Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking

[luckyrabbit]

More spoilers:

- Will Ric's jealousy spell the end of his relationship with Cassie?

- Rice likes Lara but are his feelings returned?

- Colleen grows suspicious of Kim's relationship with Eve.

- A fan favourite is taken hostage.

- One couple gets a pet.

- Colleen has grand musical dreams but will they come true?

Discuss.

[Oxidizer]

I love those upcoming storylines! I seriously cannot wait. Awesome!

[Cerise]

More spoilers:

- Will Ric's jealousy spell the end of his relationship with Cassie?

- Rice likes Lara but are his feelings returned?

- Colleen grows suspicious of Kim's relationship with Eve.

- A fan favourite is taken hostage.

- One couple gets a pet.

- Colleen has grand musical dreams but will they come true?

Discuss.

Loving the Spoilers + Teaser! I agree that Lara is smitten

[luckyrabbit]

PART 20

"You look happy," Amanda teased as her oldest child walked through the door with a huge grin plastered across her face.

"Because I am happy," Belle replied blissfully.

"That's good to know," her mother smiled back. "Really, I'm happy that you're happy."

Belle stopped and looked at Amanda curiously. She did seem genuine. "Thanks…mum."

Amanda smiled brilliantly and wondered if now would be an appropriate time to give Belle a hug. Unsure if the gesture would be welcome or not, she settled for taking Belle's hand and pulling her along to sit with her on the couch. "I have good news, I've got a new job!"

"Really?" Belle blinked. "Doing what?"

"Oh, it's just a hosting gig on a new show called World's Craziest Videos-"

"It's not one of those shows with the endless clips of people stacking over and babies spewing into people's mouths, is it?"

"Well, yes. But it's easy work and if I want to get my movie made I need to replenish my bank account, darling. After financing the search and rescue mission I barely have enough left to shoot the entire movie on a Handycam. Not that it wasn't worth every penny to get you back." Amanda assured Belle with a touch to her leg. "Anyway, I know that this is terrible timing with Lucas' funeral tomorrow but I've got to head down to the city for the weekend to film the first few episodes."

Belle took a breath, in her happy new relationship daze she hadn't even thought about the funeral, she doubted that she'd be welcome but that didn't stop her from wanting to go. She had as much a right to say goodbye to Lucas as anyone. He was her friend too. "I get it-"

"I feel terrible about leaving you but, if it'll make you feel better, maybe you could invite Drew over to keep you company."

Belle's mouth fell a little bit open. "Seriously?" she asked, her mind already starting to plan all kinds of fun 'activities' for the weekend, like she was some sort of perverted recreational coordinator on a cruise ship.

"Seriously. But-" Amanda held up a finger. "You have to promise me one thing. No sex."

Belle cringed. "Am I that transparent?"

"I'm not trying to be a killjoy but you and Drew have just gotten together and well, I know that I'm not one to talk, but you should try to take it slow. Wait for a while. I'm not saying forever but just not this weekend, okay?"

What Amanda was saying did make sense, Belle thought. "Okay, no sex with Drew this weekend, scout's honour."

This time Amanda did hug her daughter. "Good girl. And maybe it would be a good idea not to have Drew mention this to Dan."

"No kidding."

"This is a priority assignment, do you understand?" Lara said in frustration, after being put on hold for twenty minutes and then being told the she'd have to wait at least a week before a background report on the company both Stuart Wilkins and Jason Maddox worked for could be completed, she wasn't in the best of moods. "Great. Thanks. Bye." She slammed the phone back down into the receiver, according to the little troll she'd spoken to, there was a massive backlog and there was nothing that they could do. Eve was going to be pissed. But, if that did happen she was pretty sure that she could count on Tracey calming Eve down. They were so cute.

Looking at the numerous files that crowded her desk, Lara sighed, she was never going to get through all of them without some caffeinated assistance.

"Hi," she greeted the other occupant of the break room as she entered. It was Toby Walker, a fellow constable, with closely cropped ginger hair and a nice smile, who'd Lara had always gotten along with.

Toby looked over his shoulder and nodded at her but otherwise remained silent as he stirred his tea. Lara frowned but shrugged it off, figuring that he might be having trouble with his partner, and girlfriend Olivia Ainsley. Well, that's what you get for inter-office dating.

Lara spooned some of the crappy instant coffee that the station supplied and waited patiently for Toby to move so she could get to the electric kettle. "What's your problem today?" she finally asked when the broad-shouldered man failed to move.

"I don't have a problem," he replied, finally moving out of the way.

"Clearly, that's not true."

"Fine, you want to know what the problem is? It's you running around being lapdog to those two bitches."

Lara blinked. "Excuse me?"

Toby set down his cup and crossed his arms. "You saw the way that they treated Jack and Evan today."

"So what? They deserved it, they completely screwed up the case."

Toby snorted and shook his head. "You're obviously not going to listen, so I'm not going to bother explaining this to you."

"No. No, I want to hear this," Lara said angrily as Toby started to walk away. "What's this cardinal sin I've supposedly committed?"

"You chose them over us, where's your sense of loyalty, Fitz?"

"Loyalty?" she scoffed. "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. People are dying, Toby, and they're our best shot of getting this case solved. Are you really going to let some stupid them versus us mentality get in the way of that?"

Toby just smiled sadly and shook his head. "I knew you wouldn't get it." This time Lara let him walk away, screw the stupid inter-office politics, she didn't need it. Besides, once Eve solved the case then they'd all see how awesome she was and that they were the ones who were missing out.

Sighing she put her bitter cup of coffee down on the desk and grabbed the nearest file, the report on the caravan park fire, and flipped it open. She wasn't expecting to find anything of relevance and she knew that Eve wasn't either, that's why she'd turned it over to her. But it had to be followed up regardless. And good thing she did.

Lara sat up a little straighter in her chair as she read the report. According to the arson investigators, the evidence found at the scene indicated that the fire was started by via a slow burning fuse possibly hours before what was first thought. Laying the report down, she shuffled through the papers until she found what she was looking for, the witness statements taken that day. She had a lot of reading to do.

"I think it's cute that you're making new friends." Tracey remarked as she unlocked the door to their apartment. "Well, old ones, I suppose."

"Shut up," Eve said, smothering a yawn behind her hand. The reconciliation with Kim had turned out better than she'd thought it would, much to her relief. She didn't need Tracey giving her sh*t about it.

"Come on, bed," Tracey urged once they were inside, shooing the sleepy Eve in the direction of the bedroom. "Bed, bed, bed."

"Oooh, I like the sound of that. Are you going to tuck me in?"

"Bed for sleep!" Tracey reminded her as she left the room to get a glass of water. She returned, water in hand, to find Eve already tucked under the blankets and bouncing impatiently on the spot, sometimes she could be such a child. "Here."

Eve rolled her eyes and took the water and the two white pills from Tracey's hand. "Yes, mum," she remarked sarcastically before throwing back the pills and washing them down with a sip of water. "Satisfied?" she asked, sticking her tongue out and waggling it around so that Tracey could see that the pills were all gone.

"Not exactly the word I'd use," Tracey smirked and leaned down to kiss her. She pulled back when Eve tried to deepen the kiss. There was no point in starting something they couldn't finish. "But it'll do for now."

"Do you really need to go?" Eve pouted.

Tracey raised an eyebrow and played with the fingers of her girlfriend's uninjured hand. "Do you really want to let the children play unsupervised?"

"Fitzgerald is there."

"You like her," observed Tracey.

"You jealous?" Eve asked mischievously.

"I don't get jealous." Tracey said completely deadpan. Eve laughed and wrinkled up her nose before getting serious.

"Lara's a good cop…well, compared to the rest of the brain dead morons we've got working for us."

"Yeah," Tracey agreed. "She is."

"Sally!" Leah voice broke into Sally's thoughts as she walked along the beach. Sally turned and waited for her best friend to catch up. "Oh my god, Sally! I heard about Cassie, is she going to be okay?"

"According to Rachel, she's going to be fine, we got lucky."

"Oh, that's a relief!" Leah exclaimed, holding her hand against her heart. "What are you doing?" she asked, noticing that Sally was looking back over her shoulder.

Sally turned her attention back to her friend, shivering and rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms. "I don't know, I just…all day I've had this feeling. Like I'm being watched or something."

"What?"

Sally shrugged. "I'm probably just being paranoid," she said dismissively.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should go the police."

"Oh, with everything that's going on, it seems a bit silly to bother them just because I've got a weird feeling."

"Well," Leah said, looping her arm through Sally's. "you be careful."

"I will," Sally assured her before changing the topic to something far less creepifying. "So how's Dan dealing with Zoe being back?"

"Oh, he isn't," sighed Leah. "You know that now he's got some crazy idea that Peter could still be alive?"

"But that's impossible, Jack has his liver."

"That's what I keep telling him! I'd be as thrilled as anyone if Pete was somehow still alive but there's no getting past the fact that we saw him die."

Sally sighed deeply. "I think that this whole thing has thrown everyone for a loop."

"You can say that again," Leah agreed. It wasn't just Dan who'd been acting weird. There had been a major change in people's behaviour since Zoe had arrived back in town. "You've spent some time with her, what's she like?"

"Um, a lot nicer than when she had me tied to a chair, that's for sure." Sally chuckled, making Leah laugh along with her.

Looking up from her paperwork Lara noticed Tracey striding back into the station. "Detective?" Lara addressed her formally, conscious of the other officers eyes on her, Toby's words playing on her mind. "Can I have a word in your office?"

"Sure, come on in," Tracey led the way into the office and gestured for Lara to close the door behind her. "What's up?"

"Eve put me in charge of the investigation into the fire at the caravan park, she said that if I found anything I should tell you." Tracey nodded for her to continue. "Well, I was going through the report from the arson investigators and according to them the fire was started using a slow burning fuse, which means it would've been lit a lot earlier in the morning than we'd originally thought."

"So the witnesses we questioned wouldn't necessarily have been the right ones," Tracey concluded.

"Yeah, I was just about to go out there and re-interview all of them. Who knows, I might turn something up."

"You know what, hold off on that until tomorrow morning."

"Why's that?" Lara frowned in confusion.

"Well, caravan park residents are mostly creatures of habit, they have pretty strict routines, the ones who'll be out and about at that hour-"

"Are the ones who would've been around when the fire was originally lit," Lara caught on quickly, making Tracey smile.

"Exactly. Nice work, Fitzgerald, I can see why Eve likes you."

"She likes me?" Lara squeaked gleefully before getting control of herself, she cleared her throat. "Uh, I mean, how's she doing?"

"She's tired but I'm sure that this news is going to cheer her up. How are we doing on the background check on Speed Freaks?"

"Um, not good. Apparently there's a backlog in records. It's going to be a week at the very least."

Tracey frowned and tapped her fingers against the table. "Maybe I'll leave that part out when I tell her."

Next time on Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking: It's the day of Lucas' funeral, prepare for angst.

[swfc]

Aw, Lara is just so cute. It's hard not to like her, lol. Not that I don't like her.

That was awesome update, Rabs.

Oh, do Tracey/Eve get a pet?

This fic's going to go on forever?!? ZOMG

[Oxidizer]

"Exactly. Nice work, Fitzgerald, I can see why Eve likes you."

"She likes me?" Lara squeaked gleefully before getting control of herself, she cleared her throat. "Uh, I mean, how's she doing?"

Cute!

"Come on, bed," Tracey urged once they were inside, shooing the sleepy Eve in the direction of the bedroom. "Bed, bed, bed."

"Oooh, I like the sound of that. Are you going to tuck me in?"

"Bed for sleep!" Tracey reminded her as she left the room to get a glass of water. She returned, water in hand, to find Eve already tucked under the blankets and bouncing impatiently on the spot, sometimes she could be such a child. "Here."

Even cuter!

Awesome update Rabsey! I totally loved it. Can't wait 'til Lucas' funeral.

[Cerise]

Hehe, made my Afternoon!

"Exactly. Nice work, Fitzgerald, I can see why Eve likes you."

"She likes me?" Lara squeaked gleefully before getting control of herself, she cleared her throat. "Uh, I mean, how's she doing?"

Lol made me laugh

[Cerise]

*bump* Me wants Update!

[luckyrabbit]

Yes, I know, I suck! I've totally been neglecting this story but never fear, an update is coming I promise! In the meantime, I've been working on two other stories and have been doing a tonne of groundwork for this fic, rest assured that I won't be running out of storylines anytime soon.

SPOILERS

- Which character discovers the son they never knew they had? To help you guess, here's a visual aid: Who could this guy be related to?

- The new arrivals in the bay seem determined to cause a splash.

And since I'm running around killing off characters left and right, I'm going to have to bring new ones in. To make it easier for you to put faces to the names here's a sneak peak

[Oxidizer]

Whoa! I'm fcuking excited now.

The guy looks like he could be related to Jack in some way. Maybe Tony's son?

The new arrivals are so going to be two certain ultra!cute lesbos.

So. Damn. Bouncy.