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Chapter 8: Earth-shattering
They’d only been sitting there for a quarter of an hour when the doorbell rang. Nicola, who had been falling asleep on Malcolm’s chest, jumped out of her skin.
Nicola opened the door to Bella, her crazy hair littered with fresh snowflakes, her make up having run down her face. She wore no coat, only a vivid but paper-thin fleece that could not possibly have kept her warm. Her body swayed slightly, and Malcolm realised she was slightly drunk. Not drunk enough to be unaware of her surroundings or a danger to anyone – he peered around her to make sure she had not taken her car over here – but she was definitely tipsy.
Chapters: 8/? Fandom: The Thick of It (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Nicola Murray/Malcolm Tucker Characters: Malcolm Tucker, Nicola Murray, Original Female Character(s), Jamie MacDonald, Nicola Murray's children Additional Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Some Humor, Children of Characters, Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s), Major Original Character(s), Scottish Character, Dialect, Family Drama, Family Secrets Series: Part 2 of Black Water Summary:
Just as he has found his place in the world, one woman comes along and unwittingly sparks an internal debate in Malcolm Tucker: is it better to lie, to pretend he did not possess certain pieces of information, or is it better to tell the truth, come what may? Certainly, to lie is far easier for him - it's almost second nature. But this is not just politics and head games. This is his life. And, more to the point, this is someone else's life. A life lived a world away from his, but a life he should have known. And that's the hardest part of it.
Set about a year after my other fic, "Black Water." It would probably make more sense to read that first.
