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Chapter Text

Nikki scowled as she gazed into her locker, hating what she was going to have to do. A sudden influx of bodies combined with having to have a separate pair of scrubs for each post-mortem meant a shortage of clothing to wear in the cutting room. Thomas was down to his last few sets of scrubs, but she’d been on her own doing the autopsies a few days earlier when he’d had a couple of days off, so she had even less choice. Honestly, she had only one choice, and she didn’t want to. She really didn’t want to. In fact, she still wasn’t entirely sure why she hadn’t put them in the bin at the first opportunity.

Sighing, she pulled out her final set of scrubs, still scowling as she put them on and grimacing at the too big size for her. Still closer to her size than if she’d tried to put on a pair of Thomas’ scrubs though. She slipped her clogs on, tying her hair back securely before trudging out to the cutting room and offering Thomas and Jack a dark glare, the latter of which was stood at the far side of the room to process some evidence. “Not a word,” She warned darkly, pulling on an apron over the top of her scrubs.

“Is that… yellow?” Jack asked incredulously, ignoring the warning she’d given them. “Are you really wearing bright yellow scrubs?”

“Pumpkin, actually.” Nikki muttered back mutinously. Harry’s infamous yellow scrubs. He’d left them in her locker as a joke when he’d left and she’d sworn to herself she’d never wear them, that she’d burn them like she’d wanted to do the first time she’d set eyes on them. Yet she never had, something stopping her from getting rid of the eyesores at the first opportunity. “Laundry isn’t due back until this afternoon at the earliest.”

“Oh god it’s catching.” Nikki turned her glare on Nigel, who had returned for a few weeks to help with the added workload. Of course, she’d forgotten he’d been employed there when Harry had originally bought the dreaded scrubs. Nigel was staring at her with a mixture of awe and shock, a little distaste thrown in there as well. “I thought those monstrosities had been burnt.”

“Don’t you start.” Nikki sighed. “They’re all I’ve got until laundry bring back the clean ones. Trust me, I’ve not lost my mind and bought my own set.”

“Why exactly do you have yellow scrubs, Nikki?” Thomas queried, handing her the camera.

“Blame Harry.” Nikki scowled. “He bought these eyesores waiting for me one night and he left them in my locker when he left. I hate these bloody scrubs.”

Chapter Text

“What on earth are we meant to do for the next four hours?” Jack complained, scowling at the doors for good measure. An electrical fault had messed with the door mechanism, locking Nikki, Jack, Thomas and Clarissa in the lab until a technician could be called out to fix the problem, which according to the firm Thomas had called, would take approximately four hours. The four adults were all sat in the main office area, bored out of their minds. Nothing to do except wait to go home.

“I’ve got a pack of cards somewhere.” Clarissa volunteered.

“Oh, I’ve got a bottle of wine in my desk.” Nikki remembered, ignoring Thomas’ disapproving look and Jack’s incredulous one. Clarissa was grinning as though she’d expected nothing less of her. “Bottom drawer, Jack.” She motioned to the forensic scientist, who was closer to her desk than she was.

Jack dutifully opened the bottom drawer, pulling out two bottles. “Uh, Nikki?”

“What?”

He held up a smaller, clear bottle he’d pulled out along with the wine bottle. “I know you can hold your drink, but why exactly do you have a bottle of ethanol next to your wine stash?”

Nikki’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What?” She repeated incredulously, a sinking realisation washing over her. “Hang on, is there anything else in there?”

Jack shrugged, looking down into the drawer again before producing a small jar. “Just a specimen jar. Which really only raises more questions.”

“Why don’t I have a bottle of wine in my desk?”

“You just quietly swig ethanol from the specimen jars don’t you?”

Nikki swore quietly under her breath. Of course, of course Harry would take the chance to set her up with her own joke. She’d not looked in that drawer since he’d left, both she and Leo using the latter’s wine collection whenever they had a drink, and she’d never mentioned the wine before to anyone else. She glanced up, sighing at the inquisitive stares of her three colleagues. “Blame Harry. It’s payback for telling him he swigged ethanol out of specimen jars.”

“Because that makes so much more sense.” Jack rolled his eyes but replaced the ethanol and jar in the drawer anyway. “Wine anyone?”

Chapter Text

Sorting through the veritable library of books and journals that accumulated within the Lyell was an entire job in itself, but Thomas had insisted that before the office was updated and the builders came in to rearrange everything to maximise space for new equipment, Nikki and Jack had to go through each and every single book and journal in the Lyell Centre and decide which ones were useful and to be kept, and which ones were to be donated to the LSSE library. So far, the pair had gotten through three bookshelves with the donation pile twice as high as the keeping pile, but they still had a long way to go.

Nikki sighed as she flipped through another tome, her breath catching as she took note of a long forgotten bookmark that hadn’t been removed when the book had been finished with whatever reference it held at the time. With shaking fingers, she slowly removed the bookmark and ran the pads of her fingertips over it. Handmade, tiny blue flowers in a child’s hand littering the length of the card, which had then been laminated to preserve it and a purple tassel attached.

“What’ve you got there?” Jack asked, leaning over her shoulder to see what it was and reading the bottom of the bookmark which denoted the artist. “Cassie, aged 9. What’s a kid’s bookmark doing in a book on decomposition?”

“It’s Cassie’s.” Nikki held the bookmark almost reverently, the book all but forgotten. “Well, I suppose technically it was Leo’s.”

“You’re making even less sense than normal. Who’s Cassie and what does she have to do with Leo?” Jack sat himself on the floor beside Nikki, watching the bookmark with her as though it held all the answers.

“Cassie was Leo’s daughter.” Nikki told him gently. “She died along with Leo’s wife, Teresa, not long after I joined the team. Leo… Leo was never the same after, not really. I might take this home, put it with Leo’s MBE I’ve got in a box somewhere.”

“Whatever you think is best. I’m sure Leo wouldn’t mind.” Jack placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “While we’re talking about odd things, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?” Nikki pocketed the bookmark before placing the book on the donation pile. The bookmark would be treasured just as much as the other belongings of Leo’s that she’d kept from his home and office.

Jack reached over to his own pile he’d been sorting through, lifting up a heavy looking volume that appeared to be sellotaped shut. Handing it to her, Nikki took the book with a frown. She didn’t remember any books looking like that. “Why is this book sellotaped shut? The note doesn’t make any sense either.”

“Note?” Nikki queried, prompting Jack to turn the book over in her hands to the back cover, where under the sellotape sat a small white square of paper with the words: Don’t you bloody dare, Nikki. This is for your own good. She closed her eyes briefly before turning the volume in order to see the title along the spine. Staircase falls: epistemology and ontology. “Bastard.”

“I take it the note means something to you then.” Jack was watching her carefully, trying to read the title over her shoulder. “What’s it all about then? Only no sane person would tape a book closed so it couldn’t be read. Not even in this madhouse.”

“Blame Harry.” She nearly growled out. “One bloody disagreement over a staircase fall and he tapes the bloody book shut so I can’t argue with him.”

“That’s… excessive.”

Nikki smirked. “You’ve never seen an argument between me and Harry. Leo despaired of us on a daily basis. We’re probably going to have to bin the book though; I don’t think the sellotape is going to come off easily after all this time.”

“Shall we blame Harry for that too?”

“Why not? Okay, what’s next?”

Chapter Text

Nikki glanced up from where she was sat beside Clarissa, the two women banding together to mess with Jack, who currently had his head in his hands and was obviously wondering just why he’d ever introduced them to each other. Both of them enjoyed winding him up separately, but together they were a force to be reckoned with. “Think we’ve done enough?” Nikki asked with a smirk as Clarissa shook her head.

“Nope, not nearly enough. I was promised Michelin stars, not Chez Jack. This is the least of what he deserves.” Clarissa glared at the forensic scientist for good measure. “Now, did I ever tell you about the time Jack ended up in a tutu?”

Nikki burst into giggles as Jack groaned. “No. Please tell me you have pictures.”

“What do you take me for? Of course I do.” Clarissa’s hand had just touched her mouse when Thomas appeared from his office, focused awkwardly on a sheaf of papers in his hand. All three in the main office looked up at the boss as he paused in front of them. “Thomas?” Clarissa prompted curiously.

Thomas glanced up, worry and curiosity covering his features. “We’ve been asked to take on a case.”

“Where?” Jack asked, already up and out of his seat to collect his kit. It had been a long couple of days since the last case had been wrapped up and he was bored. Plus it got him away from the two women ganging up on him. Nikki fought the urge to roll her eyes at him, something Clarissa didn’t bother to hide.

“Budapest.” Nikki’s eyes widened and her heart sank with Thomas’ announcement. She slumped into her seat even as Jack’s excitement increased.

“I can’t.” She murmured, gripping the armrests of her chair tightly. Memories of the last time she’d gone to Budapest threatened to overwhelm her, the despair, the horror, the relief, the terror. All crashing down at once. She couldn’t go back there. She just couldn’t. It wasn’t even solely because of the memories she had either. The authorities in Hungary had strongly ‘advised’ that she, Harry and Leo were to never set foot back in Budapest without one hell of an excuse. None of them had argued because at that point, none of them wanted to be in that country any longer than they had to. The authorities certainly wouldn’t take kindly to her return to Hungary for some run of the mill crime scene or case. Particularly as she’d been the one to lie to the police’s face, to falsify forensic evidence. Hardly inspiring confidence that she wouldn’t do it all over again. They’d probably arrest her as soon as she stepped off the plane just so they knew where she was the entire time.

“Sorry?” Thomas’ tone was hard, unyielding. She knew he didn’t take well to being challenged for no good reason. “They want us all out there.”

“I can’t.” Nikki repeated, her voice a little stronger. “I’m not allowed back in Budapest without express permission.”

“What did you do?” Jack asked her in awe. “Kill a guy?”

“Hindered a police investigation, lied to the authorities, harboured a fugitive, falsified forensic evidence.” Nikki ticked each one off on her fingers as though she was reciting a shopping list.

“Jesus Nikki.” Clarissa breathed out. “How the hell did all that happen? It sounds nothing like you.”

Nikki shrugged. “Blame Harry. He was accused of killing his girlfriend, went on the run and faked his own death to find the real killer. The Budapest authorities are still a little pissed off with both of us.”

“Shit.” Jack summed it up neatly. “Sometimes I wonder how everyone thinks you’re so rule abiding.”

“It’s the pretty face.” Nikki smirked at him before turning back to Thomas solemnly. “Sorry Thomas, but I really won’t be able to go there with you.”

“Any other countries you’re blacklisted from?” Thomas queried wearily.

Nikki shook her head. “No. Just Hungary. Like I said, blame Harry.”

Chapter Text

“How, how are we out of sugar again?” Thomas asked incredulously, holding up the empty pot as though it would magically refill under his watchful gaze. “I’m sure we ordered some just last week.”

Nikki shrugged, not looking up from her report. “Try the cupboard above the fridge. That’s usually where Jack stores all the tea and coffee things.”

Thomas grumbled under his breath but dutifully checked the cupboard carefully. No sugar there whatsoever. “Nope, no sugar. Great.” He sighed, sagging slightly against the counter.

Nikki glanced up from her report, placing her pen down on top of it at the sight of Thomas’ dejected demeanour. Sighing silently, she opened her middle drawer and dug around inside it until she found a small, unmarked box. Standing, Nikki strode over to him, handing him the box. “Here. Until we can nip out anyway.”

Thomas opened the cardboard box curiously, his brow furrowing in bewilderment when he found it full to the brim with sugar sachets. Some from the LSSE canteen, some from coffee chains, some he couldn’t identify from the top of his head. Just sugar packets. He took two from the top, handing the box back to the blonde pathologist carefully. “I’m sorry, but why do you have a box full of sugar sachets Nikki?” He nearly groaned, recognising the shrug she gave him in response.

“Blame-”

“Harry?” Thomas cut in before she could finish the phrase herself. He’d never met the man and had only heard a couple of vague things about him in general, but Nikki seemed to have a habit of blaming him for all sorts of strange things. Blaming him for sugar sachets though was the strangest yet. “How on earth could you having sugar in your desk be Harry’s fault?”

Nikki shrugged again. “He said I had to keep it in my desk in case I needed to sabotage any explosives.”

Thomas’ jaw dropped at her blasé explanation, an explanation that only raised more questions than it answered. “How… what… why…” He cut himself off, instead busying himself with adding the sugar to his tea. “Do I really want to know?” He finally settled on.

“We were held hostage in a university building. Then I was held hostage here in the lab. The only reason we didn’t die was because a student had added sugar to sabotage the attempt at blowing us all up.” Nikki almost laughed at the horrified expression on Thomas’ face. There was a lot about her time at the Lyell she’d never spoken of, times long before the current team that sounded more like fiction than reality. “What’s to complain about? At least I’ve always got sugar.”

“Well, on this occasion, I think I’m thankful for the odd things Harry’s done.” Thomas shuddered lightly. “Are there any other insane stories I need to know about?”

Nikki only smirked as she walked away, her box of sugar sachets in hand.

Chapter Text

Nikki smiled proudly, sat on the sofa in the reception area with Niall Mynall, the fifteen year old boy she and Harry had looked after for a week. Not that he was fifteen anymore. No, now he was a twenty one year old medical student at Cambridge. Something about that week spent with them had stuck with him and he’d returned from his grandfather’s a week later to pick their brains on how to become a pathologist. He’d walked away from that chat with a whole new outlook on his future and the numbers of both pathologists in his pocket. Nikki had fielded a few calls over the years from him, mainly when he wanted advice over something or other, but she hadn’t seen him in person, not until an hour earlier when he’d shown up in reception and asked to see her.

“I’m so proud of you Niall.” Nikki told him. “You’ll make a great doctor, even if you don’t become a pathologist.” He’d just finished telling her about his latest grades and his electives.

“Oh no, I still want to be a pathologist. Most people think it’s weird, but I know what it’s really all about.” Niall shrugged, smiling back at her. “I’d never have gotten where I have without you and Harry.”

“You’re the one that did all the hard work.” Nikki pointed out, placing a hand on Niall’s gently. “You’re the one who has achieved everything. All we did was answer the phone when you called.”

“No, you were there when I needed you.” Niall countered. “You still are. That’s… that’s a lot.” He shifted slightly, uncomfortable.

Nikki smiled at him, squeezing his hand gently. “I’ll always be here.” She promised softly, meaning every word. “Now, don’t you have a class to get to?”

Niall glanced at his watch before standing up, Nikki following suit a moment later. “Yeah, in like ten minutes.” He turned round and pulled her into a surprise hug just as Jack and Clarissa returned from their lunch break, the pair watching in surprise as Nikki hugged a young man tightly with a wide smile. Niall pulled back with a mischievous grin, picking up his backpack and making his way to the doors before turning back to the blonde. “Bye mum!”

“Niall!” Nikki called after him with mild exasperation, but he was already gone. Grumbling under her breath about the mischief of children, she turned towards the doors of the lab, only to stop short as she spotted Clarissa and Jack staring at her in shock. “What?”

“How did we not know?” Jack queried faintly. “How come you didn’t tell us?”

Nikki frowned. “Tell you about what?”

“The young man who just left.” Clarissa motioned to the door Niall had just exited.

“Oh, that’s Niall.” Nikki shrugged. “Did you have a nice lunch?” She asked as she swiped open the door, holding it open for her colleagues to enter before her. She managed to make it all the way to her desk before Clarissa cornered her, Jack not far behind. Even Thomas stuck his head out of his office to see what was going on.

“Don’t you try to play this down.” Clarissa warned. “How exactly is it you have a child?”

Nikki sighed. “Blame Harry.”

“What?” Jack managed to choke out as Clarissa stared at her with wide eyes and Thomas reddened with embarrassment.

Nikki’s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what her response had sounded like to the other three. Her face flushed bright red. “No! No, Harry and I never… no! Niall isn’t really our child, he just calls us mum and dad on occasion to mess with us.”

“So how’s it Harry’s fault?” Clarissa probed, the two men looking less capable of real speech in that moment.

“Niall is the son of Harry’s friend. Well, ex-friend. It’s Harry’s fault we played parents to him in the first place when Niall’s dad left him with Harry for a week without so much as a word.”

“You blame Harry for a lot of things.” Jack commented as he sat down in his office chair.

“It’s Harry’s fault a lot of the time.” Nikki shrugged again. “I blame both of us for Niall wanting to be a pathologist though, if that helps.”

Chapter Text

“What the hell?”

Nikki and Clarissa looked up from their desks at Jack’s incredulous shout, glancing over to where the forensic scientist was rooting about in one of the lab cupboards in the corner, a rarely used one that appeared to be more an overflow for junk than anything else. However, Jack had lost something and made it his mission to find it, no matter what. Neither woman knew what he was actually looking for, having tuned out whenever he started on a long ramble of why he needed to search the entire lab.

“If you’re stuck, I’m taking photos before calling for help.” Clarissa called over with a smirk, exchanging an amused look with Nikki.

“No I’m not stuck.” Jack re-emerged from the cupboard, straightening up with bemusement all over his features. “I’m just wondering why the hell I’ve just found this in the cupboard.” He held up his right hand, from which a lacy red bra dangled.

Nikki felt her cheeks heat up immediately, embarrassment colouring them the same red as the underwear. The underwear she instantly recognised as being hers, albeit from many years earlier. She’d left her bra on the table after slicing it open for the underwire, having to go and talk to Leo about something, and by the time she’d come back, the desk had been empty. Which meant Harry had gotten rid of it for her. She hadn’t thought about it after that, not until Jack had pulled it from the cupboard.

“The colour suits you Jack.” Clarissa teased. “Tell me you’ve the matching set.”

“Very funny. It’s been sliced open too, which only makes it weirder.” Jack motioned to one of the cups, where Nikki knew there would be a slice mark. She’d made it after all.

“Hey what you do in your own time Jack…” Clarissa’s smirk only widened as Jack became just a little flustered, turning to Nikki for help.

“Nikki?” His voice turned concerned when he noticed her obvious embarrassment. “Are you alright?”

Nikki nodded woodenly. “You can put that in the bin.”

“It’s yours?” Clarissa asked in amazement.

Nikki nodded again, her cheeks heating even further. “Yes, or at least it was.”

“Why is it in a cupboard? And why does it have a knife mark in it?” Jack reeled off quickly, trying to get in his questions before her embarrassment prevented her speaking.

“Blame-”

“Harry.” Both Jack and Clarissa finished for her with matching grins. Nikki rolled her eyes.

“Yes blame Harry. I left it with him to get rid of it but he must’ve just thrown it in the back of the cupboard instead.”

“And why exactly were you leaving your bra with Harry?” Jack’s grin only widened as he moved further into the office area, displaying the bra with an outstretched arm.

Nikki pressed her hands to her cheeks in a desperate attempt to cool them down. “Because Leo called me to his office and I’d just took my bra off in front of Harry. For a case!” She quickly added, before either of them could get the wrong idea. “We couldn’t identify a piece of metal, that turned out to be a piece of underwire. Which is why one of them is missing. I really thought Harry had just thrown it away.”

“That sounds just stupid enough to be true. What do you think, Clarissa?”

“Hmm, it is a little unbelievable but then, it sounds more believable for Nikki than any other explanation I can think of.” Clarissa grinned at Nikki’s embarrassed mien. “So Harry managed to get you out of your bra then?”

“Don’t.” Nikki groaned, fighting the urge to hit her head off the table. She was saved from doing just that when Thomas stepped out of his office, stopping short in surprise at finding Jack stood in the middle of the office holding a bra, with Clarissa amused and Nikki embarrassed.

“Jack, why are you holding a bra?”

“Blame Harry.” Came the unanimous response.

Chapter Text

Nikki jumped in her seat as the door buzzed, indicating a visitor. Clarissa and Jack were busy analysing the clothing of their latest corpse to come in and Thomas was on the phone to their SIO informing him that he needed to come in for an update. She was reviewing some of the crime scene photos so really, she was the only one able to answer the door. Standing up, she moved over to the door, her hand on the entry button before she fully registered just who was stood there, grinning at her. Dark hair peppered with grey here and there, jeans and a button-down shirt, more lines and wrinkles than she remembered. But still him, definitely still him.

Quickly, she hit the entry button and pulled open the door, barely allowing him to step inside the lab before she threw her arms round his neck, hugging him to her tightly. His arms moved firmly round her waist, pulling her to him and helping her stay upright. She buried her face in his neck as he did the same with her hair, clinging to each other like drowning people to a life raft. “Harry,” she mumbled into his neck, her lips barely making a sound though she knew he heard her.

“Nikki.” Harry returned in much the same tone. He lifted his eyes from the top of her head to glance round at the lab, so different from the one he left and yet surprisingly familiar at the same time. “When did the Lyell become a spaceship?” He joked weakly, still amazed Nikki was there, in his arms and not yelling at him. He’d expected yelling, or a slap, not flinging herself at him for a hug. Not that he was complaining. He’d missed his Nikki hugs.

“When we got odd equipment that I still don’t know the function of.” Nikki replied quickly, pulling back just enough to look up at him. “What are you doing here?” She knew it sounded a little rude, just as she also knew Harry understood her and knew she wasn’t being rude, just curious. He offered her a smile.

“Honestly? A whole bunch of things.”

Nikki led him into the main office, both still firmly embraced, and directed him to her office chair, where he obligingly sat whilst she pilfered Jack’s, adjusting the height without even a shred of guilt. Jack did the same to her all the time. She wheeled the other chair round to her desk, sitting down as close to Harry as possible. “Like what?”

“Mum was ill, so I came back to see her, look after her. She’s fine now.” He added at her worried look. “Then I got notification they weren’t renewing my contract at NYU, and not an hour later I got a job offer for a professorship at one of the London colleges. I went over to accept the job offer an hour ago and thought I’d come see if you still worked here on my way back to mum’s. It’s good to see you, Nikki.”

“It’s good to see you too, Harry,” Nikki replied softly, smiling at him. Sure, when he’d left, she’d been incredibly angry with him, incredibly hurt, something that only increased with Leo’s untimely death. However, over time, she’d found that hurt and anger slowly fading away, still there but not quite as all consuming as before, which had made room for other emotions to come to the fore, such as just how much she missed him. Throwing herself into his arms had been instinctual. She hadn’t even been aware of just how much she was in need of a Harry hug until his arms had wrapped round her waist in a familiar fashion. “So… you’re back?”

“I’m back.” Harry confirmed with a nod. “Well, I’ll have to fly back and pack my things, sort out the contract on my flat and that in New York, but other than that, I’m back Nikki.”

“Good.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but Harry still heard it, offering her a brilliant smile in return.

“Nikki, do you have the tox report for our Jane Doe?” Both Harry and Nikki looked up in surprise as Thomas exited his office, focused solely on the case file in his hands. “The SIO will be here in half an hour.”

“Hang on, it’s here somewhere.” Nikki leant over Harry to rifle through the papers on her desk, not bothering to ask him to move or gain his permission for entering his personal space. It was natural, even so many years later to just invade his space. She felt his hands move to rest on her back and waist to steady her whilst she searched. Finally, she found the results document she was looking for, pulling it out of the pile. “Got it. Nothing obvious in her blood, traces of painkillers well within normal levels, that’s about it.”

Nikki twisted, still leant over Harry, to hand the sheet to Thomas just as the older man looked up from his file and his mouth fell open at finding his pathologist practically draped over a stranger sat at her desk. Harry lifted one of his hands from Nikki’s torso to wave awkwardly in Thomas’ direction. “Hi.”

“Hello.” Thomas took the paper from Nikki with stunned features, adding it to his file swiftly. “Thomas Chamberlain.” He introduced himself awkwardly.

“Harry Cunningham.” Harry introduced himself in return as Nikki practically fell back into Jack’s desk chair, his hands falling from her body back to his lap.

Thomas’ jaw dropped open involuntarily as he turned to Nikki, stunned. “That’s Harry?” He checked.

Nikki nodded, feeling the heat seep into her cheeks. “Yes, that’s Harry.” She confirmed for her boss, glancing at Harry and smacking him on the arm when she found him silently laughing at her. “You’re so mean!”

Harry clutched at his arm dramatically where she’d lightly slapped him. “Oh, I’m wounded Niks, truly. You make it sound like I’m famous round here.”

“You are,” Thomas replied before Nikki had the chance to shoot a witty comeback in her former colleague’s direction. “Well, when it comes to being blamed for things anyway. It’s something of a catchphrase now.”

“Thomas I am not that bad.” Nikki complained lightly.

“Oh really?” Thomas deliberately moved over to the entrance to the lab area, waiting for the automatic doors to open. “Blame…”

“Harry!” Came the immediate response from Jack and Clarissa, neither of whom bothered to look up from their work.

“What’s Harry done this time?” Jack queried.

“You’ll have to see for yourselves.” Thomas moved back into the office area and offered Harry a smile. “Nikki assigns blame to you over the strangest things.”

“Oh?” Harry asked, thoroughly amused. “Like what?”

“Those god awful yellow scrubs for a start.” Nikki informed him mulishly.

Harry let out a snort of amusement. “I thought you’d have binned them the moment I walked out the door. You questioned my taste for buying them more than once.”

“Yeah, well I had no choice but to wear them.” Nikki rolled her eyes. “You deserve to be blamed for those eyesores.”

“Then there was the ethanol bottle next to the wine bottle.” Thomas added, the file closed and tucked firmly under his arm.

Harry chuckled at the halfhearted glare Nikki shot in his direction. “Ah, that was from a joke a long time ago. Leo used to have a bottle of wine in his desk and so did Nikki. I asked why I didn’t, and this ever so delightful woman told me it was because I just quietly swigged ethanol from the specimen jars.” He ignored Nikki’s tiny giggle. “I put the ethanol in her drawer as a joke a week or so later and forgot all about it.”

The automatic doors opened to allow Jack and Clarissa into the office area just as Nikki poked Harry in the arm. “They thought I’d gone mad when Jack found it, and no one believed me when I said it was your fault!”

“What’s going on in here?” Clarissa asked as soon as she and Jack were close enough. Nikki felt the heat prickle at her cheeks again, knowing that her team would be incredibly interested in this part of her that they’d never met. She’d never been the way she was with Harry around anyone else, not really.

“This is Harry.” Thomas introduced, gesturing at Harry, who had taken his opportunity to poke Nikki back in her side, grinning as she curled in on herself to try and stop him. His eyes widened as Nikki pinched Harry’s side in retaliation and the dark-haired man caught her fingers before she could retreat.

“That’s Harry?” Jack checked, disbelief tinging his tone as he and Clarissa moved further forward to see the visitor and Nikki clearly.

“Harry let go of my hand.” Nikki tried to pull her fingers from Harry’s grip, but he held firm.

“Not until I’m convinced you won’t do it again boil face.”

“Then you’ll be waiting a long time.” Nikki laughed. “You know as well as I do that we’ll end up fighting again at some point.”

“That was fighting?” Jack murmured not quite quietly enough to Clarissa. “Looked more like flirting.”

Clarissa laughed before turning to Harry and adopting a false stern expression. Nikki nearly groaned aloud, knowing Clarissa was about to say something mischievous and she hadn’t had the time to warn Harry about any of them yet. “Young, okay young-ish man.” Everyone ignored Harry’s splutter. “What do you have to say for yourself, swanning off to New York and leaving poor Nikki here to raise your child alone?”

Nikki bit the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into giggles. Harry had paled dramatically, his eyes darting between the entire Lyell team as though someone was going to magically shed some light on the whole situation. “What?” He eventually croaked out. “Nikki?”

Nikki couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into giggles, twisting her hand that Harry still had hold of round until their fingers were entwined and giving them a squeeze. “Niall, Harry, they’re talking about Niall.”

“Oh, thank god for that.” Harry let out a long breath. “I thought I’d completely lost the plot for a minute there. How is our child then?”

“Doing good. Third year medical student.” Nikki told him proudly. “Still all set on becoming a pathologist.”

“Following in his parents’ footsteps. I’m so proud.” Harry wiped a pretend tear from his eye. “What else have I been blamed for around here?”

“These.” Nikki opened her middle drawer and took out the box of sugar sachets, smirking as Harry instantly recognised the object. “Thomas was more than a little confused.”

“Ah, the sugar sachets.” Harry took the box from her with a grin. “An office essential. Okay, an office essential when you work in this madhouse.” He clarified at everyone’s disbelieving looks. “Especially if you’re as danger prone as Nikki here.”

“I’m not that bad.” Nikki said for a second time since Harry’s arrival, gaining scoffs and laughter from everyone.

“Oh, come on Nikki.” Harry shook his head wryly. “Really? Left for dead in a hospital basement after being whacked round the head, kidnapped by animal rights activists, strangled by a murderous lawyer, held hostage here in the lab after we’d just been faced with a gunman in the university, do I really need to go on?”

“Jesus Nikki, how many times do you need to get hit round the head by nutters?” Jack asked incredulously. “I mean I know the hospital is sick of seeing you but really?”

“You’re one to talk. I’m the one that patches you up because the hospital threatened to call the police if you go in beaten and bruised one more time.” Nikki shot back with an eye roll. “Despite my efforts to stop him, he cage fights on occasion.” She informed Harry swiftly.

“Right. Well, at least he’s got you to patch him up, Nikki. So, what else is my fault around here? So far, we’ve got my wonderful yellow scrubs,” he ignored Nikki’s scoff, “our child, ethanol, and sugar, I think.”

“You taped a book shut on staircase falls.” Nikki informed him with a narrow-eyed stare.

Harry winced instinctively at her look. “Okay, look, Niks, I can explain that. It was just after the Flannery case, and Leo was just about to be cleared for work again and I just thought, ‘I can’t have another fight like that with Nikki, I just can’t’. So, I taped the book together so we couldn’t have another argument like the one we had in that case.”

“Harry…” Nikki shook her head. “The argument wasn’t so bad you had to tape an entire book shut.”

“Nikki, I grabbed hold of you. If taping the bloody book shut meant I never touched you in anger again, then I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

“You’re not violent Harry.”

“I’ve got a temper.”

“So have I.” Nikki shook her head again, this time fondly. “You’d never hurt me, and I know that.”

“Anyway.” Thomas cleared his throat awkwardly, prompting Harry and Nikki to both blush when they realised they’d forgotten they weren’t alone in the room. Hardly an uncommon phenomenon with them, but it had usually been with Leo before, and he’d been used to their ways and mostly left them to it. “If we’re carrying on with what you’re blamed for, then you’re also apparently the reason Nikki isn’t allowed to step foot in Budapest.”

Thomas, Clarissa and Jack all noted how both Nikki and Harry instantly blanched at the reminder, white as sheets and nearly shaking. Nikki’s hand instinctively found Harry’s wrist, her fingers curling round to reassure herself of his pulse. His hand moved to cover hers softly, understanding her need to check he was still there. He’d done it a few times after her own brushes with danger. “Hey, I’m still here Nikki.” Harry reassured her gently, despite his shaking limbs and terrified expression. “Still with you.”

Nikki’s free hand reached up to trace the faint scar in his eyebrow, barely visible after so long but still there if anyone was looking specifically for it. “Do you still get the nightmares too?”

“Sometimes.” Harry admitted. “I don’t think I could go back even if Budapest weren’t still pissed off with us.”

“Me either.” Nikki shuddered. “Leo practically had to carry me round after he met me off the plane. You being dead was the longest two days ever.”

“Wait, Harry was dead?” Jack checked incredulously.

“I faked my own death.” Harry clarified after taking a deep breath. “I was on the run after being accused of killing my girlfriend and it was the only option I had left. I spent over a year trying to make it up to Nikki and Leo, mainly Nikki.”

“Well, you’re still here, which is what matters.” Clarissa told him succinctly, trying to get a little colour back into their faces. It had obviously been a rather harrowing time for the pair if it garnered such a reaction even years later. Nikki’s reaction at the time of proclaiming her ban being because of Harry also made a lot more sense. “You’ve also been blamed for Nikki’s lack of underwear.”

Clarissa’s words had the intended effect of bringing colour to their faces as both blushed a deep red and began spluttering, prompting her, Jack and Thomas to bite their lips to hide their amusement. “Clarissa!” Nikki choked out, her entire face as red as a tomato, or the bra Clarissa was referencing.

“Since when is your lack of underwear my fault?” Harry asked faintly. “I’m sure I warned you about wearing clean knickers, not a lack of them.” He ignored the way her eyes narrowed at him as everyone else stared at the duo in surprise.

“What?” Jack managed to query, his eyes darting between them both.

Nikki shook her head. “We had a murder disguised as suicide, only his hands were clean. I made a throwaway comment about how I’d make sure my hands were clean in that situation…”

“And I said, ‘not your knickers?’.” Harry finished with a light laugh. “So, if it’s not about that, what is it about?”

“The bra.” Nikki forced the words out between her teeth. “Back when I first started working here.”

“Bra? What… oh, the red one?” Harry checked, nodding as Nikki confirmed it for him. “I don’t see why that’s my fault. You’re the one who decided to strip in front of me.”

“I didn’t strip in front of you!” Nikki denied, feeling her cheeks heat up even further. “I thought you’d put it in the bin, like any sane person would, not that you’d chucked it in the back of a cupboard!”

“Who found it?” Harry’s grin widened as Jack held a hand up sheepishly, flushing a little himself. “Then I take full blame for it. That’s too funny.”

Light chatter erupted between all five for several minutes, before Jack and Clarissa were drawn back to their analyses and Thomas had to answer his office phone. Harry turned to Nikki, his entire mien sombre as he tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “You know, Nikki, for all I’ve heard you blame me for today, there’s something missing, something you’re more than deserving of blaming me for.”

“What?”

“Me leaving. You’ve blamed me for silly things, random things, but not something you had every right to hate me for.”

“I did blame you Harry, for a long time.” Nikki told him quietly, shrugging. “I hated you and blamed you and cursed you to the end of the world and back.”

“No less than I deserve, I’m sure. What changed?”

“I realised that in holding onto that anger, that blame, all I was doing was poisoning the good times, you, me and Leo. Once I’d let go of the anger, I found I would have done the exact same thing in your situation. How could I blame you for something I’d do myself?” Nikki shrugged again, offering him a tiny smile full of forgiveness.

Harry nodded, a weight lifting from him he didn’t even know he’d been carrying round with him for so many years. He took her hand carefully in his, making sure he had her full attention as he locked eyes with hers. “Nikki, you can blame me for anything, anytime, you know that, right?”

“I know, Harry, I know.”