Leo walked out of his office a while later after making several long winded phone calls. He walked into the main lab just as Harry was bringing Erin out of the cutting room and he grimaced as he saw her appearance. Harry had done his best to clean her up but despite his best efforts she looked a mess. The deep cut on her arm had been cleaned up and was now covered by a dressing. The cuts on her face were stitched but Leo could see some bruising beginning to form. Her clothes were stained with mud and blood and he could see numerous grazes all over the rest of her body
"Superficial wounds for the most part" Harry said as he caught site of Leo "Some are a little deeper than others but I've cleaned them and dressed them so she'll live"
"I'm sorry" she mumbled, all traces of bravado had now disappeared
"You've just recovered from severe hypothermia, you need to be resting not throwing yourself around like that" Leo frowned
"I know, it's just…" Erin paused looking for the right words to express herself "I don't want to be on my own again"
"They'll be other people at your new place" Leo replied
"I don't mean it like that. I mean I don't want to be sitting in a room with a whole bunch of strangers"
"I hate to be the one to point this out to you" Harry grinned "But that's what you're sort of doing now"
Erin turned to Harry and frowned "You're not total strangers more like slightly estranged friends"
Harry snorted with laughter "I'll take that as a compliment" and the corners of Erin's mouth twitched as she tried to conceal a smile
"I've put a call in to your social worker, she's coming over here and we're going to sort all of this out" Leo said to Erin whose smile had immediately vanished
"Ok…" Erin said despondently, her happy mood had immediately vanished at the phrase 'social worker'
"You're going to stay put until she comes. So can I trust you not to run off again?" he asked the young girl and she nodded "Good"
"Professor Dalton?" a lab technician called interrupting the conversation "There's a new case for you"
"Thank you" Leo nodded to the technician "Right I've got to go and sort this out, try to keep out of trouble"
"Are you talking to me or Erin?" Harry grinned
"Both of you" he sighed "Just…don't do anything stupid"
"Like throw yourself out of a moving car" Harry said quietly so that only Erin could hear him
"I jumped" she whispered and Harry tried hard not to laugh at the girl's expression of defiance
A few minutes later Harry was sitting at his desk typing away at his laptop with Erin sitting close beside him. He'd told her he was 'keeping an eye on her' but Erin was sure she was being used as a distraction so Harry didn't have to do his paperwork
"So what's so bad about this social worker?" he said pausing to stretch out his hand after a few minutes of writing
"She's a social worker, isn't that bad enough?" Erin glowered but Harry raised his eyebrows and she decided to elaborate "She thinks she knows what's best for me when in reality I'm just another case that she can wash her hands of so she can go home and forget all about me"
"And you don't think she's helping?" Harry asked gently, Erin shook her head
"And now I've screwed everything up. She's going to be angry with me, Leo's angry with me…"
"He's not angry with you..." Nikki cut in as she came into the lab after hearing the last part of their conversation "He's just worried"
"We all are" Harry agreed "When DI Johnson told us you'd run away, we didn't know what to think"
"I'm sorry" she said and she sounded genuinely apologetic
"We're not the one's you should be apologising too" Nikki said resting a comforting hand on Erin's shoulder
"Though if you do feel like grovelling and pleading for our forgiveness, it wouldn't go a miss" Harry teased and Nikki hit him playfully on the shoulder
"Leave her alone" Nikki said smiling
"She started it" Harry said sounding very similar to a small child
"And I'm finishing it" Nikki said in an authoritative voice although her smile betrayed her tone "Now Harry Cunningham get on with your paperwork this minute or I'll make sure you have to do all our paperwork for a month"
Harry gave a mock salute to Nikki and grabbed a folder from the ever increasing pile
"Come on" she said to Erin leading the girl over to her own desk "We'll watch him suffer from over here"
"I heard that" Harry said raising an eyebrow
"You were meant to" Nikki called over her shoulder laughing
Leo walked into the lab a little while later and couldn't help but smile at the scene that lay before him. Erin was sitting with Nikki at her desk and she was showing the young girl something on her computer screen. Erin's eyes were shining brightly as she sat, totally absorbed in what Nikki was saying. Leo walked over to Harry's desk, not wanting to disturb the two females just yet
"Nikki's explaining how she does a facial reconstruction" Harry explained as he shifted a file from one pile to another "To be honest I think Nikki just enjoys showing off"
"I heard that Cunningham" Nikki called from across the room
"You were meant to" Harry said imitating the tone Nikki had used with him earlier
"You two are not being a good role model for Erin" Leo sighed trying hard to conceal a smile
"She started it" Harry tried again
"Don't even go there" Leo said shaking his head "Erin, do you want to come into my office away from these two…" Leo paused trying to find a word to describe his two colleagues
"Wonderful, amazing, top notch pathologists" Harry finished for him
"I was going to say immature, lazy pathologists who better be finished with their paperwork soon otherwise I'm keeping them here until they do" Leo said grinning as he lead Erin towards his office, they could still hear Harry and Nikki bickering as they got further away
Leo opened the door to his office and ushered Erin inside. The young girl sighed loudly as she saw Jane sitting there with the same false smile she'd had plastered across her face when Erin had met her at the hospital
"Oh Erin, I was so worried about you" Jane said standing up and taking in the girl's tousled appearance
"Like hell you were" Erin muttered under her breath but Leo shot her a look and so she kept quiet
"Now we're going to sort this out once and for all" Leo said offering Erin a seat
"I'm not going back there…" Erin started but Leo stopped her in mid flow
"Erin please, just hear everyone out first ok?" and she nodded
"Erin, I am trying to do what's best for you" Jane started and Erin bit her lip hard to stop herself from saying something "You've been through an awful lot and you need somewhere to recuperate. I can provide you with that but if you keep running off like that, you're going to put yourself in more danger"
"You're not trying to do what's best for me" Erin said trying to fight back the tears "You don't understand, I don't want to be on my own anymore"
"There will be other people there…" Jane began
"I think Erin means she doesn't want to be with strangers" Leo cut in and Erin looked up at him and with a grateful expression on her face
"That may well be, but I am her social worker and I know what's best for her" Jane said frowning at Leo
"No you don't, you really don't" Erin said and Leo could hear the exhaustion in her voice "Id rather be back living on the streets than anywhere you take me" she said to Jane bitterly
"I'm not going to respond to childish threats" Jane warned
"They're not threats" Erin said shaking with emotion "They're my feelings" with that she ran out of Leo's office with tears running down her face
Harry and Nikki were still sitting at their desk in the main lab; their gentle teasing had stopped as they'd been straining to hear anything of the meeting going on in Leo's office. They'd heard Erin's raised voice and Nikki sighed loudly
"All she needs is someone to love and understand her"
"Don't we all" said Harry and Nikki snorted
"Is this your sensitive side coming out?"
Harry rolled his eyes "What is it with women and always wanting to see men's sensitive side?"
Nikki was going to reply when Erin ran out of Leo's office with tears streaming down her face
"Erin?" Nikki said running over to her
The young girl just fell into Nikki's arms sobbing "They don't understand" she kept repeating
"Shh" Nikki soothed stroking Erin's hair gently to try and comfort her "It's alright Erin"
The two of them stood there for a few more minutes until Erin's sobs had subsided; she pulled away from Nikki and wiped her eyes
"I'm sorry I made your shoulder wet" She said, her breathing was still slightly shaky
"It's fine" Nikki smiled gently
"This is a new experience for Nikki; it's usually her that's dissolving someone's shoulder with her tears"
"Harry?" Nikki said turning towards him "Shut up"
Harry laughed at Nikki's tone "I'll go and get you a glass of water" he said to Erin who smiled gratefully
Nikki led Erin to her desk and passed her a tissue "It's my secret stash"
Erin smiled weakly "I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble"
Nikki shook her head "You haven't at all; I promise you we're going to sort this all out, ok?"
Erin nodded, sniffing back a few fresh tears, wishing in her heart that she could believe Nikki's words
"That girl is trouble" Jane sighed
Leo felt the anger boil up inside of him "Erin has been through an awful lot, she is a vulnerable child and she needs our help, not your jibes"
"With respect Professor Dalton" Jane said pursuing her lips together "You are a pathologist not a social worker and you have no idea about Erin"
"I have no idea?" Leo scoffed "Were you there when Erin was curled up in the car park curled up, frozen half to death? Where you there when Erin had to face to the years of abuse? Were you there to hold Erin's hand when she was too frightened to sleep?"
"No but…" Jane stuttered
"If you have no idea about this girl, how do you expect to help her?" Leo sighed, frustrated with this woman sitting before him
Leo's office door opened making Erin jump in shock. She was still sitting with Nikki and Harry who were still comforting Erin
"It's going to be fine" Nikki whispered to Erin as Leo and Jane walked over to her
"Erin" Leo said to the young girl gently "Me and Jane have had a talk…"
"…And I'm going to pass this case over to my superior" Jane said frowning at Leo "This means we're not going to be able to sort this out till tomorrow. I'll be speaking with him tonight and we'll try and sort something out"
"Where will I go?" Erin said looking shaken
"Professor Dalton has kindly offered to let you stay with him for tonight as he seems to know what is best for you" Jane said with a slight bitter tone that did not go unnoticed
Erin face broke into a smile "It's only temporarily" Jane said frowning
"Thank you" Erin said to Leo who gave her a quick smile
"We're going to sort this out Erin" Leo said as Harry saw Jane out of the lab "I'm told you I'm not going to give up on you and I'm going to stick to my promise"
Erin looked around at Harry, Nikki and Leo and hoped that somehow things were going to get better. She'd lived for so long in loneliness and that now she had people around her who cared, she couldn't bear to be alone again. But Erin felt so lost, there were people like Jane getting in her way and Erin didn't know which way to turn or who to trust anymore.
