As she turned away from Alec and walked towards Robbie, Laura couldn't help but consider the symbolism. Alec was part of her past, Robbie, hopefully, her future. Forced to take compassionate leave, she'd had a lot of time to think since that horrible night. And most of those thoughts had centered around Robbie. She had expected to see him before today but he'd stayed away. Ashamed of his actions? Or afraid of her reaction? She wasn't sure, but something had kept him from her. But that ended today. Her thoughts had opened her eyes to a few things, and life was too short not to act on them - recent events had made that abundantly clear.

After she'd been given a once over by the hospital, and her statement had been taken, Laura had gone to stay with a friend, spending her days at the hospital as Ellen recovered. But her nights were spent reliving the last few days. Not the abduction, or the feeling of soil raining down on her (although they did come to her in her sleep; waking her up, her screams caught at the back of her throat) but those moments spent with Robbie. When he'd sat in front of her, in her own home, saying its procedure, she'd been devastated. It took everything in her not to ask Robbie outright if she meant nothing to him. She'd held herself together, barely lasting until she heard the front door close behind them before she broke down. Tears of hurt and anger pouring down her face as Ellen held her. But in those nights after it was over, she could see the apology on his face, could see his plea for understanding. James had filled her in on just how much Robbie had resisted doubting her, how long he had put off taking an official statement. It was only when James had shown him her name in those hospital records that he had succumbed and said bring her in. By the time Laura had come to terms with Robbie's actions, she'd also understood her own.

In recent months they'd grown closer. Sharing shy smiles as their eyes met, enjoying little touches that lingered. Her people don't know how you feel, unless you tell them had been as much about her as it was about James, a gentle nudge that was meant to tell him she was ready to hear what he had to say. It had worked to some extent. He'd come to her a few weeks later and mentioned the opera tickets, blushing as he asked if she minded staying overnight. That's when she realised he wanted them to take that first step away from Oxford. Away from prying eyes and memories, somewhere that they could just be themselves. That weekend hadn't happened, but it had given her hope. The smile on his face when she'd replied I'm happy about that had shown her how much she meant to him. Her own reaction to Robbie's questions had shown her how much Robbie meant to her. Somewhere along the way she'd fallen in love. She'd been so hurt because instead of sharing words of love, they were sharing doubt and suspicions. She had later avoided answering his there's nothing else I need to know, getting in her car to drive away because she was too ashamed to tell him of a drunken night spent with Alec, too unsure now of their feelings to let him in on a secret she'd never told anyone. On the day of Ligeia's funeral, Laura had made a decision. No more messing about. She needed to know how Robbie felt, needed to tell him how she felt.

As they walked away from the funeral, Laura linked her arm through Robbie's, pulling him closer. It felt good to have him close again. She'd missed Robbie's support, he'd always been there for her, ever since he'd returned from the BVI. They had gotten into the habit of being together after difficult cases, either in a pub or at home with takeout. She talked to him when things went wrong and he sought her out when James or Innocent wound him up. They just always knew what the other needed. He'd turned up at her house after Dr Ransome had been shot, sitting with her as she talked about anything but the woman dying in her arms. Eventually she'd turned into him, tears in her eyes saying "I felt so useless, I'm a doctor and I couldn't help her". He had held her as she cried, giving her his handkerchief when she'd calmed enough to lean away from him apologising. That thought reminded her - "I still have your handkerchief, from in the ambulance that night", "that's OK, I have another" he said, smiling as he reached into his jacket, pulling out the edge of another carefully folded square of white cotton to prove it. "Good, we might need it" she said "we need to talk".

Laura watched the smile fade from Robbie's face. He turned away, looking at the path in front of them. "Can we sit? There's a bench up there". She nodded her agreement, her fingers tightening on his arm as they approached the bench. Robbie put his hand out, inviting her to sit first, before sitting alongside her. Laura could see he was anxious, his hands pressing into his thighs as he waited for her to start talking. "I'm sorry" she said "you were doing your job, and I took it personally, I should have.." Laura stopped talking as Robbie's head spun around to face her, his face contorted with some emotion she couldn't decipher "no, don't you dare apologise" he almost shouted the words at her, continuing with "its all my fault, I shouldn't have asked you, you deserved my support and instead I treated you like a suspect... I'd give anything not to have put that look on your face", he paused "I should have taken myself off the case, should have stayed by your side, maybe I could have stopped them..." he stood up, taking a couple of steps away before spinning back round "I should have stopped them". Laura saw the fear on his face, knew he was thinking about how close he had come to losing her. " Robbie," she held out her hand "come here, sit down". Reluctantly he moved closer. Taking her hand before sitting down alongside her. "Why did you stay on the case?" Laura asked. "Because I would have had to say I was too close," he looked down before adding "it didn't seem right to tell Innocent how much you meant - mean - to me, before telling you". Despite their serious conversation Laura couldn't help but smile, shaking her head as she pictured Robbie having that conversation with Jean. Knowing her, she would probably have said something like "its about time".

"Its OK Robbie," Laura tugged their hands onto her lap "James came to see me. He explained your side of things, made me realise you were always on my side. At least until you saw my name in black and white." "I felt so betrayed" said Robbie "like I didn't really know you at all. And then, when we realised what had happened..." Laura interrupted him "you mean when you realised and explained it to everyone else". Robbie shook his head "it doesn't matter how we knew, what mattered was that I was wrong. It was me who had betrayed you, by not trusting you I let you down." "Is that why you didn't call?" Laura asked "Did you think I wouldn't answer?". Robbie looked away, rubbing a hand over his face "I kept seeing that look on your face. It felt like I'd lost you even before they took you. How could you forgive me, why should you forgive me?" "And yet you waited for me at the funeral, weren't you worried about what I wanted to say?". Robbie smiled at her "James came to see me too". "Of course he did" said Laura, eyes twinkling as she added "he is the brains obviously". It took a second or two, and then Robbie burst out laughing. Finally letting go of her hand, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight against him as she laughed with him.

It felt good to laugh, but Laura still had a final question to ask. She leant into his shoulder, taking a deep breath she said "why didn't you pull me out?" She felt Robbie tighten his grip, heard his voice breaking as he remembered that night. "I couldn't let them get away. You would never be safe - they believed it was your fault, and they would have tried again. I'd seen what they were capable of Laura, I had to stop them." Laura shifted, turned more towards him "But knowing what they were capable of, you still followed them into the dark, on your own. You could have gone over that balcony..." that thought had tears filling Laura's eyes as she looked at him. "But I didn't. I'm still here". Laura felt Robbie shift, his arm slipping down around her, and she allowed him to pull her against his chest. James had read Robbie's report, and told Laura what had happened. The knowledge now that he could have died because he wanted to keep her safe had her hand fisting in his shirt as she pressed her head against his heart. For the first time out loud she admitted "I was so scared Robbie..."" Oh Laura" he said as he laid his head on hers "its ok, I've got you". The combination of his words, his arm around her and his hand moving to cover hers made her feel safe, really safe for the first time in so long, and she relaxed her grip closing her eyes.

They sat for a moment or two, before she heard Robbie ask "would we have handled this differently if we'd gone away that weekend?" Laura laughed "well, I doubt you would have needed to ask for my alibi for the night the girl was killed..." she tilted her head back to see Robbie smiling down at her. "You mean we would have only needed one room?" Laura felt a need to tease saying "maybe not then," and she watched his smile start to fade before adding "but definitely by now". Their eyes caught, held, as a whole conversation was spoken without words. As Laura contemplated her next move, Robbie beat her to it. She felt his lips take hers, gave herself up to feel and taste of him. She moaned in pleasure as her fingers fisted in his shirt once more - not in fear this time but to hold on as he swept her away. When they finally broke apart, she saw Robbie's smile grow, then he echoed her comment from that bank holiday weekend "Damn".