been a bit, but here we are! both this chapter and the next are done, so no waiting a month for me to finish lmao. please enjoy! - Dee

With things still tense between him and Lucien, Matthew stayed over at Alice's house more often than he had before - Alice didn't mind, she always slept better when he was with her, and she could rest more often if he was over.

Lucien had cut back on his drinking, and planned on cutting back even more in the weeks leading up to the birth of his and Jean's child; he'd said as much to Alice one afternoon in the morgue.

"I'm glad," Alice smiled.

"Good, good… what I'd done… it's inexcusable, Alice, and I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to, Lucien."

His shoulders slumped, but he nodded, "I know… I just…"

"Don't know how to do it?"

"You could say that."

"Lucien-"

"I know, Alice…" he smoothed down the back of his head - a nervous tick she'd come to know over their friendship. "I just… I put my foot in it."

"Yes, you did. Matthew… he was very angry at you, still very angry at you - because of what you said about him, about his men. He's a loyal person and he loves you deeply, Lucien, but it's… how do I say this… he loves you enough to not put up with your bullshit."

That got her a laugh from her friend, and he promised to apologize to Matthew, but as the days ticked closer to the holidays, he'd yet to do so. Matthew shifted on the bed - Alice automatically reaching out for him as he rolled onto his back.

"Mm, Matthew?"

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart," he squeezed her hand.

"Can't, you're moving around too much," she teased - smiling when she felt him lean over and kiss her forehead. "What's keeping you up?"

"I… I don't know, can't seem to shut my mind off."

"What about?"

She felt Matthew shift on the bed again and pictured him shrugging; she reached out to pat his chest - smiling when Matthew kept her hand there by his own.

"Work?"

"Nah."

"Lucien?"

"Oh, no," Matthew shook his head, "he's made his bed… though I haven't heard much from on high, so that's still lurking over all of us."

"Has he apologized yet?"

"Can't seem to find the words."

At that, Alice let out a heavy sigh, "That man… I told him he needs to."

"Lucien runs on his own timetable, you know that, sweetheart. The only one who can usually keep him on it is Jean… and sometimes you if you threaten him with the bone saw."

"That was one time."

Matthew laughed and Alice couldn't help but join in - the memory of retorting to Lucien's very personal questions about her and Matthew's (at the time) fledgling relationship was always a fun one to revisit.

(Particularly if the man in question was being difficult)

"I'm sure I'll hear an apology before the year is out, sweetheart."

"He doesn't have much time, it's in less than two weeks."

"You know Lucien, it's not last minute until the absolute last minute."

Alice harrumphed - making Matthew chuckle at her sudden turn to grumpiness, "Well he'd better apologize and soon."

"I'm sure he will - he certainly knows he's got very few second chances left with both of us."

"True," she sighed and leaned over to kiss his shoulder as Matthew patted her hand on his chest. "Is that what was bothering you, or is it something else?"

She felt him shrug again as he sat up.

"Hold that thought, sweetheart, I gotta get up for a bit," Matthew kissed her forehead and got up from the bed; Alice settled back down under the covers as she heard him head towards the loo.

Little footsteps - more numerous than they had been in the past - soon entered the bedroom after he left, and Alice cracked an eye open with a smile when she saw Anna standing by the bed with Molly.

"You know she's not supposed to be on the furniture, my dear girl."

"Please, Mumma? She's been so good in mine."

Sighing as Anna batted those big blue eyes of hers, Alice drew back the covers.

"Come on, but Molly goes on top of the blankets."

In an instant, Alice had her arms full of her six year old daughter as the ever-growing Molly flopped down next to Alice's leg at Anna's feet; letting out a faint grunt at the sudden weight of the puppy against her, Alice sighed. It certainly wasn't what she pictured for her life, but she loved it nonetheless.

(Even if Molly left the odd trail of paw prints across freshly cleaned floors and had the new habit of gnawing on their table legs)

Matthew leaned against the doorway with a smile as he watched his girls (he really was getting outnumbered in this house, but Matthew didn't mind one bit.) Alice - thankfully - had fallen back asleep on his trip to the loo, and had been joined by their daughter and puppy while he was gone.

'Maybe we should have gotten that bigger bed,' he mused just as the shrill ringing of the phone broke the comfortable quiet of their house.

Hurrying to answer before it woke Alice and Anna, Matthew leaned heavily on his cane at Charlie's panicked call.

"Slow down, Davis, tell me what happened."

It all came out; the prank call to the Royal Oak, coming back to a darkened bullpen, finding Simmons on the floor.

"Dead?"

"Yes, sir," Charlie sighed into the phone. "Need me to call the Doc?"

"And Hobart, he should be back by now; ask Blake to come and pick both Dr. Harvey and I up from her house, I'll need her in the morgue. And, Davis?"

"Sir?"

"Keep your wits about you, the killer might make a return."

"Yes, Boss."

Scrubbing his face with a shaking hand, Matthew let out a sigh he felt in his bones. Simmons was dead… what was he going to tell his mum?

'What are we going to tell Anna?' he thought; she was so fond of "Constable Ned" and this would devastate her.

'Why in God's name was he even there?'

Matthew sighed again - willing away the tears burning in the corner of his eyes - no sense asking questions before seeing the crime scene; he needed to wake the girls - Alice needed to head into the morgue, and Anna would most likely be staying with Jean for the rest of tonight and most of tomorrow.

Molly snuffled a little as he entered and Matthew gently petted her head as he crossed the room to shake Alice awake.

"Mm, 'atthew?" his fiance rubbed her eyes without disturbing Anna curled up in her arms. "It's early, come back to bed."

"I'm afraid I can't, sweetheart."

Alice yawned and shifted so she lay on her back - her eyes a little more clearer than before, "Charlie call you in?"

"Yeah," he nodded - feeling his shoulders slump as he sat on the edge of the bed and the tears returned.

"Bad call?"

"It's… It's Simmons."

At that, Alice sat up - shushing their daughter when the girl fussed a little.

"Injured?"

When he didn't say anything else, Alice covered her mouth with her hands.

"No…"

"I'm afraid so, sweetheart."

"He was so young, Matthew."

"I know," he leaned in and kissed her forehead as she scrubbed the tears from her eyes - feeling a few burn down his cheeks. "I know."

"What do you need me to do?"

Bless Alice Harvey; Matthew kissed her forehead again and gave her a sad smile as she brushed away his tears with her thumbs.

"Morgue, Lucien's going to come pick us up and we'll have to drop Anna off with Jean, then you off at the morgue before Lucien and I go to the station."

"Are you sure, dearest?"

"It's not ideal, but Lucien's still the police surgeon. We need to find who did this, Alice."

"And we will," she squeezed his arm. "Just keep your head about you."

"I'll try… might have to sneak down to the morgue for a visit, but I'll try to keep level."

"Good," Alice kissed his cheek. "C'mon, let's get dressed and I'll pack a bag for Anna - we can wait to wake her until Lucien gets here."

It never got any easier.

Alice chewed on both her lips as they readied Constable Ned Simmons for a formal identification; both she and Lucien tried not to disturb too much - making note of certain things as they undressed him - but Alice couldn't help tucking a bit of the young constable's hair behind his ear as they worked.

(She knew Lucien caught sight of it, but wisely he didn't say anything)

She almost couldn't bear it when Ned's mother came in - accompanied by Matthew; how would she tell Anna? Her little girl adored her "Constable Ned", and Alice had a sneaky suspicion the young man liked to pass her sweets when neither she nor Matthew were looking.

'Is any place safe?' she thought as Lucien nodded for her to draw the sheet back from Ned's face.

Ned's mother looked like how Alice felt - tears already welling up as she looked down at her boy, her hand shaking as she reached out to touch his cheek.

'Would I be the same if it were Anna on the table?'

At that thought, Alice bit down hard on her lips to prevent her own tears from slipping, and heard Matthew shift by the door. It was one of the largest fears she had since welcoming Anna into her life - that she'd get hurt or worse and end up on a slab in front of her.

It wasn't Anna, but still someone she'd come into contact with on a regular basis - a life cut down too short and they had yet to find out the reason why. Was it a grudge? Was it a retaliation against Ballarat Police? Was he just there at the wrong time?

"I'm sorry," Ned's mother whispered and left the morgue in a hurry; Matthew followed the woman out and Alice caught a stifled sob before the door closed behind them.

"Just the basics tonight, Alice," Lucien sighed. "We can do a proper autopsy once both of us get a little more sleep."

She nodded and pulled a clipboard over from the counter behind her, "Alright."

Feeling only mildly better in the morning, Alice arrived first at the morgue; Lucien had driven both her and Matthew into work this morning - all of the Harvey-Lawsons spending the night at 7 Mycroft Avenue - and was still parking the Holden as she limped her way into the hospital.

Settling into her now familiar rolling stool, Alice drew back the sheet from Ned's face.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to him. "It won't bring you back, but we'll make this right, Constable Ned."

It had been difficult, telling Anna about Ned, but she needed to know and had been asking where they'd gone, why they were back with the Blakes. Their daughter bunked with them in Matthew's old room after crying her heart out, and they'd reluctantly left her there when both of them rose this morning - delaying the work day as long as they could. After the autopsy was done (which would probably take all morning), Alice was to send Lucien over to the station, and then follow there in the afternoon to pick up Anna. Hopefully any test results they needed would be back by then, but things could take longer than expected.

'And then… I don't know,' she mused as Lucien entered and shrugged out of his suit jacket.

"Alright, Alice, let's get to work."

With a nod, they huddled around Ned's body for the initial going over.

"Traces of lipstick on the cheek," she pointed out.

"Yes."

Alice rounded the body, careful of not getting the wheels caught on something as she did, "What's that?"

"Mm?" Lucien looked up from his inspection of Ned's hands, "What have you found?"

He joined her by Ned's left side and saw what had piqued her curiosity.

"Oh, yes. Some kind of abrasion… fabric burn?"

"Is that an imprint from the seam?"

Her best friend shrugged beside her and let out a deep sigh.

"Anyhow… spinal cord severed between the C1 and C2 vertebrae."

Alice nodded and leaned back on her stool, "I think they probably grabbed him around the jaw-"

"Which would explain the abrasion."

"Yes, someone knew what they were doing."

Not a happy thought.

"Yes," Lucien agreed.

It was a somber job that day, autopsies usually were, but the excitement of figuring out a mystery always outweighed the dourness of the morgue. Not today, Alice sighed as she put the finishing touches on the report for Lucien to take to Matthew.

"Here," she held it out to him, "you need to sign it before you take it over."

"Are you going to come with me?"

He had that puppy dog look in his eyes that Alice had come to know over their months of working together, and Alice gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"No, not yet… someone needs to finish up the rest of the paperwork and be here in case someone calls with test results."

"Do… do you want me to stay, Alice?"

Dear Lucien, she hid a smile as she looked down at the rest of her paperwork, always so kind.

"No, it's alright, Lucien… the dead and I are very close friends… I'll be by later after lunch to pick up Anna from the station."

"If you're sure."

"Positive… now go, I know you're chomping at the bit to investigate. Just…"

"What?" he paused in switching jackets.

"Don't… don't push with Matthew today, not with Ned, not with everything that's happened - though I know you've been going around like it didn't at the station… You know what Matthew's heart is like."

That sobered up her best friend quite a bit and she smiled when he nodded.

"I promise, Alice… and I'll see you later at the station."

"I promise."

With that, Lucien left - his footsteps receding down the hallway - and Alice was left with Ned again. Turning slowly to face the body of a once vibrant young man, she smoothed his hair away from his face.

"We'll find out who did this to you… and give your mum some closure. Lucien and Matthew are on the case, and so are Charlie and Sergeant Hobart… we'll find them, Ned."

Then, Alice did something she never would have done prior to coming to Ballarat, and gently kissed Ned's forehead - careful not to transfer her lipstick onto his skin. It lessened some of the pressure clenching around her heart, and as she pulled the sheet back over his face, Alice thought back to some of the happier moments involving the young constable.

They had to find who did this, they had to.

It had been a strange few days. The glee he'd felt over everything tumbling down around Lucien Blake had died a bit when he saw the news that one of Ballarat's own had been murdered the day he'd seen him in the park. Knowing that they'd want all possible information, Former Superintendent William Munro found himself walking towards the station he used to command.

A curious sight greeted him as he approached it: Dr. Alice Harvey swinging her way towards the station on crutches - her usual neutral face (that hid her emotions quite well) was turned down in a frown. Was it because of the crutches, or because of the murder of a police officer?

"Allow me," he opened the door and caught the way she abruptly stopped a few feet away from him.

"What are you doing here?"

Time had not softened her abrasiveness, and he almost smiled because of it.

"I have information for the Chief Superintendent."

Her shoulders relaxed minutely, and as she shifted on her crutches a light drew his attention; there, on her left hand, sat a simple three-stone ring, which she drew out of sight when she noticed where his eyes had strayed.

"Injured on the job, Doctor?"

"Family reunion," was all she gave him, but she did finally enter the station.

Another curious sight greeted him, a small, blonde haired girl seated in the hallway; she smiled a gap-toothed smile when Dr. Harvey came into view and jumped up to greet her.

"Mumma!"

He couldn't help it, his jaw dropped just a little as the girl hugged Dr. Harvey around the middle.

"Have a good day, Anna?" the doctor asked, her usual sharp voice warm and soft.

"Yes, Auntie Jean and I made more biscuits and I got to decorate them, and then she brought me here to go home with you. Auntie Jean gave me a tin of the biscuits."

"You've been busy. Have you also been behaving?"

The girl nodded again, "Sergeant Bill said to wait here for you, and Daddy's in a meeting."

Munro wondered if Anna's "Daddy" was the one who gave Dr. Harvey the ring - had to have been, from what he remembered Dr. Harvey wasn't too adventurous; evidently he worked in the station for both of them to be here.

"Mumma, who's that?" he heard the girl ask.

"That's the former superintendent, William Munro. Let's wait here for your father and then go home, alright?"

"Okay, Mumma," their voices then dropped to their own quiet conversation as Dr. Harvey sat down on one of the benches - her casted leg stretched out before her on the bench (as she did, her skirt rode up a little and he caught glimpse of a scar around her right, non-casted knee before the skirt dropped back down in place) as her daughter (Munro could hardly believe he was saying that, even in his own head… she never seemed the maternal type) settled in her lap. He sat down on another bench opposite them after the desk constable told him the superintendent was busy - knowing what that life was like, he insisted that Lawson be told, and resolved to wait as long as they left him there. He had an investigation to finish, but his suspect wasn't in any hurry (as far as Munro knew, his suspect wasn't aware of his investigation), and the police needed all the information they could get their hands on with a murder.

While they all waited, Dr. Harvey pulled out a book and quietly read it out loud to the girl on her lap; Munro noticed it was a book of science, and wondered - not for the first time since stumbling upon this brand new information - just how Dr. Harvey had become a mum.

It hadn't been in her file while he was superintendent, so either she was a deeply hidden secret, or the girl had come into her life very recently (at least since he'd left Ballarat).

"Excuse me, Mr. Munro?"

The girl had slipped from her mother's lap and crossed the hall to him with her biscuit tin.

"Yes?"

"Would you like a biscuit?"

For some reason, he hesitated (though the biscuits did look absolutely delicious), and glanced over the girl's shoulder to her mother.

Dr. Harvey raised an eyebrow at him, a faint smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth.

"They aren't poisoned," she told him dryly. "Unless Christmas biscuits offend you."

"Maybe just the one," he smiled slightly and let the girl hand him one. "Tell me, Miss…?"

"Anna!"

"Miss Anna, how did you meet your mum?"

"She saved me," the girl smiled even as Dr. Harvey turned bright red.

"Saved you?"

Miss Anna nodded again, "A bad man was chasing me and she punched him in the nose!"

"Anna," Dr. Harvey groaned even as her daughter grinned. Munro himself bit back his own smile; he couldn't quite imagine Dr. Harvey punching someone in the nose, but it evidently delighted her daughter.

"Daddy!" Anna ran over to an approaching figure, and Munro felt his jaw drop when he realized just who Miss Anna's father was.

Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson gave the girl a fatherly ruffle of her short hair as she wrapped her arms as far as she could around his waist.

"Oh, biscuits?" He spotted the tin, "They look so good, Anna."

"Thank you, Daddy. Auntie Jean said you could have some before dinner."

"Don't mind if I do."

Lawson took a biscuit and leaned over to kiss Dr. Harvey on the forehead as she lurched to her feet on the crutches.

"You alright?" He asked her quietly, smiling softly when she nodded.

"I do have these for you," she pulled out a folder from the bag slung on her back. "Routine tests, but nothing unusual in Ned's bloodstream. Cause of death was pretty straight forward, but it's good to cover all the bases."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Lawson snuck another kiss to Dr. Harvey's forehead before he turned to the still waiting Munro. "Ah, Mr. Munro, what can I do for you?"

"I have information regarding your current case, and wanted to help."

What a strange day it was, indeed.

He was pacing again.

Alice sighed and put a marker in her book - soothing Anna when she stirred.

"Matthew… dearest, please come to bed."

He grunted and started another circuit.

"Matthew, please."

Alice held out her hand as Anna snuggled up to her in sleep (their girl didn't want to sleep alone with all that had happened); tension eased in her shoulders when Matthew silently obliged and joined her in bed.

"Rough day?" She asked him once he'd settled.

"Yeah," Matthew sighed and smoothed a hand over Anna's hair. "I had to sack Lucien today on top of everything with Munro and Walter Gregan."

"I thought Munro was here to help."

"He's also on the lookout for a gun and one's missing from our vault - the lock was cut."

The tension returned and she shifted uneasily on the bed, "You think Munro stole it?"

"No, as much of an arse he was, he's still honorable. I do think he's up to something, however… I just don't know what."

"And having to sack Lucien while dealing with Ned's murder probably didn't help."

"No…" he sighed and kissed her shoulder next to the thin strap of her nightgown. "He was bloody irritating as usual."

"What'd he say?"

"They didn't leave you any option, did they? As though he was completely innocent in all of this and I was forced to sack him… all of us knew he was on borrowed time after the article and Edward raising Cain about Lucien assaulting him. The higher ups didn't have much of a choice with what he gave them; it's better to cut him from the group than have the whole station go under because of one man's actions."

"So… what now?"

"Solve Ned's murder, and I guess… inform Jack Wallace he's to be the Police Surgeon for the foreseeable future though honestly you deserve the position more than he does."

"I'm too closely tied to Lucien and it'd look like favoritism from you if I got it, dearest. For right now, let's focus on bringing Ned's killer to justice and formulate a plan from there. I've never worked with Dr. Wallace and we might get along, you never know."

Matthew let out a slightly disbelieving grunt, but he did kiss her shoulder again, "I am very glad that you'll still be down there in the morgue, no matter what happens."

"Just as I'm glad you're behind that desk at the station instead of someone else; we'll pull through this, Matthew, all of us together."

Matthew's hand was warm on her stomach as he curled up behind her in bed; with one last kiss to her shoulder, she felt him drift off and soon his ever present (ever comforting) snores started up. Pulling Anna close, Alice kissed the top of their girl's head and joined her family in sleep.

A new day would begin tomorrow, hopefully better than today.