AN: Major plot hole ahead. Sorry. I'll explain at the end of the chapter.

Kara sat in an oversized armchair in the dimly lit living room caressing a mug of hot tea. The steam wafted through her nose and she closed her eyes allowing the heat to invade her head. The effect was calming. Placing the mug against the cheek, opposite the growing bruise under her eye, the hotness radiated through her skull. A moment later she moved the cup and blew across the top of it before taking a sip and enjoying the spread of warmth throughout her body.

Earlier, she had shrugged off her mother's attempts to, well, mother her, but had accepted the hot beverage. Erin entered the room again with an ice pack and Kara moved her head to allow for the gentle placement of it on her face. "This will help with the swelling," she said. "Do you want something for the pain?"

"No, mom, I'm fine. Really," she said.

She sat on the couch across from her daughter and looked at her. Her heart was broken seeing her beautiful child's face beaten. All she wanted to do was take the pain away, but she could think of no way to do that. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kara removed the ice from her face and took another sip of tea. Before she could answer her mother continued, "You need to leave that there."

"Mom, please," was all she said. A glance in her mother's direction told her that Erin was struggling and she didn't want that so she added, "Please don't be upset, Mom, I'm really ok. I'll put the ice on is a bit."

"Ok," Erin said. She had spoken with countless victims over the years, but could think of nothing to say to comfort her own daughter.

As if reading her thoughts, Kara said, "Please don't treat me like a victim."

This actually helped Erin, and she remained in mom-mode. She had read the statement Kara gave, and Rachel's, so she knew the details of what happened. What she didn't know was, "How are you feeling now?"

Kara turned slightly so she was facing her mother and thought before answering, "Kind of numb. Like, it all seems surreal. Did this really just happen?"

She gave her daughter a small smile, "Yes, I'm sorry but it did."

"What will happen now?"

"David's taking care of everything. We'll find out more when he comes home. But you need to know that you're safe."

Right on cue, the front door opened. Erin saw Kara flinch and watched the fear cross her eyes for a moment before realizing it was David. Kara shifted in her chair again in an attempt to cover for her involuntary reaction. David quickly reset the house alarm and joined his family in the living room. He approached Kara first, tipping her chin up slightly to examine the disturbing bruise, then planting his customary kiss on the top up her head. Without saying a word, he moved to greet his wife in a similar fashion, then turned back to face his step daughter. "Sweetheart, I need to talk to your mother in the other room for a bit. Will you be alright?"

"No," she startled and started to rise out of the chair. Both of her parents moved forward to help steady her, but she brushed them off. "What's going on? I need to know!"

"I'm not going to keep anything from you, Kara. Sit back down."

She felt an overwhelming urge to fight, but didn't understand why. "I'm not going to sit down. Just tell me what's going on."

She was clearly distraught and so much had happened to her lately that David decided to give her some control back and acquiesced. "Did you recognize the man who attacked you?"

"Yes. He was at the shooting. He was the boy I was telling you about. I thought he was trying to help me then." She felt the fight leave her body and sat back into the chair. David joined her by sitting on the ottoman in front of her.

"I don't know what he was thinking that night, but he received a short prison sentence from it. He recently got out and it seems he decided to blame you."

"Why?"

"Well, because you were at the house that night, my team was able to find you and bust the group. He turned all of his anger on you."

"So is who broke into the house and . . ." he voice trailed as she tried not to think about the gunshots that night.

"Yes. He confessed to that and gave up his partner, who is also in custody."

Erin had moved behind the chair and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. She spoke, "Do we know what they were looking for in the desk?"

He turned his attention to his wife, "It seems they were quite high that night. They weren't looking for anything."

"They didn't seem high," Kara said.

"That's the best we can determine. There would be nothing here, or at Radcliffe's office that they would want. They were just trying to scare you."

"It worked," she leaned her head back and close her eyes for a moment before they flew back open, "It wasn't my fault. I was trying to help Rachel that night," her voice was barely audible.

"We know that. I'm sorry this happened to you, but you're safe now." When she nodded, he continued, "Is it ok if your mom and I leave you for a bit to go talk?"

Her eyes widened, "Leave me?"

He put a hand on hers, "Just to go into the kitchen. We aren't leaving you."

"Are you keeping something from me?" She asked.

"No, honey, just shop talk. And you need to rest."

OK," she settled back into the chair.

Erin rose and took the teacup from her tired looking child. She gently moved the hand holding the ice pack back up to her face, "Please." She didn't want to frighten her, but the whole right quarter of her face looked horrible, and she wanted it better as soon as possible.

"I'll try, Mom," Kara said, and she closed her eyes as her parents left the room.

AN: I don't like outlining my stories, I like to just write and see where the characters take me. The problem with that is you kind of write yourself into a corner. When I figured out who had broken into the house, I could think of nothing that they could have been searching for. Ugh! So frustrating! Maybe some day I'll go back and fix the whole story, but for now, I 'm leaving it like this. Probably just one more chapter here, then I have another idea for Kara in the back of my mind. Perhaps I should outline that one! Thank you for reading and reviewing!