Bit of a shorter chapter but I hope you enjoy :) Thank you for your reviews!


"That would be Professor Sam Ryan," Nikki finally said after what felt like forever.

Jack snapped his head to face her the moment the words escaped her mouth. "And you know that how, exactly?" He watched as Nikki's face contorted, obviously trying to find an excuse. "You knew?" He helped her out.

She turned to look at Sam through the glass, avoiding Jack's eye contact, "I had an email from her this morning saying that she'd be coming in. She starts today."

"You didn't think to tell me?" He quipped, letting out a sigh. She really could be frustrating sometimes, he seems to get to a good place with her. A place where she seemingly trusts him and then she somehow forgets to involve him in something that is important, something that he has the right to know about, something like getting a new head of the Lyell Centre.

Flicking her eyes back up at him, she spoke, "It slipped my mind, sorry. We've been so busy with this case and the whole thing with Matt. It's just not at the forefront of my mind." She stopped when she felt him nudge her.

"Nikki," he paused, looking down at her. "It's fine, but you're buying the next pizza."

A feeling of relief washed over her as she rolled her eyes at him, "Okay but we better go introduce ourselves before she fires us for not being at work when we're meant to."

"After you," Jack waved his arm out as his other held the door open, letting Nikki pass through.

"Ah you must be Dr. Nikki Alexander," the woman spoke, marching over to Nikki holding her hand out.

Nikki gladly accepted her hand, giving it a firm shake before letting go, "And you Professor Sam Ryan, it's so lovely to finally meet you. Harry and Leo spoke about you all the time."

"All good things I hope," Sam smiled before looking over Nikki's shoulder, her eyes landing on Jack. Reaching her hand out, Jack took it in his. "That means you're Jack Hodgson, head of forensic science."

"Correct," Jack spoke, dropping his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Is that an Irish accent I hear?" Sam asked, her eyes flitting between Jack and Nikki.

Jack nodded, "Belfast, you?"

Sam raised her eyebrows, "Belfast."

"Can I make anyone a coffee?" Nikki interrupted, quick to pick up on the growing awkward tension in the room. "Or tea?"

"I'll have a coffee please," Jack let out an almost thankful breath, turning he walked over to his desk and placed his jacket on the back of his chair. Nikki gave Sam an expectant look.

"I'll take tea, milk, one sugar, thank you," she paused. "Once you're all settled down, I want you both in my office so you can fill me in on the current case." Sam spun on her heel, leaving the room and making her way to what was now her office.

Nikki let out a chuckle as she poured the hot water into three mugs in front of her, causing Jack to turn in his chair and face her.

"What are you laughing at?" He called out.

She glanced up at him, "You."

"Me? What have I done?" Jack stood up, joining her on the other side of the room, perching himself on the small counter.

"You always make things awkward," Nikki stirred the hot liquids in the mugs, not daring to look at Jack, it was dangerous territory. She could already feel her heart racing just that little bit faster and he was only sitting next to her.

"I do not," he scoffed, folding his arms and leaning into her slightly, bringing their faces closer together; enticing her to make eye contact with him.

Nikki's breath hitched as her eyes flicked up to meet Jack's. She desperately tried to look away but that was the thing about Jack's eyes, they sucked you in and no matter how hard you tried to tear yours away, it was impossible. Her heart beated faster and the blush creeped up her neck, she felt naked under his gaze; like he was staring deep into her soul and reading her innermost thoughts. In a way, she wished he could, maybe they would stop dancing around each other. On the other hand, she was glad he couldn't, her inner thoughts are what scared her the most. He really knew how to untie someone with just one look. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when Jack dropped his head to look down at his feet, breaking the ever growing tension.

"Best take this to Sam," Nikki spoke, the blush now reaching her cheeks, making her feel all hot and bothered. She picked up the mug and walked quickly to what was now Sam's office. That was going to take some getting used to, she thought to herself. She tried to steady her breathing and calm herself down but that was proving difficult when she knew that Jack was watching her every move.

Jack stayed perched on the counter for a couple of minutes, admiring the way Nikki left the room, like he always had. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. He would never deny that one of his favourite past times was watching Nikki getting flustered when she didn't know how to deal with a situation, resulting in her either leaving or acting on her feelings, that Jack knew she had, but whether or not she was ready to admit those feelings was another question. He forever wished it was going to be sooner rather later, as he wasn't sure how much longer he could deal with seeing Nikki everyday and not being able to hug her and kiss her and share things with her that he wouldn't share with anyone else. Sure, he already had two out of those three things but he wanted to be the one to make her smile everyday, the one who gets to see her first thing in the morning, the one she goes to when she's upset and the one who's first on her mind. He really couldn't make it anymore obvious that he was well and truly in love with her. He may have been drugged up to high heaven in that hospital a couple of months ago but he knew what he was saying when he told her that he loved her. It may have been the last chance he had to say it and he wanted to tell two of the most important people in his world how much they really meant to him.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, he stood up and joined Nikki in Sam's office, sitting down in the chair next to her. He couldn't stop himself from stealing a quick glance at her before going back to work mode and looking at Sam who started the conversation.

"So, this case you're working on," Sam began. "From the brief that I've read, what I can gather is that it is on the confusing side, so if you wouldn't mind explaining." She looked directly at Nikki, prompting her to be the one to outline the case.

"Well, we found a man, aged thirty-three, later identified as Simon Richards. He was pulled out of the River Lea sometime in the morning, I placed his death to be between ten and twelve hours prior to the find," she paused, gathering her thoughts. "Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. There was a wound on his forehead, with paint flecks embedded into the skin. My best guess was that this was caused by a picture frame of some kind."

"We've just been to see the wife," Jack interrupted. "I had a quick, unofficial look around the house and there were a few things that struck me as odd. There were no pictures around the house. Not a single one. She also didn't strike me as someone who's just suddenly lost their husband, plus the fact she never actually reported him missing because they allegedly had an argument. I was going to get into contact with DCI Butcher and see if we can get a warrant to search the house. She had a basement and I don't know about Nikki, but it made me uncomfortable."

Sam nodded, digesting all the information, "Well leave it to me to contact DCI Butcher about getting a warrant, it'll give me the chance to speak to her as well," she smiled. "You know, when they offered me this job a couple of weeks ago I never thought I'd actually be back in this place again but I've not even been here an hour and it's like I've never been away. I look forward to working with you both."

"And you," Nikki tried her best to keep professional as she could see Jack staring at her in the corner of her eye, he wasn't going to be happy about this. Standing up she turned and made her way to her desk, Jack hot on her tail.

"A couple of weeks ago," he was angry, she could tell by the strength of his accent.

"Jack," she started.

"No," he butted in. Reaching out and grabbing her arm, turning her around to face him. "You lied to me, why?"

"I didn't lie," she replied quickly, pulling her arm out of his grip. "I just didn't tell you."

"So, when I asked you the other day if there was anyone in the running, you saying no was, what?" He pulled a face, trying to keep his voice hushed so as not to raise attention to them. "Telling the truth?" He added when she didn't say anything.

"Well, no, but," she stuttered, she really had dug herself a hole.

"You're unbelievable sometimes, you know that?" He huffed, brushing past her and heading towards the exit of the Lyell.

She followed him, "Jack stop," she called. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" He threw over his shoulder as he stormed down the corridor.

Nikki tilted her head back, looking up at the ceiling and let out a sigh. If she didn't know Jack she probably would've rushed after him and tried to explain her side of things but she knew he needed the time to calm down and burn off some steam. She'd learnt from the past that having a full blown argument with Jack wasn't the best idea. Once he had his teeth into something, it was hard to try and persuade him otherwise. The only way to get through to him was to let him settle and then talk to him, he was more understanding when there was less testosterone pumping through his body. Pulling herself together, Nikki went back to her desk; pulling out the case file, she continued to write up her report ready for the Coroner, in an attempt to try and distract herself from Jack's temper.