Summary: New Senior Constable Kari Izumi arrives in Mt. Thomas to replace Susie, only to receive a less than welcoming reception from her new Acting Sergeant Alex Kirby. Amy and Kari's fundamental differences in policing techniques are highlighted when they investigate a rape.
Part 1
The Mt. Thomas police officers dragged themselves through the back entrance of the station, each one silent and uneasy. That morning had just proven to be one of the worst mornings that they had ever endured. The group had just returned from Susie Raynor's funeral; the second police funeral in less than two months.
Amy and PJ headed for their office, the uncertain silence still hovering in the air. Amy slipped her black jacket off her shoulders and hung it over the back of her chair while PJ undid his tie and threw it down so that it landed on top of a pile of paperwork on his desk. Amy dragged herself to the window out into the muster room, where she could see her colleagues each slowly trying to tell themselves that it was time to return to some semblance of normal. Mark was busy in his office, doing whatever it was that he managed to preoccupy himself with everyday while Kelly and Joss returned to their desks, both silent, speaking only when absolutely necessary.
Alex was the saddest sight of all, sitting at his desk with his head buried in his hands. The poor thing wasn't dealing with Susie's death well at all. Amy suspected that he shouldn't even be working. PJ drew up beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close as he ran his lips down her cheekbone and along her neck. A small smile spread across her face at this, immediately making her feel somewhat guilty.
"PJ," she warned him softly as he continued with his show of affection, "someone's going to see…"
He pulled away briefly, disappointed but understanding at the same time. He stole a brief kiss on her cheek before returning to his desk, flopping back into his chair and closing his eyes. "Well, this is a great start to the New Year," PJ lamented, his words causing Amy to turn away from the muster room to face him. "Just when we thought nothing else could possibly go wrong…" He trailed off, looking up to Amy with pleading eyes.
She approached him, pulling him to his feet gently and pressing her lips softly against his. Their eyes closed slowly as their own unique electricity pulsed through them, sending their hearts racing. They both needed the reassurance that the other was there, that somehow everything might just turn out alright.
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Alex reached out to a photograph sitting on his desk, turning it over in his hands. Tess and Jonesy had taken photos at the group dinner Chris had organised over a week ago and had spent down some copies a few days ago. It felt wrong that just a few days ago, Susie was still alive and still working beside him, lifting him up in that way she always could.
The place she once occupied now felt like a hollow void. Her parents had already come to collect her belongings, although they had left some of her things at the flat that Alex had once shared with her. They sat, cluttering her bedroom, forming a harsh reminder for him whenever he passed by the door that she was never going to be around again.
He ran a thumb gently along Susie's cheek, the tears he'd thought he'd managed to exhaust at the funeral reappearing in his eyes. He missed her more than he'd ever thought he would. Life at the station just wasn't the same with her around. Things were quieter and everyone just liked to keep to themselves. Everyone was certainly being more helpful than normal, but it wasn't helping. He hadn't spoken to Amy or PJ since the day Susie died. She'd been killed trying to save their lives and he had no idea what to say. And, although no one acknowledged it, they all knew that Susie's replacement would be arriving at any time.
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The buzzer sounded in the reception area, causing several of them to jump from their seats. Amy, PJ and Mark looked out from their offices into the muster room as the silence within the station suddenly became far more awkward than before. Alex dragged himself to his feet obligingly, mumbling something under his breath about "getting it". The officers shared a worried glance between them as Alex disappeared out into the muster room, closing the door slowly behind him.
A woman – perhaps twenty-eight or twenty-nine – stood before him, a long black leather jacket pulled around what was clearly a Victoria Police uniform. Her long, straight dark hair was swept back into a high ponytail, with thick strands of hair hanging down either side of her head, cradling her face. She was clearly of Asian descent with narrow dark eyes that shone back at him and a relatively small and slender frame.
He looked her up and down, regarding her critically. She shot him a bright and beaming smile, friendly and kind. She reached out over the counter as she adjusted an old red backpack over her shoulder and let her smile broaden, becoming somewhat more relaxed. "I'm your new Senior Constable," she declared, withdrawing her hand slowly as she realised that he wasn't going to be shaking it. "Hikari Izumi," she finished, her voice suddenly losing that bright quality it had had in abundance just seconds before.
She shifted her jacket, regarding him as her face fell. Well, this certainly wasn't the light-spirited country police station she had been promised if the man standing before her was anything to go by. "And you're my new Sergeant, I see," she added, finally stirring Alex from his silence. Hikari spoke without accent and seemed quite nice, even if she was just a little overbearing for him at the moment.
"Acting Sergeant," Alex corrected glumly, remembering Susie's constant reminders of that fact. He couldn't even say his own rank without thinking of her. "You'd better come through."
Hikari shrugged as Alex slowly opened the swing-top counter, indicating back into the muster room. She smiled at him with uneasiness in her eyes as she entered, the gathering of officers before her freezing at her appearance. She edged away from the doorway so Alex could enter beside her, motioning over the group dismally before trudging off, perhaps to the mess room.
Mark watched as Alex went worriedly, before deciding to assume his role as leader. "Well," Mark said, "you'd be our new Senior Constable, I suppose."
"Yeah," she replied, staring distractedly down the corridor that Alex had just disappeared down, "I am." She suddenly seemed to perk up, extending her casual and friendly hand to Mark. "Senior Constable Hikari Izumi…but you can call me Kari."
Mark nodded taking Kari's hand and shaking it, a little bemused at the lack of an accent he had been anticipating. He motioned back to the officers over his shoulder, pointing to each in turn. "I'm Acting Senior Sergeant Mark Jacobs," he introduced, "and these are your new colleagues, Senior Detectives Amy Fox and PJ Hasham and Constables Kelly O'Rourke and Joss Peroni."
She nodded towards them before she found her gaze drifting off in the direction that Alex had left in once again. "What about…"
"Oh," Mark mumbled, shifting his weight uneasily, "that's Acting Sergeant Alex Kirby, you might do well to steer clear of him for a few days. He's doing it rough at the moment."
Kari nodded in confused understanding before suddenly Mark seemed to become more positive. "Kelly will show you around," he said, motioning towards the blonde Constable, who immediately jumped to her feet.
"Sure," Kelly said quickly, combing a strand of blonde hair back behind her ear, "come with me."
The remaining officers in the muster room each shared a brief look, the uncertainty quickly taking hold of the room. None of them had really come to terms with what had happened to Susie and none of them was really ready for a new officer to step up and take her place just yet.
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Kari watched on in silence as Kelly motioned to the property cage, leaning sideways against the wall. "And this," she explained with a wave of her hand, "is our property cage."
Kari nodded, chuckling slightly. "Yeah, I kind of guessed," she replied with a smile that slowly began to fade as thoughts of Alex resurfaced. "What's with…ah…"
"Alex?" Kelly finished, folding her arms across her chest as she nodded in thought. "It's like Mark said, he's doing it rough at the moment."
Kelly sighed at the expectant look that remained on Kari's face as she drew closer, leaning against the wall so that she and Kelly's faces were just centimetres apart. "You were sent here to replace Senior Constable Susie Raynor," she explained, only causing Kari's curiosity to increase. "She was killed several days ago during a siege at the station."
"And she and Alex were…" Kari began, her eyes widening at this. Despite the sympathetic look in her eyes, she couldn't dismiss the curiosity at the idea of an in-office relationship. She'd never seen one before.
"No," Kelly answered with a shake of her head, only to suddenly become quite unsure. She shrugged, tears beginning to fill her eyes at the sight of Susie's body being clutched desperately to Alex's chest. "I don't know." She began shaking her head, trying to force the tears back, but failing miserably. "I just miss her."
Kari nodded, looking away in uneasiness. "I'm sorry," she apologised quietly, "that must have been hard."
"It was," Kelly agreed with a nod as she tried to blink her tears away. "She was a good friend to all of us, Alex especially." She forced a teary laugh, attempting to brush her tears aside with the back of her hand. "Anyway, so where did you come from?"
Kari paused, quite unsure whether or not to respond to Kelly's obvious attempt to change the subject. Finally, she decided it might just be best to go with it. "A little country town a few hours away," she replied, her mind drifting off, "Drover's Creek. I ran the one-man station there."
Kelly laughed at this; however, her expression still remained one of saddened longing for her old friend and occasional mentor, Susie. "So I suppose that Mt. Thomas would be huge for you, huh?"
"Yeah," Kari conceded as Kelly dragged herself away from the wall and headed to the door. "I guess it is."
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Amy paused at Sophie's voice on the other end of the phone, her face losing all expression and her eyes growing blank while PJ watched on worriedly. Something big had just happened at the hospital and it was obvious that Amy didn't like it. She finally put the phone down, climbing to her feet as she pushed hair back behind her ear awkwardly.
"What's happened?" PJ asked, watching Amy in curiosity as he slowly rose to his feet and grabbed his suit jacket.
"That was Sophie," she explained as she met his gaze, "apparently she's got a young woman there who was raped. I've got to get over to the hospital."
PJ jumped to his feet, blocking her speedy exit out the door to the back entrance. He looked at Amy in concern as she turned her gaze away, suddenly falling quite silent. "I know what you get like when you're investigating these cases," he reminded her gently, "don't you think that you should leave it alone?"
"For who, PJ?" she demanded in response as green eyes met blue. "Kelly isn't going to be able to handle it and I'm not letting the newbie take care of it. And if this woman's just been raped, she isn't going to open up to you or Joss!"
"Then I'm coming with you," PJ insisted, pulling his jacket over his shoulders.
Amy shook her head. "No, you're not," she pointed out, "I can handle this, PJ."
"At least take someone with you," he told her quietly, reaching out to her to brush his thumb along her cheek, immediately soothing her slightly. "Maybe Kari, get her out and about in the community."
She nodded slowly, letting PJ lean in to steal a kiss while they were out of sight of their uniformed colleagues. He drew into it, breaking away when he realised that Amy's expression was actually rather blank. For all the time they'd been together and for all the trust between them, she was still affected by the abuse. And this case proved it.