Atlantis
Two months later
It had taken them two months. Two months of searching a desert planet and then trying to convince the Tok'ra on that planet that they were not the enemy. Eventually the Tok'ra had agreed to see Elizabeth and remove the Goa'uld from her.
Elizabeth had been laying awoke in her private room in the infirmary for about twenty minutes. Elizabeth was feeling, at best, crappy. There were chemicals left over from Selkhet which were still flowing through her system. Making her feel worse with sickness then she was during through her pregnancy.
Carson had kept all visitors away on Elizabeth's request. She didn't want to see anyone. She was still feeling guilty about what Selkhet had done and said to her team. She just wanted some time alone, some time to work through things. Times to work out what she had seen during her incapacitation.
Unknown
Elizabeth was slightly annoyed that Connor had ages ago and he'd not been back. She's lost track of time, she didn't know how long she'd gone. It could have been hours, days. She just wasn't sure. Luckily Connor had somehow kept the fire going for her so it was warm, light and she could move around...she figured the fire must have something to do with her ability to stand up and move. She didn't know why.
Elizabeth slid to the floor and sat down. She rubbed her hand across her forehead and sighed. A few moments later a blinding light filled the room and slid down next to her. A moment later the light formed into Connor. The first thing Elizabeth saw was the smile on Connors face.
"Hey, sorry I've been gone so long. Something happened and the others needed help, I didn't realise it would take so long."
Elizabeth nodded slowly
"It's okay, what happened?"
Connor shook his head and stood up.
"I can't discuss it. What I can tell you is that it was important"
Elizabeth nodded and smiled at him.
"How long were you gone?"
Connor shrugged a little
"Time moves differently here. Out there I was gone...quite a while...here, I was only gone a few days."
"How long is quite a while?"
Connor started to mumble that it wasn't important but Elizabeth cut him off with a glare
"Connor!"
Connor winced and sighed
"...months"
Elizabeth edged closer to her son
"Sorry how long? I didn't quite hear you"
Connor took a deep breath and sighed
"Two months"
Elizabeth tried to say something but she couldn't, the sound got stuck in her throat. Connor could see this, so decided to try and save himself.
"Well, you don't really know what happened? And I haven't told you because I'm not supposed to, but...you remember being in the observation room, right? And then Ronon calling you over the radio?"
Elizabeth nodded slowly.
"I remember, Sumner said something about my body being invaded. He never said by what"
Connor nodded
"It was a Goa'uld and she's still there."
Elizabeth eyes opened wide
"A Goa'uld, are you sure?"
Connor nodded
"It was in the Wraith. When they killed it the Goa'uld had to find a new host in order to survive. The first person it found was you. The last two months Dad and the team have been trying to find the Tok'ra on a planet. The address was given to them by Ford. I guess...he was always loyal to you and when he found out that you were trouble he...he searched high and low for the address to the Tok'ra outpost. He gave the address to the team and they've been searching. It's not been successful so me and the others have been...sliding them into the right direction without the tight asses finding out."
Elizabeth nodded slowly
"So... have they found the Tok'ra?"
Connor nodded and smiled slightly.
"Yeah, they found the Tok'ra"
Elizabeth smiled before loosing all feeling in her legs and slumping down to the floor. She looked up at Connor who dropped to her side wearing a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, you're going to be okay. The Goa'uld is being removed. You're slipping out of this place"
Elizabeth nodded, the rest of her body slumping down to the ground. Her head flopping to one side.
"What about you? Where will you go?"
Connor smiled sadly.
"I'll be watching over you...and Dad. And all of them...but I can't interact with you. As much as I want to, I won't be able to."
Elizabeth tried to nod but couldn't as her soul felt like it was being ripped from her body.
She'd seen her son. Her Connor. He was beautiful and there was one person who needed to know that.
Elizabeth hit a small button which sat on her bedside table and a few moments later Carson walked in. He smiled and stepped over to her.
"What can I do for you love?"
"Could you please contact Colonel Sheppard? I need to speak with him"
Carson nodded and tapped his radio
"Just ask him to come to the infirmary, don't tell him I want to see him"
Carson nodded slowly, slightly confused but complied to the request all the same. Elizabeth then asked Carson to step out of the room and send John in when he arrived.
Elizabeth sat in silence trying to figure out how to tell John that she'd seen their child.
That time passed quickly and before she knew it John entered the room smiling slightly.
"Hey, how you feeling?"
Elizabeth nodded and returned him smile.
"Okay, I guess. I'm still trying to figure through some things"
John nodded before taking a seat next to Elizabeth's bed.
"So, Carson just sent me in here. Said you wanted to see me. What's the problem?"
Elizabeth shook her head
"There's no problem it's just...something happened to me when Selkhet was in control of my body. I don't remember anything about Selkhet taking over my body, you know like Caldwell did. I was somewhere...like limbo. Between life and death and...I was visited. I know this sounds crazy but Sumner and Peter visited me"
John rubbed his hand across his forehead. He was slightly sceptical but figured that Elizabeth could have thought that she was seeing things. Especially if Selkhet was releasing hallucinogenic chemicals into her brain, which was entirety possible.
Elizabeth saw the look on his face but carried on.
"Sumner was...I don't know...trying to help me but Peter...Peter had changed so much. He tried to kill me but someone saved me. John, his name was Connor he was in is early twenties. John I'm going to tell you something and please don't...don't freak out on me when I tell you this"
John nodded slowly, wondering what was going on.
"This man, Connor...he was...he was our son"
John looked blankly at her
"What do you mean?"
Elizabeth closed her eyes, allowing just a few tears to fall from her eyes.
"He was our son John. Our baby. The baby I lost"
John stood up and turned away from her. He shook his head and Elizabeth thought she could see tears in his eyes.
"No, no. You lost the baby over a year ago and if you hadn't he'd only be eight months..." John's voice cracked when he said that "...he'd only been eight months old Elizabeth"
Elizabeth knew how John felt about her loosing the baby. She remembered how he moped about on the day she should have given birth. He'd thought of the baby as a way of changing himself of changing his attitudes...because he wanted to make his baby proud of him.
"John is true. He looked so much like you."
John turned to Elizabeth and sighed
"He's dead Elizabeth. It was your mind playing tricks on you..."
"...He was an Ancient. A group of rouge Ancients took him because he was your son, they sped up his growth and..."
"No Elizabeth!"
John's voice shook the room. He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to think of the Ancients screwing around with his family, screwing around with the people he loved.
Elizabeth slid down into her bed and let the tears which were formed in her fall down her cheeks. She needed John to believe her, she needed his help to understand it, but it seemed like he wouldn't be able to.
John left the room as quickly as he could. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with Elizabeth. Part of him wondered whether or not Selkhet was still in Elizabeth and that's why she was saying all that stuff. Another part of him wondered if it was just the chemical's making their way through her brain and a small part, a tiny part, wondered if she was actually telling the truth. Wondered if she had actually seen their son, all grown up.
He wanted to know so desperately if their son could still be out there somewhere. Alive and healthy.
John cursed himself and spun on his heel and walked back into Elizabeth's private room.
"Elizabeth..."
Elizabeth looked up at him and pushed away the tears which stained her cheeks.
"...how can you be sure? How can you be sure it was our son?"
Elizabeth shook her head
"I can't but John...John he was beautiful and he was so sweet and caring. He had your hair but it was my colour. He had your ears. John you'd have loved him. I did, I loved him so much. I love him so much."
John walked over to Elizabeth and sat on the bed next to her. He stared in her eyes and saw an honestly. She was telling the truth, or what she thought was the truth and he had to trust that instinct.
"I...I want to believe you. You have no idea how much I wanted our son to live but...I don't like the idea of the Ancients playing God, especially with my family."
Elizabeth placed her hand on his.
"John, they saved our son. He's out there somewhere and we have to believe that"
John nodded, leant forward and kissed Elizabeth delicately on the cheek. He then placed his cheek onto hers, his stubble grazing her slightly but it felt good. It felt familiar. John placed another kiss on her cheek before pulling away from her.
"Ronon wants to see you. You should let him see you"
Elizabeth nodded slowly as John rose from the bed. The two looked at each other one last time, their eyes locking until John pulled away and left the room.
It didn't take long for Ronon to come into the room and wrap his arms around Elizabeth. Elizabeth sighed deeply at this action. He'd missed her, whatever she'd done as Selkhet couldn't be that bad, he didn't seem to hate her.
Ronon pulled away and cupped her cheek. He leant in and kissed her deeply. Yep he'd missed her.
Ronon pulled his hands away from her as he sat on the bed next to her. His placed his hand on her leg and smiled slightly at her.
"How are you feeling?"
Elizabeth smiled slightly, the chemicals were still flowing through her body, she was feeling crappy and had just had a moment with John with had left her feeling very guilty, so she did the only thing she could. She lied.
"I'm okay."
Ronon nodded, his hand slid his hand up her leg to her thigh and rubbed it in a circular motion. It was comforting to Elizabeth, she liked it and Ronon knew that. Elizabeth dropped her head onto the wall behind her and smiled before taking Ronon's hand and dragging him to lay down next to her. Ronon complied as Elizabeth shifted to make room for him. Ronon placed one arm around her shoulders and kept his other hand on her thigh. His rested his chin on the top of her head and sighed.
Ronon closed his eyes, treasuring the feeling of Elizabeth laying next to him once again. He'd missed that the last two months. All he'd received from her the past two months was baiting and manipulation. She'd made his life a living hell but he knew it wasn't her, and that was what he tried to hold on to. He didn't want to think that there may have been some truth to what Selket said, because that hurt him too much.
Two Months later
Kelow
Tears filled in Teyla's eyes as she looked around the planet which she once considered her second home. It had been destroyed, completely destroyed. The sky was a light brown colour which matched the colour of the ground underneath their feet.
Teyla pushed back the tears and caught up with the team. They walked for a few moments looking around. They wondered if it had been a Wraith attack as they quickly discovered that there was no one around. John was about to suggest heading back to Atlantis when Ronon spotted something and called them over to where he was bent down. The team rushed over and saw what Ronon was looking at. Teyla closed her eyes as she saw what was there. It was a man, he was dead. She took a moment to look over his wounds. He had a gash on his head that looked deep enough to be the cause of death. If it had been the Wraith it was possible that he had been killed during all the panic.
John stood back up and sighed. He was about to suggest that they head back to Atlantis when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned round quickly, his gun raised. When he saw clearly what was there he lowered his gun. It was a young blonde woman, she was dressed in ripped clothes. She had cuts and bruises on her face which was covered in dirt. She looked a wreak. Slowly John started to walk towards her but that only caused her to cry out in fear and try and run away from him. She only managed a few feet before collapsing on the floor. John rushed over to her and found her unconscious. John checked her pulse, it was erratic. Quickly John called over Ronon who lifted the woman in his arms. He was surprised by how light she was.
A few minutes later they were back at the Stargate and Teyla was dialling Atlantis. The Stargate activated and John radioed Elizabeth telling her that they had a medical emergency. He heard Elizabeth ask Chuck to call a medical team to the 'Gate room before the team stepped through the Stargate.
Atlantis
Elizabeth rushed down into the 'Gate room, John hadn't specified the medical emergency, she just hoped it wasn't serious.
A moment later John, Rodney and Ronon walk through the Stargate. When she saw Ronon carrying someone she instantly was filled with despair until she got closer and saw that it wasn't Teyla. Elizabeth stepped closer to them and took a good look at the woman. She looked so beaten down that it tore Elizabeth heart in two. She didn't even know this woman but there was something about her, something which Elizabeth found herself drawn to...a connection.
The woman opened her eyes and was about to fight against Ronon's grip when she saw Elizabeth. Something in her eyes made the woman trust her. She didn't know what it was, after all she should be afraid but she wasn't. Something in the other woman's eyes made her trust her.
The two women looked at each other, their eyes locked. Elizabeth still listened John who was who was now stood at her side, explaining what they had found, she still nodded in the appropriate places but at the moment, this woman had her attention. John would just have to wait.
A moment later Carson and a medical team came into the room and that finally broke Elizabeth out of the woman's gaze as she turned to him.
"Carson take her down to the infirmary please. Check her over"
Carson nodded and motioned for Ronon to put her on the gurney. Ronon did so and the woman was about to get up and try and run away but Elizabeth came to her side and placed her hand on her shoulder lightly.
"You'll be okay. I'll come with you...if you want"
The woman nodded slowly. Elizabeth smiled and turned to Carson who nodded and began to wheel the woman down to the infirmary with Elizabeth in tow.
Ronon waited a minute before running after them, he quickly touched Elizabeth arm and stopped her. He walked round so she could see him before sighing.
"You know something you're not telling us, what is it?"
Elizabeth closed her eyes
"That woman as been through hell, look at her. At the minute she needs a ally, someone she can trust"
With that Elizabeth side stepped around Ronon and walked down the corridor to catch up with the medical team.
Several Hours later
Elizabeth stood in the infirmary, waiting. When Carson had tried to examine the woman she had started to go crazy, shouting, screaming. Carson, acting quickly, called over Dr Murry but the woman still didn't calm down. In the end it had been down to Elizabeth to calm down the woman. When she had finally calmed her down Elizabeth walked pass Dr Murry and whispered two words which had made Murry tense but she continued none the less.
Elizabeth was stood in Carson's office, looking out across the infirmary across to the private room which stood only a few feet away. She saw Murry emerge from the private room and walked up to the office. She opened the door and stepped in, simple presented Elizabeth with her notes. Elizabeth took them slowly and looked over them. She closed her eyes at bits before opening them and reading on.
"You were right. How did you know?"
Elizabeth looked up from the notes and sighed.
"I just did"
Elizabeth handed the notes back to Murry and left the office. She walked over to the private room, she was about to walk in but something stopped her. A buried memory, something she'd tried to forget about. Elizabeth sighed and walked away from the room and out of the infirmary.
Ronon, Teyla, John and Rodney sat in the briefing room waiting for Elizabeth. It was an unwritten rule that they would brief Elizabeth within the first few hours since coming back from a planet but she wasn't there. They'd been waiting for her, they knew she'd been in the infirmary but figured that it should have only taken a few hours, plus Elizabeth had requested a briefing as early as possible. They'd actually told her that they were ready for a briefing while they'd been in the infirmary, she'd told them that she would join them in a moment but she still wasn't there.
John sighed, he couldn't ask his team to wait forever, he sat up from his slouching position.
"Listen Guys, why don't you go get some rest and we'll do the briefing later. She obviously got caught up in something. The team nodded and stood up. Rodney and Teyla left but Ronon waited and walked over to John. Both men had the same questions.
"Did you see that thing that past between them?"
John nodded slowly, remaining seated
"Yeah I saw it, and in the infirmary just after you left that woman went crazy when Carson tried to examine her, only Elizabeth could calm her down."
Ronon sat down next to John and sighed
"What do you think? What's going on?"
John shook his head
"I don't know, you know more about her than me."
Ronon shook his head slowly and looked down.
"She doesn't like talking about herself. It's as if she's trying to hide something. I thought...I don't know...the two of you are still close, I thought she might have said something to you."
John shook his head
"She's only ever talked about her dad."
Ronon nodded in agreement, he'd only heard about her dad and Simon. He knew nothing else about her or her life on Earth.
It hadn't taken long for Elizabeth to get to her quarters, get what she needed, and get back to the infirmary. She walked passed Carson who stopped her quickly.
"Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth turned round and smiled slightly
"What can I do for you Carson?"
Carson took her arm and led her off to the side of the infirmary. He took a deep breath before beginning.
"Julianne told me what she found. Elizabeth I don't know if seeing her is a good idea. She should be talking to Kate about this"
Elizabeth shook her head quickly
"No, I have to do this Carson"
Carson placed his hand back on her arm
"Lass, I know what you've been through and I'm telling you it's not a good idea"
Elizabeth shook her head
"Carson you know what happened. You know she'll need someone. Just look at her, she won't let anyone else near her. I have to do this"
Carson closed his eyes and sighed
"Aye, alright but..."
Elizabeth nodded and cut him off
"I know. I'll be fine"
Elizabeth walked away from Carson and into the private room.
Elizabeth walked into the private room to see the woman on the bed, he legs pulled up to her chest. She looked up when she heard the door open. She tensed until she saw Elizabeth. Elizabeth put what she had in her hands on a chair near the bed.
"I brought you some fresh clothes. It helps...mildly"
The woman nodded and slid off the bed and picked up the clothes.
"I'm Tia. My name's Tia."
Elizabeth nodded slowly and smiled
"I'm Elizabeth."
Tia nodded and walked across to the part of the room which was out of view and got changed. She was in pain, despite the medication she'd been given. Some pains were hard to get rid off. Elizabeth could hear the slight gasps of pain and tried to ignore them but she knew what they were like. She'd felt them herself. A few moments later Tia stepped back into Elizabeth's view freshly changed.
She was a very pretty young woman and for the first time Elizabeth realised that it was possible that this girl may only be in her teens.
"How old are you?"
Tia sat back on the bed and sighed
"18"
Elizabeth closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth. Eighteen was no age, she was still a child.
Elizabeth took a moment before walking over and sitting next to her.
"Tell me what happened Tia? And tell me the truth, because I'll know if you don't"
Tia sighed and started to play with the hem of the shirt Elizabeth had given to her.
"The Wraith attacked our planet about four months ago. Nearly everyone was taken. Only a few of us survived, that we know of. Mostly men. Only a few women. I was one of those woman. The men became very...dangerous"
Tia cut off and took a second to wipe a few tears from her eyes.
"At first, we were okay. We looked after each other but then the men suggested that we...rebuild our population. Some of the women were...two of them were my age, maybe a bit younger, and the two other women were almost at the end of their birthing phase..."
Her sobs became more violent, Elizabeth was about to suggest that they save it for a later time but Tia carried on, she knew that she might not be able to talk about it if she waited.
"...We knew we had to rebuild the population but...we decided to think about it but according to the men we took too long and as a demonstration the leader killed the oldest woman. I had known him by whole life but I never thought he was violent but I saw him kill her without regret or remorse. Over the next two months two more women perished, the the two oldest. We were kept prisoner, without food and water for days at a time...so we would be too weak to fight them off when they came to...r...rape us. The youngest one...Liberti...killed herself. She got hold of a knife and slit her throat. When the men returned from a hunting trip they were...angry...she was pregnant and she feared if it was a girl she would be subjected to what we were and if it was a boy, she worried he would turn into it's father. I was on my own for a month, the men searched the planet for other women. I heard something which suggested that the men they found were killed. When your team found me...that day one of the men had been left with me. He had been injured on their last trip...he...he..."
She didn't want to say it and so Elizabeth didn't make her she just nodded and asked her to move on to what had happened.
"...after he was finished...I just felt so angry. I didn't know what to do. I grabbed something hard and heavy and followed him outside. I hit him. Over and over again until he stopped moving. I...I was scared. I didn't mean to kill him. I was going to do something, run away but I saw your team and I hid."
Elizabeth walked slowly over to the bed and sat down next to her. Elizabeth gently placed her hand on Tia's shoulder. She rubbed her shoulder softly.
"I thought they'd hurt me as well but they didn't. They were..."
Elizabeth nodded slowly, understanding what Tia had seen in her team.
"I understand"
Elizabeth removed her hand and stood up. She looked at Tia.
"We've set aside some quarters for you. If you'd like to get some rest"
Tia shook her head quickly
"I don't think I could sleep. Everytime I close my eyes...I see them. I don't think I could..."
Elizabeth nodded quickly and smiled.
"How about I stay with you? Make sure you're okay"
Tia smiled and nodded.
"I would appreciate that. It would make me feel more comfortable to know someone was looking out for me"
Elizabeth nodded again and opened the door back into the infirmary. She stepped out of the room and waited for Tia to join her.
One week Later
"You've been avoiding me Elizabeth"
The corridor was very quite so Elizabeth heard the voice perfectly clear. Slowly she turned round to see Kate Heightmeyer staring at her, she was looking quite pissed off and it caused Elizabeth to bite the inside of her lip.
Truth was she had been trying to avoid Kate. She couldn't do with Kate's throwing weird and wonderful theories at her because she knew exactly what she was going to say.
"I'm a little busy Kate, could we talk about this later?"
Kate shook her head.
"I've talked to Carson. He's worried about you. I've talked to John and Ronon, they're worried about you. Elizabeth you are worrying people. Now Carson and I know why that is and we've agreed that you need to talk about it "
Elizabeth changed her posture and stood in a much more aggressive pose.
"And I don't get a say? It's my business Kate, nobody else's."
"What about John? What about Ronon?"
Elizabeth shook her head
"I told John what he needed to know but he didn't need to know everything. And Ronon...I'll tell him in my own time"
Kate touched her hand and rubbed it.
"Elizabeth. You've never discussed it, never even tried. All I know, all Carson knows...it's that it happened."
Elizabeth closed her eyes and leant against the wall behind her.
"I never talked about what happened. I never wanted to. I dealt with it but the way I dealt with it was through not talking about it. Maybe it wasn't healthy but it was what I chose"
Kate kept hold of Elizabeth's hand and sighed.
"Whenever you're ready to talk about it. I'll be here"
John and Ronon were worried about Elizabeth. For the past week she'd been distant. John wouldn't have really noticed if Ronon hadn't pointed it out to him and Ronon wouldn't have pointed it out to him if he wasn't worried...but he was. For about five nights Elizabeth had either slept in her own room or stayed so far away from Ronon that she might as well as slept in her own room anyway.
They'd both tried talking to her but she just brushed them off saying that she was fine and had work to do.
They both knew that it had something to do with Tia. She'd been spending so much time with her, something terrible had obviously happened to her and Elizabeth seemed to be the only who she could trust. The two had grown close in such a short amount of time but Ronon, even though he knew it was rather selfish, wanted Elizabeth back. He wanted her to be the way she'd been before they found Tia.
3 Weeks Later
Elizabeth sat opposite Kate. Tears were still forming in her eyes and her face was still red from crying. She couldn't believe Tia did it, even though she'd seen it. She'd been there when Tia jumped off the edge of the pier into the ocean below. She hadn't been able to cope. Elizabeth knew about the nightmares but she thought they were working through it together, obviously she was wrong.
Kate sat watching Elizabeth. When she heard about Tia's death she'd been worried about the effect it would have on Elizabeth. When she heard Elizabeth had been there she ordered her to come and see her straight away. They'd been sat in Kate's office for nearly an hour but Elizabeth seemed reluctant to say anything about herself, all she talked about was how Tia had felt towards the end. The shame, the pain, the feeling of constant distrust of those around her. Elizabeth had tried to talk her down, tried to convince her that it didn't have to end like that but she wouldn't listen. All she'd said was that Elizabeth would eventually understand and after she'd talked to Carson she finally did understand. Tia had gone to Carson only a few days before, she'd been feeling sick. She knew what she feared and Carson had confirmed it.
"She was pregnant. She was carrying the child of one of those bastards. She didn't even tell me, Carson had to."
Kate nodded slowly.
"Is that why she killed herself?"
Elizabeth shrugged slightly.
"I wouldn't know. It's possible"
Kate sighed slightly and handed Elizabeth another tissue.
"Elizabeth. Are you ready to talk about it?"
Elizabeth didn't have to ask what 'it' was. She knew. Slowly she nodded and took a deep breath.
"I'd just turned seventeen. I was in high school. I was a pretty good student. I was getting As and Bs in every subject, except Physics. I was failing Physics. It was about four months after my mother died and all my teachers knew how that had effected me and were all really nice about it but I tried to not let it effect me, but in Physics. I guess, for me, held such a big connection to my mothers death because it was during that when I found out that she'd died, so basically I sat in that room wondering if someone was going to come in and tell me that my father had died or something like that. My Physics teacher understood that and he offered to help me..."
Kate quickly jotted something down. She was very interested in how Elizabeth didn't refer to the teacher by name.
"...He offered to give me private tutoring lessons. I...I agreed. I just wanted to get out of the house, everything in there reminded me of my mum. My dad and I were arguing a lot. So, the first few times we met in the library close to school. It was nice. He treated me like an adult, he didn't try and tip-toe around the fact that my mum had died. So for a few months I met up with him. One night it was raining and he offered me a ride home. I trusted him, I really trusted him"
Elizabeth stopped and wiped her eyes. Her voice was cracking with unshed tears.
"I was so stupid to trust him. I knew something was wrong when he driove past the school but...I don't know I just didn't do anything. I was feeling dizzy and I could barely keep my eyes open. I...tried asking him to pull over but he said he was taking me home and that was no reason to worry."
Elizabeth rubbed her forehead and sighed.
"I woke up, I don't know how long afterwards. It was very dark and I didn't know where I was. He was sitting next to me, leering. I tried to unlock the car door but he stopped me. He...he said I was...beautiful and that...that I'd been leading him on. I tried to get away but he said that...I shouldn't tease him if I wasn't going to go all the way. He said my boyfriend James was one lucky son of a bitch and that he didn't deserve to have me. He grabbed me and pushed me into the back-seat of the car. I tried to fight him off but I failed. He..."
Elizabeth cut off, she didn't want to go into details, Kate understand that.
"After I just...sat there...I was in shock or something. He drove me home. I don't even remember the car ride. When he stopped the car he looked round at me...he said I hadn't a chance in hell of passing Physics. I ran out of the car and up to my room. My father was in the living room he came up after me...demanding to know where I'd been. I couldn't answer. I just ran to my bathroom. I showered four times that night, trying to get rid of him. Now I know that was stupid. I'd washed off any physical evidence...there was nothing I could do. It was his word against mine. I went to a clinic a few weeks later, I wanted to get checked over but the doctor, she was more worried about my womb. She did some tests. Obviously they didn't have fabulous technology back then but she could tell that my womb had been damaged. Badly damaged. She said chances of me ever conceiving and carrying a child full term were low. When I got pregnant with Connor...apart from being scared I was so happy because I never thought I'd be able to conceive. But then I remembered what else she had said, about not being able to carry full term but I thought...hell I've gotten pregnant despite the odds, why shouldn't I be able to carry full term...I'd tried putting the whole thing behind me but when I lost Connor it all came back. Everything he did came back to me...he hurt me all over again."
Elizabeth wiped the tears from her face and sighed deeply.
"That's the whole story Kate. All of it. That's why I felt so drawn to Tia. We were both betrayed by people we trusted, people we thought we could relay on. I didn't have anyone who could help me, I didn't want her to go through the same thing."
Kate nodded and stood up, she walked back to her desk and sat on it.
"Didn't you ever tell anyone?"
Elizabeth shook her head and looked down.
"There was no evidence. He was a well respected professor. I was a kid. No cop would have believed me and I didn't want to go through the whole thing of people finding out. I purposely got myself expelled so I could switch schools. I never wanted to see him again. He'd destroyed everything."
Elizabeth stood up and randomly walked to the door. Kate stopped her for a moment
"Elizabeth? What was his name? Your professor, you never said"
Elizabeth stopped at the doorway. She placed one hand against the frame and sighed.
"...Professor...Richards. Professor Michael Richards. You might remember him from the case about five years ago. A young student accused him of rape. He was acquitted. I just...I wonder that if I had gone forward...he may have been found guilty. But I was so scared to. I didn't want to see him...to face him in a court room. I got information about the case...I knew one of the prosecutors...they had such a strong case but in the end the jury couldn't come to a decision. If I'd have testified, maybe...maybe he'd be behind bars now and that poor girl could have got the justice I never did"
TBC...