When the wheels come off...(Closed: EKlectikChik)

Lucy gave him a small smile, feeling so damn low. She hated not being able to help more. She didn't want to owe anyone, but she had no wiggle room right now. None at all. “Sure...sounds good. Thanks. You could probably put anchovies on there and I'd gobble them down.” She said, trying to joke and lighten the way she felt.

Tucking her things close, she disappeared into the bathroom. Glancing over the sink she noticed the small complimentary bottle of shampoo and soap. No conditioner. She sighed...at least she'd be clean. She would be a lot happier with conditioner and a razor! She couldn't afford to be picky at the moment, so she quickly stripped after double checking the lock on the door and then immersing herself under the hot shower jets.

“Ah yeess.” She moaned softly and stood there for a long while, just letting the water run over her, trying to wash away her hurts and worries. Her entire body hurt, but she went through the motions of washing herself. Rubbing the small bar of soap over her slender body and then emptying the entire bottle of shampoo into her palm before lathering up her hair.

She scrubbed and rinsed, stepped out to towel off. Dressed in her oversized pants and shirt, Lucy wiped down the mirror. She gazed at her pale face surround by a dark tangled mess of hair. She looked tired, her under eyes smudged. Looking over, she winced, noticing the remnants of a five finger choke hold. The finger tips were still visible, fading to a dull yellowy color on her flesh.

Taking Quinn's sweater, she slipped it back on and finger combed her hair as best she could until she could find her own brush and made an exit, feeling a little refreshed and a lot hungry. “It's all yours.” She said with a shy smile and returned to her side of the room to dig for her brush.

Once Lucy had closed the door Quinn was left to his own thoughts. "Ok so you know she can't pay even for a tip, then why did you offer? Um.. oh hell I don't know.. I didn't want her to feel like she couldn't chip in. hell I'll mention it to her when she gets out of the shower"

Hearing the water turn on and the familiar sound of the shower start to spray, he picked up his phone, flipped through the hotel directory and dialed what looked like a mom and pop/ family pizza restaurant, hoping to catch them open. Ok it wasn't really late, more approaching 10pm than anything but he wasn't familiar with the city. He placed his order, a large pizza, half with pepperoni, half anchovies. He made sure to pay in full over the phone and hung up. Quinn then picked up the hotel phone and dialed reception, notifying them that there would be a pizza delivered for room 310 in the next hour, and to send them up when they arrived.

Once he hung up, he laid back on the bed stretch out his back and flexed his arms to the head board. His right shoulder was still a bit stiff, so he'd take the Advil once in the bathroom. ease it up a bit. after sitting all day.

Thinking to his beautiful roommate, he wished there was something he could do for her. He didn't want to pry but it was as if his old training was getting the better of him. Quinn knew there was much more to her than meet the eye, but getting her to open up about it would be a stretch.

In his current stretched out position, he relaxed a bit. closed his eyes and just enjoyed the bed. Almost falling asleep until he heard her voice. "Hm? Oh thanks.." Quinn was slow to get up, grabbed his stuff and headed to the bathroom. As he passed Lucy he stopped and held out his hand to her.

"Hey, I know you offered to help with dinner.... and I said it would be ok if you caught the tip, but honestly, I've got it."

Quinn tried to convey his sincerity to her through his eyes and his smile. "I don't want to pry, and I know you don't want me to be involved, so that's ok. But let me pay for dinner, the hotel and a couple extra things to help you. If you want to give me something in return, mail me a postcard from where ever it is you are going and let me know you made it ok. That's the only thank you I truly need."

For a tired man, Quinn sure seemed fluid as he got off the bed. He'd looked asleep whens she'd spared him a glance, but then he was there, holding out a hand.

She stared at it blankly for a moment, everything in her body sort of freezing to a stop. Then he spoke and she blew out a breath and blinked up at him, her beautiful eyes holding a sheen of unshed tears. Unable to say anything, she simply nodded and gave his hand a gentle, tentative squeeze with her own.

This seemed to be enough. She could tell he was struggling not to comfort her in a physical manner, so she quickly moved away and folded her body into the corner chair. She watched him leave, taking a deep soothing breath. A post card? She shook her head and hugged herself, drowning in his sweater. Ducking her face down, she pressed her face to her raised knees and inhaled again, catching a whiff of his scent.

Instantly she felt her body relax, her shoulders easing down. She wanted to weep....she wanted to scream! Choking on her emotions, she struggled to collect herself, straining to hear the shower. Pulling herself together, she stretched and reminded herself to breathe...just breathe.

Quinn watched her walk away, as he took a few more steps toward the bathroom, he was half way in the door as she started to crawl into the chair.. Quinn closed the door and reached into the shower, he noticed the empty bottles of shampoo as he turned on the shower, pulled the stop which sent the shower head spraying over head. Quinn stepped back and turned to the mirror, taking off his t-shirt, and opened his bathroom kit. Quinn Made sure everything was there and then looked up, looking at his own scared reflection in the mirror, he started talking to himself, internally, but loudly.

"Damn it Quinn do something! The girl is practically screaming that she needs help! Ok you are offering financial help, but not much emotional help."

"But it's non of my business, do I really want to get involved?"

"Buddy you are already involved, you know her name, you plan to fix her car, you are feeding her and giving shelter. YOU know she's been physically abused by someone, and that's a high chance that why she's running!"

"What the hell do I say?"

"why don't you show her your own scars.. let her know she's not alone.. that she doesn't have to go it alone."

Quinn shook his head and focused his mind, still talking to himself. "I'll take a shower first.. might help put clarity to this whole thing." Quinn stepped into the shower, and got himself clean, made sure to stretch his right shoulder. Shutting the water off, he got out dried himself off and started getting dressed. Looking at the undershirt he pulled out of his suitcase, he noticed a sizable stain, right in the middle of his chest. Remembering this was the shirt he'd worn when he spilled food on himself while in Vegas... "Great.. now I am going to walk out of the bathroom half naked she'll see the scars.... Well... hope she doesn't go shy at a guy with his shirt off."

Quinn opened the door and stepped out, dirty clothes wrapped up along with his dirty undershirt.

Um..... Lucy? Hope you're not offended by me being shirtless for the moment, but the shirt I got out of my suitcase was stained. Believe me, I'm not trying to blind you with my whiteness." He looked at her with a smile and walked to his suitcase.

There was no hiding the scars. on the corner of his shoulder close to his armpit, there were thick white scars, a number of them webbing out of one much larger scar the shape of a circle. Quinn was well muscled, he's tried to follow his physical therapy after the surgeries and recovery to keep himself in shape, he wasn't in the military anymore, but his job skills depended on him being in excellent shape. Quinn grabbed another shirt looked over at Lucy and quickly smiled, turning back to the bathroom to keep getting dressed when a knock came at the door. He quickly put on his shirt, showing her the massive scar from the exit wound on the back of his right shoulder, matched by a circular scar on his left shoulder, the pattern matching that of what could be a stove top burner. The scar looked old, white and faded but it was pretty easy to figure out what it was.

Shirt now on, Quinn opened the door, greeted the delivery guy and paid for the pizza shutting the door behind him. Turning and walking back into the room he had A plastic bag on top a large pizza box looked to hold the two water bottles along with some other things. Pizza in hand, Quinn walked back toward Lucy smiling, "Finally! pizza is here.."

Lucy's first instinct was to duck her face down away from Quinn as he warned her while entering the room. However as soon as he appeared in her line of sight, she was unable to look away. He WAS pale, but she didn't care. His skin looked smooth and toned, his muscles defined, but not overly bulky. Just looked solid and then her eyes darted to the scars that were old, but still visible. She swallowed a gasp and looked away, feeling as though she was being rude, staring. But her mind mulled it over, wondering what had happened. She knew little of his past, but obviously he'd been hurt during his job...at least she hoped it was just his job.

When he turned to walk back into the bathroom, her gaze shifted back up and her eyes widened. For whatever reason she wanted to reach out and soothe the old hurt with her fingers. She shook her head. What the hell was wrong with her? She wanted to know the story behind it, but dared not ask. It wasn't fair, she told herself. You're not sure, why should he?

Saved by the knock at the door, she breathed a sigh of relief, but also stiffened anxiously until she realized it was the food. Quinn's easy smile brought about her own. “Smells great.” She told him as he came closer and slid the box onto the small table that sat near the window between her chair and it's twin.

Avoiding his gaze, she tucked her hair safely around her face and sat up a little, dropping her legs down as she took the offered bottle of water gratefully. When the lid of the pizza box was popped open she was also shocked to see that he'd gone out of his way to order half and half on the pizza, giving her what she'd teased about.

She let out a startled little laugh and grinned, “You didn't have to do that, but thank you. For everything.” She told him sincerely.

Quinn loved the way she sounded when she laughed, it meant she was relaxing a bit. He couldn't imagine spending the rest of the evening in a dower mood, just wasn't his style. or the way he wanted to spend an evening with her.

"Thank you for saying so, and you are very welcome. It's the toppings that can make the difference between really good pizza and cardboard."

Quinn picked up a slice for Lucy first,handing one to her with a paper plate then one for him, Folding it in half he fed himself a good three bites, forgetting just how hungry he was.. Then realized he'd nearly inhaled half his piece before remembering to at least try and act like he had manners...He chewed what he had in his mouth, looked over at Lucy with an embarrassed smile, swallowed and meekly said.. “Sorry.. when I get hungry.. I kind of forget my manners, and just start eating as if it was my last meal.. I remember days when I'd scarf as much food as I could while out in the field, simply because I was never sure when I was going to eat again..” He was sure she probably didn't even notice as she was too busy eating as well, but he had to start a conversation somehow.

So.. since you are stuck with me for a little bit, well at least till we find out about your car, I thought maybe we'd just play tomorrow morning by ear? I know they have breakfast every morning downstairs, but if it just so happens to be that we sleep in...” Giving her a crooked half smile as he said it “I'm sure there is a diner we can grab a bite at. So long as you aren't sick of me by then.”

Lucy couldn't just bask in his smile, she decided. It was so damn sexy and yet adorable all at once. She didn't know why, but it made her insides flutter to the point that she decided her fiance must have knocked the sense right out of her. Her mind screamed DANGER! WARNING!!! But her heart as telling her to relax and that she was safe. The combination was confusing as she tried not to inhale her own slice of pizza.

"Sounds....fine." She said, feeling a little awkward. She didn't want to sound too damn eager about it, did she? NO!

Two slices down and she was still a little hunger, but fatigue was starting to set in further. She smothered a yawn before a hand and quickly gulped down the rest of her water. "Sorry, I'm just real tired. It's not you." She said with a small smile and glanced longingly at the bed before drifting back to the box. One more piece couldn't hurt.

Forcing herself to eat, she took another slice and ate it slowly, chewing carefully as she filled her belly and tried to make idle chit chat. When she was finally stuffed, she excused herself and moved back to the bathroom. After relieving herself and then washing her hands, she returned to the room and went to 'her side' of the room where all her stuff was and sat on the edge of the bed. Stretching, she ignored the aches and then went for the zipper of his sweater. It was warm enough in the room, so there was no real point in wearing it.

Avoiding his gaze, she removed it and folded it neatly, setting it to the side, then quickly slid into bed and drew the covers up to her chin. "Good night, Quinn."

As Lucy got ready for bed herself, Quinn couldn't help but watch her while dragging his feet getting ready for bed himself. The pizza was fantastic, he'd have to remember if he traveled through Grand Junction again he'd need to stop by the actual restaurant. He was amazed at how much Lucy was actually able to eat, some women watch their figure with every bite, she might be that type but definitely not tonight. She'd probably last really had a good meal back in Cali, and he can only guess probably 36 hours ago. After Lucy finished up in the bathroom he did the same and headed to bed. He was so tired from the previous day and the crappy drive Quinn barely heard her say good night as he watched her curl in to bed.

His heart went out to her. He knew what she was going through, the blame, the fear and the running, trying to escape while you still had the strength to move your feet. It brought back a wash of memories and he remembered those first few nights so long ago. Quinn closed his eyes and remembered where he was. He was here, a long way from there, and he was here with her.

Getting undressed save for his boxers Quinn crawled in bed and fell fast asleep.

****

Quinn woke up some hours later, his right shoulder had cramped up.. "DAMNT IT!" he cursed himself as he dragged himself out of bed trying to be quiet and not wake Lucy. His right shoulder was killing him, he'd forgotten to take the advil he'd talked to himself about twice last night. Now he was going to pay for it, he'd be up for a while until the meds kicked in. Shutting the bathroom door, Quinn turned the lights on and quickly grabbed 4 advil out of his kit. "Yea.. it would be a 4 advil night.." washing them down with a glass of water, he turned out the lights and opened the door to the bathroom, walking back toward his bed when he noticed Lucy was thrashing in her sleep.

She called out for someone to stop, pleading that she wouldn't burn the food again, promising she'd be better. Her arms flung up to protect her face, as she threw herself across the bed. Quinn quickly got to her side, lightly putting his left hand on her face trying to call out to her. He whispered her name. "Lucy........ wake up...wake up.." but it did no good, she continued to thrash throwing his hand away as if it was a hot iron, beginning to cry uncontrollably. She ended up balling herself up into a fetal position facing toward him, burying her face in the pillows around her.

Quinn stopped thinking and started acting, he walked to the other side of the bed and crawled under the covers behind her. There was no way she was going to sleep alone tonight.. that's if she slept at all. He snuggled in behind her and wrapped his right arm over her resting his left under the heap of pillows under her head. Quinn brushed Lucy's hair away from her face curling it back behind her ear as she continued to cry. Soothingly he stroked her face as he whispered in her ear..."Lucy, it's me Quinn... you're safe now... you're here, in Grand Junction... you're not in Cali anymore... you're safe now." He repeated it over and over to her until he heard her breathing begin to relax.. and her crying finally subsided. Quinn felt her right arm curl over his pulling it over her protectively..

Quinn tried to relax his body, anyone who watches romance movies thinks it's easy for two people to wrap themselves around each other, but one always ends up moving because an arm falls asleep or is just too heavy so he didn't want to squash Lucy. Keeping this in mind he tried to edge his arm away, knowing if he fell asleep it would be dead weight on her, but she wouldn't budge. If he tried to lightly pull away she'd hold tighter, refusing to let go. He thought to what she was saying in her nightmare, her pleading and begging.. it wasn't right, nobody should be treated that way. Trying to control his own emotions he couldn't stop a few tears of his own from running down his face. Finally, with Lucy asleep, her breathing even and calm, he allowed himself to relax, and fell asleep, his face buried in her hair. the natural smell of her was intoxicating....

Sleep came swiftly for Lucy. She had been exhausted, but as soon as the blackness had taken over, so had the nightmares. Fear crawled through her until it threatened to make her hysterical. Dinner wasn't up to par...again. Though she hadn't meant to burn the bottom of the lasagna, it was still eatable, but no amount of reasoning got through his thick skull. No, he'd come home in one of those moods...ready to fight. Ready to take out his aggression on her. It started off with words...words she'd learn to block and ignore for the most part and then a small shove or a slap. If she played it cool, he sometimes let it be. But today the plate had been flung across the kitchen, smashing an ugly mess against the wall and over the floors. Then a hard back hand had left her dizzy and falling back.
She thrashed and cried out as Kyle loomed over her, his eyes cold as he pressed one meaty hand around her throat and squeezed. Lucy tried not to struggle. He loved the fight. Feeding off her fear and anxiety until she was a complete and total mess. But as her breath became cut off, her body began to fight back. She grasped his wrist and tried to pull him off, gasping and gurgling. Yet all he did was smile, easing his touch off enough for her to pull in another breath before he slammed it back home. Her head hit the wall, blasting pain through her skull and she renewed her fight, clawing at his arm and kicking.

But as always, she was no match. He was bigger, stronger no amount of pleading stopped him. When she was too tired to struggle, he laughed and let her drop to the floor. She struggled to draw in breath after breath, but that hadn't been the end. Oh no, never that simple.

Trembling, she fought to wake up, struggling against someone else. Not Kyle, her mind reasoned. His scent was familiar, his voice soothing, but she was still trapped in her nightmare until finally the body eased next to hers. His warmth radiated through her, soothed away her shivers and instantly began to calm her. Quinn, she thought through the fog as the images faded out and her pulse slowed. Clinging to him, she snuggled more firmly against him and let out a soft, broken sigh before her body went lax again. Exhausted, she slipped deeper into sleep, this time without the fear, without the nightmare to haunt her. Quinn had her and she was once again safe.

It was early morning when Lucy woke up. She was warm, to the point of almost being hot. With a soft groan, she tried to stretch her aching body only to find herself securely pinned under a heavy arm and thigh. For just a split second she felt fear race up her spine and then forced herself to rationalize as her gaze drifted over to Quinn's empty bed. Vague memories of the nightmare and his soothing voice filtered through her brain as she recalled the night before and calmed herself.

Stay calm, she told herself. It's just Quinn. Laying still, she focused on her breathing and slowly became aware of the warmth of his breath against the back of her neck. Strangely enough, it felt good. Even if his large body was heavy against hers...and she really needed to pee. She didn't want to move, but mother nature was calling. “Quinn...” She called out softly. “Quinn, wake up.”

He was relaxed, warm and far more comfortable than he'd been in ages.. His dreams were normally pretty jumbled, but this one was focused. He dreamed of Lucy, picking her up in his arms letting her cry as long as she needed to, smelling her hair, kissing her forehead and finally resting his left hand on the small of her back as his right hand ran into her hair, cupping her head kissing her slowly first.. then passionately.. just holding her.. no words were spoken, just the pattern of her breathing.. their lips moving against each other. and then someone woke him from his dream.

"Quinn, wake up..." He heard her say.

His right arm was draped over her as he curled her body into his. he blinked his eyes waking up. Inhaling deeply and smelled her scent again he thought to himself.. she was intoxicating... He could feel himself a getting hard. Then he realized their position and where his cock was. "Mmm? oh good morning.." he said as he quickly removed his arm from over her turning on to his back looking up at the ceiling. He felt her get up from the bed heading to the bathroom, watching her butt move under the loose pants she was wearing.

His face now beat red from embarrassment, he scolded himself, "Quinn.. you comforted her all night, and you had to ruin it with morning wood against her ass? Good job, what a way to start off the morning.." If he was lucky, she may not have noticed..

As soon as Quinn finally rolled away, Lucy moved out of bed with haste. Not only because her bladder was screaming, but as Quinn had shifted, she'd felt him harden against her bottom. The sensation had sent a little shock of pure female awareness through her body that she refused to deal with. Sex since she'd been with her fiance had been...

Lucy shuddered, shaking her head as she entered the bathroom and pressing a hand over her eyes. Breathe...just breathe, it'll be okay. She told herself. All men get morning wood...he didn't touch you, hurt you or made advances, so calm down. Besides, who wants a woman covered in bruises and repulsed by sex? No one.

Drawing in a long breath, she let it out and went about her business. Having forgotten clothing, she decided to just wash up and then return to the room once she'd woken up a little more and could face Quinn without looking as though she was ready to bolt for the door. Stepping back into the dimly lit room, Lucy moved over to her pack. “Bathroom is free...figured you may wanna use it. I was gonna grab another quick shower and change if that's okay...helps me wake up.” She told him and paused a moment, her hands still on her pack.

“Quinn?” She glanced his way. He looked so good laying there, his chest bare and the covers hiding everything else. When his gaze met hers she looked away shyly, more than a little embarrassed. “Thanks again for last night...sorry if I woke you...”

Quinn, was watching her. as she moved to her pack, she'd mentioned using the shower again which he'd probably do also. What was she going to use? there was no conditioner, and the shampoo was gone. If she wanted to use his, he had no problem with that, but she probably wouldn't ask.

When she asked about last night, Quinn decided it was time to take a chance. He sat up, scratched his head and looked at her, his reply was going to have to be careful, but she had to know now that he knew what she was running from.

"You didn't wake me. I forgot to take some advil for my shoulder before going to sleep, and my shoulder locked up on me. I noticed you were having your nightmare. I'm glad I could be here to help."

Quinn reached out his right hand to her, and hoped she'd take it.

"Could you sit with me please?" he scooted over on the bed, giving her enough room where hopefully she'd sit with him.

Lucy looked over at him as he sat up and regarded her. She couldn't quite read his face and when he reached out and asked for her to sit, she wondered what was up. What did he want?

"Um...." She started, looking at her pack and then at him. Finally she moved towards him slowly, cautiously. "Okay..."

Taking his hand, she moved onto the bed on her knees and then sat on her bottom and Indian style. His hand again dwarfed hers, but was warm and soothing as he kept a gentle hold on her.

"Is something wrong? Are you still hurting?" She asked him, frowning slightly as she realized how much she did care about his well being. "Your...scars....are extensive." She added lightly and then shook her head. "Sorry. I just know they must be uncomfortable at times..."

Quinn took a deep breath and sighed, talking to himself while he tried to carefully choose his next words. "She is subconsciously deflecting, she might know what I'm about to say, but she's in denial about her own pain."
he smiled at her, holding her hand gently but letting her know he's there.

"Well, each of the scars I have tells a story, and some of them are harder to talk about than others."

Quinn first pointed at the scar on his right shoulder. "This one I got in Afghanistan, the team I was working with got ambushed and we took fire from a number of positions, This particular one came from a sniper, who was probably aiming for my head, but was a terrible shot. The round instead went right through my shoulder. He wasn't quite so lucky as one of my team mates made sure not to miss. However the damage was done, I could barely use my right arm, so after getting patched up and making it back to base, I was extracted and sent back to the states. The docs did their best work, I've got plenty of metal in this shoulder so going through a metal detector is kind of interesting. It works near perfect, I can pretty much do anything, but If I don't watch it, I can't use my right shoulder until the pain subsides."

Quinn then pointed at his left shoulder, "The swirly scar on the back of my left shoulder, well I got that when I was 13. My drunk ass father would beat me and my mom on a regular basis, Either the beer was too warm, the chicken was too cold, or he simply didn't like the look on my face and decided to wipe it off. So, one night I'd had enough, He'd gotten his drink on pretty early, and pretty much beat my mom near to death, broke a few ribs, and broke her jaw, by slamming her head into the side of the fridge when she spilled his beer. So after I took his favorite baseball bat to his knee he picked me up and slammed me against the stove top, Mom had been cooking that night, so the big burner was still hot. He made sure I remembered it, while he tried choking the life out of me."

Quinn sighed and looked at Lucy intently, still holding on to her hand.. either because he needed her while he told the story, or because she needed him. "He sent me to my room as he picked my mother off the floor, I couldn't tell if she was unconscious or if she was dead, either way I wasn't going to wait for round two. So I grabbed what I could out of my bedroom, shoved it into my backpack and slipped out through my bedroom window. I remember calling the cops from a gas station down the road, but I didn't wait to see if they'd come to find me. I ran, and I didn't stop running for a week, until the streets, trees, hills and license plates didn't look the same."

Quinn looked intently at her, trying to suppress his own tears..."I'm telling you this Lucy because I witnessed your nightmare, and I remember having so many of my own for years afterward. You are incredibly brave to have run from California, You grabbed what you could before you left and just RAN, as fast and as far as your car would take you. I don't know who the piece of shit is that you are running from, but who ever he is he doesn't deserve you. I'm...I'm trying to tell you, you don't have to run anymore. I'm offering you the kind of help nobody ever offered me." He wiped away his tears with his left hand, still holding on to her hand with is right. If she pulled away, if she ran, he'd let her...but he hope she'd stay.

Lucy felt whatever color she had left in her face drain and her skin turn clammy as she listened to Quinn tell her about his past. Her heart went out to him...that poor boy! A series of emotions washed over her in a jumbled mess. Anger for that child, for his mother, for being so alone and then fear and hatred towards her fiance who had taken all his ugly emotions on her physically.

Tears blurred her vision as she struggled to take in a breath. Her hand tightened on his own, feeling disoriented and a little dizzy. She looked down at her legs, focusing on the pattern on her pj pants and shuddered slightly.

"I don't know what to say...." She finally got out, her voice strained as she tried to blink away the sting of tears. "Quinn...you don't know me. I'm so sorry you went through that, but...I can't let you get into the middle of this...I don't know what he's capable of and you...don't know me."

She knew it sounded lame and she was repeating herself, but what in the world was she supposed to do?! Tugging her hand away, she shoved at her messy hair, too afraid to look him in the eye as she brushed away stray tears and sniffled. "I don't feel brave...I've been running on fear and fumes. I'm...so tired..."

Quinn looked at her trying to think forward. He had the same tired eyes she had he hadn't cried like that for years, the training, his years of therapy as a child helped him focus his anger. But digging up those memories were hard, and seeing her go through even a fraction of what he had go through wasn't easy.

"Lucy I know you don't want me involved, but look at me. I'm here, I'm involved because I stopped by the side of the road to help you out. I'm involved for all the reasons good people look out for other good people."

Quinn sighed, opened both hands, palm up placing them on her knees but approaching no closer as he leaned forward to her. I'm offering you time to heal, to put your life back together. If you want to stay off the radar, I get that, there's ways of making it happen. But please let me help you. "

"I could tell the moment I met you that you had a genuine good heart, call it my gut talking to me, and my gut hasn't proven me wrong yet. "

Quinn leaned forward and put his left hand on her chin. "Lucy.. you are very brave, and all of these..." Quinn rested his right hand on her right wrist, where he knew there were bruises she was hiding "These.. are not your fault."

Lucy could scarcely breathe, unable to reach out to him and touch him. The soft touch of his hand on her chin made her shudder slightly as he tilted her head back up to gaze at him. Her vision blurred until she blinked and the tears rolled down her soft cheeks.

Then he touched her wrist, gently tugging until it was in her line of sight. These are not your fault. Her breath shuddered out as she shook her head and pulled herself away from his grasp. "How can you say that?" She asked him, her voice wavering, but getting a little strength. "I let him...I stayed and let it happen over and over and over..."

A sob broke free as he shook his head and repeated that phrase again. "Stop it Quinn!" She blurted out, anger laced with her fear and sadness. "You don't know me...you don't know him and all...the vile things I put up with...."

When he repeated the phrase again, she shoved against his chest, "Why are you being so stubborn? Are you crazy? And then what? Huh Quinn?! I'm broken. I'm nothing. All I want to do is get away. You were a child and yoran, no one can fault you for that. I'm a grown woman! One who couldn't even look at her friends or parents and ask for help. So I ran like a coward..."

With a broke sob, she pulled away again and hugged herself, feeling lost and completely helpless which is exactly what she didn't want to feel!

Quinn didn't let her go. He moved forward toward her, as she slapped his chest, she pulled back and wrapped her arms around herself. He followed and wrapped his arms around her. Quinn didn't put any open pressure on her at all.. but he knew he was strong enough to hold her. Let her thrash, let her cry.. she needs to get it out.

Quinn wiped away a few stray hairs from her face, brushing them behind her ears. He continued, “Lucy, you are strong, one of the strongest women I've ever met, you had the courage to get out and save your own life putting your own survival above him. I don't know you, you're right, but I do know what you are going through. You blame yourself, you figure that if you'd only done what he asked then you wouldn't have gotten hit, or choked. You thought you could change him, and you stayed because you LOVED him. You stayed because he promised he'd change, that he was getting better when in fact he was only getting worse. Please Lucy, look at me... nobody, nobody lets themselves be hit..nobody lets themselves be abused.”

Quinn gently stroked the back of her head, massaging the back of her head, hoping she'd relax. “ And your right Lucy, I don't know him, but I know his type, and I know how it would have ended if you hadn't been brave enough to break free and run.” Quinn held her, hoping she'd relax into him.. and let it out.. “Lucy, it's not your fault.”

Lucy tried to struggle against him, not wanting him attention, his affection and whatever else he was throwing her way. But as soon as his bare chest and arms pulled her close and held her firmly, his warmth enveloped her. She stiffened and let out a strangled cry, feeling pitiful and so hurt.

It welled up inside her, the pain threatening to overwhelm her senses, but as his words filtered through her mind, she began to sob. Great big, gut wrenching sobs that filled the air as she pressed against him, desperate for his heat. For so long she'd felt so alone, so cold. Left out to fend uherself.

With Quinn holding, she burrowed close and ducked pressed her face to his neck and shoulder. Tears flowed freely, wetting his skin and hers, but neither seemed to care as she crumbled.

She wasn't sure how long she cried for, but she felt exhausted now and limp. Her eyes hurt, her mouth felt dry and she was slowly regaining an even breath as she sniffled. Awkwardly she shifted and wiped at her face, then regarded his skin and felt a surge of embarrassment. "Gross, I'm so sorry..."

Quinn kept his arms around Lucy as she cried. He’d gone through much of this himself so many years ago that he’d been able to heal over 17 years. He did leave a few things out from what he’d said to Lucy, She was stunning, the kind of girl he’d always dreamed about meeting. She didn’t realize it, especially not right now, but she had eyes so amazingly expressive that he could get lost in them for years. Her natural smell was intoxicating and being this close to her was making it difficult on him. He’d been telling himself about how beautiful she was, but the more he got to know her, of what little she’d already told him the more he realized she was just as amazing on the inside. *And then his subconscious got a hold of him, pulling him by the ear as a nun would to one of their students, getting his immediate attention. “HEY, she’s vulnerable you moron! You know from experience she needs TIME to heal. This is just the beginning… and you thinking about her as an object of your juvenile sexual fantasies is gonna get her to run, you’ll lose her faster than you know it.” With his subconscious speaking it’s mind, ok his mind, he reeled in his thoughts. No way was he going to bring it up, she’d think he was extremely creepy.

Instead Quinn held her for as long as she needed, holding her tight, but not squeezing the life out of the girl. He knew she needed this, just as much as he did when he was young. Only it took him years of running to find it. Quinn started to formulate a plan that would hopefully bring her out of her shell a little one step at a time. When Lucy pulled her face away from his chest, they both realized how much she had cried on him. As she apologized, Quinn looked down to her with a crooked smile, massaging the back of her head as she looked at him he replied “It’s ok.. I’ll take that kind of gross any day.”

With a wink at Lucy he tried to liven the conversation, “Why don’t you start up the shower, I’ll call room service and see if they’ve got anything better than what was in the room. I know this place isn’t the Ritz, but they have to stock some sort of beauty products. If they don’t, feel free to use my stuff if anything might work for you.” *At that Quinn hugged her one more time, turned around and grabbed the room phone and dialed the hotel operator. Waiting a few minutes he finally got to who he needed, requested some bath and beauty products that he was sure they had, which they did of course. Lucy had entered the bathroom but the water wasn’t on yet, Quinn got up, walked over to the bathroom door, knocked and said through the closed door “I was right.. they are sending some stuff up for you pronto.. Get a bath ready for yourself if you want, I’ll bring the stuff to you when it gets here…if that’s ok?” * *

Lucy couldn't believe it...how had she let her guard down? Somehow he'd broken down the walls and made her deal whens he really didn't want to. She didn't need to be asked twice about the shower. As soon as Quinn let go, she slipped off the bed and stumbled to her pack.

Still sniffling and feeling as though her face was all puffy, she pulled out a well worn pair of jeans and another simple, but baggy long sleeved t-shirt and some clean undies. Now in the privacy of the bathroom, she winced at the site of her. God she looked horrible! Shaking her head she neatly piled her clothes on the corner of the sink with still trembling hands.

The knock at the door made her start and his voice came through, a little muffled. "Um...sure. Thank you."

No getting naked yet! She went to the tub and started to run the water so it was hot and soothing and then sat on the top of the toilet with the lid down, waiting. It didn't take too long at all before she heard a knock and then Quinn making polite conversation with whoever it was. Then he was knocking again.

Back up she opened the door and was surprised, pleasantly so, at the assortment of 'goodies' the hotel staff had brought. More towels, and right on top several bottles of shampoo, conditioner, soap, bubble bath and even a few cheap razors. Ok - they there were probably a one bladed bic razor, but she didn't care.

"Thank you...this is...great." She beamed him a small smile. "I won't be too long..."

"take your time, we're not in any rush to go anywhere. Besides, I'm sure a long soak in the tub will ease the muscles and the aches and pains from the long drive yesterday."

Quinn was a bit energized, he'd gotten her to break down a few barriers and start healing. it would do her some good. and make a good start toward the future. Quinn walked back to his bed, pulled up his bag and pulled out his tablet, he searched for the WiFI signal in the hotel, got it and started looking for someplace they could go to get her a few things. As he was looking, Google pretty much started directing him toward places based on his location, much like his phone did. He took two giant leaps of logic down a path he didn't like to travel much anymore, at least not while he wasn't working. The training was hard to "unplug" from, as the mind set you need to do your job well makes you a bit paranoid. However, he thought if this creep Lucy was running from was as much of a nut job as he thought he might be. The guy could have snuck a small GPS locator on her car. Hell, he could have been responsible for the damage to her car. Trying to keep one step ahead, Quinn picked up his phone and called Uncle Jack.

"Morning Quinn. It's early, I haven't had a chance to look at the car yet."

Quinn politely replied "I know, and I was hoping I could talk to you about the car before you started working on it."

Inquisitively, Uncle Jack replied "ok... I'll bite, what's up?"

"Bill me for the repairs to Lucy's car, she's low on cash and could use the break. so I'm helping her out on this one."

"Not a problem, anything else.. maybe the real reason you called?"

slightly nervous, Quinn replied "I'm that transparent hm?"

Uncle Jack replied "No, I just know you well enough that you wouldn't call me early when you knew the job hadn't even gotten started."

Quinn signed. and got to the point "Ok, here's the thing, when you look over her car for damage, can you look for things that really are not suppose to be there?"

"Sure.. I think I know what you're asking.. Shouldn't be a problem at all." Uncle Jack replied, his voice expressing his certainty that he and Quinn were on the same page. "Once I'm done, I'll give you a shout, probably want to get me the full day though."

Nodding his head as he replied "Absolutely, we're settled here in town so just give me a call if you have something."

"You bet Quinn, I'll be in touch."

Quinn hung up and looked over at the bathroom, she might question him about that conversation, and he'd be sure to tell her. At that, he threw his phone on his bed, reached for the remote and turned on the morning news.

When had it been last that she took her time and relaxed? Lucy couldn't quite remember...sometime over a year she supposed. As s oon as she'd moved in with Kyle and the engagement ring had been on her finger...he'd been too impatient to wait for marriage. Plied her with sweet words and promises. So many sweet promises that had been dashed with the first slap and crushed with a punch.

With the bubble bath frothing up the tub, Lucy shut the bathroom door and locked it, stripping down before she slid into the tub with a handful of goodies. She sighed and sank chin deep with only the tops of her knees and head poking above the hot water and bubbles.

It felt heavenly. So soothing that she couldn't help but close her eyes. Just for a moment...and then they were open. She didn't enjoy sleep or closing her eyes much...resting always brought in the anxiousness. The panic that welled up within as her mind flashed through the terrible memories.

Ducking down, she wet her hair and started to lather it back up before rinsing, then added two bottles of conditioner to her wet tresses. She let that sit as she washed her body and then rinsed everything away.

Using the soap to lather up her legs real good, she took the cheap razor and tested a small spot on her slender shapely legs. Satisfied that it would do the job, Lucy shaved her legs clean and ran her over her smooth skin with a soft smile. God it felt good to feel this clean and like a woman again! More or less at least....she was still covered in bruises, but felt better.

Basking in the tub until she started to prune, Lucy reluctantly left the tub and dried herself off before slipping on some clean clothes. Brush...needed a brush....

Cleaning up her messes out of habit, she left the bathroom looking neat and tidy and then walked out to see what Quinn was up to. She found him on the bed still, watching TV. "Thanks...that was what I needed. All yours."

Quinn had heard the bathroom door open and watched Lucy walk out. She really had no idea how beautiful she was. Either that, or her ex had tried to suppress all of her self confidence. But it didn't take a rocket scientist to see how beautiful she was. Hopefully with what he had planned for the day would bring her out of her shell a bit.. or at least make a couple strides toward that goal. "Not too fast Quinn, take it slow.. Lucy deserves that.. "

Quinn nodded at her and smiled as she walked over to her side of the room, "I'll take a quick one, promise.. although you may have used up all of the hot water." he said with a smile and a teasing chuckle. "feel free to check the channels, and he tossed the remote on to her bed. Quinn grabbed boxers, a pair of green cargo shorts, a loose fitting under armor t-shirt and headed into the bathroom shutting it behind him not bothering to lock it.

Quinn was left to his thoughts about the day, he turned on the shower and got in. He'd try and get her comfortable enough to shop for some girlie clothes.. He figured what better way to get a stunning girl next door to come out of her shell? Go shopping!! And that thought was rudely interrupted by the grumbling in his stomach. Shopping would have to wait.. they'd need food first.

Lucy smiled at Quinn and shook her head as she watched him move to the bathroom. He was both sweet, funny and perhaps a little crazy. Lost in her own thoughts, she managed to snag her brush and began working on her long hair. The blond strands were a bit of a pain but finally lay smooth and damp on her shirt. She decided to leave it down so that it would hide most of the bruising around her neck and wished she had lotion. She hadn't bothered packing up makeup or anything else, obviously.

Tipping over the contents of her pack on the bed, she sighed. She needed to wash her clothes. This was her last clean outfit. She had nothing pretty or nice. She'd packed light and practically. Shorts, jeans, t-shirts and undies. She'd never been on the run and she'd been in a hurry.

Picking through her things, she neatly folded her stuff and put it back in her back in a more orderly fashion just to keep herself busy. She packed away her brush and then glanced at her bed and made that also. It seemed stupid. Who made their hotel bed? But she suddenly felt anxious and a little trapped.

Sunlight filtered around the edges of the curtain in the room and Lucy took a careful look outside and felt her stomach clench with hunger. However, it was a sad reminder that she was depending on a man who was too sweet for his own good. If she could just sell her jewelry perhaps she could get enough to keep going and pay him back.

Pacing around, she clasped her hands together and waited. Wanting fresh air, food and solutions.