Chapter 1

I wasn't happy that they killed Charlie off in H & A because it now means she can't come back, they should have chosen a storyline that would have left it open for her to return, killing her off when she had made the show more popular since appearing over 3 years ago was a big mistake and, I'm sure there are many other fans who feel the same. This is my version of what I think should have happened now on H&A regarding Charlie's death, there is no actual story lines from H & A, it's just from my own imagination. Hope you like it. ;-)

It was 2 weeks since Charlie's funeral and Brax was drinking himself to oblivion, because he may have been a bad boy, but he did love Charlie and would have done anything to have her back, but he knew that wasn't going to happen and, he needed something to concentrate on to take his mind off losing Charlie, he called Heath to tell him to arrange a meeting with all the river boys back at home, he said would meet them there, in an hour because there was something he had to do first.

Ruby was holding up quite well, but truthfully she was hiding how she really felt because Casey had enough on his plate with Brax, Ruby and Brax hadn't spoken since his outburst at the wake of Charlie's funeral and Ruby had no intention of doing so, at the moment because what she said was true he put Charlie's life at risk the moment he pursued her. Ruby decided to stay in the bay with Casey and commute to and from the city, which was Leah and Morag's idea because they didn't want her to be on her own everyone else was struggling too, but they wanted to support Ruby and be there for her, when she was ready to talk, but she was being stubborn like her mother and hiding her feelings.

Ruby was at home studying the paperwork age had been sent from the college she was going to she had decided that she would continue her plan and do the course in being a social worker because she knew that Charlie would have wanted her to follow her dream, when there was a knock at the back door, Ruby got up to go and see who it was, when she opened the door to see Brax standing she told him she didn't want to see him, but he asked her to hear him out and pushed his way in, Ruby told him she wasn't interested in anything he had say, he pleaded with her to let him speak, a tear rolled down his face, Ruby felt herself welling up to and they stared at each other, Brax walked up to Ruby and pulled her in to hug where they both cried, after a short while Brax said he was so sorry for what happened at Charlie's funeral, that what Ruby has said was true, if it hadn't been for him Charlie would still be alive he knew there was no excuse for the way he behaved, he was just really upset, Ruby said didn't he think she was, also after all Charlie was her mum, Brax said he missed Charlie so much, Ruby said she did too and she knew Charlie wouldn't want them fighting with each other, Brax agreed and apologised again for what he had said, Ruby said she was happy to accept his apology, Brax told Ruby things were going to change from now on. Ruby wanted to ask how, but was afraid of what Brax would reply so she decided not to say anything, because she knew it was probably illegal knowing Brax, that despite telling Charlie he had left his criminal past behind him, that he wouldn't, but if she didn't know anything about it she could be implicated.

Brax said he had to go, before he left he asked Ruby to stop by his house later to see Casey because he knew Casey would like that, as he had been worried about her, Ruby said he was worried about him as well, Brax said not anymore everything was going to be ok and, they needed to support each other through this, Ruby agreed, Brax hugged Ruby again telling her Charlie would have been proud of her.

Back at the Braxton house, Heath was pacing wondering what Brax wanted a meeting with the boys for, Casey was telling him that maybe it was to tell them from now on they had to stay within the law, Heath asked Casey if he was really that naïve to think that they would stay within the law, that wasn't what they were about and the needed to get their reputation back.

Brax turned up a short while later, with beers for the boys, he told Casey to go and see Ruby and he was to stay there until he told him it was ok to come home and he was to bring Ruby back with him, Casey asked if he was stupid because Ruby wasn't even talking to him, Brax told him it was all fine, that he had sorted things out with Ruby and had apologised for the things he said to her and, they were all good now. Casey was happy that Brax and Ruby were talking again Brax threw his Ute keys to Casey so he could drive over to Ruby's.

Once Casey had left Heath asked Brax to explain what was going on, Brax told Heath all in good time, that they should have a drink first, Heath complained that Brax had done nothing but drink for the past two weeks since the Sergeant Buckton had died, Brax agreed but said that everything was going to change from now on.

After having had a few beers Brax told Heath and the boys that they had to get the business going again, but first they needed to find a safe place to stash everything but make sure that it wasn't suspicious because he knew that the cops would be watching his every move at the moment because of what happened to Charlie, that the police would be waiting for him to seek revenge on Jake, he told Heath that this was where he now had to be responsible because he wanted him to take care of things, Heath assured Brax he would take care of everything and welcomed Brax back to the River Boys. Brax went on to explain that he wanted to take Geoffrey King down because he didn't like the idea of him muscling in on his patch, the boys agreed and told Brax they would keep an eye on his activities and report back in a few days.

The boys left leaving Brax and Heath alone, Heath asked Brax if he was really up for this, Brax said he was that Charlie dying had made him realise that you have to take chances while you can because when you die that's the end. Heath told Brax that from now on it was them against the world Brax said he would drink to that, Heath told Brax he wasn't to fall for any cops again, Brax said that will most definitely not be happening ever again, Heath said that realistically it was never going to work, Charlie would always be in cop mode, even if she had quit and, he would have struggled to stay on the right side of the law, Brax told Heath he was wrong, he would have done anything for Charlie and right now would have gladly swapped places with her, because he missed her so much, Heath said that once he got back into the swing of things he would soon forget Charlie, Brax said that will never happen, that he would love Charlie for as long as he lived.

Casey was at Ruby's telling her he was worried what Brax would do, that he had never seem him this cut up about a girl before that he really did love Charlie and would now be seeking revenge, Ruby told him that Brax could take care of himself that he had to stop worrying about Brax all the time that he had to live his life that it is what Brax would want, Casey said he knew that but he was his brother and it didn't stop him worrying, Ruby said at the moment Brax couldn't do anything stupid because the cops would be watching him, Casey said that worried him more because Brax would get Heath to take care of things, Ruby said Heath was big enough to take care of himself and was on licence so wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything that would land him straight back in jail, Casey said he hoped Ruby was right.

They decided to go to the beach to take their mind off things for a little while at least, it had been a very tough couple of weeks which had effected them both in different ways, but as long as they had each other nothing else mattered for now. They bumped into Colleen who asked Ruby how she was holding up without her mother, Ruby told her she was fine considering, Colleen went on to try and say how sad it was that Charlie lost her life like that, Casey told her Ruby didn't really need to go over it again, Colleen was about to reply but Ruby said she was fine, that she just needed time to grieve in her own time. Colleen reluctantly let Casey and Ruby walk away, Casey asked Ruby if she was ok and Ruby said she was that Colleen didn't mean any harm, she was just being kind in her own way.

They both sat down and Ruby stared out to the sea, but didn't say anything, Casey put his arm around Ruby and just let stare and didn't say anything.

Ruby then mentioned about how when Charlie and her first came to Summer Bay Charlie hated it so much she was obnoxious and pretty much upset everyone she met, she told her to give the place a chance and Charlie would see what a wonderful place it was and she did, every day she would go out for a run and told Ruby just how much she loved the place, she would quite often sit on the beach just looking out to the sea for hours, so Ruby was surprised when she decided that she was going to leave, because she didn't think she would ever leave, Casey said yeah, but she met my brother and everything changed, Ruby agreed saying that Charlie fell for Brax in a big way, Casey said Brax loved Charlie just as much as she did him, Ruby replied saying that Jake had taken it all away from them, by shooting Charlie, tears rolled down her face, so Casey hugged her tighter whilst she cried, he didn't say anything because he knew no words could take away Ruby's pain right now, all he could do was comfort her and be there for her whilst she dealt with it, he knew she would talk to him in her own time.