Part 3

Lyrics in this part come from "Forgiven, Not Forgotten" by The Corrs and "Call Me When You're Sober" by Evanescence.

Susie opened the door to her locker, letting her head sink forward against the inside of the door. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing as she took in what exactly had just happened. Evan Jones and Tess Gallagher were back in Mt. Thomas. After everything that had happened back nearly two years ago, she was surprised that he'd have the guts to return. Yet here he was.

She sighed heavily as she removed her head from the locker door and slammed it shut, turning to lean back and sink down to the floor of the mess room. She pulled her knees up close to her chest, her eyes shining with what could be the beginning of tears.

In some ways, she still hated him. He had never known what it was she'd wanted from him and, because of this, was constantly letting her down. The whole Jason Tyler fiasco was proof enough of that and so was the Donna Maitland saga of their lives. But she was finding it harder and harder each day to keep up the anger. It was turning her into someone she hated to be, especially to Alex, who had done nothing but stick up for her.

She'd really hoped he'd show up at the funeral. She would have been civil, even if only for the sake of the Boss. Maybe it would have proved to her that, no matter how many times their relationship had gone wrong, she and Jonesy could still, somehow, be friends.

But instead, he'd decided to show up now, just at a time in her life when she wasn't prepared to handle him. She was trying to live by what they'd all promised on New Years Eve – a "blank slate" – but it wasn't as easy as Amy and the others had made it sound. In fact, it was only making her remember the past more…

Susie headed into the Imperial Hotel, quickly catching sight of her colleagues gathered around one of their usual tables. Tom was missing, not that that was any surprise, but everyone else had met there. Alex was obviously trying to impress Tess with a story, probably an exaggeration on what once might have been the truth, while PJ and Jonesy laughed, occasionally interrupting to point out what really happened. Kelly and Joss were both standing at the pool table with Mark, who was watching on as the two bickered over who was winning.

She headed over to the table, taking the empty seat between PJ and Alex. Even if she still wasn't speaking to Alex, she felt more comfortable around him than Jonesy. Especially since Jonesy had now become so wrapped up in his own world, or Tess' world to be more exact. He liked her, there was no doubt about that.

"Suse!" Alex exclaimed as she sat down beside him. "Now, you can tell Tess that I faced down that lion bravely, despite a faulty weapon!"

Susie's eyes filled with doubt as she looked at Alex, only to be interrupted by Jonesy's unusually quiet voice. "He was about to piss his pants in fear until I winged it with my gun," he explained, his eyes meeting Susie's briefly. It lasted less than half a second, but it was enough to leave the both of them uneasy. "Let's go," he said, turning to Tess beside him, earning a quick nod for his troubles. PJ and Alex called their farewells as the pair headed out the door of the public bar and into the night, walking a little too close together for Susie's suspicion not to twig.

"I'll be back," she told Alex and PJ hurriedly, roughly shoving her chair back under the table, "I've just got to grab something from my car…"

She disappeared out of the pub, freezing almost as soon as the door had closed behind her. Standing less than five metres away were Tess and Jonesy, Tess with her back against the side of Jonesy's truck while he kept his lips pressed firmly against her's. And Tess was loving every second of it. Even in the dim glow coming from the overhead lights, she could tell that this wasn't the first time, either.

She had to get out of there. She quickly pulled her jacket tighter around her frame as she headed over to her car as quickly as she dared with raising Tess or Jonesy's suspicion, head down. After several seconds of fumbling with her car keys, she finally managed to unlock the door and flop down into the driver's seat, her breathing well out of control.

All alone, staring out, watching her life go by

When her days are grey and her nights are black

Different shades of mundane

Jonesy dumped the suitcase on the bed, turning to face his wife. Tess sat her son on the floor of room seven of the Imperial Hotel, watching him out of the corner of her eye as he wandered around the room, finally deciding to preoccupy himself with the television remote.

"I can't say this is quite what I expected," he remarked with a broad smile, only to earn a saddened one from Tess. His bravado softened instantly. "Aw, Tessy," he soothed, reaching out to caress her cheek with his hand, "what's wrong?"

Tess pulled away, shaking her head. "This, Evan," she told him firmly, "this is what is wrong. A town that we both once belonged to has virtually turned on us. Whatever happened at the station that night between you and Susie has made all of the police officers think that we're the bad guys!"

Jonesy reached out, pulling Tess into his arms and holding her close to his chest. She didn't fight him, instead letting herself sink further into his embrace. "I'm going to sort it out, Tessy," he assured her, burying his face into her blonde curls as he tried to determine just how he would go about it. "I promise. The next time we leave Mt. Thomas, it'll be on good terms."

---------------------------------------------------

Alex invited himself into the mess room, quickly noticing Susie sitting on the floor in front of the lockers, looking lost and alone. He closed the door behind him and joined her on the floor, crossing his legs as he sat down. "I was worried about you."

Susie looked away, laughing sadly. She shook her head in disbelief. "Worried," she mumbled. He nodded as this, reaching over to drape an arm around her shoulders.

"You're my best mate these days, Suse," he told her gently, "you're the one who's going to get me through these exams. And you're going to keep kicking my arse into line until I get the hang of this Sergeant gig."

She turned to face him, her tear-stained cheeks catching the mid-day light as it streamed in through the window. "Yeah?" she asked him softly.

He nodded, squeezing her shoulders. "Yeah," he affirmed, his smile broadening, "anyway, you're a better mate to me than Evan Jones ever was. You're still helping me out even after I dumped you."

Her face brightened slightly at this as she forced a disbelieving smile. "You dumped me?" she asked in false indignation. "Is that what you call it?"

"I ended the relationship, remember?" Alex reminded with a cheeky smile. Susie hit him as her forced smile broadened weakly.

"Is that what you call a relationship?!" she demanded with what could be the beginning of weak laughter. "You just completely backed off!"

Alex sat back, nodding to himself as he looked away, the mood sobering instantly. "But we're still here for each other," he pointed out thoughtfully, "that's what counts…"

Alex leant over Susie's desk, resting a hand on the overhead lamp, only to withdraw it in pain. He gave it a painful shake, only to then shoot Susie a cheeky smile. "Those things get bloody hot," he told her, only to earn an inaudible mumble from Susie for his troubles. "Hey, you can't ignore me and Jonesy forever, you know."

"Piss off, Alex," she spat, keeping her head down so that he wouldn't see what was most likely the beginning of tears in her eyes. Tess and Jonesy hadn't left all that long ago and she had accidentally overheard their conversation about some fancy French restaurant that Jonesy had once almost asked her to.

Alex wasn't that easily fobbed off. He reached out, lifting her chin so that he could meet her eyes. Immediately, he knew that something had to be very wrong. He grabbed the nearest seat and pulled himself up beside her. She spun her chair around so that they were face-to-face.

"Suse," he comforted quietly, letting his head hang to one side slightly as he surveyed the blonde, "what's going on?"

A loud sob managed to escape as she made a futile attempt to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand. "Evan bloody Jones, that's what's going on!"

Alex nodded, lowering his head momentarily. "He really loves you, you know."

"Yeah?" Susie asked, her voice teeming with indignation. "Then tell me why he's still not trying to make a move even though it's been over six months since I broke up with Jason Tyler?!"

"Oh, you know Jonesy," Alex said with a weak laugh, "what to do with his emotions isn't exactly one of his strongest points. He doesn't like to talk about how he feels. He comes from one of those sorts of families."

She began shaking her head, hoping that it might help to dismiss the tears. It wasn't doing any good in the slightest. "I know what he's like, Alex."

"He'll make a move soon, I can feel it," Alex assured her, reaching over to give her shoulder an encouraging squeeze. "I know he is."

"Is he now?" Susie demanded. "Then why did I catch him at the pub last night with his tongue down Tess Gallagher's throat?!"

Alex's eyes suddenly filled with sympathy as he realised what was going on. Whatever was left of Susie's composure seemed to crumble as he stood up and pulled her head close to his heart, rubbing her back supportively. Finally she pulled away, laughing weakly as she tried to mop her tears away.

"It was stupid," she told him, looking away, not brave enough to meet his eyes, "I was probably only ever the rebound girl. He probably never cared about me at all."

She stood up and grabbed her car keys, heading for the exit to the car park. Alex lurched after her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around to face him.

"He does care about you," Alex pointed out firmly, "even if it's not in that way."

"Yeah?" she snapped, tearing her arm free of Alex's grasp. "If I'd known that, then maybe I wouldn't have fought to save his life and career so many times!" And with that, Susie took off down the corridor, her heavy footfalls echoing through the station as Alex passed a hand across his tired eyes.

Should've let you fall

Lose it all

Amy looked up as PJ returned to the CI office, passing her as he made a beeline for his chair. "I gather Alex is with Susie?"

He nodded as he sat down in his chair, slumping over his desk as Tess and Jonesy's wedding picture lying on Amy's desk caught his eye. "What are you doing with that?"

She looked down to the picture, picking it up again and turning it over in her hands. "I'm just struggling with all of this, you know," she replied with a shrug, her eyes remaining fixed to the happy couple in the photo, "Susie and Jonesy always seemed so close. It's just hard to believe that somehow, the whole town has turned on him." Amy appealed to PJ pleadingly, shaking her head. "I just don't get it at all."

PJ sat back, reaching over to take the photo from Amy's hands. He looked at Tess and Jonesy, unable to hide the smile at the thought that at least one in-office relationship had finished with a happy ending. And after everything Tess had gone through with Jack Lawson, he was glad that it was her. But there was still the sadness and regret that Susie and Jonesy hadn't even been able to salvage a friendship or even some degree of respect for one another from their experiences together.

"No," he admitted, sitting the photo down on the desk between the photos of Ben's farewell and Tom's birthday, "me neither."