A/N: Again no specific episode.

Loyal

Despite the fact that he was a policeman Stuart Fraser could never shake the impression that he was innocent, perhaps even a little naïve. This perceived innocence was based primarily on his loyalty, which people often considered to be blind.

But there was nothing blind about Stuart's loyalties. Innocent he may be but stupid he most certainly was not.

He did form strong attachments and unshakeable loyalties, but he was very careful where he placed those loyalties. Because of this he could appreciate the loyalties of others, particularly those of his colleagues. Whilst he knew that the trust, if not the loyalty, was returned by them both, he also knew that their loyalty to each other was much stronger.

If there was one thing he knew about Jackie it was that she would go to hell and back if Michael asked her too. She was a good cop, but he often felt that her loyalty to the job was primarily personal and based upon her loyalty to Michael.

By the same token he was certain that there was nothing that Michael wouldn't do for Jackie if she needed him too. Both had covered for the other on numerous occasions and Stuart knew that their friendship had been longstanding even before he joined the team.

The unshakeable trust that they had in the other was often something that Stuart envied: Michael would always take Jackie's ideas on board or at least listen to what she had to say; whereas Stuart himself often had to fight to be heard.

He knew that this was because he hadn't quite attained the same level of trust that Jackie enjoyed, but he sometimes wondered whether there was more to it than that. He had seen them interacting in both work and non work related situations and he wondered.

Wondered whether their loyalty was based solely on trust or whether it stemmed from something much deeper. Every so often one would let something slip either by word or gesture that made him wonder just what really stood between them: was it really just a friendship or was it something more?

He looked up as the door to Michael's office opened. Both Jackie and Michael paused in the doorway and Stuart noticed Jackie place a comforting hand on Michael's arm; reaffirming her trust in him and her loyalty, no matter what.

Yes, he acknowledged, his loyalties ran deep but the loyalty that stood between Michael and Jackie made them pale into insignificance.

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A/N: Stuart's most fundamental quality, I think, is his loyalty and I think he'd recognise that in others