Disclaimer, Pairing, Rating & Spoilers: See Chap. 1
Spencer folded his arms across the broad planes of his chest, fully aware that disapproval was emanating from every pore of his body as he stood in the pitiful glow of the weak winter sunlight. Under the circumstances he had slept well, though in the harsh light of day he could feel a stiffness pervading his joints and muscles, but presently his mind was unconcerned with his physical condition as he stared unbidden at the scene before his eyes. My God, those two bloody witches were right, he thought testily. All those years of the two of them bending my ear with gossip and they were bloody right after all….
"Spence? Want to give me a hand?"
Eve's voice broke gratefully into his reverie and he turned to face her at the summons, at once acknowledging the slender arms loaded high with firewood, and he approached her instantly, relieving her of her burden and forming a loose pile at their feet before stepping back to watch as she spent several crouched moments teasing the reluctant flames into life.
"There," the scientist announced with satisfaction as she straightened back to standing, rubbing her hands together and revelling in the sudden, intense warmth radiating from her crackling creation. "Just a shame there's no bacon and eggs, eh?"
"Or coffee."
"A travesty of epic proportions," she replied with a smile, sobering as she glanced sideways towards her companion and feeling her brows knit together as she surveyed the proverbial black cloud swirling atop his shoulders. "You okay, Spence?"
The policeman gave a grunt of assent. "I'll be fine once we get out of these bloody woods."
"I know," she agreed, pulling her coat tighter about her wiry frame. "I'm thinking about billing the Met for my chiropractor's bills."
"I'm thinking about billing Boyd."
"Oh, good idea. Cut out the middle-man, and all that."
"Except that indirectly we're all paid by the Home Office…."
"…and so by the tax payer. Don't think there'd be too many happy constituents if they learned what it would cost to re-align my poor spine."
Spence grinned, though he was aware it was less than enthusiastic. "That bad?"
"I can't say it's the most comfortable night's sleep I've ever had, no."
The policeman inclined his head. "I'm not sure everyone would agree with you on that score, Eve."
She rolled her chestnut eyes. "Yes, I noticed how you spent most of the night snoring your head off."
"Did I?"
Eve smiled teasingly. "Don't tell me no woman's ever mentioned it before."
He gave a conciliatory shrug. "Maybe once or twice…."
"And let me guess; those are the ones who didn't make it past a week."
"Hey," Spence protested, deliberately arranging his features into a mask of pretend hurt. "You make it sound as though I'm a serial shagger."
"Oh." Eve's expression of mock disappointment easily matched his for fallacy. "There goes your reputation, then…."
"Anyway," he cut in firmly. "I wasn't talking about me."
"What?"
"In the good-night's-sleep stakes. You and I are most definitely the losers."
She frowned quizzically. "What do you mean?"
He gestured in the direction of the shelter, following her as she moved to obtain a better view and settling at her side as she stopped, an expression of complicit understanding passing across her features as she examined the scene he had been unwittingly transfixed by some minutes before. "Ah," she intoned lightly. "And herein lies the source of your barely-concealed discontent."
He sighed noisily. "They might as well have a big neon sign announcing what they got up to last night."
"Oh, come on; while we were only a few feet away?"
"Just look at them," he insisted with a grimace, "and tell me that isn't a post-coital position if ever you saw one."
"Well…."
"They're spooning, Eve. They're fucking spooning."
The scientist chuckled softly. "It doesn't necessarily mean anything. Some couples…."
"Some, what?"
She looked at him incredulously. "You're not being serious? Surely it's the worst-kept secret in the CCU, if not in the whole of the Met?"
Spence blew out a disparaging breath. "Gossip's about as reliable as Chinese Whispers. Especially amongst coppers."
"You mean you just chose not to hear it."
"Believe me, that was bloody impossible. Mel and Frankie…." He broke off and shook his head as the memories flooded through him. "It was their favourite topic of conversation, bar none."
"Hm. It's one of the reasons I always preferred working with men."
"Anyway, frankly I don't care if they're shagging each other senseless…."
"I think there's probably a bit more to it than that…."
"….but the idea of them throwing caution to the wind and…."
The scientist grinned. "Where's your sense of adventure, Spence? Of romance?"
"It's not funny, Eve. You weren't the one lying next to them all night."
"No," she conceded slowly, silently debating the wisdom of her proceeding words, "but…I'm a light sleeper at the best of times."
He turned his head to appraise her and raised his eyebrows in challenge. "Meaning what?"
"Meaning…that I was privy to parts of a conversation I suspect neither of its participants would ideally have wanted overheard."
"Oh, God," he groaned loudly, dramatically. "Do I want to know?"
"Well," she replied in amusement, a lopsided smile decorating her features. "That rather depends."
"On what?"
"On whether it would traumatise you to hear the words 'ten-year hard-on' tumbling from the lips of your boss?"
Spence looked aghast, deeply unwanted images exploding behind his eyes. "Of course it would fucking traumatise me! For fucking life!"
"Then, no. You don't want to know."
"He didn't actually say that, did he? Verbatim?"
Eve gave a throaty chuckle. "Look on the bright side, Spence. It might mean you were right after all."
"What?"
"Well….it kind of implies whatever's been going on between them all these years has been strictly….platonic." She grinned impishly as a further sentiment occurred to her. "Kind of makes you feel sorry for the grumpy old bugger, doesn't it?"
Spence gave a determined shake of his head. "Not even slightly."
"Oh, come on, Spence. Ten years is a bloody long time."
The DI exhaled a breath of contempt. "You make him sound like a monk. What about all that bollocks with Sarah Levin?"
"Oh, that." Eve gave a dismissive wave. "A simple flash in the pan."
Spence rolled his charcoal eyes. "Is this where you give me the 'It's always been Grace' speech?"
She smiled widely. "I don't think I need to."
"For God's sake," he grumbled irritably, after surveying her sparkling, playful eyes for several seconds. "Mel and Frankie would've bloody loved you."
The scientist gave a mischievous wink. "Three's a good number for a witches' coven, you know."
"You'd have driven me round the bend."
"Or I'd have kept them in check," she suggested mildly, a contemplative expression passing across her features. "Let's face it, I've never mentioned this topic in the four years we've worked together, have I?"
"No," he admitted grudgingly at length. "I suppose not."
"And I'd be more than happy not to mention it again. We can all just retreat back into our little cocoons of denial, if you like."
"Nothing would please me more."
"Of course it doesn't change the reality of…."
Spencer raised his palms in protest to halt her mid-flow. "Look, Eve, I really don't want to think about it, okay? I'm perfectly happy pretending not to have seen or heard any of this…."
"A don't-ask-don't-tell thing?"
"Nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"I suppose not…."
"Good."
Eve paused momentarily and inclined her head, a powerful need to vocalise her thoughts suddenly uppermost in her mind. "They deserve to be happy, you know, Spence," she intoned gently, surprised by the sentimentality catching against the edges her throat. "Neither of them has had an easy time of it over the last few years."
The DI sighed heavily, an intense flurry of emotion swirling unforgivingly between his ribs, and he felt his features begin to soften. "No, I know that."
She blinked, accurately reading a cadence unspoken in his words. "He wouldn't intentionally hurt her. I hope you know that's a given."
Spence exhaled noisily, his jaw set with steely determination. "I'd nail his bollocks to the wall. As he damn well knows. And that'd just be for starters."
Eve gave a soft smile, her head to one side as she appraised him. "You absolutely adore her, don't you?"
"Yeah," he admitted gruffly though without hesitation, clearing his throat to assuage the onset of embarrassment he could feel creeping into his cheeks. "Anyway...let's start getting our shit together and think about moving out. The sooner we're back to civilisation, the better."
The scientist raised an eyebrow. "Are you volunteering to go in there and wake them up, then?"
"Hell, no."
"Funnily enough, it's not top of my list either." She fumbled briefly in her pocket and retrieved a handful of change. "Toss a coin?"
Spence groaned. "Just so long as you can guarantee it's not one of those weighted jobbies."
Eve gave a gasp of feigned horror. "Spencer! As if I would."
"I wouldn't put it past you."
"I cross my heart. Now, let's get this over with, shall we?"
With another weary groan of recalcitrance, Spence chose a bronzed disc from her upturned hand and flipped it expertly into the air, willing away the heavy sense of dread as he watched it descend back towards his expectant, reluctant palm.
TBC
