Chapter Eight:

He sat down next to her on the bathroom floor.  Watching her he gently wiped at the tears running down her cheeks.  "Are you okay?"  He asked.  She shook her head yes, but she wouldn't look at him.  "Liz…"  He moaned as he held her by the shoulders and pulled her into his embrace.

"Ahhhhh…"  She cried jerking out of his arms and slithered into a corner of the bathroom, her hands covering her face, her sobs rumbling around them. 

"Oh God…Liz…I'm sorry…I didn't mean…God!"  He roared, jumping to his feet he paced the small room like an animal caught in a cage, his rage running rapidly inside him.  "I'm going to kill him…I'm going to kill him."  He screeched.

"Stop…stop…stop…"  She cried her eyes tightly closed, hands over her ears.  "Please make it go away."  She begged, her body shaking.  "Make it go away."

Kneeing in front of her his heart braking he reached out and touched her, but he quickly removed his hand when she pulled away from him.  "I can't…God I want to, but I can't…Liz…"

Looking up at him her eyes pooling with tears she whispered.  "You can take away the pain…please make it stop hurting."  Her whole body felt like it was on fire.  Every movement made, every breath she took made the excruciating pain inside her unbearable.

"Please…"  His voice caught in his throat, but he forced the words from his throat.  "Let me see what he did to you…please."

Holding his eyes with hers she slowly got to her feet.  Max rouse with her his face inches from her.  He wanted to capture her lips with his, to kiss the hurt away, but he knew he couldn't so he stood there and waited for what ever she did next.

He watched as she slowly brought her hand to the hem of the over sized shirt she was wearing and carefully brought it over her head.  He felt like he'd been suck punched.  The pain so acute that it almost brought him to his knees.  He didn't want to see anymore, didn't want to see the welts embedded in her soft flesh, but he made himself watch as she turned her back to him. The agonizing groan was ripped from deep inside him, his eyes dripped with his tears as he witnessed the extent of damage Mike had done to her. Her soft faultless torso was covered with wilts.  It zigzagged across her tearing into her flesh.

"Take it away…"  She moaned staring down at him.  "Make the pain go away."  She begged.

Shaking his head he turned away from her.  "I can't."  He said going to the door and opening it.  "Michael."  He yelled through the door.  When Michael stood in front of him he demanded.  "Get the camera you borrowed last week, now!"  Michael didn't question the use of the camera; he immediately went in search of the wanted item.  Closing the door he turned back to her.   "I sorry…I can't heal you until we document what he did to you…Liz…"

But she wasn't listening any longer.  She turned her back to him, her head bowed.  She didn't turn at the loud knock on the door moments later.  Didn't turn when she heard the camera snap repeatedly.  Didn't turn around until she felt his hand slowly move through her hair, massaging her scalp.  "Max…" She moaned.

"Close your eyes sweetheart."  He said and when her eyes drifted close he raised the camera and snapped a couple of pictures. She didn't open her eyes while he took pictures of her arms, shoulders.  Placing the camera on the sink Max bended down and pick up her discarded shirt pulling it over her head and down her body carefully.  "Look at me."  He demanded, his voice laced with his pain, his anger.  "We're going to walk out of here and then Valenti is going to call the police."  At the fear that flashed in her eyes he brought his hand up to her face, caressing her cheek.  "Your going to do it Liz… your going to do it because the Liz that I know… that all of us knows wouldn't let anyone get away with what he did to you."

Pulling away she cried.  "Max…Max…I can't…I can't." 

He turned her to face him.  "You can and you will.  You have no choice."  He said.  "Do you think you're the only one he's every done this to?  Liz…people like him thrive on making others feel like shit and after he's gone he'll only find someone else.  Some little kid to torment all over again, to feed his sick drive for power.  We have to stop him now before he does this to someone else."

"Max you don't know what you're asking from me."  She said trying to pull away from him.

"Yes…I do.  I do…Liz.  I'm asking you to face your worst demons.  I'm asks you to be the person I've loved almost all my life.  The person I know you are.  The person who would never let someone like him win no matter what." 

She closed her eyes, her tears sliding through her closed lids.  Everything inside her wanted to deny what Max had just said, but she knew…she knew he was right.  How can she live with the knowledge that he was out there, somewhere hurting someone else?

"Okay."  She said taking a deep breath.  "Okay…"  She cried her tears running down her face.

He reached out his hand to her and she took it without hesitation.  She would do this even though everything in her wanted to shrivel up and hide within the scared little girl still inside her.  The little girl that learned so many years ago that she was nothing…nothing when she was around him.  But as she stole a glance at Max, she knew with everything within her that she was somebody.  Somebody worth loving.  She didn't know where this would lead, but one thing she knew she wasn't a little girl any longer and it was time she grew up.  It was time to put old childish fears behind her. Time to face the demon that always seemed to hover in the background.  Time to be free.  Time to be her self.

TBC