talkingtothesky | Waking the Dead ficlet: Space Between

Title: Space Between
Rating: G
Pairing: Boyd/Grace implied, but mostly friendship.
Words: 346
Notes: My attempt at a missing conversation from the end of Series 9, Ep 1 Harbinger. Repost from

boyd_grace , which is locked. My first fic in this fandom.

“Grace!” He stops her just as she’s about to set off home. There’s been something niggling at him, about this case, but he hasn’t yet found a way to voice it; too cowardly, too busy, too…everything.

Grace turns to him with a raised eyebrow and a polite but distant smile. He can see she’s tired. She doesn’t need this now, not from him. But it’s his duty as her boss, right? Just like with Sarah. Heal the wounds.

He takes a deep breath. “Are you…okay, dealing with all this?”

She lets the door go behind her and steps back into the corridor. There’s a strange look on her face, almost like disappointment. “All what?”

Foolishly, he blunders on. “In your…situation. It must be difficult to…”

“You can say it, you know. I won’t faint.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just –“

“I know what you meant.” It comes out abruptly, apparently more so than she’d intended, because a moment later she looks down at the coat folded over her arm, fiddles with a button, and when she looks up again her expression is softer. “I’m coping with it, as well as anyone can do. But I’m good at my work, I’m professional. So if you think I’m going to fall apart at the slightest mention of cancer, then you’ve seriously underestimated me.”

He holds his hands out at his sides. “Grace, I’m trying to help.”

“I know.” A nod. A few steps closer. “You’re trying, in your own way. And I appreciate that, I do. But don’t try to coddle me, and for god’s sake, don’t pity me. I don’t need it.”

“I’ve been business as usual, haven’t I? Never said a word.”

“Until now.”

“Well, yes. But we’re friends, aren’t we?” He smiles, attempts to lighten the mood. “Friends are supposed to be a nuisance.”

Her lips quirk up at the corners. “I’ll bear that in mind.” The briefest touch to his shoulder and then she’s walking away, calling “Goodnight, Boyd!” as she goes.

Leaving him standing alone in the corridor. “Goodnight, Grace.”