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Explanations (not) needed

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"Barbara!" Tommy exclaimed and immediately turned towards the darker part of the garden. He set himself in motion even before his eyes got used to the darkness.

"Sir!" Barbara said again and got up from her knees when Lynley was at her side with a few long strides. She had knelt at the feet of a boy who had a paper crown on is head. A football laid in the grass between them. Tommy grabbed her elbow as if he wanted to keep her from disappearing again. He had to take hold of her, simply for the physical confirmation that she was really here.

"Are you okay?" he asked desperately. His nervous gaze was in her face and then quickly scanned her body for any visible harm. Relieved he noted that nothing like that could be seen.

"Of course I am." she answered with indignation. "What are you doing here?"

The boy with the paper crown asked "Who's that?" and Barbara ruffled through his hair with a light smile.

"That's my boss." She turned her eyes back to Tommy who still held her arm in a firm grip. "Boss, that's Andrew. He's turned eight today. Why did you bring armed back-up?"

"Andrew?" Tommy asked. Confusion was displayed all over his face. He had not expected hearing that name now and here.

"Yes. Like my dad's second name." Andrew explained.

Tommy's head clearly was not in the boy's birthday. "Umm, hello... and err... happy birthday." he said with irritation. After all he still had not lost his good manners but the congratulation was an absolutely automatic reply.

"Thank you, Sir." Andrew answered proudly but Tommy's eyes were on Barbara again.

"I saw that clown abduct you." he sputtered.

"What? No! He's just made a bad joke at my expense, Sir. He hasn't abducted me." Barbara laughed out loud. She clearly found it hilarious.


Barbara looked towards the uniformed officers, and Tommy saw out of the corner of his eye how the PCs looked at each other with confused expressions and finally and with a shrug withdrew their hands from the poor clown and the bald fake-Rastafari. Frantically Tommy raked a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly. This was ridiculous, he thought.

But only to the moment when relief washed over him completely. Barbara was here. He suddenly had to feel properly that she was here. He had to feel that she was safe and sound. Without thinking Tommy grabbed her other arm and bent down. The kiss he pressed onto her lips was firm. In fact, it was not just firm, it was hard. He could not be gentle. There only was the pent up fear from the last few hours that Barbara had been carried off right under his nose and the fear that he could lose her, maybe even lose her forever. And the fear that he might never get the chance to show her what he really felt for her.

It was just a very quick moment that gave Barbara no chance to react at all. With wide eyes she looked up to him. The golden lights from the flickering torches were reflected in her face but he could not read what was on her mind. She just looked shocked.

And Tommy was shocked too. About the kiss he just had given her and about the realisation how deep his fears of losing her actually had been. He knew for a while already that it was real love that he felt for her but he was surprised nonetheless about the terrific feeling in his body when their lips had met.

All this obviously was nothing but a prank. And that mysterious Andrew was just a boy of eight years.

Barbara would have to explain a lot to him, but not now. Tommy only desperately wanted to feel her lips again. He wanted to feel her close to him. He wanted to hold her and never let her go. He was so relieved that their search for her had been too much ado about nothing. He was so excited to have her back, Tommy only wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her forever. The excitement in his belly seemed to explode into the furthermost nerve of his fingers, his toes and his head.

And still he was not completely sure if Barbara was about to slap his face. He saw so much in her eyes that he suddenly feared that he had taken one step too much, had gone just a tad too far, that she would not approve if he would kiss her again. But eventually there only was tenderness in her eyes. Barbara even smiled at him and his hope grew.


All this turmoil happened in one or two seconds. His own turmoil was mirrored in her eyes that were of the dark green he loved so much every time he looked at her in those rare dimly lit moments, at a pub, at the theatre or even at a nightly crime scene. Barbara had held his worried gaze in these seconds and finally he recognised her smile growing wider.

"Tommy..." she said quietly and with a gentleness that literally ran down his spine. "I'm okay. Nobody's abducted me. We're just here for Andrew's birthday. And Nolan didn't really abduct me, he only had picked me up. Everything's okay."

While she obviously had not realised that she had said his given name, Tommy almost did not hear anything else from then on.

"I... umm..." he began with a still insecure undertone. Then he threw all confusion, every fear and every concern over board and cursed "Oh, to hell with it."

Even to his own surprise he simply bent down again and placed another kiss onto her lips. This time he was able to kiss her with the tenderness she deserved, with the love he felt for her. Much to his joy Barbara did not pull away. Instead she leaned closer into his embrace, blessed him with an almost inaudible sigh and responded to his kiss. It lasted decidedly longer than the first one.

"I think we have to talk." Tommy whispered when he moved his face away after a few seconds.

"Can we... umm..." Barbara's eyes briefly went to his lips before she looked into his eyes again. She still was in his hug and he felt an enjoyable pressure of her hands in the small of his back. Then she boldly went on "Can we stall that?"


Kicking the brand new football, the boy, who had watched these intimate moments with childish curiosity, finally hopped over to his mother who was grinning broadly like the other adults. The police officers and the detectives on the veranda tried to hide their smug smiles. Cass turned her head away from the kissing couple. Only the clown called something rather cheeky over to them.

It did not bother Tommy and Barbara and they did not see or hear anything anyway. Their lips were glued together in a long and this time extraordinarily gentle kiss that lasted for as long as DI Morton explained to the not arrested men why exactly the police had come here.


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A/N: It was clear, wasn't it? ;-)