AN: And this is where my muse has been waiting for me to get all this time...

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Sara exited the subway onto the street. The chill in the air was getting worse as winter approached, and she drew her jacket tighter to stave it off. She wished she had brought a hat, but looking for one would have blown her cover. While it may have been childish to go off without telling anyone, she didn't want to explain herself.

Or to expose her safe haven to complete strangers.

They were nice enough, sure, and they didn't smother her. What they did was a lot worse. Pretty much everything sharp in the house had been tucked away. The first day she arrived, when she went to cut up an apple for a snack, she found the knife block completely bare. And she immediately knew it was because of her. Sara was so upset she didn't ask, and struggled through the fruit with a butter knife, making a sticky mess. Part of her wanted to leave the puddle there in defiance, but she hadn't dared.

Maybe she could understand it, after all she was a long ways from trusting them so why should she expect anything different in kind? But no one talked about it, or even acknowledged what they were doing. It made her so angry that she kept putting off calling Olivia back. Because she may still have had some lingering resentment towards her, but the second she talked to the detective she knew she'd burst into tears. She didn't want to make her feel guilty, Sara had seen how long she had been making calls that day. It didn't take a genius to know what she had been doing.

The anger distracted Sara from the fact that she was walking alone. A.J. would have been more than happy to walk her over, and had offered when she called from the payphone. He had been helping her so much lately that it made her feel kind of guilty, so she had declined. She heard his hesitation, but A.J. let it go. He knew when Sara didn't want to be pushed.

Sara was nearly frozen solid by the time she reached the apartment building. The ladder hung down like it always did when she came by. Thinking better of it, she gripped the rungs through the sleeve of her jacket, and pulled it up behind her. The metal frame clattered as she pulled herself up to the third floor, and her destination.

She wiped the foggy window clean, and rapped lightly. A.J. leapt up with a smile. The window frame was warped, so it didn't open all the way. Sara squeezed through with a couple inches to spare.

"Hey!" A.J. greeted as he closed the window back up.

"Hey," she said back, sighing as the heat prickled at her frozen exterior. The TV in the room was already on to mask her presence. Even so, she had always kept her voice extra low whenever she was there.

He frowned. "Kind of cold to be going several blocks with just a jacket."

Which she had the sense to stash in her room, when no one had been looking. "I snuck out."

Sara had wanted to be able to talk about it sensibly, rationally, but the tears she knew were lurking simply spilled forth. Luckily she had cried enough in this room to know how to do it quietly. She sat on the edge of the bed and held her head in her hands. A.J. never judged her, but she always felt a little uncomfortable crying in front of him. It would be far worse were it anyone else.

He kneeled on the floor in front of her, resting his hands on her knees and saying nothing. She appreciated the contact. Neither of them were very good at initiating or receiving physical contact. It made their respective progress in that field that much easier to appreciate. Before him merely holding hands with someone was a test of will. Now she didn't tense up if a teacher patted her on the back or did something else equally trivial. Baby steps.

A.J. sat patiently, and she knew that he'd stay that way until she was ready to talk or move on. Despite the tears that were still soaking into her collar, Sara smiled. And she gave a deep exhale.

"They're a bunch of idiots," she blurted. She peeled off her jacket and tossed it in the corner.

"Why's that?"

"They give me a look, like I'd fall apart any moment. Even the other kids there do it. I have to ask to use knives or whatever." Sara stood up, feeling the need to move. They didn't have the decency to tell her what they were doing, or why.

A.J. thought about it, sitting back on the bed while she paced. "Sounds like they're trying to help, just totally the wrong way."

"They never said one word about it. I had to figure it all out myself. I've only been around 'em when I have to be."

He frowned. "You talk to Olivia? I'm sure she'd talk to them or get you somewhere else or whatever."

"No," Sara turned to A.J. with a sad look. "I was a jerk to her, and she still did all that stuff to get me moved. I still haven't apologized. I don't want her to feel guilty about it."

"She'd understand. I mean you said she still helped you, she can't be all that mad."

Sara nodded, because it was often impossible to fight his logic. This was one of those times. Sometimes it could be annoying, especially if she wasn't ready to jump out of a bout of self-pity. But she wasn't annoyed now, she had really needed to get the whole thing out in the open.

"I guess I will tomorrow."

It was past eleven when they both fell asleep. Sara always got his bed, while A.J. unrolled a sleeping bag on the floor beside it. He never let her take the sleeping bag, and she had long since stopped bothering to try. It was the only thing he ever argued with her over, with complete sincerity.

The bunny was rescued from her jacket, nestled next to her on the pillow.

Her dreams turned back to that night, with the yelling and the sound of the door splintering. But the door wouldn't break down. They just kept pounding at it, shouting threats to all inside. Sara was puzzled, because it wasn't right at all. It had all been over in a second, but this dragged on forever. And the voice, that had started indistinct, became more familiar as she dragged out of sleep.

Sara's eyes opened but the pounding didn't stop. It echoed through the apartment. A.J. stirred at the same moment.

"Open this damn door!" Sara's body turned to ice as she heard her father screaming. Her stuffed animal magically appeared clutched in her hand. He was at the front door, because she could hear the sound echoing through the bedroom door. He kept pounding the door.

"Shut the hell up!" she heard another male voice respond. Sara guessed it was A.J.'s dad.

There was a sharp snap she could only guess as the chain being violently pushed to its limit. Now her father's voice was that much clearer. "Let me in, now!"

"Get out now, pal! I'm calling the cops!"

A woman's voice now. "What's going on, John?"

"Call the cops, Ellen! Tell them we got a damn psycho up here!"

Now she finally heard it, the snap as the door finally gave way. It slammed so hard that the walls shook. Sara couldn't identify the sounds of violence she heard after.

"Where is she?" her father screamed. Sara's heart was pounding so hard she feared it would explode. He was looking for her, she knew that much.

"Who the hell are you talking about?" A.J.'s dad responded. There was a loud chorus of glass shattering.

"Where are you hiding her? I know Sara's here!"

A.J. stood. "Stay here."

Sara was shaking, and barely managed to grab his arm before he was out of range. Her voice came out as a sharp hiss. "A.J.!"

"Just don't make a sound," A.J. responded, prying out of her grip. She gave a small sob as he left the room, quickly shutting the door behind him. All Sara had been able to make out for that brief second was chaos. She stayed sitting on the bed, unable to get her legs to move.

The screams made her jump, their intensity something she had only heard in films. Tears fell as she could only guess what was happening through the closed door. For the barest seconds, everything went silent.

Footsteps. "Get out!" A.J. screamed. "Get out now!"

Sara's brain took precious seconds to realize he was yelling to her, not her father. She scrambled to her feet, fully clothed except for her shoes, still gripping the bunny with all her life. The window creaked as she heaved at it with all of her strength. It didn't move. She made a small sound of frustration as she realized it was locked, then fumbled with the latch.

"Where is she, boy?"

The window slid halfway open. "Leave her alone!"

Now that she was actually in a hurry, the warped window only served to hamper her. She whimpered as she scraped her shoulders, banged her hips against the confined space. Sara was so consumed in her task that she didn't register that her father and A.J. were the only two voices she could hear.

Then there was a sound of pain, and she couldn't help her own cry in return. The bedroom door opened with a resounding crash. Sara was all but out, and shrieked as a thick hand clamped on the foot that she had yet to drag out with the rest of her. His grip threw her off balance, and Sara crashed to the grating, dropping the bunny.

Her father's grasp only tightened, and she wondered why her ankle didn't simply shatter in his hands. She kicked out and tried to pull away, but he didn't let go. There was a loud pop and the cracking of glass as he forced the window open the rest of the way.

Sara cried out again, the cry swallowed into a half sob.