"Your sister", exploded Roy, "Jo, are you out of your mind?"

"Roy, just listen to me for a minute..."

"When it comes to your sister, Joanne, I am not going to listen to any crazy ideas she's been putting in your head."

"Please Roy, just hear me out..."

Roy turned and looked at his wife. He saw the hurt in her eyes, but still could not believe what she was saying. Joannes' sister, Tina, had been nothing but trouble for her family since she was thirteen, using and abusing her mother and brothers until they all had disowned her. Joanne herself had not spoken to Tina for around twelve years, when Tina had borrowed Jo's car - without permission - and wrote it off by wrapping it around a tree. Tina had been drunk at the time, and as she had had no serious injury, thought it an hilarious escapade. No apologies followed, Joanne and Roy just decided it was time to disown Tina themselves, until now.

"Roy?"

"No"

"Please, Roy..."

"I don't want to hear it, Jo, I just... I... no." Roys tone was now flat, he hated the arguing, he and Jo usually worked things out civilly, but he didn't want to discuss this, now... ever.

Joanne turned away and went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. She knew she would have problems discussing this issue with Roy, but he wouldn't even listen to her, wouldn't even let her have a chance to explain things to him.

She cringed as she heard the back door slam, then turned back to the sink with a sigh. Maybe she was in over her head with this one, maybe she should have hung up the phone as soon as she heard her sisters voice. But there had been a strange pleading in Tina's voice, a quality Jo had never heard, and she allowed her to speak.

"Hey Pally! How was the weekend?" came Johnnys cheerful voice, as Roy walked into the locker room. 'A' shift had just had a rare three day weekend, and all the boys had had something planned. Johnny himself had gone hiking into the mountains with a friend of his, and was feeling extremely perky this morning. But his grin quickly faded when he saw Roys frown and he changed.

"Whats up, wasn't the weekend as dirty as you had hoped?" Johnny's grin quickly re-appeared as he congratulated himself on his quick wit. Roy and Joanne had planned a two night stay in Palm Springs, while Joannes mother looked after the kids. It was a surprise for Jo, she and Roy had very little time for themselves, with both of them working odd hours, and having the kids to look after, it was going to be a well earned break for both of them.

"It was fantastic weekend, John, until we got home last night. Joanne sprung some news on me that really set the indigestion going."

Johnny waited for Roy to say more. Roy just sighed, and finished getting dressed.

"Come on, Pally, out with it, you can't just tell me you're upset without telling me WHY your upset. That's not fair. When I have a problem you won't let me alone until I'm out with it, and then you have to keep giving me advice until..."

"Jo wants us to help her sister out" Roy interrupted, knowing Johnny would rant and rave until Roy spoke.

"Jo has a sister?" The eyebrows lifted.

"Yes, Jo has a sister, although if I had my way..."

"You never told me Jo has a sister, and here I was thinking I knew everything about you and Jo. How come you never told me Jo had a sister, Roy, MAN, why would you keep that from me?"

Roy just sighed and wished he had been able to walk into work this morning with even a half smile on his face. He knew how his partner would react, and would worry and nag Roy until he got the full unabridged story. He was thankful when he heard his captain yell roll call.

Minor emergencies kept the boys busy for half the day, and it wasn't until mid afternoon that Johnny was able to get the information from Roy that had kept him fidgeting all morning. The rest of the crew was putting out a fire, so Roy was able to relate his story without too many interruptions.

Joanne came from a family of four, two boys, two girls. Her brothers, Dean and Luke were both great guys, and Roy had gotten along great with them on the rare occasions they had seen each other. Both Dean, a pilot, and Luke, a truck driver, lived interstate, but Joanne talked to them regularly. When Jo was fifteen, her father had died in an horrific car accident, and it was shortly after this that Tina had gone off the rails. Joanne knew Tina was her Daddy's favourite, and while they all had loved him dearly, it was Tina who had suffered most. At the age of fourteen, Jo was sixteen, Tina had gotten pregnant, moved in with her current boyfriend, and had taken up drinking. She lost the baby in her sixth month, dumped by her boyfriend, and came back home, hysterical and making promises to the rest of her family. A year later, when Joanne and Roy became engaged, she had tried to get Roy into bed with her, successfully alienating herself from both Roy and Joanne. She then took off with another no-hoper and turned to drugs. When that relationship ended, she once again came back home making more promises, which didn't take long to break. For the next two years the whole family tried to help her with re-habilitation, until the night she wrecked Joannes car.

For the next Five years, her mother struggled with Tina, trying everything to get her daughter back on track, but finally gave up, and kicked her out of the house, telling her they were through and she never wanted to set eyes on her again. Tina rushed to Dean, and sobbed to him about how unfair her life was, but he gave up after eight months. Luke only lasted three months in helping Tina, he had a much shorter fuse than any one else in the family.

So for about seven years, no-one had heard anything from Tina, until the night she rang Joanne.

"So you see, Junior, thats why you have never heard us talk about Joanne's sister, as far as we're concerned, there is no sister, and I just couldn't bear for Jo to be so badly hurt by her again. Tina tried everything she could think of to ruin us, and her brothers, that she simply does not exist in our lives. Now or ever!"

Johnny sat silent, digesting all this information. He knew he should say something, but he just couldn't come up with the words of wisdom so needed in this situation. Roy looked up, grateful that Johnny wasn't babbling on like he normally did, but still looking for some sort of guidance.

"I think you just need to go home and really DISCUSS this with Jo, Roy," Johnny said carefully. "I mean, I know you're scared of the hurt that might happen, but what if Tina is really reaching out for help this time..." Johnny stopped as Roy snorted, "Ah man, I can't give you advice on this, Pally, I just got no words to say on this..." Johnny looked miffed as Roy gave a quick chuckle.

"Now thats GOT to be a first Junior!"