After leaving Charlie's office, Angelo heads out on patrol, glad he wasn't lumbered with Watson for the day. Driving around for the past two hours, he suddenly orders O'Malley to pull over.

"Angelo, what the fuck are you up to."

"Just pick me up down the road in about 15 minutes."

"Fuck," O'Malley mutters when he sees Angelo head straight for the detective.

O'Malley's sentiment is repeated by Joey when she looks up and sees Angelo heading her way. "What do you want Rosey?"

"I want you to stay away from my fiancée."

"Funny, I thought she was your ex-fiancée."

"That's only temporary." Angelo walks right up to her. Looking her up and down, he was practically drooling at her when his eyes finally meet hers. "Tell me Detective, have you ever had a man inside you, fucking your brains out."

"No, have you?"

"I'm not a fucking freak like you." He smirks at her, "Maybe we should go some place private and I can show you what you've been missing." He leans in closer, "I promise to fuck you so hard you'll be begging for more."

"So when I'm begging for more, would that be because you've only got a small dick and I couldn't feel it?"

"You fucking slut," Angelo steps back in anger. "Just stay the fuck away from Charlie."

"Charlie makes her own decisions who she wants to spend time with."

"I'm telling you Detective," he spits out the word, "I don't want you sniffing around my fiancée and I don't want her reputation damaged by being associated with you."

"Is that why you cancelled her reservation?"

"I didn't want people getting the wrong idea about her and you. Besides, she should only be eating at that restaurant with me."

"She dumped you Rosey, deal with it."

"I'll get her back and when I do, you'll be history bitch. No woman of mine will be caught dead with a disgusting pervert like you."

"God, you really are deluded in more ways than one Rosey and once the investigation is over, the only woman you will have will be your jail buddy." She looks him over as he did to her moments ago, "On second thoughts, I think with that pretty little face of yours, you'll be the new bitch to be shared around."

"Fuck off Collins, you've got nothing on me and you never will."

"We'll see and in future, remember that while you are in that uniform, you are only a constable and I am your superior."

"You will never be superior to me," he fumes, furious that she wasn't backing down. "And you're wasting your time sniffing around Charlie, you stupid dyke, she will never be interested in you because," he rubs his crotch, "You're missing something she loves."

"From what I heard, Charlie had lost interested in having sex with you," she says, wishing she could tell him the truth just for the pleasure of wiping that smug look from his face. She looks down at his crotch, "Obviously, what you have, she didn't want anymore."

"Just stay away from her," he warns her again. Walking away, as he passes her, his elbow swings out with unerring accuracy, striking Joey directly over her wound. Angelo smirks when she doubles over in pain. "Oops, sorry," he sniggers as he walks away.

"Fuck," Joey moans as she lies, curled up, clutching her stomach.

"Joey," Ruby calls out, rushing over to her. "I just saw what Angelo did."

Getting up on to her knees, Joey takes a moment to catch her breath.

Ruby kneels by her side, "Are you ok Joey?"

"Fuck." Joey glances at Ruby, "Don't tell your mum that I swore in front of you."

Ruby smiles a little at that. "I'm going to call mum, let her know what he did."

"I'm fine, really."

"You look like you're in pain Joey."

"The bastard just winded me more than anything." Realising that they weren't alone, Joey looks over at the other young girl.

"Oh, Joey, this is April."

"Hi," Joey says softly, worried the girl would bolt if she said too much judging by her nervous fidgeting.

The girl keeps her distance and barely acknowledges Joey. "April, it's ok, Joey's cool."

"What's going on?" Joey asks.

"April was Liam's sister-in-law and she's worried people will blame her for what he did."

Joey stands awkwardly and walks over to the girl. "Did you know what he was doing?"

"Of course I didn't!" she all but shouts out.

"Then you have nothing to feel bad about. April, I don't blame you and I know that Graves wouldn't either."

"You don't?" She asks in a trembling voice.

"No. Liam was a sick man who has been hurting women for a long time, longer than you've even known him."

"I still can't believe he could do that."

"People do things all the time that other people can never understand." She puts her hand on the girl's shoulder, waiting for her to lift her head. "You can't be held responsible for his crimes, April."

"Ruby said you'd be understanding, I just," she shakes her head.

"Have you talked to your parents about this?"

"If mum was here, she'd just say I was being silly and my father's too busy to even care."

"April lives with Irene, Joey."

"Oh right. April, he was responsible for his actions, no one else and if anyone gives you a hard time about it, tell them to come and see me and I'll set them straight."

April finally smiles, "I can see why Ruby likes you."

Joey snorts, "Because I threatened to sort people out?"

"No, because you make her feel better when she's down, just like you have with me."

"You're not much older than my own daughter April and I have no time for anyone who makes life hard for children, even the older ones."

Joey suddenly finds herself with the teenage girl's arms wrapped around her, before April quickly steps back and looks at Joey shyly. "I should be going home. I'll see you later Ruby."

"Thank you Joey," Ruby says, hugging her.

"What is this, hug Joey day?" she jokes, trying not to wince when Ruby's arm bumps right where Angelo's elbow had hit her. Hugging Ruby back, Joey thinks how much her life had changed since she was a child when she would have done anything to have gotten just one hug from her mother.

"You shouldn't be so understanding and great if you don't want to be hugged." Ruby steps back, "I've been saying the same thing to April since it happened, but I think she needed to hear it from someone that Liam had hurt."

"It must be hard for her, losing her sister like she did and then finding out about Liam."

"He was always good to April and she can't understand how she could have been so wrong about him."

"No one saw the real him."

"Like Angelo."

"Yeah, some people are just very good at hiding who they really are."

Ruby looks at her, "You know, Graves was right about you."

"Do I even want to know?"

"You come across as such a hard-arsed bitch," she grins, "No offence." Joey tilts her head to indicate none taken. "So I asked Graves when she was staying with us why you seemed so different and she told me that once you trusted people and let them in, you allowed them to see the real you."

Joey thinks that over. "That's part of it. Ruby, I didn't have the best start to life and I've never really had a lot of friends." She shrugs, "At least not that many who stuck around and I suppose that affects the way I deal with people, but whether I'm bitchy or nice, it's all still me Ruby."

"Well, I much prefer this one."

"So do I Ruby."

"Joey, can I talk to you about something?" Ruby asks with some trepidation.

"Of course you can, Ruby, you know that."

"There's this person I really like and we've kind of been seeing each other for awhile now and so far, Nicole's the only one who knows about us."

"I take it there's a reason why you've kept this from your mother and everyone else."

She looks down at her feet, saying in a low voice, "It's April." Joey nods in encouragement as Ruby looks up, tears in her eyes, "I really like her Joey, but she's been really sad since her sister died and now with all this Liam stuff, she's shutting me out."

"You just need to be there for her."

"I know that and I've tried to be."

"Give her time Ruby." Ruby nods in understanding. "I take it that there's something more?"

"It's just that before all this, we'd been talking about, you know," she blushes.

"Ruby, you're only 15, there's really no need to rush into having sex."

"How old were you?"

"I'm not the best example Ruby."

"You were younger, weren't you?"

"No. It was just before my 16th birthday and it was a mistake. I didn't love her and we never even saw each other after we did it."

"It's just that everyone else is doing it," Ruby mutters.

Joey chuckles, "Ruby, everyone else is probably saying they're doing it, it doesn't mean that they are." She puts her arm around the younger girl. "Ruby, you need to be sure you're having sex for the right reasons and with April struggling to deal with other issues, my advice would be to wait."

Ruby nods, leaning against Joey. "I'm so glad mum found you Joey."

"Ruby, even if your mother and I weren't together, I'd still be here for you." She kisses Ruby on the top of her head. "Maybe you should be talking to your mother about this."

"I feel stupid Joey, having a go at mum for keeping quiet about you when I've done the same with April."

"You're definitely your mother's daughter," Joey chuckles. "I understand how hard it is to come out that first time Ruby."

"Maybe it would have been easier if mum had walked in on me and April like Leah did with you and mum."

"Ah no, I definitely wouldn't recommend that way. Aside from being extremely embarrassing for all involved, you have no way of knowing who it will be coming through that door. Your mum and I were just lucky Leah's been so understanding, just like I'm sure your mum will be when you tell her."

"I know she probably will Joey but I'm just not ready so could you not say anything to mum just yet."

"I've already been in trouble for keeping things from her."

"Please Joey, I just need to work up the nerve to tell mum."

Joey sighs, nodding in agreement. "I guess now I know why you were so accepting of your mother and me."

"Even if I wasn't gay Joey, I'd still be all for you and mum."

"Why is that?"

"I like how mum is when she's with you. She's happy, but she also seems more confident and I really like you Joey."

"You're not so bad yourself," she ruffles Ruby's hair.

Ruby slaps her hand away, "God I hate it when people do that."

"So do I," Joey says, doing it again and getting the same response.

They walk in silence for a few minutes. "Joey, what would you do if Harley came home one day and told she was gay?"

"Ruby, my daughter is never dating, so that's never going to be a problem."

Ruby chuckles, "You're forgetting that I've met Harley."

Joey smiles, "She can be kind of headstrong."

"Gee, I wonder where she gets that from," Ruby teases her.

"Riley was like that too."

"You still miss her, don't you?"

Joey nods, "Riley was a big part of my life and she was the mother of my daughter."

"Harley misses her too."

"Did she say something to you when she was here?"

"Only that she misses her and that she hates being away from you."

"I hate being away from her too."

Ruby skips away from her, grinning cheekily, "You really are a big mushball underneath the hard exterior."

"Mushball," Joey says in mock outrage. "Ruby, you do not use that term where people can hear you; it could really harm my reputation as a hard-arsed bitch."

"Det. Mushball," Ruby sniggers.

"Please, no more."

"Are you really ok Joey?"

"I'm fine."

"Then I'm going to go see Nicole, I'll see you later Joey."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Joey calls out, "Graves said to remind you that you still owe her a day of house cleaning." Ruby continues on as if she hadn't heard her. "Ruby, a bets a bet."

"I'm a kid Joey."

"Then you shouldn't have been playing poker."

"You're the one who taught me."

"Yeah, maybe that wasn't such a great idea."

"I think it's only fair that you help me."

Joey laughs, "Not bloody likely Ruby and I am injured after all."

Ruby scowls and tells her to let Graves know she'll be around sometime soon. After Ruby had gone, Joey rubs her stomach, cursing Rosetta for his cheap shot as she sets off for home.

Joey tosses the book aside in disgust. "I'M BORED," she shouts out to the empty room.

"You really shouldn't talk to yourself."

"Jesus!" Joey jumps up in fright.

Charlie sniggers at her reaction. "Sorry, the door was open."

"People usually knock," Joey says grumpily.

"I know, I just saw you there on the couch with your back to the door and the opportunity was just too hard to resist." Joey grimaces as she sits back down. "Shit, I didn't mean to hurt you," Charlie says as she sits next to her.

"You didn't." Joey sighs, "I had a bit of a run in with your ex."

"What? When?"

"I went for some fresh air earlier and kind of ran into him, or I should say, his elbow."

"He hit you!" Charlie says angrily.

"It was more of an accidental cheap shot with his elbow on the way past. You know the kind."

"Yeah, the not so accidental kind." Charlie lifts up her shirt, pleased to see that the stitches hadn't been pulled and that there didn't appear to be any bruising. Running her hand gently over Joey's stomach, she pauses when Joey flinches. "Sorry."

"It wasn't in pain Charlie."

Gazing into Joey's eyes, she sees the desire there, the same that was no doubt in her own. Cupping her hand behind Joey's head, she drags her toward her, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. Pushing Joey onto her back, she straddles her waist, being mindful of her injury, their lips never leaving each others.

"Don't let me interrupt you," Graves casually says as she strolls by.

Moaning into Joey's mouth, Charlie rests her forehead against hers. "You were right about her, she really does have the worst timing."

Joey chuckles as Charlie rolls to her side on the couch, her head on Joey's shoulder. "It's probably my fault that she takes such great pleasure in interrupting."

"Why, what did you do?"

"Turned up on her doorstep in the middle of the night to drag her to a crime scene."

"What's so bad about that, it happens all the time when you're a cop?"

"It was the night of her engagement and she actually had the night off."

"Oh, then I don't blame her."

Joey raises her voice for Graves benefit. "Of course if she keeps it up, then I may have to find something for her to do on a certain night next week."

"Don't you dare!" Graves comes rushing out of the kitchen.

Joey sniggers, "Works every time."

"Damn it Joey," Graves waves the teaspoon at her, "You do not mess with my wedding anniversary."

Still lying snuggled against Joey, Charlie chuckles at Graves threatening Joey with a teaspoon. "Joey, it is their first anniversary."

Graves narrows her eyes at her, "Joey, I want your word that you won't do anything that night."

"Fine," Joey sighs exaggeratedly. "I suppose it wouldn't be fair to Dex."

Muttering to herself, Graves leaves them alone.

"You really are bad," Charlie chuckles.

Joey grins, "It's just so easy with her sometimes."

Charlie sits up, looking serious. "Joey, maybe you should have Angelo charged."

"I thought about it, but he'd probably just claim he stumbled or something and I don't think either of us want too many questions asked just at the moment."

Charlie sighs, "I take it that it was about me then."

"He really believes that he'll get you back and until he does, he doesn't want your reputation tarnished by being associated with me."

"God, what am I going to do, there are only so many ways to tell him that it's over."

"There is one way, but now, I'm not even sure that will be enough."

"He'd probably think that you've corrupted me and all I need is him to make me normal again."

Joey smirks at her, "Are you saying I haven't corrupted you?"

Charlie leans down, her lips centimetres from Joey's. "You have most definitely corrupted me," she says, her lips finding Joey's again. "And I love it." Charlie steals another quick kiss before moving off the couch and helping Joey sit up. "I have to be heading home."

"One day we'll find some time just for the two of us, I don't know when though, because it seems if Graves isn't here, then Georgie is."

"I'm surprised Georgie turned up to work this afternoon."

Joey shrugs, "I think she got it out of her system and you know Georgie, unless she's incapable of walking, nothing will stop her working."

"Yeah. We can always spend more time at my place."

"With Ruby and your friendly neighbourhood watch guy wondering why I was there all the time."

Charlie lets out a frustrated sigh. "Maybe we should just tell everyone."

"Are you ready for that?" Joey asks softly. Charlie thinks about it for a minute, before shaking her head. "It's ok Charlie, until then, we'll just take what we can get."

"I really want to be with you Joey."

"Charlie, I know that but I want you to feel ready before we tell people, otherwise it'll just be harder for you."

Charlie nods. "I'd better get home and get tea on." Leaning down, she cups Joey's chin, "I'll see you tomorrow." Giving Joey a soft kiss goodbye, Charlie reluctantly leaves.

"Sorry Joey," Graves says as she returns to the lounge. "I really didn't mean to interrupt."

"We could have gone to my room instead of making out on the couch, I suppose."

"Georgie and I can make ourselves scarce if you want some time alone."

"I might take you up on that offer when I'm actually capable of moving without discomfort."

"You're getting the stitches out in a couple of days though, aren't you?"

"Thank god."

"And then we can really go after that prick."

"Any luck on the restaurant side?"

"It looks legit on the surface, but there's something a little odd about it, it's just going to take a little longer to dig deeper and find out what."

"These bastards are going down," Joey says with absolute confidence.

A couple of nights later, Charlie had offered to take Joey to the hospital to have her stitches out and was now driving her home.

"Charlie, why are we stopping?" Joey asks when Charlie pulls the car over at the lookout on the cliff top.

"Do you realise that this is the first time we've had alone in the past couple of days?"

Joey grins, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Charlie nods.

A couple of moments later, they're in the back seat. "Fuck," Joey mutters when she bangs her head on the roof as she straddles Charlie's legs. Charlie giggles, "This kind of brings back memories."

Joey looks at her with an innocent expression. "I didn't bring any condoms but you'll just have to trust me to pull out at the right time," she says in a very good impersonation of a teenage boy trying to get his girlfriend to have sex in the back seat.

"You are aware that Ruby was conceived in the back seat of a car, despite us practicing safe sex."

"Oh, but I promise not to get you pregnant."

Charlie chuckles at the direction the conversation had taken. "I guess that's one advantage of being with you, I don't have to worry about pregnancy."

"No, you just have to worry about me," Joey warns her, capturing her lips. Charlie tugs Joey's top from her pants, her hands sliding up her back, tracing a slow path to her front. Her fingers making light work of Joey's buttons, Charlie slides her top down her shoulders.

Joey groans when Charlie's hands cup her breasts and she kisses the bare skin just above her bra. Burning with desire, Joey tilts Charlie's head up, her lips hungrily finding hers. Charlie pulls Joey's body harder against hers, needing as much contact as she could get. "God I love you Joey," she murmurs between kisses. Joey sits back slightly, her hand gently caressing Charlie's cheek as she gazes into her eyes. "Charlie, I lo..."

"What the fuck is going on here," a deep voice demands as there is a loud knock on the window.

"Oh fuck," Charlie says, her heart still racing with desire for Joey and now also with fear at being caught.

"Fuck," Joey pulls her shirt on. Holding their hands up against the glare of the torch shining into their eyes, neither Joey nor Charlie are able to see who it is.

Who's knocking at the window?

Will Joey and Charlie ever have any alone time?