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It had been an hour since Jack had stormed out, leaving Nikki overthinking about her actions whilst trying her best to concentrate on the task in hand. She knew he wouldn't be angry with her for very long but the time in-between their arguments was excruciatingly difficult. She had spent the hour debating whether or not she should've followed him and had it out with him there and then. But she understood Jack, in a way that most people didn't, and she knew that it would've been pointless, they would end up in a worse place than they started. So, she settled on staying at her desk and hoping that he would eventually come back to her and they could talk through everything properly.
Intruding her thoughts, Sam wandered out of her office and made her way over to Nikki. Placing her hands in her pocket, she spoke, "I finally got hold of DCI Butcher and she's managed to sort out that warrant if you and Jack want to go and check it out?" She stopped, taking the time to look around her and realise that the latter didn't seem to be anywhere. "Speaking of Jack, where is he?"
"Uh, I," Nikki stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse that wouldn't land Jack into trouble. "I think he's gone to double check on some tests for the forensics, make sure nothing was contaminated."
"I heard you arguing earlier," Sam gave Nikki a warm smile. "Everything alright?"
Nikki nodded, "Yes, everything's fine. Jack can get a bit hot headed sometimes but I usually give him some space and things tend to go back to normal," she started clearing up the paperwork on her desk.
"Have you been together long?" Sam asked.
Nikki snapped her head up at that, "Oh, no. Me and Jack aren't-"
"Oh gosh sorry," Sam interrupted. "Sorry, I just assumed that you were together. You seemed very close. Sorry."
Nikki gave a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it, you're not the first," she paused, taking a deep breath. Standing up, she pulled her bag and coat off the back of the chair before putting her coat on. "Me and Jack, we've been through a lot together. For the most part, it's been amazing but there have been times where we've nearly lost each other and that's been hard. But it's brought us closer together and now I don't think I can imagine my life without him," Nikki stopped, feeling herself welling up.
Sam nodded slowly, digesting all the information, "I know I haven't been here very long, not even a whole morning yet," she chuckled. "But if there is anything, and I mean anything, that you ever want to talk to me about, I am more than happy to provide a shoulder." She stood up, "Go find Jack, make up with him and if that's how you really feel about him then maybe there are other things you two need to talk about."
Nikki's eyes widened, taken aback by Sam's almost abruptness to someone she's only known for the best part of an hour, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Sam replied, walking back towards her office. "Besides, all that tension in a workplace isn't always healthy." She let out before disappearing behind the door.
Nikki was well and truly stumbled, she had no words. Someone had just walked into her life and read her like a book straight away and quite frankly, she wasn't sure how to deal with it. Sure, Sam had a point about her and Jack, whatever was going on between them had to be sorted but she only broke up with Matt last night. It was too soon to be jumping into another relationship. Besides, she didn't even know if Jack felt that way towards her. She may know Jack better than most people but at times, it was very hard to judge what was going on in his head. And surely, if he felt like that about her then why did he encourage her to make a go of things with Matt? He liked her as a friend, pure and simple, Sam was wrong. She can't just walk into people's lives and act like she knows everything about them. No, she was wrong.
Shaking the thoughts from her head, she pulled her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the locker room where she was not surprised to find Jack throwing powerful punches into the bag hanging from the ceiling. She tried her best to control her breathing as she watched the droplets of sweat roll down his face. As much as she hated the thought of him cage fighting, she couldn't deny that in some twisted way she enjoyed watching him. Maybe it was the thrill of it or maybe it was the fact that she un-admittedly often imagined him pushing her up against the wall and having his wicked way with her. Quickly pushing the thoughts to the back of her head, she let out a small cough, interrupting his flow.
"What are you doing here Nikki?" He let out, his voice deep and exasperated, maybe punching the life out of the bag hadn't completely calmed him down.
"Well, I hate to remind you but we are still at work and we have a job to do," she said through gritted teeth, she wouldn't let Jack get the better of her. "Sam got hold of Butcher, she managed to get a warrant and she would like us to check the place out."
Jack finally stopped his fists colliding with the bag, when Nikki realised he'd hadn't wrapped his hands and she could see the sheen of fresh blood covering his knuckles. Panic mode set in and she was by his side in a matter of seconds. Picking up his left hand in both of hers, she ran her thumb gently over his knuckles, covering her thumb in the scarlet liquid.
"What have you done?" She spoke softly, instantly forgetting their argument, it wasn't important now. She looked up at him but he turned his face from her. Dropping his hand, she walked over to the first aid box hanging up on the wall and pulled out some antiseptic wipes and gauze. "Sit down. You can't go to a crime scene looking like this," she tried to joke, an attempt to lighten the mood but Jack's sullen face didn't change and he simply sat down on the bench, not breathing a word.
Picking up his left hand, she carefully dabbed at the small wounds on his knuckles before wiping away the blood. She didn't miss how his hand squeezed hers and his jaws clenched. She knew how much this probably stung but Jack being his typical self didn't want to show that he was in pain, he is the man, he isn't allowed to struggle. It was one of the things that infuriated her, he often acted like he was too proud to have difficulties. After Mexico, he didn't allow himself to grieve and suffer, he always had to be the strong one. She wanted to shake him so hard sometimes and make him realise that it is okay to be upset and show your emotions. You don't have to hide it and bottle it all up to the point where you end up exploding.
She finished cleaning up the wounds on both hands and after putting the bloody wipes in the bin, she set about wrapping his hands in the gauze. He hissed as she pulled the material over his hand. "Sorry," she whispered quietly, she was surprised that he even heard it. But he looked up, his eyes locking with hers, her breath hitched. Breaking the contact, she looked down and continued to wrap his hands. She felt her palms becoming clammy as she finished wrapping his right hand, cutting the fabric she tucked the end of it in.
"All done," she let out, she turned to put the scissors and the remainder of the gauze back in the box when she felt his hand grab hers pulling her back to him. Jack picked the scissors and gauze from her and put them down on the bench behind him. "Jack," fell from her mouth as she reached out a place a hand on his cheek, her thumb making soft circles. She felt as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him. She, in turn, wrapped her arms around his neck. Leaning down she placed a kiss on the top of his head. A smile crept up on her face as she felt him hold on to her tighter.
They stayed like that for a few moments, simply enjoying each other's company. If this was how all of their arguments were going to end, Nikki wasn't completely opposed to the idea. Reluctantly, Nikki loosened her grip on Jack and leaned back, not increasing the distance between them. Bringing her hands up, she placed them on either side of Jack's face.
"Shall we go?"
As they arrived at the house for the second time that day, they watched as Butcher led Angela Richards into the back of her car, giving them a nod of approval before getting in and driving off. Parking up, both Jack and Nikki got out and headed towards the front of the house. Thankfully their making up allowed for a somewhat tension free drive but they had yet to actually speak to each other.
Jack carried both of their cases as Nikki opened the door and let themselves in. Setting their cases down, Jack pulled out a pair of gloves each for them and began the tour around the house. Collecting samples and taking pictures of anything that seemed untoward and out of the ordinary. As Nikki opened one of the cupboards in the kitchen, she felt the wind being knocked out of her as she spotted a pile of picture frames.
"Jack," she called out, her voice laced with worry. Jack was at her side almost instantly.
"Shit," was all he could manage. Taking a picture on his phone, he forwarded the image to Butcher. "Are any of them damaged?"
"I don't know," Nikki replied, carefully removing each frame and placing them down on the floor. She stopped as she pulled the last one out, "Bingo." She looked up at Jack who's face dropped.
"I knew there was something off about her," he breathed, taking another picture on his phone to send to Butcher. He moved to grab some evidence bags, handing them to Nikki as she set about placing the frames inside them. "We better check out the rest of the house, see where she kept the body."
Nikki glanced up at him, "By house do you mean the basement?"
He sighed, "It is plausible, you can't deny that." Nikki shook her head, standing up and following him as he made his way towards the door in the hallway, picking up one of the cases on the way. Flicking the switch on his left, the stairway down to the basement lit up. They were steep. It was cold. Whatever happened down here, it didn't sit well with Jack. He held his hand out, helping Nikki to get down the stairs, jumping as the door behind them slammed shut.
"Jack," she whispered gripping his hand tighter, the goosebumps becoming more prominent on her skin as they slowly made their way down.
"It's fine, I'm here," he spoke, trying to be as soothing as possible, picking up on her apparent anxiety. When they finally reached the bottom, Jack took a deep breath. "You smell that?"
"Bleach," Nikki replied, she had yet to let go of his hand.
"Doesn't bode well does it?" He sighed, walking around the perimeter of the basement, alarm bells ringing. He grabbed his case off Nikki, opening it up and picking up his UV light. Thankfully, the basement wasn't too lit up that they had to turn the light off to shroud them in darkness. Jack knew that one of Nikki's triggers was the dark, once they had made up she often rang him up in the middle of the night, scared. He would be at her house in a flash, ready to comfort her. They'd often put a film on and she'd fall asleep on the sofa. Jack would put her to bed and he'd camp out in the spare room, far away enough to give her some space but close enough that if she needed him he could be there straight away. Those phone calls soon stopped when she got with Matt, he often wondered if those nightmares still happened or if she had learned to cope with it. He looked over at her, watching the expressions on her face, she appeared to be fine. But that was the deceiving thing about Nikki Alexander, she was okay on the surface but on the inside she was barely holding it together. Reaching out, he gently squeezed her arm.
"You okay?" He asked to which she simply nodded, which meant she wasn't okay but she was trying her best.
Jack turned, switching the UV light on, the quicker they collected this evidence the quicker they could get out of here. "Nikki," he called out as he shined the light on the floor to reveal evidence of blood that had been tried to be washed away with the bleach. Nikki pulled out her phone and took pictures.
"He was most certainly killed here," Nikki spoke, pointing her finger down at the floor. "Would you say that they were drag marks?"
Jack nodded. Nikki took another picture. "I think we've got enough to convict her, what do you think?"
"Yes," she replied. "Definitely. We should get more forensics in though, to do a proper sweep of the area."
"Right let's go," Jack jumped up, placing the UV light back into his case before closing and heading towards the stairs. As he reached the top, he tried the handle but the door wouldn't open. Turning to the side he pushed his shoulder into it in an attempt to budge it open but nothing. "Shit."
"Please don't tell me we're stuck in here," Nikki sighed closing her eyes, she could feel the panic rising up inside her already.
"We might be," he breathed. "And I can't kick the door open either because this is now a crime scene and I don't fancy contaminating it. We're just going to have to ring Butcher or someone else." Jack pulled out his phone from his pocket, his heart dropping as he watched the bars drop, "No signal."
"Great," Nikki could feel her chest tightening. Shaking, she pressed her phone noticing that she too had no signal.
"Let's try not to panic," Jack said as he made his way back down the stairs.
"Not the best advice right now Jack," Nikki retorted, following Jack. As they reached the bottom of the stairs she tried to focus on her breathing. Repeating her doctors mantra in her head, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Feeling herself calm down, she pulled her phone out again, breathing a sigh of relief as one bar flickered. Scrolling through her contacts she reached Sam, clicking onto it the dialling tone began.
"Sam, hi," she couldn't be happier that she'd answered but she was quick to notice how Jack snapped up to her at the mention of Sam. "Jack and I are stuck in the basement and there's no one else here," she paused, listening to the woman on the other side of the phone. "Thank you so much Sam, I'll send you the address now." Hanging up Nikki quickly tapped out the address before hitting send.
"You have her number?" Jack scoffed.
Nikki rolled her eyes, "Can we not do this again please Jack? I've told you I'm sorry. I didn't lie to you, I didn't know she accepted the job until this morning."
"You could've mentioned it though," Jack sat down on the bottom step, resting his elbows on his thighs. "I have a right to know."
"I'm sorry," she bent down so that she was eye level with him. "Okay?"
Jack breathed, not saying anything causing Nikki to huff. Standing up again she walked over to the other side of the room. He really could be infuriating sometimes. How many times did she have to say sorry until he accepted it. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Jack spoke.
"I meant what I said, you know?" His heart was racing, the middle of a crime scene probably wasn't the best place to confess your love to the woman of your dreams but right now Jack couldn't see a better opportunity. Besides, she deserved to know the reason for his outburst. Because that was the reason, he loved her and there was nothing that he could do about it and instead of dealing with it, instead he chose to beat up his emotions and frustrations in the form of a punch bag.
"I know, you totally deserve the right to know, you do work at the Lyell as well and I shouldn't be the one to dictate what you can and can't know," Nikki started before being quickly cut off by Jack.
Standing up, Jack closed the gap between them, "That's not what I'm on about."
"Then what are you talking about?" Nikki felt her stomach drop. Those eyes had connected with hers. Those eyes that made her melt. Those eyes that said a thousand words. She had a feeling she knew where this conversation was going and she'd be lying if she said that the thought didn't absolutely terrify yet excite her.
"You don't get it do you?" Jack exhaled, backing off slightly and running his hands through his hair. "Nikki I-"
He quickly stopped in his tracks as a banging came from the door at the top of the stairs and their names consequently being called. Nikki was the first to rush up the stairs, calling back to Sam who was quick to open the door, letting them out.
"Thank god for that," a smile of relief washed over Nikki's face. "I thought we were going to be stuck in there all day."
"Did you find anything?" Sam asked.
"Loads," Jack replied, his face not quite mirroring Nikki's.
"Good, well let's get back to the Lyell so we can process it all and hopefully shut this case," Sam spoke, turning on her heel and heading towards the front door. Stopping, she looked back at the pair of them, "I hope everything's sorted between the two of you now."
They both nodded although their faces didn't convincingly display that they had 'sorted it.' Quickly packing up their evidence bags and cases both Jack and Nikki head back to the car, Nikki turned to face Jack as he settled in to the drivers side.
"What did you want to tell me back there?" She asked, eager to find out.
"Doesn't matter," he shook his head, putting the keys into ignition. "Moment's gone."
