I'm busy tomorrow, so thought I'd update today. :-)

"You shouldn't have followed me bitch." Wishing she could have held her daughter one last time, Joey closes her eyes when she sees Robbo's finger tighten on the trigger. Waiting for the end to come, Joey suddenly finds herself sprawled in a heap on the ground, a gunshot ringing in her ears. Staring up in surprise at Charlie lying on top of her, despite their predicament, Joey smiles at her, "Charlie." When she doesn't respond, Joey grows worried, "Charlie."

"I'm ok," comes her muffled reply. "I just winded myself when I slammed into you."

"You're not going to be ok for long," Robbo says as he looms over them. "This is my lucky day, two little piggies and one of them Angie's little whore."

"Robbo don't do this."

"I owe you for this bitch," holding up his cast. "If this place wasn't about to be crawling with cops, I'd take my time with you, but I guess I'll have to settle for blowing your brains out."

Joey rests her head against Charlie's, holding her tight as two shots ring out. Flinching at the sound, Joey looks up to see Robbo standing there, a surprised look on his face as a red stain spreads rapidly across his chest before he slumps to the ground, staring sightlessly at the night sky. "It's over Charlie," Joey whispers, brushing her lips over Charlie's forehead.

"Oh god," Charlie groans, rolling onto her back.

Joey sits up, carefully looking Charlie over. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Your elbow caught me in the solar plexus."

"You were lucky that's all you caught. What the hell were you thinking Charlie, jumping in front of a bullet like that?"

"Me!" Charlie says incredulously, "What were you thinking going off alone like that?"

Joey is about to say more when she sees her sister walk over to Robbo's body and fall to her knees. Rushing over to her, she kneels by her, "Georgie, are you ok?"

"I've never killed someone before. Even though he was a miserable son of a bitch, he was still a human being."

Joey puts her arm around her, "You didn't have a choice Georgie."

"I know," her voice barely a whisper. Watson turns to her sister, suddenly concerned to see her swaying. "Joey, what's wrong?"

"I um, I'm not feeling too good all of a sudden."

"Did he do something to you?" Watson asks in concern, her hand brushing gently over the scratch and bump on her forehead.

"Oh that, I bumped my head on a beam," Joey stands up, a wave of dizziness making her sit down heavily, holding her head in her hands.

"Joey!"

"I'm ok."

"What's wrong."

"Robbo slammed my head into the ground earlier."

"He did what!"

"I don't think I lost consciousness, but my head is killing me now."

"Is that why you went stumbling like an idiot into the bush in the dark?"

"I think so, there's a bit of time I'm a little hazy about, I guess I must have if I ended up here," Joey looks around, "Where ever the fuck here is."

"We're about a half hour walk from the mine," Charlie says as she moves behind Joey, trying to be as gentle as possible as she inspects the damage to the back of Joey's head.

"Ow."

"Sorry, you've got quite a bump there."

"It's a good thing I've got the old Watson hard head then. How did you find me?"

"Charlie found the door and she just took off and I followed her."

"But how did you find me out here when I didn't even know where I was going?"

"You made quite a path of destruction while you were stumbling around and luckily for you, I know my way around the bush and unlike you, I actually had a torch on me," Charlie taps her shoulder, "Come on, we need to get you to the hospital and checked out."

"I'm fine."

"Joey, you hit your head hard enough that you went stumbling into the bush, you're getting checked out," Charlie orders.

Joey nods and then wishes she hadn't when her head starts to spin again.

"Whoa," Graves blurts out as she and Hogan finally catch up with them. "Who killed him?"

"I did," Watson says sadly as she stares at the body.

"Georgina, why don't you take Joey to the hospital," Charlie suggests. "We need to process the scene and Joey really needs to be checked out."

"Thank you Charlie, for saving my life."

"I'm just glad we got here in time."

With a last glance at the body, Watson puts her arm around her sister to help steady her as they head back the way they had come. Watching them leave, Charlie brushes her fingers gently over her forehead, wondering if she had just imagined Joey's lips there earlier.

Pacing the hospital room, Watson stops to glare at her sister, "What the fuck were you thinking going off on your own like that?"

"I heard something so I went to have a look."

"You should have told us or at least come back when you realised where he had gone."

"I know, I fucked up ok."

"No, it's not ok," immediately regretting raising her voice when Joey flinches. "I'm sorry Joey," she says more calmly, "But it was stupid going after him alone."

"I know that Georgie."

"Do you? Joey, I don't want to have to tell my niece that her mother was dead because of her impulsive and reckless behaviour. Jesus Joey, you could have been killed and you nearly got Charlie killed."

"I'm sorry," she says softly.

"There are people that love you Joey, so please, stop putting yourself into dangerous situations."

"I'm a cop Georgie, just like you."

"Not like me Joey." Walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. "You put yourself into situations that you don't need to be in."

"I just wanted him so badly and I couldn't let him get away and hurt anyone else after what he did to Ruby."

"At least Ruby can relax now, but Joey, just promise me, no more heroics."

"I wasn't the one who jumped in front of a bullet."

Watson's still a little shocked by Charlie's behaviour, the way she had nearly panicked when she realised that Joey had gone and then grown angry at her stupidity before setting off a furious pace, one Watson had struggled to keep up with as Charlie set off in pursuit of Joey. Watson had just reached them when she saw Charlie launch herself at Joey moments before Robbo pulled the trigger, the bullet barely missing Charlie's head as she crashed into Joey.

"She wouldn't have needed to if you hadn't been so stupid and reckless," she scolds her sister. Joey looks away, too ashamed to face her sister. "Joey, I'm just upset because you scared the hell out of me."

"I really am sorry Georgie."

"Hey, come here." Gathering her in her arms, she holds her tight, "I don't want to lose you Joey, especially now."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you later," she tells her when she hears the voices nearing the room.

"Are you ok Georgie?"

"Yeah, I think now that the shock is wearing off, I believe that I did the right thing and it's probably going to take some time to forget the look on his face, but I'll be fine," she assures her as the doctor walks into the room.

"What's the verdict doc, is my sister's skull still in one piece?"

"Joey, you were lucky, there's no fracture, just a nasty bump to the head and scrapes and bruises from your time in the bush. You don't have a concussion, so you must have just been dazed when you wandered off."

"So I can go home?" Joey asks hopefully.

"I'm not willing to let you leave unless there is someone to keep an eye on you."

"I don't need anyone to look after me."

"You received a nasty knock Joey, you were dazed and you were nauseous."

"The nausea is gone and aside from the splitting headache, I feel fine."

"I'd feel a lot better if you stayed in the hospital where we could keep an eye on you."

"Georgie." Recognising the old fear in her sister's eyes, Watson asks the doctor to give her some time with her sister.

"You have to stay here Joey and I need to go to the station; the Critical Incident Investigation Team are waiting for my statement."

"I don't want to stay in hospital."

"The nurses and doctors are here Joey, you won't be alone."

"I can't Georgie, all I see is the darkness and I feel like I'm back there in the closet at mum's. I don't want to be alone."

"She won't be alone Georgina," Charlie assures her as she walks into the room. "I'll take care of her."

"Charlie, what are you doing here?" Watson asks, surprised by her arrival and her offer.

"I left Hogan and Graves to oversee the scene and I've already given my statement." Charlie shrugs, "I didn't see anything but it was a justifiable shooting Georgina. Now go, I'll keep an eye on Joey, I promise."

"Joey?"

"The sooner you get this over with Georgie, the better."

Watson sighs, knowing she has little choice. "Who's going to look after Ruby?"

"Joey can come home with me, I have a spare room," glad that Angelo was out of town and that he hadn't left any of his stuff in the spare room.

Joey squeezes her sister's hand, "Georgie, for your own peace of mind, you need to get this over with."

"Ok." Kissing her forehead, in a low voice, she warns her sister to behave. "I'll see you in the morning." Watson stops in front of Charlie, "Thanks for this Charlie and for what you did out there."

"I figured I owed her for saving Ruby," Charlie jokes.

"Yeah well, lucky for Ruby you didn't end up dead."

"I knew what I was doing Georgina."

Not entirely convinced, Watson lets it go. "Call me if she's too much trouble."

"Piss off Georgie," Joey calls out affectionately.

"She's all yours Charlie." Hesitating for a few moments, Watson finally leaves.

"Are you ready to go Joey?"

"Are you sure about this Charlie?"

"Of course I am. We just have to stop by Leah's to pick up Ruby."

"It's a little late isn't it?"

"I called before I came to the hospital, Ruby has no intention of going to sleep until I fill her in and I think that Leah and Roman would appreciate getting to sleep at some time."

"Good friends of yours are they?" Joey asks, before remembering they'd had a falling out of sorts.

"Not as close as we once were, but Ruby is best friends with their daughter."

"Nicole, right?"

"Yeah, she's 16 going on 40 but deep down, she's a good kid."

"I guess we'd better go and get Ruby then."

Following Charlie and Ruby into their house, Joey feels a little self-conscious in her tattered clothes. "I should have gone home." Joey tugs on her torn and dirty top, "I really need to shower and change."

"I'm sure I can find something to fit you."

Charlie's breathe catches when she walks into the spare room with the fresh change of clothes, the sight of Joey shirtless and in her bra making her heart race. Licking her lips, "I, ah, um, I think these will fit."

"Thanks," Joey takes the clothes, trying to ignore the look of hunger and lust in Charlie's eyes.

"Um, I put a spare towel in the shower for you and feel free to use the shampoo and stuff." Charlie starts to retreat, when Joey calls her back. "I wanted to thank you again for saving my life and I'm sorry for putting you in a situation where you needed to risk your life."

"I don't understand why you would do something so stupid," Charlie says, trying to look anywhere but at Joey's half naked body. "Especially after you wanted me to stay back at the station to avoid doing something stupid."

"I lost it Charlie. Ruby's still scared of him and I couldn't stand the thought of him being out there, free to hurt people or come after Ruby."

"I'm grateful for you for thinking of Ruby's needs, but you have your own daughter to think of."

Joey sits on the edge of the bed. "I know. I love my daughter and I want to be there for her," Joey sighs. "I don't know, there are times when things override my commonsense."

"From now on, try to remember it goes the other way; commonsense over stupidity."

Joey smiles, "ok."

"How's the head?"

"Headaches not as bad and I haven't felt like throwing up in ages, so I'm taking that as a sign that I'm ok."

"I think we've had an eventful day, so why don't we forget about work, Robbo and stupidity for the rest of the night, you go and have a shower and I'll fix us something to eat."

"That sounds like a good idea." Watching Charlie walk away, Joey sighs softly, hating the fact that she was still having to deceive Charlie.

Lying in her bed, Charlie tosses and turns, her mind alternating between images of Robbo holding the gun on Joey, Joey standing in her bra and the enjoyable night cap she had shared with Joey and Ruby, who had been overjoyed to learn that Robbo was no longer a threat. Tossing back the covers, Charlie grabs her robe and heads to the kitchen, her attention caught by the sound of whimpering. Thinking it was Ruby, Charlie's surprised when she realises it was coming from the spare room. Remembering Joey's reaction to the thought of staying in the hospital alone, Charlie knocks softly before entering. Moving to the bed, she gently nudges the restless and whimpering Joey, jumping back when Joey suddenly springs up. "It's ok Joey," she says in a soothing voice, "You were just having a nightmare."

Resting her elbows on her raised knees, Joey feels embarrassed about showing such weakness in front of Charlie.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Charlie says, guessing Joey's thoughts. "After everything that's happened, I'm not surprised you're having trouble sleeping."

"I'm just sorry I woke you."

"I was already up." Climbing onto the bed, Charlie rubs her back in a comforting gesture. "Are you ok?"

"It's just memories."

"About tonight or about the past."

"Both," she says with a sad voice. Filling Charlie in on the fears she felt in the tunnels and the bush, the claustrophobia and how it brought back memories of being regularly locked in a dark closet by her mother, Joey finds herself relaxing in Charlie's calming presence. Listening as Joey reveals some of her childhood, Charlie can't help but hate the cruelty of the woman who had locked a child away for no reason. When Joey stops talking, Charlie pulls her into her arms, "She can't hurt you anymore."

"No, but the memories still do. Most of the time I'm fine, it's just that sometimes things trigger them and the nightmares come back."

"You know, when Ruby has trouble sleeping, I usually stay with her."

Joey turns to her, "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Probably not, but you're not the only one having trouble sleeping."

Not wanting to be alone, Joey nods, nearly changing her mind when Charlie removes her robe, revealing her skimpy nightgown and climbs under the covers with her. "I hope you don't snore," Joey jokes as a distraction to having her in bed with her.

"No, but I have a habit of stealing the covers."

"Don't worry, I'll steal them back," Joey promises as she lies on her back, trying to ignore the warm body next to her.

"Night Joey," Charlie says, lying on her side, facing Joey.

"Night." Closing her eyes, it doesn't take long for sleep to take Joey. Watching the gentle rise of Joey's chest, the calmness of her features in a peaceful sleep, Charlie leans over, kissing her lips softly, holding her breath when Joey licks her lips in her sleep, before slowly releasing it when Joey's eyes stay closed. Settling down beside her, Charlie falls asleep, a contented smile on her face.