Authors note: Once again thanks to all who have read and reviewed it's good to get feedback on this, I hope everything is in character and believable but if anything's not, then just tell me and I'll change it :)

DI Johnson met Nikki just outside Erin's hospital room, giving her a quick smile as a greeting

"How is she?" Nikki asked tentatively, recalling Leo's version of the night's events

"She's ok…still pretty shaken up, it was one hell of a nightmare apparently" the DI said looking apprehensive

"Have you told her yet?" Nikki asked shifting her case from one hand to the other

He shook his head "I was hoping for some help…you know the woman's touch and all that" he said looking sheepish

"I thought that was more your department, informing relatives"

He sighed "This case is unusual to say the least. I've dealt with child abuse in the past but this…this is different somehow…"

Nikki nodded "It's Erin, that's what's different"

The DI shrugged and opened the door to let Nikki in; he followed closely behind and clicked the door shut


Erin looked up as they walked in and smiled gently though the events from the previous night had taken their toll on her

"Hey Erin, do you remember me from the lab?"

Erin nodded "Nikki" she said and Nikki smiled

"How're you feeling?" she asked gently, setting her case down on the floor

"A bit better…" Erin said although her voice betrayed her slightly

"Erin…we need to talk to you about something" the DI said glancing at Nikki "We… erm…"

Nikki sighed and stepped in "We recovered the body of your mother yesterday, I'm sorry Erin but she's dead"

The two adults looked across at Erin to gauge her reaction. The girl's face remained emotionless

"Oh…" she said after a few moments of silence

"We have to consider the possibility of suicide" the DI said gently

Erin snorted "I highly doubt it was suicide"

"Why?" the DI said curiously

"She wouldn't let me off that easily" Erin said darkly

"Erin…did she hurt you?" DI Johnson leant forward

"It doesn't matter anymore"

"We've seen your medical records; broken bones don't appear by themselves"

"I know that I'm not stupid" Erin snapped

Nikki shot the DI a loaded look "We want to help…"

"Why would you want to help me, you're practically a stranger" Erin was on the verge of tears now

Nikki took the young girl's hand and held it tightly in hers "Erin look at me"

The girl moved her head up and looked into Nikki's eyes; the pathologist almost felt her heart break. Erin's pale green eyes reflected nothing but fear. Fear of having her heart broken once more, fear of being hurt, fear being left alone once more.

"There are good people in this world Erin, believe me, I know the world can be a cold and dismal place. But you have to trust me when I tell you that people do care about you, good and kind people"

"Where are they then?" Erin said, tears falling down her face

"All around you…" Nikki smiled "But you have to let them help you, they wont ever turn there back on you but you have to let them in" Erin nodded still keeping her eyes level with Nikki's "Do you think you can do that?"

The girl paused for a moment still keeping her gaze fixed on Nikki "I don't know" she said softly

"I think you can" Nikki said gently

Erin looked at Nikki and tried to make a decision. This woman was a lot like Leo, she looked like she cared. Erin could see something similar to herself in Nikki, it was in her eyes, and there was something there, like Nikki could understand what Erin felt. Nikki's eyes were steady like Leo's and they were honest, she could see Nikki understood what it felt like to be lonely.

The girl sighed and closed her own eyes, she didn't know if she had enough fight in her to carry on. Her heart had been broken a long time ago and she couldn't remember what it felt like to be loved. But when she was around these people, old feelings kept being brought up. Something deep down inside of her had awoken. She didn't know what it was but always when she looked at people like Harry, Nikki or Leo, it was there. She felt safe and protected. It was so long since she had ever felt like that. But most of all they treated her with what the young girl had yearned for, for so long. They treated her with compassion. Erin was unsure whether she would be able to risk it anymore, were there good people in this world? , The world that was so dark and scary, the world of her mother and all the nasty men creeping around and into her bedroom. But here were people who seemed to care for her, she didn't know why and she wasn't sure she ever would. Her eyes flickered open and she looked back at Nikki who was smiling gently at her

"I think I can" she said softly and Nikki nodded


Leo was sitting in his office going over some reports before he sent them to the coroner. His eyes were heavy from fatigue and he was getting frustrated as he read over the same words again and again

"When was the last time you slept? A voice disturbed his thoughts and Leo looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway, eyebrows raised

"Does it matter?" Leo said stifling a yawn

"Reports show that OAP's should be getting at least ten hours sleep a night" Harry teased

"Did you read the rest of that report? Especially the part where it said Harry Cunningham will be doing everyone's paperwork for a month if he does not start respecting his elders" Harry snorted with laughter "Now is there a reason you're hear or do you just need to vent your sarcasm?"

"There is a reason but seeing as Nikki not here I have no one to dazzle with my sparkling wit…"

"Harry?" Leo said cutting him off in mid flow

"What?"

"Get on with it?" Leo sighed dramatically

Harry grinned and waved a piece of paper at Leo "The toxicology report came back for Karen Jones"

"And?" Leo said suddenly attentive, all traces of sleep had disappeared from his body

"Most f it was as we suspected. High amounts of heroin and alcohol in her system. That would coincide with the track marks and damaged liver respectively but there's something else that would interest you…" he passed the paper over to Leo

"…Chloroform?" Leo said sounding surprised and Harry nodded

"The amounts of alcohol and heroin would have subdued her but she still would have been conscious but not in enough control to slit her wrists that precisely. The cuts were very controlled; with the amount of drugs she had in her she would be conscious but not in control. The chloroform suggests…."

"…someone else was there"

Harry nodded "You wouldn't need much to knock her out with the state she was in and my guess is whoever did this set it up to look like suicide. She wouldn't have been able to fight back, she would have been unconscious and drugged up which is why there are no defence wounds or bruising"

"Any other DNA?"

"There was some residue under the fingernail. Nikki's gone to get a DNA sample from Erin so we can rule any DNA from Erin out but to me this looks like murder"

Leo sighed and leaned back in his chair "This just gets more and more complicated by the second"

Harry nodded "Everything seems normal from the outside except when you dig deeper there's abuse, drugs and goodness knows what else going on in that family"

"And Erin's caught up in the middle of it" Leo shook his head "This is so wrong. She's only seventeen; she shouldn't have to be dealing with all of this. No one should, not even an adult"

Harry nodded "Maybe Nikki will be able to get Erin to open up to her"

"I hope so Harry, I really hope so"


"I just need to take a swab of the inside of your cheek" Nikki said to Erin "So we can rule out any traces of your DNA"

"Ok…" Erin said apprehensively

"Erin how often did she hit you?" DI Johnson asked gently as Nikki started to get things ready for taking a swab

Erin shrugged "Once a week?" the DI prompted "One a day?"

"Last one" she said quietly

"I need you to open up your mouth nice and wide for me, I'll be done really quickly" Nikki said as she leaned towards Erin

Erin opened her mouth and Nikki gently took a swab of the inside of her cheek "Ok I'm done" she said and Erin quickly closed her mouth again

"Where did she hit you?"

"…all over" Erin said her bottom lip wobbling "It doesn't matter, I deserved it"

Nikki and DI Johnson looked up at Erin startled "No Erin…no you didn't deserve any of this. Whatever she said you did, you didn't deserve to be beaten. No matter what you did wrong it doesn't equate to her being able to treat you like this" the DI said trying to keep calm

"Erin" Nikki said suddenly "Do you understand what she did to you was wrong? It's wrong of her to treat you like this and its not normal behaviour"

Now it was Erin's turn to look shocked "She told me it happened to everyone. She said when children were naughty they have to be punished for their sins"

"No Erin" Nikki said gently "You can never justify hurting anyone in order to help them"

"It doesn't happen to everyone then?"

Nikki shook her head "No. What she did to you Erin was wrong and its not how anyone should behave to another human being. Do you understand that now?"

Erin nodded slowly, they saw her eyes begin to droop with tiredness and they knew that it wouldn't be fair to push Erin any further, she was still recovering and she needed to rest

"You need to get some sleep now" DI Johnson said standing up "We'll come back a bit later when you're a bit refreshed. But I promise you Erin, we're going to sort all of this out ok?" she nodded "Good girl" he smiled encouragingly

The two of them left the room, leaving Erin to sleep. Nikki leant against the wall in the corridor as the DI closed the door

"I can't believe she didn't know what her mother was doing to her was wrong" Nikki said, her voice breaking with emotion

The DI nodded "I dread to think what else the mother has got Erin to believe. Physical scars will heal but emotional ones, they are so much deeper"

The two of them made their way out of the hospital; neither could believe that so much could go on behind closed door with no one noticing. There thoughts lingered on the young girl, all alone in the world trying to recover from the years of abuse. She had started to make progress but they knew that she still had a long way to go but both were determined not to let Erin be alone in the world ever again.