Thank you TheForgottenSheikah, ItsLiz and Sailor Pandabear for reviewing to last chapter! :D

And I'm sorry for taking so long to post this. I was on a trip and didn't take my notebook with me so I didn't write. Also, I had to finish the chapter of another fic of mine and got a bit sidetracked in writing this.

For the first time since… ever, Sofia found herself with a "love life". Of course, hers and Ruben's relationship was the furthest thing from what people would call conventional. They didn't have romantic dinners, they talked more about the STEM than themselves and their moments of intimacy were sparse, required lots of preparation and effort, and happened at wee hours of the morning in Sofia's apartment, after long hours in the lab. Some times Ruben managed to persuade the woman in spending the weekend in his home. Those days, Sofia realized, were the most intimate between them; she steered clear from Ruben's basement, prompting him to do so as well, something that gave them two whole days free of work and STEM, days dedicated only for themselves.

For a whole year, they followed that strange and unconventional routine that, for most, would make for a very romance-lacking relationship, but that was very satisfying for the doctor. Ruben was the most interesting and intense human being she had ever met; no matter if they were talking science, discussing feelings and emotional traumas or if she was nursing him from one of his convulsions or migraines, he always managed to keep her interested.

Sofia's personal life was good.

Too bad it wouldn't continue this way.

Doctors, nurses and patients scurried away from the corridors as Sofia stomped her way to Jimenez's office. It was completely unprecedented, seeing the always in-control Dr Prieto in that state and, truth be told, quite terrifying.

Sofia was angry. No, she was more than angry; she was damn furious.

Three years she worked like a slave for Dr Marcelo Jimenez. She had worked an average of 60 hours per week, given up vacations and holidays to dedicate herself to his hospital and his research and how did he repay her?

"You stole my research."

Jimenez jumped in his chair as the door of his office was slammed open and Sofia's menacingly low but clear voice echoed through the room.

"Sofia, please calm down." Jimenez spoke calmly as the woman threw some sheets of printed paper on his desk. "Let me explain."

"Explain what? How you published all of my original ideas under your name? You didn't even have the decency to change the words. You literally compiled the monthly reports I sent you and sent them to the magazine. Without my consent, Jimenez. You ripped me off."

"I would never do such a thing to you." Jimenez contested in an outraged voice. "As you can see, your name is listed as the main participant of the laboratory's research."

"But the idea of using the autistic mice was mine and the article says it was yours."

"Just for the sake of nonsensical bureaucracies." Jimenez explained. "My name has weight out there, Sofia. To associate your idea to my name was the easiest way to get the article approved by the magazine."

Sofia's eyes narrowed; she was not convinced. But that was no problem, Jimenez didn't need to convince her of the truth of his intentions; all he had to do was take her mind off the subject at hand. And he had the perfect distraction.

"Sofia, I think we both know the real reason you're so upset." Jimenez began in an appeasing voice. "I know you never cared much for bureaucracy and plagiarism. The article isn't what's really bothering you. What's bothering you is the idea of not being the only child anymore."

Sofia couldn't help but frown in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Jimenez asked, reaching inside his desk's bottom drawer to retrieve the day's newspaper

But the newspaper wasn't from Krimson City; it was from her hometown and one of the local headlines was MIDDLE AGED COUPLE GIVES BIRTH TO A HEALTHY SON.

Sofia didn't waste a second in grabbing the offending paper and examine it with her wide eyes.

This morning, at 4:32, Dr Dona Prieto, a renowned cardiothoracic surgeon of Racoon City's General Hospital, gave birth to Julian Prieto. Dr Dona Prieto and her husband, Dr Severus Prieto - also a cardiothoracic surgeon practicing in the same hospital – are respectively 59 and 57 years old. The couple, whom had been trying to conceive a new child for three years, managed to do so with the help of fertilization clin-

Sofia's eyes glazed and she felt her knees weaken. Jimenez wasted no time in pulling a chair close to the woman and she wasted no time in letting her body to fall down on it in a defeated manner.

Her parents had another child and didn't even have the decency to let her know? They went through a very complicated process – pregnancy at her parents' age was full of risks – spent a small fortune in fertilization clinics and artificial insemination, conceived and gave birth to a son – her brother – and never told her. Time and time again she had reached out to them, trying to restore whatever shred of a family relationship they could have, and never once did they respond to her, let alone mention they were even thinking about having another child. And they had been trying to conceive for three years; ever since she left them and their hospital against their wishes. Was that child a replacement for her? Their new shot at having their surgeon baby? Was that all she was to them? A failed attempt at having the perfect child?

He tossed me away like a broken toy. Out of sight, out of mind.

Sofia couldn't help but smile acidly at the floor. Never had Ruben's words made so much sense to her.

"Sofia, I'm so sorry I showed that newspaper." Jimenez spoke as he kneeled in front of her. "I believed you knew about your brother. It was very careless of me to show you that news like that. Are you feeling ill? Do you want to take the rest of the day off?"

Sofia opened her mouth but didn't answer. She couldn't answer; her voice was stuck in her throat and it refused to come out. Unable to speak, Sofia shook her head dejectedly and forced herself to stand up from the chair, newspaper held tightly in her hands. Never raising her eyes from the ground, Sofia dragged her feet across the room and towards the door. Before she could cross it, Jimenez called out to her.

"Sofia, I'm cancelling all of your appointments this afternoon. Please go home and get some rest."

Sofia did intend to follow Jimenez's advice. She'd drop by her office, grab her things, get a taxi home and bury herself in bed until the suffocating feeling on her chest disappeared. However, once she got in her office she didn't find it in her to follow through that plan. Instead; she sat down on her armchair and stared at the newspaper lying on her desk with glazed eyes for hours on a row. And no matter how hard she fought against the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, she couldn't keep all of them at bay.

And that was how Ruben found her.

Correction: that was how a fuming and blood-lusting Ruvik scared the life out of her by slamming her office door with enough strength to make it recoil and close again.

"Did you see this?" Ruben snarled as he stomped towards her and threw some printed pages on her desk, just like she had done in Jimenez's office earlier. "Of course you did. And why are you just sitting here? Get up. We're going to have a talk with that parasite. I'll literally burn into that useless mass of neurons he dares to call a brain the consequences of touching what doesn't belong to him."

"Forget it, Ruben." Sofia pleaded in a tired voice. "It doesn't matter."

"What nonsense are you talking about? That cockroach stole your-"

"I don't care!" Sofia exploded, slamming her hands on her desk as she raised her tear-filled and red eyes to Ruben's angry and narrowed ones.

Both scientists stared at each other for long and intense moments before Sofia ended the eye-contact, allowing her body to fall back on her chair and burying her face in her hands.

"I don't care about it. Let Jimenez have the article; it doesn't matter." The woman spoke in a broken voice. "I just… I want to be alone right now."

Ruben's burning eyes narrowed even more. "Are you-"

"Asking you to leave? Yes."

Sofia didn't want Ruben to see her like that; all broken and crying just because her parents had kept a secret from her. Compared to what his parents did to him, that was nothing and she knew he would spare no words in telling her so. Ruben didn't stand weakness and, while overall his unyielding drive was a very appealing trait, she didn't need it right now. She couldn't deal with it right now.

And that was why she refused to raise her eyes to his again. She just kept her face hidden behind her hands and waited for him to leave her office.

Sooner than she expected he did.

And it made her feel so much more empty.

It was almost 19:00 when Sofia finally decided to just go home. Ruben had left almost an hour ago and that emptiness in her chest was not getting any better; she'd try to call him from her apartment and apologize for her behaviour earlier.

The doctor had just taken off her white coat and was about to hang it on the back of her chair when someone knocked softly on her door. With a sigh, she halted her action and put it back on.

"Come in."

The door opened slightly, allowing Carlos to poke his head through the gap and smile warmly to her.

"Sorry to disturb you, doc." The nurse began in a soft voice. "I heard you had a rough day, but do you think you could help me with something? It's Leslie."

When had Sofia ever denied a patient, let alone Leslie?

"Sure. What happened, Carlos?"

"Leslie is refusing to eat dinner and go to bed. The boy has been kind of down the whole day, actually. I was wondering if you could drop by the playroom and go spend some time with him before going home? He always brightens up after seeing you."

For the first time in the day, Sofia felt her lips morph into a smile and, to her surprise, it wasn't even forced.

"Of course. I think that seeing Leslie might brighten up my day as well."

Sofia found Leslie in the playroom, alone if not for the female nurse sitting in front of him and trying to coax the boy into stacking some colourful building blocks. The woman raised her eyes to the door and smiled in relieve at seeing the doctor approach.

"Look, Leslie." The nurse spoke in a childish voice. "Dr Prieto came here to see you."

The boy's face turned to her with a small smile and Sofia couldn't help but smile back. Leave it up to Leslie to turn her misery in happiness in less than three seconds.

"Hello, Leslie." Sofia greeted softly as she sat on the floor by the boy's side. "Can I play with you?"

Smiling, the boy nodded his head and scooted closer to her.

Ruvik was furious.

As he drove at 100mph on the highway, the scientist couldn't help but play and replay his earlier encounter with Sofia inside his head. He had driven to Beacon during working hours – something he despised doing – for her. He had gone there with the sole purpose of defending her against that miserable parasite and how did she thank him? Spurning him from her presence without as much as providing an explanation or even looking him in the eyes.

Which was very strange, because Sofia always did things for a reason. And she always stared him in the eyes whenever they talked.

Now that he thought about it, her eyes had been red and her face tear-stricken. She had been crying. But crying because of work didn't sound like her; she was as resilient as he was regarding the STEM.

"I don't care about it. Let Jimenez have the article; it doesn't matter."

Then what did? What mattered enough to make her cry? He had never seen her cry before.

With a new scowl on his lips, Ruvik performed a very illegal U-turn.

Ruben had questions to Sofia. And she would answer every single one of them.

As always, Ruvik didn't knock before entering Sofia's office; he just slammed the door open and marched in as if he owned the place.

Only to turn back and stomp out of the room when he found it empty.

He thought that maybe she went home – she had been pretty unnerved earlier that day and it was past 8pm already – but, for the sake of being sure, he grabbed a passing nurse by the arm roughly, making her squeal and raise scared eyes to his bandaged face.

"Where is she?" Ruvik demanded.

"D-Dr Prieto? L-Last I saw her she was with L-Leslie."

Ruvik's sharp eyes narrowed at hearing that. So he wasn't good enough to be in her presence, but a half-witted man was?

"Where?"

The nurse visibly flinched at the vicious snarl thrown at her. She knew that she shouldn't answer that, felt that the man holding her arm in such a painful grip was a danger to Dr Prieto and her patient. But she was terrified and would do anything to make him go away.

"I-In his room. Male ward; room 07-03."

By the end of the night, Jimenez's betrayal, her parents disregard to her and her small disagreement with Ruben were the furthest things from Sofia's mind. Inside Leslie's darkened room, as she sat on the foot of the bed with the boy lying his head on her lap, all she focused on was the sound of his slow breathing and how soft his white locks were between her fingers. At peace, Sofia allowed her eyes to close and her head to fall back on the wall behind her for support; she was growing sleepy.

So sleepy she didn't notice when the room's door opened slowly, allowing a shadowy figure to creep into their peaceful moment. Didn't see when its razor sharp eyes settled on the fingers that were absentmindedly combed the boy's soft bangs with jealousy burning in them. Didn't see the menacing steps that the figure took towards the boy's vulnerable body. And didn't see a cruel hand reach down to take a handful of the boy's hair.

Only when Leslie cried out in pain and fright as the invader violently hauled him up from her lap did Sofia's eyes snap open in alert.

The image that greeted her sight was of Leslie kneeling on the cold ground, crying as his fragile hands reached up to the hand that was abusing his scalp and pulling him up by the hair as the figure bent its body, gluing his threatening silver eyes to the boy's wide and terrified blue ones.

Before she knew what she was doing, Sofia had leaped from the bed and backslapped Leslie's attacker right on the face. The man howled in pain and fell back on the floor as Sofia kneeled in front of a crying Leslie and pulled him into her arms as she whispered soft words of comfort in his ear.

"It's alright, Leslie. I'm here. You're safe now. You're safe."

Grunting in pain, the figure stood up, burning eyes glared at the kneeled forms in front of him. At the exact moment he took a step towards them, the woman turned her head to finally take a good look at him.

When she finally recognized his bandaged form and cold silver irises, Ruben aborted his movements and dropped his glare. Her eyes were wide and full of tears. In them he could see shock, confusion and, most of all, disappointment. He understood then that the tears he was seeing now had nothing to do with whatever had happened to her earlier that day; she was crying because of him - him and his temper. It brought Ruvik a sick sort of ecstasy, knowing that he could hurt Sofia's feelings so easily, and a part of him wanted to keep going, keep stomping on her heart and exploring her emotions until she was nothing more than a broken mannequin in his arms.

But he knew he couldn't. If he did break her, Ruben knew she would never come back to him, and satisfying his sadism wasn't worth losing her. He had to fix whatever it was he had just broken between them.

Ruben opened his mouth to speak but before any words could come out, a whimper came from the fragile boy in Sofia's arms. The woman quickly broke eye-contact and refocused her attention on the boy crying in her arms.

Immediately, Ruvik's eyes narrowed once again as all thoughts of reconciliation left his mind.

It wasn't his fault he had hurt Sofia's feelings. It was that boy's - Leslie Withers. He was the one that demanded Sofia's attention every day. He was the main reason she couldn't spend nights in his home – Sorry, Ruben, I have to go back to the Beacon in the morning and see Leslie – or work exclusively on the lab, on his STEM – I can't just abandon my patients, Ruben; especially Leslie. Leslie Withers was the one person Sofia put above him. That dependent, pathetic and autistic excuse of a man.

Suddenly, Ruben's vision went red and next thing he knew he was standing right in front of the patient and his doctor, hand in the air and ready to harm the boy one more time. Ruvik never failed in bringing harm upon others and he was not about to start now.

However, his hand did not land on Leslie one more time. It landed on the woman that put herself between him and his target.

Ruben's silver eyes widened as he watched Sofia fall to the cold floor and his ears twitched as a loud bumping sound reached them. Before he could do anything, Leslie began to scream in what seemed to be a mix of fear and concern as his body rocked itself back and forth.

"Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! HURT!"

A scientist in heart, Ruben couldn't help but examine the boy for some moments. The repetitive movements and words were textbook autism. Ruvik smirked in sadistic anticipation; he knew who would be his next test subject.

The anticipation died when Ruben's silver eyes settled on Sofia's unmoving body lying on the ground. A bloody aureole started to spread on the floor, framing the woman's head and tainting her midnight black hair in scarlet, and suddenly Ruben felt a lancinating pain spike inside his skull making him shut his eyes as colours exploded behind his eyelids. He was about lose consciousness.

And the last thing he would remember before falling to the floor would be Sofia's blood-soaked hair and Leslie's desperate cries.

Well, things were getting to calm for my taste so I decided to spice this up a little. XDXD What did you think about it?

Kisses,

RedVoid

PS: please don't hate me for the cliffhanger