My mind is a warrior, my heart is a foreigner

[Leo Cunningham]

All in all, Leo had had a pretty mixed week. Breaking up with Danielle on Monday had been heart-breaking and messy – he’d said some things in the heat of the moment that he really rather regretted now – and he still felt terrible about it but, Leo was Leo; when times were tough in one aspect of his life he just concentrated on another. In this instance, if his personal life was awful, he threw himself full force into his work and career. He hadn’t once thought ‘thank God it’s Friday’ that day; he’d done a post-mortem early that morning, completed some backlogged paperwork (though a huge pile still remained precariously balancing on his desk), assisted Richard in a tricky post-mortem, finished the presentation he and Becki were giving to the university the week after, and it had just turned 12. It turned out throwing yourself into your work to distract yourself from everything else actually fueled an amazing work ethic in Leo – who would have thought it?

Heading into the office he shared with Becki he noticed she’d left and carefully placed the cup of coffee he’d just made her beside a stack of files on her desk, noting her coat and handbag were still around so she hadn’t left for lunch or anything. Retreating to his desk he moved aside a tome of papers and turned to his keyboard, his fingers soon moving swiftly over the keys as he became engrossed in his work. So engrossed in fact that he didn’t register Becki’s return until she’d sat at her desk at which point he looked up, spaced out at first as he’d been concentrating hard, and then focused and smiled easily, “Hey, I finished the presentation this morning by the way, I’ve sent you it on email if you would like to check my ‘improvements’ haven’t completely ruined what you had in mind for it,” he teased lightly.

((ooc: I thought it’d be nice to start off happy haha, but I’ll have Leo go collect the incoming body in a couple of posts and then all shall go downhill pretty quick methinks! Excuse the random title btw, happened to be listening to a bit of Ed Sheeran when I was writing this.))

[Becki Addison]

“Yeah, no, thanks, yeah I have a feeling I won’t be getting out of here until late so nine o’clock sounds great, alright see you then,” Becki quickly hung up and stuffed her mobile into her pocket. She had been very careful not to talk to, or even mention that she had a boyfriend in front of Leo. He was a new boyfriend anyways so there was no real reason she should tell him anything yet.

Becki was keeping Ethan a secret, not only to spare Leo’s feelings but also because she wasn’t quite sure if she liked this bloke yet or not. They had decided to take it slow, neither of them were really looking for a relationship but Becki could tell that Ethan liked her more than he let on. Maybe she was just being paranoid and the idea of getting into yet another train wreck of a relationship scared her.

She pushed this out of her mind as she walked to her desk and sat down opposite Leo. Her big brown eyes observed him momentarily, and as he looked up she returned the smile. “Great, lovely,” she enthused with a smile as she checked her e-mail. “Wow, this is really well done Leo,” she said reading it over as if it were a surprise. “I mean, not that you don’t do a good job usually it’s just, well it’s very good,” she told him over her computer screen as she took another sip of her coffee. Rubbing her arms then she shrugged into her jacket, “Aren’t you freezing in here?” she asked him, trying to button the brass buttons on her blue coat. Once she was satisfied that her jacket was secured she got to work again and began tackling the stack of files on her desk.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard and she began annotating her own work and logging in reports. “So, how was your day?” she asked cheerily, “Have you got any fun plans later?” she asked, if he hadn’t and was planning on moping around his apartment she would be sure to cancel her date with Ethan and cheer Leo up instead with something no doubt goofy and something only they would do.

((ooc: This is a bit rubbish sorry, but yay for Becki and Leo, even if it will get all sad, aww.))

[Leo Cunningham]

Leo glanced up from his work, fighting back the amused smile quirking at the corners of his lips as he instead acted hurt, “She doubts me…” he pretended to muse incredulously, “And what have I ever done wrong to receive such consternation about my work from her?” Then, dropping the act, he chuckled and shook his head as she started to backtrack and clarify what she meant, “Thanks… I think. See, it’s not just a pretty face, there’s some brains in here somewhere,” he joked about himself, tapping the side of his head to suggest this as he picked up his mug of coffee and took a large sip from it.

“No, not particularly… I suppose I must be cold-blooded, mm? Goodness knows I’ve had similar insults throw at me in arguments,” Leo commented offhandedly as he was somewhat distracted by the search for a pen amongst his files to note down something. Having located it he looked up to find Becki fastening her coat and smiled, “You know, you could just demand the maintenance blokes turn up the heating… the morgue has to be kept cold certainly but I see no reason for the pathologists to freeze like their unfortunate quarries.” Scribbling down his thought then on a post-it note he shrugged at her question about his day, “Thus far it’s been quite productive really, which is odd I know, given my inherently procrastinating nature. Don’t trouble yourself by being too shocked by my sudden enthusiasm for work because I’m sure it will die down by next week,” he assured her light heartedly, looking up to meet her gaze then as she asked about any plans he had, “Define fun,” he challenged faux-suspiciously before, “My plans are non-existent. Richard seems a bit snowed under today, I was going to offer to swap a few on-call night shifts on the timetable, I might as well put my lack of a social life to good use by taking his place and allowing him to spend time with, god forbid, his wife and kids.”

((ooc: Well I thought it was lovely actually, hehe.))

[Becki Addison]

Becki laughed over her computer. “Just be you,” she told him as she typed. She smiled over at him before returning to her work, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

“I could,” she said fastening the buttons on her coat. She was far too nice to ask the maintenance people really. Then she smiled in response to Leo’s comment. “Well that is good of you. Don’t work too hard alright,” she told him as she finished up the last of her paper work.

((ooc: Alright this is absolutely terrible but I've got her going again finally.))

[Leo Cunningham]

Leo gasped, looking very hurt at her words, "I cannot believe you would say such a thing! I'm diligent and motivated and very professional, thank you very much," he told her in a jokingly stiff way before conceeding, "Except... well except the slanging match Danielle and I had in here on Monday, I suppose that wasn't very professional at all," he admitted with a slight sigh about the way everything had ended between the two of them. He hated himself for raising his voice, for saying such hurtful, spiteful things in the heat of the moment, and knew for a fact he had probably been doing quite a good impression of his own father - something which he hated himself for.

"When I say 'demand the maintenance blokes turn up the heating' I, of course, mean that you could just ask nicely, they quite like you... well everyone does... but they'd do it for you," he pointed out with a smile. Glancing down at the post-it note he shuffled some files around and slapped it onto the front of one of them, taking it in hand as he stood up from his desk, "Too hard, you are joking, right?" he chuckled, shaking his head, "I'll be fine, I figured since I don't have much of a life outside of here right now I might aswell make use of that and let someone else have one. Besides I like the extra work, it's distracting from... well everything else," he shrugged easily as he headed out of the office to deliver the file to Richard's desk.

Finding Richard's office empty but a still warm half-drank cup of coffee on his desk he knew the Professor must have had to dash off somewhere in a hurry - he'd probably taken a call and rushed off to a crime scene. Dropping the brown file onto his desk he made his way back through the corridor only to be interrupted by a porter who stopped him. "Hey, Dr Cunningham?" one of the porters called out to Leo’s retreating back.

The man in question spun on his heel, "Yep?" he asked questioningly with an inquisitive look.

"We have another autopsy for you, they said they called Professor Dalton? Greg’s signed for the body and it’s scheduled in but I can’t find Professor Dalton around to pass it onto… can you deal with it?" the man asked.

"Yeah, why not, sure, can’t have too many heart, blood, brain anaylses for one day, can you?" he joked sarcastically but smiled good-naturedly none the less. "Okay chaps," Leo teased, clapping his hands together in a ‘let’s get to it’ manner as he took the clipboard of information the porter handed him, scanning it only long enough to ascertain the basic details of the unfortunate person. Caucasian male. 67. Suspected cardic arrest. "Let’s get him into the morgue then, I’ll handle it now-" he stopped suddenly in his tracks, his entire body stilling as he caught sight of the dead man’s face. "No," Leo suddenly murmured, the words escaping him so quickly and quietly that he didn’t even realise he’d said it. Starting forward he gripped the side of the trolley, his knuckles turning white with the effort as he clung on in disbelief, peering down at the face mere inches away from it as though looking at it from a closer position would suddenly change the identity of the body that lay there. "No, no, no, it’s not, it-it can’t be. Oh shit," he swore, disbelieving, and turning away from the trolley and the utterly baffled porters who still stood there, "I can’t, I can’t do the autopsy, I’ll go get Becki, just hang on a moment," he assured them in a quick mutter, turning on his heel and practically fleeing the scene.

Re-entering their office and probably looking as white as a sheet he stopped in front of Becki and looked down at her, though his gaze seemed oddly distant, "Becki, there's a body just came in and I... I can't take it, it's... I know him," he murmured, "Can you come and take it instead?" he asked, his voice faltering in an uncharacteristically emotional way.

((ooc: Nonsense, she's lovely! Sorry this is long but hope it's okay I moved onto the whole dead body deal hehe, I figured Leo would tell Becki it was his father in the next post because no one would probably realise since they have different surnames?))

[Becki Addison]

Becki raised a teasing eyebrow at him, “Oh really?” implying her reference to his shouting match with Danielle. Gathering together her things she crossed over to his side of the next before getting her overcoat and placed a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner, “It’s alright Leo, we all have moments like that, lord knows I’ve done a good bit of shouting, some of it at you.”

“Oh really, and they wouldn’t do it for you?” she asked teasingly as she slipped into her large overcoat. It wasn’t the most flattering thing but it kept her warm from the cold night air. Becki smiled understandingly at Leo before fishing a bit of lipstick and other such things out of her purse and used the tiny mirror on the wall to apply it. Finishing up and shutting off her computer after filing away the last of her paperwork leaving her desk looking tidy and spotless Becki slung her bag over her shoulder and readied herself to leave. Primping her hair she was about to leave when Leo reentered the office. “How do I look?” she asked as she turned to face him. Seeing his expression and his body stiffen she asked immediately “Leo, what’s wrong?”

“Of course,” she told him removing both of her coats and setting her purse down once more. Becki walked to him standing in the doorway, “I’ll take care of it,” she said taking his hands in hers with a concerned gaze. Then leaving his side she went to direct the porters, “Alright lads, let’s take this gentleman into autopsy one, I will be in there shortly.” She moved quickly into the changing rooms and put on her outfit while simultaneously leaving a voicemail for Ethan saying she couldn’t make it. Really it would have been quite a hilarious scene if the situation weren’t so grave.

Washing up she went into the autopsy room and read the clipboard. At that moment she knew who the man was, it was Leo’s father. Becki closed her eyes for a moment, took a breath and then carefully and gently got to work instructing her assistance to take the utter most care with this respectable gentleman.

((ooc: Thanks, again it wasn’t great but it will do, and she will get progressively better as I write her I suspect. I forgot if it was simply just a heart attack, so we could skip to the end when she comes out and tells Leo that it was a heart attack if you like?))

[Leo Cunningham]

Looking devastated he barely met Becki’s gaze, “Thank you, sorry for ruining your evening,” Leo managed to note the coat she’d put on despite everything as he made it, just about, to his chair and sunk into it, feeling as though the ground was rushing up to meet him. Holding his head in his hands he tried, unsuccessfully it might be said, to block out reality entirely. He felt an enormous pressure building on his skull as he tried to deny what he’d just seen. No, it just… it couldn’t happen. To Leo, his dad was immortal, even if he hated the man intensely there was something about Jeffrey Armitage that suggested he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Then a buzzer cut through the silence that lay thick over the office and the nearby corridor and Leo’s head jerked up as he recognised the sound of the buzzer to enter the main doors of the path lab. Swallowing down the hard lump that had formed in his throat he sniffed once, sharply, and moved automatically to the door to buzz whoever it was in. It was only when he opened the door that he came face to face with his mother who took one look at him and stood stock still.

“Leo,” Grace Armitage breathed out, not quite being able to believe he was there, “Have you just arrived or-?”

“No, I… I work here, Mum,” he explained as he ushered her into the corridor, “I didn’t know about Dad dy-… I didn’t know it had happened, he’s just been brought out of the morgue for the autopsy, my colleague must have schedule it, he wouldn’t have known I was related because of the surname thing. Have you come to observe it?” he asked finally, looking down at her with a large part of him hoping she wouldn’t want to. Ever one to put on the brave face and swallow down any emotion – something of her temperament which Leo had himself inherited – she would stubbornly press on through difficult situations with that stiff upper lip one expected of a person of her social status.

Picking her chin up, Mrs Armitage nodded, “Yes, I would like to, to make sure it wasn’t anything untoward, he was quite stressed lately, I wondered if he had trouble he wasn’t telling anyone about so I want to… make sure,” she told her son, looking up at him as though drinking his face in – it had been quite some years since she’d seen him and many months since he’d even phoned her.

“Right… blimey… well…” Leo’s words failed him then and he instead just indicated with her head that he should follow her. Leading her through to the observation area through which they could see the cutting room and Becki prepared the autopsy table with a pathology assistant. He stood solemnly behind his mother and smiled tightly at Becki as she looked up, about to start the procedure.

((ooc: Yeah it was simply a heart attack, the reason an autopsy was ordered is because he seemed perfectly healthy, no medical conditions and hadn’t seen a doctor in quite some time I think. If you put something about Becki doing the autopsy, removing the organs etc., and then turning to inspect them I was going to have Leo mention about the liver being fatty, a sign of excessive drinking, but he mentions it in an objective/scientific way rather than saying it because he knew his father personally drank a lot throughout his childhood which then causes his mum to get annoyed and storm off? And then Becki was going to finish up the autopsy, see how his mum had shouted at him, calling him unfeeling, and go after her and then they were going to have a little convo about Leo’s unfeeling nature etc., if you remember what we vaguely planned for that?))

[Becki Addison]

“You haven’t ruined my evening,” Becki replied sympathetically. “You can go home Leo, I can take it from here,” she told him reassuringly thinking he didn’t need or should watch his own father’s autopsy.

She was surprised to see him and his mum as it were standing on the other side of the glass. It was different when doing an autopsy on your friend’s parent. You didn’t expect them or their family to be there. Yet it was the same as any other autopsy, their family on the other side of the glass watching you do your work and explaining everything whilst you went.

Becki made sure that she was extra careful, very formal, and tender toward this particular patient. She liked thinking of them as patients because they were after all people, even if they were dead. It meant she gave them more respect, even perhaps than some of them deserved, but whether they were a criminal or a saint that cross her table she gave them an equal amount of respect. Every insertion and cut she made was perfect and clean trying to shield his mother as much as possible from what was quite a gruesome job.

((ooc: Obviously I know nothing about pathology and autopsies so let’s pretend like Becki knows what she’s doing and that all that babble I just said made absolute sense alright? Right, I remember now thank you.))

[Leo Cunningham]

“No, no I can’t go home, I’ll wait for the autopsy to be completed,” Leo said distractedly, nodding his head as though sure of this decision but everything inside him was telling him to get as far away from the mortuary as he possibly could. Yet, several minutes later he was stood solemnly behind his mother as the two of them overlooked the cutting room where Becki was preparing to start the autopsy and ensuring the microphone was on so that they could hear her findings. Moving a step forward so he was level with his mother he leaned down and murmured in explanation, “She’ll perform the first incision now and then she will have to inspect the organs, heart, brain, liver, stomach contents and the like.” In an odd way he admired her in that moment as she stood, head bowed but posture still controlled and proud as she gazed down at her husband’s body lying on the cutting table; he’d been in the gallery before with families and it was never pleasant, there were very few who held it together quite as admirably as she did.

Becki, the natural go-to for ‘tea and sympathy’ was nearly always present in the gallery when the deceased’s relatives had asked to be present at the autopsy, to provide comfort and moral support since, really, seeing your loved one cut open with surgical instruments wasn’t the most uplifting of sights. Though, in this instance, it fell to Leo to try to provide some kind of explanation of the procedure in as sympathetic a manner as he could whilst battling with the reality of the situation in front of him. The only way he could register the fact that it was his own father lying in that mortuary was to distance himself, pretend it was just another body, just another puzzle of a sudden death to crack, just another unknown they needed to process.

With this firmly in mind, his brow furrowed somewhat as Becki spoke for the benefit of Mrs Armitage, to explain her initial thoughts upon having removed the organs. Leo watched with interest, scientific interest that is, as she worked on the liver. Staring forward as he noticed some damage on the organ, he leaned into the microphone that acted as the communication device between the mortuary and the gallery, “There’s an abnormality there, an enlargement of the liver. Perhaps it could be an indication of heavy drinking, there’s a fatty layer around it suggesting it would have to work extra hard to accommodate anything more than social drinks,” he spoke methodically and logically, as though observing this from scientific evidence rather than having witnessed his father’s regular ‘night caps’ that usually consisted of several glasses of whisky.

Leo’s mother seemed distinctly unimpressed by this observation. She turned on her heel to face her son, a look of utter disbelief etched into her features as she looked up at him, “Is that really all you can say? All you can do?” she asked in a strained whisper, completely brushing past the taken aback look that came over her son’s face then. “Stand there and treat your own father, your own bloody father, as if he’s just another nameless unknown to poke and prod around in and ascertain cause of death while their relatives look on in horror? Is that truly all he was to you, just more flesh and blood you’d eventually see on a slab?” Her voice became louder as she stepped closer to him, her somber look now changed into something entirely different, “I always knew you didn’t like your father, that you cut yourself off from the family because for some inexplicable reason you had a chip on your shoulder that you refused to work on. You and your father did not see eye-to-eye on many things but for goodness sake he was my husband, your father, I loved him and I know deep down you loved him too! I cannot believe you are honestly so hardhearted that you can indifferently watch his autopsy. No, you’re not indifferent, you’re watching it with… relish almost. It’s just another interesting marvel of science for you, just another day’s work! I didn’t think you could be that cold though, that cruel, that unfeeling, Leo,” she broke off then as her voice cracked upon saying his name, her eyes glazed with the tears she’d been desperately trying to hold back. Turning and seeing Becki had paused awkwardly mid-post-mortem she avoided looking at her son but glanced at the other woman, “I… I can’t do this anymore, I’m sorry,” Mrs Armitage said, her head shaking hurriedly in apology to Becki as she bustled past Leo out of the gallery.

He could see Becki’s lips move and was aware that she had said something but his brain couldn’t quite process it or provide any kind of answer. Instead Leo stood, unmoving, unblinking as he stared at the open doorway through which his mother had just left after basically telling him that he didn’t have a heart and was actually even enjoying his own father’s autopsy. Opening his mouth to speak to a concerned looking Becki, he realised he did not even know what to say. Of course, he wanted to go after his mother but what on earth could he possibly say to make it better? His lips pressed into a very thin line as he leaned against the back wall of the room and banged the back of his head softly against, his eyes closed momentarily in despair before, upon hearing the rustle of movement, he opened his eyes to find Becki had disappeared from the cutting room floor. “Bugger,” was all he could manage to say then as he covered his eyes, pressing the palms into the sockets in annoyance as if doing so would block out everything around him.

((ooc: Again this is long and I apologise for that, I thought I'd shove the bulk of what I wanted to write for Leo and his mum into one post. I sort of assumed Becki would see his despair and, knowing his lack of ability to go after his Mum to explain why he distanced himself, go after Mrs Armitage to explain for him? Hope that's okay!))

[Becki Addison]

After checking her microphone and making sure that they could hear her Becki went through the formalities, firstly and most importantly stating the name of the deceased, one Mr Jeffrey Armitage. She felt it was only proper to give the name of the deceased, especially when you knew their name, and as one who tended to get a bit too attached to her subjects a name was something she strived to find out even if they came in as a John Doe or Jane Doe.

She continued to work and explain what she was doing in the kindest way possible. Becki always tried to put some feeling into her explanations, especially when she was operating in front of family members, her best friend’s family member in particular. “Mrs Armitage your husband looked like he was in very good shape and quite healthy for a man of his age,” she mentioned, then to her assistant, “Please note the musculature of his arms and legs,” as her gloved hands touched his bicep and then moved onto cutting him open as sensitively as she could and at first simply observed the organs before, with great care, she removed them and focused first on the heart, “The left ventricle is slightly enlarged,” she observed moving carefully, “Please note the occlusion of the right coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque resulting ischemia,” she spoke scientifically to the assistant then after finishing her findings addressed Leo and Mrs Armitage, “It appears that there was a narrowing in your husband’s coronary artery, a vital artery which supplies oxygen to the heart, there appears to have been a blockage which was the cause of your husband’s heart attack, the build-up of plaque on your husband’s already narrowed artery wall interrupted oxygen flow to the heart. This is very common in men his age, and there was no way of knowing your husband’s artery wall was constricted.” She explained trying to reassure the grieving wife there was nothing she could have done more than Leo. She knew Leo too well, this was not his way of grieving, he would do his grieving later in private, and Becki would be right there for him if he needed her. She would be there for him even if he didn’t think he needed her.

At his remark she nodded and exchanged a look of solemn understanding with Leo before observing and noting the fatty liver and discoloration of the liver, “Yes, you are correct Doctor Cunningham,” then turning to her assistant again as they were recording the procedure as usual, “Please note that Dr Cunningham’s observations are correct, the fattiness of the organ and the discoloration of the liver.”

Finishing up the autopsy connecting all the pieces and the various reasons as to what may have caused Jeffrey Armitage’s heart attack and concluding that it was a heart attack brought on by natural causes (omitting the fact that excess drinking for an alcoholic was natural) Becki found herself slightly taken aback by Mrs Armitage’s reaction but she understood it. “It’s perfectly understandable, and I am sorry for your loss Mrs Armitage,” she replied her tone as equally apologetic for creating such grief.

“Leo it’s not your fault,” she said, but he couldn’t hear her, she could see him still focused on the now empty doorway. As Dalton entered they exchanged words. Professor Dalton agreed to finish and clean up everything, and she left the autopsy room hurriedly washed her hands and removed her garments. Dressed in her rather frumpy work clothes she rushed out to catch up with Mrs Armitage knowing she needed to understand her son’s grief process properly. She couldn’t let his mother leave thinking he didn’t care because he did, he cared too much.

“Please, Mrs Armitage,” she called to the woman as she prepared to leave gathering up her purse and signing off on certain paper. Becki placed a hand on her arm, her messy bun flying everywhere. “Your son,” she shook her head, “Leo, he is a dear friend of mine and I know that his relationship with his father must have been a strained one, the way he talks, has talked about him, but he does love his father, and watching what he watched… It’s not easy for anyone to see that, especially him. It’s not that he doesn’t care; it’s that he cares too much, and the only way he can cope with something like that is looking past it as if it were scientific rather than identifying Mr Armitage as his father. I am sure that he appreciated you being there,” she said tenderly, hoping she understood. The woman began to cry, and Becki hugged her. Even as she sobbed Mrs Armitage remained somehow regal, a brokenhearted woman certainly as her arms tightened around the thin blonde haired pathologist, but stately. Her nails digging into Becki’s knit sweater. For a long moment they stayed like this and Becki stroked the woman’s head in comfort, making Leo’s mother squeeze her even more tightly if that were possible. Sniffing then she released Becki and wiped her eyes with the tissue Becki offered her, “Thank you,” Mrs Armitage whispered, and placed a hand on her arm, “Take care of my son.” Becki nodded in understanding and without a word the two women parted.

Becki returned to the gallery to find Leo collapsed against the back wall, his head in his hands. She slid down beside him, linking her arms around his as he pulled his hands away from his eyes. “It’s not your fault,” she told him as she held his hands in hers. “It’s really not,” she said, “You’re mum understands, she doesn’t think that you’re unfeeling, she was hurt, you are hurting, I helped her to understand that, she loves you Leo,” she told him softly.

((ooc: Loved your post! It was fab, and sorry mine is so long. omg I need to watch more silent witness! I am getting so excited for Leo & Becki/Harry & Nikki. Btw do you know are Nikki & Harry ever going to get together? Apparently in series 16 they are going to move in together? I watched an interview on YouTube with Emilia Fox… very similar to what we are going to do with them it sounds like! I love the way he looks at her, they are so cute!))

[Leo Cunningham]

((ooc: Sorry for the length, I really wanted to put this little tidbit in from Leo's mum, or rather Leo's mum's observations of her son's feelings towards Becki... just to give Becki a little food for thought on that matter haha, hope that's okay!))

Grace Armitage turned round as she heard the pretty pathologist’s voice call to her, signing the paper in front of her to say she’d formally identified the deceased as her husband with a flourish before she focused her attention on the other woman. “I apologise for making a scene but, please, don’t try to defend Leonardo. He’s always been… so distant, so restrained, I just… I thought it was pride, a remnant of stubborn pigheaded rebellion left over from his teenage years, I don’t know… I didn’t think he truly despised his father enough to wish him… to wish him dead.” she shook her head, her voice clipped and harsh in tone as she was on the verge of tears at her son’s behaviour. Despite her calm, stiff-upper-lip personality, the stress of the day had obviously got to her and Leo’s perfectly innocent, but to her cold-seeming, remark had tipped her over the edge. Becki’s caring hand placed on her arm was the catalyst and she finally lost all sense of control and the tears came, like the floodgates had been opened, as she embraced the blonde woman for a moment whilst she cried. Finally, pulling herself together she removed her claw-like grip on her arm and looked apologetic. Additionally, when Mrs Armitage heard the blonde’s explanation of her son’s behaviour, she seemed surprised, but not unpleasantly so, and found herself nodding along in understanding.

“Yes, I suppose that makes sense. I didn’t realise this is just Leo being all Leo about it. How silly of me, and how little I know my own son-” she broke off with a heavy sigh at this and then a look of recognition crossed her features as she reconsidered the woman’s words in a new light. “Well, Leo is lucky to have someone like you, my dear, you are very kind and thank you for this and for the respect with which you treated my husband. It’s Becki, isn’t it?” she checked and then, “Please allow me to say that I’m glad in all of this that my son has found a woman who will stomach his little moods and personality… quirks, shall we say.” Seeing how the other woman looked as though she were about to protest at being described as Leo’s ‘woman’, Grace shook her head, “My dear, it has been made evident today that I do not know my son enough but one thing I do recognise in Leo is the look in his eyes when he is truly infatuated with someone. The way he looks at you, especially when he thinks no one is looking, the way he talks of you on the rare occasions he does talk to me, the way he addresses you… trust me, it’s the manner of an utterly infatuated lover. Believe me, as his mother, I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of watching many of his sordid teenage love affairs pan out and I know my son’s feelings in that arena at least. He has mellowed since then, thankfullu, and has infinitely better taste now because he’s in love with you undeniably. And if you do not wish to hear such sentiments then, for his sake, please tell him, before it’s too late,” she advised Becki seriously, her expression one of a woman who means business, before she brightened (well as bright as a new widower could be) and smiled tightly, buttoning up her coat as she spoke, “Goodbye dear, I hope to see you again soon, hopefully in happier circumstances than this. Take care of my son, please,” she requested, placing a parting hand on Becki’s arm before she pulled open the exit door to the Centre and strode out.

Meanwhile, pressing his hands even more forcibly into his eyes, Leo found it difficult suddenly to stay standing and quickly slid down the wall, not even caring that Richard could probably see this going on from the cutting room, and tucked his legs tight into his body as he rested against it. He heard the rustle of movement and a click of heels that indicated Becki had returned and yet he still couldn’t face her, he just stayed stock still, chest heaving somewhat as he dragged in a breath to get his emotions back under control. He stiffened as he felt Becki’s arm round him but relaxed once she’d pulled his hands gently away from his eyes, forcing him to stop trying to block everything out. He looked at her with a glazed expression, “It is my fault, she hates me, how could she think that I would enjoy seeing my own dad dead on a slab? I wouldn’t wish that for anyone,” he whispered, his voice carrying very little of its usual strength or control. “Does she? Oh… Becki I… thank you,” he said, a slight tender edge creeping into his tone then, as he finally focused on the real world and his expression showed he’d came back to earth, as it were. “Thank you, really, thank you, you truly are… amazing. I… I have to go after her,” Leo said decidedly with a firm nod and then got to his feet with a heavy sigh, pausing at the doorway to give a tight, but still fond somehow, smile down at her before he went after his mother.

Rushing out of the Centre he just caught his mum by calling her name from the doorway of the building, at which the woman turned round to face him, the tears now just about restrained and her chin once again picked up proudly. “I’m sorry Mum, I didn’t mean to seem cold or like I hated Dad. I didn’t, I don’t, I just don’t think we saw eye-to-eye for years and I thought it was much better for me to remove myself from the family rather than cause conflict with him in the house, which I would have done if I’d stayed in touch,” he explained – he thought that it wasn’t just the autopsy he ought to apologise for. “But, truly, I’m sorry if any of my decisions or actions hurt you, I didn’t mean to cause that and, believe me, I don’t relish in the fact that Dad has passed away, quite the contrary actually,” he finished solemnly, looking down at her before she, wordlessly, swept him into a hug.

“Oh Leo, darling, you’re still my son even if you did run off to America, you might try remembering that some time. Don’t let us part and speak only once in a blue moon again,” she murmured against his shirt before releasing him from her embrace, “Don’t be a stranger, Leo, I think I shall need you more than ever now,” she admitted in a rare moment of vulnerability before she sniffed once and nodded, “I won’t keep you from your work darling but allow me to say that, I think, you’ve found a wonderfully astute, caring and rather beautiful woman, please don’t mess it up my dear, I’d like to see you happy,” Mrs Armitage smiled as she touched her son’s cheek fondly before turning away and, wrapping her coat around her, disappearing down the street.

Still feeling her touch on his cheek, Leo found himself speechless so much so that he didn’t even realise he ought to correct his mother’s mistake, clearly regarding Becki, until it was too late to do so. Shaking his head he turned away and re-entered the Edmond Locard Centre, his feet automatically making their way to the office where Becki sat, looking concerned as he appeared once more. “Whatever you said, you worked a miracle there, I’ve never seen her so angry and yet she was saying about missing me and wanting me to stay in touch and… I think you have something to do with it,” Leo smiled at her warmly, leaning across the desk to take her hands in his and squeeze them softly, “So thank you, truly.”

((ooc: Silent Witness IS rather fab. Idk lol, like many SW fans Harry and Nikki seems inevitable to me, it’s the whole Ross and Rachael scenario all over again but who knows when the writers will finally push them together. They move in together for a bit, yes similar to what we’re going to do because that’s where I got the idea haha. By the looks of it that episode doesn’t result in them getting together though – it was supposed to be the second episode of the series but it’s similar to an actual trial which is going on right now so they can’t show the episode and it keeps getting pushed back. Because of that episodes after that one have been aired instead and in those there’s no indication of Harry and Nikki being together so looks like it was cutesy stuff but nothing concrete which is a shame! Unless they re-edit the original episode to include more… fingers crossed haha.))

[Becki Addison]

((ooc: Aah, I thought it was relevant to what is going on. Right, that makes sense. Aww, well I enjoy the romantic/sexual tension between the two, I just hope that they get together at some point because they are absolutely fab together! It’s funny I have watched so many clips to familiarise myself with Nikki/Becki (and simply because I love them/Harry & Nikki) when I write Becki I hear Emilia Fox’s voice, not sure if it actually comes out like her though, lol. Btw I loved your post, brilliant!))

“Don’t be, there is really nothing for you to be sorry about,” Becki shook her head at Leo’s stoic mother. She was quite beautiful; Becki could see where he got his good looks from, and his stoicism in the face of utter madness. Her brow furrowed at Mrs Armitage’s words. Then getting defensive as his mother spoke of Leo Becki came to his defense once again, interjecting, “Leo is my best friend, my very best friend, and I only defend him because that is who he is, a good person who loves people too much to let anyone in, to let anyone see how much he really loves them.” Then with a sigh she took a breath listening to the rest of what Mrs Armitage had to say about her son. “You’re wrong,” she muttered quietly, “I am sorry if I offend, but you’re wrong about your son Mrs Armitage, he doesn’t wish his father dead, he never has no matter how much he has hated him,” Becki didn’t really know why Leo had hated his father, she could gather a few reasons from the little he had divulged. “As much as Leo tries to deny it he loves his family and that very much includes you,” she admitted for him, Becki knew he didn’t despise his family as much as he proclaimed.

At Mrs Armitage’s words as the woman finally let go of her a smile graced Becki’s features, “Leo being Leo, yes, well he can’t be anything but I’m afraid.” She nodded, her smile quickly replaced by a sincere expression and a sympathetic gesture. Then as she listened intently to his mother’s words and found her mouth opening almost in protest, to correct the assumption she thought his mother had made about her being ‘his woman,’ she quickly shut it again. Becki felt flushed, heat rising into her cheeks involuntarily at his mother’s words. Leo didn’t love her, not in the way she described. As Grace Armitage spoke scenes unfolded before her eyes, memories of Leo and Becki, when they met and everything that had followed. They loved each other certainly, but as best friends, not as lovers. All Becki could do was smile, her smile a bit more tight this time. “I hope so too,” she agreed placing a hand on Mrs Armitage’s arm mirroring the same gesture before nodding.

After watching his mother leave Becki sighed and made her way back into the gallery where she found Leo. Encircling her arms with his she stroked his hand, “People grieve in different ways Leo, she didn’t understand your methods of grieving, she doesn’t hate you. Your mother loves you very much, and she understands now,” Becki assured him simply. Becki nodded releasing her arms around his and returned his tight smile as he strode out of the room.

With Leo outside and Professor Dalton finished cleaning up Becki made her way into the office once more making sure everything was tidied, even on Leo’s desk. Once again she picked up her coat which she had deposited unceremoniously on the floor and her purse beside it. She sank into her chair with a heavy sigh. Glancing up from the multiple texts her boyfriend Ethan had sent her she smiled wearily at Leo as he entered abandoning her phone and shoving it into her purse. “You’re welcome,” she smiled at him and squeezed his hands in return.

[Leo Cunningham]

((ooc: Yeah, part of me really likes the will-they-won't-they aspect of it all, makes it fun, so I'm not quite sure how the writers will handle it. I see Nikki and Harry as end game somehow, they will probably go through several more episodes before putting them together... or at least I hope so, I hope they don't abandon the idea altogether, the SW Nikki/Harry fans would be so disappointed if so! Aww thank you, you're too kind, and yeah I hear Nikki/Emilia in your post!))

Squeezing her hands back softly, "No, really, thank you for everything, for understanding how I need to distant myself to 'deal with it', as they say," Leo clarified, "It means a lot that you knew me enough to explain it to my Mum because... I've never seen her like that, obviously, but... I don't know, all through my life I've had this image of my Mum as this stoic, collected woman who merely picked her chin up in the face of adversity and didn't show her emotions. I think I got a little of that from her," he admitted with a slight sigh, finally releasing her hands though he hadn't realised he'd held hers in his for quite as long as he had done. "So it was a bit... offputting to see her so... not collected," he shrugged. "Listen to me, she has every right and reason to fall apart!" he scoffed at himself slightly, shaking his head quickly as he ran a hand wearily over his face, "It's just odd seeing her like that. Let alone what it's like to see Dad..." he trailed off, biting his lip to stop himself saying anything he'd regret saying.

Changing the subject somewhat, "Anyway, I suppose I'm going to be told to take it easy, take some time off, if Richard has any say in it. Can't have an on-edge pathologist in the lab, now, can we?" he added, something of his usual joking manner hinted at in his expression, but he looked sadly down at the paperwork and such he was in the middle of at that moment. He should at least confine himself to his desk, work on administration matters, rather than go anywhere near the mortuary where he knew his father's sewed-up body would be stored until the funeral directors collected him. "I should, I should help Mum," he considered aloud, "I think she'd deal with it a lot better if she had an extra pair of hands in the arrangements and such. I suppose I should let Tristan and Helena know too," he mused, reaching around his desk for a pen whilst he jotted a sort of 'to do' list for himself regarding his father's affairs.

"So whose calls and texts have you just missed then?" he asked, nudging his head down at the bag where she'd just stowed her phone when he came into the room. "I'm not completely clueless Becki, you had plans didn't you?" he asked but held a slight knowing look in his eyes. "Would these plans involve someone of the male sex? Well, whatever the case, I hope you're happy, be happy for my sake, eh, add a bit of lightness to the doom and gloom of a terrible day?" Leo proposed.

[Becki Addison]

Becki returned his sentiment with a small smile of gratitude. “I’d say you did, but I wouldn’t that was a bad thing necessarily,” she told him honestly, realising then that he had released her hands. Her hands slid off the desk and back into her lap. She nodded solemnly. “It’s difficult to see our parents like that when we view them as something like superheroes. Every child believes that their parent or parents can face anything, it’s when we grow up that we realise that they are human beings too.”

For a moment Becki listened to him silently. “You should,” she agreed softly. “Want me to come round yours tomorrow and we can grab some lunch together?” she asked, she wanted Leo to be alone as little as possible over the next few days. It was very likely that she would be visiting him invariably over the next few weeks. “Let me know if I can help with any arrangements will you, to make it easier on your mum and that sort of thing,” she offered with a tight awkward smile. It was hard really, dealing with death. They dealt with it every day, but when it was someone close to you, it made the job somehow different. It wasn’t your job any longer, it was real.

Becki had intended to brush Leo’s question off, but she couldn’t as he looked over at her. She gave him a small knowing smile in return. “Ethan. I told him I couldn’t make it to dinner tonight, told him I would text him when I got home, but it’s awfully late, he wanted to know if everything was alright,” she explained. Becki hadn’t told Ethan why she couldn’t go out just that something had come up. Ethan was a really nice bloke. One of the better blokes she had dated which wasn’t really saying much but he was nice and treated her well. “You are more important,” she declared with a small solemn smile over at Leo, “Want to go get something to eat, or go back to mine and finish off a bottle of wine?” she offered. She knew she had a bottle of wine stashed in her desk but she thought getting out of the Edmond Locard Centre would be better for Leo.

((ooc: Meh this was rubbish sorry, and I kept wanting to write Harry when I meant Leo and Nikki when I meant Becki lol!))

[Leo Cunningham]

Leo smiled slightly in amusement, “Mmm, it’s a good thing in the face of crisis but utterly detrimental when you ought to show some semblance of emotion. I hear it’s healthy to ‘let it out’, catharsis and such, but I think me and Mum will always prefer to keep our upper lips firmly stiff,” he commented, half-jokingly but there was a hint of fondness in his tone as he spoke of Mrs Armitage. “Exactly!” he agreed emphatically, “They’re supposed to be invincible, you know? I wouldn’t say my father is… was… is…” he couldn’t quite agree on the tense he wished to use then but carried on as though he hadn’t stumbled over it, “… particularly heroic, not in the traditional ‘good guy’, ‘save the day’ sense, he was flawed, more Batman than Superman I’d say, but I couldn’t imagine a world in which he wasn’t… there. It’s odd, we see this happen every day but it’s still a shock.”

“I’m not sure, I like working to distract myself,” Leo commented but then sighed and acquiesced, “I suppose I can channel that desire for distraction into energy on something more helpful, namely funeral preparations and talking to the lawyer in charge of his affairs.” He scribbled this down on his list, knowing his Mum would probably know where in his possessions Jeffrey Armitage kept such documents and details but was probably unwilling to face the reality of having to get things in orders just yet. Leo would help her to do so, then, he’d decided. Looking up from his list as Becki proposed lunch tomorrow, “I’d like that,” he admitted with a small smile, adding a joke for, as ever, this was his way of coping with such emotions, “After all, I need my quota of Becki for a week and it simply won’t do if I don’t see you just because you’re at work whilst I am confined to time off. And your occasional company for a quick coffee or lunch date will be sufficient enough, more than enough actually,” Leo assured her with a warm smile that silently said ‘thank you for the offer’ to help him with the arrangements.

“Aaaaah, Ethan! That is a new bloke, is it not? Or else you’ve been holding back, Doctor Addison!” he gasped, fixing her with a knowing look. He strongly suspected she’d been keeping her relationship with this ‘Ethan’ quiet, either to avoid Leo’s insistence that he vet him to make sure he was suitable or because she didn’t think it was appropriate given Leo’s rather disastrous personal life as of late- a personal life which had become far too public for his liking due to the fact he had worked with his girlfriend and then rather publicly split with said girlfriend in this very building. “I’m not,” Leo countered quietly, in a surprisingly defensive tone, as she declared him more important, “Please don’t feel like you have to stay with me, I… I’ll be fine, honestly,” he assured her solemnly but then caved pretty quickly upon hearing her offer, “I have an even better idea, let us combine the two and, if you’ll allow, make an alteration to the venue. You’re joining me for supper and dessert and there might even be wine too. I’d appreciate the company.” He felt like he had to get home, get out of the Centre, get back to cooking that spaghetti carbonara he’d planned for his supper that evening – get back to something familiar with which he could distract himself, if only momentarily, from what was going on.

((ooc: I disagree, it was great, Becki was lovely as ever! Haha I know, if I’ve been watching SW around the time I’m writing for Leo I end up having to go back and correcting it haha. Side note, I was listening to 'In My Arms' by Snow Patrol while I wrote this and I think the lyrics fit Leo/Becki quite well.))