Jack stood watching as the plane flew away from him, not moving at all as it grew smaller and smaller. No longer able to hear it's flight, and then even the dark speck against the clouds was gone. His heart felt as empty as the sky, without Phryne's presence filling it.
He didn't want to move, didn't want to take the first step back into a life without Phryne Fisher.
Jack wasn't sure just how long he'd stood looking after her, his body standing still but his thoughts crowding upon themselves. At last he released a deep sigh and turned away, hands in his coat pockets still. His fingers were tightly curled, clinging to the last sensations of touching Phryne, clasping her waist and threading through her hair as they had kissed. Sensations he didn't want to lose, but knew that he would over what was sure to be months until he saw her again. If she returned.
Driving back towards City South he knew he wasn't ready to go back to his office yet. Too many reminders of Phryne to endure right at this moment.
Stopping by the morgue to pick up some reports gave him the excuse he needed to delay going back to the station. Passing Dr. MacMillan's office he glanced in. Mac was seated on her desk, feet propped on her chair, an empty glass dangling from limp fingers. Contrary to tradition as always, Jack smiled as he leaned against the doorway, his hat dangling from his lean fingers, the smile disappearing as he thought of her counterpart in contrariness now gone from his life.
Mac turned her head slightly towards him, her eyes seemingly pinning him in place as her look dug deep and found an answering aching stillness deep in him. Jack let her see his pain. If anyone understood it would be Mac.
She motioned with her glass, lifting an eyebrow to ask if he wanted a drink. At his slight nod she pulled another glass and a bottle from behind her, sloshing a good portion of her favorite fine whiskey in both. Jack moved forward to accept his, clinking them together they each took a swallow.
"A bit early for you to indulge Inspector" she commented dryly "Can I guess the occasion?"
"I would imagine we are commemorating the same event Doctor."
"Ah, yes..." Her pause grew as she stared into the glistening golden depths of her drink. "Yes" she quietly stated again.
Jack sipped his drink slowly, resting an arm on top of one of her cabinets, silently sharing the loss they were both feeling.
"I saw her off."
It took a moment for Mac to register what he'd said, so deep in her own thoughts she'd been. "What?" she clipped out. "When?"
"I just got back from the airfield." Brief words, but with a hollow ring to them.
Mac finally focused on him. Noting the deceptive calmness of his stance she discerned the tightness of the look on his face, the tense shoulders and rigidity to his frame. Given that she had always marveled at the relaxed image he presented in even the most stressful situations, she acknowledged her near equal in silent grief. Which explained his accepting a drink so early in the day.
Now it was Jack's turn to stare into the golden liquid in his glass. In it he saw again Phryne running towards him, her eyes smiling at him, her lips as she urged him to "Come after me Jack Robinson!" The warmth of her pressed against him as they kissed both in welcome and parting. The last sight of her plane disappearing from his sight.
"What a sorry pair we're going to be, Inspector" Mac wryly offered, "if we're drowning our sorrows together after an hour or so I can't imagine how we'll be in a month."
Jack agreed with a slight lift to a corner of his mouth and a characteristic tilt to his head. He moved forward to lay his glass on the desk, pausing in the doorway to settle his hat before turning back towards her. To most people he would look normal, but Mac saw the shadows in his eyes, the dark storm swirling inside the smooth facade of the Detective Inspector. She was also sure he saw a similar sight when he locked gazes again with her.
For two people who had rarely had a private moment together, they communicated more emotion and thoughts through their shared misery than many people did in hours of conversation.
They both shrugged back into the lonely shells they had occupied before Phryne Fisher had arrived to set both their lives on a different, tumultuous, path. Mac had again lost her oldest, closest friend, but she knew that Jack was missing more than that. She knew of the deep love that he had for her friend, she'd seen it months before Phryne had even caught a glimmer of the depths of Jack Robinson. Just like she knew that Phryne returned it with an equal depth and fervor.
Snapping out of her reverie she saw Jack still poised in the doorway, as if his next step would place him miles instead of inches from where he stood. Miles farther from Phryne by the minute, as she flew away from him.
With a curt nod he finally turned to leave.
"Adelaide!" Mac called out before he disappeared from sight, shocking herself with her outburst.
The inspector turned back to her, eyebrows raised in incomprehension.
"Adelaide" she said, more firmly this time, knowing that her instinct was right. " She'll be stopping there tonight and not leaving until the following day."
It did her good to watch the subtle changes take place in Jack before her eyes. She watched him calculate distance, time, transportation, in seconds and realize it could be done.
"Thank you Doctor" he quietly acknowledged, "I believe I have some plans to attend to so I'll bid you good day!" His voice again had the lively ring she knew Phryne loved.
"If I were you, Inspector, I would run!"
A contemporary musical inspiration that I just couldn't resist.
I got my mind made up, I need to feel your touch,
I'm gonna run to you.
Oh when the feelings right I'm gonna run all night
I'm gonna run to you!
Run To You, Bryan Adams