A/N: So clearly I have yet to start studying for my exams.

Just a fair warning, this is a pretty heavy chapter. I suppose that it is possible that the rating is teetering on the edge of Teen and Mature, though that is clearly subjective so I'm' choosing to keep the rating as it is. With that said, though, be aware that there might be offensive language and dialogue in this chapter, certainly more so than in the other chapters. Okay, that's my spiel.

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Izzie's footsteps echoed loudly in her head as she followed the bailiff to the courtroom, but their sound did little to drown out the deafening beat of her heart hammering inside of her chest. When the bailiff opened the doors to let her in, her eyes immediately flew to Jason Dole, who was sitting at the defense table. Initially, he was facing away from her, but when he heard the doors open, he turned in his chair and their gazes met.

She stopped abruptly and found herself momentarily breathless as he looked unflinchingly at her, boldly inspecting her body from head to toe, his eyes lingering on her curves. When his gaze once again landed on her face, he smiled smugly at her, smirking as though he were the victor in a confrontation. It was as though he were proving to her that, even in this room full of people, he could visually rape her all over again. The moment was quick, though, and he turned back around to face the front of the courtroom so quickly that Izzie almost wondered if the exchange even took place.

She began walking forward once again, following the bailiff down the aisle to the front of the room. She was sworn in and led to a seat to the left of the judge's bench, a seat which was accompanied by a microphone so that her fears and vulnerabilities could resonate throughout the room for everyone to hear.

As she sat in the chair, her eyes briefly scanned the room. There were more people there than she'd expected, and they were all staring at her with interest. She suddenly felt like a caged zoo animal, like she was a popular exhibit for everyone to gawk at. Izzie looked down again at the floor, avoiding the gazes of her audience. She didn't know if she could get through this if she had to look at their sympathetic faces.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caroline stand up and begin to walk toward her. "Can you state your name for the record, please?" she asked her.

Izzie glanced up at Caroline, but her eyes slid to Mark instead, who sat directly behind where the district attorney was standing. Their eyes met for the first time since she had entered the room, and he smiled encouragingly at her, silently giving her support. Feeling a renewed surge of confidence, she turned her gaze back to Caroline.

"Isobel Katherine Stevens," she said, relieved to hear her voice sounding strong.

"But your friends call you Izzie?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Can you tell the court what you do for a living, Izzie?"

"I'm a surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital," she answered.

"And were you working on the night of February 23rd of this year?" Caroline asked her gently.

Izzie felt her throat suddenly constrict. Such a simple question, yet it acted as a gateway to the story of her attack. She forced herself to clear her throat and she mentally prepared herself for the moments ahead. "Yes, I was working in the hospital's free clinic."

"Were you alone?" Caroline prompted.

Izzie nodded her head. "Yes, I stayed later than everyone to finish up the paperwork and close the clinic."

"Can you tell us what happened that night, Izzie?" Caroline requested softly.

Izzie gripped her thighs nervously and took a deep breath. 'Just get through this,' she told herself. "My friend, Meredith, called me when I was finishing up some charts," she began, glancing at Meredith.

"Hey Mer, how is Joe's?"

"It's great Iz; I was actually calling to tell you to come on over when you finish up your charts. Everyone is here except for you so get your ass over here!"

"I told her that I would meet her and some other friends at a bar, but I had to change first, so I went to the locker room," she said. Caroline nodded at her, encouraging her to continue. "While I was in there, I thought I heard a sound in the front of the clinic, but I convinced myself that I was just imagining things..."

"And were you imagining things?" Caroline asked when Izzie trailed off.

Izzie felt her throat tightening again. "No," she said, her voice quivering. "When I went to the front, there was a man standing in the doorway of the clinic. He had broken the window over the door and unlocked it." Izzie could feel sweat breaking through her pores as her anxiety grew. The further she recounted her story, the more real the images became in her mind. "Neither of us said anything at first. I think he was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him," she said, adverting her eyes from the piercing stare of Jason Dole. "When I looked at him, I noticed that he had the symptoms of a drug withdrawal. I thought maybe that's why he'd broken in – to steal narcotics from the clinic - so I told him that I would get him what he wanted if he would leave. I just…I just didn't want him to hurt me."

"Look, if you broke into the clinic to steal drugs, fine. Tell me what you want and I will get it."

"And is that why he broke in to the clinic?" Caroline asked. "To steal drugs?"

"Yes," Izzie said shakily. "He told me he wanted Demerol."

"And what happened when you went to get him the drugs, Izzie?"

Izzie took another deep breath, willing her mind to erase the image of Dole coming at her with a knife. "He grabbed my shoulders and held a knife to my throat," she said quietly, reflexively bringing her hand to her neck. She glanced briefly at the jury, but, seeing their pity, she turned away quickly. "He didn't want me to go to the supply closet alone."

"I'm going with you. There'll be no stunts, do you understand?"

"So the two of you went to the supply closet together?" Caroline asked.

"Yes, I unlocked the door and I gave him the Demerol that we had in storage. He…he was angry, though, because there wasn't a lot left. We'd had a busy day in the clinic, and we don't store a lot of those kinds of narcotics anyway, so there were only a few dosages in there."

"This is it?" he demanded angrily, yelling into her face. "This is all you're giving me?"

Izzie shuddered at the memory of his angry tirade. "He took it when he realized that it was all we had," she continued. "I thought he was going to leave the clinic then, but…"

"But what, Izzie?" Caroline asked.

She looked miserably at Caroline, her look silently communicating that she hated recounting this story, but Caroline merely looked at her regretfully so Izzie carried on. "He'd gotten a gash on his hand when he put it through the window," she said quietly. "He told me to suture it, so I got some supplies from the closet and I took him to a bed where the light was better."

"And you gave him stitches?"

"Yes," she answered.

"What happened next, Izzie?" Caroline asked gently, knowing the next part of the story would be the hardest for Izzie.

Izzie stared at the floor for a moment as the memories of that night flooded her mind. "My cell phone rang," she told the court. "It was in my bag across the room. I…I wasn't sure what to do when I heard it. I probably should have just ignored it so that I wouldn't make him angry, but I was so scared. I couldn't think straight, and I thought maybe I could get to the phone…I just wanted to tell someone that I needed help…" say said quietly as a tear spilled onto her cheek.

Izzie took a shaky breath and wiped the tear from her face. She glanced at Meredith and saw that she, too, had tears in her eyes. Meredith had realized that it was she who had been calling Izzie at that time. If only she had known that Izzie was in trouble…

Meeting Izzie's gaze, Meredith looked desperately at her and silently mouthed, 'I'm so sorry.' Izzie smiled sadly at her, shaking her head in an effort to let her know that she could never blame Meredith for what happened. It was in no way her fault and she had done so much for Izzie to help her get over the attack.

Izzie thought back to when Meredith had pushed her to seek help at the Rape Crisis Center. Izzie had been so angry at her for calling Grace behind her back, but Meredith hadn't backed down. "I had every right to call her Izzie, because I love you and I want you to get over this." How could Meredith think that she could ever blame her after everything she had done for her?

"So you answered your phone?" Caroline asked, interrupting Izzie's silent thoughts.

Izzie turned back to Caroline and shook her head. "Um, I tried," she said. "I ran across the room trying to answer it, but he ran after me and he…he tackled me from behind. I…I hit my head on the floor."

"And what'd he do then, Izzie," Caroline pressed, seeing Izzie's reluctance to continue.

Izzie closed her eyes in distress, wanting to be anywhere but in that chair. "He, ah, he grabbed me and turned me over onto my back…"

"Where to in such a hurry, Blondie?" he asked her with a sneer.

"My…my friends are waiting for me. They know I'm here. They'll come looking for me. You need to leave now, or…or…"

"I told him that my friends would be wondering where I was…that they knew I was still at the clinic, but he didn't…he didn't listen to me."

Izzie could mentally hear Jason Dole laughing at her attempts to persuade him to leave the clinic. She felt her heart pounding wildly as she imagined him on top of her, pinning her to the ground. Her breathing became labored as her mind vividly recalled the feel of his hands roughly moving over her breasts, and him smirking down at her as he saw the fear on her face.

"You're not going anywhere right now. There's much more that you can give me before I leave."

"I…I tried to get up. I flung myself at him as hard as I could, and…he fell off me for a second, but I couldn't…I couldn't get up fast enough. He pushed me back against the ground and…"

Izzie took a deep breath and look over to her friends. Alex's face was red with anger from listening to Izzie's description of Dole's violence towards her. When he saw her looking at him, though, he forced himself to relax and nod encouragingly at her to resume her testimony. She could almost hear the words that he had spoken to her so long ago in the linen closet at Seattle Grace, trying to sooth her worries over Meredith, who had been stuck in an OR with the bomb.

"It's going to be okay."

"You don't know that," she'd responded with uncharacteristic pessimism.

He'd shrugged his shoulders at her. "It's just what you say."

Maybe it is just what you say, but Izzie knew that Alex really believed those words, and his silent encouragement made her continue, despite the lump in her throat. "He was furious…he…he hit me in the abdomen and he…he…" Izzie trailed off, her throat constricting as though her emotions had physically welled in her throat.

"Izzie, do you need to take a break?" Caroline asked gently.

Izzie looked at her briefly, and then her eyes traveled back to the bench where she saw George, who was sitting in between Meredith and Alex. Sweet George. She thought back to the night that she had come home from the hospital. When her friends had woken her from her terrible nightmare, George had wrapped his arms around her, guarding her from her fears. "You're okay now. We're all here, alright? We're going to protect you. You don't have to be scared." Izzie looked him in the eye now, drawing strength from him. He was still here, still protecting her. They all were. Sitting on that bench, they looked like a mighty force ready to go to battle against anyone wanting to hurt her.

She inhaled deeply, forcefully swallowing the lump in her throat and shaking her head negatively toward Caroline before continuing. "He took his knife and cut my shirt from my body," she said with a trembling voice. "And he, he put the knife over my heart and sliced my skin. He told me that he would kill me if I tried to get away again…"

"Try anything like that again, and I will cut your heart out," he promised with a whisper. "Understand?"

She trembled at the memory of his menacing voice threatening her life.

"And then what happened, Izzie?" Caroline asked gently. "I need you to be specific."

Izzie looked at Mark. How could she say this in front of him? He was frowning sympathetically at her, and she looked down at the floor with shame. "He took off my pants and he…he ripped off my…off my panties," she whispered weakly into the microphone as tears spilled onto her face. "And then…then he raped me."

Jason Dole jumped up from his chair as she whispered the words. "You bitch!" he shouted, lunging across the table at her and causing her to recoil with fear. "That slut is lying! She wanted it! She was begging for it!"

The courtroom suddenly buzzed with murmuring onlookers, whispering their surprise at Dole's outburst. The judge shouted for everyone to quiet down, threatening contempt against the next person who spoke out of order.

Pure hatred flashed in Mark's eyes when he heard the man's spiteful words, and he was up in an instant, charging toward him with a rage that he had never felt before. He pressed on, even when he saw the bailiff forcefully reseating Dole, but his movements were stopped abruptly when Alex's hand wrapped around his arm. "Let me go, Karev," he said in a voice that sounded dangerously low.

"It's not worth it, Sloan. You'll be no use to Izzie if you get tossed in jail for contempt," Alex said with hushed urgency.

Mark stared at him, his face flushed with anger, and for a moment Alex thought that he was going to take his fury out on him. Mark then looked away from Alex, his eyes resting on Meredith and George who had stood up behind them. They were looking at him expectantly, and Meredith was shaking her head at him in an effort to discourage his aggression. Mark continued on, looking fleetingly at Izzie, still in the witness chair and looking terrified. She appeared sad and sallow, and her face was stained by the tears making their way down her cheeks.

Mark knew Alex was right. As much as he wanted to kill that bastard for saying such horrible things about the woman he loved, it was more important for him to be there for Izzie.

Alex grip relaxed when he felt Mark's body slacken in defeat, and they all turned to the judge who said, "Does the prosecution have anymore questions for the witness?"

Caroline shook her head negatively, and the judge looked at the defense attorney questioningly. "I don't have any questions for the witness," the public defender said with defeat, clearly frustrated over where this case was going.

"Alright then, I think it would be helpful to everyone if we took a break," he said, looking angrily at Jason Dole. "When we come back, the prosecution can continue with their next witness. Everyone be back here in half an hour."

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