A/N: I apologize for leaving this story so long without an update. I intend to finish it soon. In the mean time, thanks as always to everyone who leaves me a review or a PM to let me know how they like the chapter. It really means a lot to get feedback :)

Anna walked to Downton on her own the next morning, her husband still recovering from the blow to his bad leg. Her walk was an easy one, no longer burdened by constant glances to make sure she wasn't followed, to make sure Green wasn't behind a tree or bush, waiting for her.

No, Green was dead. She never had to look out for him again.

A shiver went through her as she entered the ground floor and spotted Dr. Clarkson standing at the end of the hall, speaking with Mr. Carson. At the sight of her, the two men stopped talking and the butler gestured her over. Her heels made clacking noises on the floor as traveled the long corridor, the regular intervals of her steps almost too fast even to her own ears.

"Mrs. Bates," the doctor greeted her with a friendly smile. "How are you this morning?"

She'd hidden her red, puffy eyes with powder as best she could, but the man still eyed her, his gaze sweeping over her face and taking in her entire form.

"I'm well, doctor."

"And Mister Bates?"

"He's still recovering. His knee was hit fairly hard."

By the bastard, Green. She hoped he was rotting in hell.

Clarkson nodded, acknowledging her statement. "I had hoped you could pass along a message to him for me."

"Of course."

The doctor looked at Carson. The butler raised his eyebrows before intoning solemnly, "It seems Mister Green is no longer with us. After he left the house yesterday, he was struck by a car in the village."

"I had mentioned this to your husband yesterday, Mrs. Bates, but we did not know then who the man was. Late last night, Lord Gillingham came to the hospital to identify the body."

Dr. Clarkson studied her as he spoke, but Anna had a great deal of experience as an actress after hiding the attack from everyone around her and convincing her husband that she was an adulteress. So she had no trouble betraying a good bit of surprise. "How terrible," she managed to say, with just the right inflection necessary for a man who had beaten her husband.

"We thought you'd like to know," the butler said, oblivious to the undercurrents passing between the lady's maid and the doctor.

"Yes, thank you, Mister Carson."

With a nod, the butler left them alone to attend to his duties for the morning. Breakfast would be ready soon.

"I do have one question for you, Mrs. Bates," Clarkson said, gesturing for Anna to fall into step with him as he led her around a corner and into a less used hallway.

She paused, waiting for his inquiry, attempting to keep her growing alarm from showing in her expression.

"While going through Mister Green's clothes before passing them off to Lord Gillingham, we found something odd."

From his pocket he removed a small item and held it up - a hair pin.

Anna stared at it and was instantly transported back to that night so many months ago. Green had yanked at her hair, so very hard, and a number of pins had come out and were lost. She'd ended up replacing them all anyway because she could not bear the thought of wearing one he might have touched. And while the pin in the doctor's hand was common and might have belonged to anyone, Anna knew immediately that it was hers. Green must have taken it the night he attacked her.

Pushing away her panic, she said in an unsteady voice, "That's a lady's hair pin."

"I know," he answered with a patient smile. "I just found it strange to be in a man's pocket."

"Perhaps he found it and picked it up."

"Perhaps. Do you have any idea who it might belong to?"

This time, Anna gave him a patient look along with a snort of amusement. "It could belong to anyone, Doctor Clarkson. But if you want me to take it, I'll see about putting it to some use."

The pin almost scalded her as she accepted it, and Anna tucked it into a pocket as quickly as she could. She had no wish for the pin and intended to throw it away as soon as she was no longer under the doctor's watchful gaze.

Clarkson kept his eyes on Anna for several uncomfortable moments. She looked back at him as the seconds stretched out. He pursed his lips to say something, and then shook his head slightly, as though deciding against it. Finally, he told her, "Please let me know if Mister Bates needs anything. He took some nasty blows yesterday, and I may stop by your home later today to check on him."

"I will. And thank you, doctor."

She gave him a small smile that acknowledged the understanding which had silently passed between them before going on with her day.

Rather than take tea, Anna returned to the cottage briefly to check on her husband. She found him resting in their sitting room, a book in hand.

"How are you faring?" she asked.

"Well enough," he said, his answer unfolding into a question for her.

"Doctor Clarkson said he'd likely look in on you later." Folding her arms across her chest, Anna added, "He also confirmed that the man who died yesterday was indeed Mister Green."

Bates nodded slightly, unsurprised.

"He also gave me this."

Pulling a small object from her pocket, she place it on the table next to him. Glancing at it, he noticed it was a hair pin - one of the ones Anna regularly used to keep her hair in place when she was working.

He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"The doctor found that in... in his possession," she informed him quietly.

"One of yours," he surmised.

"Maybe."

He shook his head, setting aside the book he'd been reading. Not picking it up and not touching it, but not taking his eyes from the otherwise nondescript pin, Bates let out a long held breath forcefully through both nostrils. Anna watched him as he briefly closed his eyes and then open them again before focusing on her.

"A trophy," he stated simply.

Anna frowned at his pronouncement, not certain what to make of it.

Clarifying, Bates said softly, "He kept it to remember, the bastard..."

The hair pin was common enough that it could not be traced back to an individual and small enough to be carried in a pocket. He had no doubt the pin belonged to Anna, likely taken from her the night of the attack. The fact that Green still had it with him only confirmed Bates' belief that the valet would have gone after Anna again.

"It might not be mine," she said softly. "There's no way to know."

"If not yours, then some other woman's," he responded. Anna froze at his statement, as though it had never before occurred to her that she might not be Green's sole victim. Such men were predators of opportunity, utilizing violence when charm did not prevail, or simply using force because it suited them.

Bates reached for the pin and bent it between his fingers. Within seconds, the metal was no longer straight and true but warped and unrecognizable. Anna did not flinch as he mangled it, but rather seeing the ruined wreck of the thing seemed to free her. Her shoulders straightened and the muscles in her face went slack. He set it aside on the table, intent upon disposing it later.

He carefully stood from the couch and approached her, a silent and unassuming offer of comfort. Safety. Whatever she needed.

Anna stepped closer and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know it is horrible for me to say, but I'm so glad he's dead," Anna confessed, unable to keep her voice even as tears welled up in her eyes.

"It isn't horrible," he told her. "You have every right to feel that way. We both do."

She stood quietly for a while as he rubbed his hand across her back, his touch gentle but firm. Finally, she asked, "Do you think there were others... besides me?"

He did think Green had other victims, but he answered only, "Perhaps."

"And there may have been others later," Anna speculated. Her voice was low and contemplative, her tone introspective. "If you hadn't done what you did, he may have hurt other women."

Bates wished he could see inside her mind and tell what she was thinking. She'd once told Mrs. Hughes that he could read her like a book, but it simply was not true. While he could see the parts of her she allowed him to see, other parts remained veiled. This ordeal had altered Anna's naturally sunny and open personality so much he sometimes did not recognize her. She lied to him. She kept secrets. She issued threats.

And yet, beneath it all, she was still Anna Bates. She was still his wife - kind and loving and concerned for others besides herself.

"There may have been," he agreed.

"You defended yourself," she said aloud, "and you defended me. And the nameless others we will never know about."

Her words absolved him. She did not agree with him or his methods, but she understood his need to act. She could see it in the reflection of her own concern for those other women.

"Make no mistake, Anna - I did what I did for you alone."

She knew. He could see it in her eyes as he pulled back from her. But Anna betrayed no censure of his statement, nor did she let him move too far from her.

"I know why you did it," Anna stated. "And were I in your shoes, I might have done the same. But I won't condone you risking yourself like that. Nothing is worth your life, not to me."

Bates shook his head, willing in this instance to disagree with her. "You are worth everything I have have and more. As your husband, you must allow me that."

She looked uneasy at his statement, but Anna did not dispute him. He suspected that their strong feelings for the other would always divide them on this point of contention: who should bear the heavier burden when put to the test? To him, there was no question. She'd already sacrificed so much just to be with him. If he could make her life even slightly better, slightly easier, he would. But he would never ask the same of her.

"Doctor Clarkson... he was acting strange," Anna said quietly. She went on, stumbled over her words, "I think he suspects you in... in Green's death. He may ask questions."

Bates afforded her a reassuring look as he nodded. "I'm prepared for questions. But I doubt even he would believe this to be more than a... tragic accident."

"But what if he-"

He put one finger to her lips to hush her worried question. "Everything will be all right," he told her.

Frowning, she noticed a grimace he could not keep from crossing over his feature. He ignored the pain in his knee, which was still hurting from his fight with Green, as he stood and held her.

"Sit down," she scolded him, moving with him to their small couch. "How much does it hurt?"

"Not too bad," Bates told her truthfully. "I should be back on my feet in a few days. Thankfully, his Lordship is still out of the country."

"Will you tell him about... about what happened?"

"No more than I told the doctor."

He knew Anna worried about others finding out about what had happened to her. She hated that both Mrs. Hughes and Lady Mary knew, but in some ways it was easier because they were women and they cared about her. But if her circumstances became common knowledge, it would be beyond embarrassment - potentially ruinous to her reputation, no matter that it happened against her will.

Anna said softly but firmly, "I don't want you to keep my secret if it will make a difference. If you have to tell them why you fought Green, then I'd rather they knew the truth than believe you to be nothing more than a jealous husband."

"That shouldn't be necessary," Bates told her. "But I am glad that you see me as more than a jealous husband."

He watched as her eyes filled with tears. "Do you really not know how I see you?" she asked.

"Sometimes, I do wonder..." he admitted.

He was a killer. They both knew that now. Beyond anything he may have done in service to king and country in the army, he had purposely and thoughtfully brought about Green's death. And he would do it again, without hesitation. That fact alone should have frightened Anna, but he saw no fear in her eyes. Or rather, any trepidation was on his behalf, not because of him.

"I see you as the kindest, most tender man I have ever met. Knowing that you were driven to violence on my behalf... to protect me... that guilt is on me. Because you are a good person, John Bates." She paused, looking away. "You've said so many times you were undeserving of me when really, the very opposite is true. I am not worthy of you."

"Don't say such things."

"It's true. You accepted me even when you thought I'd been unfaithful to you. I admitted it, and you still asked me to come home with you. I hurt you and-"

He held up a hand to halt her words. "Please stop, Anna. You describe what happened between us like I made a sacrifice, and I didn't."

"But it was-"

"Being with you could never be a sacrifice," he told her fiercely, unwilling to let her believe such a notion for even a moment. "You - our life together - it is a gift, the greatest gift, Anna..."

Bates kissed her, gently pulling her nearer to him on the couch. She did not resist, nor did she tremble in fear at his touch. While he had no wish to frighten her, he did want her to understand how much he needed her, how imperative she was to his existence.

When she pulled away some moments later, he noticed her smiling. Not a wide grin as she used to sport, but a tiny smirk she could not hide. She was still very far away from the comfort level she used to show with him, but it was getting better. Perhaps they would never be as they had been before. But he could be there for her day by day as she came back to herself, back to them.

TBC