…2008

"Ow," Charlie complained with a wince when the doctor kept prodding her ribs.

"You were lucky that you were wearing Kevlar or it could have been much worse."

They all had been wearing Kevlar, including Joey and Charlie was extremely grateful that out of all that pandemonium earlier, all she had ended up with was a softball size bruise to her chest and a bump on her head from when she fell to the ground. She winced at another prod. As uncomfortable and painful as the bruise was, the doctor had been right that it could have been far worse if she hadn't had the vest on, though not all of them had gotten off so lightly. Like her, Joel Nash had escaped with a few bumps and bruises, but Andrea Graves, as she'd finally remembered her first name, hadn't been so lucky. The bullet had ricocheted off her vest and struck her in the neck and last she had heard, which had been over three hours ago, it was touch and go as to whether Graves would pull through or not.

"How is Const. Graves?" she asked the doctor when he finally ended his examination of her.

"The constable is still in surgery and that's all I know right now."

"What about me, can I go?"

His lips twitched at her sudden enthusiasm to getting out of here. "The only patient worse than a cop is a doctor," he murmured. "I would suggest that you spend the night in hospital so we can keep you under observation for a possible concussion, but I have a feeling I'd be wasting my breath."

"Don't worry doctor, I'll keep an eye on her," Joey said as she walked into the room.

"Joey!" Charlie cried out and jumped to her feet with a grimace of pain. She hadn't seen her girlfriend since this had all happened.

Joey rushed to her side and threw her arms around her. "I would have been here sooner but those idiot colleagues of yours wouldn't let me go until I'd given a statement and the scene was secure."

Charlie could feel her girlfriend shaking in her arms. "Hey, I'm ok," she said soothingly, ignoring the pain of her bruise while she held her girlfriend. Not wanting to intrude on what was obviously a private moment, the doctor made a silent exit.

"Even knowing you wore the vest, I was still so scared when I saw you go down," Joey said in a halting voice and then she glared at Charlie.

"Ow," Charlie said for the second time in as many minutes and clutched her arm where Joey had hit her. "What was that for?"

"For stepping in front of me like that," Joey replied. "What the hell were you thinking!"

"That I had to protect you at any cost," Charlie said evenly. She could see and hear the fear that her girlfriend was still struggling to deal with. "Joey, you mean the world to me and when I realised what was happening, it wasn't just my training that took over, it was also the fear that I could lose you forever that made me move in front of you."

"What about my fear about losing you forever?" countered Joey.

"If our situations had been reversed, what would you have done?"

"Stepped in front of you," Joey said without hesitation and she smiled wryly. Charlie held her arms open and Joey gratefully stepped into them. "It's all such a blur," she murmured as she snuggled against Charlie. "People just seemed to be falling down everywhere and there was all this shouting and panic."

"I'm just glad you're ok."

"Thanks to Nick," Joey said. "Who I owe not just my life, but a huge apology for letting him have it when he dragged me away from you and into the courthouse."

"Oh, what did you do?"

Joey's face flamed red. "I swore at him like a banshee."

"I'm sure Nick understood you were scared and worried at the time and has already forgiven you," Charlie said.

"Are you laughing?" Joey asked and moved out of Charlie's embrace.

"I'm just picturing my gorgeous girlfriend turning into a foulmouthed banshee."

"Just imagine our early days of dislike and times it by a 100," Joey said. "It really isn't a pretty sight."

"I think you'd be pretty whatever you were doing."

Joey ducked in and brushed her lips over Charlie's. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me forget my anger and fear just then."

"We're both safe now Joey."

She nodded. "I feel so bad about Graves though," she said. "She's in surgery because of me and we never even had any sort of real conversation with her."

"Joey, Graves was just doing her job."

"The same job you do."

Charlie gathered her into her arms again. "I wish I could deny the dangers of my job to you, but I can't." She tilted Joey's head up and looked deeply into her eyes. "I can promise you though, that I will always take every precaution possible so that I can come home safely to you and Ruby."

"Just my luck to fall in love with a cop," Joey murmured. "I can't pretend that I'm not going to worry when you're at work."

Charlie nodded in understanding and pressed her lips softly to Joey's. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Joey whispered back and with the sound of approaching footsteps, they separated.

"So what happens now?" Joey asked her girlfriend. "With the trial and all that?"

"There is no trial anymore," a voice from the doorway said. "At least not where Pirovic is concerned."

Charlie stared in surprise at her boss' words. "Joey, you remember my boss, Sgt Williams?"

"Yes," Joey said, glad she had never slapped him as she'd slapped Charlie during their first meeting, because he was a rather intimidating looking guy.

"What did you mean Sarge, about there being no trial?" Charlie asked him.

"Jake Pirovic is dead," he said and went on to explain how when Pirovic realised his chance to silence Joey was gone and knowing he'd be facing further charges, he'd changed his plea to guilty, but before he'd had a chance to make any further statement, he'd been stabbed to death by another inmate while in holding at the courthouse. "I guess those he worked for were worried his guilty plea was part of a deal for a lighter sentence if he talked about the organisation, so rather than take that risk, they staged their own little assassination."

"Then it really is all over?" Joey asked in a hopeful voice.

"You don't have to testify any more Joey," Charlie said. "That means you're safe."
"Charlie's right," Williams added. "You have no one to testify against and you have nothing that can harm the organisation Pirovic was a part of, so for you, it's all over."

Charlie felt a sliver of alarm as she detected from his words, that it wasn't yet all over for her.

"Oh thank god," Joey said, almost sagging with relief as the burden she'd been carrying since she'd witnessed that murder was suddenly lifted from her shoulders and she really wanted to hug Charlie right then, but she didn't think it was such a good idea in front of her boss, at least not just yet.

"Miss Collins, I wanted to thank you for your courage in coming forward and agreeing to testify. I know it wasn't easy for you and your daughter to be uprooted as you were," Williams said. "And I know today has been a harrowing time for you, but it's all over now and you're free to go."

Joey heard the dismissal in his voice but she hesitated. At a nod from Charlie, she reluctantly left the room.

Williams closed the door behind her and turned to face Charlie.

"What happened after I went down?" Charlie asked, seeking a delay to whatever he was going to say. "Did they get the shooter?"

"Since Miss Collins location had been such a closely guarded secret, today at the courthouse was always going to provide the only real opportunity for Pirovic to make any move against her, so Detective Robertson had police snipers stationed on the roof of each building around the courthouse and a heavy presence of officers on the ground just in case anyone did try something," Williams said. "Only Pirovic's man had set up the night before in an apartment a few floors down from the roof of the building that gave him a perfect view of the front and side entrances to the courthouse, which meant he was already there and waiting before Robertson even placed his men. Once the first shot had been fired, they rushed to the shooter's location, but by the time they found the right apartment, he'd been able to fire a few more shots and make his getaway."

"He got away?" a disappointed Charlie asked.

"He got as far as the car he had waiting for him, only Robertson had beaten him to it," Williams said. "Both the shooter and driver were arrested without any further incident."

Charlie closed her eyes, feeling the relief. That man had tried to kill the woman she loved and may have succeeded if not for their vests and Nick getting Joey to safety, and if he had gotten away, she never would have been able to rest until he had been brought to justice, so thanks to Robertson, it really was over, at least that part was.

"You did good today, Charlie," he told her.

"I just did my job."

"And it's a job you do very well, which is why this isn't easy for me to do," Williams said and her heart sank. "Charlie, Angelo Rosetta has made some serious allegations against you."