Salem

Manning-Brady Household:

Bo and Carly had just gotten back from New York. There was a small delay with their flight, so it was on the verge of getting dark when they finally landed. As soon as they stepped through the front door, Carly made a beeline for the couch, and lied down.

Bo placed their bags down by the door, and walked over to where Carly lay. Kneeling down beside the couch, Bo swept the hair out of her eyes, and tucked it behind her ear. "How are you feeling?"

Without opening her eyes, she answered. "I'm sore, and I haven't slept in almost two days."

"I'm guessing you probably want to take a shower, so how about I call my mom, and see if she can bring Jess home… that way I don't have to leave you here… sound like a plan?"

"Yeah, I guess." She sighed.

Bo leaned forward and planted a kiss on Carly's cheek. "Okay, come on. I'll help you."

"No!" Carly cried, but immediately softened her tone, when she saw the look on Bo's face. "It's fine… I'm fine."

"Carly-" Bo started, but was quickly interrupted.

"I said I'm fine." Standing up, Carly made her way upstairs, while Bo stood dumbstruck by what had just happened.


After Carly's shower, she found she was too restless to sleep, so she decided to go back downstairs. She noticed Bo straightening up what little mess he and Jessie left behind.

Bo turned around to find Carly standing at the bottom of the stairs. He stopped what he was doing, and walked up to her. Taking her hand in his, he led her to the couch to sit down. Grabbing the throw from the back of the couch, he placed it over them as they curled up together, content to just enjoy each other's presence, when the doorbell rang. Before getting up to answer the door, Bo planted a slightly lingering kiss on the top of Carly's head.

When he opened the door, he saw his mom standing there, with Jessie in her arms.

"Daddy!" Jessie exclaimed, as he reached for Bo.

Smiling, Bo took him into his arms. "Hey buddy, I missed you."

"I missed you too, daddy." Jessie whispered, as his little arms wrapped around Bo's neck.

Bo faced his mom, and pulled her in for a hug. "Hey Ma. Thanks for watching him for us."

"You're welcome. We had fun, didn't we, sweetheart?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah." Jessie smiled, but his smile faltered as he added, "but I missed you and mommy, a whole lot."

"We missed you too, little man. Guess what… there's someone inside that wants to see you."

Bo placed Jessie on the floor, and he and his mom watched as the little boy walked inside. They weren't expecting the ear-piercing squeal that came next.

"MOMMY!" Jessie screamed, as he ran, arms wide, into an ecstatically waiting Carly."

Carly hugged him as tight as she could, without suffocating him, as she whispered into his hair, inhaling his scent. "Oh baby, I missed you so, so much."

Bo and Caroline looked on at the scene in front of them, of mother and son reconnecting, and catching up on days and hours missed.

Caroline turned to face Bo. "I want to talk to you."


New York

16th Precinct:

Walking back to his desk, after getting a cup of coffee, Munch addressed his colleagues. "O'Halloran suspects our guy could have more vics out there. He thinks it could have either been a planned attack, or just another hit under this guy's belt."

Elliot sat on the edge of Olivia's desk, with his arms folded. "I don't get it. Why would he leave his DNA, knowing that that could be his downfall?

"Could be his idea of a calling card. His way of marking them… claiming them." Fin responded, leaning back in his chair.

Olivia, turning in her chair, stood and perched herself next to Elliot on the side of her desk. "Maybe we should have this guy's DNA run through CODIS. If he does have more victims out there, we could try to track them down. Who knows… we might just get lucky. If anything, we may be able to narrow down our search."

Just then Cragen stepped out of his office, and towards the four detectives. He looked at Elliot and Olivia. "Has Warner given us anything back on that rape kit yet?"

"Not yet." Elliot said, looking at Cragen and shaking his head.

Seeing the look they were getting back from their Captain, Elliot and Olivia pushed themselves up from their perched position on her desk, and he grabbed the car keys. "We'll go see what the hold up is."


Salem

Manning-Brady Household:

Bo watched from the doorway of the kitchen, as Jessie told Carly about all the things he had done while she was gone. It wasn't until Caroline started to speak, that he turned around, letting the door close behind him.

"What's going on, Bo? You didn't really tell me anything over the phone, and you rushed out of here so fast the other night."

Caroline looked at the grave expression on her son's face as she spoke. "What happened in New York? Judging by that cut on Carly's lip, and that bruise on her neck… it had to be something ugly."

Sighing, with closed eyes, Bo bobbed his head. "Yeah, it was. She hasn't even really said anything to me yet, nothing in detail, but… she was attacked in her hotel room."

"What?" Caroline was shocked.

"Yeah." The tears brimmed Bo's eyes as he spoke, and Caroline could see the anger welling up inside. "Someone hurt her. Someone put their hands on her, and I swear to you… when they find him, I'm going to kill him." He said through gritted teeth.

Bo took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself. "Listen, Ma… you can't say anything to anyone." He said sternly. "Carly wants to keep this as quiet as possible, and you can't really blame her… not with the way news travels in this town."

"Of course. I won't say anything… to anyone. How's she doing?"

"Distant, to a certain extent, but still kind of attached." He says, shaking his head. "I don't know. She's Carly, just… a really unhappy version of herself. There's something she isn't telling me."

"Well don't push her. You don't want her to shut down. She'll talk when she's ready."

Bo pushed the kitchen door back open, to see Jessie straddling Carly's lap, with his head on her shoulder. "I know. The last thing I want is for her to shut me out."


Walking back into the living room, Caroline made her way to the couch, where she bent down to give Carly a kiss on the cheek. "I have to get going before it gets too dark."

"You going to give grandma kisses before she leaves?" Carly asked Jessie.

Not leaving his place on Carly's lap, Jessie tilted his head back for Caroline to kiss.

Caroline returned her gaze to Carly. The look in her eyes wasn't so much a look of sympathy, but that of support. "You take care of yourself, okay? I love you."

Carly smiled a silent 'thank you.' "I will. I love you too."

Bo, Carly, and Jessie all waved and said their goodbyes to Caroline, as she walked out the door.

Nonchalantly sitting down beside Carly, Bo turned to face Jessie. "It's getting really late, and I think it's past someone's bedtime."

"No." Jessie replied adamantly, hiding his face in Carly's neck, and shaking his head. "I want to stay with mommy."

Carly held him a little tighter, and stroked his hair. "It's okay, baby." She whispered. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'm not going to go anywhere else, unless I can take you and daddy with me… okay?" She asked. Her eyes never leaving Bo's.

Bo returned her gaze, and an unspoken understanding was made.

Refusing to loosen his grip on Carly's neck, Jessie took a deep breath, and nodded his head.

Standing up with Jessie still wrapped in her arms, Carly headed upstairs, with Bo right behind her. "Let's get you in bed."

Carly had a small smile on her face, as she walked out of Jessie's room, closing the door behind her. "He was tired."

"No kidding. He was out, before his head hit the pillow." Bo chuckled while turning to head towards their bedroom.

"Bo." Carly called to him. "What were you and Caroline talking about?" She asked as he turned.

When he didn't answer, she came to her own conclusion. She pursed her lips together, bowed her head, and stared at the floor. "You told her, didn't you?" She asked, looking back up.

The silence was deafening, as Bo stood there, like a child that had just been scolded. "She's not blind, Carly. You've got a huge bruise on your neck, and a busted lip… did you think she wouldn't ask?"

By this time, Carly's eyes had begun to water. She couldn't even look Bo in the eye.

Seeing the effect his reaction and confession had on her, he walked up to her, wrapping her in his arms. He pressed his lips to her hair. "She won't say anything. She just wanted to know if you were alright… she was concerned."

Bo pulled back to look in her eyes. He wiped the tears, which had streaked her face, away. "Let's go to bed." Carly gave a small nod, as they walked down the hallway to their bedroom.


New York

Melinda Warner, M.E.'s Office:

Elliot and Olivia walked, side by side, into the morgue. They spotted Melinda in the back of the room, covering up the small body of a child.

Olivia looked at the lifeless body, before looking back at Melinda. "What happened?"

"He was strangled. He's covered in bruises… some healed, some fresh. It was long term abuse, and someone turned a blind eye."

Olivia couldn't help but stare at the covered body, and wondered how someone could do that to such an innocent baby. After years of working with special victims, she still couldn't, truly, answer that question. It wasn't until she heard Elliot's voice that she snapped out of her daze.

"We know you're backed up, but please tell us you've got something from our vic's rape kit?"

Warner walked into her office, with Olivia and Elliot right behind her. "Sorry for the delay." She walked behind her desk, and pulled out a file. "The doctor, right?"

The detectives nodded their heads in the affirmative, as Warner began reading the contents of the file.

"I ran your perp's DNA through the system, and seven matches came back."

There wasn't a word, to describe the looks on Elliot and Olivia's faces. They were flabbergasted.

"Your vic, wasn't his first vic." Melinda leafed through the file. "The worse part..." She pulled out four pictures, and handed them to the detectives. "Four of those seven were kids. All of who were ranging between the ages of five and nine."

Olivia and Elliot looked disgusted beyond relief. This guy wasn't just a rapist, he was a pedophile. He got off on hurting little kids… babies, and they wouldn't stand for that.

Warner saw the hate and anger welling up in Elliot's face. "Find me a suspect, and I'll match it."


Salem

Manning-Brady Household:

"Scream, and I'll kill you."

That was the calm remark that hit Carly's ear. Her response was a stiff head nod, and a muffled acknowledgement. She was so frightened… absolutely terrified.

"His breath… it's warm on the side of my face, and my God… it's horrible." She thought to herself.

Carly was concentrating so heavily on doing whatever it took to stay alive, that she didn't notice his hand was no longer covering her mouth, but was now loosely wrapped around her throat.

'I suddenly feel a sharp pain on the back of my head. How did I get on the floor?'

The weight on top of her was unbearable… she was being crushed.

Carly shot up in the bed; wide eyed, out of breath, and in a cold sweat. The commotion caused Bo to sit up, just as fast.

"Carly? What is it? Are you okay?" Bo asked, frantically.

Trying to calm down, and catch her breath, Carly shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm fine." She looked over at Bo, and saw the unconvinced look in his eyes, but she also saw the hurt in them.

"You're not fine." Bo sat up, and shifted so that he was facing Carly. "You've been acting weird ever since we got home, and you have every right to do so, I'm not saying you don't, but… I need you to talk to me. Don't shut me out."

"I'm not shutting you out of anything, it was just a bad dream." She replied with closed eyes, and shaking her head.

"Yeah." He sighed. "That's what you keep saying, but I'm not stupid."

Bo just sat there, not really looking at anything in particular, and shaking his head. He looked so defeated, so tired. It was like he was fighting a losing battle.

Carly turned her head, and narrowed her eyes. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means, you were stroking that cut on your collarbone, or did you not notice?" Bo shook his head. "It wasn't just a nightmare, was it? More like a memory?" He asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Carly didn't say anything; she just stared at her hands, as they lay in her lap. Bo caught the glimpse of a tear sliding down her cheek, as the moonlight hit it.

Bo grabbed Carly's hand, letting them both rest together in her lap. "Please talk to me. I hate to see you hurting like this, and even worse… I hate that I can't make it stop. You don't have to deal with this by yourself. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

The look in Bo's eyes was almost a pleading one, and it killed her to see him hurting for her… because of her.

Carly shook her head, and her response came out as a choked sob. "I don't know what you want me to say."

Using the hand that wasn't holding hers, Bo rubbed the back of Carly's head. "Just talk to me. Tell me what happened… in New York?"

Sniffling, Carly bowed her head with closed eyes, and tried to regain her composure.

After taking a few deep breaths, she began. "He grabbed me in front of my room, and said he'd kill me if I screamed. He had a knife… I didn't know what to do." The tears flowed freely down her cheeks, and her head remained bowed as she continued.

Bo listened intently, as tears streamed his face. He watched as she continuously wiped her face, and tucked her hair behind her ear. It wasn't until she put her hand back into her lap, that he noticed what she had been doing. The steady fidgeting… she was twirling her wedding ring, nonstop, back and forth.

Bo covered her hand with his, and pulled her into his arms, as she finished talking.

"He raped me!" She cried. Her body racked with sobs, as she buried herself in Bo's embrace.

His tears dropped, one behind the other, into Carly's hair as he held her.

Still crying, Carly clung to her husband like a lifeline. "Don't let me go. Please don't let me go."

"Never." Bo tightened his grip on Carly. "I promise, I'll never let go of you."