[This fic was written to accompany a drawing that I did of Jack and Phryne, but stands on its own. You can find all of my drawings on Tumblr and Instagram - I am acrazyobsession on both of those platforms.]

Jack heard the front door click open. His fingers paused on the corner of the page, and he held his breath. Listening. The rustle of fabric and the familiar sound of heels clicking on the hardwood floors brought a smile to his face. He released his breath and shifted his eyes back to his book.

Earlier that day, Phryne had said she was going to be out for the night and would go back to Wardlow so as not to disturb him with her lateーor rather, earlyーarrival back home. An evening alone wasn't out of the ordinary, but the pounding rain against the window and the chill in the air had left him feeling lonely. So the idea of curling up in bed with his favorite person, her body wrapped around his, was definitely his preferred way to spend an evening.

He had grown used to the flurry of enthusiasm that followed one of her evenings outーthere were usually lots of stories, and even if he didn't know any of the people she was talking about, he loved to listen and watch her talk. So he was expecting her to come dancing into the room after hearing her enter the house, jumping on the bed with some grand tale to tell him. But when more time had passed than was typical for her to make her way across the house, he set the book down beside him and shifted to see out the bedroom doorway. His concern grew as he watched her shadow move slowly around the dimly lit living room.

When she stepped into the light cast by the small lamp in the corner, he saw that she had shed her clothes, leaving her only in her undergarments. Though this would usually elicit a suggestive eyebrow and a grin, his eyes quickly took in how her arms hugged her bodyーlimbs shaking. Her hair was damp and he couldn't tell if the smudges around her eyes were from the rain or tears. He swallowed hard in an attempt to keep himself from questioning.

She reached for a large sweater that he had thrown over a chair and wrapped it around herself. Without comment, he pulled the blankets back a bit for her to crawl in beside him. The shock of her icy shivering body against his caused a tightening in his chest. What had happened? He tugged the blanket up and wrapped his arm around her. She would tell him later. For right now, as she pulled herself close to him and laid her head on his chest, he was just glad that she had come to him.


Her cold feet slid against his legs, her wet hair dampened his shirt, and the pounding of the rain on the windows barely covered the sound of her chattering teeth. Pulling her closer to him, he wrapped both arms around her and pressed his lips to her forehead. His earlier thoughts of waiting until morning to learn what had happened were proving harder than anticipated.

Minutesーor hours, he wasn't sureーticked by. Jack kept his breathing steady, his fingers making circles on the heavy cable of his sweater she was wearing. Her own breathing was uneven enough that he knew she hadn't fallen asleep. No tears had fallen since she had arrived, so either it had just been the rain or she had cried herself out already. It was taking all of his willpower to remain quiet and let her tell him in her own time.

His fingers pushed a strand of damp hair out of her face, and her body shifted, her face turning into his caress. A ragged breath escaped her lips. As his knuckle slid down her face, her hand grabbed his and pressed her lips to his fingers.

A tightness in his chest threatened to stop his breathing. He loved this woman so much and every day she grew more comfortable in this relationship. It was a lot that she had shown up at his house in her vulnerable state, but now he needed her to talk to him.

He squeezed her fingers that were still wrapped in his, warmth finally having reached them. "You want to talk about it?" He dared to break the silence.

Of course he was worried that she wouldn't respond, but with every moment of silence more possible scenarios ran through his head. She was never quiet this long.

"Phryne." He whispered into the hair that fell across her forehead, the growing despair evident in his voice. "I need to know that you are okay."

She licked her lips. "I'm okay." Her head tilted, her nose rubbing against his.

A breath he hadn't realized he had been holding was released as he looked at her face looking up at him. He somewhat doubted that was entirely true, but it was a relief to hear it anyway. He relaxed a little.

"I arrived at the club and was waiting forー"

He hadn't expected her to continue, but he remained silent as he watched her eyes drift closed.

"I was waiting for George, but he was late. Whichーwasn't like him."

She had let go of his hand and stretched her arm across his chest pulling herself even closer to his side.

"He doesn't live that far away from the club. I thought I would go give him grief. I didn't get far. There was a crowd of people in the road. It was dark."

She swallowed hard as a tear slid down her nose. "The rain had started suddenly making it nearly impossible to see."

Her lashes fluttered open and her beautiful blue eyesーglimmering with tearsーfound his.

"Someone hit him, Jack."

As much as it pained him to see how this was affecting her, relief washed over him at the realization that she had not been involved. He turned onto his side to face her, his thumb wiping away the tears.

"Phryne, I am so sorry."

"There was nothing I could do." A sob wracked her body.

He held her tight and placed a kiss on her cheek glad that she was safe.