Disclaimer: All characters belong to the BBC.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews and there will definitely be more of this story. I'm not going to let it drift now that I've got it off the ground.

Puzzle Pieces

Part Two

When Sam and Ric drew up in Connie's driveway, behind her silver-grey Jag, Sam produced a door key from his jacket pocket.

"I'll let us in," He said. "No point in waking Grace up." Following Sam inside, Ric took in a breath at what he first saw. Connie was slumped in the middle of the stairs, looking as though she'd suddenly come over extremely dizzy on her way down. The sound of the opening door having alerted her to their arrival, Connie looked up and gave them a slightly wan smile. As she struggled to get to her feet, Ric moved to help her, gently taking hold of her elbow, in an instinctive reaction to support her, whilst touching her as little as possible.

When they reached the hall, Sam could restrain his curiosity no longer.

"Connie, what on earth has happened to you?"

"You're guess is as good as mine," Connie told him bleakly, giving a slight shrug that Ric couldn't help but notice had hurt her.

"So you're saying," Sam continued, his voice getting quietly angrier. "That you were in this house, that my daughter was in this house when whatever this is, happened to you?" Reflexively, Connie drew back from him, almost moving to the other side of the hall, though she didn't appear to realise that she'd done this.

"Yes," She replied bitterly, "That is what I'm saying. So yes, now you have even more reason to believe me a terrible mother. Who knows," She said, reaching out to the hall table to steady herself as her eyes began drifting out of focus. "Maybe this time you'll get your wish." Moving to gently push her to sit down in a chair, Ric turned a firm stare on Sam.

"This really isn't the time for this. Now, where might I find a jacket for her? It's cold outside."

"I'll get it," Sam replied dully, feeling thoroughly rebuked.

Crouching down, so that his eyes were on a level with Connie's, Ric gently took her hands in his.

"Connie, are you with me, or are you somewhere else?" the feeling of the pads of his thumbs softly smoothing the skin over her knuckles seemed to briefly bring her back to the land of the living. When he observed her gaze gradually focussing on him, Ric said, "I'm going to take you to the hospital, then I'm going to take some blood, to see if you've still got any Rohypnol in your system. Is that all right?"

"Grace," Connie said after a moment's thought. "I can't leave her."

"Sam's here, remember," Ric tried to reassure her. "I rang him because I didn't know where you lived, and so that he can stay with Grace."

"Okay," Connie agreed almost meekly, her attitude so far from the abrasive determined woman he knew that it made an almost unbearable need to protect her rise up in him.

Having retrieved Connie's jacket from the hall cupboard, Sam had witnessed this little scene, and now felt a slight sense of guilt at having questioned Connie so mercilessly when she was so obviously not entirely in her right mind. As Ric drew Connie to her feet, Sam moved forward and helped her into her jacket.

"Don't worry about Grace," he told her quietly. "She'll be fine here with me."

"I know she will," Connie replied, a brief look of sadness in her eyes. "Nothing bad ever happens to her when she's with you."

When they were in the car, driving towards the hospital, Connie opened the window.

"It might help to keep me awake," She said in explanation.

"Caffeine and nicotine do that for me," Ric commented drily.

"Well unfortunately," Connie said disgustedly. "Going back to that old vice wouldn't exactly help me maintain the Connie Beauchamp I prefer the public and most of my colleagues to see. Which is why, even if I could remember which bastard did this to me, I won't be going official about it."

"And that isn't a decision you should make whilst half your brain is residing somewhere other than the real world."

After a few moments' silence, Ric asked,

"Just how much can you remember?"

"Nothing concrete, from about half ten or eleven last night."

"And from then on?" Ric asked gently, knowing this would be difficult for her, but also knowing that the sooner she talked about what had happened to her, the sooner she would begin to deal with it.

"Just random images," Connie told him, this clearly making her very uncomfortable. "Sometimes sounds, or feelings and sensations, things that I really don't want to have to look at too closely." Ric could see her face in his peripheral vision, and it shocked him to see the fear that lurked not far below the surface of those beautiful violet eyes. It was fear, that if left unchecked, could take over her life, or even her entire world.

"Tell me," He gently encouraged.

"No," She said in an almost hoarse voice, hugging herself as though to keep away any unwanted influences.

"Connie," Ric said quietly, taking her hand in his as they waited at the traffic lights, though at three in the morning, Ric couldn't help but wonder why they were on red at all. "When we get to the hospital and when I've taken some blood from you, we're going to sit in your extremely well-appointed office, where I would like you to try and talk to me. I'm not going to pressure you to talk, and if it's something you are determined to avoid, then I will respect that. But I am going to give you that opportunity and as much support and encouragement as you might need, because it's what I think you need to do. Okay?"

"Thank you," Connie said in a tight little voice, trying to stem the tears that were now flowing freely down her cheeks. Then, giving him a fond smile through her tears, she said, "Ric, the lights have turned green you know." Ric almost laughed as he put the car in gear and moved slowly forward, that he'd almost forgotten that he was behind the wheel of a car. He'd been so concerned with trying to reassure Connie that he'd completely neglected to take any notice of their surroundings. Thank god it was only three in the morning, and the roads were all but empty. As he turned into the hospital car park, he briefly wondered if they would encounter the same lack of interference from the night staff.