A/N

I've been doodling with this idea for a long time but never actually worked on it until now, pretty much when crazy CM fan began posting the great story "Hollow" on here, which explores the same basic idea. I definitely advice you to read that story, or you'll be missing out on good stuff. :)

I know, I'm working on the "On Rules And Attraction" fic I have on here, and this one is sort of a side-work… not sure where it's headed yet, but I don't aim on it to be a romance fic. We'll see where it goes. Be patient, I try to be...

And care about others in the meanwhile. They might seem very strong, but they could still use some affection. And you may try real hard to seem strong, but those around you could be very willing to offer you an embrace without judging.

It wasn't the first time he had hit her in the face, but it had been many years ago since he last did it. Usually he had more self-control than that; hitting her in the lower back, legs, stomach and breasts was his usual MO, and he rarely left visible marks. But last night he had really lost his temper and before he even seemed to realise himself what he was doing he had struck her across the eye and the side of her nose. The nosebleed had stopped after only a couple of minutes, but her eye had swelled and bruised even though she had put an ice bag on it. When he saw the result he immediately turned remorseful and swept her up in his arms.

"Oh, Alex, honey, I'm so sorry."

Yeah. So was she. Sorry she had ever laid eyes on him. Sorry she stayed with him, for better and for worse. Sometimes she thought he would have killed her long ago if he hadn't been assigned work overseas. The one time she had managed to get pregnant, he had beaten the child out of her in a fit of rage because she had thrown up before making it to the bathroom. He had been disgusted and furious with her for a reason she had little to no control over.

The part of Alex that had been able to enjoy life had died with the unborn child, and she had buried that part of herself in work. Then came the Amerithrax case, when Erin Strauss showed her just how worthwhile her efforts were. For almost six months, Alex had been in a depression so deep only her inability to act had stopped her from committing suicide. She had pulled herself out of it by the hair, focused even harder on her job, focused on acting a way that wouldn't aggravate her husband again… sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Thankfully, he had been working overseas by then and couldn't harm her physically. Though it had happened that he came home unexpected, "surprising her", when what it truly was, was control. She was supposed to know that he could be there when she'd least expected it. He wasn't much better than she scum she chased and put behind bars every day, but she loved him. For some twisted, ironic reason she didn't know, she loved him. And nobody had ever suspected that the stone hard FBI agent was degraded, beaten and humiliated on a regular basis in her own home.

But this time she worked with the sharpest behavioural profilers in the country, and quite frankly even the least sharp brains would notice a black eye. She wondered if she should call in sick and blame it on anything; the flu, food poisoning, exposal to anthrax or whatever she could come up with, but she knew she'd only have to deal with it sooner or later. Also, working a case meant she'd have a legitimate reason to be away from him if only for a few days, and she would much rather have that than stay at home with a fake stomach flu and have to suffer James's nasty comments and the blows of his fists.

"Whoa!" Rossi exclaimed as he caught sight of her. "What happened to you?"

"I was lying too close to the edge of the bed, and when the alarm went off I fell out of bed and bashed my face on the nightstand. Clumsy." she said. At least it wasn't the classic "I walked into a door"-lie, but she could tell right away he didn't buy it.

"This morning? Because… it doesn't look that fresh," he said, his eyebrows knitting together in a questioning glare.

"Well, it is. Fresh enough that it still might grow," she said and touched it gently with her fingertips. He didn't seem totally convinced but at least closer to it, when she screwed up by saying "It was my own damn fault anyway."

Rossi tensed up immediately.

I've heard those words many times in this line of work, he thought.

"Was it?"

Blake's jaws tightened even as she tried to put a look of innocence on her face.

"Sure. Whoever would kick someone out of bed like that?"

"I don't know. Who does?"

She tried to smile, but her lips felt numb.

"You've lost me, what are you saying?"

"Alex, who hit you? Was it James?"

She laughed. It sounded fake even to her own ears.

"No one hit me! I fell out of bed!"

He looked at her. She resisted the urge to look away, knowing that if she did, she would crack.

"Dave, I'm fine." How many times in her life had she insisted that she was fine when she wasn't? Too many. And it didn't look like she would break that habit any time soon, either. "Really, I am. No one hit me, other than the nightstand. Okay?"

He frowned, and she held the stare. Finally he nodded.

"Okay. If you say so."

"I do."

"JJ. Have you noticed anything special about Alex in the dressing rooms or shower?"

"Rossi? It's not like you to be a slimeball like that," JJ laughed, but fell silent as his serious expression refused to lighten up. "What's wrong?"

"Have you noticed an excessive amounts of bruises on her?"

"Yeah… now that you mention it. I even asked about it some time ago, she had these awful ones on her neck and shoulders. It was around that time she only wore turtlenecks, do you remember?"

He nodded.

"Well, I asked her about them and she just waved it off. She said it was from when she was chained by the Replicator, and it made sense. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not sure yet, but keep an eye on her for suspicious injuries."

"Are you saying…" but she trailed off. Rossi shrugged.

"I'm not sure what I'm saying yet, but if my hunch is correct, this is one secret I don't want her to keep for much longer. But keep it to yourself for now JJ, let's not make this bigger than it has to be. For Alex's sake."

"Yes," JJ mumbled, recalling numerous times when Blake had seemed to be in pain. She had always had a plausible explanation; period pains, neck ache because she had fallen asleep on the couch, bruises explained by slipping in the shower, slipping on an ice patch, bumping into a table at the coffee shop… JJ had bought everything because she knew Blake had a tendency to be a little… wavy… when she got worked up, and because she sometimes forgot that she wore heels and walked off as if she wore hiker boots or at least sneakers. And the bruises and sudden "muscle pains" hadn't been so frequent it seemed suspicious, but now that JJ thought about it, it did coincide with times when Blake's husband had been home.

"Dave, I'm afraid your hunch is right," she said. "What do we do?"

"We're working a case so at least we know she won't be in his immediate presence for a few days. Let's figure something out. She was not willing to talk to me. Then again, I'm a man."

"Yeah, but you're on this team," JJ objected. "She'd trust you."

Rossi gave her a glance that told her that regardless of her training and work related experience, he still had something she wouldn't have for quite some time - years. It wasn't a glance that pitied her, but it did tell her that she still had more to learn about the dark corners of the human soul than she probably wanted to learn. He said nothing. For some reason this made JJ feel even worse. It wasn't fair that the good guys should carry the guilt and blame of the bad ones.

Yet someone had to put an end to it, and if the good guys kept silent, who would?