Ruby storms into the house, heading straight to her room, slamming the door so hard the picture by the door falls off the wall.
"What's her problem?"
"Me." Charlie sits dejectedly on the couch beside Angelo. "I just made a huge mistake, one I don't think I'll be able to undo."
"Charlie, what happened?" Angelo asks with feigned concern.
"We had an argument earlier and she ran off."
"Let me guess, you found her with that dyke."
"Angelo," she says tiredly. "I've asked you before not to say things like that."
"But I told you, didn't I Charlie," trying to keep the glee from his voice. "She can't keep her hands off Ruby."
"The only thing Joey's ever done is be there for my daughter and I've repaid her kindness in the worst possible way."
"This is for the best Charlie," Angelo says softly, "You don't know this woman or what she's really capable of."
"No, that's true." Her words pleasing Angelo for a moment. "I don't know Joey that well, but I know my daughter. Ruby wouldn't let anything happen."
"Unless Ruby wanted something to happen." Angelo puts his arm around Charlie's shoulders. "Ruby has a crush on her Charlie, that's obvious."
"It is not obvious Angelo," Charlie says, moving away from Angelo's arm by standing up. "Ruby suffered a horrific experience, it's only natural for her to develop an attachment to the person who saved her, but that doesn't make it a crush."
"Ok, granted she saved Ruby, so maybe she thinks that entitles her to a little more and out of gratitude, Ruby keeps quiet."
Charlie stares at Angelo, annoyed at his insistence that something untoward was going on. "Angelo, my daughter is not being abused."
"But Charlie, you..."
"Enough Angelo," Charlie snaps. "I don't want to hear any more of your poisonous words." Charlie hugs herself, "I wish I had never said what I did and I wish you'd never even mentioned it."
"I'm just trying to look out for Ruby, I'm supposed to be her father, aren't I?"
"Ruby already has a father," Charlie says absently, not even noticing the flash of anger in his eyes. "God, how the hell am I going to undo this."
"Just forget it Charlie, she's nothing but a trouble maker anyway."
"I can't forget about it and she didn't deserve what I did to her, I just hope that she can find a way to forgive me."
"That fucking bitch is trying to put me in jail Charlie," he yells, finally losing it. "I don't give a fuck if her little feelings were hurt. I don't want you to apologise to her, in fact, I don't even want you to talk to her."
"Well too fucking bad Angelo," Charlie yells back at him. "Now, I intend to make this right with her, whether you approve or not." Charlie gets into his face, "And don't you ever tell me who I can or cannot talk to," her anger surprising Angelo. "You can sleep in the spare room tonight, I'm too disgusted by your attitude lately to be anywhere near you."
"Oh that's just fucking terrific," shouting at her, "You're letting her win Charlie, can't you see that?"
"I'm not letting anyone win anything, I made a horrible mistake which I want to fix because it's the right thing to do and the fact that you're opposed to that makes me wonder about what type of man you are."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"Your behaviour lately has been childish, hateful and unprofessional and now I'm starting to wonder if you're still the man I fell in love with."
"Of course I am Charlie, you're the one who's changed and it's all her fault."
"Angelo, it's not her fault that you can't act like a professional police officer or that you can't show respect or compassion to others. Grow up Angelo, I already have one child, I'd prefer not to marry one." Charlie storms to her room, slamming the door behind her.
Angelo seethes, for a moment tempted to go into their room and remind Charlie of what she's missing out on before commonsense prevails. Grabbing his keys, he heads out.
Joey wakes slowly, feeling breasts crushed against her back as Charlie's fingers worked their magic inside her. Groaning in pleasure as Charlie increases the tempo, Joey moves her hips to meet them as she climaxes hard, the fingers continuing to thrust into her, bringing her again.
"Good morning," Martha's voice in her ear bringing reality crashing down on Joey as she remembers her confrontation with Charlie, going to the club to drown her pain and then ending up in bed with Martha. Trying not to flinch at her touch or feel disgust for feeling pleasure only moments ago, Joey rolls over to face her.
"Morning," she greets her, allowing Martha to kiss her. Joey sighs, "This shouldn't keep happening."
Martha grins at her, brushing the hair from her face, "Probably not, but you can't blame the booze this time, you only had a couple."
"Maybe I need to stay away from the club to avoid being picked up."
"Joey, I know you were just using me last night to make you feel better about something, but I don't care, I want to see more of you."
"I don't know if I can do this Martha."
"Look, if you're worried someone will find out, you don't have to be; no one saw you come home with me last night and I sure as hell won't tell anyone about us?" Martha says truthfully, having woken up earlier to turn off the camera and delete the footage.
Joey sits up, "I don't know Martha. I feel bad for using you like this."
Martha wraps her arms around her, kissing the back of her shoulder. "After giving me a night of great sex, I can forgive you for that and you're more than welcome in my bed any time you want a comfort fuck again."
Joey turns, kissing her quickly. "I need to get home, shower and change before work."
Martha rolls onto her side, her body still blissfully sore in just the right places, as she watches Joey dress. "I'll keep an eye out for you at the club," Martha calls out as Joey heads to the door.
Joey pauses, turning back to her, "Last night was amazing Martha, but my heart belongs to another."
"I'm not after your heart Joey, just your body. You're away from your husband, all I'm offering is sex."
"I'll think about it."
Martha rolls onto her back, wondering if she'd be able to get Joey to join her in the business so she could have her all the time. "Fuck, who am I kidding, she'd never go dirty." Martha chuckles to herself, "At least not that way."
Having lain in bed most of the night, unable to sleep without seeing the pain her accusation had obviously caused Joey, Charlie reluctantly gets out of bed, finding it curious that she'd spent the night thinking about Joey and not even missing Angelo not being by her side. In no mood for a confrontation, Charlie sighs when she sees Angelo already waiting for her in the kitchen.
"Before you say anything Charlie, I just want to apologise for my behaviour, not just last night but for the past couple of weeks. I don't like Collins and I guess I'm struggling for motivation at work with this investigation hanging over my head, but that's no excuse for my behaviour."
Not totally convinced about his sincerity, for the sake of keeping the peace, Charlie accepts his apology. "I'm sorry to, for being such a bitch. I'm just not handling things well at the moment."
"Are we going to get through this Charlie?"
"Of course we are," Charlie assures him, despite her growing doubts. "I just feel as if everything is coming down on me and I can't breathe sometimes."
"Maybe we need a bit of space," Angelo suggests, hoping to force Charlie to realise it was her distance that was the problem. "I could stay in the spare room for a few nights, give you that space."
Charlie looks at him in surprise. "You'd do that for me?"
Realising his plan might backfire, Angelo tries to keep the smile on his face as he silently fumes. "I love you Charlie and if you think that a few nights in separate beds will help us get back on track, then I'm willing try it."
"Thank you Angelo, I think that's what I need, just a bit of time alone." Charlie kisses him, "I do love you Angelo and we will get through this together."
"Fuck Charlie, you weren't supposed to agree to it," he mutters when Charlie ducks out of the room.
"Talking to yourself Angelo," Ruby smiles innocently at him, having been eavesdropping the entire time.
"Enjoying fucking your girlfriend lately," he replies nastily.
"Jealous much."
"What the fuck are you on about?"
"I'd much rather talk to Joey than you," Ruby says, buttering her toast, "And so does mum."
Angelo shuts his mouth just as Charlie returns, "Good morning Ruby," smiling at her daughter.
Ignoring her mother, Ruby takes her toast and heads out the door. "Ruby, we need to talk."
"Charlie, give her a day or two and she'll realise you were only looking out for her."
"I'm doing a great job of looking out for her," Charlie says miserably, "I've taken away the one person she seems to be able to talk to lately."
"Ruby can talk us if she needs to."
"Angelo, what is it," she asks when he looks upset.
"Charlie, I've tried to be a father to Ruby but she's not interested."
"I don't expect you to be a father to her Angelo, she already has Grant for that, I just expect you to be there for her if she needs to talk and to be a little more understanding when she's upset."
"But she won't talk to me Charlie and do you know how I felt when she interviewed everyone else at the station for her assignment and not me?"
"It was hardly everyone else and it was more about women in the police force."
"She interviewed Hogan."
"Only because he's the highest ranked male officer and she wanted his point of view. I know being a step-parent isn't always easy, just try to be her friend and not her father."
"You mean like Collins," he says snidely.
"You just can't help yourself, can you?" Charlie says in disappointment.
"I'm sorry Charlie, she just brings out the worst in me."
"I thought the same thing about her, but after spending time with her, I can understand why Ruby feels comfortable talking to her."
"Yeah well, just don't expect me to sit down and chat with her."
"I think it best if the two of you stay as far away from each other as possible."
"Wow, we finally agree on something," grinning at her while thinking of ways to get rid of Collins.
"I'm going for a run before work," giving Angelo a quick kiss goodbye. As soon as she's gone, Angelo smashes the coffee mug in the sink in anger. "God damn it Charlie, I won't let you walk away from me."
"Sneaking back home Joey," Graves says as she comes up behind her, making Joey jump, "Fuck Graves, don't do that."
Standing with her arms crossed, Graves glares at her, "Please tell me you weren't with Martha all night."
Sighing guiltily, Joey shrugs, "The opportunity arose."
"You should have called me for back up."
"Yeah, that would have gone down well. 'Excuse me Martha, while I go and call my partner to let her know I wouldn't be home because I was about to get lucky'."
"It would have been very easy to get away to make a call Joey, if you'd bothered to think about it."
"Look, I know what I'm doing."
"I don't think you do. What's going on Joey, one minute you and Buckton are getting along, the next minute she's avoiding you and then you're being completely irresponsible by going home with that crazy bitch Martha without even warning me."
"I told you, the thing with Martha just came up and I took a chance."
"Why? I thought you weren't planning on sleeping with her again."
"I said it would depend on the circumstances. We're getting nowhere Graves and now we have seven dead kids."
"What exactly do you hope to achieve by fucking her?" Graves asks, still angry with Joey for going alone and not even telling her. "Does Martha talk in her sleep or something?"
"She turned the camera off and deleted the footage," Joey informs her.
"What?"
"I think she planned to try a little blackmail again, but when she thought I was asleep, she stopped the camera and deleted it."
Graves looks surprised and then horrified, "Oh fuck, please tell me she's not falling in love with you."
"Don't be stupid, Martha Holden's incapable of love."
"She's dangerous Joey, she's just as likely to fuck you and then bite your head off straight after."
"I know that. The first time we slept together was because she drugged me, the second time was because I was upset, it shouldn't be too hard to put her off again, but if I can keep her interested, maybe she might try to recruit me or at least let something slip."
"Ok, I get that, but what about Buckton?"
Joey shrugs, "What about her?"
"She went from offering you boat rides to avoiding you, so I want to know what you did to her."
"I didn't do a fucking thing to her Graves," Joey spits out. "Why do you immediately blame me?"
"Hey, I'm sorry ok," taking a step back from Joey's anger.
"This whole thing had just been a ruse."
"What?"
"Buckton was just pretending to get close to me so she could keep an eye on the investigation, probably at lover boy's request."
"Are you sure?" Graves asks, thinking Joey was way off base.
"She said something to me that sounded a lot more like something he'd say."
"What did she say?" Joey turns away from her. "Joey, before you said the second time you slept with Martha was because you were upset?"
"Fuck, just once I wish you didn't hear everything," Joey mutters.
"What did Buckton say to upset you so much that you went home with Martha?"
Joey's shoulders slump as she sits down. "She accused me of abusing Ruby."
"That bitch!" Graves sits next to her, "Joey, was last night more about blocking out what she said to you?"
After a slight hesitation, Joey nods. "I really didn't plan for anything to happen with Martha and I've never hated myself more than I do right now."
The pain she sees in Joey's eyes confirms to her what she'd suspected about Joey's childhood. "That was stupid and dangerous Joey, but I do understand," she says, hugging her.
"I would never abuse a child, I couldn't do that to them."
"How old were you?" she asks compassionately as Joey pulls away from her.
Hugging her knees to her chest, Joey stares at the floor. "Eight," that one word so soft Graves struggled to hear it. "It was my mother's boyfriend. She never gave a damn about me, she'd even be in the same room when he," her voice breaks. "He never actually had sex with me, but he'd touch me all over and make me touch him. Then mum would beat me for being a bad girl and call me a whore."
"Joey, why didn't you ever tell me?" Watson asks, having overheard the last part. Sitting by her sister's side, she nods to Graves who leaves the sisters alone. "I know I wasn't the best sister back then and that I made things hard for you, but I never would have let that happen if I'd known."
"I couldn't say anything back then, I didn't know how to," Joey says tearfully. "And I didn't think anyone would care. She was my mother, yet she was a bad as him and let's face it, there wasn't anyone else who gave a damn about me."
"I did Joey. I know I was distant from you, that I made you think I never cared but I did."
"I know that Georgie, but I still couldn't tell you."
"How long did this go on for?"
"Two or three times every week from the day he moved in to when he left."
Watson closes her eyes, hating what her sister had endured for nearly a year. "I'm so sorry I never did anything Joey."
"We were both kids Georgie."
"But I knew something was wrong, I just didn't want to believe it," she shamefully admits.
"I don't blame you Georgie."
"I do. That day I found you hiding under my bed, with bruises on your arm and the handprint on your face, I suspected it wasn't the first time, but I didn't know what to do." Watson pauses, "And I knew how mum felt about you, but I should have known about Mac as well just by the way you always avoided sitting anywhere near him."
"Georgie, you were 14 years old, I never said anything and until that day, mum had always been careful to make sure the bruises couldn't be seen."
"Joey, what happened that day, I came home and found you bruised and Mac was gone?"
Joey looks away. "He said I was old enough to have sex with him now."
"Did he?" Watson asks, fearful of the answer.
"He had me in their bed," squeezing her eyes shut at the memory.
Watson pulls her sister into her arms. "It's ok Joey."
"He was lying on top of me, just about to put it in me, when mum came home." Joey shakes her head, "She lost it, she slapped me and told him to get out, screaming at him that he could play with me all he wanted but she was the only one he could have sex with. She kicked her boyfriend out, not because he was abusing me, but because she was jealous that he wanted to have sex with me. Then she came and dragged me from the bed and threw me into the closet, she never even allowed me to get dressed."
"How did you get out?"
"She forgot to lock the door. When I realised, I went and hid under your bed."
"I should have done something Joey, reported them or something."
"Georgie, once she realised that you knew, she never came near me again and we never even knew Mac's real name."
"I still should have done something Joey. You're my little sister, I should have protected you."
"You did. That day you pulled me out from under the bed and you held me; you made me feel safe Georgie, for the first time in my life, I felt safe, just like now."
Watson kisses her temple, "I love you Joey, I'm just sorry it took me so long to realise that."
"Our parents set the example, they made it easy for you to resent me and I wasn't the most loveable of kids."
"That was hardly your fault. Joey, it's been nearly 20 years, why haven't you ever talked to me about this?"
"I got so used to keeping it a secret and I knew you'd just blame yourself." Joey grabs her hand, "It wasn't your fault Georgie and I've never blamed you for what happened to me, I blamed our father for walking out on us and I blamed our mother for being a heartless bitch, but I've never blamed you. We were both kids, you couldn't have done anything."
Not agreeing with that, thinking she could have done something, Watson holds her sister closer, "Then talk to me now, please Joey, when did mum start hitting you?"
Joey sighs, realising it was time. "It was just before my fifth birthday when I dropped mum's favourite ornament." Joey curls up in her sister's arms, finally telling her everything that their mother had done to her, Watson letting her tears flow freely, having never realised the full extent of their mother's cruelty to Joey.