" he took a deep breath. "We've been friends for so long, it's just such a big risk and I can't lose her, not after everything we've been through."
"If you love each other enough, you won't lose her."
Jack opened his mouth to speak but he was quickly interrupted again as the intercom crackled, he turned to find Nikki and Sam staring at the both of them. His back straightened and he could feel the blush creeping across his cheeks and he was sure that Michael was in a similar position.
"If you have quite finished with your, chinwag," Nikki rolled her eyes as she glanced at Sam. "I need you to get the DI on the phone, Jack."
Jack nodded, giving a nod towards Michael before he left, doing what he was told and also because he wanted to make a swift exit to save himself from more embarrassment. Michael's words played on his mind though, he wasn't wrong and even just seeing him with Sam for the couple of minutes they were together, he could see their bond was strong despite taking a risk.
Sam turned towards Nikki, switching the intercom off once again, "I wonder what those two were talking about."
Nikki chuckled, "I think it's better we don't know."