Title: Rebuilding

Author: Pari

Rating R to NC-17

Summary: A tragic event will haunt the San Francisco house. Will it destroy them all or will they find a way to rebuild their lives and friendships.

Warning: This story involves rape, although there are no explicit details it is implied.

Disclaimer: This story is meant to entertain and not infringe upon anyone's rights. I do not own these characters.

Author's Note: Some may have read this before on my old PTL site and it's currently up on my friend Bella's site. I have revised it a bit and reposting it here.

Chapter 1

She lay still on her back and stared up at the ceiling. She had tried counting the tiles but it hadn't work, so she just lay there in a zone. She felt numb and yet she hurt all over at the same time. Her mouth was dry, her eyes burned from crying for nearly an hour, and her throat was sore from her screams and from the hands that still gripped it. At least the assault on her body had stopped, yet a new one had started in her mind as she tried to come to terms with what had happened to her. She had just been raped in her own home, and by…She closed her eyes tightly against the memory of it. She had to focus on the here and now, and now he still lay on top of her, collapsed from exhaustion. She lay as still as she could and hoped she wouldn't rouse him, though his breathing told her he wasn't sleeping. He was just recollecting himself after climaxing, coating her insides with his unwanted seed. He groaned and moved from atop her, from inside her, and rolled onto his back. He stretched, sat up, and then began to stand and fix his clothes.

"You clean up this mess now, ya hear?" He said looking down at her and she slowly looked up at him.

"Okay," She replied with a weak, shaky voice. He then turned and walked out. She slowly sat up, wincing from the pain that racked her body. She got on her hands and knees and grabbed the torn stocking that had been ripped from her body; she then moved to soak up the tea that had been spilled during the attack. After she had gotten it all up, she tried to stand, bracing herself against the nearby counter. Her legs felt like lead, but they were wobbly and she nearly fell back down twice before she finally got her bearings. She then began to fix her own blouse and skirt, doing her buttons and smoothing down the fabric. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to tame it a bit, before she headed out the backdoor.

Half an hour later, at Mercy Clinic

She walked to the nurse's station with her head hung low, hoping to hide the bruises that covered her face. "Yes, Ma'am can I help you?"

"I need to see a doctor, I was ra…" She took a deep breath. "I was just raped," She said in a near whisper as she leaned in closer to the desk.

"Ma'am you'll have to speak up, I can't hear you," The nurse said which caused her to start to cry fresh tears and it stunned her for she didn't think she had any left to shed. The nurse stood seeing that the woman before her was distraught and in need of help. "Sweetie what's wrong, tell me so I can help you."

"I was raped," She repeated through tears as she began to shake. The nurse quickly moved around from the desk she sat behind. She moved to the woman, holding her around her shoulder.

"Ok baby girl, you're going to be ok. Come on with me," The nurse said in a soothing voice as she escorted the woman into the back. The nurse took the woman to one of the examining rooms. "Ok sugar, I'm going to have to get some information from you ok? Then I'll go call the police…"

"No!" The woman yelled. "No police, no. I just need a pill, that pill that you give to rape victims so they don't get pregnant. I just need that pill, that's all," She was now becoming frantic. Thoughts of telling, of an investigation, no she couldn't do that, she wouldn't.

"Ok sweetie, calm down."

"No police," She shook her head sharply.

"Ok, I won't call but I want you to calm down now, okay," The nurse coaxed and she did calm a little and lied back on the examining table.

"Can I at least get your name?" The nurse asked kindly.

"My name is Alex. Alex Moreau."

Sometime later

Rachel rushed through the doors of the clinic in a panic. She had been at home when she got the call stating that her friend had been hurt. She stopped in front of the nurse's desk. "Hello, my name is Dr. Rachel Corrigan, I'm here to see my friend Alex Moreau," She said with a shaky voice, fearing the worst. The black woman sitting at the nurse's station instantly stood.

"Yes, come with me, she's in the back," The older woman stated as she led Rachel to the back rooms of the clinic. "She came in about an hour ago, stating she had been raped," Rachel stopped cold in her tracks.

"Raped!" She repeated hoping he had heard wrong.

"I'm afraid so, the doctor's examining her now," The nurse answered as she pointed to the nearby closed door. "She was pretty distraught, understandably."

"Have the police taken a report yet?" Rachel questioned further as she prepared herself to see Alex. She wasn't sure about what she would say, although she had counseled many rape victims. This time it would be different, this time it would be Alex, her dearest and closest friend.

"No, ma'am, she didn't want us to call the police. She was quite insistent on it."

"Excuse me, but it's common policy to report any rapes that come in here."

"No, that's the policy at hospitals, we don't do that here, Dr. Corrigan. If we turned in every rape case that comes in here, we'd close down. We are a community clinic and it's hard to get these people to come here, as it is. It took us a long time to build respect and trust here if we start getting S.F.P.D. involved they would stop coming. Don't get me wrong if your friend had asked, of course, we'd have called them, but I don't think she wanted anyone to know, that's why she passed the county general hospital to come here, and why she got really upset when we told her we had to contact a family member before we could administer any meds to her. What with the state she was in," The Nurse stated and Rachel understood.

"I'm sorry," Rachel apologized and at that moment the female doctor and an accompanying nurse walked out of the room. Rachel moved to them. "How is she?"

"This is Miss. Moreau's friend, Dr. Corrigan," The nurse who had been informing Rachel of what was happening spoke out, and the fellow female doctor nodded her greetings to Rachel.

"She's ok but very sore, this guy was brutal and very stupid," The younger doctor said.

"How so?"

"He didn't wear a condom, and she was filled with his semen. But she didn't want me to do a rape kit on her, so I just examined her, that's about all I can do for her. She should do a follow up with her Ob-GYN and take an HIV test as well as being tested for other STDS. I'm sure you know the routine," The younger doctor smiled. Rachel nodded as she gave a slight smile back.

"Can I see her now?"

"Sure, she's actually all set to go, just stop by the nurse's station on the way out and sign a couple of release forms and then you can take her home."

"Thank you," Rachel said and headed for the door. She knocked gently before she slowly opened the door, and stuck her head inside. "Alex, sweetie?" Upon entering, Rachel found Alex with her back to the door. Alex was getting dressed, and Rachel flinched at the site of Alex's bareback, which was covered with purplish bruises. Alex carefully pulled her blouse on and began buttoning it, with her back still to Rachel. Rachel just stood watching her, unsure of what to say, how to react. She just wanted to go to Alex and wrap her up in her arms and keep her safe. Another part of her wanted to find the creep who did this and kill him. Alex finished dressing and turned to Rachel with a forced smile on her face.

"Hey," She greeted in a weak, tired voice. "I'm sorry that you had to come, but they insisted that I call someone, and you were the first I thought of."

"Don't you dare be sorry, of course, I was going to come. I don't understand why you wouldn't want me to," Rachel replied as she moved closer, but not too close to crowd Alex. She knew from experience that at this point all Alex probably wanted to do was take a hot bath. "Honey I'm so sorry this happened to you," Rachel stated as her tears began to form. Alex shook her head wildly.

"Don't start with the pity trip Rachel, not now. I just need to get to a hot shower and my warm bed," Rachel wasn't going to push it, so she just nodded wiping at her eyes.

Ok, let's go home then," Rachel said as she let Alex walk out first as she followed. After they had signed the release forms and were out on the road, heading home, Rachel tried to get some answers. "Maybe we should stop by the police station before we go home."

"No!" Alex said sharply. "I'm not going to file any charges. I just want to forget it."

"Alex, Hon, why wouldn't you want to get this guy? He raped you…"

"Don't you think I know this?" Alex snapped cutting Rachel off and glaring at her angrily. "I was there, I remember every second of it. So, yes I am well aware of the fact that he raped me. You have to understand something, this is mine and I will deal with in my own way, not yours, but my own. I hope you will respect that."

"I'll try, you know that but Nick won't. He's going to launch a full-scale search for this man, and God help the guy if Nick ever finds him. And Derek will probably fully support Nick in his effort," Alex knew that Rachel was speaking the truth.

"No, they won't because they won't find out about this, because I'm not telling them and neither are you," Rachel looked at her friend in shock.

"What? I can understand you not wanting the police involved. Ok, I can't really but I'm going with it, but you can't intend to not to tell Nick and Derek. Alex, they are your family too, they deserve…"

"Deserve! They deserve what? This happened to me, not them and not you. To me," Alex said with quivering lips and watery eyes as her tears began to fall. "I don't want them to know Rach, especially not Nick, because you're right he would go ballistic if he found out. I couldn't bear it if they knew, please Rachel. Please don't say anything, please," Rachel watched her friend with pain in her heart. How could she be so insensitive, and after all Alex had been through? She felt ashamed that she had caused her further anguish. She reached out and placed her hand on Alex's.

"I won't say anything, I promise. You're right this is about you and what you feel. If you feel like keeping it from Nick and Derek, I'll respect that, but you have to talk with someone about it, Alex. If not me then someone, another psychiatrist. I know several great ones that I can recommend."

"I'll think about it, right now all I want is a bath," Rachel smiled as she nodded, understanding, they had now reached the ferry that would carry them to the island. Rachel was secretly happy that Derek was out of town on business, and Nick had left for the day on an investigation across town and wasn't expected back until nightfall. Rachel knew if she saw either man when they arrived home that she would break down and tell them what had happened. She wanted something done to catch the man that raped Alex, the kindest, loving women she had ever known. How could someone, anyone want to hurt her? Who had hurt her, and why the hell was she protecting him?