The Journey: Chapter Three Chapter 3

Rachel smiled happily, the sun warm on her face. The wood of the deck beneath swayed gently in the current, and she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Rachel," he called again.

Her smile widened, and she opened her eyes. He stood over her, smiling too, and reached downwards. She took his hands and let him raise her up to stand in front of him, and she giggled.

Hooking her arms around his neck, she kissed him chastely, then pulled away, grinning. His arms around her waist tightened, stopping her, and he pulled her back to him, capturing her lips in a kiss that nearly took her breath away.

"Frank," she sighed happily, feeling his throat vibrate as he chuckled.

"I told you coming with me would be a good idea," he said.

Suddenly she knew she was dreaming, and the smile fell from her face. "Frank, I've got to tell you something," she said urgently.

He frowned. "What?"

Rachel opened her mouth to tell him, but she couldn't remember what it was. "I don't know," she said lamely.

In a dream, we were at sea

On a boat that was sinking fast

We sailed out over the ocean

And I was tied to the mast

Frank stared at her in confusion, but suddenly his face melted before her eyes. "Frank!" she called desperately, but he was gone, leaving only blackness. Rachel sobbed aloud once, and then woke up to find her pillow damp with tears.

Tears on my pillow, pain in my heart

Caused by you

~~ * ~~

"Hey, Dad," Rachel smiled, as her father opened his front door.

"My Rachel," Felix answered, giving his beloved daughter a hug. "What is the matter?" he asked, noticing the half-frown on her face.

Rachel laughed, nervously. Her father knew her far too well. "Can I come in?" she asked.

"Of course you can."

Rachel perched on the edge of her father's couch, wondering how she was going to tell him he was due another grandchild. She knew he'd only want her to be happy, but still she wasn't sure how he'd take the idea of his daughter as a single parent.

Would you like a cup of coffee?" Felix asked her, gently.

"Yeah, thanks Dad." Rachel smiled, wishing she had inherited his ability to be calm about everything.

Felix returned to the living room with two cups of coffee, and handed one to his daughter. "Now tell me, Rachel, what troubles you?"

Rachel took a deep breath. "I'm going to have a baby."

"But, this is happy news, Rachel!" Felix replied immediately. "Who is the lucky man?"

Rachel sighed, but only half in relief. "Frank," she answered.

"Ah," nodded Felix, understanding, "And he is gone."

Rachel nodded, and dropped her head into her hands. Felix gathered his daughter into his arms. "Wouldn't he come back if you told him?" he asked.

"He would," Rachel answered, "But I have no way to tell him. Australia Post doesn't deliver to the open sea."

"But he said he would return?"

"Yeah, in two years. Bit late to tell him then! And what if he doesn't come back? What if he decides he likes Venezuela and stays there?"

Felix smiled. "With you to come back to? Never."

Rachel knew he hadn't intended to sound patronising, but she couldn't help feeling it. 'I sound pathetic,' Rachel thought. She knew she didn't *need* Frank, but it didn't stop her from wanting him so much it hurt. She sobbed quietly, and then allowed herself to cry in her father's arms, feeling like a child again.

"Shh," Felix soothed. "God will take care of you, my Rachel."

Rachel wished she believed him.

~~ * ~~

"Hey, Rach, you wanna go for a beer?" Jack asked, as he did every afternoon when they knocked off.

Rachel opened her mouth to offer her customary refusal, but for some reason, she didn't say it. "Yeah, all right."

Jack's eyebrow raised in surprise, but he was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Grabbing his jacket, he followed her out the door.

~~ * ~~

"What would you like?" the bartender asked them.

Jack thought he might as well go for some quality. "Two Coronas, thanks mate," he said.

"Actually," Rachel cut in, "Just make it one and a lemonade."

Jack looked at her in surprise, "You giving up drinking or something?" he asked.

Rachel took a deep breath. Now was as good a time as any. "Yeah, just for a while," she told him. "I'm pregnant."

Jack's shocked stare was finally interrupted by the arrival of their drinks. He paid for them, avoiding looking at her. Finally he turned back. "Is it..." he began.

She shook her head. "Jack, I think you would have noticed it by now if it were yours."

"So why are you telling me this then?"

"I reckon I owe you some sort of explanation for the way I've been acting lately."

"It's Frank's, isn't it?" he asked quietly.

She nodded.

"Well, at least I know why I got the boot then," he mumbled.

"It wasn't exactly planned," she told him, "It just happened."

"Sounds familiar," he commented.

"Well, not exactly," she admitted. "I think I always wanted him, but I didn't want to take the risk."

"So you screwed me instead?" he asked bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I never meant to lead you on," she confessed. "I think you were the safe option. I knew I could always cut you off."

"Which you did."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I just always seem to manage to get myself into these messes." She dropped her head into her hands as she realised how big a mess she had gotten herself into this time.

"I don't reckon you got yourself into it all by yourself, Rachel," Jack commented.

"Yeah," she agreed, staring at her reflection in the glass of lemonade.

They each drank their drinks silently, avoiding looking at each other. Rachel downed the last of hers and stood up. "Look, Jack, I'd better get going, y'know?"

Finally, he looked at her, and surprised them both by saying, "You don't have to, Rach. You look like you could use someone to talk to."

"Yeah, I s'pose I could," she admitted. "But somewhere a bit quieter, eh?"

He nodded. "Detective Goldstein. May I offer you my hospitality? I promise not to steal your virtue," he promised, trying not to grin.

Rachel laughed. "Virtue? What's that?"

~~ * ~~

"Coffee?"

"Thanks," Rachel answered.

Jack brewed two cups of coffee and handed one to Rachel. "You wanna start from the beginning?" he asked.

Sipping her coffee, Rachel told him the whole tangled tale. Jack listened, not interrupting, until she finished.

"Do you love him?" he asked her quietly.

"Yeah, I do," she told him, meeting his eyes.

Jack put his coffee down on the table and sat back. It was rather a lot to take in all at once.

"Jack?" Rachel asked, worried by his silence. "Is this going to make things too weird?" she asked. "Us working together, I mean."

"Won't be for much longer, will we?" he asked.

"Well, a few months, yet," she protested. "I may end up doing nothing but paperwork, but I can't afford to take the maternity leave straightaway. And I'll be back afterwards."

"Have you told Hawker yet?" Jack asked.

She shook her head. "I haven't told anybody yet," she admitted. "Just Dad."

"What about Frank? Are you going to tell him?"

~~ * ~~

The next day, Helen Blakemore noticed a cloud hanging over her friend. She also noticed the odd sympathetic look from Jack, which she found rather strange. By lunchtime, her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she pulled Rachel aside.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Rachel frowned, confused, "What do you mean, what's going on?"

Helen was unconvinced. She took hold of her friend's arm and practically dragged her into the relative privacy of the ladies' toilets. Luckily, there were no other officers making use of the facilities.

"Spill," she commanded.

"Oh, Helen," Rachel sighed, collapsing against the wall. Her legs seemed unwilling to hold her up any longer.

Helen caught hold of her before she slid down to the floor. "Is it Frank?" she asked.

Rachel burst into tears.

Helen put her arms around her friend, rubbing her back and whispering, "Shhh, it can't be that bad."

Rachel pulled away from her. "It's... it's not bad," she admitted, "Just complicated."

"You're pregnant."

Rachel wiped her eyes. "Yeah," she answered.

"I'm sure Frank will come back when you tell him."

Rachel shook her head. "I can't. I've got no way to contact him."

Helen frowned. "Well, that could be a problem."

"Yeah."

"Didn't either of you think of this before he left?" Helen asked.

Rachel shook her head. "We, um, used something the second time, but I guess we didn't think of it the first time. We'd had a few drinks."

"A few? Sounds like you had the whole liquor store!" Helen exclaimed. "I'm sorry," she apologised immediately. "I guess that doesn't help."

Rachel sank to the floor and rested her forehead on her knee.

"Surely he'll have to stop somewhere for a few days and then he could call you or something," Helen suggested helplessly.

"He might, I suppose," Rachel sighed.

"Well, you know we're all here for you Rachel, whenever you need us," Helen assured her.

A ghost of a smile crossed her friend's face. "Thanks, Helen." Sighing, she added, "Now I gotta tell Jeff."

Helen chuckled. "Good luck."

Rachel got up to leave, then thought better of it. "Helen do you know what the protocol is with this? What am I supposed to do until I go on leave?"

"Umm," Helen thought for a minute. "If I remember rightly, you will have to sit down with either Jeff or myself and work out a schedule of duties. Knowing Jeff, it'll be me," Helen finished wryly.

Rachel laughed. "When are you free?"

"I tell you what, you go talk to him now, and I'll meet you in my office afterwards."

"Wish me luck!"

~~ * ~~

"I hope you aren't involved with any other officer under my command, Rachel," Jeff told her, eyes narrowing.

"No sir," she told him, then she added, "He's not under your command anymore." Well, it was no use trying to keep it a secret.

Jeff's eyebrow did its best to touch the roof, but he chose not to comment.

"Well, protocol says you'll have to meet officially with either Helen or myself, and work out what your duties will be for the duration. I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I'll see if Helen's free," he finished.

Rachel hid a smile. "No need, I just spoke to her," she informed him.

"Right then," Jeff nodded. "Tell her I'll approve whatever she decides. Take care, Rachel."

~~ * ~~

Helen looked up as Rachel entered her office. "How did it go?"

Rachel shrugged. "As predicted. 'I'm too busy, but Helen will take care of it'," she said, in a credible imitation of Jeff's voice.

Helen laughed. "I've been thinking about it, and rather than stick you on front counter answering phones all day long, I thought you could be a sort of junior intelligence officer. I'll arrange for you to have higher access to COPS, and that will leave me free to get out there a bit more."

"Sounds good," Rachel answered.

"Don't get too excited, you'll still get most of the boring jobs, but there're other things you can do. No field operations, of course, but you'll be okay for most surveillances and some negotiations. Does that suit you?"

"Yeah, that's great, Helen, thanks."

Helen smiled. "Just don't make me have to kick your bum for trying anything too strenuous."

~~ * ~~

Rachel returned to the office she shared with Jack and Mick with a weight lifted from her shoulders. "You guys got a job," she announced, handing Jack a printout Tayler had just given her.

"*We've* got a job?" Mick asked, confused.

"Told him, did you?" Jack asked.

"Yep."

Mick looked even more confused. "Told him what?"

Rachel sighed, "I can see I'm gonna have to make a bloody announcement or something."

"You could let the Chinese Whispers theory do its work," Jack offered.

"Chinese Whispers theory??"

"Yeah, didn't you ever play that when you were a kid? One person whispers something in someone else's ear, then they whisper it to the next person, and so on. Then the last person has to tell everyone else what they heard and see how much it resembles the original message," Jack explained.

"Right," Rachel observed. "Doesn't sound very reliable, Jack."

Jack shrugged.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on!" Mick demanded.

"I've been assigned to a desk job for the next six months or so," Rachel told him.

Mick frowned. "Why?"

"I'll be taking some maternity leave after that," she finished, her stare daring him to ask more questions.

Mick's mouth fell open, and a thought occurred to him. He looked at Jack.

"Nothing to do with me, mate," Jack assured him.

"You guys gonna get going or what?" Rachel asked.

Mick swallowed his questions and followed Jack to the car park.

"I didn't know Rachel was seeing anybody," Mick said, once they were on the road and out of range of the Goldstein glare.

Jack shrugged, not offering any information.

"Howcome you knew about this already, anyway?" Mick asked, suspiciously.

"Hey, I only found out yesterday," Jack protested. "At the bar."

"So you don't know anything else about it?" Mick fished.

Jack shook his head. "Nope," he lied.

~~ * ~~

Chapter Four is next

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