A/N: Sadly, the BBC are still refusing to let me keep Harry :(
Bananas
"Dear God, what happened to you?" asked Harry, appalled, as Nikki came through the door.
She gave him a sour look. "Walked into a door," she said shortly, dropping her bag onto the floor. She switched her computer on and began pulling a file towards her, only to find its progress towards her halted as a large hand was placed firmly in the centre. "Harry, I need to work on the file."
"You don't need to work on anything until you've told me what happened," he said grimly. When she didn't reply, he picked up the file. "We could have done this the easy way," he said conversationally. "Looks like I'm going to have to get the boss on your case…" he moved as if to get up, and her hand shot out to catch his wrist.
"No! Wait… Harry, don't talk to Leo."
"Because…? He's going to see the bruises and the cut lip soon enough," he reminded her gently. "You can't hide this from him forever."
"I know, but… he's not back from the conference until tomorrow, and… it'll… fade?" she asked hopefully.
He touched the bruises on her face gently. "They will," he agreed. "But they're fresh bruises, Nikki. They'll still show tomorrow." She bit her lip, and he went round behind her desk, twisting the hand that had grasped his wrist into his own, and taking hold of the other one. "I'm guessing from the fact you're not screaming for police and that you told me you'd walked into a door, that it wasn't a random attack some time between leaving work last night and getting into work this morning."
"No," she agreed.
"I also assume that, as you were going out with your entirely inappropriate boyfriend last night, this has something to do with him."
"Ex-boyfriend," she corrected.
"Thank heavens for small mercies," he commented lightly. "At least I'm not going to get into trouble for beating the crap out of your boyfriend for doing this to you."
"Harry…" she wavered.
"Come on, jeopardy-friendly. Tell me what happened," he said gently. "And then I'll decide if I'm going to kill him quickly, slowly and painfully, or let him get away with a few broken ribs."
She gave a tired smile. "Actually, it wasn't really his fault," she admitted. "We argued, yes, but he hadn't intended to hurt me. It was an accident." She started laughing. "Actually, it was… it was like something out of a bad slapstick comedy." He quirked and eyebrow, and she continued, looking slightly embarrassed. "I didn't want to say anything because…" she gave him a sheepish look, "well, I come out of it looking a… well, a…"
"A bit silly?" he asked with the first hints of a smile.
"Umm. Yeah," she said, corners of her mouth twitching up.
Harry started laughing, and dragged up a chair. "Tell me."
She wondered if she was going to regret this later.
***
"Dear God, what happened to you?" asked Leo, as Nikki came through the door the next day.
"Walked into a door," supplied Harry helpfully, and Nikki shot him a grateful look.
He thought about questioning her further, but a call meant he had no time to pursue it.
***
"I'm going for a coffee and a muffin," announced Harry. "Leo, you want anything?"
"No thanks."
"Niks?" He grinned at her. "Coffee? Banana?" he added wickedly.
She scowled. "Vanilla latte, thanks. No banana."
"Not even peeled? And make sure I dispose of the skin safely?"
"No banana!" she yelped, throwing a scrunched-up piece of paper at him.
Her frown deepened as she heard his laughter retreating down the corridor.
Leo looked mildly over at her with a gentle, curious, and, it had to be said, knowing smile. "Did I miss something?"
She dropped her head into her hands. Great.