Thin Blue Line

Summary: Investigations, deaths, tension, friendship and love. It's just another week at the Sydney Water Police. [late season 4, AU]
Rated: T for the usual coarse language, adult themes and slight sexual references to come.
A/N: Yes it's another alternative to the ending of A Day at the Office. Basically how I would have wanted the following episode/s to go. :)

Day One

—

It was the day after the horrid passport scam case began, and Jeff wasn't hiding his impatient mood when he hurried everyone into the muster room. "Come on, come on. Some time this side of Christmas would be good," he huffed, gesturing quickly with his hands. Once the door was shut and his officers were seated, Jeff walked towards the whiteboard and started by taking a deep breath in. "Okay. So… as you all know by now, yesterday, two of our detectives were investigating a complaint from a water taxi company about one of their drivers. And this investigation has turned out to be an elaborately planned passport scam. Now today, I want all of you involved in the plain-clothed stakeout of the operation, before we hand all the information we get over to the Feds." Jeff's eyes wandered around the room, seeing understanding nods amongst most, "On the board behind me, you'll see your assigned groups and accompanying tasks. Are there any questions?"

Silence.

A little surprised by the deafening sound of nothing, Jeff blinked and said, "Okay then, that's it. You know what you have to do. Thanks everyone."

Akin to Jeff, Jack was also in a mood and he wasn't going to hold it back. Though his mood wasn't quite an impatient one; more like a pissed off one. He had been annoyed with everything to do with the passport scam for almost 24 hours now. "Jeff," he approached the Chief Inspector with an oddly calm demeanour, but he spoke through clenched teeth, "This case should have been handed over to the Feds as soon as we found out it was about dodgy passports. And that was yesterday, in case you've forgotten."

"Good morning Jack," Jeff wasn't at all intimidated by Jack's obvious foul mood, but he did want to make it perfectly clear where he stood. "I don't want to hear any more snide comments from you about when this case should have been given to the Feds. My hands were tied. Just get on with it."

Jack, however, didn't particularly care that Jeff was trying to justify everything. As far as he was concerned, the day ahead couldn't get any worse if he was in Jeff's bad books. "Look, Rachel and I could have been in some serious danger last night while we were tailing Grenville. We're actually lucky we lost him because we had no back up anywhere near us, noth—"

"My office now, Christey," Jeff was by no means downplaying the detective, he just saw no reason to get into an argument with him in front of other officers.

Rachel was sitting at her desk when she saw Jeff, closely followed by Jack, stride past. Both men, she noticed, had a sense of steely determination in the way they were walking. Rachel had been excluded from the short meeting in the muster room, a move she could only assume was due to the fact that Sophie Burke's mother was coming to the station to see her in the next half hour.

"Good morning," a weary sounding voice entered the office a short while later.

Rachel turned slightly to her left and saw an equally weary looking Mick sit down at his desk. She studied him for a moment while his back was still facing her. Rachel could guess what happened to Mick when he left work yesterday afternoon, and it wasn't exactly something she was overly happy about. But she knew that there were other people, namely Jeff and Jack, who were even less happy with him. "Hi," Rachel simply responded when Mick turned around to face her. "Jeff's going to want to have a chat to you when he sees that you're here."

"Oh yeah?" he said, oblivious to everything that had happened since he had last been at work. Mick saw her nod and he probed curiously, "Do you know what about?"

Rachel didn't answer his question as such, she instead said, "I'd just think about turning your phone on if I were you. And while you're doing that, perhaps you should think about how it may have turned off in the first place."

Mick frowned and pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, "Huh? Wh—" he looked down at it and pressed a few buttons. The screen stayed dark. Mick pushed against the backrest of his chair, becoming annoyed with himself for not even realising. He wondered why his phone hadn't rung at all through the night, but stupidly he never even thought to check it.

—

"What are you doing, Jack? Are you deliberately trying to cause friction?" Jeff demanded to know once they were both in his office with the door closed behind them. "Because if I didn't know you better, I would say you are. And you're doing a bloody good job of it too. Now sit."

Jack reluctantly took a seat opposite Jeff, even though he would have preferred to stand. It was easier to blow off steam while standing. "Why are you askin' me then?"

Jeff let out an agitated sigh and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. "You're pissed off about what could have gone down with Alex Grenville last night. I know. You've made it perfectly clear. That's why we are doing this properly today. And that's why, once we've done our part, the case is going to be handed to the —"

Jack didn't bother to wait until Jeff was finished, "Properly? What a load of bullshit, Jeff. Fake passports are way out of our league, way out of our jurisdiction. You don't seem to be too bothered by the fact that Rachel and I could have been in deep shit last night. Anything could have gone wrong! It's easy for you to sit in here on your arse all day and bark your orders. You're not out there putting your life— your partner's life on the line all the time."

"I'm going to stop you right there, Jack," Jeff held up one hand dismissively towards him, "You don't want to say something you might regret."

"At this point, I don't really care what I say to you because it obviously isn't going to make much of a difference."

Jeff bit his tongue as Jack got up and left the office, angrily slamming the door behind him. He sighed heavily. Jack had always been a bit of a loose cannon; Jeff had known that about him for around 18 months now. But there was something more to Jack's behaviour and attitude this time that was causing Jeff some concern. Although he couldn't quite understand what, if anything, had changed, from the Jack he met to the Jack he now knew.

—

"Are you waiting for me, Rachel?" exclaimed a cheeky Gavin, the grin on his face displaying every bit of that cheekiness. He, Tommy and Tayler were heading to the Water Police wharf, where an unmarked boat was moored.

Rachel, who was walking back to the station after finally getting the chance to speak to Sophie's mum, raised both hands slightly to her sides. She stopped and a dimpled smile formed on her face, "Well I'm not waiting for anyone else," she answered, with the same amount of sass.

"Damn. We're just about to go on surveillance too," Gavin said with his head held down, like he was disappointed. He'd always had a bit of a crush on Rachel, even if it was only a school boy's crush that wasn't reciprocated.

"That's too bad," Rachel's voice was somewhat playful, and she watched the three officers then continue down to the wharf, laughing to themselves as they went. When she turned to face the station, she saw Jack standing on the footpath, his eyebrows raised, intrigued by the lighthearted banter he heard between Rachel and Gavin. He'd only been outside for a minute or so, needing some fresh air after his chat with Jeff.

"You teasing him on purpose, hey Rach?" Jack felt the need to ask, despite knowing what it was all about.

Rachel took a few sultry steps towards him, asking in reply, "Does that bother you?"

"No it doesn't bother me in the slightest," Jack said confidently, before pausing and leaning closer to Rachel. He then whispered in her ear, "Especially not after the amazing sex we had last night."

A shiver ran through Rachel from head to toe, even though she wasn't cold. It was completely ridiculous, she thought, the way that man made her feel sometimes. As she eyed him while he walked away, she could tell from his body language that he saw her unconscious reaction to his last comment and was pretty pleased with it as well.

"Hey Rachel!" she heard Dave call out just before she was about to head back inside herself. Rachel turned around and saw him motion for her to come over. She walked towards the divers area where Dave was waiting, and once she was closer he started saying, "Look, I'm sorry about what I said to you —"

"Oh no Dave, forget about it. You had every right to call me that anyway," Rachel told him, not deliberately wanting to fob him off but knowing it probably sounded like she was. "I should be the one who is apologising to you."

"Nah," Dave shook his head. He wasn't a fan of conflict between workmates, especially those he respected, so he said with a genuine smile, "Look. It was one of those days, I get it. So let's start afresh today. Whaddaya say?"

—

Tension between Jack and Mick had been high ever since their argument in the middle of a city street a few days earlier. It all began when Jack accused Mick of getting too close to the wife of a 'shark attack' victim and for withholding relevant information, and it went downhill from there. But now that Mick knew about the intimate relationship between Jack and Rachel, he was just waiting for the right opportunity to have a word with Jack. He didn't necessarily want to have a go at him as such, but he definitely wanted to voice his opinion about what he thought was a double standard from Jack.

When Jack entered the detectives office by himself, Mick finally saw that opportunity, but before he got the chance to open his mouth, Jeff's voice boomed through the open door, "Reilly, how nice of you to join us this morning. I'd like to see you in my office please."

"Yes sir," Mick fixed his tie and flattened his suit before following Jeff to his office.

Jeff didn't even wait until Mick was seated before talking, "You better have a bloody good reason for not being available yesterday afternoon and evening, Reilly. Your phone was switched off when we needed you here at work," Jeff was intentionally using his last name to show that he wasn't going to take any shit from him. He also wasn't really in the mood for excuses, but waited to see what Mick could come up with before he spoke again.

Mick slowly sat down. He didn't have a good excuse or reason. He was with Suzi Abromavich; there was no denying it, and no real reason for it either, besides them wanting to see each other. "I don't have a reason, Jeff," he eventually answered, almost in shame. "And I don't know why my phone was off."

"No?" he watched Mick shake his head, "No. Well, instead of surveillance, you'll be doing the remainder of Jack and Rachel's paperwork from yesterday. And from what I hear, there's a lot of it. You got that?"

"Yes, Jeff," Mick stood up, pushed the chair forwards so that it was partly underneath Jeff's desk, and left his office. Jeff watched Mick leave through slightly narrowed eyes and with a small sigh, wondered where he really was last night and what would cause him to be so careless with his mobile phone. But he also knew the chances of finding out those things were now very slim.

Mick walked back to the detectives office half-heartedly, scuffing his feet along the ground as he went. When he sat down at his desk, which was now piled with paperwork, he realised he was being stared at by Jack, so he turned to face the older man. It was going to be the first time so far that day that they had the chance to speak to each other. "What, Jack?"

Jack shrugged a little and said nonchalantly, "Nothin'."

"I don't think it's nothing, so why don't you come out and say whatever the hell it is you want to say to me?" Mick exclaimed, but immediately decided not to wait for Jack's response. He thought that now was the right moment to speak his mind, "No, you know what, I'd like to tell you something which has been bothering me."

"By all means, Mick, go ahead," Jack said with what he thought was just the right amount of smugness, if there was such a thing. Jack didn't think there was anything Mick could say that would somehow excuse what he did yesterday. But he also didn't know that Mick wasn't about to make any excuses for himself; he was bringing up another matter.

"You and Rachel —"

Jack was rolling his eyes as soon as Mick said 'you' because he knew where it was going. He scoffed loudly and interrupted, "What? Hang on. Why is this suddenly about me and Rachel? What's gone on between us has nothing to do with—"

"It has everything to do with everything around here," it was now Mick's turn to interrupt, his voice firm and meaningful. "You know, only a few days ago, you were having a go at me because you thought I was getting too close to Carly Middleton. That was all on you, what you perceived. And wrongly, I might add. But as it turns out, that whole time, you were screwing Rachel!" Mick saw Jack's eyes narrow, so he corrected himself somewhat, "Two of the investigating officers were sleeping together!"

Irritated by Mick's words, Jack got up and walked over to Mick, who then stood up from his desk, expecting a confrontation. The detectives were facing each other closely, and Jack, who had been trying to keep his cool the entire morning, suddenly snapped. He grabbed Mick hard by the shirt, near his collar, and growled, "You wanna make something of it? You wanna have a go at me now, do ya? Like some sort of payback. Where were you last night, Mick? Huh? How about we talk about that?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" came Helen's voice before Mick could even think about responding. She pulled the two men away from one another, "What on earth is going on here?" she demanded to know, her eyes darting back and forth between them.

Jack returned to his desk and sat down heavily, "Why don't you ask Mick? He's the one with the problem."

Helen glared at Jack in disbelief, "That's not what it looked like to me, Jack," her eyes then turned to Mick as she looked for an answer from him but he just shrugged. "Can I see you for a moment? Helen asked Mick, who nodded and stood up, quickly glancing at Jack through narrow eyes before he went to Helen's office.

—

For the second time so far that day, Mick felt he had been (somewhat) unfairly summoned to the offices of one of the senior Water Police members; first Jeff, Chief Inspector, and now Helen, Senior Sergeant. "I'm not really in the mood to explain what happened with Jack, or what happened yesterday either," he sighed, not giving Helen the chance to be the one who spoke first.

"What happened with you yesterday is not something any of us can change now. It's done," Helen responded from her position at her desk. "I do however want to talk about what that was with Jack, because in case you've forgotten, you share an office, and the last thing we need is physical and verbal fights between you. So, what was it all about?"

Mick sighed again, only offering yet another shrug.

"Was it about yesterday?" Helen queried, feeling as though she may get a response if she started guessing what the issue was. "I know Jack hasn't been too happy about the whole passport scam investigation from the very beginning, and you being unavailable didn't make him any happier."

"No, that's not what it was about… exactly," he finally spoke and gained the courage to look Helen in the eye.

"Enlighten me then."

Next door, Rachel walked into the office, having just come back from in-car surveillance, the job Jeff originally intended for Mick but ended up giving him the paperwork to do instead. "Hey," Rachel said quietly to Jack, a little surprised to see him there on his own. When Jack looked up at the sound of her voice, she noticed straight away that something was wrong, "What's up?"

"Oh… it's nothing Rach," Jack replied offhandedly. He got up and walked over to Rachel's desk, sitting down on the chair opposite her. He looked at her through soft blue eyes and tried to change the subject, "How'd you go on surveillance?"

Rachel waved an index finger at him, "Nah uh." She wasn't going to let him get away with the 'it's nothing' reply that easily, "Answer my question and I'll answer yours."

Jack managed a quick chuckle. She always had a way of getting under his skin. "Okay," he began, a little hesitant. "It's just… Mick," Jack didn't really want to go into any of the details but knew from one look at Rachel that she was wanting to hear more.

"Oh yeah?" Rachel responded with a sigh that said she wasn't too surprised. She was then taken back to a conversation with Mick and rolled her eyes at the thought of it. Frustratingly, he had somehow managed to turn a discussion about Suzi into one about her relationship with Jack. "Don't tell me. Now that Mick knows about us, he pounced on the opportunity to bring up the big argument you two had a few days ago?"

Jack stared at her, slightly dumbfounded by her correct guess, "How the hell did you figure that out?"

Rachel pointed down at the nameplate on her desk that read 'Detective Senior Constable Rachel Goldstein', "I am a detective, you know," she told him with a smile. "But seriously though, you two really do need to kiss and make up."

"Ha!" Jack exclaimed at Rachel's last sentence, remembering when she initially said that to him. "Now tell me how you went with the surveillance. Anything interesting come of it? Did you see that little prick Grenville?"

She sighed through her nose and shook her head. "No nothing interesting came out of it really, and there was no sign of Grenville. But I am starting to think that perhaps there's a person on the inside making those fake passports. Like someone from Immigration maybe, someone who knows passports inside and out."

—

Based on Rachel's hunch and some computer intel from Helen, Jeff sent Mick and Jack to the Immigration Office in Haymarket later on that afternoon. The pair were clearly still at loggerheads with each other, and neither of them spoke for the entire 25 minute drive. It was only when they arrived and got out of the car, that Mick, having spied a bottle of red wine on the back seat, broke the ice.

Jack threw his head back slightly at Mick's mention of the wine. "Shit! I totally forgot about that," seeing Mick give him an odd look, Jack reluctantly explained, "If you must know, I bought it yesterday for Rachel and I to celebrate the record breaking less-than-four-hour murder investigation. But we ended up going to the Cutter Bar for a couple of drinks after work instead."

Mick raised his eyebrows, and letting his curiosity get the better of him, he was soon asking, "So I take it you two are still together then?" but when Jack refused to answer, Mick decided to continue truthfully. "It doesn't actually bother me if you are. I just don't like double standards."

Jack let out a sigh, not feeling the need to further the conversation with him because he knew that at any time it could turn into another argument. "Let's get on with this, shall we?"

Inside the building that was home to the Immigration department, Jack had a quick word with the receptionist before walking back to Mick, who was standing in the waiting area, flicking through some brochures. "He's gone home for the day. Unwell apparently. Conveniently," Jack informed him, "We only missed him by five to ten minutes." They headed back to the car and once seated, Jack got on to the radio, saying, "VKG Sydney Water Police, this is Water Police 200."

"Go ahead Water Police 200," came Tayler's voice.

"Yeah Tayler, can you let Jeff know that we missed the suspect by about ten minutes at most? He went home sick according to the receptionist. Can you also ask Jeff if he wants us to —"

"Jeff here. It's okay, Jack. You may as well call it a day. The suspect isn't going anywhere, that can all wait until tomorrow. The Federal Police are taking over the case in around 24 hours, so we have until then to come up with a good brief. Maybe they will even let us work alongside them if we can show what the Sydney Water Police is capable of."

Jack pulled the receiver away from his mouth. He made sure he wasn't speaking into the radio when he said in a disgruntled and sarcastic manner, "That's fucking great. So we're going to do all the hard yards with this stupid bloody case, all for what? A little bit of glory for Chief Inspector Jeffrey Hawker," Jack's voice then switched to a relatively normal tone as he went back to speaking into the radio, "Copy that, Jeff."

"Well. Tomorrow it is then I guess, ey Jack?" Mick commented, trying not to be annoyed by the time they'd just wasted. He started the car, let the engine idle for a few seconds, and with a little more enthusiasm said, "I have to go to work and continue with some paperwork, but I can drop you at your place if you like? Not sure there's much point in you going back to work now."

Looking out the side window for a moment, Jack shook his head. "Nah. Back to work is fine, mate. I have a bottle of wine to attend to with a certain woman," he said with a small smile that Mick just missed seeing by a fraction of a second when he glanced at Jack out the corner of his eye.

To be continued in Day Two.