A/N: Thanks for the reviews (shout outs to ejm137, WB79, vausemania and izzielg for ongoing encouragement - thanks guys!)- it makes me want to keep writing and we all hate it when a story doesn't get an ending! Will Alex behave herself? Let us find out...

Polly returned to ICU carrying two cups of coffee and leaned down to open the door to Piper's room with her elbow. Pushing the door open with her hip, she was surprised to find Alex straddling a guy on the floor next to Piper's bed.

"Well this is cosy. The biggest lesbian on the planet straddling a dick is one way to try and get Piper's attention I guess…..What the fuck is going on here exactly?!" Polly realised the scene wasn't entirely amicable as she came further into the room and saw Alex's hands around the guy's throat.

Polly put the cups down on the cabinet at the side of the bed and stood over them with her hands on her hips. Alex wasn't actually trying to kill him at this point, but she wasn't letting him get up either.

"This fucker was out with Piper last night and he knows what happened. I'm just trying to help him along with the details here." Alex never took her eyes off him while she responded to Polly.

"You would be Steve then? Nice to meet you Steve, I'm Polly. I'd shake your hand, but….maybe later."

"Shake his hand?! Are you serious?! This guy was with Piper last night when this happened!"

"Yeah, and he also beat the shit out of the guy who was attacking her…..It could have been….well, worse than even this I guess if he hadn't got to her when he did."

"WORSE?! Fucking worse Polly?! How could it possibly be any worse?!" Alex glared up at her, suddenly all the rage was back. The frustration of not being able to stop all of this from happening was overwhelming her and she slumped to the side, releasing Steve from her grip and moving to sit against the wall.

"Did you know she was raped?" Alex whispered, barely able to form the awful words. She didn't need to hear her reply as she saw the shock on her face immediately. "What?" They were talking in whispers now, as though they didn't want Piper to hear their words.

Polly looked at Steve as though asking him to verify what Alex had just said. He pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing his throat and avoiding their eyes for the moment.

"Is it true Steve? Is that what happened?" Polly was desperate for him to say Alex had misheard him and that wasn't what happened at all.

"I didn't see it. I…I just saw her there on the floor and he was getting up from being on top of her. When I got him away from her, I could see her dress all pulled up…..I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I should have never asked her to come out with me…..I brought that fucking animal into that bar and I honestly had no idea he was capable of something like this. Look, the Chapman's don't know. Don't say anything to them yet. Let her wake up first."

Alex turned away from Steve. She'd heard enough, maybe more than she wanted to. She went to Piper and sat down beside the bed. Seeing her beaten body surrounded by wires and tubes was enough to realise that beating on Steve wasn't going to change anything. She put her hand out to touch Piper's, half expecting Piper to either pull her hand away or move to link their fingers. But there was no reaction at all. Her fingers didn't even twitch as Alex stroked the top of her hand with her long fingers. Piper's hand was warm and Alex felt a tingle inside at the first touch in 4 years. It wasn't charged with the electricity of attraction, but relief. It felt like coming home, like their hands belonged together and had been reaching out for so long and now they were finally together again, as they always should have been. She looked at Piper's red fingernails, mostly ragged and chipped now but obviously done recently. Her knuckles were bloody and bruised, reminders of the fight she had put up to try and stop this monster from hurting her in the worst possible way.

Polly turned to Steve and said he should probably go. They were going to stay with Piper and the Chapmans would be back in the morning. He could get some rest and come back again tomorrow when her family was around maybe.

He turned to look at Piper, wanting to go over and hold her and tell her he was sorry. But he saw Alex holding Piper's hand to her lips, kissing her knuckles softly and moving her hand to brush against her lips softly.

"You're her aren't you?" Steve asked flatly. Alex didn't turn or stop what she was doing, as though she hadn't heard him speak.

"You're the one who broke her heart and nearly her mind when she tried to get over you. You're the reason she ended up in prison. You don't have any right to be here with her like this you know? "

"I know. I've known every day since she walked out on me how much I've hurt her." She pressed her lips against Piper's palm before speaking again. "I sure as Hell would have done a better job of protecting her from that creep last night though."

Polly moved to Steve and stepped in between him and Alex, in case she turned violent again. "I think you should go. Emotions are running high tonight and you've had a tough couple of days. Thanks for beating the crap out of that guy though. "

Steve smiled weakly and turned to leave, closing the door behind him quietly and leaving the three women alone.

When Polly turned back around, Alex had her forehead pressed against Piper's hand and her eyes closed. "There's still so much we need to talk about. So much I don't know about your life these past few years. He's right though isn't he? What right do I have to be in this room after what I've put you through? I'm sorry Piper, I'll never stop being sorry for what I've done."

They were interrupted as a nurse came in to check the machines and top up the pain relief. She smiled at them and said she wouldn't be long as she checked Piper over and made some notes on her charts. She reassured them that everything was as it should be and left them alone again. Polly could see Alex wasn't going to do anything but watch Piper all the time she was here and she didn't exactly have an easy conversational relationship with Alex in the first place.

"Alex? Listen, I need to be here when Piper's family come back in a few hours and you need to not be here. I don't know what time they might be here and the store needs to be opened again tomorrow. I can run things at the store once they get to the hospital, but maybe I could go and get a few hours of rest if you want to stay here with Piper? I'll need to get here for maybe 7am. Is that OK?"

Alex turned and smiled. "Thanks Polly. I appreciate you letting me stay, even if she's asleep I just want to be here with her." When she heard the door close behind her, she pulled out her old iPod and headphones and selected one of the cheesy playlists Piper put on there years ago. The first song that came on was The Wannadies and the 'You and Me song'. Alex smiled as she put one of the earbuds into Piper's ear and the other into hers and talked to Piper about the time Piper had danced around the kitchen in only Alex's Guns 'n' Roses t-shirt singing this song at the top of her voice. Alex had chased her around the kitchen table telling her she was going to ruin her lucky shirt singing that shit so she had better take it off immediately.

XXXXX

Polly arrived back at the hospital at 6:30 in the morning and she quickly checked the window to Piper's room to make sure the Chapmans hadn't arrived early. There was no blood on the walls and Alex was now sitting on the bed by Piper's hips, stroking her hair gently so she ventured into the room.

"Morning. How is she?" She picked up a decent coffee and a breakfast muffin on her way in and handed them to Alex as she sat down next to the bed.

"Thanks. She's OK. No change really. The nurses have been in every half hour to check on things and they say she is comfortable. They don't know for sure if she can hear anything you're saying to her, but I was rambling most of the night just in case. No doubt I'll have to repeat myself when she wakes up." She smiled at Polly as she spoke. "I guess I have to go now before the mob arrive?"

Polly nodded as she took off her coat.

"You take care Pipes and try not to drool in your sleep. You can do it in front of me, but other people won't find it endearing like I do. I hope I can see you soon and we can talk properly. As much as you think I might like to talk without you interrupting me with questions every two minutes, it's not been as enjoyable as I would have thought. Please wake up and call me a selfish asshole soon." She put the iPod in the bedside drawer and closed it over and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead before turning to leave.

Alex got home and threw her keys on the table by the door. The apartment was cold and empty, but she was exhausted having not had much sleep the previous night either. She drank a bottle of water from the fridge and got into the shower to wash the grime from her body from the last couple of days. Drying herself off, she put on her Guns 'n' Roses shirt and headed to bed. At least she could stay here all day if she needed to.

XXXXX

The Chapman's arrived just after 8am and bustled into the quiet room full of apologies and cursing the city traffic. Polly gave them a quick rundown of any information she had gotten from the nurses and Doctors since they left and reassured them there had been nothing to worry about. She didn't mention anything about Steve coming back or Alex having been there at all. There was enough for them to be worrying about without adding more drama into the mix. She told them she needed to head off to get some rest herself – only a little lie as they didn't know she had slept last night – and went to open up the store for the day, promising to come back again later tonight. Cal was checking them into their hotel and would be taking the late shift while Piper's parents would stay during the day. So Piper wouldn't be alone at any point.

Steve called Cal on Sunday afternoon to find out if there had been any change at the hospital. Can said they were doing some final tests today and it everything came back OK, they would try and bring her round on Monday. There was no point in Steve going to the hospital today as there were plenty of people already there, but maybe come back when Piper wakes up. He decided to head back home for a couple of nights to get a change of clothes and let work know what was going on. His being involved in a fight and released on bail for the moment may mean he's not allowed to be at work with patients. He didn't know yet.

Polly went to the hospital in the evening after closing the store and having something to eat at home. She met Cal there ad he told her the good news about them planning to bring Piper around tomorrow as all the results have been clear. She stayed with Cal and Piper for an hour before heading out to go home for some rest. She called Alex on the way to tell her the good news and pleaded with her to stay away for the moment. She promised she would find an opportunity for her to come and see Piper when she was awake, but only if Piper wanted that. She had no idea what impact having Alex and her in a room together and communicating would have. Best to check the lay of the land first before setting off any fireworks, especially with a head injury as well.