Richie stared at his sister as she opened the door. Every light was on in her apartment and she was pale and shaking. She had bruises on her arms.

"Richie." She said and her voice gave away the fear she was trying to hide.

He stepped forward to hug her but she flinched and stepped back. He instantly stopped and cursed silently. "Lina called me. She's worried about you."

"What? Did she say…"

"She said you had a tough case today and that the guy knocked you around. Are you okay?" He watched her carefully as she looked at him with a wide-eyed, scared expression. Like an innocent doe caught in the headlights.

As Abby looked at him, all she could see was the face of the man that had taken her sense of independence away and filled her with fear. She could perfectly see his cold, dark eyes piercing her own and the feel of his hands on her in places that she wished she could have protected better. As her breathing picked up, however, the voice that spoke didn't match the image.

"Abs? Abby, what's wrong? Abby talk to me."

As the image of her attacker slowly cleared from her eyes, the comforting sight of her brother replaced it. He stared at her with concern and warmth that had tears forming in the back of her eyes and a lump in her throat that wouldn't go away.

Suddenly, as if involuntarily, she gave in to the feeling of pain and fear. She hadn't wanted anyone to see her this way, but Richie was talking to her so softly and looking at her with such concern and love that she knew she couldn't hold it in any longer. The sob erupted from her throat and her eyes clenched tightly as she leaned forward, resting her head against his chest.

Immediately his arm came around her and she gripped his shirt in her fist tightly. She didn't hear what he was whispering to her, but as her breathing and sobs picked up, he led to her to the couch to calm her down.

"Talk to me Abs. What happened today?" He asked quietly once her cries had subsided a little.

She looked at him and wondered how she was supposed to tell him that she was too weak and too scared to use the defense moves she had been taught by the closest men in her life. What would they think of her once they knew what he had done?

"Abby…"

"I…I couldn't….I couldn't fight him off and…and now he's out there and I know he's going to come for me and-"

"Abby, shh, you're rambling." Richie interrupted her. "What do you mean you couldn't fight him off?"

For the first time that night, their eyes connected in understanding and he immediately knew what had happened. They were close, so it didn't take more than a look to tell him exactly how badly his sister had been hurt.

"Oh my God." He breathed out.

"Don't tell Mom and Dad." She said almost hysterically. "Please."

"Abby, they need to know." He exclaimed.

She shook her head. "No! It will break their hearts and they'll try to fly back here but I don't want them to and…"

He nodded and held her hands in his own. "Okay, I won't tell them…for now." He paused. "What about Donnie and Steve? You're clearly freaked out and with that guy still out there, having us here will keep you safe."

"Donnie's still mad at me…he's going to be so mad at me." She murmured and Richie worried that he was losing her now.

"What? Abby what are you talking about?"

She shook her head slowly. "He taught me to fight…to defend myself. I couldn't do it." She paused. "He's already so mad at me for joining IA."

"Abby, this is not your fault. You did nothing wrong."

She didn't respond and curled into herself on the couch. Richie took the blanket she had draped over the back of it and covered her, before standing and walking into the kitchen to get her some water. Pulling out his phone, he decided on calling the calmer brother first.

"Richie do you know what time it is? It's three o'clock in the goddamn morning." Steve's voice slurred on the other end of the line.

"It's Abby."

There was silence but Richie could hear his brother moving out of his bedroom to let Gail sleep in peace. He heard another door shut before Steve spoke again. "What happened?"

"She…" He trailed off, knowing that this wasn't something you told someone over the phone. "It's the case she was working. Just…get over here. Now."

"I'm on my way."

The line went dead and Richie sighed as he knew the Donnie would be harder to convince. He wasn't too surprised when the first thing out of his brother's mouth was a string of curse words.

"Donnie shut up. You need to come over to Abby's place." He said outright, wanting to hurry so that he could go sit with his sister.

"Yeah, right. She went against this family by joining IA, Richie. There's no way I'm coming over there to sit around and drink beer, pretending she didn't do anything wrong." He barked out and Richie rolled his eyes.

"Donnie…the case she was working today, it-" He tried to ease him into a reason but Donnie cut him off.

"I don't want to hear about the cops that she put away today, okay? If you forgot, she investigates us, Richie. Cops. Her own. I'm surprised you sat round and listened to her tell you about all of the brothers and sister in uniform that she put away."

"Donnie!" He shouted and saw Abby jump in fear on the couch. "It's okay, I'm sorry I shouted. You're okay." He said to her quietly, noting that Donnie had gone silent.

"What was that? Who were you talking to?" Donnie asked more quietly this time, his voice sounding a little worried.

Richie hesitated. "Abby's hurt. Badly. You need to get over here. Steve's already on his way."

Donnie didn't respond, but hung up, so Richie walked back to his sister and handed her the glass. "Drink some of this."

She sipped slowly, and Richie noticed how her hands shook so badly that she had to hold the glass with both hands. She nodded at him in thanks.

"The guys are on their way over. They should be here soon." He told her and she once again used body language to convey her thanks instead of words.