Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jack paused on his way to the bus stop. It was early morning and he was on his way to work when a broken window distracted him. The window sat in the front door of a small business near his house, which was owned by a kindly old gentleman. Jack opened the door and stepped inside.

“Mr. Horowitz? Mr. Horowitz is everything alright?” he called into the shop. A small gentleman peeked out from a back room.

“Who? Oh! Inspector! Good to see you! What…Oh! The window. Yes, everything is fine. Late yesterday afternoon a few young lads were playing ball in the street and, well, you can probably guess the rest,” the gentleman chuckled. Mr. Horowitz was a man of about 70 with fine white hair that was never out of place and glasses perched on his nose that he was constantly looking over. He had a soft spot for Jack who had stopped in and helped him with physical labor around the shop on occasion and scared off the odd troublemaker with his badge and glare.

Jack smiled. “Anything you need help with? I could run down to the hardware store for you and get a new one. I may even be able to figure out how to install it. It’d be no trouble.” Jack offered. Being Detective Inspector came with perks, including being late on occasion. He would be doing his civic duty and all that after all.

“I really hate to ask, but it would be wonderful if you could. Save me from having to call someone. Oh! Your order is ready! Let me go fetch it from the back for you…”

Jack perked up at this bit of news. He had been waiting for some time now, but knew without a doubt that Mr. Horowitz wouldn’t let him down.

“Here it is. Is it what you wanted?” the gentleman asked, handing the item to Jack. It was perfect.

“Goooood, good I’m glad. Look, you’re even smiling. I’d go so far as to call that a real smile, Inspector, not one of your little half-smiles. Good. I’m so glad,” Mr. Horowitz gushed with a proud look on his own face.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Horowitz. How much do I owe you?” The shop owner quoted Jack what was left after his initial down payment. “That’s it? That’s not nearly enough!” Jack protested.

“Well, you’ve done so much to help me around here over the years, and I know you gentlemen in law enforcement do not make nearly what you should. Besides, if you are really going to fix my window for me I should offer you something in return.”

Jack wanted to protest, but found he really couldn’t. Mr. Horowitz was right, money was often tight and this could really put him in a tough place if a sudden emergency were to come about. Jack thanked the man and wrote a check for the amount. “Now I’ll just pop down the street and will be right back with that glass.”Jack froze half way to the door. “Actually, Mr. Horowitz, do you still have the rest of the broken glass?”

“I threw it all in the bin out back. It should still be there. Why?”

“Could I ask a small favor?” Jack asked, a gleam in his eye.

***

Phryne dove head first into her closet after hanging up with Jack. He wanted her to help him with a small breaking and entering case. She emerged wearing a pretty blue dress that came down below her knees with blue heels and a blue feathered headpiece to top it off.

“Come along, Dot! There’s crime to solve!” Phryne called as she bounced down the stairs. Dot poked her head around the parlor door.

“Alright, Miss Fisher. I’ll just grab our coats,” Dot answered.

In just a couple minutes they were loaded up into Phryne’s car and speeding towards the crime scene. They pulled up to the scene in half the time it should have taken.

It was a little shop in a long line of little shops in a quiet little neighborhood. Hugh was stationed outside, keeping an eye on a group of boys who were forming a knot nearby, looking incredibly nervous. His face lit up when he saw the two of them.

“Hello Dottie! Good morning, Miss Fisher! The Inspector is inside waiting for you.”

“Thank you Hugh!” Phryne called, floating past him in a cloud of perfume. She missed the look between the two lovers as she stepped into the shop.

It was a quaint little jewelry shop, apparently owned by a quaint little man. The front window had been broken and the glass was littering the front entryway. She quickly spotted Jack who appeared to be taking a statement from the shop’s owner.

“Miss Fisher, this is Mr. Horowitz. His shop appears to have been broken into last night,” Jack explained. Phryne turned towards the owner.

“That’s right, Miss Fisher was it? I came in this morning and the front window was broken. I came in and looked around to see if anything was missing and it appears that they took a display of necklaces from the case over there,” he pointed towards a case that was open with a large empty space inside.

“How did they get into the case?” Phryne asked, feeling suspicious but not letting on.

“Well, you see, I leave the keys to the cases hanging on a hook just inside my office door,” Mr. Horowitz explained. Phryne hitched an eyebrow up, but didn’t comment.

“Thank you, Mr. Horowitz. Miss Fisher and I are going to go ahead and take a look around,” Jack told the man, casually dismissing him. Mr. Horowitz stepped outside to stay out of their way.

“So the criminals entered through the front door?” Phryne asked, walking towards the door in question. She examined the broken glass in the doorframe then the glass on the floor, picking through it gently.

“Apparently so. Though I must admit to some surprise that they only took one display of jewelry,” Jack replied.

“Hmm, yes. Maybe they were afraid they had been spotted? Or maybe they were afraid someone would notice the broken glass and call the owner. Or maybe they were afraid they had taken too much time. They did, after all, take the time to go looking for the keys so they could neatly open the display case instead of just smashing it and taking everything they could reach,” Phryne suggested, whirling around to face Jack. Jack simply looked at her with a questioning expression.

“Oh come, Jack. What is going on here? This glass on the floor has been thrown away once and then retrieved and put back on the floor. That or they broke the window with a cup of coffee, when the shape of the hole in the door is more suggestive of a ball” she said, holding up her hand, displaying the coffee grounds she had found mixed in with the glass. “And that jeweler, who I would bet good money has been in business at least since the war, probably a lot longer, does not carry the key to his cases with him to help prevent theft? And they took necklaces, when the ring sitting beside it, which would be easier to carry and pawn, has to be worth hundreds? Not to mention, of course, those poor lads outside who look ready to faint. Come on Jack, what is really going on here?” Phryne asked, torn between amusement and annoyance.

Jack stepped towards Phryne, stopping when he was close enough to breath the same air as her, and looked her in the eye.

“I knew you wouldn’t be fooled long. But what better way to do this than with a case? Though, a real case would feel wrong, especially since we tend to deal in murder,” Jack started, causing Phryne to huff at him. Her annoyance was disappearing though. His scent always soothed her.

“So, when I stepped in this morning to see if Mr. Horowitz needed any help and he told me my order was ready, well, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up,” Jack continued.

“Order? Jack?” Phryne asked, starting to catch on to what was going on.

“You know, before the war I was a very happy, carefree man. Naïve, innocent, not too unlike Hugh. After the war, I was cold and hard. I had seen too much, too fast. I never really softened. Not until two years ago. Two years ago you skipped into my murder investigation and turned my whole life upside down. I’ve…” he took her hands into his. “I’ve started to be myself again, Phryne. I’m starting to look into the mirror and see a man I know, not a stranger. You dragged me off after you on crazy adventures, helped me see that bending the rules won’t always end in tragedy, and you made me laugh…made me sing…made me find that man inside me that I used to like being. And then you kissed me, Phryne. You kissed me at that party six months ago and my world started crashing down around me but it was alright. God, Phryne, it was more than alright, because I opened my eyes from that kiss to find that you had been busily building a new world around me and I just had to look out from the old to see it. Phryne, the last two years have healed me, and the last six months have made me realize I cannot go on without you…”

“Jack…” Phryne had tears pouring out of her eyes and her whole body was trembling. She took one hand out of his and reached the shaking appendage up to brush a stray tear from Jack’s face. He let out a shaky breath and dropped to one knee.

“Phryne, will you marry me?”

Phryne thought she was going to die. The ring she was being presented with was simple, like Jack. A gold band with an ornate setting for five small diamonds and four diamond chips, more metal than stone. The man behind the ring was breathtaking. He looked at her with such uncertainty and hope in his eyes.

Phryne was not the marrying type. She was wild, she loved to spend long nights at clubs dancing to jazz and drinking whiskey, then coming home with a handsome young man to while the rest of the night away with. She was her own woman and no one could claim her husband had made her. Husbands were controlling, they stopped women from being independent and tied them to their homes with children and chores. Just look at Dot! Poor, sweet Dot, who was suffering through a long engagement because marriage meant giving up her job, her position in the Fisher household, her independence…

Jack knew her, knew her past and most of what that involved, knew she was not the marrying type…but he asked anyway. He had gathered himself, spent the money on a ring she could have bought a thousand times over but to him was months of saving, then risked the humiliation of a rejection to ask her a question he well knew would more than likely end in heartbreak. She looked at the ring, and she looked at him, and found only one answer, clawing its way out of her throat.

“Yes…”

Chapter Text

Jack glanced up at the clock on the wall. He really had accomplished little of anything in the hours he had been sitting there.

After the proposal and Phryne’s acceptance, everything had been a bit of a blur between a passionate kiss, hearty congratulations all around, fixing the window, cleaning up the mess (again), and reassuring the terrified group of boys that they were not about to be arrested for playing ball in the streets (though Jack did give them a stern look and suggested that there may be more sensible places for such pursuits). After that Phryne had driven Jack and Hugh to the station before taking off in a cloud of dust, saying something about lists. Jack vaguely remembered his first wedding and all of the insane planning that Rosie had put into it. Jack, being sensible, had mostly stayed out of the way and waited to be called upon, dutifully selecting colors when asked and picking up relatives as they arrived. He could only imagine what a Phryne Fisher style wedding would look like. Maybe he could convince her to just sign something at the courthouse…

Jack and Constable Collins had not been at the station too terribly long before the distinctive engine of Phryne’s Hispano-Suiza returned and the women stormed the gates. Dot carried a massive basket on her arm, full to bursting with food for the lads (and a special packet for Hugh), while Phryne carried a smaller, but no less impressive, basket on her own arm, filled with a rather delightful lunch for two. Jack had eaten everything put in front of him and listened as Phryne laid out the plans she had already made.

“Really there is too little point in doing much planning until all of the appropriate people have been informed. I need you to make a list of all of the people in your life we need to tell in person, and a list of people we can tell over the phone or via letter, and I’ll do the same, then we can let the rest learn of our plans through the social pages. I thought I would go ahead and tell Aunt Prudence first, get her out of the way, and really she’ll do a lot of the legwork for me after that as far as alerting the “proper people” goes. Here, have some melon, it’s delightful.”

Jack took a bite of melon off of the proffered fork.

“After that I need to tell Mac. I really must make a few lists myself. Anyway, I was thinking of telling Aunt Prudence today over tea. Would you be able to come by and tell her with me? She will be so disgusted with me if I tell her without you.” Phryne playfully batted her eyes at him as though there was a chance he would turn down Dot’s tea (and the possibility of tea cake) in favor of the dishwater the station served.

Jack glanced at his schedule, acting as though he didn’t know perfectly well that his day was clear, before agreeing to tea with Prudence Stanley. He had no qualms admitting he was a little scared of the woman. No, not scared, intimidated. No, not intimidated, respectful. That’s right, he had a healthy respect for the woman. That was it.

“Wonderful! I already invited her, she’ll be by around 4:00, so if you could be there around 3:30 we can get our story straight and have a good stiff drink before she gets there.”

“Miss Fisher, you make it sound like we are going to kill her and bury her in the rose bed, not tell her we are engaged,” Jack teased with as straight of a face as he could manage.

“Now that is a thought…” Phryne teased back with a wicked grin. At that point Jack couldn’t resist leaning forward and kissing the infuriating woman sitting on his desk, rumpling his paperwork, and feeding him the most delicious food he’d ever eaten (though he had no illusions that Phryne was directly responsible for any of it. He’d be sure to thank Dot later). He briefly remembered the early days of their acquaintance and how often he had debated which desire was stronger, the desire to kiss her or strangle her. This was a soft, quick kiss that left a smile on both of their faces and managed to end the conversation, leaving the two lovers to eat their meal in contented, if unusual, silence.

Once Phryne and Jack had finished, Phryne had gone out to rescue Dot from the middle of a feeding frenzy of police. Really the poor girl didn’t look too distressed. Constable Collins had attached himself to her with an arm around her shoulders, tucking her almost completely into his side in an attempt to keep the other men from getting any ideas. The older men and married men thought this was hilarious and they were taking great joy in flirting with the young woman who was beaming under her beau’s attention. The look in Collins’ eye was becoming slightly manic, but Jack figured it was good for him to get used to the fact that everyone would want a little piece of such a charming girl.

“Come along, Dot! Tea won’t prepare itself!” Phryne called as she swiftly made her way out the door. Dot turned and placed a shy kiss on Hugh’s cheek, causing the young man’s face to light up and turn a bright red.

Now, a few hours later, it was time for Jack to go to Phryne’s and “get their story straight” for Mrs. Stanley. Thankfully it had been a slow day crime wise so Jack didn’t feel bad leaving for his tea. He knew he would more than make up the time later.

In no time at all he was knocking on a familiar door, which was answered by the lady of the house herself.

“Hello, Jack! You know you don’t have to knock. You could just walk in,” Phryne teased.

“I’m many things, Miss Fisher, uncivilized is not one of them,” Jack responded.

“You could also call me Phryne, now that we’re engaged and all.”

“I’ll consider it, Miss Fisher.

Once the door was closed behind him Phryne wrapped her left arm around Jack’s neck and took his hat off with her right.

“There he is! That charming Detective Inspector I’ve heard so much about,” Phryne cooed with a smile as she tossed the hat in the general direction of the hall tree.

“I hear he’s engaged,” Jack responded with a crooked grin. Phryne gasped in mock shock.

“No! You don’t say! I hadn’t heard that! Who is the lucky lady?”

“That Fisher woman of course.”

“The hussy!”

“Mmm, yes, I hear she kisses strange men in her entryway,” Jack hinted.

“You don’t say? Well, I’d hate to prove anyone wrong,” and with that Phryne leaned forward and closed the gap between their mouths.

Phryne loved the way Jack kissed. His kisses started like he was asking a question, soft and teasing. Then he seemed to grow in confidence and get a little more forceful. Sometimes his kisses cooled from there and she could walk away. Sometimes he kept pushing, demanding for her to give him her all. These kisses usually ended with her crushed up against a wall and having to put herself back together.

This particular kiss seemed to be heading for wall crusher levels, but Jack pulled back, keeping in mind that they had guests coming.

“Jack Robinson. You are a tease and a bad influence,” Phryne accused, not stepping away.

“You can’t be the only one.”

Phryne smiled and pulled Jack into the sitting room, checking her lipstick along the way. She poured them both a healthy dose of whisky before snuggling into his side on the loveseat.

“So, how are we going to play this, Jack?”

“If we leave now we could be married at the courthouse by the time she gets here and send her a letter on our way to our honeymoon,” Jack suggested as he reached up to gently play with her hair. Phryne lightly slapped his chest.

“Tempting as that sounds, no. I’m afraid she would charter a boat to follow us and force us to have a proper ceremony with all of the proper guests.”

Jack chuckled. “Alright. I think you should be the one to tell her. She likes me well enough, but I’m not so sure she approves of us.”

“She thinks you’re wonderful. *sigh* Alright, I’ll tell her as soon as she gets here. No reason beating around the bush. But you will owe me.”

“And what would the lady like for her payment?” Jack asked, his voice dropping an octave as he gently tugged Phryne onto his lap and caressed her back.

“Oh, I can think of a few things,” Phryne whispered before leaning in for a kiss. They continued to make out like a couple of teens until Mr. Butler gave a quiet cough from the doorway.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Mrs. Stanley is on her way up the walk. I thought you might appreciate a moment.”

Phryne reluctantly crawled off of Jack, adjusted her skirt and quickly checked her face in a nearby mirror. Jack was having a little more difficulty putting himself back to rights. Ever since he and Phryne had started stepping out his body had been reacting like a teenage boy’s.

“I’ll be back,” Jack excused, taking off for the WC. Phryne chuckled, feeling a definite feminine pleasure in the reaction she was able to elicit from Jack. Now if only she could get him to act on it and move beyond kissing…

Aunt Prudence chose that moment to enter the room.

“Good afternoon, Phryne. How have you been dear?” Prudence asked as she pulled Phryne into a hug.

“I’m fine, Aunt P. How have you been?” Phryne politely inquired as she guided her aunt to a chair and poured the tea into three cups. Prudence gave her an inquisitive glance after falling into her chosen seat.

“I’m doing well. A few minor aches and pains but that is to be expected as one gets on in years.”

“And how are my delightful cousins,?” Phryne asked as she offered Prudence a cucumber sandwich and placed two on a plate beside her own.

“They are fine. Guy is still married to that horrible woman and Arthur is still at home, as he should be. Phryne, is everything alright? You seem…anxious.”

“Anxious? Of course not! I’m merely enquiring about the health of my family,” Phryne defended. Jack chose that moment to enter the room. Prudence looked at him, then her eyes became huge.

“Oh my God, Phryne, you’re not PREGNANT are you?!” the older woman yelled. Jack froze on his way to his seat, eyes huge and mouth hanging open. Even Phryne seemed taken aback by the sudden leap her aunt had made.

“No! Of course not!” Phryne burst when she was finally able. This seemed to snap Jack out of his own trance and he managed to find his seat…and his sandwiches.

“Oh, thank goodness. It’s just, when I saw Inspector Robinson…Hello Inspector, it’s good to see you again.”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Stanley,” Jack offered with a warm smile.

“Now really, Phryne, please tell me what is wrong,” Prudence begged.

“Nothing’s the matter, Aunt P. I just wanted to have tea with my aunt and talk about the comings and goings of my life. Isn’t that what us society ladies are supposed to do?” Phryne carefully asked.

Prudence glared at her niece.

“Phryne Fisher. The day you stand on propriety and do what “society ladies are supposed to do” is the day I sprout feathers and take up flying,” Prudence declared. Phryne was struck by the image of her aunt as a rather plump, grumpy chicken with a little flowered hat who liked to terrorize small children and dogs in the barnyard. The image made her laugh out loud. Jack smiled into his tea. Prudence also spared the room a smile, perfectly aware of what her niece was imagining.

“There now, let’s drink our tea and you can tell me why you called. Not that I’m not glad you did, dear. It is good to hear from you now and then,” Prudence said in case she had hurt her niece’s feelings. She really was very fond of the girl and got no pleasure out of upsetting her, even though she knew she was good at it. “It’s also wonderful to get to spend some time with you, Inspector, without a ghastly murder hanging over our heads.”

“The feeling is mutual, Mrs. Stanley.”

“Well, Aunt Prudence, I did want to tell you about my day. This morning a very wonderful thing happened. Jack here called me to a crime scene – “

“Only you would think getting called to a crime scene is a wonderful thing,” Prudence grumbled. Phryne ignored her.

“When I got there it turned out not to be a crime at all, it was all a setup for Jack to propose to me,” Phryne explained, turning a gentile smile towards Jack.

“Propose what, dear?” Prudence asked. Phryne blinked.

“Marriage.”

Prudence was very glad for the fact that only Phryne and Jack bore witness to her rather spectacular spit-take at this bit of news. She coughed on what tea had remained in her throat and dabbed at what had landed on her frock with a napkin.

“Marriage? The Inspector has asked you to marry him? What did you say?” She asked.

“I said yes. Jack and I will be marrying sometime in the near future,” Phryne said as though it was the most obvious answer in the world as she mopped up the tea on the table. Jack kept a careful eye on both women. He wasn’t exactly certain how Mrs. Stanley was going to respond to the engagement. She liked him well enough and didn’t protest (much) to his stepping out with Phryne, but courting and marriage were two vastly different things. He was also a little worried about Phryne. She hid it well, but he could tell she was more worried than she let on. As much as she protested the fact, she put quite a bit of stock in what Mrs. Stanley thought of her.

“You are the first person we’ve told,” Jack said quietly, hoping to impress upon Mrs. Stanley her importance to Phryne.

“Do you not approve of our engagement, Aunt Prudence?” Phryne asked when the silence stretched just a little too long. Prudence seemed to be shaken out of her thoughts by the question.

“Do I not approve? Phryne, to be perfectly blunt there is very little about you of which I approve. Don’t get me wrong, child, I love you like a daughter, always have. But you are wild, you refuse to bend to propriety, you partake in hobbies that are entirely unsuited to a lady, and you go through lovers like water, though that has slowed down since you’ve taken up with the inspector, but what’s worse! You don’t even try to hide it! Any of it! But I love you, and I have always been fiercely proud to call you my niece, even when I may not have acted like I was.

“As for your marrying the inspector. Would I rather that you were marrying someone of your station? Absolutely. However, as I was just saying, that is not your style and I fear you would suffocate under a proper household. While I cannot claim to know him well, I would dare to say there is no one, absolutely no one, in this world more deserving of your love and affection than dear Inspector Robinson.” Prudence took Jack’s hand in her own as she said this last part and directed it more towards him than Phryne, assuring him that she was not going to run him out. Jack smiled and nodded in acknowledgement of the words left unsaid.

Phryne blinked back tears. She was not used to hearing such absolute support from the woman before her. Prudence smiled at her and held out her arms. Phryne quickly accepted the hug, feeling her confidence quickly skyrocketing to normal levels again. If just one person in her flesh and blood family supported her, she had all she really needed.

After the emotional part was over, Prudence turned her attention towards the ring. A part of her had noticed it when she came in, but thought it more likely a fashion statement than an engagement ring upon first glance, but now she took the time to really look. It was not impressive, by any means, but it suited the wearer and the giver. She was sure to tell them as such before giving Phryne her hand back.

“Now,” said the ever-practical Prudence Stanley, “How will you be informing your parents?”

***

Prudence stood up to leave about an hour later.

“I really must be off now. I have a meeting to attend. Inspector, would you please see me out?”

Jack was slightly startled, but quickly rose to his feet and walked with her. She turned to him when they got to the door.

“I wanted to say something, Inspector. I am afraid that you may not believe me when I say I support your decision to marry Phryne. I truly do. You are a good man, Inspector Robinson, and you are a good man for Phryne. Though I do wish you wouldn’t encourage her behavior quite so much.”

Jack smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Stanley. Your support means a lot to me. To both of us. And please, call me Jack.”

Prudence smiled back in return. “I suppose you should call me Prudence now, seeing as you will be family in short order,” she said, sounding resigned to an uncertain fate.

“Thank you Mrs. Stanley.” Prudence’s smile grew and an approving light glinted in her eye. Mrs. Prudence Stanley then took her leave, leaving Jack to sort out what to do next.