Hey guys. Sorry I haven't posted anything for a little while. Between decorating, writing my novel and being poorly, I just haven't had the chance but here is an extra long chapter to make up for it. I hope you enjoy it and I'm planning on being back in fanfic action from now. IJKS xxx

***

Chapter Seventy-Four

"I don't know if we're going to get there," Joey told the drama teacher on the phone.

It had reached the time that she and Charlie would have to leave in order to get to rehearsal on time. Charlie hadn't got in touch or responded when Joey had tried to call and she could only assume that she wasn't coming.

"I'm sorry," Joey apologised. "There's just a lot going on at home right now. I'm really not sure if we can..."

"I'm here!" Charlie bellowed, rushing through the door, looking apologetic.

"Hang on," Joey said into the phone.

"Sorry I'm late," Charlie apologised. "Are you ready to go?"

"We'll be there," Joey told the teacher, hanging up quickly.

She accepted Charlie's hand and let her pull her to her feet. Charlie kissed her lips gently and then led her out to the car.

***

Angelo finished work feeling dissatisfied. He had done everything he could to be part of the team searching for baby Harry and he'd worked hard. He'd been fuelled by his concern over a missing child, his guilt over the fact that the baby was the half-brother of his accidental victim, Jack Holden and his desire to get back into Charlie's good books. She had been happy to order him about and he had been happy to follow her instructions but not once had she looked at him with any kindness or compassion. He desperately wished that there was some way he could make things up to the woman he loved.

***

Aden was wandering along the beach by himself. One of his biggest problems was that he had nothing to do. Work had been scarce since Lou's death and Irene was struggling to take the business over. Occasionally, they went into work but nothing regular had happened yet although he had heard that Gibsy was taking a more active role in getting the business back on its feet. Knowing nothing about trawlers or any such thing, Irene had taken a step back and left it all to the boat manager. Heading down to the docks, Aden wondered if he might go and sit in the trawler for a while, hoping it might make him feel more peaceful.

***

"I wasn't sure you were going to want to continue the play," Joey ventured.

Rehearsals had been fine and now they were driving home. Amber had been absent so they didn't need to give her a lift back, providing them with more time to talk.

"I just want everything to continue as normal," Charlie told her. "I need to make sure I'm together, fit and able for when Ruby comes home. If she comes home. I know I might have lost her for good."

She sighed and turned right onto their road.

"She'll be back," Joey said. "But until then, I think it's great that you're trying to get on with normal things but please don't try and block your pain out. It'll only come back to bite you."

Charlie shrugged.

"It's the only way I can cope," she said.

She pulled up into the drive and killed the engine.

"I'm okay," she promised, turning to look at Joey in the moonlight.

She was struck by just how beautiful she was. Every day she noticed something more amazing about her.

"Are you really?" Joey asked worriedly.

"I am," Charlie promised.

"I just... you know I'm here for you, whatever you need, right?"

"I know. And I'm grateful. But I'm fine."

She climbed out of the car and Joey followed suit. Locking up behind them, they entered the house. Charlie yawned and moved straight to their bedroom. With a brief wave to Leah, who was watching television on the couch, Joey followed her girlfriend.

***

"Since when do you guys do night fishing?" Aden asked.

His attempt at sitting on the trawler for the night had been thwarted by Gibsy about to set sail.

"I just thought it'd be a good idea to get the business going properly," his old manager had replied.

They weren't friends by a long shot but they tolerated each other well enough.

"Want some help?" he offered.

After all, he had nothing better to do. The highlight of his days now would be lunch with Joey.

"Uh... no, we're okay thanks," Gibsy said.

Aden jumped on board anyway.

"I've got nothing else to do," he said.

"Aden, mate, just..."

"Or are you up to something dodgy?"

Gibsy looked immediately shifty.

"There's a lot of money in abalone," Gibsy said. "This is completely off the record but if you want in, you can."

Still with nothing better to do and in need of cash, Aden agreed willingly and helped them set sail.

***

Ruby and Geoff lay side by side in their new, temporary accommodation.

"Are you ready for lights out?" Geoff asked.

"Yeah," Ruby replied.

He clicked the lamp off and closed his eyes. Unable to sleep, Geoff tuned into Ruby's breathing, immediately becoming alert when he realised that she was trying to be quiet while she cried.

"Ruby?" he called through the dark.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Come here," he said gently, pulling her against him.

They fell asleep in each other's arms.

***

The following morning, Charlie was up and out early. She dropped Joey off at work as usual and then headed into the police station in order to continue searching for baby Harry. At nine o'clock on the dot, Rachel and Tony showed up, still as frantic as they had been the day before. Charlie had been sat at her computer since eight, searching for inspiration. Rachel seemed adamant that this Jane woman had her son but nothing had been conclusive. Still, Charlie wondered if the theory held some water.

"Coffee," Angelo said, appearing in her office.

She didn't want to accept it but she had just been about to make one herself so she offered vague thanks. He hovered in front of her desk.

"Yes?" she said, looking up at him.

"I just wondered if you needed any help," he said.

"Not from you," she replied.

He sighed heavily.

"Look, Charlie... I really didn't mean to hurt you," he said.

"Well, you did."

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"I don't care."

Defeated, he left the room. Charlie leant back in her chair, wondering if she ought to just make friends with him. But then she pictured him rifling through her personal files and then blurting out what he knew to Ruby. She couldn't bear to think how her daughter was feeling, knowing how brutally she had been conceived. She didn't blame her for running away and for hating her. Charlie had never stopped hating herself from the moment it happened. It was only through her relationship with Ruby and her love for Joey that she had been able to find some kind of peace. And now it was all ruined. No, she did not forgive Angelo Rosetta for making things worse than they needed to be. Sitting back up, she looked at Harry's case file. Suddenly, Rachel's name leapt out at her. Immediately, she began to search through properties that might have been rented under Rachel Holden.

***

"I thought you were going to stand me up," Joey said when Aden finally reached the Diner at lunch time.

She had resigned herself to the fact that Charlie wasn't available during her shift, not even for lunch, at least while Harry was missing and she couldn't help but feel proud of her partner's dedication. She knew that even if she wasn't suffering the way she was then she would still be putting the hours in to rescue the baby. Charlie devoted her life to her cases and making sure that people's situations were healed. It was what she had done with Joey to start with – until they had fallen in love. And she was about to object to the way she was helping Rachel and Tony, even if she suspected Charlie would find herself something to occupy with if this hadn't come up. She didn't want to talk about her feelings at the moment and she was avoiding Joey, as if her presence would make her open up when she wanted to remain closed. All Joey could do was be there when it mattered, even if it was hard sometimes.

"Sorry," Aden apologised.

He had bags under his eyes and was unshaven. She narrowed her eyes curiously.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I just had a late night," he said dismissively.

He hadn't arrived home until six in the morning when the sun was up. He'd earned a fair amount of cash to do the job with Gibsy and he was planning on going back for more, although in the back of his mind, he was worried about Irene getting into trouble. It was her trawler after all and it appeared she knew nothing about any of this.

"Get up to anything exciting?" Joey asked curiously.

"No," he lied. "I just couldn't sleep.

***

Geoff and Ruby had spent the day wandering around. They'd seen a few of the sights and had some sandwiches down by the boats.

"Boats remind me of home now," she mused.

"Yeah?"

"Because Joey's obsessed with them," she explained. "I never thought anyone would love their job any more than Charlie does but then we met Joey."

She giggled.

"Charlie's set up a secret savings fund so that for Joey's thirtieth – in five years – she can buy her a boat of her own. She's just putting a little bit aside each month, not enough for Joey to notice and she's planning a super special birthday for her."

"That's really nice," Geoff said.

Ruby nodded and munched a little more on her sandwich.

"She's been so happy since she met Joey," she continued. "Like, she's not as highly strung or closed off. She's learnt to talk about her feelings and all three of us have been so close. Or at least, I thought we were. As it turns out, I didn't know Charlie at all. I never have."

"She's still the same person," Geoff tried.

"No she's not," Ruby disagreed. "I thought she was my sister. I thought there was a big age gap between us and I had a cool, older sister who was nice enough to always want to hang out with me. I thought Joey was going to be my sister in law and that if they ever had babies, I'd be an aunt. But Charlie's my Mum and Joey's essentially my step-mother. If they had kids, I'd had siblings. And right now, I'm an only child. It just... it doesn't make any sense in my head."

***

Charlie and Watson hurried down to the address Charlie had found. They'd told Rachel to stay put but she'd blatantly followed in her car. Angelo had offered to join them but Charlie had flat out refused and told him that she was perfectly capable of handling it with Watson and that if she needed him to research into anyone's past, she'd call. He'd looked hurt as she'd stormed away and then she and Watson had raced over to where they believed Harry was being held. Just as they pulled up, they'd spotted a woman running out of the property.

"Stop!" Charlie yelled. "Police!"

The woman paused briefly and then attempted to run again. She held a baby in her arms. Charlie lurched forward, calling Jane's name. Jane looked frantically around for an escape route but the police were blocking her path.

"Jane," Charlie repeated, creeping closer.

"I'm not giving him back!" she told her firmly.

"Jane, you have to give Harry back now," Charlie said.

"She killed my baby!"

Charlie swallowed. Watson was behind her with her hand on her weapon but nothing had been drawn yet. Charlie wanted to deal with it without threats if she could and Watson was more than willing to follow Charlie's lead.

"Jane, I've looked into your case," Charlie said. "I'm so sorry for what's happened to you, for how you've suffered. But Rachel has been cleared of responsibility."

"She killed him!" Jane said angrily, clutching Harry tighter to her.

He began to cry.

"Jane, please don't put Rachel through what you've been through," Charlie said.

Rachel bounded up behind Charlie and Watson and was about to start begging Jane to give her son back but her words caught in her throat and she sobbed instead.

"Losing a child... it's the worst thing in the world. You love them so much and yet you can't be with them. No matter how hard you cry, nothing changes. You've been to hell and now it's time to come back. You don't need to take Harry away from his mother to heal your grief. That's not the way. You're just going to put her through the same suffering and it's not fair. It's not going to make you feel better. It's just going to make Rachel feel worse."

Jane swallowed. She felt like the bottom was falling out of her world. When she'd taken Harry, the plan had been so simple and now everything was more complicated than ever. She studied Charlie's face and saw pain in her eyes, wondering if she really did know what she was talking about.

"Am I going to jail?" she asked.

Charlie turned to Rachel.

"Only if Rachel presses charges," Charlie replied.

Rachel shook her head quickly.

"I just want my baby back," she pleaded.

"If I hand him back, this all goes away?"

"We can help you," said Charlie. "There's so much support out there for you. I'm sorry you haven't been helped the way you should have been. I'm sorry you haven't been able to heal from your loss."

Charlie stepped a little closer. Jane burst into tears and hurriedly handed Harry to the police officer. She sank onto the floor in tears. Charlie held Harry close until Rachel hurried up to take him. Charlie crouched on the floor and reached out to Jane as she wept.

"I just miss my baby so much," Jane said. "We had our whole lives planned and then he was just... he was just gone."

"I know," Charlie said gently.

"I just can't believe he's gone."

She couldn't carry on.

"I know," Charlie repeated. "I know."

***

Angelo hung up the phone from his command officer. There had been some suspicious activity down at the docks for the last few nights. His hope was that there was some movement on his case. He'd been sent back to Summer Bay to bring down a human trafficking ring. People were being brought over from Indonesia and it was his job to find the man in charge. So far, his instincts told him he'd already found him. Everything he knew about Hugo Austin said that he was the guy in charge. He wandered around town like butter wouldn't melt and he'd wormed his way into Martha's bed. Charlie and Joey didn't like him but they were the only people who didn't. His history and the various incidents that Angelo had investigated on the sly, made him more convinced by the second that Hugo was guilty as sin. It was now his job to prove it. Perhaps, if something was going on at night, he might actually have some concrete evidence.

***

"Can you finish the paperwork on this?" Charlie asked Watson when they returned to the station.

"Sure," Watson replied. "Are you alright?"

Charlie nodded quickly and hurried into her office to collect her things. It was only four o'clock but she needed to get out of there immediately. Talking about lost children and watching how broken both Rachel and Jane had been was too much for her heart to take. Holding Harry had brought back all her feelings from when Ruby was a baby. She'd wanted so desperately to be her Mum but she just hadn't had the emotional capacity. When she'd run away, she'd never intended to return and she believed she was doing right by Ruby by leaving her. She'd been certain that she was tainted, that she was no good and she would only wreck her daughter's life. She'd hated herself then and while she had healed somewhat over the years, her self-loathing had never really stopped. It was only when she was around Joey that she felt good about herself. Joey and Ruby were her world and now everything was imploding. Exiting the office, she thanked Watson and then hurried out to the car.

"Charlie!"

She stopped when she heard Angelo's voice.

"I'm going home," she told him, unlocking the door and climbing in.

He ran up to her and leant in.

"Charlie, is everything okay?" he asked.

"No!" she snapped. "No, everything is not okay! And it's got fuck all to do with you!"

He jerked out of the way just in time as she slammed her door shut and started the engine. With folded arms and a worried expression on his face, Angelo watched her speed out of the car park in the direction of home.

***

Geoff and Ruby had moved bed and breakfasts again and gone for a walk in the park. They constantly needed to keep busy and it was during walks and such that had their best talks. He had opened up to her about how he felt when they'd lost Belle and shared all the details of his broken romance with Claudia. She'd listened and asked the right questions to help him open up and he had been her rock in return. Sitting down on the grass, they watched the people around them. Two girls immediately caught Ruby's eye. One was older, with dark hair, probably around eighteen. The other was barely five years old and the spitting image of the older girl. Ruby swallowed, wondering if they were sisters or mother and daughter. On their picnic blanket, they played and laughed together, looking like they didn't have a care in the world. Ruby was sobbing before she even realised it.

***

Charlie arrived home to an empty house. Joey wasn't due home for a little while yet. Moving through the living room, she picked up a photograph of herself and Ruby. They were smiling jubilantly into the camera. It was one of the last family days they had all had before Charlie's mother had died. It was her mother who had taken that particular photo. Sobbing bitterly, she threw the frame across the room and watched is smash against the far wall. Throwing herself onto the couch, she wept.

***

"Charlie always used to take me for little trips out like that," Ruby said, pointing at the people she'd been watching.

Geoff noticed her tears and put his arms around her. She rubbed her eyes but still the tears flowed, also she was desperate for them to stop.

"My earliest childhood memories are of her taking me out. She used to be so hands on, you know? She would play with me all day, no matter how boisterous I got. When I was older and at school, I used to tell everyone when I knew I had a play date with Charlie. And without fail, she used to come to every school play, every sports event, everything. Even when she was busy training to be a cop and when she lived away from home, she was always around. She was always the first person I told anything to and she was already ready to help me sort out any problems I had. She was amazing, Geoff. I worshipped her. She was the best sister ever but... she wasn't. She was my mother all that time and I never knew about it. She used to do all those Mum type things and yet she could never step up and tell me the truth. Do you think she wanted to?"

"Well, considering everything you've said, yeah, I think she probably did," Geoff said thoughtfully. "She obviously loved you. You seem to think that she didn't but Ruby, she wouldn't have been the best sister in the world if she didn't want to be the best mother. She adored you. She always has. She's always loved you and protected you, she's your guardian and your friend. You mean the world to her."

"But how can she love me?" Ruby wondered. "How can she love someone that was borne from the worst event in her life? How can she not hate me?"

***

Joey arrived home from work and stopped in the doorway between the kitchen and the lounge when she spotted the smashed photo of Charlie and Ruby. Picking it up, she put it to one side and stepped over the glass quickly when she saw Charlie curled up on the sofa.

"Hey, Charlie," she whispered gently.

Her girlfriend looked up with sore, puffy eyes and wrapped her arms around Joey's neck.

"I miss her so much," she sobbed.

"I know, darling," Joey said gently.

She shifted so that she was sitting on the couch and pulled Charlie into her arms. She stroked her hair and quietly promised that everything would get better eventually.

"Ruby just needs time," she said. "She'll be back and you can rebuild your relationship as soon as she's ready. She's upset now but she loves you, Charlie."

Charlie clung a little tighter to Joey, burying her face against her chest, never wanting to let go.

***

"I guess a mother's love overrides the pain of what she went through," Geoff ventured.

"Not enough for her to raise me as her child though," Ruby pointed out.

Not so far away, the older girl and the younger girl were playing chase and laughing hysterically.

"Maybe it was too raw for her back then," he said. "But as you got a little older, she obviously adored you and wanted to be to you what she couldn't be then. It looks to me like Charlie's spent most of your life trying to make everything up to you without you even knowing there was anything to make up for."

Ruby nodded thoughtfully and wiped her eyes for what felt like the millionth time.