Undercover Cop

by xx.Nicolie.xx

Jack and Martha Fan Fic. A year after Martha leaves the bay, Jack starts his first undercover mission, and discovers that to crack the case, he has to work with the girl that he tried so hard to forget, Martha.

1. Chapters 1 to 25

Story so far.

Jack had taken Martha to Corey's jail, to overcome her fear of him. His plan worked, and Martha's nightmares and panic attacks never occurred afterwards, but the thoughts of him still lingered in her head. Everything would remind her of how stupid she'd been for believing Corey's lies and how embarrassed she felt that she didn't believe Jack when he tried to warn her. Family and friends assured her that it wasn't her fault, but she still felt very guilty for not trusting Jack. She felt awkward when around him, and often bailed at last minute when Jack and her had arranged to meet in the diner for a friendly chat. Jack wasn't aware of her guilty conscience and assumed it was because she didn't like him. This is why, when he found out that Martha's gun had gone missing, Jack was angrier than he would normally have been. They were soon in a full-blown argument, which left Martha and Jack on none talking terms.

The next day, Martha and Jack felt truly awful, but both were too stubborn to say so. Jack felt that the only way he could get rid of his feelings towards her was to stay out of her way, and Martha had the very same idea. And when Martha's friend rang up from the city, listening to how everything in the bay reminded her of Corey, and her plan to forget all about Jack, she came up with a solution. Martha should go to the city and live with her. Martha was unsure at first. That would mean leaving her friends and family behind. Her friend in the city, Claire, insisted that she could still keep in touch, and this way she didn't have to live around the bay and be reminded of Corey, or bumping into Jack. Martha finally agreed. She convinced Alf that it was a good idea, and packed her bags. She was to leave the following week.

At first, she didn't want to tell Jack, because it would seem like she was a little girl, running away from her problems, but as the days grew closer to her leaving the bay, she really wanted to tell him. She knew that the only way that she'd stay is if Jack asked her too. But she knew that wasn't going to happen, as Jack had been avoiding her and he probably wouldn't care if she left after all the problems she'd put him through. How wrong was Martha?

Jack was unaware of Martha's plans to go to the city, so he stayed out of her way, following his plan. He received a text from her the day she was leaving, asking if they could meet up, she was going to tell him about her leaving the bay. But he simply ignored it and switched his phone off, leaving Martha heartbroken and with more passion than ever before to leave.

Later on in the evening, Jack decided to swallow his pride and go down to Noahs, to talk and apologize to Martha. She wasn't there so he went to her and Alf's apartment. "Weird" he thought, she wasn't there either. He returned back to Noahs and sat down with an upset looking Tasha and Robbie.

"What's up Tash?" Jack asked. Robbie put his arm around her.

"She's a bit upset because of Mac." He said. Jack looked confused.

"Why, what has she done now?" Jack said. Tasha and Robbie looked at each other.

"You don't know do you?" Tasha said, wiping away the tears. It was obvious by Jack's face that he had no idea what was going on. "Mac's moved to the city with her friend Claire. She said she wanted a change of scenery after the Corey thing. I thought she'd have told you. I'm sorry I would have told you if I'd realised." Jack's face fell. "She's gone." He thought.

1 year later

Jack was at the station catching up on his paperwork when his mobile rang. He looked at the caller ID. "Jenny" He muttered, he put it back face down on the table letting it go onto answer phone. Just then, Constable Lara stuck her head in the room.

"Jack, the Sarg wants you to go to his office when you've finished up." She smiled and disappeared back around the corner of the door. Jack collected his paperwork and went to the office. Jack swung his head around the corner of the door.

"You wanted me Sarg?" He asked.

"Yes, come in Constable, shut the door behind you and take a seat." Jack did as he was told and curiously looked up at his boss. "So you've been with us for just over a year now, and I can see you are a very talented officer."

"Thanks Sarg" Jack smiled.

"This is why I'd like to see what your really capable of. Sydney's police force have asked me for my best young constable to join them in an undercover private investigation. And I'd like you to go. So you up to it?" Jack grinned.

"Thanks Sarg. Of course I'll go!" Jack said eagerly.

"Good." Smiled Sergeant McGrath. "You'll be leaving tomorrow. Here are all the details." He passed him a brown envelope. Jack stood up and reached out for the envelope. Sergeant McGrath maintained a firm grip. "Just remember not to tell the whole world about this. Just very close family if you need to."

"Sarg." Jack nodded. Sergeant McGrath released his grip and Jack happily walked out of the office. He'd always wanted to go undercover, and now it was finally his chance to prove that he could do it. When he got into his car he ripped open the envelope. He had to be at the airport by 10 the next morning! "Better get home and get packed" he thought. He smiled all the way home.

The next morning he was all packed and ready to leave. He paced around the living room. He looked up at the clock.

"Where is that damn taxi?" He said. Tony and Lucas laughed as they put their jackets on.

"Sorry mate. We're ready now." Tony smiled. Jack darted confused looks at Tony and Lucas. "You really thought I'd book you a taxi instead of driving you to the airport?" He laughed. "Come on." Jack smiled to himself as he picked up his suitcase and headed out the door.

Jack had no problems checking in and boarding the plane, nor did he during the flight or in Sydney airport. It was going very well. After giving Tony and Lucas a quick call letting them know he was in Sydney and was safe, he strolled along to the man holding up his name on a card.

"Hi." Jack smiled. He put down his suitcase and offered his hand. "Jack Holden." The man smiled and shook his hand. Jack thought how exciting this all was, but soon realised that he was on police business and should act as professional as possible, so he swallowed his excitement and calmly followed the man who was now leading him to a four-by-four. The windows in the back were all blacked out, and the reflection from the Sydney sun was almost blinding. He hopped in to find a smartly dressed woman. She passed him a file that was clearly marked "Hotchin Drug Scam."

Chap 3

During the ride to the hotel, the smart woman, Detective Sammy Youngs, filled Jack in on the investigation. Dave Hotchin is a major drug dealer that supplies drugs to almost 100 people in the city, but it isn't the drugs that the Sydney police want him to be arrested for. When the customers don't pay Dave Hotchin their bill, he results in violence. They have linked him to 7 murdered and 4 missing people, but cannot get enough evidence to support their beliefs that he killed them. They've been looking for a way to get him for about 2 years now and with no luck, but a recent girlfriend has come forward with her suspicions, and agreed to work with the police to find enough evidence to put him away. The police, however, need a trusted constable to work with the girlfriend to help in the investigation, this is where Jack comes in. He needs to first form a friendship with Dave Hotchin, and move in with him. When he has done this, the police will get in touch and talk about his next actions. Before he exits the car, he has to give all his credit cards and his personal things such as his mobile to the woman, for obvious reasons. He was then given a new mobile and a wallet that held new credit cards and a drivers licence with a new name on. He will introduce himself to Dave as Jack Robins.

Jack signed in at reception and then went to his room. He collapsed on his bed letting out a sigh. He heard something squash underneath him, he sat up and looked at the creased envelope. Inside were his first instructions.

"Be at Craytons Bar on Hyefield Road for 6pm. There you will meet a guy called Frank serving at the bar. Ask about Dave, and show your interest in wanting to talk to him. Make sure he shows you who Dave is. We will be in touch. Destroy this letter."

Jack looked at his watch. He had enough time to go have a shower, get a change of clothes and have a walk around Sydney before going to Craytons Bar. He ripped up the letter several times before walking to the bathroom.

As Jack wandered around the busy roads of Sydney, he often checked his watch, counting down the hours until he was officially undercover. He gazed up at the road signs. "Sydney Centre, Sydney Fishing Park, Sydney.." Every time he read the word Sydney he felt as if he was forgetting something. Then it suddenly dawned on him. Martha. He'd tried to forget about her over the past year, but every so often he'd see the cliffs where they shared their first kiss, the pathway where they laughed as she did her nudey run, and the car park where they argued. He'd never forgiven himself for yelling at her the way he did and not replying to her text. Why had he been so damn stubborn? He remembered how much he'd actually despised this city for taking her away, it was the only thing he could blame it on, apart from himself that is. He wondered if he'd bump into her. "Nah, it's a big city! What are the chances I'd see her!" He told himself. Even if he did see her, what would he say? Part of him was still furious with her leaving without even making an effort to tell him. They might not have been together at the time, but he thought that he might have meant more than that. They were getting on pretty well before she started to avoid him. He sat down on a park bench, staring into the busy traffic. Suddenly, something in his head woke him up from his daydream and he looked at his watch. "15 minutes!" He smiled as he got up and made his way to the bar.

Chapter 4

He strolled into the dark, smokey pub. The odd wall lamp occasionally lit up the smooth, maroon walls that were covered in black and white photos of celebrities. Jack walked up with his hands in his pockets and gazed up at the well-known heroes.

"Amazing to think they've all been right here in Sydney." A croaky voice said. Jack turned around to face the bar man. "Look, even 'the king' himself." He pointed to the large picture of Elvis styling his trademark hair. Jack smiled and walked over to the bar.

"Can I have a beer please?" He said, whilst pulling up a stool. The barman nodded and passed him a beer, he leant on the bar and stared at him.

"Your new round here, right?" The bar man said. Jack nodded. "My name's Frank. What brings you round here then?" Jack smiled as he realised he'd just got the perfect opportunity to start his mission.

"I'm Jack, and I've actually came to see a man called Dave Hotchin, do you know him?" Jack asked.

"Yea, he's over there in the corner." Frank pointed over to a dark corner, smothered in smoke.

"Thanks mate." Jack said, handing the beer money over to him. "Keep the change." He got up and walked through the layer of thick smoke that was surrounding Dave like a blanket.

"What do you want?" Dave growled.

"You actually. Can I sit down?" He asked. Dave hesitated with his answer.

"Yea, sure." He sighed. Jack sat down opposite.

"It's nice to finally meet the man behind it all." Smiled Jack.

"Behind what?" Dave sat up straight.

"Supplier to about 100 people! I'm impressed." Jack took a drink of his beer, then returned it back to the foam, ash covered coaster. "My name is Jack Robins, and I was wondering if you had any jobs going." Dave gave a sigh of relief as he rested back in his chair.

The two talked for a while, Jack created a quick drug background for himself. Dave instantly liked Jack. He liked his attitude, and the fact that he didn't 'beat around the bush' in getting what he wanted. They talked for hours about football, TV and about life in general. But it was the last topic that really surprised Jack.

"So, you got a girlfriend Jack?" Dave asked.

"Nope." He sighed, taking his last mouth full of beer.

"Awww, that's a shame. I've got a great one! I've only known her for about two months, but she's fantastic! She'll be back at the house now I should imagine. Do you want to meet her?" Dave didn't really ask, as he was already picking up his keys and wallet, and gesturing Jack to get up.

"Yea, sure! Does she live with you?"

"Yea."

"Wow, after only 2 months!"

"I know. She insists that we're not 'living together' as such, and that she has to pay rent each week. But I'm telling you, she's the one." He smiled. Jack was quite surprised at this. He'd read his profile and he felt it hard to imagine that a tough drug dealer could actually fall in love. "Now are you coming or what?"

"You sure?"

"Yes! She'll be happy to see you, and you'll LOVE her! Trust me! You'd be a fool not to!" They laughed as they walked out the door. Jack smiled to himself. He was right on track.

Chapter 5
Meet the Gilfriend..

They pulled up to a small, country house surrounded by trees and woodland. Jack looked around. This was such a major contrast to the busy, polluted roads in Sydney. It was hard to believe that they were in the same city. He followed Dave through the wooden arch-shaped door, and into the kitchen/living room. As they walked in Dave gestured Jack to be quiet. Jack was bemused at first, but soon clicked onto Dave's plan. He was slowly creeping up on the woman stood up facing the window, listening to the music that was blasting out of the speakers. "His girlfriend" He thought. This was the woman that was working with the cops, so she must be expecting him. He looked at her for a minute. She looked very familiar, even though he could only see her from the back. Her hair, her clothes, her size.. He couldn't think where from though, he blamed it on lack of sleep. He smiled as he watched Dave put his arms around her in a bear hug, but it soon faded away when he saw her reaction. She stamped on his foot, elbowed him in the stomach and grabbed his hair to knee him, but stopped mid-way realising who it was. Dave moaned in pain.
"Oh My God! I'm so sorry Dave! You frightened me!" She turned around and hugged him.
"It's fine, it's fine." Dave said, standing up straight and turning off the music. "Meet my friend, Jack." She spun round to Jack.
"Hi Ja- " She stopped. She stared at him in disbelief. Jack was exactly the same, and had been since he'd realised who it was. They didn't need to say anything, their eyes spelt out the words "Oh My God."
"What's up?" Dave asked, confused. There was silence before the pair snapped out of it.
"Sorry, I've got a bit of a head ache." She lied "erm, nice to meet you Jack." She reached her hand out. "My name's Martha, but you can call me Mac." Jack looked at her outstretched hand, he reached out and shook it.
"Hi. Mac." He forced a quick smile and placed his hands in his pockets. They both awkwardly stared at the floor, until Jack broke the unbearable silence.
"So. Dave said that you and him have been together for 2 months?" He smiled.
"Yes that's right." Martha answered.
"Well, you guys must really get on, living together already!"
"He just happened to be renting out a room, it was better than a hotel, so I agreed so our friendship could grow." Martha sharply answered. Jack smiled, knowing that he was getting at her, but his smile soon faded away when Dave walked over and put his arm around Martha. Jack felt a bit weird. He'd only known himself and Corey with her, and he was never pleased about Corey. It'd been a year, why did this affect him?
"Well, I assume your looking for somewhere to live?" He said.
"Yes." Jack moved his eyes from Martha to Dave, trying to blank her out from his thoughts. "I can't stay in a hotel for ever!" He joked.
"Well, how about you move into the spare room here?" Dave suggested. Jack smiled, "wow, this was easy!" he thought.
"You sure?" Jack asked. Martha stepped away from Dave with her hands on her hips.
"Hang on, we've only got on spare room, and that's my room! I hope your not suggesting I move out!" Martha demanded. She knew that if she did then she'd have no part in the action.
"No, no of course not babe. If Jack sleeps in your room, then you can always share mine." Martha looked angry. Jack uncomfortably looked to the floor. He didn't exactly want that. He wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment, but he knew that this wouldn't help.
"Dave, you know I'm not ready for that sort of thing." She said.
"I know, I'm sure you can just put up with sleeping beside me for a couple of weeks, just until Jack gets to his feet in this new city. I'm sure you know how it was when you left your hometown to move here, Claire took you in, now I'm taking Jack in." He smiled at Jack. Martha folded her arms.
"Fine." She sighed. "Welcome to the house." Martha forced an obvious fake smile. Chapter 6

Jack and Dave had been to the hotel to pick up Jack's things and were now outside, taking Jack's suitcase out of the boot.

"Sorry about before mate, Martha can be a bit stubborn when she wants to be." Jack laughed, "Really" he thought to himself.

"Ahh it's fine!" Jack smiled. He picked up his suitcase and started heading to the house with Dave, when Dave's mobile started to ring.

"Hello?" Dave answered. "Oh, right, I'll be there in 10." He closed his phone and returned it back to his pocket. He put his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Listen mate, I have to go sort out some business, take your bag in and Martha will help you get sorted. Tell her I'll be back in the morning." Before Jack could say anything, Dave had already started the car and gone half way up the drive. Jack stood there for a minute, what was so important that he had to go off so quickly? He took his phone out of his pocket, text Detective Sammy Youngs with the news, and went inside with his suitcase.

He shut the door, and turned around to see an angry looking Martha staring right at him.

"Dave had to go for some business, he told me to tell you that he'll be back tomorrow morning." Jack picked up his suitcase. "So, where's the room?"

Martha laughed.

"You don't really think you're staying here do you?" Jack looked confused as he pressed his suitcase down into the carpet.

"What?"

"I agreed on having an officer come and help me, but I didn't agree to it being you." She got out her phone. "I'm sure Detective Sammy Youngs will send another officer, she's pretty desperate to lock Dave up." She started to dial the numbers, Jack ran up to her and closed the phone. "Hey!"

"Please, don't do this. You don't know how happy I was when Sarg asked me to work undercover. I have to admit, I'm not particularly pleased about this either, but I really want to show that I can do it! We're mature adults, I'm sure we can get over it and just get on with it, after all, we are trying to lock up a criminal, letting our history interfere would just be selfish." Martha knew he was right.

"Well you're not that far into it, I'm sure I can still get enough evidence to lock him up with another officer, one that I can stand to be around." She argued.

"Not that far? After just meeting him for a couple of hours he already trusts me, and he's even invited me to live with him! And I think Dave would find it suspicious if I just left, then a couple days later another guy came along, asking for a job and a place to stay too! Come on Mac, please?" Martha looked up at him.

"Fine!" She folded her arms.

"Thanks Mac." He smiled.

"Come on then, bring your stuff this way." Trying not to give in to that Jack Holden smile, she turned round and led him up the stairs.

Chapter 7 – Pizza

Martha took him into the room at the very end of the corridor. It was a good-sized room, wardrobes, double bed, plenty of draws, everything you could have in a bedroom really. Jack put his bag down at the door, and walked around the room with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm just going to ring for a pizza." Martha said, before exiting the room. Jack sat on the end of the bed, when something just outside of the door caught his eye, something in another room. He walked into the other room and looked up at it on the wall. It was a picture of Dave and Martha. He looked down the corridor, and at the end there was a small table with more photos on top. He walked over, and took on hand out of his pocket to pick up a small, wooden framed picture. Again, one of Martha and Dave. He sighed as he studied it. He couldn't get over the fact that it was Martha who was helping the police in the investigation, why would she do this? Why would she even get involved with such a dangerous man? It didn't sound like Martha. His thoughts were disturbed by the sound of heavy footsteps climbing the hollow, wooden stairs. He quickly returned the photo to its place on the table.

"Hi" He smiled. Martha gave a quick smile before walking past him and going back into Jack's new room. Jack followed; he leant against the doorframe watching her organize the draws.

"Right, seen as though Dave has got a lot more clothes than you, I'm going to keep my clothes in here, I'll just move these together and that leaves those draws and that wardrobe over there for you." She tried to point with her head, as her arms were too busy struggling with her clothes. After being attacked by the coat hangers for about a minute, she dumped them all in a big pile on the floor and sighed.

"You know what? I can't be bothered. I'll do it later." She collapsed back onto the bed. Jack laughed. Martha sat back up, looking at him.

"What are you laughing at?" She said, confused.

"You." He smiled. He joined her at the bottom of the bed. "Thanks again, for letting me do this." Martha smiled.

"I remember how important being a police officer is to you." Jack nodded. Silence crept over them again, as they both stared at their feet.

"How is everyone?" Martha asked.

"You know, apart from the occasional drama, everyone's fine!" He smiled. "Robbie and Tasha are still going strong, so are Matilda and Lucas. Oh you'll NEVER guess who has got together.." He said sarcastically.

"Hmm, could it be, Tony and Beth?" She enquired.

"How ever did you know!" Martha giggled. The doorbell rang. Martha looked at her watch.

"Wow, that's great service!" She smiled. "Someone deserves a tip." She said, leaving the room. Jack laid back onto the bed. He was exhausted. He was so angry with Martha leaving the bay without telling him, and desperately wanted to ask why she'd do such a thing, but he had to forget about it and get on with his job. He knew it would be hard, but it was possible. Martha popped her head back in. "Come on! You really thought I was going to order pizza for just me?" She practically ran to the pizza that was cooling downstairs on the kitchen worktop. Jack sighed as he gathered enough energy to get up and go downstairs.

In the kitchen, Martha was setting the table. Jack walked over to the pizza box and lifted the lid.

"Yummy, my favourite." He laughed.

"Yea, I know." She said, looking up at him. They both smiled. "Beer?"

"Yes Please." Martha brought the beers over to the table and sat down. They both tucked in, taking their first piece of the delicious pizza.

"So, you and Dave then, how'd you meet?" Jack enquired.

"Well, when I moved in with Claire, about a year ago, she'd left me to my own thing for about 8 months. But she soon made comments about the lack of dates that I went on, and the fact that I hadn't been interested in any guy since I came to Sydney. So, she felt it was her place to interfere and set me up with embarrassing blind dates." She laughed.

"Yea! I know what you mean! About 3 months ago Robbie and Tasha did the same, they got involved, and started setting me up with their friends. At first I protested against it, but you know what they're like." Martha smiled at the thought of her friends. "Well, after about a fortnight of their blind dates I was already regretting the day that I gave in!" He laughed. "So for 3 solid months I've been having disastrous blind dates." They laughed. "So, Dave was a blind date then?"

"Of course not!" Martha swallowed. "Do you really think there is such a thing as a blind date that ended in a long term relationship?" She giggled. "No, I met him at a local club. I needed some fun after all the lousy, depressing dates I'd experienced from the past 2 months, and he was pretty fun! That was, before I moved in." Her smile faded away.

"Why?" Jack looked concerned. Martha hesitated for a moment.

"Erm, because.. I found out all about the drugs!" She said. "I couldn't believe it when he told me, but it all started to click in place. I thought about all the things he'd said to me, how they all suddenly made sense, this is when I realised that he used violence." Jack took a drink of beer.

"What I don't understand Mac, is why, if you'd figured out he was a violent man, you stuck around? I thought after Corey you'd get as far away as possible. It doesn't make sense that you'd stay with him." He said.

"It makes perfect sense." She replied. "What Corey did to me really shook me up, as you know, and I still think about it sometimes. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if you hadn't of tuned in to Corey's lies, and clicked onto his evil, sick personality. I would have probably ended up moving with him, getting myself deeper in trouble. But the fact is, you did click on, you did keep working at it until you proved your suspicions right, and you saved me by doing this." Jack smiled at her. "If I run away from Dave, then he's only going to carry on what he's doing, but if I stay, and help the police gather evidence, I can prevent him doing any more harm to anyone, just like you did with Corey." Jack nodded, he could now see the logic behind it all, but something still wasn't sitting right, he kept thinking that she was keeping something from him. He thought for a moment. He came to the conclusion that he was just being over suspicious, so he carried on.

"It must be hard though, I'm sure all the Corey feelings come back often due to this." Martha sighed.

"Yes, they do, but I've learnt to control them. I know he can't hurt me now, not when Jack Holden is around anyway." She joked. Jack wanted so badly to ask why she'd left, why she didn't tell him, but he knew that if he started he wouldn't be able to stop, and the last thing he wanted was to have a repeat of their fall out just like the one over the gun. Little did Jack know that Martha was thinking the exact same thing. She was still furious inside with Jack for not saying goodbye to her. She had assumed that he'd known she was leaving, seen as though Colleen had been told and once Colleen Smart knows, the whole town knows. So when he ignored the text, she thought it was because he didn't really care she was leaving. Martha had left without a chance to talk to him about it, and had always regretted not confronting him for being such an idiot about it all. Both of their trails of thoughts were stopped when Jack's phone rang.

BUChapter 8/U/B

"Hello?" Jack answered.

"Hey, Jack, it's Peter Baker, are you alone with Martha?" Peter asked.

"Yea. Dave's still out."

"Right, I'll be around in a second with Detective Sammy." Peter hung up. Martha's face looked confused.

"Peter and Sammy are coming to talk to us.." Jack said.

"Peter? As in Peter Baker?" Martha smiled. Seeing another familiar face would be nice after so long.

"Yea, I think so. I didn't know that he was on the case." There were 3 knocks on the door. Martha got up and let them in.

"Good-day" Jack said, when they entered the room. Peter and Sammy came in with smiles on their faces.

"Well done Jack!" Peter said, patting him on the back. "This investigation is moving very smoothly." He smiled. "Now we just need to continue with the same level of success, but that's easier said than done." Jack looked up at Peter. He had never really worked with Peter before, but he'd heard tales around the police station of the great hero that is Detective Peter Baker, and he had grown to admire him as a member of the police force. "I see you two have patched things up then. I was a bit worried at first when I found out that it was going to be you two." Martha and Jack looked awkwardly at one another. "But after hearing from your Sergeant about you Jack, I had full faith that you'd overcome the problems and get on with the job in hand, and it looks like you've proved me right." Peter smiled.

"So, what's next?" Jack asked. Peter sighed.

"Well, it's kind of up to you. You've formed a friendship and moved in with Dave, that's great! Now you need to abuse it. Make sure you find information out on Dave. You know what to look for, anything suspicious and you tell us. The main thing for you two to concentrate on is communication. Have a good communication with Dave, and a good one with each other. You'll need as much information as you can get, but be careful, if Dave suspects anything, we want you out. Understand?" Martha and Jack nodded. "Oh, and Jack you've got some messages on your mobile, from Jenny. I suggest you ring her up and make up a reason for why you can't get in touch, she's very persistent in going out with you again!" Peter joked around, playfully elbowing Jack. He gave Jack a piece of paper with the messages on and the number.

"Cya guys!"

"Cya!" Martha and Jack said. Jack looked down at the sheet of paper that was laid down flat on the table. He flicked through the pages of messages that had all been left by Jenny asking for another date. Jack sighed.

"Let's have a look." Martha said, sliding the paper towards her. She picked it up and glanced through them, laughing. "She's playing hard to get then, eh?" She laughed. "I can't believe you've actually got a girlfriend-" Martha giggled. Jack suddenly snapped out of his daydream.

"What's that supposed to mean Martha?" He said.

"I don't know, I just guessed as soon as we got talking about me and Dave that you hadn't. I can read you like a book." She said, still chuckling away at the desperate messages. "Who the heck is this girl anyway?" She burst out laughing, pointing at a particular message that was literally begging him for another date. Jack snatched the papers off her.

"Jenny. My girlfriend." He smirked. Martha stopped laughing.

"Oh, so you just didn't inform her that you were leaving because you love her so so much!" She teased.

"I couldn't at the time, it was very short notice and her mobile was switched off. I'll have to ring her later, to catch up and stuff." Martha smiled, as an idea popped in her head.

"Why later, when you can now?" Jack gulped.

"Erm, good idea." She indicated to the corner of the room, where the phone was located. He got up and walked towards it. He picked up the receiver. "How am I going to pull this off?" he thought to himself. He started slowly dialling the number, when he got a brain wave. He slammed the receiver down. Martha had a smile on her face.

"What's up?" Jack turned around.

"Oh nothing. I forgot to use the number withhold key at the beginning." He started dialling again. Martha's smile disappeared, as she watched on.

"Hi babe, it's Jack! Sorry for not being in touch for the past two days. I'm on work business outta the bay, and I haven't had much time to get to the phone. I'll ring you soon though, and we can catch up. Sorry if you've been calling my mobile, I left it in a petrol stations restroom somewhere on the way here!" He laughed. "Anyway, I've got to go, missing you." He grinned as he put down the receiver. Martha was sat at the table, speechless. Jack walked over to behind where Martha was, he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Just going to-"

"AAARGGHH" Martha screamed and bolted up, clutching her shoulder. Jack stepped back confused.

"Woah Mac. You okay? I only rested it on…" Martha looked embarrassed.

"Sorry, I know you weren't pressing hard." Jack looked at the shoulder that she was still clutching.

"Martha what's wrong with your shoulder." He said, stepping forward and bringing his arms towards it. Martha backed away from him.

"Nothing. I'm fine, it's just a bit sore from where I got sunburnt the other day." She smiled. "I know, stupid me for getting sunburnt. Anyway, I'm tired so going off to bed. Cya in the morning." She walked off, leaving a very confused Jack.

Chapter 9

Martha woke up to the smell of pancakes. She smiled as she rose from her bed and wrapped her dressing gown round her, and slipped into her teddy slippers. She slowly walked into the kitchen, yawning.

"Mmmmm, pancakes." She smiled, walking over to behind Jack. He looked over his shoulder at Martha.

"Want a Coffee?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Then you won't mind getting me one when you get yours." He smiled cheekily. They both laughed.

"How did you know where everything is?" She enquired, whilst turning on the kettle.

"I'm a police officer, it's my job to be nosey and go through people's things" He laughed. They were sat down with their pancakes and tea when Dave walked in.

"Hi babe." He kissed Martha on the cheek and started to go on about the night he'd had, leaving out the important details that were drug related, just talking about traffic and rude hotel staff. Jack had sensed that the mood had gone way down since Dave had entered, Martha wasn't half as cheerful and awake as she'd seemed before. But Jack's suspicions were soon whipped out of his head when Dave lifted Martha up by the hand and started to kiss her! Jack, obviously feeling uncomfortable, quickly cleared the plates in the sink and made his way upstairs and into the shower.

Jack came down later to see Martha and Dave joking around on the sofa. He watched them as Dave playfully pinned her down and tickled her. He understood that Martha wanted to put Dave away because of the reason with Corey, but what he couldn't understand is why she'd ruin such a great relationship. Dave adored Martha, and Jack assumed that their feelings were mutual, so why would you try and get the man you loved arrested? Jack decided that he looked a bit strange staring at them like he was, so he headed back up the stairs, tripping up on the third step.

"Jack, you okay?" Martha giggled at Jack who was now on a heap in the floor.

"Yes thanks." An embarrassed Jack slowly got to his feet rubbing his knee. "I think I had one too many pancakes." He joked. Dave got up from the sofa and walked towards the fruit bowl, picking up an apple.

"Jack, I think that we should go and make a delivery." He winked. Jack nodded. "We'll be about an hour, See ya later!" Dave blew her a kiss. Jack waved bye to Martha as he shut the door.

They arrived at a small, deserted, retired office block. Jack stepped out onto the cool, hard concrete and looked around. The only colour coming from the grey, bland scenery was the vibrant reds and yellows in the graffiti that covered a small area of the massive buildings. Jack noticed a small gang of youths that had now broken from their circle and were walking towards himself and Dave. Jack stayed close behind his new partner as he watched the transaction of money and drugs take place. He caught on to names, and memorised the faces of the members of this rough looking gang. The deal only took a matter of minutes, and Jack and Dave were soon back on the road. Dave turned into a hotel car park, and parked next to a woman, who obviously knew Dave. Dave smiled at her and turned to face Jack in the car.

"Tell Martha that something came up." He said, reaching for the door handle.

"Hang on!" Jack said, pulling Dave back inside. "What do you think your doing? Do you know this woman?"

"Yea, her name's Claire. Listen, Martha doesn't need to know." He winked. Jack still hadn't finished.

"Claire, Martha's friend?" Dave nodded. "What was that you were saying about Martha being 'the one'?" Jack asked angrily.

"This doesn't change any feelings I have towards Martha. Anyway, it's hard with her being so Christian and all, I'm not used to it." Jack looked confused and opened his mouth to talk, but Dave just carried on. "Now back off and take the car home." He threw him the keys and stepped out, kissing Claire. Jack stared in amazement. What was he going to tell Martha? Should he lie to protect her? He could tell by the way she acted around Dave that she really did like him. Jack telling her this would probably hurt her. Jack sighed as he put the keys in the ignition and started the car.

Chapter 10.

Jack walked in.

"Hello?" He shouted. "It's me Jack!" He fiddled with the car keys whilst he tried to organise what he was going to say in his head. Martha walked downstairs to greet him.

"Hi Jack." She smiled. Jack had a delayed response, as he was still thinking about what to do. He wouldn't be happy lying to Martha, but he didn't want her to be upset. Just then he saw a big pink blur float past his eyes.

"Hello? Earth to Jack?" Martha was waving her hand in front of him. Jack snapped out of it.

"Erm, sorry! Just thinking about.. erm.." He didn't like lying to her, and he didn't have to.

"Stop what you're saying before you lie." Martha said, putting down her drink on the side. Jack acted as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "I know you too well. Now tell me what's up." Jack thought for a moment. "Now, Jack!" She demanded. He indicated over to the sofa. Martha looked worried, "wow, this must be bad" she thought. Her and Jack sat on the sofa, he took in a deep breath before he spoke.

"I know this is going to be upsetting, and I hope you know that I really don't agree with it! I think it's terrible of him, and he's stupid for doing it." Martha looked concerned, Jack saw this, but he had to carry on. "When me and Dave had finished off dealing, he drove to a hotel, where I left him with a woman." Martha let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh my god! You scared me so much!" She laughed, she got up and was pouring herself a drink when a confused Jack spoke up.

"What do you mean? You knew about this?" Jack asked. Martha turned around, drinking her glass of water. She nodded.

"Yea, he doesn't know I know, obviously." She smiled. "I'm not really that bothered, at first I was. I was furious that he'd do that to me! But, when I thought about it, I got over it."

"But I thought you really liked him. I've seen you two together, your laughing and joking and having a great time." Martha sat back down on the sofa with Jack.

"We laugh and joke just like friends do! I've come to realise that I don't feel anything more towards him than just friendship, just like I did with Cor-" Martha stopped dead in her sentence, realising what she'd just let out. Jack looked angry.

"With Corey?" He fumed. Martha looked down to her glass. "Damn" she thought. Martha may not have been looking at Jack, but he was certainly looking at her, and she could feel his angry eyes staring at her in disbelief and disgust. He angrily stood up. "So you never liked Corey then?" Martha looked up at him, she nodded shamefully. Jack couldn't believe it. "Was it all to make me jealous then?" He went to storm upstairs, when something crossed his mind that made him, if possible, angrier. "I asked you if you could forgive me, but you said that you and Corey were together." He'd now turned around to Martha. You could tell that Jack was thinking this through as he was saying this. "But, you didn't like Corey.." He said, slowly walking back towards her. Martha wasn't saying anything. "So that was a lie then. You just didn't want to get back with me." Jack looked at Martha for a response, but she couldn't give one. This annoyed Jack, he felt that she couldn't be bothered to give him an answer. "I can't believe you! You knew that I liked you, but you still carried on with Corey! It was obviously going to affect me wasn't it!" He shouted. Martha picked her head up.

"Jack I-"

"No! I don't want to hear it! You're not the Martha that I cared for, the one that I longed to be with. I don't know you." He said, disgusted, and with that he left the house, slamming the door on his exit.

Martha sat in silence in the exact same place for an hour, thinking about what she'd done. She felt awful, but at the time she had her reasons, but the way Jack had talked about her, the way Jack had looked at her, made her feel disgusted with herself. She could see from his face that Jack had for that moment felt hatred towards her. He'd never looked at her like that before, and she really didn't like it. She thought back to that night when he'd told her his feelings, and asked for another chance. She wanted to say yes, so badly, but it really hurt her when they split up and she knew that there would always be a chance that they could split up again. And she didn't want to feel like that ever again, so if they weren't together, then there was no way they could break up, therefore avoiding the tears that she had cried then. "What can I do?" Martha thought. She'd forgotten all about being mad at Jack about him not caring to say goodbye, she was too busy worrying about him. She sat there, guilt ridden and furious at herself. Then she had an idea. She smiled when it came into her head. "Perfect." She said aloud.

Chapter 11

Jack was sat on a nearby beach, thinking about Martha and what she'd done. It had hurt him so much when she rejected him, and especially when he saw Martha and Corey together. He didn't know why, but it didn't make him feel any better knowing that Martha had no feelings for Corey, maybe it was because she'd intentionally hurt him by making him jealous. He sat there, staring out into sea, thinking about how it used to be with Martha, and how sad he'd been when she left. It had taken him months to get over not seeing her everyday, but he was starting to think that maybe he would never get over her, but after his argument with her today, he couldn't imagine liking her again. He looked at his watch. "6.15" he said. He decided to head back, he wasn't keen on seeing Martha again, but he had to carry on with the investigation.

Martha was at home. She stood back and admired the beautifully set table that was serving up gorgeous foods. It was obvious by just looking at it that she had taken a lot of care and effort in making it. She looked at her watch. "Hmm where could he be?" She said. Then she heard the door shut. "Jack!" She thought, smiling. She jumped around, turning the lights off and hiding behind the door. She cupped her hand over her mouth, trying to stop giggling, but it got worse when the door slowly opened and the light was switched on. She jumped up smiling, but she soon calmed down when she found out who it was. Dave stood there confused.

"How'd you know I'd be back?" He said to Martha.

"Erm, lucky guess!" She said, faking a smile. He grabbed her and started kissing her. She pulled away.

"You've been drinking, haven't you?" She said. "God you stink of it." He laughed.

"I had a couple. Hiccup!" He pulled her back in.

"You're drunk, aren't you?" She said. Dave started to use more strength in pulling her in. "Dave, you're hurting me." She started panicking. "Dave, we've talked about this.. No!" She started pushing away more than before, but he was persistent.

"Come on!" He said. Martha had one final push, knocking the drunken Dave into the table. He angrily stood up and tipped the table upside down, he went along, smashing things and throwing ornaments onto the floor. Martha who was now petrified started to back out the door, but Dave noticed and grabbed her arm, swinging her round. She screamed as his grip got tighter and he started to use all his force on her.

"Dave you're hurting me!" She screamed, but he wasn't listening. He pushed her around, knocking her into bookcases and furniture. She fell on the floor, crying for help.

"Please, please don't hurt me!" She said, cowering on the floor. Dave smiled as he bent down to her, gathering the rest of his energy for his next move, when the door swung open.

Jack rushed in, sensing straight away what was happening.

"Get off her!" He ordered, trying to stay calm. Dave didn't look up from Martha's scared face.

"Jack, give us some space mate." He said, but Jack didn't move, he kept the same fierce face that he'd been holding ever since he'd walked in. Dave now looked up at him.

"Get out Jack. I'm warning you, if you don't then you aren't having anything else to do with me and the business." He said in a stern voice. "And you'll be in serious bother with me and my other mates." He added. Martha looked worried. She knew that Dave was definitely able to hurt Jack and carry out his threat, she didn't want Jack being hurt, and she'd already stuffed it up with him as it is. Then again, she feared for what Dave was going to do to her, she didn't want Jack to leave because when he was around, she was safe. Martha and Dave both anxiously waited for a response from Jack, who surprised both of them. He bent down and dragged Dave off Martha. He lifted him up by the collar.

"Get Out!" He shouted, shoving him into the sofa. Dave laughed as he stood up.

"You don't scare me." He said, coming up close to Jack. "Now leave me and Martha alone, or else." Jack stepped back and looked at Martha.

"Sorry Martha." Jack whispered. Dave had a massive grin on his face as he looked at Jack. For a second it looked as if he was going to obey Dave and leave. But this soon changed as Jack's fist stormed into Dave's cheek. Dave was knocked off his feet, but Jack continued and walked over to him, in a pile on the floor. Dave quickly stumbled up and made for the door, saying on his way out. "You'll regret this Mate!" and the door slammed shut.

Chapter 12

Jack didn't hesitate to run and comfort a crying Martha. She was in tears, curled up on the floor against the wall. Jack sat next to her, with his arm around her. Her head fell onto his shoulder as she wept.

"It's okay." He whispered. "Every things fine now." He looked around the room at the broken photos and ornaments, smashed on the floor, the furniture was spread across the room. It looked like a tornado had ripped through the room. He thought back to all the crashes and bangs that he heard when he came in. But he had also heard something else when he crossed the threshold, something that had frightened him the most. Martha, screaming for help. He looked at the kitchen door that led onto the passage. When he walked through that door, he was scared. He was scared of what he was going to walk into, scared of what might happen, and most of all, scared of what had already happened. His fear soon turned to anger when he saw her pain and tears, he couldn't understand why Dave was doing this, but he wanted him to stop straight away. Jack was so pleased that Martha was alright, he looked down at her, snuggling into his shoulder. He couldn't imagine how scared she was when this was going off, he just wished that he hadn't stormed off before, then he would have been here for her, instead, he nearly wasn't. One more minute, and he could have been walking into a different scenario. But he didn't want to think about that, he just wanted to be here now for Martha, he knew that the repercussions of this were going to be bad, and he was going to help her through it.

Martha gently rose from his shoulder and wiped a tear from her face.

"Thank you" She whispered. Jack smiled at her, squeezing her tightly. She winced with pain.

"Oh, sorry Mac!" He said, immediately letting go. She swallowed the pain and looked back at Jack.

"It's fine." She looked around the room. "Look at the mess." She sighed as she got up. She walked over to a kitchen cupboard and fetched a dustpan and brush, she started to clear the mess. Jack looked on in amazement.

"You know you don't have to act strong Mac, I'd more than understand if you were upset. Don't bottle it all up, please." Jack pleaded. He could see straight through her act. Martha ignored him and continued sweeping up and picked up an object.

"I didn't even know that we had that!" She laughed. Jack got up and put his hand on her arm.

"Martha-" He started, but Martha pushed his hand away.

"What do you want me to do Jack?" She yelled, her eyes were filling up with tears. Jack looked at her, he just wanted to help her. He went back to touch her arm, which she avoided. "You want me to cry? You want me to talk for hours upon hours of how frightened I was? How scared I was when he was knocking furniture over, hurting me, shoving me around, coming after me.." She broke down into tears. She stood there for a second, crying into her hands, when she walked forward and hugged Jack.

About an hour went by of pure silence, only to be disturbed by the occasional sniff from Martha, but she had calmed down and stopped crying in about half an hour, and the rest was just Martha and Jack thinking to themselves. They'd sat down by now, but Jack still had a comforting arm around her, and Martha was still clutching onto his arm. They didn't need to talk as their thoughts were keeping them preoccupied. Both were wondering why it didn't feel strange being this close. It was only a few hours ago that Jack was yelling at Martha, and here they were on the sofa. Not that they were feeling any passion or anything towards each other, they just wanted to be there for each other, like friends.

At about 11.30, Jack woke up to Martha in the exact same pose as she was before. He looked at his watch. "Must have dropped off" he thought. He looked at Martha. She looked so peaceful, so much happier than she had been all night. He looked down at her hand, he noticed that her sleeve wasn't covering it anymore. In fact, her jacket was off. "Must have taken it off when I was asleep" he thought. Something caught his eye when he was looking at Martha, something on her arm. Bruises. They went all the way up her arm. He slowly slipped away from Martha's grip, she fell and automatically stretched out and laid down horizontally on the sofa. Jack knelt down next to the sofa and sleeping Martha. He brushed his hand gently across the black and blue arms, slowly pushing the shoulder of her top up slightly, revealing major bruising. His jaw dropped. Martha woke up.

"Jack?" She said. She looked at him smiling, then realised what he was looking at. She quickly grabbed her jacket and put it on, not making eye contact to him.

"Martha?" He said. His face showed clearly that he was worried about what he'd just seen. Martha stayed quiet, her face beamed down to face the floor.

Chapter 13

"They're not all from tonight." He said, staring at the covered arm where he'd just seen the shocking bruises. She wouldn't respond to him or look at him, she just sat up straight, looking into the distance.

"He's been doing it for a while hasn't he? It's not the first time this has happened, is it?" He asked. Martha looked down at him. Why was he doing this? She was trying to forget about it, but he was bringing it up. It was bad enough when it happened, so she didn't want to be reminded of it.

"Talking about it will help Mac." Said Jack. He reached out and held her hand. She looked into his eyes, and eventually gave in.

"You're right." She sighed. "It wasn't the first time today. It happens after he's been drinking, which is about 2 times a week. It started when I moved in." Jack's face dropped.

"But that was about 2 months ago." He said. Martha looked down at their hands. She gently nodded.

"Yep." She said. "But it's never been this bad."

"He hits you, every time is bad." He stressed. "Why didn't you say anything to the me earlier?" He asked. Martha's eyes began to fill up again.

"Because I didn't want you to think I was weak." She tilted her head to the side as she fiddled with the side of the sofa cushion. "How would you feel if someone was doing this to you like twice a week, and you could do nothing to stop it?" Jack shrugged. He didn't know what to say. He could understand what Martha was saying, but he still wished that she'd told him before, he might have been able to prevent that nights events. Jack knelt there in silence for a couple of minutes, before speaking up.

"Your shoulders aren't sunburnt are they?" He asked. "The other morning, when I cooked pancakes, I rested my hands on your shoulders, and you jumped up in pain." Martha slowly nodded. "And when I first saw you with Dave, when he came up to frighten you from behind, you used the move I had taught you at self defence class, because you thought he was after you again?"

"Yea.." She said.

"And that's why you are helping the police. It's the only way you can stop it, without being weak, and this way you get your own back. Something that you didn't manage with Corey." He said. Martha sighed as tears started to re-form in her eyes. She couldn't speak in case she burst out in tears, so she just nodded. Jack saw how upset she was and got up and sat on the end of the sofa. He reached out to hug her, but she stood up.

"Why did you just do that?" She asked. Jack looked confused.

"What?"

"You just treated me like someone you were interviewing. Like I was a case that you were eventually cracking." She was getting angry.

"I'm sorry Mac, I didn't mean it to sound like that-"

"I want a friend, not a cop to analyse my movements and thoughts. You just sit there, talking about me as if I'm not real, as if you had been given me as a problem that you needed to solve. Well, congratulations! You achieved it! You solved it! Good boy Jack! You've managed to sum up my insecurities and problems in a couple of sentences! Real nice." Martha went to walk away, Jack reached out for her hand, holding her arm. Martha pulled away I pain, holding her arm. She looked down at it. It was red and dry from where Dave would grab her roughly. Jack saw her looking at it. Martha thought about what a mess she'd found herself in. She didn't want this to keep happening, she wanted the red marks to fade away, along with the events that caused them. She knew she couldn't do it on her own. She'd tried ever since it started, but this was the result of her stubbornness for getting help. A body full of bruises and pain. She started to cry.

"Help me." She whispered. "Please?" Jack reached out and hugged her.

"Of course."

Chapter 14

After about another half an hour of comforting, Jack insisted that Martha go and have a nice long bubble bath whilst he tidied up. It didn't take much persuading, Jack knew Martha hated any kind of housework, and was also dying for a nice long soak. Jack swept up, hovered and moved furniture back to their original places. He picked up smashed photos that had fallen off the wall. He looked at each one carefully. Martha always had her arms covered up by either a long sleeved top, or a jacket, apart from one. He carefully took it out of the broken frame and looked at the back. He read aloud Martha's writing. "Moving in day, 3rd February 2006." He sighed as he placed the frame on the worktop. He looked at her in the photo. She looked happy, the happiest he'd seen her when being around Dave. It got him angry just thinking about what Dave had done to her, how dare he! He could see how much it hurt her, emotionally and physically, when he walked in to them two earlier. He could still see her face, wet with tears. It chilled him to the bone when he thought about how frightened she was, and how many times she'd been as frightened as that before when he wasn't around. His thoughts were stopped when Martha walked in.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this aren't you?" She said, looking around. The room had very nearly been put back to normal. There were fewer ornaments and photo's up, and the table in the corner was still on its side, surrounded by the plates, cutlery and food that had been carefully displayed on top. She knew that Jack was looking at the bruising on her arms, as she was now wearing a sleeveless top, with no jacket, but she just wanted to forget about it and carry on tidying up.

"I'll help you with the table." She said, walking towards the mess in the corner. Jack nodded. He didn't want to bring up the incident again, he was pretty sure that Martha had been over it as many times as he had when she was upstairs. They both lifted the table up onto its legs, and bent down, clearing the floor. Jack looked at all the decoration.

"You must have taken a lot of care with all this" He said, picking up pieces of a broken vase. He spotted a red flower. It reminded him of something, he didn't know what, but all the decorations were very familiar looking.

"I'm sorry about the Corey thing. I was just a bit upset after our break up, and he was there. I didn't do it intentionally to hurt you, honest. Corey was just a great friend, and I wanted my feelings to grow so badly, that's why I agreed to moving with him." Martha explained. Jack could tell that it was hard for her to say it, she wasn't the kind of person that talked about her feelings, he knew that from when they first met and she wouldn't admit to liking him. Martha began to speak again, but was interrupted by Jack.

"It's okay." He said. "I'm sorry about before." Jack said. "I shouldn't have stormed off like that." Martha smiled at him. She couldn't believe that he was apologizing to her, he was so nice to her and she didn't deserve it half the time.

"Mac." Jack said. "When Dave went to the hotel the earlier this morning, he said something about you being a Christian?" Jack looked confused. Martha started to laugh. "What?" Jack asked.

"Well, I kind of told Dave that I was a strong Christian, and I believed that you shouldn't do anything before marriage." She said, sticking her tongue out cheekily. Jack laughed. He thought back to their first date.

"Why?" He chuckled.

"I told you that I didn't feel anything romantic towards him, and it was the first excuse I could think of!" She laughed. "Pretty rubbish excuse, but it worked with him! I didn't need to use any excuse with Corey, I think he sensed that I didn't want us to move onto that level. He was nice in that way." Jack and Martha joked around till 2am! Martha and Jack decided to go to bed. They both felt a bit sad inside and disappointed that they had to stop their fun, but they knew they had to get some sleep.

"We'll figure out what to do tomorrow morning." He said, walking into his room.

"Yea, I hope Dave didn't mean what he said. I don't know how you're going to get back into his good books." She sighed. "I hope this hasn't all been a waste."

"No, I'll think of something." He smiled. "Cya tomorrow." He watched Martha turn around and shut the door, and then did the same.

Chapter 15.

Lucas was stood, leaning against the counter, flicking through the day before's newspaper. Tony walked in, collapsing on his armchair.

"I've got 5 minutes to myself!" He said, getting comfy in the chair. "I didn't realise how much Jack helped around the house until now! I thought he was lazy!" He laughed. "Whoops." He said. Lucas looked up from a particularly boring political article.

"What?" He said. Tony pointed over at the answering machine.

"It's been like the for about two days now! I keep forgetting to listen to it." He got up and pressed play, listening to the message carefully. Tony and Lucas' face lit up when they heard Jack's familiar voice.

"Hi babe, it's Jack!" Tony and Lucas looked at each other, laughing. "Sorry for not being in touch for the past two days. I'm on work business outta the bay, and I haven't had much time to get to the phone. I'll ring you soon though, and we can catch up. Sorry if you've been calling my mobile, I left it in a petrol stations restroom somewhere on the way here! Anyway, I've got to go, missing you." By the end of the message, Lucas had sat down onto the sofa, close up to the speaker, not wanting to miss any of his brother's embarrassing message. Lucas and Tony sat there for a moment, looking at each other.

"Well, he's weird!" Lucas said, getting up. Tony laughed.

"Must've wanted us to pass it on to his girlfriend." He said, reaching for the pause button. Lucas looked shocked.

"He has a girlfriend?" He enquired.

"He must do, unless he's on drugs." They laughed again, but were interrupted by a knock at the door. Lucas jumped up, looking at his watch.

"I'll get it!" He exclaimed, running for the door. Lucas opened the door to see a blonde haired, pretty woman.

"Hi, can I help you?" Lucas said, with a slight tone of disappointment in his voice. He thought it would have been Matilda as she was due any minute now for a lift to school.

"Hi, my names Jenny, I'm Jack's girlfriend." She smiled. Tony and Lucas looked at one another, then back at Jenny.

"Come in Jenny" Tony offered. "I'm Tony, Jack's dad, and this is Lucas, his brother." She smiled at them as she shyly walked in. There was a moment of awkwardness as Tony and Lucas adjusted to the idea of Jack having a girlfriend. He hadn't had one since Martha, and as far as they knew, he was still heartbroken by her sudden departure, so him having a girlfriend was a big surprise. There was another knock at the door, Lucas smiled as he opened to see Matilda there, smiling sweetly. Tony remembered about school and work.

"Erm, sorry Jenny, but I have to go. It was nice seeing you." He smiled picking up his keys from the table. "Oh, and Jack left you a message on the answer machine. Would it be okay if I left you to it, and then you shut the door on your way out?" Tony asked.

"Sure" She nodded, she smiled as she looked at the answer machine. "Nice meeting you" They all waved and said bye, leaving Jenny stood there staring at the machine. She walked over and pressed the play button. She sat down and closed her eyes, imagining Jack being there with her. She smiled throughout Jack's one-way conversation. She gently sighed and stood up when it finished. "Miss you too, babe." She skipped out happily in the direction of the door, but an idea popped into her head. She started to walk around, searching the house. She finally found what she was looking for, Jack's room.

She walked in, she took a deep breath in and smelt Jack. She closed her eyes again, pretending that he was with her. She walked around her room, picking up random objects of his and laughing, pretending that they were all memorabilia's of their relationship. In her head she came up with different stories for each object, different loving, romantic stories with her and Jack in the starring roles. She finally came across a picture of Jack and Martha. It was tucked away in a draw, hidden from view but stored for easy access for when he had a hard day, and all he wanted to do was talk to Martha. Jenny stared at it, angrily. She slammed it back down into the draw, tears rolling down her cheeks. She ran out, slamming the door on her departure. The picture lay there in the open draw, the glass in the frame had cracked due to the force she'd inflicted when she angrily returned it back to its place.

Chapter 16

During the night, Jack and Martha both had disturbed sleep. At first, neither could sleep, but eventually Jack drifted off. Martha understandably took longer. Thoughts of what had happened ran through her mind for hours, until she too fell asleep.

At around 4 o'clock in the morning, a great scream came from Martha's room.

"JACK!" She screamed. Jack woke up from his sleep, rubbing his eyes and yawning he tried to think what had woken him up, when it clicked. Jack ran out of his room into Martha's, panicking and shouting "Martha?" He rushed through the open door to find Martha in a ball under her covers. He could hear her crying. He let out a huge sigh of relief as he sat on the side of her bed. "Martha?" He tried to pull up the covers, but Martha wasn't letting her see him. "Did you have a nightmare?" He said, Martha didn't respond, as the answer was obvious. Jack carried on talking to the lump in the cover.

"Martha, come on talk about it, it helps me." Martha remembered about Jack's nightmares on the girl he shot. She slowly came out from under the covers and sat up.

"Sorry for shouting you. I didn't mean to, I only realised after I'd done it." She said, embarrassed.

"Don't be. I'm just glad your okay, you really scared me!" Martha smiled. "So, I'm guessing it was about Dave?" Martha nodded.

"Yea, it was everything really what happened earlier, except.." Martha stopped. She decided against talking about it, because the more she talked about it, the more she thought about it and the more it replayed in her head. "I don't want to talk about it." Jack decided against pushing the matter, it seemed like Martha was pretty sure about this. He just sat there for a moment, looking at her. He wished that he could help her, just like he did when she was recovering from Corey. But this time he couldn't take her to see Dave in jail, as he was very much free, and very much powerful. He reached out for her hand and squeezed it.

"Well, I'll let you get some sleep then." He said, letting go of her and standing up.

"No!" She shouted, not letting go of his hand. She felt embarrassed. "I mean, can't you just stay with me for tonight? It's not just in case I have another nightmare, what if Dave comes back? I don't know why but I feel a lot safer when you're here…" She added. Jack smiled.

"Sure. I'll get my stuff." He went into his room and fetched his quilt and pillows. He thought he heard something thud on the floor and scanned around the room. "I'm going crazy" he laughed to himself. Martha was sat up, listening to Jack laughing, which set her off. Jack walked in, he'd stopped laughing by now and was curious to why Martha was laughing.

"Why were you laughing to yourself?" Martha giggled.

"I was just about to ask the same to you, crazy woman!" He laughed, dropping his things on the floor. He set out his quilt and pillows on the floor, Martha looked at him confused.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

"Making a bed, it's a bit obvious." Jack said, still adjusting his pillows.

"You're not sleeping on the floor." She said. Jack looked up at her, and at the bed.

"Erm.." He started but Martha interrupted by laughing.

"I meant on a put up bed, Jack." She giggled. Jack felt stupid.

"Yea, I knew that." He lied. Martha got up and reached underneath her bed for the put-up bed. She pulled it out and helped Jack set it up. After their 10 minute fight with it, they finally managed to make it stand and stretch out. Jack laid down on it.

"Hmm, comfy." He said.

"I'm surprised it can take all your weight." She joked, Jack hit her with a pillow and laughed. Martha lay back onto her side, talking to Jack. Jack's bed was next to Martha's so if anyone were to come in, they'd have to go through Jack first. Martha found it much easier to settle down and sleep now Jack was in the room, but Jack was too distracted. He listened carefully at her gentle breathing, occasionally breaking out into a snore. Jack found it cute, but funny. It wasn't the first time he'd noticed it. When they were together he'd often lay there, listening and laughing at it. A year ago he would never have heard it again, and here he was, listening and sniggering at it once more. He drifted off to sleep, in the happiest mood he'd been in for over a year.

Chapter 17

Jack yawned as he got up. He sat up and looked at Martha's bed, but she wasn't there. Panic ran through Jack's spine. "Calm down, she probably woke up earlier and went downstairs." He told himself. He walked out of the room to go look for her, heading straight downstairs. As he walked down the spiralling staircase he could hear the TV, he let out a sigh of relief and carried on walking down the stairs.

"When did you get up Mac?" He said, but no one replied. When he reached the bottom of he stairs he looked around, no one was there. He walked to the TV and turned it off, passing a half eaten bowl of cereal. Jack started to panic. He cautiously walked around the house, slowly opening doors and trying not to make a noise. He crept back up the stairs, and onto the landing. He heard a noise coming from his room. Jack silently walked to his closed door. He stood there for a couple of seconds before he barged in, ready to attack. Martha looked up and smiled at him.

"Hey, you're up sleepy head!" She said. Jack leant against the door, he was so relieved she was ok. "I'm an idiot." He thought.

"What's up?" Martha asked. Jack stood up straight and walked over to the end of the bed.

"Nothing. I'm fine." He sat down on the end of the bed. He looked at her again, sat on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"It's pretty obvious." Martha said, looking down at Jack's suitcase. "I'm helping you unpack." She smiled. Jack didn't argue, he hated unpacking so he left her to it. He didn't feel comfortable doing this though, at first he didn't know why, but it suddenly dawned on him. He shot up.

"It's okay, I'll do it!" He said, taking the suitcase off her and putting it on the bed away from her. Martha sat there.

"You sure?" She said, wondering why he'd just snatched the suitcase away from her.

"Positive." He said, rummaging around his suitcase. "Where is it?" he mumbled to himself. Martha sighed and walked over to the bedside draws, opening each draw in turn.

"Do you want me to clear out my junk?" She offered. "My beautiful, priceless junk?" But there was no response. Jack was still frantically checking all of the pockets in his suitcase. Martha shut the draw and sat leaning against it, looking at Jack and trying to figure out what was up with him. Jack was now worried.

"I know I brought it with me!" He yelled. Martha looked up, concerned. Jack hadn't meant to say it aloud, he was just getting frustrated and impatient because he couldn't find it.

"What have you lost?" Martha asked.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter." Jack lied, re-checking his suitcase for the third time. Martha laughed and started to get up.

"Yes there is, this thing must be pretty import-" Martha slipped on a round, spherical object and knocked her head into the draws. She laughed, leaning her head against the wood. "I'm such a clutz." She giggled. Jack stopped for a moment to laugh at her, and then continued in stressing out over the missing object. Martha wasn't watching him this time though, she was too curious wondering what the object was. She looked under the bed where she assumed it had rolled. She spotted it amongst her mess.

"Ha ha!" She said, reaching for it. "It pays to have a mess stored under your bed." She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out as she felt around for it. She brought out a small, black, eight ball.

"Where the hell did I get this?" She wondered, whilst studying it. Jack sighed, he was never going to find it.

"Get wha-" He looked at the eight ball she was holding in her hand. "Damn." He thought. He just wanted the floor to swallow him up. Martha looked up at him, curious to why he hadn't finished his sentence. She noticed the expression on Jack's face, and looked back at the ball.

"Oh.." She said. "This is what you're looking for?" She asked, but she already knew the answer. She held it out to Jack. Jack reached out and took it.

"Thanks." He mumbled. He returned it back to his suitcase and got up.

"Erm… I'm just… going to the loo." He said, not making eye contact. He quickly got up and left the room. Once he shut the bathroom door he rested his head against the door. He was so embarrassed. He didn't know why he had brought the eight ball, he didn't know why he panicked so much when he thought he'd lost it, but he had, and Martha had seen it. "What's she going to think?" he thought.

Martha was still in the exact same place as she was when Jack had left the room, she sat there in silence. She suddenly burst into a fit of giggles. Jack could hear this, and came out of the bathroom, into the bedroom. Martha was sat there in the middle of an uncontrollable giggle flurry. She noticed Jack standing at the door and tried to stop.

"Aww you're so cute!" She teased. "Your face! Classic!" She carried on giggling at him. Jack couldn't help but smile at the state Martha was in.

"What's so funny?" He asked. Martha took in some deep breaths, trying to stop her laughter.

"You were so embarrassed! You thought that I'd think that you still liked me! I must admit it crossed my mind, but I then understood fairly quickly why you'd put it in, and then why you panicked, because you thought I'd found it. So when I did find it, I pretended to be shocked!" She laughed. "And it worked! Loser!" She said, creating an L shape on her forehead. Jack smiled.

"Not, Funny!" He shouted, picking up one of her teddies and throwing it at her. "I didn't know what I was going to do! I knew how it looked!" He explained, still relieved that Martha hadn't thought too much into this.

"I think I would have been the same if you'd have found my photo album." She said, Jack stopped laughing.

"What photo album?" Jack enquired. Martha reached into the draw behind her and pulled out a multi coloured book. She slid it to him across the carpet. Jack picked it up, looking through the pages.

"It's all of Summer Bay!" He said, "And some people too!" He looked at one in particular, with his dad and Lucas and sighed. He missed them a lot, he'd never really been away from them for more than a day. "I'll have to ring them later" he thought. He flicked over to the next page, there were pictures of him and Martha. He kept flicking, and for about 10 pages there were more and more pictures of them. He noticed that there wasn't that much similarity in the photos of her with him in this book, and the photos of her and Dave in the house. Sure she was smiling on both, but she was laughing on these. Looking through the album was just as hard as looking at those cliffs, he was being remembering everything he had promised that he'd forget, even though they were good times, it brought back bad memories. Memories of rejection, hurt and heartbreak. Martha realised what photos he was looking at, and tried to think of an excuse to how many she had. She knew they were in there at the time, but when she'd look through them, she thought that it was a fine thing to do, but now she was starting to wonder why it was necessary to have them by her bedside.

"Erm, it's just nice to have them, when I'm feeling a bit down and lonely, and after Dave comes in drunk.." She explained. "I'd forgotten that they were in the back actually." She lied. Jack looked up at her, nodding and pretending that he believed her. He carried on flicking through the photos. Even though it hurt and went against everything he'd said over the past year, he carried on admiring them. He couldn't believe that he was jeopardising months of getting over Martha.

"Well if I'm really over her then I must be able to look through these." He reasoned with himself. He flicked onto the last page, there was one single photo of him and Martha in the centre of the page. It was the same one he had at home, of where they were on the beach, laughing and joking with her new camera. It had been his favourite of her, which is why she had made a copy and framed it for him. Martha decided it was getting a bit too embarrassing for her, and she was also still having the same thought roll around her head. "Why do I have this?" She leant over and snatched it from him.

"I think we should get a plan sorted about Dave." She said, changing the subject and returning it to the bottom draw. Jack slowly nodded.

"Okay, I'll just go in the shower and you try and think of something." Martha said, again Jack replied with a nod. She walked into the bathroom, still thinking about the album. Jack sat there for a second, was he starting to get his feelings back for Martha? He sure hoped not, as it wasn't very professional or convenient. He was distracted from his thoughts by a shout. Jack jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

"Martha are you okay?" He shouted, trying to compete with the shower.

"Yea I'm fine, why?" She shouted back.

"Never mind" Jack replied. He was just about to return to his room when he heard it again, it was coming from outside. He ran down the stairs, very nearly tripping up on the hover that he'd carelessly abandoned there, and ran out the door, shoeless and in his pjs.

Chapter 18

As Jack ran out onto the front lawn he could see a huddle of people not so far away, and coming from it was the same voice that he'd heard from inside shouting for help.

"Oi!" Jack yelled, running over. The gang scattered, running in every direction possible, Jack looked at the injured body lying on the pavement of the quiet road. Jack knelt down beside the man.

"You okay mate?" He asked, the man rolled over, groaning with pain. Jack was shocked to see it was Dave. He looked at him for a moment. He was bleeding and in pain, clutching his stomach he tried to sit up. Jack wanted to leave him there, but the policeman inside of him unfortunately helped him up and escorted him back to the house. Dave let out a sigh of pain when leaning back on the sofa.

"Maybe we should get you to hospital." Jack said, looking at how much pain Dave was in.

"No, I'm fine." He said. "They'll only get the police involved and I don't want them snooping around. Get us a beer will you?" Dave asked. Jack looked at his watch.

"But it's only 9 o'clock."

"What are you, my mother? Get me one now Jack." Jack did as he was told, remembering that he should be sucking up to Dave right now. He looked at Dave in pain, he had got what he deserved, a good beating. Jack passed Dave the beer and sat down next to him.

"Thanks mate." He said. "That gang would have probably killed me if it wasn't for you." He sighed. "I'm sorry for last night too. I just walked in and she'd prepared a beautiful dinner with candles and red flowers in the centre of the table." Dave carried on describing the setting, with detail to the foods and everything. Jack listened closely, creating the picture in his mind. It sounded very similar to a dinner he had made for Jack and Martha's first date, he then he figured it out. "She was trying to make it up to me." He thought.

"And anyway, I thought that she was trying to make a big effort because she decided she wanted to.. you know. But I was wrong I guess." He said. Jack looked up from his daydream, angrily.

"Yes, you obviously were, but why did you keep going, after she said no?"

"I was drunk wasn't I, and still had the idea in my head. I really thought she'd wanted to, so the more she said no, the more I just thought she was just playing hard to get. That was until she pushed me away and made for the door." Dave talked about all the awful things he did after that, pushing her into the furniture, pulling her around etc. Jack remembered the state of the room that he walked into. Jack knew that it had been bad, but Martha hadn't wanted to go through all the details, this was the first time Jack had heard exactly what happened.

"I'm sorry about my threat. All I want to do is forget about last night and move on. I want you to carry on living here and help me with the business. If you will." Jack nodded.

"Thanks mate." He said, trying to smile. He was very pleased that he'd be able to carry on with the investigation, but it pained him to call him 'mate', as Jack hated him, every moment that he had been talking about last night and what he did to Martha he was regretting stopping that gang a couple of minutes ago.

"Do you think she'll take me back? I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't. I love her Jack." He said, feeling sorry for himself.

"What?" Martha had been listening on the stairs ever since they came in, afraid to walk down and greet him. Dave stood up, trying to ignore his pain. He slowly hobbled over to Martha, she backed away cautiously.

"Please, don't be afraid, it won't happen again, I promise. I don't want to hurt you anymore Mac, I love you." Martha looked surprised. "I know we've only been together for 2 months, but this is how I feel." Martha was unsure how to react, no-one had ever said that too her before. Martha thought for a moment, and then hugged him. Jack stood behind Dave, gob smacked. "What is she doing?" He thought. Martha noticed Jack's bemused look.

"It's okay." She mouthed over Dave's shoulder, signalling him to go. Jack didn't want to leave her with him, but went upstairs.

He went into his room and sat on his bed. "Does this mean she loves him?" He thought. He lay back onto his bed, listening carefully to their conversation downstairs. He could only hear the tones of the voices, not the words, but this was fine for him, as soon as he sensed a none-calm conversation, he would be down there like a shot. He waited for 15 minutes. All the time he was thinking about Martha, how she'd looked when he told her. "She looked quite happy" he thought. After another quarter of an hour slowly went by he decided to go check everything was okay, so he thought of an excuse and quietly crept down the stairs. Martha and Dave were sat on the sofa, kissing and laughing. Jack's heart sunk. When he returned to his bedroom he angrily threw himself on the bed with his hands to his face. "This can't be happening, again."

Chapter 19

Martha smiled as she came in and bounced on the bed next to Jack. He hadn't noticed her come in, he was too busy stressing out about his jealousy.

"Boo!" She laughed, trying to scare him. Jack got off the bed and went into the wardrobe, looking for his jacket. "He said he loves me!" She said, "No one has ever said that to me before." She started bouncing around again with excitement.

"So all he had to say was 'I love you' and you go running back to that woman beater." Jack snapped. "He's the kinda guy that'd tell anyone that to get what he wanted." He said. Martha started at him, angrily.

"Oh so your saying I'm incapable of being loved?" She asked.

"Now you're just twisting it around!" Jack said, raising his voice. "You know I didn't mean that. Don't you think that it's a bit weird, with you only being together for two months and all?"

"No." She said. "It's romantic. And anyway, I've been in love after a short time, well I thought I was, so it is possible!" She shouted.

"I can't believe how he controls you, and your letting him! How upset were you last night? And your just going to let him do it again. You probably led him on!" He yelled. Jack stopped and took a breath. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-" But Martha was hearing none of it.

"Yes you did!" She replied. She was just about to launch into a vicious verbal attack when the doorbell rang. "You can get the door." She said, adding "Jerk!" before leaving the room. She slammed the door of her room.

"How could he be so mean?" She asked herself, sitting down on the floor. "I hate him." She told herself, but the worst thing was, she knew she didn't.

Jack walked through the kitchen/living room, kicking the furniture. A few toe injuries later, he opened the door.

"Jay-Jay!" The voice screamed, jumping at him with her arms around his neck. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, she was completely off the floor.

"Erm, G'day" A shocked Jack said. He shut the door, and stood there with the girl clinging to him. Unsure what to do, he patted her on the back and she let go.

"I've missed you so much Jay-Jay!" She said. Jack heard a giggle coming from the stairs. It was Martha, popping her head around the corner. As soon as she realised Jack was looking she stopped and carried on walking down the stairs, trying not to look at him.

"Hi my name is Mac." She smiled. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jenny." She said, turning around and giving Martha a look. Jack and Martha both noticed this and equally thought it was strange.

"Erm, do I know you?" Mac asked in response to the look.

"No." She answered sharply. She looked at Martha, up and down. "Definitely her" she thought, thinking back to the photo. "I won't let that come between me and my Jay-Jay." And with that thought, she grabbed Jack at the back of the neck and started to passionately kiss him. Martha couldn't believe what was happening. She'd never seen Jack kiss another girl, and she didn't like it. Jack was in a moment of shock, he snapped out of it and started to pull away. Martha was pleased, she wouldn't be able to stand anymore.

"Jenny, I-" Jack began, but was interrupted by Jenny, putting her finger to his lips.

"I know, I know." She turned around to Martha. "You don't think you could give us a privacy could you? I think we find it a bit uncomfortable you staring at us." She smiled. "Anyway I think we need to catch up." She said, batting her eyelids. Martha and Jack were both as shocked as each other. Martha snapped out of her stare.

"Yea. Sure. Sorry." She said, picking up her jacket and bag from the sofa. Jack had only realised that she was going when she'd shut the door. He started to pull away from Jenny, to go catch up with Martha, but she maintained her grip. Jack looked down at Jenny, confused.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, this time successfully wriggling away.

"I got your message, and it sounded like you missed me as much as I do you." She smiled sweetly. "So I figured that I'd surprise you." Jack laughed.

"Well, you did!"

"Well, I've got a few days off work so we can hang around here for the next couple of days." She said, reaching out and putting her arms around him. Jack knew she couldn't stay, she'd put the operation in jeopardy. He started to push her away.

"Look.. babe.." It annoyed him to even say it to her, but he could tell that she liked being called it, as she now had a massive grin on her face. "..you can't stay here." He said. Jenny's smile turned to a frown.

"You.. don't…like…me!" She said, crying. Jack couldn't believe what was happening. "No, it's not that, I do.. babe." Jack rolled his eyes at having to say it yet again. He now remembered why he'd avoided her after their date. She was clingy and he thought pretty darn crazy too!

"Perlease?" She begged. Jack didn't know how to handle this, he needed to ask for help.

"Hang on." He said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and moving closer towards the kitchen, dialling Peter's number.

"Peter, I need your help. Can you come over?" he said, turning around and looking at Jenny, who was now blowing him kisses. "Quick." He added.

Chapter 20

Seeing that he'd finished on the phone, Jenny walked over to him, twirling her skirt and fiddling with her hair. Jack kept checking the window, to see if Peter had arrived, he desperately wanted him to knock on the door at any moment and save him from this situation. He didn't want to upset Jenny by asking her to leave, because he didn't know how she'd react, but he really didn't want to act like they were couple, as that would just make matters worse. The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" He screamed, hopping around Jenny and practically running to the door. Peter entered, looking worried.

"Mate, am I pleased to see you!" Jack said, letting out a sigh of relief, putting his hand on his shoulder and escorting him in. Jenny looked pleased when she saw the two of them.

"Jay-Jay!" She screamed with excitement as she skipped over to Jack and kissed him on the cheek. "Who's your friend?" She asked. Peter, looking shocked snapped out of his daze.

"I'm Peter." He said. Jenny put out her hand, but not for him to shake, for him to kiss. Peter and Jack looked at one another, trying not to laugh. Peter took her hand and kissed it, she blushed as she giggled uncontrollably. Peter and Jack stared in amazement, what was wrong with her?

"And who are you?" Peter asked, curious to know where this fruitcake had come from. Jack put his hands in his pockets.

"This is Jenny," she gave him the sharpest look she could, "My girlfriend." She smiled. Peter angrily stared at Jack.

"How did she know you were here Jack?" Peter asked, thinking that he knew the answer.

"I don't know!" Jack said, trying to give away in his facial expressions that he too knew there was a problem, but still keeping his tone as normal as he could.

"Oh." Peter sighed. "Can I just speak to Jay-Jay a moment in private?" He asked Jenny. She smiled at Peter using the pet name for Jack that she'd given him. "Of course." She curtsied and skipped over and turned the TV on, occasionally looking back at Jack and smiling. Jack and Peter both stared at her, and then at each other, trying not to laugh.

"How the hell did she find out I was here?" Jack asked, "My dad and Lucas wouldn't have told. So I can't see how else she'd find out!"

"I don't know Jack, but it's not good. The whole operation could go down now." He sighed. "Unless.." Jack picked up on the last word enthusiastically.

"Unless what?"

"Well, if you persuade her to go home, and then you make dates or something, I don't know, just stress for her not to come around here, I'll back you up." He explained. Jack nodded along. "Just say anything to make her happy! I don't want to know what fuss she'll kick up if you don't…" He trailed of as they looked at her in disbelief as she put on an amazingly high-pitched giggle at the TV. Peter turned around to Jack.

"Blind Date." Jack explained. Peter nodded.

"Stalker Blind Date don't you mean?" he laughed. "Well, if there was an award for getting the worst Blind Date, I think you've won it." He laughed. Jack was too busy thinking about what his next move was going to be on this whole situation to laugh, he took a deep breath and started to walk over to her.

"Babe.." He went on, explaining that if he were seen with her, he'd be in major trouble. He asked if she could go back to Summer Bay, and then next Saturday Peter would pick her up, and drop her off here where Jack would take her out to dinner, only if she didn't come anywhere Sydney until then. Jenny nodded, excited about their date. It was like talking to a child, she kept throwing a tantrum whenever anything went her way, and all giddy when it did. But they'd finally sorted it out, Peter was going to drive her back and Jack was meeting her the next Saturday. They were all saying bye when Martha walked in to see Jenny with her arms around Jack and lovingly staring into his eyes.

"Still at it then?" She said, shutting the door behind her and putting dropping her bag on the floor.

"I'm just taking her back home." Peter said, signalling her to not start any conversations with her that might delay her departure. Martha nodded.

"Well, nice meeting you Jenny." She smiled.

"Yea, I'm sure it was." Jenny replied. Jack and Peter were both shocked at her reply. They'd been with her for an hour now and she'd acted sweet all the way through it. Jenny got Jack's attention back by kissing him. At first Jack wanted to pull away, but he could see Peter's eyes burning into him, ensuring he would do the thing he was instructed to do, so Jack just went with the flow, feeling extremely uncomfortable that Martha was watching. Martha too felt the same, and tried to look away, but her attention was pulled straight back in when Jenny spoke.

"I love you Jay-Jay!" She said, smiling sweetly and staring into Jack's eyes. Jack didn't know what to do, he looked at Peter, but knew what he was thinking. Jack had to do it, to save the investigation, but he really didn't want to, especially with Martha right beside them. It felt almost wrong, like he was betraying her by saying it, but in fact he was doing the opposite, he was doing it so she could lock up the man that had been hurting her for so long, he had to do it for her.

"I love you too" Martha felt like her legs would give in on her, she couldn't believe what he'd just said, the colour in her face fell leaving an extremely pale complexion, but she thought that Jack hadn't noticed, as he was two busy kissing Jenny. Martha walked upstairs, waving goodbye to Peter before she left for her room. When she got there she felt her eyes fill up. "Martha!" She whispered angrily at herself, trying to swallow back her tears. "Why am I doing this?" She asked herself.

Chapter 21.

Jack walked up the stairs, he carefully listened to Martha talking to herself.

"You okay Mac?" He asked, reaching the door. "You didn't look well downstairs, can I come in?" He reached for the handle and pressed it down slightly.

"Erm, one minute, just getting changed!" She lied, brushing away her tears and checking in the mirror for any signs that she was upset. She opened the door.

"Hi." She smiled. "Sorry I'd spilt orange juice on my top when I left!" She lied again, laughing casually at the same time. Jack looked her up and down.

"You haven't changed." He wondered why she'd lie. She looked uncomfortable.

"Yes, I have, I changed my top." Martha answered, confidently.

"No you haven't, you've got the same top on as before, and jeans." He answered.

"And when did you notice so much on what I wore." She said, frustrated that he'd figured out she'd lied. "Ever since I first saw you." He answered in his head.

"So what's really up then?" He asked, picking up random objects from the room, fiddling with them, and putting them back down.

"Erm." Martha knew she couldn't tell him the real reason, as she wasn't even sure herself. "Nothing much." Jack looked at her, not buying it. "Fine, I don't want to fall out with you, so can we please forget about what you said before?"

"I really didn't mean it, it just came out! I'm sure he loves you, he'd be crazy not to!" Realising what he said, Jack shut up. Martha smiled, had he really meant that how it sounded?

"I can see he looks at you the same way I look at Jenny." He covered, Martha tried not to look disappointed.

"Oh, thanks." She said, "Anyway, I'm going out, so I'll see ya!" She said, leaving the room. Jack wasn't sure if he'd just done the right thing or not. It was bad enough that he had started to get his feelings towards Martha back, but confessing would just enlarge the problem, anyway, he'd just get rejected again. Martha meant three things for him: Love, Friendship and Heartbreak. It was better off that he kept his feelings to himself until he got over them.

A week went by quite slowly for Jack and Martha, they'd both stopped hanging around each other as much, this was because they were both trying to prevent their feelings turning back into what they had been a year ago. Of course, when they did occasionally hang out, they had a blast! They could last hours thinking about their last joke together, it got them through the week in fact. Martha had kept her relationship with Dave quiet when around Jack, she didn't like being all cuddly when he was near, and it almost felt as if she was cheating on him when she was. Jack had got some information for the police on the drug scam, but not as much as he'd hoped for this far into the investigation. He wasn't complaining though, he got to hang around with Martha this way.

It was Saturday and around half 6 in the evening. Jack really wasn't looking forward to seeing Jenny. He got changed and waited in the kitchen, taking a beer out of the fridge to prepare him for the long hours that were awaiting him. Martha came down the stairs.

"Give us one." She asked Jack.

"Yea sure- Wow." He said. Martha blushed.

"You think it's nice then? I wasn't sure on the colour." She said. "Yo! Drink?" She waved her hand in front of Jack's face.

"Sorry." He said, snapping out of his stare. "Where are you going?" He asked. "You look very nice." He tried to keep it casual, but he knew it would be hard to act casual now he'd just reacted like that. But he couldn't have helped it, she did look very nice. She had a deep red wrap around dress with a beautiful necklace that sparkled in the light. Jack passed her a drink as he walked over to the sofa, she followed him, not taking her eyes off him. They sat there for a moment, in silence. Jack couldn't get out of his head how great she looked, and Martha thought the same about Jack, even though he had his pale pink shirt and black jeans on she still thought he looked extra special.

Chapter 22

"You look okay." Martha said, smiling. Jack swallowed his drink and looked at her.

"Okay? I look great!" He joked.

"Nah, I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps, decent is the best word to describe you." She laughed.

"You're just saying that because you're jealous of my groovy looks." He smiled.

"Ha! Why would I be jealous of that when I look like this." She smiled, standing up and doing a twirl. "I bet you wish it was beautiful me you were going out with and not Jenny!" She said, laughing and falling back onto the sofa. Jack looked at her. She was right; he would so prefer it to be Martha. Martha didn't like the idea of Jack going out with Jenny, but she couldn't object, as he didn't even know she liked him. She then realised that they were both staring at each other. They both sensed the moment that they'd been waiting for for so long, and leant in for a kiss, taking their chances on rejection and happiness, when they were interrupted by Peter bursting in. Martha and Jack both dived back onto opposite ends of the sofa, closing their eyes with embarrassment. Fortunately, Peter and Jenny had noticed nothing, and Jenny was now walking around the sofa in Jack's direction.

"Comon!" She squeaked, grabbing his hands and pulling him up. "Where are we going Jay-Jay?" Jack, still confused from what had just happened didn't respond.

"Jay-Jay?" She shook him around to try and wake him up from his daydream.

"Sorry, erm, it's a surprise." He smiled. That was the easiest option he could think of to get her to shut up. Jack had too much on his mind right now to deal with Jenny. Like the question "was it just him who leant in for the kiss?" He didn't know, he really hoped he hadn't made a fool of himself. Martha was having the exact same thought, she had no idea if she'd just made a total mess of their friendship. She looked up at Jenny, who had now grabbed his hand and was pulling him out the door. Jack saw Martha looking, but Martha away to the floor, embarrassed at what had just happened. She only rose her head when she heard the door shut. She let out a sigh as she rested her head against the back of the sofa. She was so confused.

Later on that night, Martha and Dave were sat in a posh restaurant in the busy Sydney centre. Even though they had the finest musical entertainment around, and she was eating the food made by the best restaurant in Sydney, she wasn't enjoying herself. She was too busy thinking about Jack. She wondered what he'd be doing right now, if he was enjoying himself, or if he too was thinking about her.

Jack was walking hand in hand with Jenny. She'd been talking about the same thing since they left the restaurant. Jack didn't even know what it was, he was too busy thinking about Martha and himself back at the house. Jack realised that they were in front of a hotel, and seizing the opportunity of getting rid of her he stopped outside the doors.
"Here is your room for the night." He said, pointing at the big posh hotel. Jenny looked at him and started to jump around on the spot.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yep." Jack said, wondering how much this was going to take out of his pocket. But he couldn't think for long as Jenny had started to kiss him again. She then led him into the hotel, where Jack paid for a room.
"Okay then, G'night" He said, kissing her on the cheek and putting his hands in his pockets. She grabbed his arm before he had chance to go.
"You're not coming with me?" She said, pouting. 'Oh no.' Jack thought.
"Erm, I'm a bit tired." Jack said. Jenny started to cry. Jack went red when the many staff and guests in the reception turned around to face them as Jenny let out a high-pitched cry. "You.. don't.. LOVE ME!" She sobbed. 'This can't be happening' Jack thought.
"I do babe, I told you I did. Now please stop crying and I'll tell you why I can't." Jack said, pointing at an empty seat nearby. 'What will I say?' He thought, racking his brains.

Across the road, Martha and Dave were looking out the window, at where Jack and Jenny had been stood.

"Wow!" Dave said. "Go Jack! I guess he won't be in tonight then!" He laughed. "Bill please." He said to a near by waiter, raising his hand. He made several other jokes about lucky Jack, each causing Martha more pain than the first. She stared at the door for what seemed like hours, hoping that he would come out, but he didn't.

"Just going to the ladies." She said, after Dave's final joke. She ran into the toilets, trying to hold back the tears. "It must have been a mistake." She thought.

Chapter 23

Martha and Dave had gone straight to bed when they got in, as Martha was "tired." She'd laid there awake for hours with her Ipod on loud, trying to drown out any thoughts of Jack, but it didn't work, she looked at her alarm clock on the side of her bed. "2.44, maybe he only said goodnight to her, he might be in now" She thought, lifting the covers up and getting out of bed. She went through to Jack's room, praying that when she opened the door he'd be lying there asleep, but he wasn't. Upset, she went downstairs for a glass of water. As she turned on the tap she thought about how stupid she'd been with Jack. He didn't like her, he'd made that clear by spending the night with Jenny, so she just had to get over that and move on, act as if she wasn't bothered. She turned off the tap and started to walk back to her room, nearly tripping over Dave.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking down at Dave who was knelt on the floor, she turned the lights on to reveal Dave with a ring. Martha couldn't move, she was rigid with shock.

"Martha, I love you so much, and I know I've been a jerk, but you found it in your heart to forgive me. I want to spend the rest of our lives together, I want you to be my wife, and have my kids, and share my life." He declared. "Martha, will you marry me?" Martha was completely lost for words, for once in her life.

"Yes." She said. Dave jumped up and hugged her.

"You've made me the happiest man alive!" He exclaimed, slipping the ring onto her finger.

"Perfect fit." She smiled, admiring it. She knew that part of what she'd done was wrong. She didn't love Dave, she didn't want to marry him. But he'd caught her off guard and she was upset that Jack didn't have the same feelings towards her, so this proposal gave her an opportunity to get over Jack, and she took it.

Meanwhile, Jack was trying to get comfy leaning against a tree, with no luck. He roamed around the garden for a minute, until spotting a deck chair, he opened it up, and laid there, thinking about his situation with Martha. He would tell her his feelings towards her in the morning, when he got in the house that is. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been for leaving them inside, but then again, his thoughts had been pretty distracted earlier, and Jenny was pulling him out the door. He'd tried to get in earlier by knocking, but there was no answer. So he gave up and just settled with trying to sleep in the garden, it was a dry, warm night, so he didn't think he'd have much problems. Well, the weather definitely wasn't the problem, nor were the surroundings, it was just the thought of Martha constantly running through his head that kept him from getting any sleep. He was so sure that she leant in too, and he had to find out.

The next morning Jack was knocking on the door, he was pleased to see it was Martha who answered.

"Hey." He smiled, Martha looked at him, awkwardly.

"Hi" she mumbled, leaving him to close the door. Jack wasn't sure what Martha's attitude meant, was she mad at him?

"Is that Jack?" Dave shouted, he cheerfully hopped down the stairs. "Your back then? Have fun?" He joked, Jack looked up, confused. "Don't act as if you don't know. We saw you at the hotel with the lady." He winked. Jack looked over at Martha, who was now drinking her coffee, avoiding eye contact.

"No I-" He started to explain, but Dave cut him off.

"It's okay, you don't need to explain! Anyway, it turned out for the best you weren't here, that way I could pop the question." He said, walking to the back of Martha and hugging her from behind. "Show him the ring babes." He whispered in her ear. Martha slowly lifted her hand, to reveal a beautiful, shining diamond twinkle in the light. Jack couldn't breathe for a moment, taking it all in.

"You're getting married!" He asked Martha, shocked, hoping that he'd made one huge mistake. Martha looked down at her coffee, slowly nodding her head. Dave hadn't noticed this, as he was too busy jumping around the kitchen with excitement.

"Isn't it great!" He exclaimed.

"Yea, terrific news." Jack said, staring at Martha.

Chapter 24

"Well, I've got to go and pick something up. No need for you to come Jack, See ya!" Dave said, leaving the house. Jack and Martha both wished that he'd stayed, as neither knew what to say. Jack couldn't believe it, Martha was getting married! He'd been positive that she had leaned in for the kiss, and that she must have felt the same way.

"Why?" Jack asked, equally as confused as hurt. Martha looked angry.

"What do you mean, why?" She said, avoiding answering. She didn't want Jack to know that she was upset about him and Jenny.

"I thought that we.. you leant in to kiss me!" Jack exclaimed. Martha shook her head.

"It was a mistake, get over it Jack." She lied, she couldn't believe that he was now bringing that up, after he had spent the night with Jenny! Jack hadn't seen Martha's face as she lied, and he took it as the truth and replied in the only way he could think of.

"Good!" He said. Martha looked shocked. "I'm pretty serious about Jenny. Wouldn't want it to end or anything." He explained, trying to protect himself from being humiliated and rejected by Martha, once again. Martha tried not to look surprised and upset by Jack's confession. She didn't know why, but since he'd walked in she felt like there was still hope that she had just had a big misunderstanding, and Jack hadn't spent his night with Jenny. But she had obviously been very wrong. They both stood there, two stubborn to admit their feelings to the other, and felt truly awful about their new discovery about the other.

"So, when's the big day?" He asked, staring at the ring.

"We don't know yet." Martha said, uncomfortably. "Dave and I have already agreed on a small registry office wedding." Jack looked away from the sparkling diamond and to Martha.

"But, that's not you." He said. "You don't want that, do you?" Martha was aggravated at the fact he knew her so well.

"Does it really matter anyway, he's only going to go off to prison." She looked down at her ring. There was no point to it really, she was planning to delay the wedding anyway, she couldn't go through with marrying a man she didn't love.

"You're not doing this just because of the investigation?" Jack said, trying to hide the hopeful tone in his voice. "I'm sure Dave would understand if you said you weren't ready." Martha glared at him.

"I am ready!" She snapped. "I love him and I just wish I could take back time and not dob him into the cops, I'll just have to make the most of our time left." She said, snatching her bag from the counter and storming upstairs. Jack had totally believed the lies that Martha had told him, and his legs buckled from underneath him and he fell back onto the sofa. The best thing he could do was just to carry on with the investigation and not let Martha affect him, but that was easier said than done. He'd distance himself from Martha, and especially Martha and Dave's wedding plans. He didn't want to put himself through another Martha and Corey situation, and what was worse was this time was different, he knew that Martha's feelings towards Dave were strong, and that she was willing to marry him! Jack picked up his keys and went out, he needed some space to breath and get over the big shock.

Martha was upstairs, practically freaking out. She'd just agreed to someone that she'd marry them, and it wasn't even to the man she loved! She thought back to Jack's reaction, maybe he did like her. Not that it mattered, even if he did, he shouldn't have gone off with Jenny, and she wasn't willing to forgive him anytime soon. She'd wondered in the past year that if Jack was in her life again, maybe they would rekindle their feelings and be together. She had classed her time with him back in summer bay the happiest in her life. But after this, she now knew that they could never be together again, it was just too painful for her.

Chapter 25

The next few weeks Jack was getting closer and closer to gathering enough evidence to put Dave away. He'd gotten past his nice, friendly act and had seen with his own eyes the cruel man within. Jack had repeatedly witnessed Dave making death threats to people who owed him money. Jack had been trained not to be affected by cases, but he couldn't help looking into the eyes of the petrified, broke, druggies and feeling sympathy. Even though he hated the rounds he had to take with Dave, watching as he acted his sick monster game, feeding people with these malicious drugs, then demanding money like he was doing them a favour, it got him away from Martha, which was something that he greatly appreciated. They had hardly spoken to one another since the announcement of the engagement, it was better for both of them this way, it hurt less. Dave had noticed that they weren't exactly friendly towards one another, and that their faces would drop as soon as each other's name popped up into conversation, sending them into a deep daydream.

"Listen mate, I don't know why you and Martha aren't getting on-" Dave started, but Jack tried to interrupt. "No, I'm not stupid Jack, I've noticed. Anyway, I hope that this doesn't mean you won't be my best man tomorrow." Dave's immense smile gleamed as he expressed his excitement. Jack didn't have quite the same reaction.

"What?" He asked, completely taken aback by what Dave had just said. "T…Tomorrow?" Jack blinked hard and cleared his throat, trying to act as normal as possible. "Congratulations mate, of course I will be." Jack wasn't completely awake for the rest of the day, his mind still on what was happening tomorrow, he surely couldn't stand by Dave as he married the woman that he himself loved; could he?

Martha was sat on the sofa, thinking about what stupid situation she'd landed herself in now. Due to her heavy thinking, she hadn't realised that Jack was now stood next to the sofa, staring at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked angrily, trying not to let out his full anger. Martha looked up to see who it was and let out a long sigh.

"I'm going away from you." She snapped, sitting up and picking up her coffee.

"I meant about marrying Dave." He growled back.

"Well, I'm thinking that it's none of your business Jack." She got up, heading to the stairs. Jack, annoyed, ran up and grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him.

"Please, don't marry him." He begged. Martha stood there, stunned.

"And why not?" Martha asked, wriggling away from his grasp.

"Because I.." Martha looked back into his eyes, hoping for the only statement that could change her mind to come out of his mouth. "..I'm going to have to arrest him very soon." Jack sighed as he cursed himself for missing the perfect opportunity to tell her how he felt. Martha looked away in disappointment.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, at the registry office." She said, tears forming in her eyes. Jack stood still fixed in the same spot as he watched Martha quickly walk up the stairs. He couldn't handle anything right now, he just needed to get away from things, so he could think clearly.