Jakki One Shots

Hair

I saw this prompt on Tumblr and thought it was cute : )

It had been a tough day. The case, an 8 year old little girl, murdered by her own father. Even discussing it earlier that day had brought Nikki to tears. Most cases affected her, as they should, but this one really stuck in her mind. It was probably the fact that the photo they'd chosen to release of the little girl was so happy, young Ellie in a pink dress, with the biggest smile on her face. She looked a little bit like Nikki when she was younger. She may have seen herself in the girl, but whatever the reason was that had gotten her so upset, it meant that Nikki was curled up on the sofa, with tear stained cheeks and a half empty bottle of wine on the table beside her. 

She wiped her face with her sleeve when she heard the front door unlock. Seconds after it was opened and slammed, Jack appeared in the living room, holding a takeaway bag. He'd had to stay behind at the Lyell to wrap up the case, and had promised to bring a Chinese on the way home. But when he saw his girlfriend, sniffling and teary eyed, he threw the bag on the kitchen table and rushed towards her, his muscled arms wrapping around her tiny frame.

"What's happened?" he asked concerned, as Nikki lent back into his chest.

"Nothing. Just today. It's been a bit much."

Jack sighed.

"Wasn't exactly a light case, was it?"

Nikki shook her head.

"That poor little girl-" Nikki started, before she went off again, tears streaming down her face.

The sat in silence for a little while, Jack's embrace tight around Nikki's shoulders. Nikki took a breath every so often, as Jack began stroking her head. All of a sudden, Nikki felt strands of her hair being pulled, and turned to Jack in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Braiding your hair."

Realising Jack was deadly serious, she cocked her head to the side.

"Why?"

"Isn't that what girls do when they're upset? Clarissa's not here to do it for you, so I thought I'd try it."

This got a smile and a laugh from Nikki.

"It's what 12 year old girls do. 40 year old women drown their sorrows in a bottle of wine."

"Well I don't care. Turn around."

With a quiet giggle, Nikki did as she was told. Every so often, she felt her hair being tugged, wincing when a strand was pulled a little too strongly. She could hear Jack huffing, and that made her laugh.

"You've got no clue what you're doing, have you?"

Jack shook his head, defeated.

"Nope, not in the slightest."

As Jack let go of her hair, Nikki lent back, her head in his lap. She gazed up at him, smiling.

"Well, you've made me feel better, so thank you."

"See I knew it would work," Jack said with a grin.

He lent down to kiss her, Nikki's hand reaching for his neck. When they broke apart, Nikki closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She felt much more relaxed in Jack's arms, smiling to herself before drifting off to sleep.