Charlie sighed loudly as she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She had been staring at the casefile in front of her for ages. They'd been chasing after a group of unidentified men behind a string of armed robberies the last three weeks, but it seemed they were always one step behind. Charlie felt the problem lay rooted in their inconsistency. There was no pattern. The only constant was the five guys involved, one of them driving a black van, and their method. But the places, times and frequency of the robberies were scattered around like broken glass. Everything from gas stations to motels, and they could go from several robberies one night, and not as much as one the next, and the locations were scattered around over all of Yabbie Creek. There hadn't been any witnesses able to give them anything more than "four guys in ski-masks with guns", though an older man had said two of them were carrying rifles, one a sawn-off shotgun and one with a handgun.

"Senior?"

Charlie's head shot up.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya. I knocked, but there was no answer. I assumed you'd like to know this, though…" Watson sighed as she shoved her left hand into her pocket and handed Charlie a brown file with the other.

"What is it this time?" Charlie questioned as she opened the file.

"Supermarket, it was just called in."

Charlie looked at her watch. It was almost eleven p.m. "I'm heading out, then. You up for it, or should I bring Harper?"

"Nah, I'm in," Watson said, and followed Charlie out of the office.

------

"You okay?" Watson asked as Charlie yawned for the third time. Charlie looked worn, she thought.

"I'm fine, just tired," Charlie shrugged off.

"No wonder, did you ever go home last night?"

"No, I was looking over the files again. I mean, we're always one step behind. Either they control whoever is in the building, or they manage to be gone in plenty of time before any responding officers reach the scene."

"Yeah, but like you said two weeks ago, any idiot with a police radio could keep track on us," Watson said.

"I know, but… There just seems to be something we're missing about them," she said as she pulled up in front of the scene.

She was met by a rookie on patrol who had been first on the scene. He explained that there had been a woman behind the counter, but one of the robbers had prevented her from pressing the silent alarm. There had been two male shoppers in the store, but they were quickly forced to the ground and saw little.

Charlie was just about to follow him inside, when the station contacted her radio.

"Watson!" she called out as soon as the message had been relayed.

Watson jogged over, as it seemed important. "What's happened?"

"We're heading out. Same guys are at it at a closed liquor store 10 minutes from here, the station just received notice that someone forcibly entered the store, while a dark van was parked outside," Charlie informed her as they rushed for the car. "The station dispatched two units in opposite direction of us, and it's a pretty deserted road so if they drive off before we get there, we should meet them on the way!"

"Wait, senior, are you up for driving, you seemed pretty tired back there," Watson pointed out as Charlie opened the driver side door.

"You're probably right," she said as she threw the keys to Watson and ran to the other side of the car and got in."

"Let's go!"

----

Watson and Charlie pulled up in front of the liquor store 8 minutes later. There was no sign of the dark van.

"Go inside and clear the store, and radio the other units. We didn't run into them, so they must be heading in their direction. I'm gonna run around and clear the back!" Charlie informed her as they both exited the vehicle. Watson ran inside, while Charlie went to clear the back.

"…is cleared, no suspects remain within the store. Tell the other units to keep an eye out, they must've taken off in their direct-"

Suddenly, the sound of screeching tires filled the air, and before Watson could draw her gun, a black van sped off in the direction her and Charlie had arrived from.

"Senior?!" she called out before she shouted into her radio, reporting to the station what had happened.

Running around the first corner of the building, she found a bloody Charlie struggling to get up.

"Senior!" she rushed over to her.

Charlie groaned. "It's nothing… just a bloody nose," she explained groggily as Watson helped her stand.

"Are you right out of your mind?" Watson asked as she tried to steady a clearly unsteady Charlie.

"It's noth…ing…just" Charlie mumbled on as she clutched her head.

"Okay, let's sit you down for a sec," Watson said as she started to lead Charlie over to the wall and helped her sit down. "Are you all right?"

"Eh…I'm fine…I can't believe I was so stupid!"

"We followed protocol, you couldn't have known," Watson said.

Charlie sighed as she brought her hand to her nose. "Christ…"

"Here," Watson pressed a handkerchief to Charlie's bleeding nose and put her other hand behind her head to keep her from pulling back.

"Keep the pressure on that, and try to lean forward," she instructed.

Just then two other police cruisers pulled up in front of the store. "I'm gonna brief them on what's going on, will you be all right for a few minutes?" Watson asked.

"I'm fine!" Charlie claimed.

-----

"Can we get some help here?" Watson called out as she helped Charlie sit down in the waiting area. Rachel saw them and came rushing over.

"What on earth happened to you? Are you okay?" she asked as she looked over Charlie, who was full of blood.

"Looks worse than it is," Charlie said.

-----

Georgina saw Rachel exit the examination room, and decided to go and see how Charlie was.

"Hey," she said as she stuck her head inside. "Are you okay?"

"Hey, come on in. I'm fine, just a minor concussion. I think it seemed worse than it was, with all the blood and stuff," Charlie explained.

"Are you sure? I mean, you weren't too steady on your feet on the scene," Watson said as she approached Charlie, who was sitting on the examination table.

"Yeah, I feel much better, Rachel says I can return to full duty in three days."

Watson nodded. "That's good. How's the nose, by the way?"

"Oh, it's fine, it's not broken. Sorry for bleeding all over your shirt," Charlie said apologetically.

Georgina chuckled. "It's fine, I'm just glad you're all right," she said seriously as she grabbed Charlie's hand.

Charlie just looked at her, unsure of what to say.

"Charlie!" Ruby exclaimed as she came rushing through. Georgina quickly removed her hand and stepped away as Ruby threw her arms around Charlie's neck, bombarding her with questions.