The 4 boxes.

Disclaimer-I'm not sure who relic hunter belongs to, but I'm damn sure it's not me! The song, I think it's love, was sung by steps

Summary-4 boxes affect Sydney and Nigel's behaviour.

PG/PG-13

Feedback- Yes please!! I try to thank everyone who reviews in the author's notes, but if I forget you, tell me and I'll apologise.

Author's notes- This is my first Relic Hunter Fanfic, I love the show, but had difficulty finding much fanfiction, so I decided to add my own. This will be a Sydney/Nigel story.

Thank you: sombodysluv and snaggle for reviewing.

Okay, this may be quite weird, but I think I know what I'm doing, sorry for not updating as often as I should have.

******

Once the kiss ended they stepped away from each other.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I, or did I not, burst into song?" Nigel seemed a little shell shocked.

"Yeah, you did. A very sweet and nice song if it's any consolation." They continued walking. "I take it that that bout of musical genius wasn't planned?"

"Not by me. It was really strange." Sydney nodded in agreement. It had felt magical, and as nice as the idea was, she had not, until now, known that her teaching assistant was prone to bouts of singing.

"What was it like?" She asked.

"Well, one minute I'm thinking about how much I've changed for the better because of you," he suddenly realised what he'd said, "err, well, that is, um, and the next thing I know, I'm telling you, in song."

"I know, where did the music come from? It sounded like there was an orchestra nearby, only I don't see one, and how did you know the words?" He shrugged.

"Maybe this has something to do with the last box." She paused at that.

"I don't see how that's really bad, I mean, we can both sing and stuff, and no-one seems to notice anyway." Syd said carefully. Nigel coloured slightly.

"Well, you see, I wasn't really planning on telling you what I sang, that's how I felt, but I wouldn't have told you."

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Well, you might have taken it the wrong way, or thought that I was overstepping the mark, I didn't want to embarrass you. But I just couldn't stop myself." She nodded at these words.

"So, the forth box makes us sing our innermost feelings? Even when we don't want to?" He nodded. "Oh joy."

"So, why don't we get the police visit over with, go to our separate rooms, and hide while trying not to think anything incriminating?" Personally Sydney agreed with this, but this was her first chance in quite a while to be in another country without having to worry about work, nothing would make her give it up. She told Nigel this.

"Fine, but maybe we should agree that we won't take offence at anything the other sings." She smirked as they left the park.

"Why Nige, you have something you don't want me to know about?"

"What! No! I just, err, don't want you to take anything the wrong way, anyway, I just sang, it's you we've got to worry about, you're next." Sydney paled and started trying to think non Nigel centric thoughts.

***

The visit to the police station went off without a hitch, or at least, without a musical hitch. The inspector told them that even with the descriptions, they could be anywhere by now. They were also planning on keeping an eye on all the main auctions in case it appeared for sale. Other than that they would just have to wait.

"Well, that went well." Nigel muttered bitterly as they came out of the station.

"Yeah, we'll just have to fly back home and hope for the best." Sydney seemed a little unhappy at having to go home again so soon.

"C'mon Syd, why don't we go see some sights, since we've nothing better to do?" She nodded, if her time here was being cut short, she wanted to have some fun first.

***

By dinner time they had been all over Paris, the Eiffel tower, all the galleries and museums. The museums were really fun, a lot of the tour guides knew who they were, and watching them go deathly pale at the thought of talking in front of two people who had not only studied the subject, but taught it was hilarious. The last one kept looking like he expected to be told to go to the back of the class by them.

They'd also been shopping and had had lunch. There were now some new additions to both wardrobes, as well as various souvenirs and a few gifts for Claudia.

The day spent having fun in Paris had done wonders for Sydney's health, the flu thing was all but gone, and even better, she hadn't felt the urge to spill her feelings through music once.

"What about dinner? Shall we go back at get changed?" It was now nearly seven and it was getting dark. Sydney nodded.

"Yeah."

***

Back in the hotel room, Sydney changed into her new dress, a red strappy dress that reached to just above her knees with frill things at the bottom. She had been kind to Nigel and had not dragged him into too many clothes shops.

Just because he was two hundred percent better than every man she had ever dated didn't make him any fonder of shopping than the rest.

Did he count as a boyfriend now?

Technically, he counted as more, what with being legally married to her, but it didn't really feel like it. If she wanted this to work, which she really, really did, she was going to have to be really careful. Maybe tonight, if everything went well, they could have a long talk.

Checking her reflection, she left the room.

****

They sat near the entrance to the garden, in one of the more secluded parts of the room. There was a full band with a singer paid to keep the room in a romantic and above all, wine-buying mood.

It wasn't too busy, being such a hard place to get into that very few people ever managed it. God knows how Nigel had got them in, but they blended in nicely with the elite couples. A few people smiled at them, but other than that they kept out of everyone's way.

"Well." Nigel murmured. "You fancy getting up on the stage and giving us all a quick tune? That way you won't have to worry." She pulled a sarcastic 'ha ha ha' expression, but then turned serious.

"You think I'd get chucked out? I mean a place like this is bound to have rules about spontaneous musical combustion, right?" He smiled.

"My advice?" She nodded. "Get extremely drunk so that you won't be able to think about anything incriminating?" At her expression he stammered. "N-not that you would think about anything incriminating."

A waiter took their orders.

Two hours and three glasses of wine each later they were both rather tipsy and being far too loud. They had talked about everything, from old hunts, rumours about colleagues, to music and television. Finishing off his glass Nigel looked over at a waiter.

"I think we should go outside for a bit, that waiter is glaring at us." He pointed to a man with a black suit and a big nose.

"That penguin? How dare he?!" She said with a slight hiccup. That wine had been really nice and she new she was going to have a little headache in he morning. She called the penguin over and ordered more wine for them both, okay, maybe a big headache. And she still had to talk with Nigel.

Trying to manage the ultimate task of carrying her glass and not dropping her shawl, they tottered into the garden, and sat down on a nearby bench.

They were in the perfect spot, they were close enough to the restaurant to feel the heat from the inside, but were still far enough away not to be disturbed.

Out here though, taking in the beauty of the garden, neither spoke. Sydney just didn't want to ruin the perfect day, so she kept quiet. She felt much less tiddlypom* now, and she was careful to sip her drink slowly.

A song very similar to the ones that had been playing all night could be heard from inside.

"Are they being paid to play the same song, over and over?" She muttered with a giggle. He laughed too.

"Maybe they're waiting for us to dance to it." He said innocently. "D-do you want to?" A slow smile crossed her face, hoping that what he's said wasn't a figment of her imagination.

"Yeah, okay." She whispered huskily.

He stood, taking her hand, and they fell into a comfortable embrace. Sydney was having the time of her life; she just wanted tonight to go on forever. To not have to worry about the boxes, or flying back tomorrow, just to stay here like this, permanently.

Not long after they started to dance though, another song blended with the live one; until it totally overtook it was gently, and about the same speed as the one they'd been dancing at.

To her own surprise she knew the words, she stretched her mind to try and remember where she'd heard it, but she came up blank. Even worse she started to sing.

"Hurry up love don't keep me waiting

Just say the words I'm longing for

Right here and now this moments for the taking

You are the one that I adore

Here in your arms I'm drifting far away

So tell me know don't you hesitate"

It was the most amazing feeling, like all the things you felt or wanted to say but didn't had all been bottled up with phenomenal pressure on your heart, every word lightened the pressure and her voice became more confident as it oozed into the chorus.

"Is this love that we're feeling

Or are we dreaming

Do you feel the magic too

Make a dream come true

And if you feel the wonder that I do inside

Then I think its love we're feeling tonight"

Nigel looked a little shocked, and she knew that he was staring at her. For her part she couldn't take her eyes of his. The look of total awe seemed to overwhelm her, forcing her to carry on.

"In your eyes I see only heaven

With you my love I'll always stay

You're in my heart now and forever

I need to know that you feel the same

With you I think I know what love can mean

So hold me now until eternity"

By now they weren't even dancing just swaying to the song. More intent on the words and each other than the dance or the location.

"Is this love that we're feeling

Or are we dreaming

Do you feel the magic too

Make a dream come true

And if you feel the wonder that I do inside

Then I think its love we're feeling tonight

And in your arms it feels like paradise

I see my dreams reflected in your eyes

Don't you tell me that I'm dreaming'

'cos I won't believe it

This is love we're feeling tonight

Oh tonight"

Nigel, who had up until now only watched her, suddenly started to join in, his voice was huskier than normal from the wine, and compared to her voice was only really a whisper against the music.

"Is this love that we're feeling

Or are we dreaming

Do you feel the magic too

Make a dream come true

And if you feel the wonder that I do inside

Then I think its love we're feeling

I think its love we're feeling

Yes I think its love we're feeling tonight"

The words faded away, leaving them dancing slowly to the ending music of the song.

Then, like a crashing symbol in a gentle harmonious piece, the original song brought them crashing back down to earth.

When they had started to dance it had been a quiet background song, now it was just loud and unwelcome after the gentle beauty of their song.

"So." She said softly, the memory of the last lines spurring her on. "Do you love me?" Unexpectedly, he didn't jump or look away, he just carried on looking at her.

"Yes. I do." She didn't move, just stood their smiling softly. "Do you? Love me, I mean." She grinned again.

"Yeah."

"Mmm. Good."

They came together for another kiss.

*************

Wow, another chapter, I'm glad no-one thinks the idea is too stupid, there will be more, although not too many more songs.

I tried not to do too many lyrics, because I know that lyrics rend to be off putting, so I tried to keep the flow of the story going too.

For all those who're interested, the song was by Steps, I'm not sure if they were popular in America. If not they were famous for cheesy music and stupid dance routines, this was one of the few songs I really liked *she said, hiding stack of cd's* It's really slow and romantic and doesn't have a dance routine.

Anyway, please review, they make me write more!

* Tiddlypom is my mum's word for when you're not quite tipsy but not really sober.