Title: Times Change
Date Started: December 5th 2002
Date Finished: December 14th 2002
Rating: G
Comments: This one is set as if Tess and Jonesy hadn't gotten married in the season finale *we think*. It's my first one, so please do feedback, but even though it's pretty bad, don't be too harsh on me.
Part One: Fleeting Departure"I'm pending my notice." Tess announced to the station out of the blue. She had just said it so *easily*. Every body was there, apart from the boss. That was a bonus.
"You're what!" Evan spat.
"I'm pending my notice. I'm going home." She answered.
"Where's home?" PJ asked quietly.
"I don't know. It's not here though. I tried, but it's just… too hard."
"You have to give six weeks notice don't you?" Evan asked.
"I'm giving two. Enough time to find a replacement."
"Two weeks to find a sergeant who'll work out here? You're dreaming." Ben protested.
"No no no, I've got it all worked out." Tess started. "Ben will have my job, Jo will become a senior constable, and then you just have to get another constable, and they're always *itching* for a job, any where." Tess explained.
"Why now Tess? Won't it be easier to go later in the year?" Evan asked.
"Don't try to hold me here Evan, it just makes things harder."
"But, Tess."
*~*~*~*
Two weeks later, Tess stood in front of the station about to get into her loaded down car. She turned around to see the people she had grown to love. Well… like. Memories of all of the great times they had spent together came flooding in. No. She thought. It's not worth staying.
"Do you think you've got every thing?" Tom asked.
"I think so."
"Well then… Call us if you get bored. Or lonely, or sick of home."
"I will." Tess promised.
After a round of hugging and good lucking, Tess turned around to see Chris running up the hill.
"Oh good, I was beginning to think I'd missed you." The fiery redhead called.
"They wont let me go!" Tess said with excited mock-sadness.
"Yeah, keep her here!" Chris said.
"If she tries to get away, I'll hold her down." Evan said jokingly.
"How 'bout no Jonesy." Tess said, hugging him again.
It took three more rounds of hugging, a bit of kissing, and a bit more hugging to get Tess out of their clutches, but the second she did, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest. It was a great feeling.
Part Two: Fleeting ArrivalThree years passed until the next time Tess walked into the station, and boy, had she changed. Her hair had grown long, and it was now a rich brunette colour, and she was wearing clothes fit for a superstar.
"Tess?" Evan asked in disbelief.
"Hey." She replied coolly.
Evan jumped out of his chair to hug and kiss her. "How are you?"
"Fantastic. Yourself?" Tess answered.
"Yeah, pretty good, um… what have you been doing?"
"A bit of this; a bit of that." Tess answered mysteriously. "Where is every one?" She asked.
"Um… Jo and Ben are out on patrol, PJ and Dash, she's the new… ish girl, um, they're interviewing a suspect, and the boss is in his office."
"Well, don't tell them I'm here. I want it to be a surprise. I'll probably see you later. You guys do still drink at the pub after work don't you?"
"Yeah." Evan answered enthusiastically.
"Cool, bye then."
"Tess, wait," Evan called after her.
"I found home by the way." She said over her shoulder as she disappeared through the door.
Evan stood, wondering what to do as the boss emerged from his office.
"Did I hear voices?" He asked.
"Um yeah, just some one popping in to say hello." Evan answered vaguely.
"Oh, okay." The boss replied, walking back into the office. Just then, Evan noticed some thing about their conversation: He had said suspect, and Tess hadn't asked what it was about. That disappointed him. Although he loved having Dash for a work mate, he had always secretly wanted Tess to come back so they could all go back to the way things were before she left. The conversation proved that that would never happen. Tess had changed. At that moment, Jo appeared from the side corridor, Ben behind her. Evan grinned: Finally he wasn't the last person to know something!
"What are you grinning at?" Jo asked.
"Nothing." Evan replied mysteriously.
Part Three: More Departure"Exciting things always happen in Mount Thomas." Evan argued that night at the pub.
"Evan, nothing ever happens here." Jo retorted.
"I'll bet you any thing, some thing exciting happens within the next twenty four hours." Evan said.
"Okay, you're on. What's at stake?" Jo agreed.
"Um… How 'bout this month's salary?" Evan suggested.
"No way."
"Drinks here for the rest of the year?"
"No… Some thing cool."
"Okay. How about the loser has to apply for a stripping job at Shorty's?" Evan proposed.
Jo thought for a moment, and then said, "Okay. Loser has to strip." And they shook hands on it.
For ages, Evan tried to act normal, but the wait nearly killed him. Then, just as PJ Jo and Ben were about to go home, the stunning redhead walked through the doors. It wasn't Chris.
"Oh my God, Tess!" PJ cried when he saw her.
"Hey." Tess answered in the cool tone she had used with Evan.
"My God, it's so good to see you, what are you doing here?" PJ asked, with Jo and the boss now hugging her.
"Just thought I'd drop by." Tess responded.
"What have you been doing?" Jo enquired.
"A bit of this; a bit of that." Tess replied. She must rehearse those lines, Evan thought, remembering the conversation they had had earlier on in the afternoon.
"Jonesy, aren't you going to give your sergeant a hug?" Jo asked.
"I already have."
"I came into the station this afternoon." Tess grinned mischievously.
"What? Why the hell didn't you tell us Jones?" PJ spat.
"The sarge told me not to." He defended himself.
"The sarge is Ben Jones, you don't take orders from exes." PJ said, mocking anger.
"Old habits die hard." Jonesy then noticed Dash looking very uncomfortable.
"Oh, Tess, this is Dash McKinley, she's our newest constable; Dash, this is Tess Gallagher, our old sergeant." Tess looked coldly at Dash for a moment, and then shot her a smile that would melt Antarctica.
"Hi," She said, extending her hand to her.
Dash shook it, and said hi quietly.
"This place hasn't changed much." Tess commented.
"No. Mostly just same old, same old." Tom replied.
"I noticed." Tess said.
"Did you find home, Tess?" Ben asked softly.
"I did actually," Tess smiled softly, "It's really cool."
"Where is it?" Jo asked.
"Nah, you guys'll tease me!" Tess cried.
"Promise we wont." PJ said, leaning forward.
"It's in America." Jo PJ Ben and Evan stifled laughter.
"Where about's?" Dash asked.
"California." Tess said sheepishly. At this point, aside from Dash, the whole table burst out laughing. Tess? America? CALIFORNIA? That was too much.
"I told you you'd tease me." Tess pouted.
"Sorry Tess, but California, it's a bit too much." PJ said, panting from his burst of laughter.
"Heaps of people go to California." Dash said, obviously not knowing Tess at all.
"Dash, if you knew Tess, you'd understand." Evan said, still amused.
"Can I get to know her?" Dash asked, looking at the stranger.
"Sure, what do you want to know?" Tess asked.
"Well, I don't know. Every thing they know." Dash answered.
"I have to warn you, when it comes to me, that's not a hell of a lot, but, here we go. My name is Teresa-Anne Gallagher, I'm thirty-two, I worked at the station for about oh, two or three years, I Got sick of it, I left, um… I've been living in California for the past year now, and before that, I was in Massachusetts, and before that, it was Bermuda, the Channel Islands, and I stayed with some friends in Seychelles for a while."
"It took you a while to find home then." PJ commented.
"Yeah, I s'pose it did." Tess agreed.
"What's this thing with finding home?" Dash asked.
"I didn't feel at home here. I needed to find somewhere that I could live happily. I did." Tess smiled.
"That's good to hear." The Boss said.
"Yeah. So, what's been happening here while I've been away?" Tess asked.
"Not a lot." Jo replied. "Just a few cases."
"What kind of cases?" Tess asked. Jonesy felt a flicker of excitement- maybe the old Tess was still alive in there somewhere.
"Well," The Boss began, "There have been masses, there was, well, there was the ah… the farm burning down."
"Tell me what you saw when you got there and I bet you anything I can solve it." Tess challenged.
"Well, the owner of the property was coming out of the house carrying his little girl,"
"It was the wife." Tess interrupted.
"How did you guess?" PJ asked, astounded.
"Call it intuition." Tess answered, "And what's this about somebody stripping depending on what happens in the next twenty-four hours? Tell all."
"Oh damn." Jo moaned.
"Jo bet that nothing exciting would happen in the next twenty-four hours, and you came, so the loser has to apply for a stripping job at Shorty's." Jonesy exclaimed.
"That's hardly fair though," Tess started.
"Yeah, I agree!" Jo put in.
"No, not about that," Tess said, "You knew I was coming Jonesy. You knew I'd be here tonight."
"Yeah, you rotten stinker, that's not fair."
"Well…" Jonesy stammered.
"Ha! You old dog Jones!" PJ said, slapping him on the back.
"It's off then. It's not a fair bet if you know what the outcome are going to be." Tess decided. "But it'd be a bit funny. Seeing you strip Jo."
"Shut up!" Jo exclaimed, going bright red.
"Don't worry, no-one's gonna make you strip Jo darling." Tess said. She looked at her watch. "Ooh, sugar! I'd better get back home."
"You're going back to California already?" Jonesy asked.
"No, I mean where I'm staying. I've got to get back there." Tess stood up, and walked out.
"Well, that was quick." PJ said.
Part Four: Meeting And Greeting"I do want you to meet them." Tess said to her young offsider.
"Why? I'm never going to see them again." The young teenager replied.
"You can't stay locked away in here forever." Tess replied with a laugh.
"But I'm only here for a few months, what's the point of making friends?"
"Look Candy, I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time with them, and you can't hang around here by yourself."
"I hang around everywhere else by myself. When we were living in Rio, Mum let me go out whenever I wanted to, and I was only seven! When I was living in Bermuda, Dad let me go out every night with guys he'd never met, and didn't say a word. And here I am, in a sleepy country town, and you won't let me stay at home. I'm nearly thirteen!" Candy cried.
"To bad. You will meet my old friends, you will be *nice* to my old friends, and you will make friends of your own." Tess said. "Conversation finished."
The next day, Tess took Candy down to the police station to meet her old buddies.
"Hey guys! I brought someone to meet you." She said, holding Candy's hand, and pushing her slightly forward.
"Hi." Candy said shyly.
"Hi!" Jo answered brightly, "I'm Jo!"
"I'm Evan." Jonesy smiled warmly, "But you can call me Jonesy." He winked.
Dash smiled at her, "My name's Dash."
"Ben." Ben nodded.
"G'day mate, I'm PJ."
"And I'm," Tom paused, "Senior Sergeant Thomas Arthur Croyden. But you can call me Tom." He smiled warmly.
Candy smiled slightly at them.
"Well, tell them your name." Tess prompted.
"I'm Candy." The young girl whispered.
"Pleased to meet you Candy." Jonesy smiled.
"Candy's my little cousin," Tess said, putting her arm around Candy's shoulder, "We're staying in town for a few months."
"Hey, that's perfect timing! The kids are coming over from Perth in a few days! You'll have someone to hang around with!" Ben said to Candy.
"Cool." Candy mumbled, looking at the floor.
"I think we'll go now. I want to introduce Candy to a few more people." Tess said, guiding candy out of the office.
"See you tonight." She called back to them.
As Tess and Candy we're walking out of the station, a group of boys from Mount Thomas High walked past the station. Candy smiled slightly at them. They smiled broadly at her. They were all typically Italian, and unbeknown to Tess at the time, were named the Mount Thomas Mafia for their conduct and ability to get everything they wanted. It was probably a good thing that Tess didn't know about their name. She wouldn't want fish arriving in her mailbox.
*~*~*~*~
The next day, after a night of persuasion, Tess finally agreed to let Candy go out on her own while she was hanging out at the station catching up with everyone properly. Candy had decided to find those guys she had smiled at yesterday. She assumed that they would all be in school, so she made her way to Mount Thomas High. When she arrived, it had just gone lunchtime. Candy walked onto the school grounds. She walked straight up to a group of girls about her age.
"Hi."
"Hi!" They all smiled at her.
"Um, I was wondering if you knew where I could find, um, I'm not sure of their names, but they all look Italian, and they were all guys?" Candy said, now remembering her shyness.
"The Mafia?" The blonde girl said, "Yeah, they'll be on the basketball courts. We'll take you there if you like." She offered.
"Thanks." Candy agreed, following them.
After a brief walk, they approached the boys.
"Ciao Bella's!" One of them greeted. They were all sitting on a bench with their feet n the one directly in front of them.
"Hey guys, someone was looking for you." The blonde girl said. All of the girls parted, revealing Candy.
"Hello again." One of the guys greeted.
"Hi." Candy said, feeling incredibly timid.
All of the other girls walked away.
"Sit down." One of the boys said, pushing the feet of the guys off the bench closest to him. They all in turn did the same thing.
Candy sat down. "Sorry to, like, come here while you were at school, but I'm here for a few months on holiday, and I've got no friends, and you guys all looked friendly." She said.
"You're on holiday already?" One of them asked in amazement.
"Yeah. I was living in Cyprus, and they have really weird terms. But, my cousin was coming here, and she lives in America, and she thought I might want to come, 'cause I was born here, but I haven't been here since I was two, and, yeah." Candy said, trying desperately hard not to run away.
"Cool. So you wanna hang around with us? We've got holidays starting next week." One of them offered.
"Yeah!" Candy said enthusiastically.
"Great. So, was that you're cousin you were with yesterday?"
"Yeah, she used to work at the police station." Candy said, nodding.
"Oh, I just thought of something. If we're like, gonna hang around with you, it might be an idea if we knew your name, and you knew ours."
"Oh yeah." Candy nodded. "I'm Candy."
"I'm Sebastian." One of them said, "And this is Roberto, Emilio, Fabian, Marco, Mykolo, and Sean."
"Hi." Candy said.
"Hey." They all replied.
Part Five: Time To PonderTess spent all that day with her old friends, and Candy spent most of it with her new ones. The same thing happened the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. Ben's plan for Candy to spend most of her time with his kids did not go to plan, and the most time they spent together was when they met over dinner, and spent about two and a half hours together. After a few weeks, Tess's time with everyone else trickled away to basically none, and she spent most of her time at home by herself. Candy's friendship with The Mafia was flourishing, and everyday she left earlier and came home later. Tess thought a lot about what she had left behind in Mount Thomas. There were a lot of nice people in Mount Thomas, and it might have just been her sergeant point of view before, but all of those cops at the station were lovely people. If she wanted to stay here, it would be at the expense of somebody else at the station, and everyone would probably hate her all over again. She decided to go to the pub, and left a quick note for Candy before leaving.
*~*~*~*~
When she arrived, she was just in time for the announcement.
"Ah, Tess, I'm glad you're here. I was going to talk to you first about this, and ask you something, but I may as well just say it outright here." He paused, "I've been in the job for nearly thirty years, and I'm only getting older and slower. I started planning it last year, and I'll be following through with it in a few months. I'm retiring, and Tess, I'd love it if you could become the senior sergeant of Mount Thomas Police." A stunned silence settled over the table. "Now, I've also been thinking, and it might not be fair for Ben, he's been working as the sergeant for three years now, and-"
"Tess can have it." Ben said hurriedly. Everyone looked at Tess.
"That is so weird. I was actually coming here to see if I could get a job there. Not just The Boss's job, or my old one, but, yes, I'd love to!" The whole table cheered.
"Cool! Tess is gonna be my superior again!" Jonesy cried, "Yes!"
"Don't say that Jonesy!" Jo moaned, joking.
"Don't worry Jo. I've planned everything, and the way I've been these last three years, it's gonna be like working with a completely new person." Tess said.
"I can't wait to meet them." Jo said.
"So will Candy be staying?" PJ asked.
"Gosh, I don't know. I've been thinking so much about myself, I haven't thought about her much at all lately." Tess said.
"She's got the Mafia." Dash commented.
"The Who?" Tess asked in bewilderment.
"The Mafia. Her friends." Dash said.
"They're called the Mafia?!" Tess exclaimed.
"Yeah. But don't worry, they're not really in the habit of sending fish through the post." Jonesy said.
"Then why are they called the Mafia?" Tess asked.
"Just because they're Italian, and because of the way they act. She's got good company there." Tom said.
"Mm." Tess said. "Do you think she should stay?" She asked everyone.
"She should probably decide by herself." Ben said wisely. "It's never a good idea to anything with kids they don't want."
"Yeah…" Tess said. "I'll talk to her about it." She said, getting up.
"What? You're not going to stay for celebratory drinks?" PJ asked.
"No. Candy and I are leaving in a couple of weeks. I need to get a decision out of her by then." Tess said, walking out of the pub.
Part Six: Decision Time"Hi Candy!" Tess greeted her cousin when she walked in at about nine-thirty.
"Hi." I left a note saying I'd be late. Fabian's mother drove me here." Candy said, covering for any kind of trouble she might be in.
"No, don't worry about that, I only just got in myself. I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" Candy asked, sitting down.
"I got my old job back as a sergeant, except with a promotion, so I'll be the senior sergeant, and that means I'm going to stay here. Would you consider staying here with me?" She asked.
"I don't know." Candy said, "I've got a lot of friends, but, I've got a lot of friends back home as well. I'd need time to think about it before I made any kind of decision." She said uncertainly.
"It's okay. I'm going to go back with you, and get everything sorted out and tie up some loose ends. Just have a think about it. Don't feel you have to make a decision either way, but, you decide."
Candy did think about it. She thought about it all night, and all the next day. The day after that, she brought it up with her friends.
"Guys?" She asked.
"Girl?" They all responded, just as they always did.
"I'm leaving in a few days, and so is Tess, but Tess is gonna come back to live, and she wants me to come back with her, and I don't know if I want to." Candy said.
The boys sat in stunned silence. Finally Mykolo spoke up, "Do what your heart tells you." He said logically, "It sounds dumb, but, it's always the right thing to do."
"I know. But my heart's torn between staying here with you, which would mean I wouldn't see my Dad or my Mum, and I wouldn't travel as much, but I'd get more school in, and I'd also be living with Tess, and she's really cool, but so are my parents, and I don't know what to do!" She cried.
"Your parents are separated aren't they?" Sean asked.
"Yeah." Candy replied.
"And you said the deal was, nine months with your mum, and three with your dad right?" He asked.
"Yeah." Candy said, not sure what he was on to.
"Who were you meant to be with while you've been here?"
"Well, either of them really, something got changed or something, and for a few months their lawyers decided that either of them could take me."
"And why don't either of them have you?" Emilio asked.
"Well, my Mum was working on this really big news item, and was too busy, and my dad had organized something he couldn't get out of, and couldn't get me into."
"So essentially neither of them wanted you?" Sean said.
"They did want me! They did, but they couldn't!" Candy cried.
"Why aren't you there then Candy?" Roberto asked.
"Because," Candy tried to think of an excuse.
"If they really wanted you, they could have made arrangements." Sebastian said.
"You guys are just jealous because it's not you who gets to leave this place. I am going; I'm going back to my real friends. Away from you forever!" She stormed out of the café, leaving them looking shocked, offended and speechless.
Part Seven: Departure Again"It's hard to believe it's been two months already!" Jo said when it was nearly time for Tess and Candy to leave.
"Tell me about it." Tess said, smiling.
"You make sure she gets on that plane back, okay?" Jonesy said to Candy.
"I will." Candy smiled.
"I'll miss you kiddo. You sure you don't want to stay?"
"Positive. Home is where the heart is. Tess can tell you that much."
"First boarding call for passengers flying to California, America, flight QF723" A voice came over the intercom.
"That's us." Tess said. "I promise I'll be back." She said, hugging everyone. "I'm glad I came back." She said.
"So are we." Jonesy said.
"See you in a couple of weeks!" Jo said, waving.
"Yeah." Tess said, turning to board the plane.
"Bye." Candy said, following her.
"She's such a sweet kid." PJ said when they were out of sight. "Wish she could stay."
"Like she said. Home is where the heart is. As much as Tess tried to ignore it, home is where we are for her, and for Candy, it's with her friends in Cyprus." Ben said.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and turned to go back to Mount Thomas.
Their home.