Connor had changed into a set of spare clothing that he happened to have. He had offered Sara his coat which was still dry but she had refused. Instead Sara sat in the front seat of the car wrapped in only an old musty blanket that Connor had pulled out of the trunk. She reached forward and turned the heater up, the blanket slipping as she did so, revealing her shoulder and the edge of her angle wing tattoo.

Connor allowed himself to stare briefly at the exposed skin before turning his eyes back to the road in front of him. "Ya doing okay?"

"I'm cold, wet, and my back hurts from where I fell and hit it on the edge of the dock, other than that I'm fine." Sara shifted and flinched when the movement caused pain in her lower back. "Damn that hurts; I am going to have some serious bruising."

"Here," Connor pulled the car over to the side of the road. "Let me have a look."

"What? Here, now?"

"Sara, let me look."

"Fine…" Sara twisted around so was facing away from him and loosened her grasp on the blanket so that it pooled around her waist in the back.

Connor cringed, already the lower left side of her back, as well as the side of her hip, was turning a nasty shade of purple. He touched the bruise. Sara stiffened and sucked in a breath of air.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to see if yer injured under the skin." Connor gently felt the bruise and the area around it. He felt Sara shiver under his touch. "Sorry if my fingers are cold, I'm almost done."

"No," Sara looked at him over her shoulder. "Your hands actually rather warm."

Connor finished prodding but left his hand where it was. He started to trace the lines of the tattoo on her back. "Where did ya get this?"

"At a tattoo parlor, where do you think?"

"I meant when." Connor followed the flow of ink up along her spine. "And why," he added as an afterthought.

"It was on my twenty third birthday last year. When I was little my mom used to call me her angel. I got it to remember her." Sara felt a pool of warmth forming in her belly; it matched the trail of heat that Connor was tracing on her back. She pulled the blanket back up. "That and I was craving pain at the time, some sensation to show myself that I was still alive and not completely numb. A tattoo seemed like a good way to go about it."

"It's beautiful."

"It's a tattoo Connor. Can we go now?" Sara turned so she was facing forward again. "I'd like to get back and get dressed."

Connor started the car again and pulled away from the curb.

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"What is this?" Sara stood in front of the door to Mary's apartment and stared at the note attached to it. "Murphy showed up after you left, he is staying over. Find yourself other accommodations for the night. You have got to be kidding me." She tore the note off the door and crumpled it. "Mary I'm going to kill you." Sara looked down and saw her duffel bag sitting next to the door. "Great, she just thought of everything."

She grabbed the bag and made her way down the stairs quickly. Hopefully Connor hadn't left yet. Sara got outside just as Connor was starting to drive away. "Connor, wait!" She dropped the bag on the ground and wave franticly, clutching the blanket to her body with her other hand.

The car stopped and reversed. Connor rolled the window down. "What, ya forget something?"

"No," Sara sighed. "Mary kicked me out."

"Didn't ya just move in this mornin'?"

"Yes I did. But apparently Murphy is up there."

"Ah. Well what do you want me to do about it?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you or something?" Connor just looked at her. Sara groaned. "Fine, can I please stay with you tonight?"

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"Are you sorry?"

"No."

"Then you're not forgiven."

"Then yer not staying with me."

"Fuck you."

"I don't think ya would like that much either."

Sara's face flamed. "You just keep proving my theory right. All men are jerks."

Connor opened the car door and got out forcing Sara to take a step back. "We need to talk about this."

"Talking with you is impossible. Or have you not noticed how well we converse." Sara pulled the blanket even tighter around her body. She needed to get warm and soon otherwise she was going to catch a cold.

"Fine, ya want me to be sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry yer mad at me and I'm sorry I made ya uncomfortable. But I'm not sorry for doing what I thought was necessary." He crossed his arms. "Allow me that much and I'll let ya stay the night." He could see the internal battle going on behind Sara's eyes. He could only imagine what she was thinking.

A gust of cold air suddenly blew past, penetrating the blanket. Sara's teeth started to chatter and that did it. "I'll allow that," she murmured giving in to the physical needs of her body rather than her stubborn emotional side.

"Good, now get in the car before ya catch yer death."

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"I suggest ya take a shower first and wash all that harbor water off ya. It will also help ya to warm up." Connor dropped her duffel bag on the floor next to the sofa and disappeared into the bedroom. He reappeared caring a pillow and a couple of blankets which he dropped onto the sofa. "Ya can sleep there."

Sara unzipped her bag and pulled out a small bar of soap and a thing of shampoo. She went into the bath room and turned the water in the shower on full blast. The small bathroom quickly filled with steam. She then turned the temperature of the water down as to not completely scald her skin. Letting go of the blanket she stepped into the shower under the stream of water. It felt wonderful, though it did hurt if the stream hit her bruised back and side dead on.

As soon as she was clean she stepped back out and dried off, dressing in a white tank top and a pair of white scrub bottoms, the kind that nurses wore. She toweled her hair until it was dry and then ran her fingers through it, removing all the tangles. Back in the front room she crawled under the blankets on the sofa and was asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.

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Connor sat straight up in his bed. He knew immediately what had woken him up, sobs and terrified cries where coming from the other room. He scrambled to his feet and into the living room where he was met with the sight of Sara's body thrashing around on the sofa. He quickly fell to his knees beside her and attempted to grab her arms, but in the process of trying to restrain her she ended up hitting him in the jaw. "Fuck, Sara!" He finally got a hold of her and shook her. "Wake up!"

Her eyes flew opened and she stared at him wide eyed. She looked so scared he half expected her to hit him again, this time intentionally. But what she did do took him completely by surprise. She flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest.

"He was hurting me," she sobbed into his chest, "and he wouldn't stop."

Connor wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. "Yer father? He's not here, it was just a dream."

"No," she shook her head. "Andrew. My, my boyfriend."

"The one who raped ya." Connor's hold on her tightened, a little too much. Sara let out a gasp as he squeezed her bruise. He immediately loosened his hold on, but didn't let go.

"He ruined me," Sara whispered. A fresh onslaught of tears began to fall on to Connor's skin. "That's why in the car the other night when you kissed me… it felt… it felt like it was starting all over again."

Connor pulled back forcing her to look at him. "I'm not going to hurt ya." He placed his hand on the side of her face and brushed her tears away with his thumb. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt ya."

"I thought the dreams had stopped a long time ago. But I was wrong." Sara's brown eyes bore into his blue ones. "Make the hurt go away. Make me forget."

Connor gave her a confused look. "How?" Sara kissed the corner of his mouth causing him to jerk back in surprise. "Sara…"

"Please," she begged him. "Show me how love is supposed to feel." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth.