2.09 - Matthew comes to tell Alice he's been ordered back to Melbourne

He sighed as he slumped up to her door; it was late, she was probably asleep, but he couldn't think about any of that - he only wanted to see her. Knocking on the dark wood, Matthew leaned against the doorway with another sigh; he could hear her shuffle behind the door, and he couldn't help but smile at her slightly rumpled appearance when she opened it.

"Matthew?" she squinted out as she wrapped the robe tighter around her. "It's late."

"I know, I'm sorry… did I wake you?"

"I'd just drifted off, so it's alright," Alice smiled and opened the door further for him.

He stepped inside and toed off his shoes out of habit; Alice closed the door behind him and she had her mouth open to say something when he turned to face her, but Matthew pulled her in for a kiss before she could. She hummed into the kiss - her hands clutching at his back as he deepened the kiss - before drawing back and resting her forehead against his.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

Matthew smiled - Alice had a way of seeing right through him - and kissed her forehead.

"I've got a lot on my mind, at the moment, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for things you can't control," she kissed him softly. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm… not very experienced with some things, but I'd like to help."

He smiled and kissed her again, "Yeah, yeah we can talk about it, but let's get you back to bed first. No funny business, I promise."

Alice laughed and pulled him towards her bedroom, "What if I want funny business?"

"Insatiable woman," Matthew slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her neck.

"What can I say?" she turned and led him towards the bed as her hands slowly started to strip him of his clothes. "I've got an appetite."

"Glad I can satisfy it, sweetheart," he kissed her and for awhile he forgot about the cloud over his head, the reason that brought him to her doorstep, and instead focused on the woman in his arms.

Lying in Alice's bed a while later - with Alice trailing her fingers up and down his back as she kissed his shoulder - Matthew remembered what he wanted to talk to her about and slumped down further under her covers.

"What is it?" Alice kissed his shoulder again and pulled herself closer as Matthew sighed. "No more distractions now, Superintendent."

He huffed a laugh, "You're always a distraction, Doctor."

"And you're avoiding something."

He sighed again and shifted in her bed - her blue-grey eyes piercing as she watched him, her fingers still trailing up and down his back as silence descended on the bedroom.

"I'm finding… I'm finding it's hard to find the right words."

"Take your time, dear," Alice kissed his shoulder.

Matthew smiled and leaned in to kiss her softly, "I… I've gotten some calls from the higher ups."

"Bureaucracy at its finest."

"True," his smile widened, "it's why I haven't really been around this case."

"Part of the job, Matthew, both of us knew that going into this… arrangement."

"I know, I know, but um… this time it's different."

"How so?"

Matthew shifted on the bed and turned onto his side; Alice scooted closer - her hands smoothing up and down his arms and chest as he held her close.

"I'm being called back to Melbourne to face disciplinary charges."

"Disciplinary charges?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "it's… it's all politics really, I've become inconvenient."

"Is it because of… because of Lucien?"

Matthew shrugged, "Maybe? I don't know… they've been keeping an eye on me for some time apparently. I have to face a Special Branch Committee, so I get the feeling it's more that I don't fit with what they want here in Ballarat."

"Are you worried about it?"

"Yeah, being a copper is… all I know really, so I don't know what I'll do if… they decide I can't be one."

She leaned in and kissed him, "Keep your chin up, Superintendent."

"When in hell, keep going forward, is that it?"

Alice grinned and nodded, "You're smarter than you look, use that to your advantage. Find out their ulterior motives - if there are any - lie in wait, and keep an ear out for any opportunity."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

She kissed him again, "You can do this."

"I will," he pulled her close and kissed her, "I'm just sorry that I have to go."

"Worried about Lucien?"

"Yeah, and… us."

Alice smiled and trailed a finger down his nose - tapping the end of it just to make him smile - before she traced around his lips with a featherlight touch.

"We… can continue if you'd like, Matthew."

"You want to?"

She nodded, "I have vacation time, and no one to use it on unless I get sick, so… why not?"

"You'd do that?"

She nodded again, "I can come up to Melbourne. It'd be fun seeing the city again."

"And I could take you dancing like I wanted to," Matthew grinned as she giggled. "Thank you, Alice… you've made me feel a little better about this."

"You just needed to see that the fight isn't over yet."

"Still, thank you."

She smiled and kissed him as she rolled them so she straddled his lap, "Now… no more talking for a bit, we're on a time crunch, Superintendent Lawson."

Matthew laughed and smoothed his hands up her bare back, "Yes, ma'am."

"Doctor."

"Shh," he shushed her with a kiss, "you didn't want anymore talking, Doctor."

Alice's giggles filled his ears as they said goodbye in their own way before he'd leave in the morning and the future remained unclear. Here in Alice's bedroom, he could forget the world for a bit and find pleasure in Alice herself as the night wrapped them up in their own little sanctuary. What Melbourne held in store for him, he wasn't sure, but he'd go into it ready to fight - more than he had before.

When he woke in the morning - Alice curled up under his chin - Matthew kissed the top of her head and savored the last few moments of peace with her before work that morning.

"This isn't goodbye forever, Matthew," Alice kissed him at the door.

"I know," he held her close, "I'll let you know when I've settled."

"Good, and I'll let you know when I can come up for a visit."

"I look forward to it."

With one last kiss, Matthew slipped out of her house in the predawn lavender light - his shoulders lighter, his resolve stronger, and a slight spring in his step; it still devastating to leave Ballarat and all he knew, to leave Lucien unaware of what was happening, but he'd do everything he could to come back - or at least not go down without a fight.