She had been confused by Charlie's behaviour when she came to arrest Brax and now that she knew why Charlie was acting that way, she was both angry and hurt. Without waiting for a reply, Georgie spins on her heel and storms away.

"Georgie, wait," Charlie calls out feebly, while making no move to go after her. "Fuck," she mutters to the door, which thankfully, hadn't been slammed in her face.

"Go after her Charlie, it won't hurt to leave Brax stewing in the interview room a little longer."

"She won't listen to me."

Aden felt like kicking Brax out of the room he was in and locking the two cousins in there until they sorted out their messed up relationship, even if it involved bloodshed, which going by Georgie's look, was quite possible. "Just make the effort Charlie, because if you don't, that's just going to make it worse."

"How could it get any worse," she mumbles as she goes after her cousin.


Martha looks up from what she was doing. "Joey, what are you doing here?"

"The walls were closing in and I had to escape."

"Don't let Charlie catch you not following doctor's orders."

"I'm still following orders and taking it easy, I just needed to take it easy with a change of scenery."

"Provided you do no more than sit, I won't call in the cavalry."

"I promise to solemnly swear to abide by the wishes expressed by my doctor."

"A simple yes would have sufficed." Grinning, Joey takes a seat. "Can I get you anything?" asks Martha.

"I've been pigging out on some of Leah's food, so I don't think I need to eat for the next week, but an OJ would be good."

"One OJ, coming up."

"So what's it been like here?"

"If that's your way of asking if your services are missed, they are, but there's no way I'm getting in Rachel's or Charlie's bad books by letting you back before you're ready."

"I think I'm the best judge of that."

"Oh please, if I listened to that reasoning from Georgie, she'd be back at work on a broken leg and pretending she was fine and Charlie's not much better."

"They do seem alike in that."

"They're actually very alike in some things, especially with their stubbornness, but they are also very different, largely because of their upbringings. I've wondered occasionally, how different Georgie would have been if she'd had the same family life and childhood Charlie did, but then I remember that I fell in love with the Georgie she is now and that's because of her experiences."

"You know, when my jailors decide to set me free, the four of us should get together and have another girls' night."

"I'd like that."

"Now, maybe you can tell me what ails you," Joey says.

"What?"

"You seemed miles away when I came in."

Martha shrugs. "It's just that someone wants to buy the club and is having a hard time taking no for an answer."


Georgie hated the tears that were streaming down her face as she made a hasty retreat to her car. She didn't care that she still had a couple of hours of her shift, she just needed to get away.

"Georgie, wait!" Charlie calls out as she runs to catch up with her. Reaching her, she grabs for her cousin's arm and takes a step back when Georgie spins around, fearing she'd be hit going by the look in her eyes and the clear evidence of tears made Charlie feel like an even bigger shit than she already did. "We need to talk," she says as calmly as possible.

"I think you've done enough talking, though I bet you were hoping I would never find out how you talked about me behind my back or how you really felt about me."

Charlie winced at the accusation. "Georgie."

"Well, are you going to ask me?" she cuts in. "Seeing as how you couldn't be bothered to ask me when you arrested Brax or would you prefer to continue to draw your own conclusions?"

"Why did you rush out of the station to meet with Brax when we were about to arrest him?" Charlie finally asks in a small voice.

"Firstly, I had no idea you were about to arrest Brax."

"What are you talking about?" Charlie replies in confusion. "Everyone at the station was aware of what was going on."

"I was out on patrol Charlie and had just walked in the door when my phone went, then I left straight away so I never heard what was going on."

Now that she thought about it, Charlie had been so caught up in arranging things, she wasn't sure if she had seen her cousin before that time. "Shit," Charlie mutters softly.

"Shits right and just in case my word isn't good enough, ask Hogan, because he was with me when we came back to the station."

"You can't really blame me for getting the wrong idea Georgie, you do have a history with Brax, so what was I supposed to think when we were just about to arrest him, you suddenly went running out after a phone call and then I find you with him, which you still haven't told me why you were."

"That call wasn't to Brax, it was from Martha, telling me Brax had made another offer on the club, even after Martha had made it quite clear the first time that she wasn't interested in selling. Only this time, he was more insistent and his attitude put Martha on edge, so she called me. Even if Brax wasn't behind these fires, I still wouldn't want him anywhere near Martha or her business, so I went to find him to tell him her answer was still no and it would always be no and so he should stay the fuck away from her. It was just by chance I intercepted him on his way to an appointment, otherwise I'd have missed him at the restaurant, just like you did and that's why we were there Charlie, not for some clandestine meeting where I was warning him that we were on to him."

Right now, Charlie wished the ground would open up and swallow her. "Georgie, I am so sorry."

"All you had to do was ask me why I was there Charlie, but you're just like everyone else, happy to jump to conclusions because no matter how hard I try or what I do, people just won't let me escape my past or that of my parents. The Watsons have always been looked down upon and in some cases, for good reason, but I never got up to anything that plenty of others my age didn't get up to, yet because my name was Watson, I might as well have robbed a bank as jaywalked, because both would have been just as bad," she says with growing anger in her voice. "And for your information, I have never had any loyalty to Brax, I barely even liked the guy, even back then and wouldn't have had anything to do with him if he hadn't been Heath's brother. I wasn't in the gang Charlie, I wasn't in on their dealings or whatever they were up to, I just hung out with Heath who happened to be with the Boys a lot and if they did get up to something, Heath always made sure I was kept out of it, so Brax has nothing on me to use against me." With every word, Charlie was feeling worse and worse. "I guess that shatters your image of who you always thought I was."

"I never really believed you were part of the gang like that."

"Yet you still thought I was Brax's puppy, loyal to the end. God, it is so fucking frustrating that he can do the things he did, be a gang leader but because he puts on a good smoke screen, so many people are willing to give him a second chance while treating me like shit, despite me earning my uniform."

"People just don't get you Georgie, not even me and part of that is my fault."

"But the rest is my fault, right," she says scornfully.

"You don't make it easy for people Georgie."

"Did you ever stop to think that the reason I don't make it easy, is because people have already pre-judged me from the moment I was born a Watson and nothing I have done since has changed their opinion of me, even when I started wearing the uniform?" She shakes her head. "I know I have my faults and that I fucked up a lot, especially when I was younger, but I'm a good cop, I'm a good partner to Martha and mum to Jay and I am always there for my family if they need me, which is completely the opposite of my parents, but that doesn't seem to count because at the end of the day, I'm still a Watson, therefore I will and always will be, a loser to be mistrusted and judged."

"Georgie."

"Don't," she says in a strained voice. "You know what hurts the most Charlie?" Her voice now breaking. "I actually thought I had your respect as a police officer, but obviously, I was mistaken and you don't even trust me, you never have, because if you did, we wouldn't be here now." She wipes her eyes. "I don't really care what others think of me, but we're family Charlie and I am tired of trying to prove myself to you and always falling short in your eyes. And really it's no surprise, because let's face it, Bucktons and Watsons are never meant to get along, so why should we be any different."

"Because we're Bucktons and Watsons who are family."

"It doesn't make a difference. I have and never will, be able to live up to the lofty standards of the respectable Buckton clan."

"Georgie, it's not about that."

She just shakes her head tiredly at her cousin. "I can't do this anymore Charlie."

"Look, we can find a way to get through this."

"We've had years to get through this Charlie but neither of us really seem up to the challenge."

"We just need to calm down, get some space, then we'll finally sit down and have that talk we should have had years ago," Charlie suggests. "In fact, why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

"I was going to anyway," Georgie snaps. "I can't do anything about you at work now that you're my Sergeant, so from tomorrow, I'll be a good little Constable, but that's it." She closes her eyes briefly to gather her thoughts, before opening them and staring at her cousin with a steely resolve. "I'm not doing this anymore with you Charlie, it's just too damn tiring, so there isn't going to be a talk or any getting through this, because outside of work," she pauses. "We're over and done."

"Georgie, please!" Charlie says in a pleading voice when her cousin turns her back on her and walks away from her.