Where the bodies lie

by Vincenzo65

Deciding to go to New Zealand had been a watershed moment. After years of dithering Robbie felt his priorities were finally in the right order; Laura confident their relationship was what she'd always known it could be. But this was them and bodies did have a habit of getting in the way, of skeletons refusing to stay in their cupboards. Set a year or so after the end of series 9.

1. Chapter 1

Prologue

May 1996, Oxford

"Hullo, doctor. Didn't expect to see you here."

Laura's head whipped round. She knew that voice, the accent always seeming to stand out so starkly against those of Oxford who liked to think themselves well-spoken. She liked it. It always struck her as being gentle, an ebb and flow of language that seemed to offer comfort where none existed, but that could also be harsh when needed. It was never clipped or contained. It just was.

As she searched for its source amongst the crowd that swarmed around her, her progress back from Magdalen Bridge having already taken her far longer than she'd anticipated, she couldn't help but wonder why she ever thought this was a good idea. She recognised that this was not the first time she'd thought that but somehow it was never enough to dissuade her from returning, year after year. Besides, she reasoned as her eyes continued their search, May Morning was known for its chaotic scenes. It was part of the fun, joining with the throng of the crowd listening to the choir welcoming the dawn from the top of the tower and then watch as the mad capped students jumped from the bridge, cheering along with everyone else. It was a sign of her growing experience though that, this year, she'd winced every time someone hit the water and she'd felt herself half hold her breath until she saw them come to the surface unharmed. Perhaps her job was having a greater effect on her than she'd realised.

"Detective Sergeant Lewis," she replied as she finally caught sight of him. He'd been several rows deep when he called out and had only now managed to reach her and she smiled at the grin he offered her in greeting. "I could say the same about you," she said teasingly, "I wouldn't have thought this was your kind of thing at all."

"Ach, well," he acknowledged with a shrug, "The wife fancied it and I guess the kids wanted to know what it was all about."

"And what did they make of it?" she asked. "It's a bit of a stuffy tradition, I suppose, but it has its charms."

"Aye, it was fun," he nodded as he was forced to step closer to her as a rather boisterous group of undergrads threaded their way back towards the town and its bars. "Apart from not understanding a word. And the crowds of course," he shrugged, gesturing with his hand. "They always make me a bit twitchy, you know."

"Never off duty?" she speculated.

"Something like that," he replied with a light chuckle.

They stood in silence, the awkward lull that was the inevitable consequence of bumping into someone away from the trappings of work. It was to be expected, she thought. After all, they weren't friends, just colleagues, and even that might be a stretch. Laura fancied she had a lot more in common with the Sergeant than she did with the Inspector, although sparring with the latter had added an interesting spark to her burgeoning career with Thames Valley. Dr. Max had always had much to say about the man but he'd rarely mentioned his trusty bagman which, she ruminated, was interesting in itself.

"So," she said, breaking the ice, "Where are they? Your family, I mean."

"Fetching some breakfast. It was quite an early start." He yawned as if to reinforce the point.

"The early bird does catch the worm," Laura offered wryly.

"And a hymn sung entirely in a dead language, it would seem," he retorted.

"Well, this is Oxford, Sergeant."

From somewhere off to the left, Laura thought she could hear her name being called and, after a few more pleasantries, bade him goodbye with a joke about not seeing each other again too soon, given it would involve a dead body. He chuckled at that and, giving him a knowing look, she turned to go. Something made her look back though and she saw from his expression that he'd spoken but she'd missed it, his words drowned out by a sudden cheer from a nearby group.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said, I'm off duty so it's Robbie. The name's Robbie," the boyish grin returning.

She smiled and nodded, "Alright then."

"Bye, doctor."

His head dipped as he stepped back and before she knew it he'd disappeared, swept along with the sea of people criss crossing in all directions. She stood for a moment, lips pursed in thought and quite unsure of what to make of the encounter before she spun resolutely on her heel and headed back to where she'd left her friend, the sound of a soft Geordie lilt still ringing in her ears.