Gathering Storm

Summary: Following a close call on Rachel's life, a gathering storm of anger inside Jack reaches breaking point.
A/N: Another alternate ending fic to A Day at the Office because I'm still in denial. :P
Rated: T for some language and violence.

Chapter One: The Incident

—

Rachel stopped the car and put it into park, before apprehensively looking out the window, out at the White Bay Power Station in front of her. Light rain was falling and the darkness that fell over the derelict looking building made her shudder a little. Jack too was a bit put out by the situation as well, but as the senior detective, he still made a tentative decision to search the area. Rachel followed, she wasn't about to argue with him. The whole day had been shitty enough as it was, she didn't want to include an argument with Jack to that, she thought.

On the first level of the power station, she met up with Jack after searching one area while he searched another. They both let out relieved sighs when they saw each other.

"Let's get the hell outta here, Rach," Jack said, putting his gun back in his holster as Rachel did the same. Any other time, he would have let Rachel go down the stairs first, but for some reason he went instead. It was an unconscious (i.e: stupid) decision that he was soon going to be hating himself for.

Rachel was about to go down the stairs herself when she heard a few footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around, seeing a man they had in at work earlier in the day - Immigration Officer Graham Denton. Recognising her too, Graham appeared to panic. He picked up the first thing he saw - a piece of shattered glass. And even though he didn't really know what he wanted to do with it, he paced towards Rachel, though it all happened in slow motion.

Somehow, through the confusion of what was going on, Rachel managed to react and she pulled her gun back out, aiming it at his chest. She froze, the gun surprisingly steady in her right hand. He froze too, his hand and the piece of glass he was holding was about 15 centimetres away from her stomach.

"Jack!" Rachel called out to him urgently, trying her best to keep an eye on Denton as well as where his hand was.

Almost at the bottom of the stairs, Jack stopped in his tracks, sensing the urgency and shakiness in her voice. He spun around, grabbed his gun from its holster and headed back up the stairs as fast as he could. When he reached the first level, Jack was instantly alarmed by what he saw. Not just from seeing and recognising the Immigration Officer, but what he was pointing at Rachel and how unbelievably close it was to her body. Jack cocked his gun, holding it directly at the man's temple, where drops of anxious sweat were slowly forming. "Get away from her, Denton," Jack said sternly, through gritted teeth, "NOW!" he added, his voice loud and full of rage when he didn't move as quickly as Jack wanted him to.

Graham took a few steps back and held his hands up, open palmed, dropping the piece of glass at the same time. He was clearly shaking, frightened and perhaps shocked, by his own actions.

Jack didn't care though, maintaining his stance and focus.

Feeling a bit safer by this stage, Rachel had lowered her gun, breathing heavily through her mouth. Her eyes were darting back and forth between Jack and Denton, wondering when the stand still was going to come to an end. She didn't have to wait long, because in front of their eyes, Graham turned and ran away before either of them had any kind of chance to react.

"Piece of shit," Jack growled, not bothering to follow him or fire his gun. They knew who he was, where he worked and could easily find out where he lived, he thought. Jack instead turned to Rachel, obviously concerned for her, as he put his gun away. When both his hands were free, he pulled her towards him and held her in his arms, "Are you okay?"

She slowly nodded, feeling grateful that he was there, "Yeah... I think so."

"Geez Rach, you're shaking," Jack noted, holding onto her tighter, "I'm sorry."

Rachel frowned a little, wondering what he had to be sorry for. She pulled away gently and took hold of his hand, squeezing it, "Let's actually get out of here this time."

Jack managed a small smile, although inside, he could feel his blood beginning to boil. He gestured for Rachel to head down the stairs first this time, and she let go of his hand, following his silent instructions.

—

The drive back to the Water Police Headquarters was an unusually quiet one. Apart from a few choice words from Jack to Helen on the radio. He wasn't having a go at Helen per se, he was actually more angry with himself.

Rachel noticed the irritation in his voice and body language, but for now she didn't say anything because she thought and hoped he would be calmer by the time they got back to the station.

She was wrong.

As soon as they walked through the door, the anger in Jack showed its ugly head again as Rachel made her way up stairs without him, "Helen, I want an arrest warrant out on Graham Denton for attempted murder. I don't care what it takes. He needs to be found and charged."

Helen looked a little dumbfounded, and opened her mouth as if to start saying something when Jack interrupted, rather abruptly and forceful.

"He almost stabbed Rachel. I want him charged!"

"He what—" a shocked Helen began to say, but Jack huffed up the stairs with loud footsteps. She stood still for a few moments, trying to make sense of what he had just told her.

Upstairs, Rachel was sitting at her desk when Jack walked in, visibly pissed off. Rachel tried her best to calm him down, but as soon as she spoke she was unable to find the right words, "Jack, nothing happened to me… it's okay…" Rachel stopped when Jack gave her a sceptical look.

"Come on Rachel," he stared at her, "You and I both know what could have happened to you. What almost happened to you," Jack's eyes left Rachel briefly as he saw Helen enter the office, confusion was still written all over her face but there was also concern too.

"What exactly happened at the power station tonight?"

Rachel sighed as softly as she could; she didn't even want to talk about it anymore, let alone listen to someone else talk about it.

Jack looked back over at Rachel, and upon realising what she must have been thinking, he decided not to go over the incident again, "I told you downstairs, Helen. Can we just get an arrest warrant prepared for Denton? Like ASAP?"

Helen raised her hands up to chest height, palms facing Jack, as if she was surrendering. "Okay, but it is going to have to wait until tomorrow morning when we're back at work. I'm going home and you two should do the same. You've been at work for almost 15 hours… I think that's quite enough for today," she gave Rachel a brief, sympathetic smile before she quietly exited through the door closest to her own office.

Jack watched Helen leave and then turned his attention to Rachel, "I've got that bottle of red, Rach, how about we take it back to mine and crack it open. Have that talk about us," he said, putting on a voice that seemed to indicate he had put the past hour behind him, although he hadn't at all. He was still mulling it over in his mind - the what if's. It was those 'what if's' that were pissing him off.

Rachel, somewhat surprising herself, didn't hesitate or even think about her response, "Sure, sounds good to me Jack."

—

The following morning, Rachel woke up in Jack's bed. Again. She could see the sun starting to rise through the small gaps between the window and curtains. Rolling over onto her side, she saw that Jack was already awake, lying on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling. He turned his head to face her upon hearing her move, smiling, "Good morning, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay Jack," Rachel reached her hand out and placed it on his chest, resting it there lightly, "And you? Do you feel like you have calmed down a bit now?"

"No, not really," Jack answered her honestly, sighing, "But… being with you last night… it was good. And I'm not just talking about the sex."

Rachel rolled her eyes, mostly at his last comment. She was still worried, however. Rachel had known Jack for a long enough time now to know that when he was angry, especially at himself, he was the kind of person who could just snap at any moment.

—

Despite most of their colleagues knowing about their relationship, Jack and Rachel arrived at work separately an hour and a half later. As soon as Jack walked into the police station, Helen informed him of the news he wanted to hear; the magistrate had approved their request to put out an arrest warrant for Graham Denton.

"I still want you to write a brief statement about what happened last night," Helen then said to Jack, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs making a face, "Just get it over and done with and hand it to Jeff. I've told Rachel to do the same." She kept a watchful eye on Jack as he disappeared up the stairs and from her sight. Like Rachel, Helen knew there was every chance he was going to be like a ticking time bomb in this situation, and what he could do in that state of mind concerned her.

Upstairs in the detective's office, Rachel and Mick were sitting at their respective desks in silence. Jack stood still, just past in the doorway, looking at Mick's back through slit eyes, "And where the hell were you last night, Mick?"

Upon hearing Jack's voice, Rachel pursed her lips together and started shaking her head, as if to say 'don't ask him that' or 'don't start'.

Mick spun around in his chair, facing the older detective, "Having a go at me too, hey Jack? I've already had Jeff and Helen on my back this morning. And guess what, I'm not about to explain myself to you as well."

Annoyed, Jack shook his head as he finally sat down at his desk. He wasn't going to put up with crap responses like that, especially now, "Well guess what Mick, you're going to have to tell me eventually. Because leaving work in the middle of the day and not telling anyone where you were going, is not on. And switching off your phone so we can't get in contact with you… not on either."

"I didn't switch my phone off Jack."

"Oh okay, so who did then? Santa Claus?"

Mick let out a heavy sigh, now he was getting annoyed, "Because you're just bloody perfect, are you? Jack Christey, the perfect cop," he defiantly changed the subject, raising his voice ever so slightly, making his annoyance obvious. "Sleeping with your work partner - sorry Rachel -" he quickly added in apologetically, "That's so impartial, is it? You come in here, all cocky, and have a go at me, yet here you are… in a relationship with Rachel."

"No one knew about it until yesterday, so what's that got to do with anything?" it was Jack's turn to raise his voice, "Changing the subject doesn't change what happened yesterday and last night."

"I'll tell you what it has, or doesn't have, to do with, Jack," Mick stood up, his voice even louder. It was almost starting to feel like Rachel wasn't in the room as the tension between the two men escalated, "You have feelings… strong feelings… for your work partner. How does that help any case you investigate, huh? How does it? This isn't about me not being available yesterday, this is all you… pissed off about what went on at the power station!"

Jack got up and walked around to the front of his desk. He was so close to yelling at Mick when Rachel too stood up and came between them. It looked like they were about to punch each other. "Alright that's enough," Rachel's voice firm, but she wasn't loud, "Jack… outside," she hurriedly ushered him out the door.

Mick didn't say a thing as they walked out. He just sat down heavily and stared meaninglessly at the mound of paperwork on his desk.

—

Outside, the harbour was sparkling in the winter sunshine. It was the perfect day, weather-wise anyway. Jack walked towards the hand rails of the balcony and turned around, facing Rachel, "Sorry, Rach… that was… awful. I'm obviously not in the mood for excuses."

"Obviously!" she smiled a little, taking a few steps towards him, "Look, I think you just need some fresh air, and maybe some peace and quiet. So I will leave you out here for a bit, okay?"

Jack nodded, thankful; she was becoming his voice of reason.

Rachel headed inside, and although probably not the best idea, left him with his thoughts. When she got back to the detective's office, Helen was talking to Mick, "You two need to sort out whatever it is that's going on," Rachel heard her finish saying, "Ah, Rachel. Sophie, the young woman from yesterday… her mother will be here soon. Did you want to talk to her? Or I could get Tayler, or someone else– "

"No, no. It's fine. I'll do it," Rachel said adamantly. It was one of the worst parts of the job, but for some reason, she wanted to be the one to tell her what happened to her daughter.

"Okay," Helen softly answered, not before glancing over at Jack's empty desk. She didn't ask where he was, however, and she left the office.

Rachel let out a sharp sigh. It was going to be another one of those days, she thought, looking over at Mick for no particular reason.

Mick sensed her eyes on him and swivelled around in his chair. He didn't really know if he should say anything, but for some reason, ended up blurting out, "Jack's in love with you, you know that Rachel."

"Oh Mick," Rachel looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Can you please shut up about th–"

"Why else would he react the way he did?" Mick teased, grinning at her from ear to ear.

—

Although Jack was partly enjoying the sunshine and harbour views, he was still on edge and quite fed up. He made the decision to go downstairs, remaining outside and trying to keep out of sight of other officers. He then got in his car and drove to the Immigration Office. "Where's Graham Denton?" he demanded of the woman at the reception area, flashing his police badge briefly.

"Oh he's not in today. He called in sick," she answered, taken aback by his rudeness.

"How bloody surprising," Jack muttered sarcastically under his breath, "Okay, I need his home address," he then said in a relatively normal voice.

The woman gave Jack a look of disapproval, "I… I can't give out that information, not even to the police. It's against–"

Jack stepped towards the desk; he was trying desperately hard not to snap. "There is an arrest warrant out on Denton for attempted murder. I need his address now."

The woman flinched at Jack's harsh tone. Almost desperately, she began typing on the computer keyboard, trying to bring up Graham's address as fast as she could. She wasn't comfortable with Jack being there, or with the way he was speaking to her. When she finally found the address, she wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it to Jack.

Grabbing the piece of paper, Jack mumbled, "Thanks," and with meaning, he turned around and paced quickly out the door.

—

Back at the Water Police Station, Rachel decided it was time to go see Jack, thinking he'd now had enough time to calm down. When she got outside, Rachel immediately saw that he wasn't there, so she headed up to the rooftop. "Shit…" she cursed when she saw he wasn't there either.

"Jack isn't out there," Rachel worriedly told Mick when she came back, "He's not outside."

"Wait, what? Where on earth would he go?" Mick wondered, trying to think. He raised his index finger when he had an idea, "I'll go check if his car's still here… and maybe see if anyone has seen him."

Rachel rubbed on her hands onto her face, groaning as she did so. She hoped that Jack just decided to go for a drive, rather than do something stupid. Although her gut instinct thought it was more likely to be the latter.

"What's up, Rachel?" Helen poked her head into the office, spotting the detective with her head on her hands, "I just read your statement… I don't think you should be here today."

Rachel lifted her head, immediately seeing Helen's concerned face, "I'm fine."

"Jack's car isn't in the carpark," Mick hurried into the room, stopping in his tracks when he saw Helen. He stood still momentarily, looking at Rachel, who was glaring back at him, not quite knowing what to say.

The office was silent until Helen finally exclaimed, rambling, "What do you mean Jack's car isn't in the carpark? Why wouldn't it be there? What's going on?"

Rachel's eyes widened as she realised where Jack may have gone, "Graham Denton…" was all she said at first, "Shit. He's probably g–"

"I just received a phone call from someone at the Immigration Office," Jeff interrupted, his voice firm, "Apparently a male detective was there no more than 10 minutes ago, demanding to know where Graham Denton lives. Does anyone want to guess who that male detective was?"

Rachel quickly stood up, ready to leave.

"No, Rachel," Helen pointed for her to sit back down, "Mick and I will go."

"Here's the address," Jeff handed Helen a piece of paper, "Get Jack back here. With or without Denton."

A little annoyed at not being able to go with them, Rachel sighed, watching as Helen and Mick quickly left. She hoped they got there before Jack did anything regrettable.

—

To be continued.