[A/N: Thank you so much for the very kind reviews of "She Who Wears the Trousers". I always enjoy reading what everyone thinks of what I write!

This story is on my main timeline and takes place one week after "For All Intents and Purposes" (the failed wedding story). I decided to go ahead and start posting it in pieces, even though I haven't finished writing all of it. I do have ten parts done so far, so that should last for a while until I catch up to myself.

Some of it, around Part Three, is sad and a bit gloomy, but I promise it starts to look up and will have a happy ending, just hang in there till the end, it'll be worth it.

A couple of notes: the correct pronunciation of Seasaidh is: sheh-see. And the English version of the name is Jessie, so she goes by Jes as a nickname.

And if Google Translate is correct: Bha e uamhasach math d 'fhaicinn a-rithist: It was truly grand to see you again.

I hope you all enjoy, drop me a review to let me know what you think!]

You Can't Go Home Again

PART ONE

"Will, I need the file on..." Eliza barged into William's office but stopped short when she saw him. He was sitting at his desk holding a letter in one hand and looking out the window with an incredibly melancholic expression on his face.

"William? Are you alright? Has something happened?" Eliza asked him, her voice full of concern. William held up the letter and Eliza stepped closer to his desk to take it from him. Her eyes skimmed over the letter quickly and she gasped as she read the final sentence, "Your uncle died? The one who..." William nodded, "Yes, the one who despised me. Apparently he left me 'everything'." He scoffed.

Eliza wasn't sure what to say. She knew that William had fled Scotland to get away from his uncle, that he had been on the streets of London for about a year, running messages for the police officers and detectives of Scotland Yard. Then on that fateful stormy night, her father had taken pity on him and had taken him in. He had stayed with them for around three years, until Henry had been able to secure him a position as a constable at Scotland Yard. Shortly after that, he had moved out, into a single room. As far as she knew, he hadn't returned to Edinburgh since he had moved to London.

Eliza moved around the desk, knelt in front of him, and put her hand on his knee, "What do you plan on doing?" She asked. He looked down at her, his eyes refocusing on her face. He sighed deeply and shook his head, "I dunno, I suppose I have to go there. Horrible timing with all this work." He looked up at the pile of cases on his desk and cursed softly under his breath. He truly enjoyed being a Chief Inspector, he didn't mind the hard work, or the hours, it just made taking time off, even a day difficult.

He supervised fifteen men, constables and detectives, and Eliza. He honestly couldn't even remember how he had managed without her, in the time before she had been taken on as a private detective on commission with Scotland Yard.

William ran his hands over his face and thought out loud, "I was planning on hiring a secretary to help me, I had some interviews set up. I'll have Hatfield take over in my absence, he can hire someone to help him organize everything, the other men know their jobs." Eliza nodded, William kept everyone in line. At first, she thought they listened to him because he would shout at them if they didn't, but then, as she worked with him more and more, she realized that he was a good leader, and as he had grown more accustomed to his role, the roughness around the edges had faded, and the men respected him for who he was, a capable and fair man.

Eliza thought for a moment, then spoke, "I'm coming with you of course." He glanced down at her and smiled. "Of course. Wrap up whatever cases you can, you can brief Honeychurch on the remainder." She groaned and he laughed, "I'm sorry to inflict him on you, but he sprained his ankle and is stuck on desk duty, he can go through the files."

Eliza stood and took a step closer to William. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her abdomen and let out a deep sigh. She ran her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes.

They tried their best to keep physical intimacy at a minimum at work. Their engagement, and failed wedding, was no secret to anyone at Scotland Yard, but William and Eliza hadn't wanted anyone thinking that she had merely gotten the commission because of their personal connection.

Anyone who had thought that, when she had initially begun working for William, had the notion quickly dispelled when they had seen the rate in which she closed the cases he had assigned to her.

"How come your cousin, Catriona, wasn't left the estate?" Eliza asked thoughtfully. She felt William shrug, "I don't know, the lawyer's letter didn't say. I have no way of finding out more until we're there." He pulled back to look at her, but still kept his arms around her. She moved her hands to his face and leaned down to kiss him.

It was only a week after their botched wedding day, and she and William had hardly had time to adjust to him moving in with her. He had agreed to share a bed with her, but still wasn't comfortable about physical intimacy as an unwed couple, but it actually hadn't been an issue for the past week. Both of them had been exhausted from work and the stress of replanning their wedding. In the end, they had each taken to falling asleep on the too-short settee at night, usually waiting for the other to come home in the evening.

Their lips were a centimeter apart when there was a knock at the door and it banged open. Honeychurch came stumbling in. William sighed, too tired to even be annoyed. Eliza smiled and ruffled William's hair quickly before stepping back.

"Ow!" Honeychurch exclaimed, not seeming to have noticed that he had interrupted them. "Yes Honeychurch?" William asked, trying to get the man speaking so he could get rid of him as soon as possible. Honeychurch hobbled inside, struggling with a cane, and a pile of folders. Eliza hurried over to him and took the files from under his arm. He smiled at her gratefully.

"Thank you Miss Scarlet, it's been difficult getting around like this." He said, taking a seat across from William, uninvited. "Yes, yes… will you get to the point already?" William asked. Honeychurch eyed him strangely, William's hair was pointing in every which way. He shrugged then explained, "The detectives have all been giving me messages to relay to you, I have them here." He dug into his chest pocket and pulled out a piece of crumbled paper. Placing it on the desk, he smoothed it out and then squinted at it. He brought it closer to his nose, practically crossing his eyes to see his handwriting.

"Ah! Farrell said he's arrested that man from the robbery, Hatfield said he'd like to meet with you later… um… Someone wants to transfer to the new unit you had been talking about to someone else…" William sat there, mouth agape as Honeychurch went on, seemingly spewing nonsense. Eliza meanwhile was trying her best not to laugh. She looked between William and Honeychurch, William growing more and more irate by the moment, with Honeychurch remaining completely oblivious. "…and that's all Sir!" Honeychurch said happily in conclusion.

William didn't say anything, because he didn't even know what to say. It was the first time Eliza had ever seen him so dumbstruck that he couldn't even work himself up into shouting. "PC Honeychurch, why don't we go sort out those notes a bit better and find Detective Hatfield?" Eliza said. Honeychurch shrugged, he thought he had done a pretty decent job relaying the messages, but he stood from the chair and hobbled out of the office.

Eliza, concerned about William, walked back over to him, tilted his face up and kissed him softly. He kissed her back. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He told her, but he still seemed distracted. With one last glance at him she left the office, steeling herself for dealing with Honeychurch for the remainder of the afternoon.

To be continued…