DISCLAIMER: Nikki & Nora are the property of Nancylee Myatt and Warner Bros. Television. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
THANKS: To Ann for the beta.
Partners In Crime
By ralst
Part One
The doors to the police van slammed shut, and Nora turned a relieved eye on Georgia.
"I'm not sorry to see the end of this case," she confided.
It wasn't just the case that had worn on Nora's nerves, but the separation from Nikki and forced partnership with Georgia. Not that she didn't like and respect the other detective, but they lacked the easy understanding and synergy she experienced with Nikki. At least it was only a temporary reassignment, and her partner would be back, flirty and full of charm, in just a few more days.
"Do you want me to make the report to the lieutenant?" Georgia asked as they began to make their way back to the car. "I don't mind the extra paperwork."
"Thanks." Nora had been about to demure, but she couldn't quite face Dan at the moment and she was grateful to Georgia for acting as a buffer between them. "How about I pick up some take-out and meet you back at the station later to help fill out the forms?"
"Isn't Nikki due back today?"
"Day after tomorrow." Georgia's inquisitive look prompted further explanation. "The lieutenant authorised an extended stay so that she could testify in the pre-trial hearing on the Michaelson case."
Nikki's temporary reassignment had initially been slated to last a month at most, but circumstances had turned that month into three and Dan's acquiescence had infuriated his former partner and left them at loggerheads. Nikki, for her part, had tried to sound upbeat about the extension, but Nora had easily detected her frustration at being away from home for so long.
"You'll be glad to get her back."
"Yeah. Not that I haven't enjoyed working-"
"I know," Georgia cut her off, "but it's not the same as working with your partner."
If it had been any other partner, Nora wouldn't have minded quite so much - Georgia was an excellent detective and a nice woman and working with her should have been a pleasure - only Nikki wasn't just any old partner. In the year they'd worked together, the two had forged a tight bond that was tempered by a heated layer of flirtation and an underlying hint of exactly how much more they could mean to one another; if only Nora would let them.
Shaking her head, Nora banished those thoughts and turned to smile at Georgia. "Any preference for lunch?"
Nikki smiled at the man to her right and continued her pretence at interest in his story of stock market success. It was the usual story, set out to lure her into bed with the promise of a future adorned with luxuries that the man's suit made plain would never materialise. Not that she'd have been tempted, no matter what the cut of his coat, but she liked giving him false hope, if only to see the look of wounded pride when his final offer was rebuffed.
"So I told my broker, 'don't waste my time for such a piddling amount or you'll find yourself waiting in line for unemployment with the rest of the bozos'." He chuckled as if threatening people's welfare was charming and failed, once again, to notice the tightening of Nikki's expression or the way her smile grew more fixed with every anecdote.
"You certainly told him." Nikki looked out the plane's window and prayed the approaching ground would meet them before she was forced to listen to another of his tales. "Will you be staying in New Orleans for long?"
"A few weeks." Pulling a business card from his pocket, he began scribbling on the reverse and Nikki realised this was the opening he'd been waiting for. "Why don't you give me a call and we could go out to dinner or something?"
Nikki knew exactly what the 'something' meant, and she smiled sweetly as if he actually had a hope in hell of getting her to agree. "Dinner?"
"Or whatever." His smile was boyish in its surety. "I always like to start -"
"Cabin crew, please return to your places for landing, thank you."
Nikki blocked out his chatter as she turned her attention to the window and the rapidly approaching airport. She'd been away from the city before, having spent a year in Europe before she went to college, but she'd never felt as homesick as she had the last three months. It would be good to be home.
Hands thrust deep into her jeans' pockets, Nora stood impatiently at the arrival gate waiting for Nikki to make her way through the throng of businessmen and join her on the concourse. Surrounded as she was by hugging families and dispassionate chauffeurs with their cardboard placards, she felt slightly uncomfortable, knowing that she was far closer to being a hugging paramour than a disinterested colleague, no matter how hard she tried to pretend to the contrary.
Finally, after the bulk of the passengers had already departed, Nikki walked through the gate pushing a heavily laden luggage cart, an attentive and overly jolly male escort on her arm.
Nora stiffened, her wave of greeting dissolving into nothingness as Nikki and her 'friend' turned in her direction. The pleasure she had felt at spying Nikki through the mass of bodies had waned as she'd witnessed the man's clinging attentions, but she couldn't stop the grin that split her face as Nikki turned one of her more charming smiles in Nora's direction.
"Hey you." Nora didn't have time to choose between a hand shake and a nod of acknowledgement as Nikki swept her up in an oxygen depriving hug. "Play along," Nikki whispered, before releasing her hold.
Valiantly masking her confusion, Nora waited to see what would happen next, never quite sure what trouble Nikki would unleash on her next.
"David," Nikki said, addressing the expectant man, "this is my partner, Nora."
As Nora opened her mouth to issue the usual 'on the force' caveat, Nikki bumped her hip and subtly suggested she keep that little bit of information to herself.
"Partner?"
"Uh huh." Nikki brushed a wisp of blonde hair out of Nora's eyes. "It's been over a year now, hasn't it, honey?"
Nora was overcome with an urge to check her surroundings for possible witnesses, but she somehow managed to ignore her instincts and give a perfunctory nod of agreement. If anyone asked, she would just shrug and say they'd misconstrued Nikki's words; after all, they were partners, so it wasn't her fault if people jumped to conclusions.
"Partners," David repeated, the look on his face a cross between confusing and hope. "I don't suppose you girls would like to show a fella your fair city?"
Nora started to reply in the negative but, once again, Nikki forced her into silence.
"We'd love to." Batting her eyelashes in a manner that should have been outlawed in the twenties, Nikki rooted around in her carry-on bag for a scrap of paper. "Why don't you give us a call tonight, and we'll arrange something special?" She scribbled down a number and quickly handed it to him, being sure to avoid his sweat drenched palm in the process. "Until then, toodles."
With surprising grace, Nikki managed to manoeuvre her luggage cart and Nora towards the exit, all the while giving David the impression that she was loathed to leave his company. It was truly an art form, and one Nora was glad she'd never perfected.
"What was all that about?" Nora asked once they were alone.
Nikki shrugged. "I was just being friendly."
"Friendly? He thinks we're . . . And 'toodles'? What were you playing at?"
"I'm just showing a visitor to our fair city a good time." Nikki waved back to where David still stood waiting before turning to blow a kiss in Nora's direction. "I can't wait to get home."
Nora rolled her eyes and secretly began to question why she'd been so anxious for Nikki's return.
The trip back into the city was filled with Nikki's chatter about her stay in Houston, and the protracted legal wrangling that had extended her forced relocation. As usual, with Nikki, the descriptions were vivid and peppered with funny little anecdotes, but Nora could easily detect an underlying tone of relief at having escaped from the other city.
"How's Georgia?"
Nora was caught off-guard by the sudden change of subject and failed to notice the trace of concern colouring Nikki's words.
"She's good." Nora merged the car into traffic and neatly avoided a sedan weaving wildly between lanes; the perils of tourist traffic never more pronounced than on the roads leading directly from the airport. "She offered to run defence with Dan."
"You and Dan fighting?" Nikki hated the idea of being out of the loop. "He hasn't been hitting on you again, has he?"
"No more than usual." Dan was, at least, straightforward in his attempts to lure her into a relationship, and always took no for an answer, even if he couldn't stop himself from proffering the question anew ever few months. In a way, his flirting was a lot easier to handle than Nikki's; mainly, Nora supposed, because she'd never been tempted to take him up on his offers, but also because, despite all the suggestive comments and closeness, Nikki had never actually come out and simply asked her on a date. "We had a slight disagreement about something to do with work, that's all."
"Anything in particular?"
"It's not important." Nora didn't want to admit that she'd blown her top when Dan had informed her of Nikki's extended absence. "And Georgia's done a good job of calming the waters."
Nikki tried not to feel put out by her seeming exclusion, but she couldn't quite help the touch of jealousy she felt at Nora's apparent closeness with Georgia. The other detective had only transferred into the unit a couple of weeks before Nikki's reassignment, so she didn't know her that well, but from her short acquaintance, it had become apparent that Georgia was not only smart and beautiful, but in possession of a dry sense of humour and frankness that would no doubt appeal to her partner.
"Not thinking of trading me in for a newer model?"
Nora wasn't so distracted that she missed the underlying concern in the lightly voiced question. "Georgia's great, but she's not my partner." She risked putting a hand on Nikki's thigh, the slight squeeze meant to convey reassurance, but the racing of her heart simply reaffirming the affect Nikki's nearness had always produced.
Nikki's hand covered Nora's. "That's good to know."
To Be Continued