Evan spent the weekend hauling his stuff into Amy's tiny flat and making it only tinier with his boxes. Storage seemed out of the question as she bought the takeout on Saturday and Sunday night, realising he was too broke to shout her.
Amy didn't take him down to the Latin Quarter at all over the weekend, preferring the time away from the tense atmosphere inside there and the fearful feelings attached to the place for her now. They simply enjoyed catching up and reliving the good ol' days of the Lone Ranger and Tonto.
Late on Sunday night as Amy brushed her teeth and stared at herself blankly in the bathroom mirror, the unavoidable question popped out of Evan's mouth. He stood leaning against the door frame of the bathroom, picking at the peeling cream paint. "So you and Alex are finished hey?" he asked quietly staring at her in the mirror.
Amy had been just waiting for him to ask. She stopped brushing her molars mid stroke. Staring back into the mirror she looked fearfully at Evan behind her. Could he see how much she missed Alex? Was it that obvious? Or was it just obvious that she should move on too after they had fought and fought and convinced each other it wasn't going to work any longer?
"Yeah," Amy replied, rinsing her mouth out and avoiding looking into his eyes. "We're finished." Maybe it would just be easier if she admitted it to herself out loud?
Evan sensed her disappointment but couldn't leave the topic alone. "It must…hurt?" he didn't know what she felt, but could see something was wrong in her eyes.
She sighed and tried to keep her emotions in tact in front of her colleague. She shrugged, speaking just barely above a whisper. "It hurts that he's not here for breakfast every morning." She walked out of the bathroom, rubbing her face on the hand towel as she exited. Evan watched after her. If she missed him at breakfast, it must just be the tip of the iceberg, he thought to himself.
Evan sidled up to the basin to brush his teeth as well as she wandered away. As he squeezed some toothpaste onto his brush, he watched in the mirror as Amy opened her bedroom door and walked inside, her shoulders slumped, preparing herself for another night of tossing and turning over Alex and the relationship they no longer had. Evan stood quietly stunned, unable to brush his teeth. Never before had he seen her affected so greatly by something she tried to make sound so insignificant.
Monday morning dawned early for Amy and Jonesy as he insisted on getting into the office early so that Amy could show him around and she could tell him who to avoid and where not to go. After a moments deliberation Amy agreed this would be a good idea – then maybe Jonesy wouldn't get involved and put his career on the line like she unknowingly had.
They drove to the office in Evan's truck, which immediately looked out of place in the carpark amongst all the sleek new Holdens and Fords. Amy shrugged at the observation she made though – it wasn't like she wasn't already the odd one out. As they walked inside and took the lifts up to the fifth floor Amy sensed Evan's nervousness. Coupled with the jitters that seemed to follow her everywhere she went, they really didn't compliment each other that morning. As she stood in the lift beside Jonesy, trying to give him a reassuring smile that she knew inside was weak and unconvincing, she tried hard to shrug off her insecurities and just focus on her job. It was difficult though.
As they stepped out of the lift and into the office, still branded at the entrance with that ever faithful Victoria Police logo – the logo they were all supposed to live and die by – Amy scanned her eyes over the puzzle of desks and chairs. She was thankful that the place was relatively quiet that morning, apart from the few desk jockeys that sat typing quietly into their computers, steaming mugs of coffee beside them, bags under their eyes and bored, listless looks on their faces.
As they strode down the hall together, they tried their utmost to look confident and under control. Above all feelings one got when one walked into the fifth floor of Homicide was the feeling that you weren't good enough to work here. That you had to be strong. Determined. Unbreakable. Invincible. Some days Amy had trouble convincing herself she was all those things, and she knew, giving a side ways glance at Evan, that he was feeling his first dose of that insecure feeling at that moment too.
Before they were even half way to Amy's office, Bronte's door sprang open at the site of an unfamiliar face walking beside her newest detective. "Jones?" she called out as they passed her door. Amy scalded herself – of course the Boss's office should be the first place to take the new recruit. But something had wanted to deter Evan away from Bronte – deter him away because she was afraid maybe of what Bronte had become involved in as well. She just wanted to hide her former Mt Thomas buddy away in her office forever and solve crime their own way.
"Jones?" Bronte asked again, stepping out into the office. She extended a warm hand and Amy watched as they shook hands firmly, Evan so eager to make a good impression – just the way she had only weeks earlier. Bronte rushed into her introduction as she ushered them all down the hallway towards Amy's office. "Gotta fly today guys, sorry it's not much of a welcome Evan, but you'll be fine with Amy, I know you guys know each other." And with that she was away again, Evan's mouth open ready to reply, but not quite getting the chance.
Amy opened her office door and beckoned him inside. "Guess you're with me for now hey?" she smiled, trying silently to calm his nerves. They bounced off the walls in her office as soon as she shut the door, ensuring them some privacy.
Evan exhaled slowly and smoothed out the creases in his suit. "Yeah, I guess so." He flopped down into a chair dazed. "What an introduction," he whispered to himself. Amy heard and smiled secretly to herself as she lumped her briefcase onto her desk, not really eager to begin a new day, but wanting to be the crutch Jonesy used on his first official day in Melbourne. She would always be his leader, she knew, but as time progressed in Melbourne she couldn't help but think that maybe they would become equals. They were after all both new to the environment, and both from the sticks. Both so superior in the country but so unnoticed in the city.
By lunchtime they were out on the road with Ned leading the way in a sleek black unmarked car. They cruised the streets of Melbourne, Ned giving them a guided tour as he stopped every now and then to deliver summonses and pick up briefs and evidence for those high up in the service who couldn't be bothered getting out into the field and doing it themselves,
As they drove, Amy and Ned in the front seat and Jonesy in the back, the two new Melbourne recruits stared wide eyed at the passing scenery, enchanted by its looks yet at the same time disgusted. Driving through the 'dirty' area of Melbourne, girls leant against lamp posts and people entered dodgy looking establishments, their eyes always searching to make sure they weren't being watched. Inconspicuious in an unmarked car, Amy could see it all and she breathed it in like it was her orientation day.
Pulling up outside a local courthouse that sat hidden behind a suburban station, Ned jumped out and power walked inside, promising to be back in moments. Amy smiled after him. Ned got things done. He wasn't all talk so it seemed some of the Melbourne blokes were. She loved that about him.
Amy and Jonesy sat back in their seats still staring out the windows of the sedan. It seemed brazen and foolish that the pros and dealers would be wondering the streets around this area, with a police station and a courthouse in such close proximity, but it clicked in Amy's head immediately that these people lived on the edge. The fringe of society still walked with the rich elite of Melbourne. She added it to her mental list of things to always remember.
Away in her thoughts, Amy jumped when someone came up to her open passenger window and spoke. It was Laura Grimaldi. She leant against the car, one hand on the roof and one with a cigarette and she leant down into Amy's window, engulfing her face with smoke. Amy studied her seriously for a few moments as the smoke cleared and almost jumped again when the tone of voice that came out of Laura's mouth was so different from what she remembered from their first brief meeting.
"Can I help you?" Amy asked, annoyed that Laura was bothering them.
"Is Barron here?" she asked, taking a drag on her cigarette and further blowing smoke into the interior of the car. Amy heard Jonesy lean forward in his seat behind her, immediately switched on to the fact that this was the girl she had told him about on the rooftop.
"I'm sorry. He's not." Amy was being blunt and to the point, all in an effort to drive Laura away from them so they could get on with their cruising.
"Ned?" she asked, a little nicer this time. Her face softened, and she threw her cigarette away over her shoulder, only hesitating for a minute before doing it, as if she thought that maybe they would book her for littering. She leant into the window more and Amy reared back, away from her.
"I'm sorry, he's not…" Amy was cut off when Ned's door opened beside her and he threw his files over the headrest and onto the backseat beside Evan.
"Laura." He sounded annoyed already. "What is it?" Amy and Jonesy could hear Ned lean his elbows on the roof and speak over it towards Laura. She in turn leant her elbows on the roof and spoke over it to him, her tiny mid section now right up against Amy's door. Amy looked away and strained her ears to hear their conversation.
"…pissed off that Dylan's still got his shit and hasn't sold it yet…" Laura's voice sailed through the afternoon air and into the seats where Amy and Jonesy sat, eager as ever for juicy gossip, despite the consequences.
"Don't talk to me about it Laura, for fucks sake," Ned's cursing shocked Amy for a moment until she mentally reminded herself that this was police work in the raw. The language of the street had to be used, or they would never listen.
Ned launched himself back into the car in an effort to make Laura go away, back to, presumably, the dark alleys and dimly lit corners that she worked from. Ned revved the engine and drove them away from the scene, leaving Laura standing behind, a sorry sight if ever Amy saw one. She almost felt sorry for the girl.
"Bloody Laura," Ned muttered under his breath as they drove back towards base. He seemed so mad that Amy didn't ask questions, and neither did Evan, but it soon turned out that they didn't have to when Ned continued muttering.
"Wanna know the real side of this job?" he grunted, his usual pleasant mood seeming to have been erased just by the appearance of Laura at the courthouse. He wouldn't look at either of them as he drove and spoke through gritted teeth. "The real side is that cops here buy the stuff and guys like Dylan sell it. Girls like Laura pay off the cops when guys like Dylan do something stupid, or are just unlucky, or in the bad books of someone like Barron Lloyd."
He pulled into the driveway of their building and as he parked and undid his seatbelt he continued, Amy and Evan listening with intent. "But none of them are 100 with you." Ned shook his head as he walked across the carpark. "Barron doesn't know Laura and Dylan keep a bit for themselves, happy to give up the cash they could earn for a weeks worth of hits. Dylan doesn't know Barron is after Laura…big time. Laura doesn't realise how pissed off Barron is because she won't sleep with him. And Dylan doesn't realise just how much Laura walks the streets and how much she pays the coppers to save his skin time and time again."
As the trio approached the back entrance Ned gave one final bitter remark. "Oh yeah, and Dylan wants to get Laura off heroin, but she can't, so she injects it between her toes so that he can't see her needle marks."