After a few days, Sara was feeling a bit more normal, but she still had moments where she shook and sweated and craved. She knew it would take some more time to fully stop feeling withdrawal symptoms, but she could at least go back to work and not be noticeable about it.

"Thank you," she smiled at Arthur when he set down some food on a plate in front of her before sitting across from her with his. She hadn't expected him to not go to work this whole time, but she knew he had pressure to return from his boss, who made a point of calling every day to ask if he'd recovered from his stomach flu yet.

"You sure you're up to it?" Arthur asked, referring to her work.

"I'll be fine," she promised, resting her foot against his leg in a comforting way.

Arthur had his doubts, but he kept them to himself. He didn't want her to think he was being controlling or anything. He just worried she would cave and use the drops. He didn't know if he could do this again with her so soon if she did.

...

"You look pale," Brenda noted when she saw Sara that evening. "You okay?"

"Just a bit of a stomach flu," Sara answered. "I'm through the worst of it finally. Just a bit tired still." It wasn't a complete lie. She was exhausted.

"You poor thing," Brenda sympathized. "You sure you don't want to just go home and rest up more?"

"I'll see how the night goes," Sara offered. "If I can't do it, I'll leave early."

Brenda patted her shoulder affectionately before going off to chatter with some of the other girls. Sara watched as they all did their drops and laughed as they walked out to the waiting clients. No one seemed to notice that she didn't partake in the drops, which made things a lot easier for her. She had been dreading the questions. It turned out, though, that no one cared.

...

"You look like shit," Abe commented, squinting at Arthur. He had been summoned for a face to face visit before going back to work.

"I told you. I've been sick," Arthur replied. He knew he looked like hell because he hadn't gotten much sleep due to Sara's thrashing and shouting at times in her sleep. This helped his lie about being sick.

"And here I thought you were faking," Abe chuckled. "I guess it's going around. Are you fit for duty now?"

"I am," Arthur nodded.

"Good. Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"I have not."

Abe sighed, shifting the folders on his desk. Arthur wasn't sure why Abe wanted him to be a Gat Man so badly.

"Well, if you change your mind..."

"I know where to find you," Arthur finished for him. Abe waved him off then, and Arthur left. He briefly wondered if Sara was doing okay, but he resisted going to check up on her. He had to trust she would be all right. He did trust her.

He looked down as his phone vibrated.

Diner?

Sure, he replied.

A chat with Joe would keep his mind off of things for sure.

...

Sara had opted to go home instead of going to Arthur's after work. She stood out on the balcony and smoked lazily, thinking about everything. After a while, she realized how much she missed Arthur's company, which made her frown. This was not good. She didn't want to fall for anyone, and she certainly didn't want anyone falling for her. This was casual. That was all.

But who agreed to stop using drugs for someone if it was just casual? The thought niggled at her brain, and she did her best to push it away. She looked at her phone when it beeped, and she smiled.

Whatcha wearing?

She tapped the top of her phone with her finger, thinking. Casual meant casual after all. After a moment, she replied, her smile growing a bit bigger.

Why don't you come over and find out?

You don't have to ask me twice, Arthur's reply came back quickly. Sara hurriedly put out her cigarette and went to rinse with mouth wash. She knew he didn't like the taste of "ash tray," as he called it. She changed fast into something she knew he'd like and waited for him to get there. She decided she didn't really want to be alone after all, which was why she'd sent him the invite. It had nothing to do with this relationship not being casual. After about ten minutes, she heard his truck outside and his steps coming up the stairs to her front door. When she opened it, he stood there with a single rose in his hand and that crooked smile of his that she adored so much. She pulled him inside, and shut the door behind him. She wasted no time at all kissing him and leading him towards her room.

She could do casual. She knew she could. It was just a matter of whether or not he could too.

Three Months Later

Arthur grunted from the effort of lifting the body out of the box of his truck and carrying it towards the incinerator. He was having doubts about this whole operation lately, and he didn't know why. He tried not to think about it if he could help it, but every now and then it would come into his mind and stay there for a long time. The only thing that seemed to help was Sara. He paused after tossing the body down the hole and wondered if there was any way of getting out of this life. She made him want to be a different person. He wanted to be someone other than a guy who killed faceless people every day.

When he got home, he saw her standing in his kitchen holding herself. He immediately noticed something was wrong. It had something to do with the marks on her neck.

"What happened?" he asked. She wiped at her eyes, trying to get rid of her tears.

"Nothing," she answered.

This set off every red flag within Arthur. Something had happened to her, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Sara," he said firmly, moving towards her. "Tell me what happened."

"It was nothing," she tried again, her voice a whisper. A few more tears leaked out, and he knew damn well it wasn't nothing.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, moving her chin slightly so he could get a better look. They were definitely finger marks.

"No one. It just got a little carried away, but I'm fine," Sara said, getting a little more conviction in her tone. Arthur looked at her and wiped away the new tear that fell from her eye with his thumb to make his point that he knew she was not fine. Then he released her and grabbed his keys.

"Where are you going?" she asked, panicking.

"Don't worry about it," he answered.

"Arthur!" she shouted, chasing after him. "Stop!"

She caught him at his truck and grabbed his elbow to yank him around.

"Stop," she said again.

"I'm just going for a drive," he insisted.

"No, you're not. I'm not an idiot," she said angrily. "I do not need you to play hero, okay? This comes with the job, and I told you I'm fine."

"You're not fine," he pointed out. "And you should not have to fear for your life while doing your job."

"Going in there will only make it worse," she said. "Please just don't."

"He did the other one too," Arthur said, realizing. A month ago, she had bruises on her leg that she had explained away, but now he knew it was from this guy.

Sara said nothing. She knew it didn't matter what she said, he was going to deal with it in his own way regardless.

"Please just leave it for tonight. He's not even there anyway."

Arthur was breathing heavily. He hated when men treated women like this. He took in her pleading eyes and relaxed his grip on his keys. He'd leave it for tonight, but it wasn't over.

"All right, but I'm not finished with this," he warned, pointing at her. He closed his truck door, and she took his hand in hers and walked back inside. She didn't tell him why the guy had choked her. He had been trying to make her do more, but she kept refusing. She knew it was only a matter of time before he simply took what he wanted. She honestly didn't know why he hadn't already.

"I'm really okay," she tried again. She could tell Arthur was very angry. He took her shoulders in his hands and looked at her seriously.

"You tell me when he's in there again, okay?"

"Arthur..."

"Promise me," he cut her off.

"What are you going to do?" she whispered.

"He does this to the others too?" he asked instead of replying. She nodded. "Then I'll make sure he doesn't bother anyone anymore."

"You're going to kill him," she said, incredulous.

"No," he shook his head. "Just send a message is all."

Sara looked at him, worried. He pulled her into an embrace and tried to ignore the feelings of rage inside of him. The sight of her bruises just stoked the fire within even more. He'd deal with this and make sure everyone else knew better than to touch her or any other girl in there ever again.

...

Sara jumped, startled, when Brenda launched herself through the door the next night. She could tell immediately what Brenda was going to say.

"He's here," she said, breathless. "Again. He wants you."

Sara closed her eyes briefly. It was rare for him to come two nights in a row, but he always picked her when he did.

"Okay. Thanks," she nodded. She felt the anxiety rise in her stomach as Brenda left her alone again. She hesitated before digging for her phone and sending Arthur a message. She didn't like this guest. She hated how he treated the others. She hated how he treated her. She was afraid of him, but she also knew that people were afraid of Arthur. Perhaps this could stop if Arthur got involved after all. She wouldn't know unless she tried.

...

He's here.

Arthur looked at his phone and felt the anger rise up again.

"What?" Joe asked, concerned.

"I have to go," Arthur answered, getting up and tossing down some bills. "See you tomorrow."

"Everything all right?" Joe called after him.

"It will be," Arthur called back. He shoved the diner door open hard and didn't even flinch at the pain. He drove as quickly as he could to where Sara worked. He parked and went in, scanning the room. There was a type of nervous tension in the air, he noticed.

"Hi, handsome," Brenda said upon seeing him. She wore a worried expression, which Arthur did not like to see.

"Where is she?" he asked, skipping the formalities.

Brenda wordlessly pointed to a room off the back, and he thanked her before charging towards it. Who was this guy? Why did everyone seem afraid of him? This was going to change.

He yanked open the door, and he momentarily froze upon seeing Sara being held down by a man as he was trying to get into position on top of her.

"I told you I'd take what I wanted," he was saying as she whimpered. Without even hesitating, Arthur stepped inside and grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and yanked him backwards. The man landed on his ass and yowled before recovering and seeing Arthur.

"This is a private room!" he shouted.

"Go," Arthur said to Sara, who was now on her feet. She didn't need to be asked twice. The man blocked her at the door, though, grabbing her arm.

"I paid for this," he growled. "You're not going anywhere."

Arthur was there in an instant, landing a punch to the man's face hard and making him release Sara. He grabbed the man and threw him again, making him crash into the chair and fall over it into a heap on the floor.

"Arthur," Sara tried.

"I said go," Arthur told her roughly. She bowed her head and left, leaving Arthur and the man alone.

"Who are you? Her boyfriend?" the man asked, getting to his feet slowly. "Very noble of you, but you're forgetting this is her job."

"It is not her job to be raped," Arthur clarified. "And that is clearly what was going on here and has happened before." The realization of this just made him angrier.

"I repeat: it's their job," the man said again.

"It isn't, and you know it isn't," Arthur growled. "You wanna hurt someone, then hurt someone your own size."

"Well all right," the man sneered. He launched himself at Arthur, who was ready for him. It was a very intense fight. Arthur got struck a few times. Then he had to dodge a knife coming at him, but he did get cut twice. He disarmed the man and got him into a chokehold only to be elbowed in the stomach hard. Arthur received a few blows that knocked him over onto his back, and he twisted to avoid getting stomped. He kicked the man's legs out from under him, making him crash onto the floor. Arthur was on him in a flash, pounding on every inch of him he could reach. Blood was flying, and Arthur was seeing red.

"You wanna know how it feels?" he asked the man, wrapping his hands around the man's throat. "Huh? You wanna know how it feels to be treated this way?"

The man choked and smacked at him to no avail. Arthur eventually lifted the man's head and slammed it into the floor twice before letting him go. The man gasped and clutched at himself, panting. Arthur looked around the room finally and noticed how terrible it looked. He got to his feet, adjusting his shirt.

"If I ever see you in here again, I will do much, much worse to you than I've done here tonight," Arthur warned. "That's a promise."

The man said nothing as he got up. He cradled his face as he limped towards the door. Arthur walked behind him, escorting him to the exit. The room had gone silent at first upon seeing the two of them, but then cheers and applauding erupted from everyone. Even the bartender was thrilled to see the man go.

Sara caught up to him by the door as he watched the man get into the back of his car and get driven away.

"Is he really not coming back?" she asked hopefully. Arthur looked at her finally.

"He knows the price if he does," he answered. She took in his battered face and bloody knuckles and cuts to his shirt and knew he'd gone through hell himself, but he had done what was thought to be impossible and sent the jerk packing.

"Come on," she said, tugging on his hand. "John said drinks are on him tonight."

"All right," he agreed. He decided to stick around a little to make sure there were no repercussions for what had happened. The bartender, John, was all ears to the story Arthur told of the fight.

"It's about time someone kicked that scum out of here," John said when he finished. "I wanted to, but I was threatened the loss of my job if I did anything."

"Well, here's hoping he doesn't come back," Arthur replied. He waited in anticipation, but nothing happened for the rest of the night. He let Sara drive because he had been drinking. She took him to her place and sat him at her kitchen table while she got her first aid kit. He groaned when she started cleaning him up.

"You really should have gotten this dealt with earlier," she scolded, removing his shirt gently and starting to clean his knife wounds on his arm and torso. Thankfully, they weren't deep.

"Why would I do that when I have a very capable nurse right here?" he teased. She gave him a look and grabbed his chin, tilting his head left and right to examine the cuts on his face and brow.

"He sure did get you back," she commented.

"I got him worse," he shrugged.

"Let's hope he doesn't come after you again," she said, feeling worried.

"I can handle myself," he promised. "Let him try."

He watched as she finished cleaning him up and then went to stand behind her as she was putting the kit away. He removed everything from her hands, set them on the table behind her, and lifted her up onto it in one quick motion.

"Arthur!" she scolded. "You've just been beaten up..."

He kissed her in response, sliding his hands up and down her skin. He soon had her backwards on the table with him leaning over her. He just wanted her. He didn't want to think anymore. He didn't want to worry anymore. He just wanted to focus on her.

Thankfully, she let him.