A/N: This is an expansion of the scene in S3E1 where Gill tells Kevin that he failed his sergeant's exam. The pairing is clearly AU, especially after the series finale (or maybe this adds a whole new dimension to Kevin's grudge against Godzilla?! ;) )
Unfortunately I don't own the characters or anything much else!
Reviews will earn you eternal love :D xxx

"Kevin, you got a minute?" Gill barked as she walked past.

He smiled slightly to himself and straightened his jacket as he sauntered towards her office, a half smile on his face, one which Gill wished she could return.

She deliberately didn't shut the door because she wanted to limit the length of the conversation and get this over with as quickly as possible. And you don't trust yourself alone with him, added a small voice in the back of her head, expressing a fairly accurate, if not entirely appropriate thought.

You'd have thought that for DCI Gill Murray, who regularly had to tell members of the public about the brutal murders of their loved ones, telling one of her detectives he hadn't passed an exam would be a piece of cake.

He stood before her with a look of apprehension on his face, clearly he had more than an inkling of what this was about and she realised it was only fair that he knew. She'd already confided in Janet about Kevin's examination results and in all honesty she had been putting off telling him.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you that you didn't pass your sergeant's exam." The sentence sounded rather more blunt than Gill had intended it to.

He cracked a smile and she internally cringed. No Kevin, it wasn't a joke. Maybe that was the problem with spending time socially with her colleagues, but then again, when had he ever seen her joke at work? A minute head movement communicated these thoughts and his expression changed to that of a kicked puppy. All she wanted to do was reach across the desk and gather him into a hug.

"That's it, I'm sorry I've got a meeting with the CSM." She pre-empted whatever comment he was about to make, suddenly wishing she had told him this out of hours so that she could have given him that hug.

He began to speak, asking where he had gone wrong but she interrupted him. "You're not a bad copper Kevin, but I have to tell you sometimes I think your skills might be better utilised outside MIT."

Gill regretted that sentence the instant it had left her mouth. She didn't even know why she'd said it and now she couldn't bear to make eye contact; she never wanted to see his reaction to what she had just said. Calling Janet over was her way of completely concluding the conversation and he left the room abruptly, eyes fixed straight ahead and looking distinctly as though he was trying not to cry.

Gill had always been adamant that Kevin wouldn't get special treatment at work and that their relationship wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to the way they interacted as colleagues. So far it was working, no one else knew about them, although she wouldn't be surprised if Janet had guessed.

But now she feared she had taken it too far; it seemed to him that the closer they got, the more crushing the insults she hurled at him in the office. He didn't mind the personal jibes, he knew she didn't mean it and the glance she'd always give him afterwards communicated this.

That sentence, however, had sounded far too honest. Even though Kevin played up to his role as the office joker and took in his stride the comments about his stupidity, he had genuinely worked hard for his Sergeant's exam and Gill knew that. He left the office as quickly as he could without knocking everything and everyone flying on the way, trying to hide his face; trying to hide that he cared.

.x.

Despite it being the end of a gruelling day, the predominant mood in the office was triumphant as they'd got a conviction and solved the case they had been working on for the past two weeks. Everyone was collecting their bags and coats, eager to leave the office; Pete was keen to get home and Rachel was trying to persuade someone to accompany her to the pub.

"Kev, can you hang on two minutes?" Gill barked out her office, interrupting the low-level chatter emanating from the room of exhausted detectives. Gill saw the expression Rachel pulled towards Janet and the raised eyebrows but she didn't care. Granted, it was out of character for Gill to use the detective constable's nickname, but she knew he'd disappear off home given half a chance.

Kevin considered saying no. But he couldn't necessarily decipher whether the invitation was professional or personal, and either way Rachel would do slightly more than raise an eyebrow if he refused.

He approached the door of Gill's office slowly, waiting for the last stragglers to leave the room. The door slammed shut behind Lee and awkwardness descended. The two police officers had hardly seen each other since the beginning of the investigation, as usual when they had a big case on. Gill supposed that was the advantage of dating a fellow police officer, they understood how much of your time the job demanded.

"I'm sorry." The two words broke the silence and Kevin instantly knew to what she was referring. "You deserve your place in MIT just as much as anyone else on the team, okay. And I'm sorry about your exam. I wouldn't have kept Janet on as acting Sergeant until your results came through if I didn't think you could have done it."

Her simple apology morphed into a rather heartfelt one and Kevin couldn't help but smile, despite his failure. As you can imagine, it wasn't very often that anyone got to see this side of Gill - even him.

That smile was all the response she needed as she gathered her belongings. "Come on, let's go. I've got a microwave meal for two and a bottle of wine in the fridge."

"What an offer. How could I resist that?" he joked, but his words were entirely truthful; right now he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.