Author's note: All usual disclaimers apply.

Apologies for any confusion. I had unexpected technical issues. Attached is the correct file.

The envelope had been hand delivered to his door and Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley had been keen to open it. He had however been true to his word and had rung his partner, Sergeant Havers, to invite her over so they could open it together.

He kept staring at the envelope wondering what the journalist had made of their relationship. Assistant Commissioner Hiller had insisted, against their better judgement, that they be the subject of a feature article on police partnerships. 'What better example can we have than you two?' he had told them. Barbara had been furious at first but in the end she had been the one who had been able to talk more openly about their experiences over the years. Tommy had been impressed by the way she deftly avoided giving too much away but he had never told her. Maybe he should do that today. He always found it hard to talk about his feelings. He had told her a few times he appreciated her but he had not done so for a long while; too long in fact.

Barbara arrived in less than twenty minutes. He took her coat and hung it on the hall stand. "Kitchen or lounge?"

"Lounge I think," she replied, "we might need a stiff drink."

Tommy poured them both one and handed the glass to her. She had shucked off her shoes and plonked herself comfortably on his sofa, eagerly eying the envelope. The awkwardness that she had once seemed to feel around him had disappeared. He was grateful that they had settled into an easy, companionable accord.

"You open it," he said.

She did. "Oh great photo! You look so…so debonair!"

Tommy sat next to her and strained to see. He pulled his new, black-rimmed reading glasses from his pocket and adjusted them on the bridge of his nose. It was a good photo of both of them. Barbara looked relaxed and the way they were looking at each other in the shot spoke of a great friendship.

"I always look like that but they did a great job on you with Photoshop," he said teasingly, "see you are even smiling."

Barbara punched him surprisingly hard on his arm and grinned at him. "You should have got those glasses years ago so you noticed more things."

It had been said as a joke but Tommy heard the gentle rebuke in there. "Read it out Barbara."

"Nah, you do it Sir. It'll sound much nicer if you read it, even if they say something unkind."

Tommy took the article and held it up like a town crier reading an important proclamation. He glanced across to see her smiling at him. He liked to see her smile. It had been happening a lot more often lately and it was a good thing.

"London Leader Feature Article 24 June: 'Unconscious Unity: Diversity in Action: An unlikely pairing are London's top cops' by Nicholas Allerem"

"That's a good start,' she said enthusiastically.

"When the Met's Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers were first assigned a case together no one expected their partnership to last. But last it has and nearly a decade later the successful crime-fighting duo have a record clearance rate and have earned the respect of their colleagues. They have brought down murderers, kidnappers, people traffickers and rapists across London and beyond, always being willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for justice.

Better known to the world as Lord Asherton the tall, eye-catching and well-spoken earl from Cornwall is an unusual police officer but so too is his trusty sidekick, a charmingly scruffy, no-nonsense woman from Acton. Assistant Commissioner Sir David Hillier believes that it is this diversity that has created such a successful team. "Pairing officers of different backgrounds and experiences is vital to modern policing to allow us to take advantage of new technologies and techniques to continue to outwit the criminal mind. Lynley and Havers were a prototype for many more such partnerships," he says proudly."

"Trust bloody Hillier,' she said laughing, "trusty sidekick makes me sound like your dog or something."

"Maybe I should start calling you Tonto?" He ducked her light-hearted punch.

"Only if you want me to start calling you DI Kemo Sabe!"

"Might be a change to 'Sir' all the time," he retorted earning a savage glare.

"Okay, okay but I like the charmingly scruffy bit," he said pointing to her mismatched socks in an attempt to distract her.

"Anyway where was I? Lynley, who prefers to be called by the Tommy, attributes their success to an ability to listen to different views and assess motives. "Barbara has a unique ability to understand the criminal psyche and I tend to see linkages and patterns," he says. She on the other hand puts their success down to hard work and vigorous debate. As always both are correct.

I recently had the privilege to follow Lynley and Havers around for a week, studying their behaviour and interactions with each other, their colleagues and the unfortunate crimin who commit felonies they are tasked to solve. They reminded me of a couple who had been married for years."

Tommy looked over and noticed Barbara was blushing. He was suddenly unsure whether to keep reading. "They finish each other's sentences and ideas. They bicker and disagree almost constantly but if anyone else dares criticise the other they are swift and vicious in their defence. They intuitively know when the other needs coffee or a break and when they look at each other there is always a conversation taking place to which no one else is privy. I sometimes felt embarrassed to participate in something that felt incredibly intimate. Good gracious!" Tommy looked over to see Barbara staring open-mouthed at him. Tommy swallowed hard, unsure what to say.

"So it surprised me to observe that they never call each other by name. Lynley is always 'Sir' and she is usually 'Havers'. It is an odd formality for such a close partnership as if it is the only thing that prevents their obvious affection for each other becoming too personal. Maybe you had better call me Kemo Sabe." Barbara did not answer and sat looking straight ahead, fixated on the wall.

Lynley continued, "Havers became a policewoman because she wanted a meaningful career where she could make a difference to her community. Her blunt willingness to share her opinions, bordering at times on rudeness, was not something many men in the force had been able to manage. "They paired me with Inspector Lynley thinking I would not cope. I believe they wanted to break me," says Havers with characteristic honesty. "I thought he was an arrogant, aristocratic ponce at first but he was such a genuinely compassionate man underneath that, I could not help but like him."

They looked at each other. Tommy smiled in a way he knew he only ever did when she did or said something that touched him. He struggled to find appropriate words but in the end said nothing.

"From the start I knew she was intelligent and dogged and was the best detective I had worked with but she was also exasperating. I was not the easiest person to work with either and I was determined not to give up on her; not to give up on us," Lynley responds with obvious affection." Maybe he had already found the right words. He could feel Barbara's eyes on him and the colour creeping up his neck. He hoped she did not think that was patronising, or worse. He had simply meant that he was not going to let her dislike for him ruin her career, or his for that matter. She must know that he liked and respected her. He ignored her searching frown and continued to read.

"Lynley was educated at Eton and Oxford before enjoying a fast track through the Police Service. He is intelligent, sharp and charming but also has empathy for victims and a fierce belief in righteousness that I had not expected to find. Every case is personal to him. He seeks justice, bordering on revenge, for the victims and their families. Well that's more like it I suppose."

"Yeah,' she replied flatly. She was now avoiding looking at him which was not a good sign.

"In style they are very different. He is smooth and strategic while she is volatile and relies on gut instinct. Yet together those qualities merge into an unconscious unity where the whole is definitely stronger and more effective than the sum of the parts. When they interviewed a suspect in a robbery that had resulted in the death of a security guard they asked questions as if they had one mind. I watched the suspect crumble before them, unsure where to turn, knowing that they had seen right into his soul. There was no 'good cop, bad cop' routine. Instead they functioned as a single, almost deadly, organism. My God, he makes us sound like a colony of bacteria!"

Barbara's reticence disappeared and she laughed uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face. "Hillier will be apoplectic when he reads that!"

Tommy relaxed a little. "e. coli I think might suit us. We tend to give everyone around us the…"

"Don't say it! I get the picture. I like that analogy. Mr and Mrs E. Coli! Has a certain ring to it."

Tommy stopped and stared at her. We really should get married. He had an almost overwhelming urge to kiss her. He was shocked at his thought and quickly looked away before she noticed anything in his eyes. My goodness! Where did that come from?

He coughed then continued. "The world he works in, like his own, is fraught with danger, heartbreak and sacrifice. Lynley lost his wife, a police psychologist, twelve months ago when a victim of unspeakable acts of violence accidentally shot her when confronting her tormentor. Lynley and Havers both witnessed the shooting and it has clearly had a lasting impact on them and their relationship."

They exchanged a long glance before he continued; his voice a little shaky. "He credits her friendship and encouragement as the main reason he was able to stay in the Met and it seems that they rely heavily on each other."

This time Barbara was looking at him with great compassion and understanding. "Havers was also shot in front of him a few years ago and still bears the physical scars. "It took me a while to come to terms with it. The DI was tremendous in supporting me through it," she told me."

Barbara was still looking at him and gave him an encouraging smile. He stretched his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. Although it was unusual he left his arm there as he finished reading the article. "Although I tried to identify what lay at the heart of such a successful pairing I was unable to find words to explain the unique chemistry between them. It was like watching in awe as two individual atoms crashed together and created a wonderful new element out of the heat and noise. Be fearful criminals; this unlikely and unpredictable couple are headed your way."

Tommy was not sure what to say. "A bit of a clumsy mixed metaphor to end it," he said trying to sound as dismissive as he could.

Barbara was silent and Tommy looked at her. His arm was still loosely around her shoulder. The desire to pull her close and kiss her returned and he realised it had never gone away. If he was honest it was not the first time he had been tempted either. Barbara looked up at him and smiled as she reached up and removed his glasses then put them on the table. Tommy was not sure if it was a way of breaking free of his hold or if it meant something else. Barbara picked up the envelope and another slip of paper fell out and read it silently. "It's a joke!"

"What is?"

Barbara read him the note. "This is the article I would have liked to write. The real one has been sent to AC Hillier for approval. Think about it. Nick."

Tommy let out an audible sigh. He had not wanted personal details of his relationship with Barbara splashed so publically across the papers.

She sat back slightly closer to him. He looked for signs of relief or horror in her face but could tell by the way she had trapped her bottom lip between her teeth that she was contemplating something serious.

"Do you think he was right?" she asked softly.

"About?" Tommy was not game to make a comment in case he upset her. Does she expect me to tell her I love her?

"Not calling you Tommy."

"I, I…I hadn't thought about it in those terms. Only you know that Tonto."They held each other's stare for several moments silently debating what the article had said.

"I think he is quite perceptive," she said slowly then added a pensive, "Tommy."

He kissed her wondering if this was a beginning or an end. The way she kissed him back he knew it was in fact both. It was the end of their loneliness and a beginning of a conscious unity.