Aaron Hotchner's strength as a lawyer was creating a powerful repertoire with his clients. As he sat in the boardroom with the one victim who, though vibrant and blushingly honest, wanted nothing more than to keep her painful memory to herself, he began to gently push his way into her mind. "I know this is hard for you; brutal. It's like- having to relive it again and again, right? As if once wasn't enough."

"I just feel so sick of repeating it," she explained, grabbing her dark hair into a bunch at her neck. "He came in while I was in the shower. I got out, he raped me. That's it."

"That's not it, Emily- may I call you Emily?" He sat leaning towards her in a way that signaled he was willing to listen, to soothe.

She bit her lip as she released her grip on her tresses and folded her hands in her lap. "Yeah, Emily's fine. I don't know what else to say about it."

"Let's start with this- your attacker, he was-"

"My father's business associate. They run a marketing firm together."

"Okay. And had he been drinking? This was a dinner party, yes?" He prodded with an easeful patience. On a more personal level, he didn't want to upset her. She was too beautiful to cry, and- as Aaron saw beautiful women cry more often than he should, doing heavy cases like this one- he wanted to spare her the tears.

"Yeah, I- I think so. But that doesn't mean what he did was okay, you know. Women should never be-"

"Well, damn right it's not okay. I'm not saying that at all. It's completely wrong, no matter how you look at it. I just need to get a feel for what really happened, so I can best prepare for the defense's counter-attack. They're pleading not guilty." His youthful vigor came out in his attempts to quell her; he revealed his passion for her case- and, subtly, her- as he brushed her dark bangs from her face. "Okay? You've got to let me in here. Trust me; I'm on your side."

"I don't think anyone is on my side. No offense, Mr. Hotchner. My mother hired you only because she knew this would be scandalous- she'd rather I not go to court, but if the press got wind of her covering up a sexual allegation from her daughter to protect her ex-husband's company, I'm sure it would go over terribly."

"I don't know why she hired me, Emily, but I can promise you that I'm going to fight for you just like I fight for everyone else. The law is blind, remember? I'm not going to do anything in her favor, or your father's, or anyone else's. This is about you. Only you had to live through it, and you'll be the one to always hold it. I couldn't care less what they wanted me to do."

"My mother knows the District Attorney," she admitted ruefully, "She's been pushing him to get this case over with- she'd rather me lose, honestly. The idea that I lied about being raped is minimal in comparison to the possibility that she could be alleged to have orchestrated the conviction of her ex's business executive out of a spiteful revenge plot."

"I've already talked to the D.A. I made it clear to him that- pardon me- I don't give two shits about the political climate surrounding this case. It's a lawsuit, not an election. You've spent your life second to your mother's reputation, I'm sure. Let's keep the focus of this case on you, as it should be." In fact, Aaron knew too clearly what it meant to be second to a parent's reputation. As the son of a workaholic lawyer, who had gained much esteem in his career, he understood fully the sacrifice that needed to be made to uphold it.

Every single time he was cursed at, smacked around- in the name of sacrifice.

Every time he locked himself in the restroom with gauze pressed to his forehead after his father had a "rough day at work"- in the name of sacrifice.

Every night he tried to look after his younger brother, Sean, who knew nothing more than screaming and violence, in order to instill in him the possibility of more- all done in the name of sacrifice.

The word sacrifice had come to mean something appalling. Aaron shuttered as he brought himself back to the present and promised himself that he would learn to better control his emotions in the future. "So, with that being said, let's talk about you."

She then proceeded to tell him everything; the way it felt when she was shoved against her bedroom door, defiled against the poster of an Italian boy band that she loved. The way she cried for help and, though there was only quiet chatter downstairs, no one came. The way her mother acted with an air of frustrated nonchalance, angry only that her daughter had disrupted a very important meeting to ask for a ride back to her other home. The way she was scoffed at, ignored, and left to curl up alone on the sofa and await the police's arrival.

Suddenly, Hotchner grew so sick to his stomach that he was certain he would vomit. "No. You- you deserve better. We will win this case, Emily, but it will mean nothing to you. Because you still have the memory. A guilty verdict will never take that away from you; but it is the closest thing to justice we can get. I, I have to go home and transfer the recording into type. Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"My mother and I are staying in the Hilton by the courthouse." She spoke softly now, as if she was again naked in front of man's dirty eyes.

Aaron looked thoroughly disgusted with the idea. "If you don't feel like staying there, give me a call I'll set you up somewhere else. This is my cell phone." He handed her a card and grabbed her coat for her as she headed for the door. He draped it over her shoulders and bid her a heavy goodbye. As he left a few minutes later, he could only whisper one phrase to himself over and over. The world is so fucking ugly.