P.J. Hasham sighed as he leant back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his neck and glaring at the paperwork that sat impatiently on his desk, demanding his attention. He'd been working on it for the last three hours non –stop. It wasn't exactly as if he had anyone else to blame, he'd been putting it off for weeks now, preferring to be out and about, doing the leg work, being in the thick of things. Out there, maintaining the law, keeping the occupants of Mount Thomas safe.

Of course, the fact that this meant that he spent a lot of time with a certain Senior Constable, well, that was just pure luck, wasn't it. After all, it wasn't as if she had any idea about how he felt about her. No, she had no idea that P.J. was head over heels in love with her, that his heart shivered with delight every time she smiled at him, and that it was all that he could do to stop himself from gathering her up into his arms and kissing those lips of hers at every possible opportunity.

Leaning forward again, he ran a hand through his dark hair and brought his attention back to the files that lay scattered across his desk. Signing off on one, he closed it and put it in the rather small 'closed' pile, before reaching for another from the significantly larger pile to his left. Hearing the door handle rattle, P.J. looked up, slightly irritated at the interruption. He'd deliberately stuck a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on his door so that he had no excuse for not working, and here he was, being interrupted. He was all ready to get annoyed when a blonde head poked itself around the door.

Sergeant Nick Schultz and Constable Dash McKinley made their way back into the station, just as Maggie went to open P.J.'s door. Seeing where Maggie was headed, Dash called over to her – P.J. had almost bitten her head off an hour ago when Dash had had a question.

"Maggie! Leave it, he's in a foul mood, he - "

"Ah, young Dash, you should know better than that – Patrick always has a smile for our Margaret" chided Nick, with a grin at Maggie.

"Shut up Nick" Maggie said, good naturedly, knowing that Nick was right but refusing to acknowledge it. Her friendship - or whatever it was that she and P.J. held had between them – well, it had nothing to do with anyone else.

"On your own head be it then," said Dash, "but don't say I didn't warn you!" as Maggie pushed the door open with her forehead, her hands full.

Pushing the door closed behind her with her foot, Maggie made her way over to P.J.'s desk and carefully plopped the paper bag down, before taking even more care when putting the two steaming coffees down as well. In the outer office, Dash waited for the yelling to start, watched by a grinning Nick.

"What did I tell you?"

"That's not fair!" grumbled Dash. "He almost took my head off when I interrupted before, but he's fine when Maggie interrupts." For a second there, she paused, and then a rather cheeky look stole across her face. "Of course it could be because it's Maggie – he never stays mad at her, and – "

"And don't even go there!" admonished Nick, with a warning glance over her shoulder where Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon was making his way over to the coffee machine. Looking up, he glanced between his two officers.

"What? What's all the chatter? Don't you have some work you should be getting on with? Am I the only one around here that ever does any work?" he grumbled at them, knowing in his heart that they were a good bunch really, but you could never let them know that, oh no, they had to be kept on their toes, and if that meant grousing at them, then grouse he would.

"No Boss" Dash mumbled, turning back to her desk.

Nick just grinned at Tom.

"Shultz?"

"What Boss?"

"Work?"

"Oh. Yes, well, ok then" he said, and turned back to his desk and began typing away. Staring over at Nick with a bemused expression, Tom allowed himself a small smile, before turning back and wandering into his own office.

Inside P.J.'s office, the atmosphere was relaxed. P.J. was sitting with his feet propped up on his desk, mouth full of blueberry muffin, while Maggie sat opposite him sipping her coffee.

"Thanks Mags," he managed around his snack.

Maggie looked over at him with a smile. "Well, I thought it was about time you had a break. You've been busy in here for hours now, and that's not normal for you – working hard like that on paperwork." She teased.

"Oy! I'll have you know I do my fair share of paperwork" he said, eyebrows raised, trying to stop the smirk that was determined to appear. She was right, and he knew it.

"Yeah, right. Who was it that helped you do the last lot that you left for weeks?" she asked

"Well, that was only because Falcon-Price put a rush on it all of a sudden" P.J. mumbled.

"P.J.! It was two weeks late, and we were up until three o'clock in the morning finishing it off!" she said indignantly, clamping down on her grin at his expression.

"And it was worth it wasn't it? I made you breakfast in the morning, and fresh coffee, and – "

"And I had to put up with comments from Dash for weeks after that because I stayed at your place that night. Not exactly subtle, our Dash" Maggie said, flushing slightly at the memory.

P.J. arched an eyebrow at her. This was news to him.

"Comments hey? What sort of comments?"

Maggie just glared down at him as she stood and gathered the remnants of the snack together. "That's enough about that. Anyway, you've got paperwork to do, and I've got to get my stuff caught up. " she grinned. "I'm going down to Melbourne to see Dad tomorrow, and maybe go shopping for a while. I'll see you on Monday"

"Monday!" yelped P.J. "How on earth did you manage that?" A whole weekend without seeing her, how was he going to cope?

"Got my paperwork in on time" she said with a grin as she made her way over to the door. "And before you ask, no. I can't help you with the paperwork, the Boss threatened me with physical bodily harm if I helped you out while we're at work this time. He wants you to do it. – And it's no use looking at me like that – you know I would help you if I could……."

"Dinner tonight? " he said hopefully. He could bring some of the work home and they could work at home. Right. Sure. Like he'd ever get any work done while she was there, it was taking all of his strength not to go over there and take hold of her and tickle Dash's comments out of her, that and a whole lot more.

For a second there, Maggie paused. There had been something in his eyes just then, something – no, she had been imagining it. He would never feel the way she did, he would never be standing here actively squashing the desperate desire to go and wrap her arms around him and kiss him breathless.

A voice from the outer office broke the spell, and Maggie tore her gaze from his, turning at the annoyed yell of Tom Croydon.

"Doyle! Come on out of there! P.J.'s got days of work to catch up on and he knows it – and you know what I said about helping him out!"

Turning back to P.J. Maggie grinned. "7-30, your place" she whispered, before closing his office door behind her. "Sorry Boss. Just took him a coffee. He missed lunch you know."

"What I know is that he's got a very good friend in you, young Doyle. Now leave him alone and get on with your own work – you do have some don't you, I can easily find you something to do, I mean Mrs Earl is reporting that Young Freddy is missing again, and you could always go and investigate the case of the missing cat – yet again"

"Ah, no Boss, I'm er – "

"Thought so" said Tom, turning away before she could see his grin.

Casting an eye over to the C.I. office Tom sighed. They were a good team, P.J. and Maggie, good friends and that meant they worked very well together. They were in synch with each other, knew how each other worked – best friends. He had chosen to ignore the undercurrents, the rest of the feelings that flowed between the two of them. He'd chosen to ignore the way they looked at each other when they thought no-one was looking, had ignored the way P.J. kept an eye out for Maggie and vice versa, the way they seemed to gravitate towards each other as if connected by an invisible tie.

They knew the rules – interdepartmental relationships were frowned upon. No matter how well it could work out, how well suited they were to each other. Shaking his head, Tom shut the door of his office. As far as he could tell, they hadn't woken up to each other - but it was only a matter of time before they did.

Maggie sat at her desk, deep in thought. That look, that momentary, tiny little look – had it, did it –

"Maggie!" Dash yelled, trying to get her attention. Jerked back into the here and now, Maggie looked up to see Dash pointing at her phone, which was merrily trilling. Sitting back in her chair, Dash grinned as Maggie picked the phone up.

"7-30 sounds good to me" P.J. said down the phoneline, "but I'm cooking. Last time you nearly poisoned me!" he teased, knowing full well she couldn't respond without letting the others know who she was talking to – and since Tom had just expressly told her not to interrupt P.J., then he was going to have a little fun.

"I did not!" yelped Maggie before looking up, coming eye to eye with a very curious Nick Shultz and an openly smirking Dash McKinley. Turning away from them and cradling the phone into her she grinned in the direction of the C.I. office where she could see P.J. grinning back at her through the glass partition. "Er, got to go, work to do, you remember that? Work? The stuff we get paid for?"

"Oh you wound me Mags, I'm one of the hardest workers around here! Never late with anything, always on time and don't look now, but Tom's standing right behind you!"

Maggie jumped a mile and slammed the phone down, turning back to her desk and giving the impression of a very industrious Senior Constable, before turning and seeing that Tom Croydon was nowhere in sight.

"Oh, you'll keep, Hasham, " she muttered under her breath. "Just you wait, matey."

Two hours later, P.J. had ploughed his way through a lot more work than even he would have given himself credit for. He'd slowed down in the last quarter hour, he didn't want to finish – that would mean that there would be no need for Maggie to come over tonight, and he wanted her there, wanted to spend time with her off duty. He needed her, needed that time alone with her, however much it killed him to know that she only saw him as a friend, a colleague. He sighed. He'd take what he could get – and if that stopped at friendship, then that was how it would be.

Nick stood at the coffee machine, watching P.J. The man was staring off into the distance, a rather sad look on his face. Nick watched as he came back into focus, and watched as P.J.'s eyes settled on something. Turning slightly, Nick followed P.J.'s line of vision, and came to rest on Maggie, and industriously hardworking Maggie. Turning back to P.J., Nick watched as the other man's features settled into a soft smile, before the detective sighed and reached for another case from the pile next to him. Nick stirred his coffee, deep in thought, the tinkle of his teaspoon finally enough for Adam to move over from his desk and take it out of Nick's hand.

"M – Wh?"

"Nick! You were driving us all mad!" Adam said, moving back to his desk. Honestly, it was as if he and Dash were the only two sane ones around here – and he wasn't at all sure about Dash. "What's on your mind then Schultzy?" he asked, deep brown eyes flashing curiously.

"Nothing you'll ever find out Cooper" Nick retorted, turning back to his own desk, and looking for all the world like her was working again. Except that he wasn't. It had been niggling away at him for some time now. P.J. and Maggie. Sure he liked to tease them about each other, and as far as he knew it was all harmless fun, but what if – well, what if there were more to it than that?

What if they really did like each other?

What if P.J. really did have feelings for Maggie, and what if she cared about him just as much, he thought, casting a glance over at the lady concerned, catching her casting glances of her own at the C.I. office and smiling a smile that mirrored P.J.s. Shaking his head, he groaned inwardly. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. It was the little things that gave it away, like the way that Maggie always made him a piping hot coffee first thing in the morning, and the fact that Maggie was the first one P.J. asked after each morning. The way they always managed to sit next to each other in the pub when they all went down there after work, and most of the time that was completely unintentional, it was as if they were connected to each other in some way.

It was just the way they were together, like they had some kind of bond. Sure, they cared about the rest of them, but when it came to each other, well there was most definitely something there, Nick concluded. Except that neither of them had apparently realised it yet, or if they had, they hadn't acted on it, that much he was sure of.

"What is it with you lot? " a booming voice said, waking him from his thoughts. "Nicholas! Wake up! My office, now!" Tom said. "And Hasham, where do you think you're off to? There's no way you've finished that lot yet!" he said, turning as he saw P.J. trying to sneak out.

"Er got to get some food, Boss. House's empty, and if I'm going to eat tonight, I need to go down to the market before it closes" he said, glancing at his watch, before allowing himself a very small glance over at Maggie, something that neither Nick nor Tom missed.

"Oh good grief. Go then." Tom said, noting Maggie's small smile back at P.J. "Nick, my office now!" and he stomped back into his office.

Feeling Dash and Adam's grins as he received his summons, Nick turned and mock glared at them. "Probably wants my ideas on who to put on permanent Young Freddy duty. Shall have to choose between the two of you!" he grinned, before stepping into Tom's office and shutting the door behind them.

Wasting no time about it, Tom rubbed a tired hand over his eyes, before looking over at Nick.

"So what's going on between P.J. and Maggie then?"

Nick's mouth dropped, and before he could get his thoughts into gear, Tom continued.

"You've seen it too, Schultz, and don't try to deny it. He likes her, doesn't he, a lot, and I reckon the feeling's reciprocated."

"Nothing's happened, Boss. Neither of them have acted on it, I'm sure of it."

"Yet."

"Well, yes, yet, but it might be that if they haven't reacted up until now, then they never will."

"You believe that as much as I do, Nick. Whatever it is between them, it's strong. But it can't happen, not here. I mean, it would mean one of them getting transferred, and I'm pretty sure neither of them want that."

"And I'm pretty sure neither of them could cope with that. They need each other, it's like they're connected somehow. They're part of each other, or something like that." Nick said, watching Maggie finish her work and gather her things together before reaching for her jacket.

Tom sighed. "I have no idea what I'm going to do, Nick. Officially, I can't have them together at Mount Thomas. The rules say no relationships, and it's something that I believe in. Inter office relationships stuff everything up, you can't help it, you put the other person first, worry about them more – well, you know what I mean."

"I do Boss, but if you think about it, that's happening already, and it's not really making any difference to the way that they work, or to the rest of us is it? I mean, short of actually telling each other, I reckon Peej and Maggie are as much a couple as they could ever be. He's nuts about her and she feels the same way. And they still have the best catch rate in the office – just. Boss, all they have to do is tell each other how they feel."

"Which they haven't. And they might not" said Tom, grasping at straws.

Nick just raised his eyebrows at Tom's comment.

Tom sighed. "So – "

"So, why do you reckon he's gone out to get dinner stuff? He's still got work to do, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Maggie will be eating there tonight"

"And helping him get those files finished. Honestly, it's his work, he should finish it!" grumbled Tom.

"But that's just it Boss, she'll be there helping him. That's how they work, and that's how they work even before they know they're in love" and at the actual words, Tom looked up, before clamping his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Boss, they're a team. She looks out for him, and he looks out for her. It's as simple as that."

"And you still don't think they've actually admitted it yet, that they love each other."

"Nope. They're still just pining after one another this far"

"Nicholas, where do you get all of this from?"

"Zoe likes those daytime soaps, and I may have caught a few at home" Nick muttered, not at all sure he liked Tom knowing this particular fact. "Anyway, that's where they're up to so far, I'm sure of it."

Tom sighed again. "Ok. Nick, listen, I don't want to separate them, you know that, but – "

"Boss, listen. How about you give them a chance. How about you look at their results this far – and - if and when they get together – "

"When " muttered Tom

"When then, when they get together, give them a chance, and see how their results stand. I don't think there'll be much of a difference, you know"

"To be honest, I don't think there will be either – but – "

"Just give them a chance. Wait and see."

Tom sighed. "Ok," he said, his gaze following Maggie as she left the station.