Sorry guys. I went back and rewrote part of the last chapter because I just felt like I was missing something. I decided that I was focused solely on how Lee felt after this incident and that's not real life. In reality this would have been traumatic for Colby too. So here is the last chapter reworked with a little more.

Colby and Lee made it back to the hotel and put their bags down with a sigh. Lee started to run her hand through her hair but winced when she touched her stitches and put her hand down. She turned to Colby, "You need to shower right?"

Colby shrugged and smiled, "Well you're the one lying next to me all night. I could not shower if you like."

Lee laughed lightly and scrunched up her face, "Go make yourself smell pretty. I'm going to get ready for bed." She playfully gave him a little shove toward the bathroom door.

"Ok," Colby chuckled and leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead. He grabbed his bag again and turned to the bathroom. Lee watched him go and sagged onto the edge of the sofa for a second. It was nice to be alone for just a second. After a moment, though, she started to feel the emotions bubbling up inside of her, so she got up and began to undress. Her jeans were ripped and had blood on them. She slowly peeled them off and threw them in the trash. She peeled off her underwear as well, they weren't damaged, but she threw them away anyhow. She went to her bag and found a clean pair to put on before she unzipped and slipped out of Colby's jacket. She folded it and placed it by his things. She dug through her bag and found her sleep shirt, she went to raise the shirt up to slip on but cried out from the sharp pain in her ribs. For a second she lowered the shirt and took a few deep breaths. She gritted her teeth and raised the shirt slowly, ignoring the pain she pulled it on just as the bathroom door opened.

"Hey, are you ok? I heard you yell," Colby said as he came out soaking wet with a towel around his waist.

"Yes, I'm fine," Lee said, unable to appreciate the site he was after her long night. "I just moved my arm a little too much and my ribs let me know. No big deal," she shrugged with a soft smile.

Colby looked her up and down, "You know I could have helped you put your shirt on so it didn't hurt."

Lee shrugged again, "It's fine, it didn't hurt that bad, I had just forgotten for a moment so it surprised me is all."

"Lee, I'm here for a reason," he stepped closer. "The tables are flipped for once, you're injured and need a little help; let me help you."

Lee smiled softly, "I'll try."

"Good," he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Then he turned back toward the bathroom to finish drying off and changing. Lee sighed and shook her head, she knew he was right, maybe tomorrow she would be more willing. As it was she was so tired she walked over to the bed, laid down, and didn't remember anything after.

Colby walked out of the bathroom and saw Lee asleep on the bed. He walked over and gently pulled the blanket higher over her. He could only gaze for a moment at the emerging bruises on her face before turning away. A sense of disgust with himself and guilt grew in the pit of his stomach with the sight of those injuries. She needed him, and he knew he couldn't let her see how badly it hurt him to see her that way, to see how badly he'd failed her.

He had known, he had known so long ago. He had let her be scared, he had let Windham's obsession and delusions grow. He should have stopped it months ago, before it had come to this. He could have saved her! But he had let fear for things like her job or reputation…or his reputation, keep him quiet. He should of at least known Windham would try something; that a simple threat an minor injury wouldn't affect him. He should have never let her leave his side. Colby yanked his boxers on and let out a low growl of frustration.

Well never again, from now on I'll be there. She'll never have to be scared like that again….

The next morning Lee awakened groggy and stiffly made her way to the bathroom. Seeing herself in the mirror she groaned. The left side of her face was covered with a massive bruise, her hair was tangled and matted, her lip was split, and she had dried blood by it. In other words, she was as sexy as could be this morning. She decided maybe a shower would make her feel a little more human. Lee stripped off her sleep wrinkled clothes. Then, slowly, she started to peel the sweat soaked gauze from her ribs. Underneath the bandages her back was one complete bruise and her arms and inner thighs were speckled with bruises approximately the size of finger tips. Every movement sent a sharp pain and even standing still her body ached. Lee sighed and turned on the water in the shower.

The warm water felt wonderful, for a while she just stood there, letting it wash away all the sweat and any blood that may still be in her hair. Eventually the water went from hot to luke warm and she thought she better begin to wash before it became a cold shower. Lightly she scrubbed and washed her hair. Finally, she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel. Gently running a comb through her hair and trying to use some make up to cover the worst bruising on her face. Unfortunately, not being much of a makeup girl, she lacked the skills and products to make a vast difference to her appearance.

Lee tucked her towel around her tighter as she opened the door and looked around to see if Colby was up yet; he wasn't. So Lee crept over to her bag and found some clean, comfy clothes. As she turned back to the bathroom, clothes in hand, Colby stirred and looked up; Lee froze.

"Hey," he said drowsily as he tried to blink sleep from his eyes.

"Hey," Lee said with a half-smile as she turned away and began to head back to the bathroom.

"Wait, come here," Colby reached out and pulled her towel gently toward him. Lee followed and knelt on the bed in front of him. She reluctantly looked at him, he let his gaze run over her face and arms, taking in the bruises, before traveling back to her eyes and holding them. She saw a sadness there that worried her but then he brought his hand up to caress her cheek and tuck her wet hair behind her ear. He smiled into her face before he leaned up and kissed her mouth gently. Lee let her lips mold to his and sighed into him They pulled a part and she leaned against him for a moment as he stroked her back. Colby kissed her head before Lee pulled away with a smile, giving him one more soft peck before walking back to the bathroom.

Through the day Lee and Colby had several visitors, checking in on them. She reassured all of their friends and received their reassurances gratefully. Nobody mentioned Windham or what was being done about him. She appreciated the company of her friends but overwhelming look of pity she saw in their eyes was difficult to ignore. Colby stayed by her side all day, catering to ever possible wish or whim she may have had. When he felt she was getting tired he shooed their friends a way and would make her lie down. And sometimes she caught him with a look of what maybe held some of the same pity, like their friends, but there was another sadness there; something she couldn't identify. She began to wonder if this was how he would always see her now, as a victim. Did he not see her as pretty anymore? Had what Windham done make her seem damaged or untouchable? Would he never be able to see her in sexual way again? Lee knew it was unfair and paranoid to be worried about this the day after, she couldn't have handled it if he did see her sexually right now. But the sadness in his eyes scared her, she just had to hope it would go away soon.

That night Colby went to the arena for RAW alone, Lee wasn't quite ready for the constant attention and remarks that would come with the backstage. Instead she slept and woke to watch the show in the hotel room, enjoying watching her man storm down to the ring and challenge KO.

Colby went to RAW that night and endured an onslaught of questions while finding out that Windham was on indefinite suspension, his employment hinging on an internal investigation. One that started with Colby being called into the office of Stephanie and Hunter.

"So you're saying he's been threatening her for months and nobody brought it to our attention?" Stephanie questioned blatantly.

Colby sighed, "We had no proof to bring to you, his word against hers armed with a few nondescript notes signed with a W. Be honest, Steph, what would you have done with that?"

"He's right," Hunter broke in looking at his wife who was gripping the desk with white knuckles.

"Maybe, but we deserved to know there was potential for this kind of public incident-"

"Public Incident? Is that what you're worried about? Does it even matter to you that Lee got hurt? Or how scared she's been?" Colby stood up, voice climbing. "Or does it only matter to you that you screwed up one of your story lines? Would it matter if there wasn't a potential loss in money for the company? Would you rather he kept scaring her as long as it didn't inconvenience you?" Colby was breathing heavy and he could feel his blood pounding.

Stephanie waited for Colby to stop and take a breath, "You know that is not true. My point was maybe we could have done more to prevent this from coming to a head. But now all we can do is try to clean up the mess. Now, we are very sorry for what happened to Ms. Lewis and the trauma she has undergone at Windham's hands. We would like to make amends by offering her enhanced travel benefits and accommodations with the company for as long as she remains. We are also giving her paid time off for as long as she needs before she feels ready, and is deemed ready by a company psychiatrist, to return to work-"

"You're asking her to leave? That's exactly why she was afraid of coming to you," Colby stated incredulously.

"We are giving her leave," Stephanie replied steadily. She sighed and softened, "Colby, be serious, Lee is going to need time to cope with this and adjust. Coming back to a bustling backstage isn't what is going to be best for her."

Gradually Colby relaxed and nodded in understanding, "You're right."

"Yes, I am," Stephanie continued business-like. "We want to give you the next week of shows off as well, to be with her. We ask that after tonight you be back for RAW two weeks from now."

"We'll give you the jet to take wherever you to want to go," Hunter added, his tone held more understanding than his wife's.

"Thank you," Colby stood to shake his hand and then Stephanie's before exiting the office.

When Colby told Lee about the time off for them both and the use of the McMahon private jet at first Lee was worried about her job. But when Colby asked if she really wanted to be back at work this week she couldn't honestly say yes.

"Exactly. It's not that they don't want you at work, or with the company, Lee," Colby gently massaged her upper arms, trying to calm her. "They just want you to have some time to process, so you won't feel uncomfortable backstage."

"You're right," Lee agreed after a moment.

Colby pulled her closer and brushed her hair back, "Lee, they want you to see the company psychiatrist for clearance to return to work, too."

He watched her, ready for her to be upset or feel like Stephanie and Hunter thought she couldn't do her job, he had a rebuttal prepared. Instead she surprised him with a nod of acceptance.

"That makes sense, that would be the case at any job I think, especially with it happening on company time, technically," she assented. "It would probably be good for me anyway."

Colby pulled her to him, "It will be. Did I tell you I had to go to one after the social media incidents in 2015? Mostly she told me I had a pathological need for attention, though." He chuckled and could feel Lee grin against him.

"Well, that's obvious," Lee smiled and put her arms around his waist, too.

"So…" he began gently, "do you want me to book tickets back to your parents tomorrow?"

Lee was silent for a second and Colby began to worry he had upset her for some reason. She pulled back and shook her head, "No."

Colby frowned, "No?...umm where do you want to go then?"

"I don't know…," she said concerned and sighed. "I just-I just don't want to have to go home looking like this," she swept her hand to take in her body. "I don't want to have to explain to my parents, I don't want to have to relive it with them."

"Hey, hey, come back, come back," he pulled her back to his chest. "We don't have to go anywhere. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone." They stood there like that for a while when Colby suddenly exclaimed, "How about we go back to my place? We could spend the week Netflixing and I could prove to you that I can actually cook!"

She laughed, "But then the first time I meet anyone in your life I'll look like Rocky at the end of the movie."

Colby smiled, "Would it be ok if I called my mom and told her beforehand, then you wouldn't have to relive it. And most of the people in my life are fighters anyway, they're used to a few bruises."

Lee thought for a moment, "I think that sounds great." She smiled, "I'd like to see your house and your training facility."

"Then it's settled," Colby was delighted. "I'll call and book a flight."

Later that night Colby called his mom to tell her what happened.

"He hurt her, Mom, he hurt her bad and I let him," his voice was tense as he sat on the balcony with his head in his hands. He was close to tears. Telling his mom that he had let Windham terrorize Lee and that he hadn't been there to protect her when she needed him was harder than he had expected.

"What do you mean you let him, Colby? You most certainly did not! You could have had no idea this was going to happen!" His mother replied.

"But I could have stopped him months ago-"

"With no proof nothing would have happened, you said so yourself."

"I could have done more than hurt his hand, I should have beaten him within an inch of his life," Colby continued.

"And only gotten yourself in trouble. Then maybe you would have been suspended and he would have still been there, you don't know, Colby," his mother answered sternly but gently at the same time. "Colby you can't stop every bad thing in the world, sometimes the people we love get hurt."

"Yeah, but I should have done more. I should have been there," Colby shook his head. "Look, thank you, Mom, but I just needed you to know because we're coming home tomorrow for a couple weeks. Lee is coming with me. She didn't want to have to talk about it with her parents, she wanted somewhere stress free she could recover. I said I would tell you so you could make sure nobody bugged her about it. And especially don't act pitying, that part has been really rough on her." He had watched her get more and more upset by her friend's sympathy and he thought it best to head that off now.

"Ok, Colby. I can't wait to meet her, even if I wish it was under different circumstances. You tell her I'll have dinner ready. And Colby," her voice held a note of pleading, "please be easier on yourself. She may have gotten hurt but you have to stop blaming yourself."

"I'll try, Mom," he promised. "Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow, baby. Goodnight."

As Colby drove them toward his house he pointed out things along the way. His high school hangouts, relative's houses, favorite restaurants, it was fun for Lee to get to see this side of him. He was so relaxed and smiling; he may love travelling but she could see he loved being home, too. They drove past his gym and he glowed with pride in his facility, but they continued their way to his house without stopping.

It was a nice change, at the airport he had been practically glued to Lee's side. Eyes narrowed toward the crowds and then the employees that helped on the company jet. He had been so tense the last couple of days, it was wonderful to see him begin to relax.

Reaching Colby's house Lee was surprised to see how large and well-kept it was.

"My mom takes care of keeping up my house when I'm not around," he said, as if reading her mind. Lee had gotten out of the car and was looking over the small gardens in the front. She lightly touched a crocus and turned to smile at him.

"It's beautiful here," she proclaimed. Colby's answering smile lit up his face before he moved around to the back to grab their bags. When he opened the door she was welcomed to his simply furnished home. It was obviously a bachelor pad, full of dark colors and bare necessities, all the furniture was high end. Lee took a big breath and let it out. Things would be alright here, she thought as she moved farther into the house.