Joey yawned and rolled over, snuggling against her pillow. "I hope you burned those clothes," she mumbled when she heard Charlie walking around the room.

"It was a little too late last night to be starting fires," said Charlie. "So they're soaking in the laundry," she said. "I did make sure to add extra lavender scent to the water."

"So instead of a walking fish, I'll be a walking potpourri," she murmured.

"I love potpourri," Charlie purred. She knelt on the edge of the bed next to Joey and lent over. "Especially when breathing deeply on the aroma."

Joey giggled when she heard Charlie sniffing over her. She rolled over and stared up at her girlfriend. "Then Joey potpourri is a good thing?"

"Anything Joey related is a good thing," Charlie told her. "As long as it doesn't smell like fish."

"Honestly Charlie, I don't think I could stomach eating fish for at least the next decade."

"Don't worry," she said. "I can guarantee that it'll be off the menu for as long as you need it to be."

Yawning again, Joey glanced over at the clock on the side table. "Shit, it's past 10," she said. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You had a long and arduous day yesterday and I felt you needed the sleep in," replied Charlie.

"Shouldn't you be at work though?"

"I switched shifts with Avery so I could be here when you woke," she told her. "I also asked him to let Robertson know that you wouldn't be in to make your statement until late morning."

"What if I don't want to go in then either?" complained Joey.

The pout almost undid Charlie. Joey looked so adorable there, with her sleepy eyes, unkempt hair and full pout. She was like a little Labrador puppy. The eyes fluttered at her and the pout pouted even more.

"You tease," said Charlie, earning a grin from Joey.

"I know I have to give my statement and I'd rather get it over and done with as soon as possible."

"Well then, have some brekkie and I'll take you to the Station straight afterward."

"What's my face look like this morning?" Watson asked her fiancé when she awoke to find Martha lying on top of the covers, watching her.

"Worse," Martha bluntly replied.

"Feels like it too," mumbled Watson. She winced when she sat up. Her head felt like it was filled with lead.

"Are you sure nothing is broken?" a worried Martha asked.

"Doc scanned me and cleared me of any fracture."

"Your head is kind of hard, so maybe he missed something."

Watson smiled at that, which just made her cheek throb even more. "Ow," she complained.

"Sorry," Martha said, wincing in sympathy with her.

"Fuck, it feels like Hugo took some lessons from dad," she murmured as she gingerly touched her cheek.

"I wish I could have been there to protect you and to make you feel better," Martha said and Watson knew she wasn't talking about yesterday's encounter with Hugo. Last night, after they'd gotten home, she'd finally told her fiancé everything and while it had left her emotionally drained, it now felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Watson reached out and took Martha's hand. "You're with me now, that's what matters."

"I'll always be with you," she said.

Joey had barely stepped into the kitchen when Ruby was wrapping her up in a bear hug. "Oh my god, I'm so happy you're ok."

"Believe me, so am I," said Joey.

"Was it scary?" Ruby asked, moving back to the table.

"Very," replied Joey. "I wasn't alone though and that helped."

"Did John really step in front of a bullet?"

"Yep and he didn't even hesitate in doing it," Joey said. "I guess that's what fathers do when their kids are in danger." Joey spared a thought for her own father. Things were still tense and standoffish between them and she wondered what he'd have done in John's position. Probably try to buy Hugo off with money or something. Joey sighed. That wasn't fair. Despite what he'd done recently, she knew her father loved her; he just didn't get her at times and was too focused on the wrong things, like family status at other times.

"I'd jump in front of Charlie in an instant," said Ruby, drawing Joey from her thoughts.

"You won't be anywhere near bullets to do any such thing," Charlie told her.

"Not even if I became a cop?"

Charlie stared at her sister in surprise. "Seriously?"

Ruby frowned, then shrugged. "I'm not really sure, but I'm going to be finishing High School soon and so I'm going to need to figure out what I want to do next and being a cop is on the list at the moment."

"I thought you had already decided on your preferred career."

"Same here, but then I started to think that I should at least look into other careers before settling on the one," she said. "I want to make the right choice, rather than risk getting stuck in a career I end up hating."

"I'm sure you'll find the right one," Charlie said.

"I hope you're not planning to do too much today, because you are not going into work until your face is at least symmetrical again," Martha told her quite sternly when Watson started to dress.

"I have to go in and make my statement," she said. "Then I'm all yours."

"Good, because we still have a lot to talk about."

"I know."

"Especially about John and where we go from here," Martha said. "Jay has already been asking me when he can see his granddad again."

Watson sighed. She knew the moment she revealed their connection that Jay would want more.

"I'm still not comfortable around John," she admitted. "I'm not even sure if I ever would have been able to say those things to him if the threat of imminent death hadn't been hanging over our heads," she murmured. "Weird thing is, I actually feel relieved to have finally spoken up."

"That's because this is something you needed to do to be able to truly heal from the past, Georgie."

"I know," she said. "You, Gina, Irene, everyone was always telling me I needed to talk, I just wasn't able to before now."

"Well I'm just glad you've made that first step," Martha told her. "I only wish it hadn't happened the way it did. I was so scared for you."

"I was scared to," she said.

"Geez, only yesterday the papers were full of the avenging scorned lover with Gypsy Nash," Joey said as she read the latest headline while she ate her breakfast. "And now with Hugo's arrest, they've had to change their angle."

"Not that much of a change really, since they're still going with the jealous lover line," Charlie noted. "Just that it's now a jealous Hugo getting rid of a love rival in Jack and avenging the woman he loves by killing Angelo."

"That's not even what it's about," murmured Joey. "Well, the Angelo bit is, but making out Jack's death was to do with jealousy is just plain wrong."

"The media don't know all the details yet, so they're just latching onto what seems the most sensationalist element of it," said Charlie. "Not that knowing all the facts would probably make that much of a difference to the way they;d report it anyway."

"I particularly love this bit, where the journo tries to pretend he hadn't fallen so completely for Robertson's assertion that Gypsy Nash was the killer just the day before," Joey said.

"Hey, in fairness to the poor media," Charlie's voice dripping with sarcasm on the last two words. "Even I'd have bought into Robertson's selling of Gypsy's guilt. He was very convincing during that press conference the other day and you'd never have known at the time, that he had his own private doubts as to what her exact role in all of this was," she said.

"How does Robertson now explain getting it so wrong without looking a fool?"

"Any number of ways," replied Charlie. "Gypsy confessed and provided the murder weapon being one of them and also pointing out that they were still continuing with their enquiries on the matter of the gun's history," she said. "Believe me Joey, by the time he's gift wrapped the investigation for the prosecution, Robertson will be looking like the smartest cop ever and probably with a promotion on top."

"Sounds like you admire him."

"I might not be his biggest fan because quite frankly, he gets on my nerves, but I do admire his dedication to his work and the way he plays both police politics and the media so well," said Charlie. "He could so easily have accepted Gypsy's confession as being the end of the investigation and packed up and gone home, yet he fought with those above him to be allowed to continue on, even in a limited capacity. He also played a big part in ensuring that Georgie didn't face any charges or serious fallout over thumping Angelo," she said. "And let's face it, as annoying as he can be, this all could have ended so much worse for all of us if another Detective had been in charge."

"You'll still be happy to see the back of him though, won't you?" Joey asked with a grin.

"Oh absolutely," grinned Charlie. "This is my patch and my Station and I don't like interlopers."

"I'll be sure to remind him of that when I give my statement."

"Please don't, that might just encourage him to stick around."

"You think he can annoy Hugo into a confession?"

"I'm sure Hugo would have received a very thorough grilling from both Robertson and Graves last night," said Charlie. "Whether that will be enough to loosen his tongue remains to be seen."

"Hugo deserves everything coming at him."

"Yes he does," said Charlie. "I just wish Gina didn't have to be hurt in the process," she said. "There's also Xavier. He used to really look up to his brother."

"It's a shame people like Hugo never think of the damage they leave behind by their actions."

"Unfortunately, in my line of work, I see this a lot."

"Ever think of a career change?"

Charlie shook her head. "Never once even considered an alternative to being a copper," she said. "I always knew I wanted to be a cop and though it's tough going at times, I couldn't imagine being anything else."

"Well, I do have to admit to liking you in that uniform," Joey said. "It really brings out your eyes."

"An important function of any uniform," Charlie said with a grin.

"John actually took a bullet for me," Watson said, disbelief still obvious in her voice. "If dad had been there, he would have just shrugged his shoulders and gone for another beer."

"John stepped in because he loves you," she said. "And because he's your father."

"Yeah, he is." She closed her eyes. "I know mum thought she was doing the right thing and was protecting herself by lying to John all those years ago, but my life could have been so different if she'd been honest from the start," she said. "Maybe she might have even still been alive if she'd spoken up and accepted Uncle Ross's help back then."

"Unfortunately the past can't be changed, but your mother must have really believed strongly in what she did."

"Yet she kept the original DNA results and arranged for a letter with the truth to be sent to John after her death."

"It might have been her way to protect you in the future," said Martha. "She probably wanted John to take you in if something were to happen to her."

"And he would have, if I hadn't been so mistrustful of most other people, especially him." Watson sighed again. "Problem was, it was mum who always told me that we couldn't trust people, that if they ever knew the truth of what dad did to us, they'd take me away from her and I believed her," she said. "I just didn't know any better back then."

"Of course you didn't, you were just a kid."

"I really haven't been very good toward John," Watson murmured. "I've been absolutely horrible to him at times."

"I'm sure he understands."

"I told him that maybe we could try to work something out, but I can't make any promises that we can actually get somewhere as father and daughter, Martha," she said. "It's not just that I'm still uncomfortable around him, it's that I've spent so many years hating and resenting him, that it's hard to let go of that overnight."

"No one expects you to just get past this overnight," said Martha. "John has been willing to wait patiently on the sidelines until you were ready to make the first move and I'm sure he'll continue to respect your wishes now, if you want to take this slowly or set some boundaries with him." Martha squeezed her hand. "But Georgie, this has to be something you really want to do and not because you feel that you owe it to him for saving your life."

"No, this is something I do want," she said. "I'm just scared. Everything is changing and so quickly."

"It has been a hell of a ride lately, that's for sure." Martha smiled at her. "We're in this together though."

"You really are the best fiancé in the world."

"I could say the same about you."

"Now I know you're bullshitting me."

Martha chuckled as she hugged her. "Ok then, how about you're the best fiancé for me," she told her. "I love you so much."

"I'd love to know what exactly it was that made Hugo attempt suicide by cop," murmured Charlie as they drove to the Station. "Fear of jail or fear of someone else."

"That's for others to worry about," Joey told her.

"I realise that, I'm just dying to know."

"So am I," Joey sheepishly admitted. "Do you think we should stop by and see Georgie on the way home or give her and Martha some time alone?" she asked. "They haven't really had much opportunity to be alone since Martha got out of hospital and after yesterday, Georgie might not be up to a lot of talking."

"I'll check in with Martha while you're talking to Robertson," said Charlie. "See what she suggests." Charlie sighed softly to herself as she thought of her cousin. Her mind was still processing what Joey had told her about Georgie's revelations. She'd always known her cousin's childhood hadn't been flash, she'd just had no idea at the extent of the abuse or the cause for her mistrust of John. It might seem irrational to a grown up to blame someone who wasn't even there that day or who you'd never even met at the time, but for a child who had just witnessed her father beat her mother to death, it was no wonder she had then associated John's name to that tragedy, when it had been the very trigger that had sparked it. Poor Georgie, she thought. "I wish I'd been a better cousin all those years ago," Charlie murmured aloud. "Or had at least known all of what Georgie had gone through," she said. "I'd have been more understanding of her behaviour."

"Obviously Georgie wasn't ready then," Joey said. "And I'm not even sure she'd have said anything yesterday if not for the situation we'd found ourselves in," she said. "Even now I doubt it's easy for her to talk about, which is part of why I think she said it was ok for me to tell you. I get the feeling it's still not something she wants to repeat too often and telling John and I'm assuming Martha, will probably be enough for her for the time being."

Charlie nodded slowly. "I just hope that with everything that has happened recently, it proves to be a real catalyst for healing and moving on," she said. "And that some good can come from this. John loves Georgie and it'd do her good to be a part of a bigger family, especially one filled with love."

"Some good has already come," said Joey. "You two are closer now than you've ever been," she told her. "Georgie's even asked you to stand up with her on her special day. I bet that is something you never envisaged all those years ago."

"I never even pictured her getting married," Charlie said. "You're right though, change has already started to happen and I'm sure they'll find their way through the next stages. We all will."