"I knew you couldn't stay away."

Meg gave the guard a flirtatious smile, trying not to flinch when he ran his fingers down her arm.

"You're hard to stay away from," Meg said in a low voice.

Meg wasn't even putting on her best flirting act, but the guard was totally buying it. It always seemed to work out that the Street Rats pulled their con act on this particular guard's shift, so Meg had been flirting with him a lot lately. It wasn't surprising that he thought she had a thing for him.

As her friends took their places, Meg moved closer to the guard. Her body brushed against his and he smiled at her. Esmeralda's music started and Meg started swaying her hips a little to keep his attention on her. As she slowly grinded against him, the strap off her dress fell off her shoulder. She went to fix it, but he stopped her.

Meg winked at him. "I guess you have that affect on my clothes." She forced a seductive smile. "You're so handsome."

"Stop thief!" Someone in the crowd shouted.

Meg and the guard turned to look where the commotion was coming from. Sadira was, yet again, being chased down. Damn it, Sadira! Meg thought. The guard started going after her, but Meg grabbed him and kissed him.

"Everyone's distracted," Meg whispered. "Now is the perfect time to get out of here."

The guard looked down at her and she let the other strap of her dress fall off her shoulders. He smiled at her and led her to a nearby alley. He grabbed Meg and roughly pushed her down on the ground. Meg winced as she felt broken glass cut into her back. The guard suddenly turned into an animal. He threw her skirt up around her waist and grabbed her throat as he forced himself inside her.

"You're hurting me," Meg told him. "Please stop."

The guard slapped Meg hard across the face. "Stop being a tease."

Meg gripped handfuls of dirt to keep from crying out in pain. Of course this wasn't the first time Meg had to give up her body to keep a guard from going after one of her friends, but it never got any easier.

Meg could tell the guard was about to climax and she shoved him off her. There was no way she was going to risk getting pregnant. She scrambled to get up and run, but he grabbed her leg and pulled her back down. Meg landed face first in the dirt and he dragged her back towards him. He flipped her over on her back and punched her. She grabbed some dirt and threw it in his face, then kicked him. As soon as he let go of her, Meg ran away. When she saw that he wasn't coming after her, she sighed in relief and ran back to the apartment. She made her way up the ladder and stormed into the room. Sadira was there alone, counting her money. Meg marched towards her and pulled her to her feet by her hair. Sadira yelped, but Meg didn't let her go.

"What the hell, Sadira!" Meg demanded. "Esmeralda told you to lay low!"

Sadira clawed at Meg's hand and tried to get free, but Meg was stronger than her and it didn't work.

"This is the second time in the last week that you've been caught!" Meg continued. "Do you have any idea what I had to go through today to protect your ass?"

"What's going on?"

Meg and Sadira turned to see Flynn and Jim standing in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Flynn repeated. "C'mon, Meg, let her go."

Meg glared at Flynn, but then threw Sadira back on the floor.

"Bitch," Sadira muttered.

Meg went to slap Sadira, but Flynn grabbed her wrist.

"Meg, please calm down," Flynn said.

Meg pulled her hand free and went down to the tavern to clean up. The tavern was closed during the day, so no one was around. She grabbed a rag and went over to the sink.

"Meg?"

Meg spun around to see Jim standing behind her. "What is it?"

"What happened?" Jim asked.

Meg licked the blood off her bottom lip. "Turns out that guard likes to play rough."

"Did he...?" Jim looked nervous, like he didn't want to finish his question.

"Rape me?" Meg shook her head. "Not exactly."

"You shouldn't have to go through this," Jim said.

"It's all part of the job, kid," Meg said, gently dabbing the cut on her lip.

"Let me help you." Jim walked over to her and put his hand on her back.

Meg cried out in pain and leaned over the sink. Jim jumped back and glanced down on her back.

"Meg, the back of your dress is ripped and there's blood on it," Jim said.

Meg nodded. "I was laying on broken glass."

Jim carefully took Meg by the hand and led her over to a table. Meg sat sideways in one of the chairs, noticing that her arms had gotten cut up when the guard had dragged her across the ground. Jim filled a bowl with warm water and grabbed a clean rag. He pulled a chair up behind Meg.

"Do you mind if I clean up your back?" Jim asked.

Meg shook her head. She slipped her arms out of the straps so her back was revealed, but she held her dress up so her chest was still covered. She heard Jim inhale sharply through his teeth.

"Is it bad?" Meg asked.

"You're cut up pretty bad," Jim said. "Your whole back is covered in blood."

Jim dipped the rag in the water, then gingerly started wiping it over Meg's back. She winced in pain and gripped her dress tighter.

"It looks like there's still some small pieces of glass stuck in your skin," Jim said after all the blood had been cleaned up. "I'm going to remove 'em, but it might hurt a little."

Meg nodded and braced herself. As Jim slowly gently pulled the glass out of her, tears sprung to Meg's eyes. When he was done, Jim dabbed at her cuts with rag.

"All the blood made the cuts look worse than they actually are," Jim said. He took one of her arms and cleaned it up, then did the same with the other. "It looks like that shiner is the worst of it."

Meg automatically reached up and touched her eye, where the guard had punched her. She then looked up at Jim who was now standing in front of her.

"Thanks," Meg muttered, slipping the straps of her dress back over her shoulders.

"You're welcome."

After a few moments of silence, Meg cleared her throat. "I thought you were leaving."

Jim looked protectively at Meg. "I think I'm gonna stay for a while."