"Thank you." Mark said to the cabbie handing him money to cover the fare and a small tip.
"I forgot about all these stairs." Marty said looking up as she gripped the railing with one hand and held on to Roger with the other one struggling to take one step at a time.
"Come on, let me help you." Roger said sweeping her into his arms as he had done earlier in the night.
"Roger, you don't have to carry me up." she said wrapping her arms around his neck to hold on.
"It's no problem. You can barely walk, you shouldn't have to try to make it up all these stairs." he told her holding her tight.
"Roger, I can walk, you know?" she told him as he easily carried her up the stairs.
"You might as well stop arguing with him. I told you you'll never win." Mark said beginning to laugh as he followed Roger up the stairs.
"I'm learning that." Marty said looking back at Mark with a smile as Roger reached the loft.
"You can take my room until we get the other room cleaned up." Roger said carrying her into his room and putting her on his bed.
"You really don't have to do that. I can sleep on the couch." she told him as Roger helped her adjust the pillows for her.
"No way. That thing is too uncomfortable for you. You need some sleep. Are you OK?" he asked as he began to fix the blankets for her.
"Roger, can you sit in here with me for a little while?" she asked laying her head on the pillow beginning to cry.
"Of course. Everything is gonna be OK, you know." he replied sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I can't believe this has happened to me. Why did he have to do that?" she said crying into her hands as Roger wrapped his arms around her and letting her cry.
"I know. Let it out." he said as he rocked her back and forth.
"Roger, I didn't deserve this." Marty told him with her head in his chest.
"No one does." he whispered to her caressing her hair as she continued to cry.
"I'm sorry, Roger. I just can't believe that someone hurt me like that." she cried to him as she looked up at him.
"Never apologize. You're allowed to cry, you know. You don't just get over it once you talk to the cops and get out of the hospital. Don't worry about it. I'm gonna go get you a tissue." he said looking down at her sweeping her hair out of her face.
"No, don't leave me Roger, please. I don't want to be alone." she said wiping her eyes with her head still buried in Roger's chest.
"I'm not gonna leave you, Marty. I'm right here for as long as you need me to be." he told her as she began to fall asleep. "I'm not going anywhere." he told her still rocking her from before. As she fell asleep in his arms he sat back against the wall and just thought about what had been done to her. It made him sick that someone would do that. No one deserved to have that done to them. He wanted to make everything OK for her, but he didn't know how. She was like a scared child. She didn't want to be left alone. She needed him and he wanted to help. As he leaned against the wall holding her, he fell asleep. When he woke up, it was daylight and Marty was gone. He got up and left the bedroom. He looked around and saw her and Mark sitting at the counter drinking coffee.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked. Her face was still battered and bruised from the night before, but she had showered and looked a lot better none the less.
"I'm OK. I'm sorry you fell asleep leaning against the wall. That looked like a very uncomfortable position." she told him as he came into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.
"It's OK. I've fallen asleep in worse places." he said taking a sip of his coffee.
"Detective Benson called earlier. She wanted to make sure Marty didn't forget that she had to come in and look at some mug books today." Mark said getting up to put his cup in the sink.
"Don't remind me. I... I have to go get my clothes. I can't wear Mark's sweats all the time." she told Roger as he sat in Mark's now vacant chair.
"There's no way you're going in your condition. Why don't you let me go?" he told her taking another sip of coffee.
"I can't let you do that. You guys are doing so much already." she said putting her hand on his forearm.
"I want to. You need your clothes, don't you?" Roger asked looking into her swollen blue eyes.
"Yeah, I do. Just let me call my ex-roommate and let her know that you're coming. I should be fine here with Mark. When you get back I can get changed and we can go to the police station." she told him nervously taking her hand off of his arm.
"OK. Is that OK with you Mark?" Roger asked turning to Mark who was now in the living room tinkering with his camera, as usual.
"Of course. I don't mind staying here with Marty." he told him not looking up.
"Thanks. Let me just get myself cleaned up and then I'll go." he told her getting up, heading into the shower.
"Um, Mark. Can I ask you something?" Marty asked carefully getting off of the chair and limping to the couch.
"Of course Marty. You can ask me anything." Mark smiled looking over at her.
"Does Roger have a thing about rescuing women in trouble?" she asked sitting down gently.
"No, he doesn't. His last girlfriend had HIV and a nasty drug problem. He tried to help her get clean, but the heroin had too strong a hold on her. She wound up dying on the streets of an OD. Roger's just a nice guy." Mark explained as he went back to his tinkering.
"I've never met anyone like him." she said watching the bathroom door.
"Yeah, he is an original." Mark said looking up and seeing her watching the room Roger was in. "You have feelings for him, don't you?" he asked pushing his glasses back up onto his face.
"I don't know yet. All I know is that I feel safe with him. I don't know if it's because he found me in the alley or because I like him." she told him turning to him with tears in her eyes.
"I can see he has feelings for you." Mark told her wiping her eyes with his thumbs.
"I know." she said giving him a weak smile. "I have to call my ex-roommate so Roger could get my stuff." she said getting up carefully as Mark got up to help her.
"The phone is over there." he told her helping her walk over to the phone.
"Thank you Mark." she told him picking up the phone and dialing her old phone number. "Carrie, it's Marty... Look, I don't want to fight with you right now. I'm calling to tell you that my friend Roger is coming over for my clothes... because I can't OK, just don't give him a hard time. He has nothing to do with this... Just give him my stuff and don't be a bitch to him... Thank you." she said hanging up the phone. "What a bitch." she said leaning on the table.
"Is everything OK? I heard yelling out here." Roger said coming out of the bathroom in a towel.
"Yeah, my... my old roommate just being a bitch, as usual." she told him staring at his wet body.
"I'm gonna go get dressed and then get your stuff." he said heading quickly to his bedroom.
"Right." she said limping back to the couch blushing. The silence was broken by the phone ringing.
"I'll get it." Mark shouted to Roger as he jumped up to get the phone.
"Hello... Hey Collins, no I forgot. We've had a lot going on... It's a long story, where are you?... OK, I'll throw down the key... Later. Roger, Collins is here." Mark yelled hanging up the phone and going out onto the fire escape.
"Cool." Roger answered from his room.
"Who's Collins?" Marty asked looking a bit scared.
"He's our old roommate. He lives a few blocks away." Roger told her coming out of his room in his socks carrying his boots with him.
"Is that whose room I'm gonna be staying in?" she asked as Roger sat next to her to put his boots on.
"Yeah. Don't worry, you'll like him. He's big but gentle as a pussycat. Don't worry, it's gonna be OK. No one is gonna hurt you here." he told her putting his arm around her shoulder seeing that she was scared.
"OK. I'm OK, Roger." she said looking up at him as Collins entered the loft.
"Who's this?" he asked cheerfully seeing Marty and Roger on the couch.
"Collins, this is Marty. Someone jumped her in the alley next door last night and I found her. She's gonna be staying in your old room for a while." Roger told him as Marty looked up to see Collins.
"Damn girl. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. Someone did a number on you, didn't they?" he said as he approached her. She moved closer into Roger's embrace. "Are you OK?" he asked shying away seeing her fear.
"I'm sorry. I'm just a bit jumpy. I... I was raped and I guess I'm still a little scared. It's nothing against you." she said realizing how close she was to Roger.
"No, I'm sorry, Baby girl. I'm sorry someone did that to you. But you're lucky Roger found you. A greater guy, you can't meet." Collins told her sympathetically.
"I know. They've both been really great. Roger found me and carried me up here and Mark called the cops and they haven't left my side since." she told him pulling away from Roger slowly becoming more comfortable with the new male presence in the loft.
"Yeah, well that's our Roger. Always the hero." Collins told her smiling at her.
"I'm not a hero. If I had prevented this from happening to her, then I would have been a hero. I'm just a guy who heard a noise in the alley and went to see what it was. I did what anyone else would have done." Roger said frustrated.
"No Roger, anyone else would have left me in that alley to call the cops and then left so they wouldn't have had to get involved. You brought me up here because I begged you not to leave me and went in the ambulance with me to the hospital and you stayed right outside the door the whole time they were taking care of me and then brought me back here so I didn't have to be alone in a crummy motel room. You carried me up the stairs last night after the hospital so I wouldn't have to struggle to walk up here myself. And the icing on the cake, you held me all night comforting me, so I wouldn't have to be alone. Yes you are a hero. Don't ever say otherwise." Marty yelled at him crying as she struggled to get up and walk around the loft.
"Marty, I just meant..." Roger said before being cut off by Marty.
"I know what you meant. And I understand that you feel that way. But it is not necessary. It isn't your fault that I was raped and it's not your fault that you weren't there to stop it. You were there afterwards and you picked me up out of that grimy alley. That's what matters." she told him stumbling as Roger and Collins jumped up, but Mark caught her.
"Marty, you should rest. You can't push yourself like this. Especially after what happened to you last night." Roger said running over to where she and Mark stood.
"I'm OK, Roger. And it's all because of you." she said as he swept her into his arms and carried her to the couch.
"I know. Please just rest. You're wearing yourself out." he said placing her down on the couch as Mark and Collins looked on.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just, I needed you and you were there. You've been there ever since. I don't like when you talk like this was all your fault. You have been everything to me since all this happened." she told him crying as he looked at her with tears in his eyes too.
"It's OK, Marty. I know." he told her hugging her and rocking her back and forth. "I have to go pick up your clothes now, are you gonna be to OK with Mark and Collins." he asked wiping his eyes.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. We still have to go to the police station. I have a feeling Benson and Stabler really want this guy." she said wiping her eyes too pulling away to sit back against the pillows.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Where is your old place?" he asked quietly.
"Avenue B and 8th. Corner building on the second floor. 2C." she told him sniffling as Collins came over and handed her a tissue.
"Thank you." she said looking up at him with a small smile.
"I'll be back soon, OK?" Roger whispered to her kissing her on the forehead.
"OK. Thank you." she said as he got up and slowly left the loft.
"Are you alright, Baby girl?" Collins asked coming over to the couch.
" Yeah, thank you. I'm gonna try to take a little nap before Roger gets back. We have to go to the police station when he does and I'm a little tired." she said lying back on the couch.
"OK, Baby girl. Take it easy. We'll be quiet." he said putting his hand on her head before she fell asleep. "What is Roger thinking?" Collins asked quietly as he dragged Mark into the bedroom.
"He came in here with her in his arms last night. Her blood was all over the top of his shirt and he was frantic. He hasn't left her side since. He cares about her. I've never seen him like this before." Mark whispered closing his bedroom door.
"But does he see how vulnerable she is right now?" Collins asked sitting on Mark's bed.
"All I know is that she's scared to death and he is there to make her feel safe..." Mark said hearing yelling from the living room.
"Help me, someone. Roger." Marty yelled obviously having a nightmare.
"Baby girl, it's OK. We're here." Collins said to her kneeling next to the couch and waking her up.
"Where's... where's Roger?" she asked looking around crying.
"He went to go get your clothes. He'll be back soon. Collins and I are here. You're not alone." Mark said sitting by her feet as Collins pulled her gently into an embrace.
"I… I felt like it was happening again." she cried as Roger entered the apartment.
"What happened?" he asked seeing Marty in Collins' arms. He dropped her clothes by the door before running over to her.
"She had a nightmare. She wanted to take a little nap before you got back. Me and Mark were in his room so we wouldn't disturb her and then we heard yelling out for you. We came out to comfort her and then you got here." Collins told him as she shifted into Roger's arms.
"It's OK. No one is gonna hurt you here. You're safe. You're safe now." he whispered to her as she cried into his chest and he caressed her head.
"I felt like it was happening again." she cried as he kissed her head.
"I know. But you're OK, see. It was just a bad dream. We're not gonna let it happen again. No one is gonna let anything happen to you again. I promise." he whispered to her closing his eyes.
"I'm OK. Really." she said trying to regain her composure.
"Liar." he said teasingly as they both laughed.
"I know." she said laughing as she clutched his chest for comfort as Collins and Mark laughed as well.