I don't own the characters, I just borrow them from time to time to write some non-commercial (hopefully entertaining) fanfiction.

Looking at Laura

He could not see her eyes. Safety glasses reflected the harsh light. Her small hand was steady and did not hesitate when scalpel touched skin and made the first cut. Fascinated, Robbie watched Laura doing her daily work. Laura in the middle of a post mortem.

Professional, distanced.

Competent.

Focussed, laser-sharp.

A quick, analytical mind.

Intelligent.

Erudite.

Inquisitive.

A hard worker. Not willing to delegate.

A scientist.

Robbie stood in the hall and looked through the window of the autopsy room, waiting for her.

Early Saturday morning. Laura was on duty and Robbie had already done their grocery shopping. Afterwards, he clandestinely collected a purchase that he had ordered several weeks ago. He was proud of himself, because he had managed to keep it secret.

Robbie stood in the dim light of the hall and observed the woman in green scrubs. She looked up, turned her head a bit and their eyes met for a moment. She smiled her signature Laura-smile with her eyes beaming at him. Although most of her face was hidden behind the protective mask, Robbie knew that her nose was crinkled and her mouth - lips closed - framed by lovely dimples.

The next moment, her attention was back on the corpse on the autopsy table.

Her small figure was clad in those scrubs that always seemed to be too big for her.

Tiny.

Fragile?

Vulnerable. Maybe sometimes.

Independent. Oh yes.

Strong, stubborn, self-confident.

That was what most people saw.

Robbie had known Laura for more than twenty years and had liked her immediately. She was an energetic young pathologist when they first met. A sharp-tongued, witty, youthful woman who was not afraid of getting involved in an exchange with senior police officers like Morse. Her hair had been a darker, golden shade of blonde then. Robbie remembered her curls, kept out of her face with some sort of hair circlet. A small face, like a triangle, not quite heart-shaped. Elegant high cheekbones. And her face was dominated by bright blue eyes with long dark lashes.

Laura could talk with her eyes. One look was enough to tell you all you needed to know. She had perfected the art of expressing annoyance with a glance, more effectively than words could ever do.

Cheeky.

Sociable.

She liked a good party.

Warm-hearted.

Compassionate. Empathetic.

Patient.

Protective.

Understanding.

Musical.

And she always spoke her mind. When Laura was on the warpath, you didn't want to be on the receiving end.

Now Laura talked to her assistant, placing something in the metal bowl he was holding. Robbie did not want to know what exactly she was doing there. He couldn't count how often he had stood next to an autopsy table, being talked through the results of a post mortem. It had felt strange working together after they had become a couple. Although Laura had said, "We've had some of our best times standing over a mangled corpse." A wicked sense of humour.

Dr. Hobson.

Colleagues.

Hobson.

Friends.

Laura.

Close friends.

Lovers.

That was no longer enough; the word sounded like something temporary to him. Robbie did not want "temporary".

Girlfriend and boyfriend sounded completely wrong - weren't they a bit too old for that?

Partner. Robbie had been told this was the politically correct word that modern people used today. He was not exactly a dinosaur, but he was not always a modern man either.

Partner in life. Too distant, too neutral.

And for his taste, it sounded too much like partner in crime. Robbie and Laura, partners in crime - the idea made him grin. Their collective knowledge would come in handy...

The woman he loved. It had taken him years to recognise that this was what he felt for her.

Buying a house together did count as a serious commitment, didn't it? Was a property deed the modern version of a marriage certificate?

Wife. That sounded right to him.

Robbie tenderly closed his fingers around the little box in his pocket and felt anticipation and excitement rise.

His eyes had stayed on Laura all this time while he waited patiently. He was sure she knew he was watching her. Laura gently tucked the greenish coverlet around the body and nodded to her assistant.

She removed the glasses and mask, pulled the scrub capfrom her hair and disposed of it, followed by the white plastic apron and gloves. While she washed her hands and arms, she chatted with her assistant.

The light in the autopsy room showed no mercy. It created dark shadows on Laura's face and made her look tired. Laura's hair was a light shade of blonde these days and had a silvery shimmer now. Robbie had only noticed that when they had looked at some old photos. Laura was ageing gracefully and the change had been fluent and subtle over time.

From the distance he couldn't see the fine lines that had formed around her eyes and mouth. But he knew they were there, and he was pretty sure he was the cause for one or two of them. To him, Laura was even more beautiful after all these years.

Soft and tender.

Sensual.

Sexy.

Attractive.

Attracting him magnetically.

Robbie wanted her to know how much she meant to him. A couple of years ago she had told him that people didn't know how you felt. You had to tell them. And finally he had told her. It had taken him pretty long though.

His fingers circled firmly around the little box in his pocket.

He had little doubt that she would say, "Yes."

Wife.