BAY CITY FOREVER



This is a work of fan fiction, written by Rochelle Theresa Brown for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit. All characters not invented by me are the sole property of Procter and Gamble Productions.
This work is under copyright.
BAY CITY FOREVER is rated TV-14 for an occasional mild expletive.



EPISODE THIRTY-FOUR



This episode begins shortly after the previous episode ended.

SCENE ONE

(The scene is the squad room of the 2-3. The door to Joe's office opens. Joe and Josie come out.)

JOE: Everybody, listen up. Josie has something to tell you.

JOSIE: (takes deep breath) Yes. I have to tell you why Joe resigned from the force. It was because he found out about something I did... something unethical.

HISPANIC MALE OFFICER: But, Joe, if Josie did something unethical, why did you quit? Why didn't you just fire her?

JOE: For one thing, Manuel, I didn't know she was the one.

ADAMS: But what did she do, exactly?

JOSIE: I'm going to tell you, but it's not going to be easy.

JOE: (quietly, to Josie) It's all right. Everyone here loves you.

JOSIE: (to Joe) That's what makes it so hard.

ADAMS: Josie, what did you do to make Joe quit the force?

JOSIE: I sent threatening e-mails to the Commish.

TONI: You what?

JOSIE: I threatened to start an online rumor about him if he didn't drop the charges against Joe.

ADAMS: But he still didn't drop the charges.

JOSIE: And I had to testify against Joe. And that made me so angry, I....

TONI: (puts her hands on her hips) Don't tell us you actually posted a rumor?

JOSIE: I did. God help me, I did. One little rumor on one message board... and now it seems to be all over the Internet.
FADE OUT




SCENE TWO

(The scene shifts to the corridor of BAY CITY HIGH. Peggy Walters is looking at a bulletin board. Another girl approaches.)
GIRL: Hey, Peggy, I didn't know you flunked a class, too.

PEGGY: I didn't flunk. I'm taking a couple of the elective courses they're offering this summer.

GIRL: So tell me, is that online rumor about your father true?

PEGGY: What are you talking about, Mayda?

MAYDA: Is your mother going to divorce him?

PEGGY: Why would she divorce him? They're perfectly happy.

MAYDA: Then why has he been visiting, quote, places of questionable repute, unquote?

PEGGY: Where did you hear that?

MAYDA: Oh, come on. Everyone knows about that online rumor.

PEGGY: Well, I don't. Our monitor died weeks ago, and my parents still haven't gotten around to replacing it.

MAYDA: Then you're the only one who doesn't know what's going on with your own father.
FADE OUT


SCENE THREE
(The scene shifts to the squad room of the 2-3.)
JOSIE: And that's when I knew I had to come clean.

MANUEL: About time.

ADAMS: You mean to tell us you let Joe resign, when all the time you were the one...

FEMALE OFFICER: And he was so sure you couldn't have done such a thing, he named you as our new captain.

TONI: I don't blame you

JOHNSON: How can you not blame her?

TONI: Let me finish. I don't blame you for threatening Walters. Any one of us might have done that. I blame you for letting Joe quit the force.

ADAMS: That's right, Josie. If saving Joe's career was so important to you, why didn't you come clean as soon as he told you why he was quitting?

TONI: I guess when push came to shove, saving your own career mattered more.

JOSIE: Toni, how can you say that? You, of all people?

TONI: How can I say that? Remember when I was in Florida, and I knew there was corruption in my precinct? I looked the other way, because Chip Rayburn threatened to ruin Joe's career if I didn't. I was ready to sacrifice my own career, and my reputation.

ADAMS: Toni's right, Josie. But you not only let Joe resign, you let everyone in Bay City, except us and his family, wonder if he really was corrupt.

JOHNSON: When it came down to it, you didn't really care about Joe's career or his reputation. All you cared about was covering your own ass.

TONI: You knew that Joe wasn't involved in anything underhanded, but you let people like Grant trash his reputation, when all you had to do was speak up.

JOHNSON: And I'll bet Joe let you off real easy.

JOE: Not this time, I didn't.

JOHNSON: She's still here, isn't she?

(Others nod and murmur in agreement.)

JOE: All right, that's enough. She doesn't need this from you guys.

JOSIE: No. They're right, Joe. You should have fired me!

(Josie covers her face with her hands and cries.)

JOE: I don't believe this! Now, I want to know, are you guys really glad to have me back?

ADAMS: You shouldn't even have to ask, sir.

JOE: Well, you can thank Josie for that.

JOHNSON: But it was Josie's fault that you resigned in the first place.

JOE: But I'm back because she came forward and told the truth, and she is being punished very severely for her actions.

ADAMS: How?

JOE: As much as I hated to do it, I've demoted her way down.

MANUEL: How far down are we talking about?

JOE: For awhile, Josie's rank will be that of Cadet.

(Shocked reactions from everyone.)

TONI: You really came down on her.

JOE: Yes, I did. And by the way, telling you what she did was Josie's idea, not mine.
FADE OUT



SCENE FOUR

One hour later

(The scene shifts to the living room of the Walters home. Peggy is lying on the sofa, crying. Marge is patting her back. Howard Walters walks in.)

HOWARD: What's wrong?

PEGGY: (sniffling) There's a rumor about you on the Internet... it's on at least nine message boards.

HOWARD: (sighs) Your Mother and I never wanted you to find out about that rumor.

PEGGY: You should have told me. Instead, I had to find out about it in school.

MARGE: She's right. We should have known someone would say something.

HOWARD: Honey, you know it's a lie, don't you?

PEGGY: Of course I know. I just don't like the idea of anyone spreading rumors like that about you. (Quick dissolve, and then we see the exterior of the Walters house. Joe and Josie are coming up the walk.)

JOSIE: Look, Joe, I appreciate your coming with me, but you really didn't have to.

JOE: Yes, I did.

JOSIE: I still think I should do this on my own.

JOE: No, Josie. You will not be doing anything on your own for the time being.

JOSIE: So I can't even try to make things right on my own?

JOE: I don't want you doing anything without running it by me first. Can you live with that for the time being?

JOSIE: Yes, sir.

(They reach the house. Josie rings bell. After a few seconds, Howard Walters opens the door. Marge and Peggy are standing behind him. Howard ushers Joe and Josie inside.)

JOE: I hope we're not intruding.

HOWARD: No, not at all. Joe, Josie, you know my wife, Marge, and this is our daughter, Peggy.

JOE: Josie has something she'd like to say to the three of you.

PEGGY: (suspiciously) It was you, wasn't it? You're Firefly789, aren't you?

JOSIE: (looks at floor) Yes.

PEGGY: (through her teeth)You bitch!

MARGE: Peggy! Since when do you use that language?

JOSIE: No, I don't blame her. I came here to apologize, and I want you to know that I've been going to the message boards and retracting the rumor.

PEGGY: You mean the lie.

JOSIE: Look, I don't know if this makes any difference to you, but I'm being punished for what I did. Tell them, Joe.

JOE: I've demoted Josie to Cadet indefinitely.

HOWARD: (surprised) She's going back to the Academy?

JOE: No, I'm not taking it that far. Essentially, she's on desk duty, but instead of typing reports, she'll be studying the Manual all over again. I'm also giving her some extra things to work on.

JOSIE: Almost like homework.

JOE: No, more like punishment assignments.

MARGE: Was coming here to apologize part of her punishment?

JOE: No, it wasn't. Josie felt that she owed it to you.
FADE OUT



SCENE FIVE
(The scene shifts to THE JASMINE GARDEN. Grant and Cecile are at their favorite table, waiting to be served.)
CECILE: You look, shall we say, disgruntled?

GRANT: Make that disgusted. I was finally rid of that arrogant Captain Joseph Carlino. I finally had people wondering if he'd had them fooled all these years.

CECILE: Because he resigned without an explanation?

GRANT: Exactly. And then that little chit, Josie Sinclair

CECILE: That little what?

GRANT: "Chit. (Pronouncing each letter separately and distinctly)" C, H, I, T.

CECILE: All right, I get it. But exactly what happened?

GRANT: To make a long story short, Joe resigned because one of his officers, he didn't know which one, did something unethical. But today, Detective Sinclair confessed that she was the culprit.

CECILE: Does this have anything to do with that rumor about Commissioner Walters?

GRANT: Yes, it does. Josie was the one who started that rumor and she also tried to blackmail Walters. (Musingly) It's funny. I was once involved with Josie's mother. If we had gotten married, Josie would have been my stepdaughter.

CECILE: I don't think she would have called you "Dad" or "Papa". So, I suppose Joe fired Josie?

GRANT: No, he didn't fire her. I was there when she confessed, and he did say that he would discipline her. However, at the time he was holding her and stroking her hair, as if (breaks off)

CECILE: As if what?

GRANT: It just came to me that I can turn this to my advantage, or, at least, to Joe Carlino's disadvantage.
FADE OUT



SCENE SIX:
Three hours later
(The scene shifts to reveal a split screen. On the left, we see Josie and Gary in bed, on the right, Joe and Paulina in their bed. Both couples are talking, but we can't hear what they are saying. Dissolve to show only Joe and Paulina.)

JOE: I'm sorry I can't go to Rachel's opening tomorrow, but I think I should stick around the 2-3.

PAULINA: I'm just glad you've got your job back. I still can't believe that you quit because Josie, of all people, was corrupt.

JOE: Not corrupt, Blue Eyes. Misguided.

PAULINA: How can you say she was misguided when you've always given the officers under you the best possible guidance?

(Dissolve to Josie and Gary)

GARY: Joe really came down on you today.

JOSIE: I deserved it. I should have known that his integrity meant more to him than his shield.
(Dissolve to Joe and Paulina)

JOE: Do you think I was too hard on Josie?

PAULINA: If anything, you were too easy on her. By all rights, you should have fired her.

JOE: You sound like you mean it.

PAULINA: Well, I do. Your career was almost ruined because of what Josie did.

JOE: Well, she was upset because she had to testify against me at the hearing, and that clouded her judgment for awhile.

PAULINA: But she's thinking clearly now?

JOE: I think she is. She hasn't said one word of complaint about her punishment, and it's the worst one I've ever given any of my officers.

(Dissolve to Josie and Gary.)

JOSIE: Boy, am I tired.

GARY: Well, no wonder. You've had a very long day.

(Dissolve to Joe and Paulina.)

JOE: I am absolutely wiped out.

PAULINA: I'm not surprised, after the long day you've had.
FADE OUT



SCENE SEVEN: CLOSING SCENE
The next morning.

(The scene shifts to the living room the Cory-Hutchins mansion. Carl is talking on the phone.)

CARL: I must say, you are one of the last people I expected to hear from, considering our past. (Pause) No, she still hasn't forgiven me. (Pause) Oh, she is civil, but a man wants more than mere civility from his wife. (pause) Yes, the opening is tonight. (pause) What sort of a suggestion? (pause) (Pause) No, I'd rather not go along with that. (Pause) Do you really think that the end would justify the means in this case? (Pause)Very well. We'll try your plan.
FREEZE FRAME
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