Coming up for Air

by Catherine

Ben needs a change.

Coming Up for Air

FANDOM: Blue Heelers
RATING: PG- M (mainly due to language)
CATEGORY: Drama
WARNINGS: Language at this stage.
SUMMARY: mount Thomas gets a new sergeant, but it's not Ben.
DISCLAIMER: Blue Heelers belongs to Southern Star and the Seven Network. I have no affiliation with them whatsoever.

Ben slammed the door- but for once, it was not in frustration or despair- he was happy. The sergeant's job was in the bag- he'd been down for the interview today. It had gone much better than he had dared to hope. Surprisingly, there had been a significant lack of opposition for the job- but then maybe it wasn't that surprising after all, he mused. Mount Thomas was a country town after all, and there seemed to be less and less officers willing to take the plunge and leave the comforts of the city for the unknown outback. They didn't know what they were missing. Ben agreed with country life, and it certainly seemed to agree with him. He'd made a lot of good friends since his arrival and it had certainly helped to numb some of his pain at the breakup of his marriage. And then there had been Maggie...Ben's thoughts began to drift, but he brought them back to the task at hand abruptly. It was all over a very long time ago; he'd conceded defeat to PJ. That had been difficult. But it was obvious that Maggie preferred PJ. And then when she died...Stop thinking about it! he commanded.

Yes, now he would be sergeant. That was great on a work promotion basis. (He'd never really forgiven himself for his demotion out of CIB.) Plus, he'd met what seemed like a really nice girl there- her name was Tess. A pity she lived in Melbourne, but she had said she wouldn't mind dropping by for coffee from the new machine...Mount Thomas was definitely too far for that to be real though. Oh well.

Ben's reminiscing came to a sudden halt as there was a knock at the door. Opening it, he saw Jack standing there- with Jo not far behind. Ben smiled to himself- those two had been an item for ages, but they were keeping it a damn good secret. Good on them. "Hiya Jack. What can I do for you?"

"Just thought you might like to join us down the pub for a beer. Celebrate the new sergeant's job, eh?"

"Good thinking. I'll just get my jacket."

***
Meanwhile, Tess Gallagher was packing up her belongings in a Shepparton unit. Mount Thomas, here I come...

***
Ben smiled to himself as he walked back inside the watchhouse, a little worse for wear after more than a few rounds of drinks at the Imperial. Sergeant Ben Stewart…it sounded good the way it rolled around on his tongue. He smiled. Tomorrow, when it was made official would be one of the best days of his life. The kids would be pleased, hell, even his ex-wife might be impressed. Might be…yeah sure, Ben thought sarcastically. He may as well accept that it was over- subtle hints from the kids suggested she might have a new man in her life. But really, what did he care? He should move on, he already had…Maggie.

The name echoed through his head. Obviously he had put it behind him, but she still came back to haunt him. He couldn't believe that she was dead. Refused to believe, similar to PJ. Except that PJ had got over it; while Ben still refused to accept it. It was silly, he knew, but there was always that chance…Yeah, a bit like Elvis…

~*~*~*~*~

Ben made sure his uniform was immaculate before he entered the station the next morning. He wanted to look his best when the boss announced to everyone that Ben Stewart was the new sergeant of the Mount Thomas station. He ran a nervous hand through his hair-Damn, messed it up!
Finally he opened the door- and felt everyone's eyes on him. He beamed.

"Ben," Tom asked, a little more severely than Ben thought was needed. "Can I see you in my office please?"

Ben, confused, walked inside. His heart was racing a little- no, a lot.

"Hello." A female voice said. "Sergeant Tess Gallagher." She stuck her hand out and Ben reluctantly took it. She had a very firm grip, he noticed. What was she doing here? Ben wondered. Surely I'm not in trouble. Why does she need to speak to me of all people?

The boss cleared his throat. "Ben," he said hesitantly, "Tess here is the new sergeant for the station. I'm sorry son-" he threw a warning glance at Tess, obviously she had botched the way they were going to break the news to him, "I didn't want to tell you like this. But I thought you should be the first to know."

Bloody oath I should be! Ben stared at Tess, daggers in his eyes. How dare she…

The battlelines were drawn.

~~~
The more Ben got to know his new sergeant, the less he liked her. In his opinion, she was cold, pushy and hard-hearted without a sympathetic bone in her body. How on earth she made her way to sergeant he wasn't sure, she simply couldn't deal with the public if her life depended on it. Ben didn't remember how difficult it was for him initially to adjust to the different style of small town country policing, and therefore didn't give Tess the time she needed to mould her skills into those needed for Mount Thomas. All he remembered were the bad things, like the early morning meetings.

"You're late, Senior Constable Stewart."

"I know and I'm sorry. You see, my daughter has her piano exam this afternoon and I-"

"Enough. You will see that you arrive in time for these meetings; they are an integral part of the day. Without them, you cannot be functioning at your best." Jo rolled her eyes in Ben's direction and he exchanged a bemused smile with PJ. It was clear that they were not impressed with Sgt Gallagher either.

"My apologies." Ben repeated dryly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Tess appeared not to notice and continued on with the morning summary of events. "Seems like another store downtown has been broken into, this time Stevens' Jewellers in Smith Street. As I was saying before we were interrupted-" at this point Tess threw Ben an overly pointed look, "Senior Constable Stewart and myself will speak to the owner, Mr Stevens and his workers to see if they have any information in regards to this matter. Constables Lawson and Parrish, you will ask the shopkeepers nearby if they have seen or heard anything suspicious recently."

PJ asked lazily, taking a sip of his coffee, "What about me?"

Even he didn't escape Sgt Gallagher's death stare. "I'm sure you have your own very important matters to, Detective Hasham. If we need CIB's help in this matter, we will ask for it, rest assured."

"Okay then!" PJ replied, picking up his paper and moving into his office. "Have fun kiddies!"

"We'll ah, see you two later." Jo smiled as she walked past Ben and Tess. "Have a good morning." She grabbed Jack's arm as she walked out of the office. "Hurry up slowpoke."

"Well," Tess put down her clipboard and faced Ben. "Shall we get started?"

It's not like I have any choice, Ben thought.

~~~
"I must remark on your ah, interesting driving skills," Tess said to Ben as he went around another corner a little sharply.

"Got a problem with it?" Ben replied in a flat tone, hitting the brakes more sharply than usual.

"I didn't say that."

"No, but you implied it. You're the superior officer, you can order me to pull over and you drive. I don't mind." Ben had no idea why he was doing this. Maybe he just wanted the sergeant to feel as uncomfortable as he did. Certainly he wanted her to be a bit more human. He had never seen anyone as robotic as Tess. Robocop. He smiled. That was a perfect name for her.

"I don't mind Ben. Just get us there in one piece." She smiled. Damn. There was no way to break her mould. Tess grinned at Ben. No way am I going to play up to your games. I know what you're trying to do and it won't work.

"Well, here we are." Ben turned off the ignition and got out, slamming the door with a little more force than was necessary. The new sergeant really got to him, and what got to him more was that she didn't respond to anything. Good old Robocop, no matter what he did, she would remain calm and as icy as ever. Icy. That was he needed, the weather was warming up quickly and Ben could feel the perspiration making his shirt stick to him.

"Senior Constable Stewart? Are you planning on standing there all day dreaming, or are you planning on doing some police work this century?" Tess stood straight as a ramrod, clipboard sitting prettily in the crook of her arm.

Ben was flustered. "Er, yes, Sergeant." He quickly moved around to the footpath where Tess was standing.

"You're a liability, Senior Constable. Standing out in the middle of the road like that; you were so close to the corner that anyone coming around too fast…I think you can imagine what would have happen. I don't take too kindly to scraping my officers off the bitumen. Be more careful in future."

The anger in Ben rose furiously and he fought to contain it. How dare Robocop treat him like a little kid? Loudly and with more than a touch of sarcasm in his voice, he spoke: "Maybe we should get on with some of that police work, shouldn't we? Good morning Mr Stevens." Ben nodded to the man who had been standing behind Tess for the whole verbal intercourse. Ben hid a smile as she suitably flushed. "Let's get into it then. Excuse me." He pushed past Tess into the jeweller's.

Ben's triumph was short lived. He could hardly get a word in edgeways; Robocop had once again stolen the show, asking questions left, right and centre. She had Stevens, the jeweller, eating out of the palm of her hand by the looks of things. "You know, Sergeant Gallagher, that's a really good question. I would never have thought of that. Yes, there were some…" Time for Ben to tune out again. That was just the problem- Tess always thought of things that he had never even dreamed of. It was like she was the police academy's textbook come to life. Ben shook his head to himself. It wasn't worth him saying anything now. He'd just stand in the background like the good little inferior being that he was.

"Senior? Did you get all that down?" Gallagher's voice cut into Ben's daydream about how nice it would be to get away from it all. Some said going to the country was like coming up for air, but lately the air felt a bit musty to him. So in all reality, he didn't have much left.

"Ben? Were you listening?" She was glaring at him now.

Ben absentmindedly brushed at his face. He'd put money on that her eyes were really lasers. Like a real Robocop… "No, sorry Sarge. I think I've got an ear infection. My hearing's not too good lately. Sorry about that Mr Stevens, do you mind running through that again?"

"Actually Ben, it's probably better if I do that, seeing as you're not well. Pop down to the hospital, Dr Mel will fix you up. Go on." She made a little fluttering motion towards the door with her hand as if he was a puppy or other minor creature. "I can handle this. Take the car. I don't think you're well enough to walk- ear infections can get a little tricky in regards to balance. I know. Now," Tess turned back to Mr Stevens, "I'm really sorry about that Mr Stevens. Do you mind repeating it just once more please?" She smiled brightly at him; the old man melted in her hands.

Little does he know what a load of rubbish that is, Ben thought as he pulled out into the quiet country street. Now where was he going to go? He'd made all that up about having an ear infection. Still, if he didn't go, both Dr Mel and Robocop would be on his back. Sighing, he flicked the indicator in the direction of the 'Hospital' sign.

~~~~
"I can't see anything wrong with it Ben. Are you sure it was that ear?" Dr Mel put the instruments back on the table, having just inspected Ben's ear.

"Yeah," he replied with a fair degree of uncertainty.

She leant back on the desk, arms folded. "I'm not going to give you anything for it. I don't see the point in wasting the government's money on treatment that isn't needed."

He mimicked her body language and shrugged. "That's fine." He continued to look at his boots.

"Nothing else you want to talk about?" Dr Mel's tone was gentler now as she realised the phantom ear was not the problem. "How's the kids? Work okay?"

"Fine and yeah."

"Look Ben, it's perfectly natural to be hurt, upset or angry about not getting to see them often. And about Tess Gallagher-"

Ben cut her off rudely. "I'm fine and it's absolutely nothing to do with any of that!" His eyes narrowed as he leant forward to question her further. "What have people been saying about me in relation to my job? Are they saying that I got passed over for some hard-faced bitch? That I may as well jump in the river now?"

"Hey-" Mel held up her hands. "I said none of that. Tom Croydon was-"

"Oh, so now it's the boss telling everyone who will listen in this hick town how useless I am! That's just fine!"

"Don't shoot the messenger Ben. Please." She realised she'd gone a bit too far. It was obviously depression of a sort, triggered by the fact that he was passed over for sergeant. The whole town knew it and was sympathetic, but most people that Mel had overheard had said it was a good thing. Sergeant Gallagher seemed tough, but fair. She smiled to herself. They hadn't been caught for speeding yet, obviously. "If you want to talk Ben…" she trailed off.

"Nah. It's fine, thanks doctor." He picked up his jacket and left.

Ben drove back to the station blindly. If the whole town was talking about him…what reason did Mel have to lie? None. He was just worthless in everyone's eyes… He walked back into the station. "Hey, you okay?" Jo asked. "Tess said you were sick."

"Yeah, I'm sick. Sick of it all."

"Hey?" She looked puzzled.

"Nothing Jo, nothing. I'm going to go home and rest. Okay?" She nodded and he left the station again with quick steps.

Inside the watch house, Ben barely knew what he was doing. Bits and pieces were thrown into bags at random. He was leaving. Leaving forever. He couldn't handle it anymore. First Rachel turned on him, now his work. He was nothing now. A man without an identity. A man who needed some fresh air.

But where would he go?

He'd always fancied central Queensland, the harsh outback. But could he do it, leave it all without a word? It would mean leaving the kids. Hell, he hardly ever saw them now; Rachel's whatever was a better father than him. He had money to give them what they wanted. Ben never did. And the job? Stuff it. First he was downgraded from detective, now denied his promotion in uniform. No one cared. No one would miss him.

----
It was midnight before he set out. Set out to a new life. Where he could finally come up for air.

FINIS

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