Sitting at her desk, Charlie's unable to concentrate as she waits for Joey to arrive. Noticing Graves walking by her office, Charlie rushes out, surprised to see no sign of Joey or Watson.
"Graves, where are Joey and Georgina?"
"Do you care?" shocking Charlie with her vehemence. Realising her outburst had drawn unwanted attention, Graves lowers her voice, her displeasure with Charlie still obvious. "They won't be coming in today."
"Is Joey alright?"
"No she is not alright," she seethes at her. "Joey is my best friend and I know she comes across as this hard-arsed bitch, but what you said to her was downright malicious and hurtful and after everything she's done for Ruby, she didn't deserve that."
Charlie drops her head in shame, "I know that Graves and I want to make things right with her."
Graves glares at her, "You really want to make things right?"
"Yes," Charlie says looking at her as tears threaten to fall, "You have no idea how much I regret what I said, I'll do anything to make it up to her."
"Then you can leave her the fuck alone and start preying that Georgie doesn't come after you." Graves spins on her heal and walks away, the anger radiating from her enough to make the other officers suddenly find something to do. Charlie makes her way back to her office, closing the door behind her and sitting slumped at her desk, her face in her hands as she finally lets the tears fall.
Heading home during her lunch break, Graves pauses at the door when sees Joey sleeping on the couch, her head on Watson's lap. Looking up, Watson indicates to meet her outside as she carefully moves a cushion under Joey's head and slides out from under her. Brushing the hair from Joey's forehead when she murmurs in her sleep, Watson kisses her on the forehead before joining Graves outside.
"How is she?"
Watson shrugs, still unable to believe what her sister had endured. "I could kill Charlie right now." Watson starts to pace, trying to work out her anger, "I still don't know why she would accuse Joey like that."
"Joey thinks she was just pretending to get close to her and Rosetta was behind it all."
"No, that's not Charlie's style," Watson is forced to admit, "But it certainly sounds like something Angelo would say."
Watson sits on the bench under the window, feeling defeated. "Charlie's not a vindictive person, so why would she even listen to that arsehole?"
"I think Charlie's a little messed up, I mean, one minute Joey's going after her for murder, then Joey's standing up to her father and being quite sociable with her but she's still going after Rosetta." Graves shrugs, "It can't be an easy position for Charlie to be in. Here she is starting to like Joey, and while her daughter thinks Joey's great, her fiancé thinks she's, well, let's face it, he hates her guts. That's not an excuse, but the last couple of days I've noticed that Charlie's been avoiding Joey, so maybe it's getting too much for her."
"I've noticed the same thing. Joey doesn't make friends that easily and the way Charlie's been screwing her around, I don't know, this is just one big fucking mess. Shit, I was even starting to think that there was something romantic going on between them, but that's just stupid, right?" Staring at Graves as she waits for her to agree, not at all surprised when Graves breaks eye contact. "You've seen it too, haven't you, the little touches and the looks."
"To be honest, I'm not really sure what I've seen, just that they've suddenly gotten friendly and I don't know, I think that maybe they're both confused about the direction things have suddenly taken and I...fuck, I really don't have a clue what's going on either, but Charlie really did look generally remorseful this morning."
"Good, because of all the things to accuse Joey of, she couldn't have picked a worse one," Watson says sadly.
"I'm so sorry Georgie, I always knew something must have happened to Joey, just from the way she reacts to things."
"I just wish Joey had told me back then or even talked to me earlier." Watson wipes a tear from her eye, "She shouldn't have had to have gone through this alone."
"Joey loves you Georgie, but you know how closed off she gets sometimes and it's not as if you haven't tried to get her to talk, you have."
"I could have stopped it back then, though."
"Has she ever blamed you?" Graves asks softly.
"No, but I blame myself."
"If Joey doesn't blame you then she obviously believes that there wasn't anything you could have done."
"I'm her big sister, I was supposed to protect her."
"You were a kid Georgie, you can't be blamed for the actions of your mother. Was the abuse the reason that Joey ended up in foster care?"
"No. We never told anyone about the abuse and I guess mum thought that Joey had told me everything, because she never went near her again. In fact, neither of us saw much of her because she was always working after that. Then when I was 17 and Joey was 11, mum died and..." Watson sighs, "I was old enough to pretty much look after myself, so I got to stay with gran, but she wasn't well enough by then to look after us both, so Joey was placed in a foster home nearby. I still got to see her all the time and even though it took Joey a while to adjust, she finally found out what it was like to be part of a loving family."
"But what about you Georgie, you were part of that household too."
"Yeah, except that mum loved me. She always had time for me and even when I fucked up, she never raised a hand to me."
"Is that why you feel so guilty, not just because you think you should have done more, but because your mum loved you and not Joey?"
"I was a shit sister, actually, I wasn't any sort of sister to her."
"That's kind of hard to believe."
"It's true. My parents were great when I was younger, always taking me out to new places, always doing things as a family, but they never wanted another kid, so when mum got pregnant again, dad just didn't come home from work one day."
"Just like that, he walked out?" Graves asks, wondering how anyone could do that.
"I tracked him down when I was twenty and he told me that on the way home from work that day, he suddenly realised that he couldn't continue to live a lie."
"So he just abandons his kids?"
"He didn't abandon us, at least not at first. Our father was gay, he'd always known it, but his family were strict, so he did the whole heterosexual thing; he got married and had a kid. When mum got pregnant with Joey, he just couldn't pretend anymore and he didn't think it was fair to our mother to keep up the lie. While I was at school, he came home the next day and told mum why he was leaving, but that he still wanted to keep in contact with us and that he'd continue to support her." Watson looks away. "Mum never said anything, she just said that my father had abandoned us because of the baby. She certainly never said anything about her brother turning up on his doorstep and beating the shit out of him. Uncle Dave warned him to stay away, so he did and every day he was gone, mum blamed the baby. When Joey was born, mum never bonded with her and off loaded her to gran most of the time."
"You resented Joey, didn't you?"
"At first. I know I wasn't being fair, but I loved my dad and I always believed that if she hadn't been born, he would have come home."
"Georgie, you were just picking up on your mother's feelings."
"I know and the older I got, the more I realised I was being unfair. She really wasn't a bad kid and once I stopped being such a bitch to her, we got along great, but even as a baby," Watson sighs with regret, "I guess she had picked up on the resentment, so she never really trusted me or anyone else. I just keep thinking that if I hadn't resented her for so long, she would have felt safe coming to me."
"Georgie, you have no way of knowing that. We've both dealt with abused children before, so you know that some never say anything, even as adults."
"But she was my sister."
"And you've been there for her every day since."
"I still feel like I failed her. It wasn't just the physical abuse Graves, she had such a lonely childhood, she never really got along well with anyone else, never really had any friends and I was barely a sister to her."
"Georgie, how did you find out about what was going on with her?"
"I had my suspicions, but I didn't want to believe it and I didn't know what to do. It wasn't until that day I found her bruised and hiding under my bed that I knew for sure."
"Under your bed?"
"Yeah, she'd been there for hours, waiting for me to come home."
"Georgie, didn't you ever wonder why she hid under your bed and not her own or somewhere else?" Watson looks at her. "In the end, she felt safe coming to you because she loved you Georgie and deep down, she knew you loved her and would protect her, which you did."
Shaking her head, "I guess I never thought of it like that."
"You need to stop blaming yourself Georgie." Graves rests her hand on her arm, "So you were a bratty little kid then," grinning when Watson glares at her, "But you're a fantastic big sister now."
"I just wish we'd been able to talk this out years ago."
"She wasn't ready."
"Joey told me earlier that she broke down one day and told her foster mum everything, so I suppose I should be grateful that she's had someone to talk to."
"Your mum may have been a total bitch, but Joey did strike it lucky with her foster family, you both did."
"Yeah, if it wasn't for them, I'd hate to think of how Joey would have turned out."
"And for that, I'm forever grateful as well," Graves jokes. "Because even with the rough edges filed down a little, Joey's not the easiest person to get to know, but she's the best friend you could have once you get past all that. I'm just glad I never gave up on her like her other partners did and got to know her." Graves grins, "You know, once you scratch the hard surface, there really is a gooey centre."
Watson chuckles, "Don't ever let Joey hear you talk about her like that."
"Talk about me like what?" Joey asks, startling them both.
"Graves here was comparing you to a soft centre chocolate."
"You think I'm sweet?" Her face a picture of innocence as she awaits her answer. Watson chuckles as Graves tries to think of something to say that doesn't sound bad, settling instead on asking how she was feeling.
"Exhausted, numb but in a way, relieved," Joey admits as she sits by her sister and rests her head on her shoulder.
Watson puts her arm around her, "I'm here for you Joey, we both are."
"Thanks guys."
"What happened to your father, if you don't mind me asking?"
"He was dying of cancer when I found him."
"And if Georgie hadn't dragged me along to see him, I would have missed out on meeting him. He really did love us, he was just too weak to fight for us."
"What about, you know?" Graves waves her hand about, not sure if she should even be asking.
"He's dead," Joey's voice devoid of emotion.
Watson squeezes her arm in support. "Two week after he left, he was on the news; a father of one of his previous victims tracked him down and knifed him to death."
"I just wish I'd been there."
"Joey, he's dead, that's all that matters."
"Look, I'm going to get out of here," Joey says, standing up.
"Where are you going?"
"Relax Georgie, I'm not going to do anything stupid, I'm just off to the city to spend some time with my daughter." Joey hugs her sister, whispering in her ear, "I love you big sister and I know you'll always be there for me."
"Of course I will."
"Graves, call me if anything come up about the investigations."
"Will do."
"Oh Joey?"
"Yeah."
"What are you going to do about Charlie?"
"I don't want to talk about her Georgie. I'll be back tomorrow morning."
"I should be going to."
"Graves, hold it right there." Graves winces at her tone and sits back down. "Now you can tell me what the hell she's doing sleeping with Martha Fucking Holden?"
"I was really hoping you hadn't heard that part."
"I bet you did, now spill."
"The investigations are going nowhere, so Joey's trying to get closer to her in the hopes she might let something slip," Graves smiles weakly.
"Keep her away from Martha."
"You know what Joey's like."
"Yeah, I do and that's why you need to keep her away. Joey goes after people and she doesn't always care if people get hurt along the way, including herself."
"I can't stop her Georgie and I think it's already too late."
"What do you mean?"
"I think Martha might really be interested in her."
"Fuck."
Martha curses when she hears the banging at the door. "Hide in the bedroom, I'll get rid of him."
"Don't take too long."
Waiting until her visitor was out of sight, Martha swings the door open.
"About fucking time Martha," Angelo says as he barges in.
"It's nearly midnight Angelo, try calling ahead next time."
"Where were you last night, I came by and there was no answer?"
"If you must know, I was in bed with my girlfriend," enjoying the shock on his face.
"Girlfriend? Who the fuck is that?" He shouts as he advances on her.
Martha crosses her arms over her chest, daring him to go any further, smirking at him when he steps back. "That's really none of your business Angelo and as of now, there's no more dipping your stick into this pool, so get used to it."
"You're a whore Martha," he spits out disgustedly.
"So are you. Now what do you want."
"Who is it Martha?" he demands again.
"I told you, that's none of your business."
"Oh god, you're fucking Watson, aren't you?"
Martha looks at him in confusion, "I've never fucked Watson."
"She was here that night."
"You're imagining things Angelo."
"I heard her call out Martha, it was Watson's voice," he insists, "and you accused me of being pissed because she'd never fuck me."
"Fine, I was fucking Watson that night, I was fucking her last night and when I'd finished with her, I fucked Hogan, O'Malley and every other fucking cop. In case you haven't noticed, Watson hates my guts and as for that night, you were interrupting me so I just said that to piss you off, now I'm telling you that it wasn't Watson that night and it sure as hell wasn't her last night."
"So who is she?"
"Who I choose to fuck is none of your business Angelo so just drop it."
"Fine," Angelo says, kicking her coffee table over.
"Get a grip Angelo," Martha snaps at him as she picks up the stuff he'd knocked over, hoping he hadn't seen the keys as she pocketed them.
"I did what you suggested Martha, planted the seed of doubt about Collins abusing the brat and now I'm stuck in the spare room."
Martha laughs, "I guess the Rosetta charm is wearing off."
"This is all your fault Martha," he points angrily at her.
"Don't blame me Angelo," Martha continues to laugh, realising now that his misfortune was her good luck in getting Joey again. "Knowing you, you probably did it in your usual subtle way with a hammer."
"I want Collins gone Martha, then everything will go back to normal."
"You're losing it Angelo and people are noticing."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that people are starting to talk about how maybe you're not such a nice guy after all."
"That's bullshit."
"No it's not. You've let Collins get to you and you've been behaving like an arrogant, self-centred bully. You need to back off, plaster that fake smile of yours on and get that charm working again."
"It'd be easier with her dead."
"We are not killing her Angelo."
"Why the fuck not? Are you falling for her Martha?" he accuses angrily.
"Of course I'm not, but if anything happens to her, who is the first person they'd suspect you fucking moron." Martha throws her hands up in frustration, "For god's sake Angelo, think for a change, you've been bad mouthing her in front of everyone, she's investigating you for murdering another cop, we kill her and your door is the first place they'll be knocking on."
Angelo takes a deep breath, hating her for making sense. "I hate her."
"No kidding."
"No, this is bullshit, I want her dead Martha and you're going to arrange it."
"Arrange it?"
"Yeah, get one of your little buddies to do her over and we'll pin it on Robbo."
"I thought you and he were friends."
"I can get a new friend, but I'm not losing Charlie. Collins is interfering too much."
"Oh, I get it," Martha chuckles nastily. "She's making Charlie see you for what you really are."
"She dies Martha or we're through."
"We're not through Angelo, we will never be through."
"I'm not scared of you Martha," he says, the quaver in his voice saying otherwise.
Martha laughs cruelly at him. "Oh Angelo, you poor pathetic little man, you most definitely should be," she grins at him, "Guess who forgot to wear a condom last night."
Angelo looks at her horrified.
"That's right Angelo, somewhere out there is little Annie's battered and bruised body with your semen all over and inside her, just waiting for the cops to find her." Martha walks right up to him. "I covered up your mess Angelo, now you do as I say or with one call, you're precious fiancée gets the proof of what a sadistic piece of shit she has in her bed. Oh, that's right, you're not even in her bed. You stuffed up Angelo, because you lost control."
"She wouldn't stop screaming," he says pathetically.
"I don't blame her. You weren't after sex last night, you just wanted to inflict pain on someone and you did, then when you'd beaten her to an inch of her life, you fucked her again and again until you got sick of her screaming in pain and stuck a pillow over her face," Martha says, trying to keep her voice from carrying into her visitor. "We lost a fortune when we had to cancel the auction, we couldn't afford to lose any more."
"I'm sorry ok."
"You're going to be sorry alright, because you're paying for the money we stand to lose with her death."
"You can't do that Martha."
"I can and I have. Anymore stuff ups Angelo, and your position will be reconsidered."
Stepping back from the coldness in her eyes and voice, his shoulders slump in defeat. "So what now?"
"You back off from Collins, you do nothing to draw attention to yourself, you will have no access to the girls and you will do everything that is asked of you without complaint. And if by some chance you actually develop any courage and think you can save yourself by going to the cops, your son will suffer."
"My son is dead," he shouts, "that bitch killed him."
"Belle lied about having an abortion. When she left here, she gave birth to a little boy just before our friends took care of her."
Angelo stares at her in shock, "Where is he, I want to see my son."
"And do what? You can't have your son Angelo without answering some very awkward question."
"He's my son!"
"Little Aden is a beautiful boy, if you want him to stay that way, pull your head in and do as your told and don't even think of blabbing to anyone."
"I'll kill you if you hurt my boy."
"Then you will never find him. Never threaten or defy me again Angelo or I will send your son to you piece by piece, now fuck off."
As soon as Angelo has slammed the door behind him, her visitor rejoins her, "Angelo has a son?"
"No, Belle had an abortion, but as long as Angelo believes his son is in danger, it may just keep him in line." Martha picks up her drink, "It'd be easier to just kill him, but he's useful for the moment and his disappearance would raise questions."
"I should go."
"We haven't finished. Oh, here are your keys," Martha says, tossing them.
"He didn't see them, did he?"
"I don't think so, but he can't do anything about it. Now, where are they on the Maru investigation?"
Sitting out the back drowning her sorrows with a bottle of wine, Charlie wonders how she had survived finally being in the same room with Joey. Flanked on either side by Watson and Graves, she had struggled to deal with the cold and hostile tension directed at her as they had discussed the lack of progress in the cases. When her attempt to stay and talk to Joey had been firmly rebuffed, she had come home and received the same treatment from her daughter. Pouring the last of the wine into her glass, Charlie looks up when Ruby joins her.
"Are you talking to me now," her words sounding slurred.
"Mum, you can't drink your problems away."
"I can sure try."
Feeling guilty for giving her mum the cold shoulder since she'd accused Joey, Ruby hugs her. "Talk to her mum, you need to make this right."
Charlie holds her tight. "I've been trying for the past three days to apologise, I just can't get past Georgina or Graves to talk to her," Charlie says, frustrated at her repeated failed attempts, with either Georgina or Graves intercepting her whenever she tried to talk to Joey.
Ruby steps back, "Do you blame them?"
"No I don't. I've never regretting anything more than hurting Joey," wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Angelo was the one who accused her first, wasn't he?"
"It doesn't matter Ruby, I'm the one that stuffed up."
"It does matter mum, he's a vindictive arsehole and Joey is my friend, what he said was disgusting and it was cruel."
"You want to hear something really funny Ruby, I got stuck into him only days before about even suggesting such a thing."
"I don't understand why you did it."
"Because I was a fucking idiot, I let his words and my own confusion and stupidity get the better of me."
"What are you confused about?"
Charlie stares at her daughter through bleary eyes, "Everything." Charlie puts her empty glass down, "I could really use a friend right now, but none of them seem to be talking to me."
"You know mum, you could have had a friend with Joey, someone who unlike Angelo, doesn't have to pretend to show an interest when she listens, but like all your other friends, Angelo gets in the way."
Charlie reluctantly nods when she realises that it was very near to the truth. "I think Joey and I could have been good friends."
"I told you she was nice."
"Yeah, she is nice," Charlie smiles, "She's charming, caring and she's surprising easy to talk to once you get to know her." Charlie gets a far off look, "If only she was a guy," she says softly.
"Mum, do you have a thing for Joey?" she asks, hoping her mother will finally admit what she'd already suspected. "Mum? Fuck," Ruby mutters when she realises she'd passed out. "Damn it mum, why can't you just admit Angelo is a mistake and you want Joey. I've seen the way you've looked at her and I know she's married and all, but if there's even a slim chance that you're gay or there's a chance Joey likes you back, you can't throw away your life by marrying a man you don't love." Sighing in frustration, Ruby goes inside to get a blanket. Covering her mother, Ruby kisses her cheek before heading back inside.
Knowing Joey had the morning off, Charlie waits until both Graves and Watson are at work, before making up an excuse to duck out of the station. Now, sitting in the car out front of Watson's house for the last 20 minutes, Charlie wonders if this was such a good idea, not sure if she could handle the coldness from Joey up close.
"What are you doing here?"
Charlie jumps at the angry voice at the car window. "I came to see you."
"There's nothing you could possible say to me," Joey says as she walks away from the car.
Jumping out of the car, Charlie rushes after her, "Joey, I'm sorry. Ruby and I had argued and she had run off, I was scared with Robbo still out there and I worked myself into a state."
Joey swings around to face her, "And you think that makes it alright?"
"No," she hangs her head in shame. "No, there really isn't any excuse for what I said."
"All I have ever done is be someone Ruby could talk to when she couldn't talk to you. Let's face it, your scumbag of a fiancé will never be there for her because he's too interested in himself."
"There's no need to attack Angelo," Charlie says automatically. "I'm the one in the wrong."
"Tell me Sergeant," her use of her rank hurting Charlie as much as the look of disgust in her eyes, "Did your precious fiancé put this idea in your head?" Joey shakes her head when Charlie stays silent, "Thought so. He said it so it must be true."
"Of course it's not true. I fucked up ok, I made a horrible mistake and I want to make it up to you."
Believing her sister when she had assured her that Charlie hadn't been pretending to like her and that it hadn't all been some ruse had only made her betrayal hurt even more. So much so, that standing here facing her was almost too much. "You can't make it up to me." Joey heads back to the house.
"I'm sorry ok."
"You've said it, now leave."
"Joey, please."
"Fuck off Sergeant, I'm not interested in your pathetic apology," slamming the door in Charlie's face. Devastated, Charlie trudges back to the car, feeling utterly defeated and lost.