A/N: No specific episode for this one, though it does mention incidents from Gingerbread and Hellfire so it would need to be after those episodes.
Honest
Straightforward or honest were two words that people would often use when describing Jim Taggart. Blunt or unsympathetic were also words that people would use to describe him, there were others, of course, but those were the nice ones.
One advantage of this was that people always knew exactly where they stood with Jim, exactly what he thought of them. This also served him well in his job since his straightforward nature meant he could tell when others weren't being straightforward with him, or themselves.
That was how he first realised that Michael was lying to himself.
He'd noticed the younger man's admiration for Jackie Reid from the day the two had met, not that Jim could blame him. Jackie was a good looking girl with sharp wits and dry sense of humour that could even make him smile.
But he'd also noticed how they both seemed determined to ignore the mutual attraction. That it was mutual, he had no doubt whatsoever.
He hadn't needed The Biscuit's side comment about their relationship to tip him off to what was going on. Sure, he may have missed some of the subtleties that he had mentioned, but he had still picked up on enough to give him the big picture.
He'd noticed the slightly tense expression of Jackie's during Michael's abortive love affair with Gemma Normanton whenever the other woman was brought up in conversation. Not to mention the almost murderous expression on Michael's face when Jackie had been introduced as the fiancée of a suspect when she had been undercover.
The latter had caused him no end of amusement, but he liked the younger man too much to tease him over it; besides he had been concerned about Jackie's emotional involvement in the case at the time.
But there had been other signs too: how more often than not Michael would be over by Jackie's desk rather than his own or their friendly banter, often bordering on flirtation.
What Jim couldn't work out, though, was how oblivious they both were. Both seemed to have decided, despite all evidence to the contrary, that they were friends and nothing more. Admirable it may be since it showed their dedication to their jobs, but ultimately pointless as it prevented both of them from moving on.
Sometimes Jim thought they should just date and get it over with, but at other times he realised why they had to pretend, why they had to uphold the lie: both cared about the other too much to ruin what they had. What they couldn't see was that they could have so much more.
Jim watched as Michael stole one of Jackie's biscuits, causing her to swat him playfully. One day they would stop lying to themselves and each other.
He just hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
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A/N: So the idea with this one is that they're not being honest with themselves, and Taggart can see it because he's honest/straightforward. (Sorry for explaining this but I feel you deserve to know the reasoning behind my decisions)