Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Southern Star and Channel Seven - anything else probably belongs to me.

Summary: PJ returns to Mt. Thomas to set things right with Amy, but suddenly fate takes a terrible twist. This is another one of my older fics from early to mid 2006.

All feedback is very welcome!

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Part 1

Amy had been unable to curb her excitement from the moment she had gotten the letter. Any moment that she wasn't concentrating on work, her mind was wandering to him and sending anxious shivers up her spine. She hadn't seen him in months, and it would be good to catch up with him again. He always had that way of making her smile. He made it so easy to trust him, even when logic told her otherwise.

And now he was coming back. Any minute now, he would walk through those doors, and Amy had no idea what she would say. She had spent most of the day sitting at her desk, scribbling absentmindedly under the pretense of an overdue report. She kept remembering how they parted, all those months ago. It kept bringing a hint of a smile to her face and she remembered the way he moved his lips towards her's...ready to take the next step with her...but she had been too scared. Too scared of letting herself go, and letting herself get hurt. So she had left everything she wanted to say go unsaid.

He deserved a fresh start, and Amy didn't understand why he would want her to be a part of that. She had brought nothing but hurt and heartbreak to the people she knew, so why would he want to carry that when he could shed that baggage and start again?

That feeling of excitement returned, distracting Amy from her senseless scribbles. She hadn't actually ever stopped to really think about him and how much she missed the way that he managed to make her smile at least once a day. She found herself laughing at the thought of his fishy hankie, or his poor jokes.

Amy let the warmth of the memories consume her and whisk her away from the cold, lonely days she had been living in since. She loved the safety that he had always made her feel. He was stable, and kind, and loving...Amy caught herself at that thought. No, she told herself, don't think like that. Love doesn't exist.

She had decided years ago that love didn't exist – it never did and could never in the future. People would put on acts, use them, and then walk away. Amy had always been a victim of that sort of heartbreak. Even as a child, people would come into her life, fulfill their purpose, and cut the essence of her soul into little pieces on the floor. So she had gotten tough. It was the only way to protect herself.

Excited murmurs erupted in the muster room, snatching Amy's attention away from her silent moment of reflection. She felt a lump rise to her throat, and the words she had so carefully planned fall away. Her breathing began to feel uneven, and her heart raced in her chest. This was it.

He entered the station calmly, and for a moment, it was as though nothing had changed. It was almost like Amy had fallen into a time warp, back when he still worked beside her, solving crimes as a team. A team...

She reluctantly let tears fill her eyes as he looked around, greeting the uniforms with his usual cheery manner. He moved around the room, and it was like he'd never left. He introduced himself to Matt, said hello to the others, and let the Boss pull him into a blokey hug.

Amy tried desperately to swallow the lump. There was no way she was going to pieces in front of him. She couldn't...this time, she had to hang onto common sense and logic. But even that thought deserted her as he approached the CI office, wearing that famous leather jacket of his. She almost wanted to hide away from him, perhaps to crawl under her desk and hide there until he was gone, even if just to save face. She couldn't let her heart take over her head. She'd say things that she didn't mean.

The door opened with a creak, causing Amy to flinch involuntarily. He walked inside, a grin on his face. Amy smiled weakly in return, unsure of what else to do with the uniforms watching. Fortunately, the Boss seemed to have noticed their distraction and sent them back to their work.

He didn't speak to her straight away. Instead, he chose to approach Jonesy, clapping him on the shoulder and congratulating him on making it into 'the big league'. Jonesy flushed a horrible bright red, mumbled something or other about having a cold burg to look into, and left quickly, grabbing Kelly on his way out. Amy watched him go, a half-smile on her face. She was training him well.

She lowered her gaze purposely, pretending that her scribble paper was an actual report. She knew he would never fall for that, he was far too intelligent for that, and proved it by sitting himself on the corner of her desk. He kept his gaze on her most recent scribblings and then followed her eyes as she managed to look at him.

"PJ," Amy choked, her voice shaky and not at all the usual Amy Fox tone. PJ smiled and opened his arms for her, in a silent invitation to the place she desperately wanted to be. Reservations aside, Amy let herself fall into PJ's arms, the warmth overwhelming her.

"Hey, Amy," PJ whispered, rubbing Amy's back kindly and kissing the top of her head gently. Amy could never describe the feeling that washed over her as she let PJ hold her. She felt safe, like nothing could go wrong. He made her feel like anything was possible. She wished that the moment could have lasted a lifetime. "How's things?"

"Better," Amy replied, more for her sake than PJ's, "now you're here."

She thought that she could see satisfaction and contentment in PJ's eyes. She couldn't understand why. After all...who would really feel that way about Amy Fox?