Leaving Cat's as quickly as she could, Joey heads back to the beach, wanting to try to run out her anger and frustration. Running until she feels the strain in her legs, running until she feels she can't run anymore. "Oh god," Joey bends over, resting her hands on her knees as she struggles for breath.

"Hello Constable."

Cursing softly at the voice, Joey straightens up, "Ana, I see that you're still here, then."

Ana bristles slightly at her tone, "Have I done something to offend you Constable?"

"Look Ana, don't take this personally, but I'm really not in the mood for chit-chats at the moment," Joey says as she starts to run again, picking up speed as she heads towards the house, barging through the door, straight to the bathroom, barely reaching the loo before she is sick. Sitting on the bathroom floor, Joey thinks back on her morning. "Damn you Cat," Joey fumes as she takes her sneakers off, "What the hell am I going to tell Charlie," tossing her sneakers away in frustration, wincing when one goes flying over the basin, scattering the items on top in all directions. "Why didn't I just stay in bed," she mutters as she crawls over to begin cleaning up the mess.


"Hey Charlie, you're home early tonight."

Charlie looks at her daughter in amusement, "Ruby, it's the usual time."

"What! Oh hell, I'm late."

"Ruby, where are you going?" Charlie asks as Ruby rushes about.

"I lost track of time, I'm supposed to be at a music lesson."

"Is Joey home?"

"Haven't seen her since this morning. Bye Charlie." Ruby is gone so quickly, Charlie has no chance to even say goodbye.

"Guess I'm making tea then."

"You know, talking to yourself can be a sign of a disturbed mind."

Charlie spins around in fright at the sound of a voice so close behind her. "Jesus Joey, you scared the hell out of me." Charlie tries to calm her racing heart. "Ruby said you weren't home."

"I just got home and nearly got bowled over by Cyclone Ruby on the way in. Where was she off to in such a hurry?"

"Music lessons. Do I smell Chinese?"

"I didn't feel like cooking tonight, so I got some takeaway. Why don't you change, I'll stick this in the oven to reheat."

"Are you ok Joey, you seem a little distracted?"

"I'm fine Charlie, I just had another counselling session today and it kind of left me on a downer."

Charlie puts her arms around Joey's waist, "It will get easier Joey."

"What was it like for you?"

"Hard at first. You'll be fine Joey, but if she starts talking about shoes, leave immediately."

"Shoes? Am I missing something?"

"Never mind, it was just something my counsellor said to me." Pulling Joey a little closer to herself, "So besides your session, how was your day?"

"Pretty boring actually. I went for a run, came back here, did some housework, rearranged the bathroom."

"Miss Collins, you do love to live dangerously, don't you," Charlie teases her.

"I am so bored Charlie, I want to go back to work."

"Monday's not far away."

"Yes it is," Joey sulks, making Charlie chuckle.

Kissing the tip of her nose, Charlie smiles at her, "Patience is a virtue."

"And if I had any patience I'm sure it would be a virtue."

"How about after tea, I find something to occupy your time?"

"I need something a little longer than five minutes Charlie."

"What...you...," Joey cuts her off with a fingertip to her lips.

"Go and change Charlie, then after tea, you can find something to occupy me for more than five minutes. Now go," swatting Charlie on the backside as she walks away. Joey's smile disappears as soon Charlie is out of sight, hating herself for not being about to tell her what Cat had done. Snatching up the food on her way to the kitchen, she tosses it into the oven before slamming the door shut.

"What did the oven ever do to you?"

Intended as a joke, Charlie is shocked when Joey turns angrily on her, "Don't sneak up on me like that Charlie!"

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I thought you were changing."

"I forgot to plug my mobile into the recharger. Joey, you're shaking," she says as she walks up to her.

"I'm just a little on edge, ok," Joey admits.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, just please don't sneak up on me, I'm really not sure how I'm going to react these days."

"I'll be sure to remember to duck."

"That's not funny Charlie, I don't want to be responsible for knocking you out."

"You think you're quick enough to get me, do you?"

"Of course I am, my reflexes are excellent, remember."

"Perhaps it's best we don't test out that theory."

"Giving in already Buckton, just admit it, I'm quicker than you."

"I must remember this for next time," Charlie muses.

"Remember what?"

"The best way to distract you is to challenge you. Is that a smile I see?"

"I don't know how you put up with me at the moment."

"That's easy silly, I love you."

Smiling again, Joey puts her arms over Charlie's shoulders, "Now, what was it you had in mind to occupy my time?"

"What about tea?"

"It'll still be there later and Ruby's out for at least an hour. Of course, that still leaves 55 minutes to fill in, but I'm sure I can find a deck of cards to..."

Charlie silences her with her lips.


"One day we may actually make it to the bedroom," Joey smirks at Charlie as she scrambles around for her clothes.

"Where did the buttons on my shirt end up?"

"I can see one over there, another over there and I think I heard one hit the light, no idea about the others."

"That was my uniform shirt Joey."

"You'd think they'd use stronger cotton."

"Joey!"

"I didn't hear you complaining when I was ripping your shirt off."

Smiling and shaking her head at the impish look Joey was giving her, "You can at least help me find the buttons."

"Why, you have other shirts."

"Fine, then you can explain to Ruby why my buttons keeping turning up all over the place

"You start looking here and I'll work my way back to the kitchen."


Ten minutes later, Charlie's looking at the buttons in her hand, "There's still one missing."

"It's only one button Charlie, it's not that unusual to lose one button. That sounds like Ruby coming, so I'd better go put the oven on," Joey rubs her belly and grins at Charlie, "I seem to have worked up an appetite."

"Joey," Charlie calls out as she heads to the bedroom.

"Yeah."

"Your top is inside-out."

"Damn." Joey manages to get her top in order just as Ruby comes barging into the kitchen.

"Hey Joey, is there any tea left over."

"There's plenty, we haven't eaten yet."

"You didn't have to wait for me."

"Your mum and I weren't that hungry at the time," trying to keep her lips from twitching when she remembers the real reason why. "How was your lesson?"

"It was ok. Joey, is this button yours or Charlie's?" Ruby asks as she tips the button out of the glass sitting on the table.

"I think your mother's missing a button."

"Do I really want to know why it was there?"

"It's a button Ruby, they come off."

"Of course they do. So where is Charlie?"

"Right here."

"Jesus Charlie, don't do that!" Ruby jumps in fright. "What's so funny Joey?"

"There's been a lot of that going on tonight."


Waking in the middle of the night, Charlie glances over toward the shadow by the window. "What's wrong Joey, you're restless tonight."

"Sorry, I'm not really tired. Go back to sleep, honey, you have to get up early for work."

"Come back to bed first." Joey climbs back under the covers as Charlie snuggles up to her. "I always sleep better with my Joey cushion," Charlie murmurs, resting her head on Joey's chest, falling back to sleep almost immediately, while Joey lies there, staring at the ceiling, before eventually falling to sleep


Two days after her encounter with Cat, Joey has still been avoiding telling Charlie what had happened. Feeling guilty for keeping it from Charlie and finding it difficult to concentrate because of lack of sleep, Joey tries to distract herself by working on her tax return.

"Joey, can I talk to you," Ruby asks from the doorway to the study.

"I'm busy at the moment Ruby."

"You always said that I could talk to you."

Tossing her pen down onto the desk, Joey sits back in her chair, "Fine, what is it?"

"It's about Liam, I hate seeing him with Bianca."

"Again! Jesus Ruby, he's far too old for you."

"I know that, but I can't help it."

"For god's sake Ruby, do you realise how pathetic it is to chase after him like that? Why don't you stop acting like an immature, spoilt brat and find someone your own age for a change. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do."

Ruby stares at Joey in shock as she ignores her and goes back to what she was doing. After Ruby runs away in tears, Joey tosses down the pen again, putting her head in her hands as she realises what she just did. "Oh god, what the hell am I doing." Picking up her mug, Joey hurls it in frustration, watching it shatter against the wall. "Damn it, damn it." Putting her head in her hands again as her tears start to fall.


Heading back to her car after attending a call-out, Charlie notices Ruby sitting on the beach. Walking over to her, Charlie's concerned when she sees the tears in her eyes. Sitting down next to her daughter, Charlie puts her arm across her shoulders. "Hey Rubes, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing. Ruby, what's got you upset?"

"I just wanted someone to talk to and she bit my head off," Ruby complains tearfully.

"Who did?"

Ruby hesitates a moment, "Joey."

"What!" Charlie's shocked that Joey would do anything to reduce Ruby to tears.

"I went to talk to her, she got angry and yelled at me," Ruby sniffles a little, "She said I was pathetic, immature and a brat."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," Charlie says, trying to convince herself as well as Ruby.

"She was really angry and mean Charlie, I've never seen her like that."

"Come on, I'll take you home."

"If it's all the same with you Charlie, I'd rather wait until you get home from work. I'm going to go over to Nicole's."

"Ok, but don't stay away too long; you and Joey need to talk about this."


Upset that Joey could have been so insensitive to Ruby, Charlie storms home, barging through the door.

"Joey!" Searching the rooms, Charlie finds her in the study. "Arguing with me is one thing Joey, but taking your problems out on Ruby is completely unacceptable."

"Look I'm sorry ok, I didn't mean to take it out on Ruby."

"You had her in tears Joey."

"I said I was sorry Charlie."

"You could at least look at me when you say that." When Joey finally raises her head, Charlie is shocked to see her eyes red from crying and the devastation on her face.

"Joey, what's happened, the last couple of days you've been distant and restless and now you've snapped at Ruby?" Charlie asks in concern.

"I just wanted to forget it ever happened."

"What is it Joey, please tell me." Kneeling by her chair, "Please Joey, tell me what's wrong."

"I wasn't completely honest with you the other day; I did have a session, but that wasn't why I was distracted. Charlie, Cat made a pass at me."

"She WHAT!"

"She kissed me and told me that she wanted more."

Charlie reigns in her anger at Cat, needing to stay calm for Joey. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because of what I did." Pausing to take a deep breath, Joey looks Charlie in the eyes, fresh tears threatening to fall. "I slapped her, hard. Afterwards, I just ran and ran until I was sick." Wiping her eyes furiously, "I didn't see it coming Charlie. I know she flirts with everyone, but I still didn't see it coming."

"You want to see the good in people, that's one of the things I love about you."

"Are you sure you want me back at work? I'm not exactly cop of the year material at the moment, I can't even see the obvious; I've stuffed up on the burglary case and lost it with Samuels."

"Joey, you didn't do anything wrong on the burglary case. As for Samuel, well, you know how I reacted with Grant, so I can't say I blame you for what you did."

"I could have just pushed her away Charlie, but I hit her; just like I did with Samuels when he was handcuffed. It seems my first response to people getting too close recently, is to thump them."

"You haven't hit me and I get a lot closer to you than anyone."

"Not yet, I haven't, but who knows when I might, because I sure don't. I thought seeing a counsellor was supposed to help, I just feel worse."

"The counselling is making you deal with a lot of emotions at the moment and you can't just turn them off and on. If you weren't dealing with all this at the moment, there's no way you would have been caught off balance with Cat and reacted the way you did."

Joey puts her head in her hands again, "I don't know what the hell I'm doing or saying anymore. I hate this Charlie, I don't know how much more I can take." Charlie pulls her into her arms, "I don't feel in control any more, Charlie and it's scaring me. I'm scared I'm going to hurt you or Ruby to the point of losing you and I couldn't bear that."

"I'm not going anywhere Joey and whatever it takes, we'll get through this."

Pulling away from Charlie, Joey wipes away her tears again, "I need to apologise to Ruby."

"She's at Nicole's."

"I can't believe I said what I did to her."

"It wasn't your most diplomatic moment."

"I know. I just can't seem to relax lately and I haven't been sleeping much in the past few days."

"I've noticed; you spend most of the night tossing and turning."

"If it bothers you that much, I'll sleep on the couch."

"That's not what I meant Joey," Charlie says, keeping her voice calm despite her worry.

"I know that; I'm sorry." Shaking her head in frustration, Joey lets out a deep breath, "I'm not thinking clearly at the moment."

"Yeah, perhaps it's not the best time to be doing your taxes Joey, especially judging from what I can see on your screen."

"What! Oh, crap, that's not good." Joey deletes the last few entries, before laughing at the absurdity of it all. "I think I better hire an accountant before I end up in jail for tax fraud."

"That sounds like a good idea, I'd rather not have bars between us when we kiss," Charlie jokes, lightening the moment even more.

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"The two most important people to me are hurting, so work can wait."

"No Charlie, I don't want you to get in trouble because you can't separate your personal and professional life."

"I'll go back to work if you promise me that you will call me if you need me for anything."

"I promise. I'm just going to go for a nice long walk, clear my head.

"Excellent idea." Charlie leans up, kissing Joey tenderly, letting her know how she feels about her with that one kiss. "I love you Joey."

"I love you too, even more for putting up with my crap lately."

Standing up, Charlie gives Joey another kiss, before leaving, pausing briefly to look back, "Remember your promise to call if you need me."

"Charlie, get out of here before we have the whole station barging in here wondering where you went."