This is my first fic so tell me what you think

Chapter 1

Joey stood on the porch of her house looking at the ocean. It really was a beautiful view and one she had missed dearly. She had been living in the city for the past year and a half and it had been a while since she had been able to enjoy the quiet of the water. But still she couldn't seem to get herself to relax enough to fully enjoy it. That was understandable she guessed. It was going to be a stressful day. The question was exactly how stressful?

She sighed. She had brought it upon herself. She could have said no. She had enough influence to be able to decline and even if she didn't have the influence she was good at what she did and they would think twice before firing her. But she hadn't used her influence nor did she say no and she knew why. She was finally ready and strong enough to face her past, to stand up for herself and she had missed her friends dearly. Though she had only kept in touch with Aden she still found herself thinking often about Leah, VJ, Ruby and of course Charlie. She had tried to stop thinking about Charlie but she had never completely succeeded and that was okay because one day she would and maybe after she had faced her demons she would finally be ready to move on completely.

She grinned as she wondered how they would all react to the new her because she had changed quite a lot over those two years. She wasn't the same Josephine 'Joey' Collins anymore. In fact she wasn't a Collins at all. Now she was Josephine 'Joey' Matthews and with the new name came a new attitude, a new career and a new look. She was certain everybody was going to be surprised and that was putting it mildly. She hadn't even told Aden about the career and name change. She had wanted to wait and tell him herself and today was the day she would get the change to do just that. But right now she had to get dressed and hurry to her appointment. After all the head of the police department expected detective Matthews at his office in an hour.

An hour later Joey was sitting opposite McGrath wearing long white pants, high heels and a blue shirt. She hadn't exactly dressed as a tough detective and McGrath was watching her intently. Joey didn't let it bother her. She knew she wasn't what he expected at all. She was certain he had read her file which was quite impressive even if she did say so herself and had imagined some sort of Xena instead of her. But she knew her looks were apparently deceiving and she often used that to her advantage. More times than she cared to count there was some cocky man that thought they could kick her ass without even trying and they had always been wrong and had paid for it dearly.

"Well detective Matthews, you know as well as I do that this meeting is a bit useless seeing as I have no choice but to let you work with my officers so let's skip the formalities. I realize you just got in town yesterday evening and are still settling in so I suggest that I wait with introducing you until tomorrow so you can use today to get settled," McGrath said in a no nonsense manner which was quite intimidating.

"I would appreciate that sir. I'll be glad to start first thing tomorrow. I promise I'll go easy on them in the beginning," Joey answered smiling sweetly.

McGrath chuckled. Even though she wasn't what he had expected. He liked her. She hadn't looked away or gotten nervous when he was studying her and she hadn't flinched when he spoke in his most intimidating tone.

"Very well detective. Off you go then. Enjoy your day off."

"I will sir. Thank you."

A half an hour later Joey pulls her dark blue Volkswagen Eos into the parking lot of the diner. She's nervous again, but she does her best to ignore it and walks confidently into the diner which is quite busy seeing as it is already lunchtime. She grins when she sees Leah behind the counter taking people's orders. She goes to stand at the end of the line and waits patiently till it's her turn. A little over five minutes later Leah asks her without looking up:

"Hi, What can I get you?"

"Hmm, some of that world famous lasagna would be great," Joey answered with a huge grin on her face. Leah who thought the voice sounded vaguely familiar finally looked up. Her eyes went wide with shock and surprise and her mouth fell open which caused Joey's grin to get even bigger at the sight. She chuckled.

"What no hug for an old friend?"

Leah snapped out of her stupor and hurried out from behind the counter.

"Joey! It's been so long I almost didn't recognize you! you've changed so much but it's good to see you though! You look great! When did you get here? Where are you staying? How long are you staying?" Leah exclaimed excitedly while hugging Joey tight to her.

"Whoa! Calm down! I just got here yesterday and I've got a place to stay don't worry about that. I am staying but I don't know for how long. It kind of depends. And it's good to see you too! I've missed you guys. How's VJ doing?"

"He's doing great. He's missed you though so I'm sure he's going to want to see you. Maybe you could come and visit some time? Or come over for dinner or something?" Leah asked because she was a little disappointed that Joey wouldn't stay with them. Sure two years ago Charlie had to convince her to allow Joey to stay but it turned out great. VJ loved her, Ruby loved her, she was a good cook and she made Charlie incredibly happy. All in all having Joey around had been a good thing.

"Sure that would be great. I've missed him too."

Colleen passed by them while muttering something about Leah not helping out which caused Leah to grin sheepishly at Joey.

"Sorry but I'm going to have to get back to work."

"That's okay. Just don't forget about my lasagna," Joey answered, winked and went to sit at one of the tables.