AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone!!! Here's the next part.

When they arrived at Joes, Mac took Dri directly into the bedroom. A worried Richie and a..well Connor, followed behind them.

Dri's face was ghostly white, which compared to her natural olive skin made her look sickly pale. She hadn't said a word since they had left the cave at the fair grounds. Needless to say the three men were a wee bit worried.

Duncan put Dri on the bed and went into the bathroom to get some wash cloths and bandages. He didn't really want to leave her side, but he needed to clean her up. Besides Richie and Connor were there if anything happened in the two minutes he was away from her.

Richie kneeled next to Dri who was looking at the large blood stain on her shirt.

"Dri, talk to me."

He brought a hand up to caress her cheek, but she quickly slapped it out of the way. Then she pulled her shirt off and threw it as far away as she could. It hurt to do it, but she didn't want his blood touching her. She didn't want it even remotely near her. She didn't care that she was now only sitting in her bra and pants.

Richie gasped when he saw the bruises that covered her side.

"Don't act so surprised," Dri said dryly. "It's not like you haven't seen me in a bra before."

"Dri.I mean.I didn't know it was that bad."

The young girl followed Richie's gaze to her side.

"Oh, I think that's from when Jason threw me through the table." She replied nonchalantly.

Anger welled up inside of Richie. If McDaniels wasn't already dead he'd kill the bastard himself. Dri had been through enough without this bastard hurting her as well.

Connor on the other hand remained calm. He didn't like what he saw any better than Richie. In all actuality it made him ill to see the bruises, as well as the scars from before on her body, but both McDaniels and Alec were dead. Now they needed to concentrate on what they could do for Dri. Not what they could do with their anger.

Duncan walked back into the room with a basin, some clean cloths, bandages, and antisceptic. He set everything on the bedside table and turned to Dri. He kneeled down so that he was eye level with her.

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged and regretted it. Her whole body hurt. She felt every muscle it took to raise her shoulders and not in a good way. In fact it was in a very bad, very painful way.

"I'll live," she replied.

Duncan chorused her as she said it. "Yes, I know you'll live, but how are you feeling?"

"Sore and tired." She stated simply.

"Your colors getting better," He said as he got up and sat on the side of the bed.

Mac picked up a cloth and dipped it in the basin. Then he brought it to her face, but Dri pulled back flinching as she did.

"Dri I've got to clean the wounds."

She didn't respond.

Mac sighed. "Look it's either this or the hospital. It's your choice."

She glared at the Highlander. "Fine, but I don't everyone in here for this. If you don't mind I've been humiliated enough today."

Richie nodded and stood up. "That's cool. I'll catch Connor up to speed on everything that happened while he was out."

It was evident to Dri she had hurt him again. She didn't mean to, yet she always seemed to do it. She always seemed to hurt the ones she cared about. Although she wondered why she hadn't seemed to hurt Duncan yet. Oh well it was only a matter of time.

She didn't look at Richie when he and Connor walked out. She kept her eyes fixed on the bedspread. She didn't want to see the pain in his eyes or on his face.

Dri was so worried about Richie that she forgot to put her own shields up. Duncan did see the pain in her eyes and her face.

"He does understand you know," Mac said pulling her out of her thoughts.

He wasn't really sure if Richie did understand but it was better to let Dri think he did. She tried to look angry but couldn't. There was too much physical and emotional pain.

Dri started to shrug, but stopped herself. Mac started cleaning her face, wiping away all the blood. It revealed a few cuts and more bruises.

"You know," She began looking across the room. "When Alec made me 'kill him' I thought I had done something wrong and was actually relieved when the bastard came back to life. After everything he had done to me I was actually thankful that I hadn't killed him."

She winced when Mac brought the cloth to a small cut above her eyebrow that she hadn't even known was there. Duncan didn't say anything. He was surprised she was saying this much. He was scared that if he said anything she'd stop. He removed the cloth as she turned her head to look at him.

"But Andrew's not coming back," She continued. "I ended his life."

Mac sighed. "You know the first man I ever killed wasn't in battle."

"It wasn't?"

Duncan shook his head. "No, a drifter came through the village one night. I was only a boy taking care of my mother. I couldn't have been more than ten. My father was off fighting in a war. The drifter targeted my home because he thought no one would stop him from trying to rape my mother."

"But you stopped him right?"

"Aye, by driving a sword into his back. I knew he deserved it, but I didn't feel any better about it."

He started taking the bandages of her wrists and cleaning them with antiseptic. Dri wasn't flinching as much. She was listening to the story so intensely it was taking her mind of the pain.

"So what happened?"

Mac shrugged. "I was guilt ridden. I'd practically gone without eating anything until my father returned. My mother of course told him what happened."

"Was he proud of you?"

Duncan had finished cleaning the wounds and was re-bandaging them.

"Very, but he knew I was upset about it. You want to know what he said to me?"

Dri nodded slowly. Anything faster hurt.

Mac stopped what he was doing and looked her in the eyes.

"He said, Duncan there is a time for everything. There's a time to laugh, a time to weep, a time to celebrate and a time to mourn, but above everything there is a time to kill."

Dri started to turn away, but Duncan gently forced her to look at him.

"When Andrew attacked you he left you no choice and it became your time to kill. You killed to protect yourself. There's no shame in that."

Her lip was quivering and she was shaking. Unshed tears were lingering in her emerald eyes.

"I didn't want to kill him," She whispered. "I even asked Connor not to, but then he put the sword through Connor and."

"I know sweetheart," Mac said cutting her off. "I know. It wasn't your fault."

The first tear slid down her cheek. Mac used his thumb to wipe it away. He readjusted himself so that he was sitting next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Dri leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Did you believe what your father told you? Did it make you feel better?" She asked.

"Not at first, but over time I realized he was right. I realized that I couldn't stop living my life because I ended his."

Dri sniffled.

"I know its hard now. Killing is never easy, but you'll realize just as I did that it wasn't your fault."

Dri pulled away from him. "I'm cold."

"I'll get you something of Joe's to put on for now."

He got up and walked over to the closet.

"Duncan?"

He turned around to look at her.

"Do you really think Richie understand?"

He smiled. "Yeah, I really think he does."

"Do you think he would mind if I talked to him?"

Duncan couldn't help noticing how much she looked like a little girl.

"I don't think he'd mind that at all."

TBC..Please Review!!