Warning: emotional/domestic abuse scene********

Claire POV:

I stared at the clock and watched the hand turn to 12:01 it was official Frank had missed our first anniversary. I had spent all day cleaning the house spotless, I had made 3 dinners, the first two failed, he always hated my cooking... I thought if I could get one meal right, this meal, that maybe things would get better for us. I was wrong.

It was almost 3am when he came home, I was still sat at the table watching the clock unsure what to do with myself. He didn't like it if I ate without him but I could care less about the bloody food I just wanted to go to sleep, in my dreams at least I could be thousands of miles away off on some adventure with uncle Lamb free of this domestic prison.

"What is that God awful smell!?" He shouted startling me, I had spent the entire day in almost complete silence, I guess I was starting to forget what another person's voice sounded like.

"It is your dinner, it was supposed to be our anniversary dinner, but now I doubt it's fit enough for the neighbor's dog." I replied my annoyance over his tardiness clear.

"Well let's be fair darling, it was your cooking I'm sure even fresh from the oven the hungriest dog wouldn't sniff at it." I started to tear up -damn it Beauchamp! I didn't used to be this sensitive, perhaps it was how tired I was, not just over today but over the past year of this tiresome marriage where nothing I did seemed to be good enough.

He started laughing at me, "are you actually crying?" he asked intensely amused at my pain.

I tried to wipe my tears away and stand up to leave the room but he was suddenly across the table in a flash pushing me roughly back into my seat.

"Oh no no no, if it so important to you, please let's eat!"

He kept me in that chair and bite by bite, forced every last scrap of food down my throat. My stomach was screaming in protest but my discomfort seemed only to please him. It was morning now and finally this horrid anniversary was over, or so I thought.

He finally released my shoulders of which I'm sure would be bruised black with his unyielding grip on me but as soon as I stood I had to rush to the bathroom losing most of what was fed to me down the toilet.

"Tsk, tsk, wasting food, how very rude of you."

"Please, Frank, please I did my best you weren't even bloody here for our anniversary!" I didn't need to look up to see the look on his face to know I had just made everything worse, I could feel it in the air, the storm that was heading for me.

He roughly grabbed me by the back of my head and threw me into the bath. He started filling the tub holding me under it.

"Want to know why your husband missed your precious dinner! A bloody German U-boat sunk one of our air craft carriers! Men died but I have to come home a deal with a pitiful crying wife and her atrocious attempts at a fucking pot roast."

I struggled for air as the water came over my nose, "Please Frank I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't, your just a woman, it isn't your job to know, your only bloody job is to keep a fine home and you can't even do that! Isn't it enough that I serve my country trying to save us each day from the Germans coming and destroying our lives, I have to come home to you! I'm not sure which is the greater burden."

He kept pushing me under the water, letting me up only for the briefest seconds to get a lung full of air and down I went again. I'm not sure how long this lasted but it felt like hours. Finally his arms seemed to tire and he stood up. Again I made the mistake of thanking God, thinking it was over. But he wasn't quite done, Frank unzipped his pants and proceeded to urinate on me. Finally he buttoned up and left me but not before locking me in the bathroom.

I sat there in the bath, shivering from shock, sick, dirtied knowing there was no more denying it... I had married a monster. And this monster worked for bloody MI6, I was screwed.