Christian's POV
My God, poor Macy! Everyone is whooping about the fact that the pap has captured Elena looking confused and embarrassed, handcuffed and dressed in her unattractive domme gear but all I can see is little Macy in the police officers arms, it could easily have been me and it all comes rushing back. The fear, the pain, the darkness and I quietly leave the room, there's only one place I need to be right now and it isn't here.
I let myself into my bedroom, lock the door, turn off the security monitor and crawl into bed next to Ana, trying not to jostle her. She doesn't wake and I wrap myself around her, my left arm slides under her pillow, I bury my face in her hair and wrap my right arm around her, I need to feel her closeness, I need to absorb her goodness to drive away the darkness that is engulfing me. In her sleep she sighs and with a small smile, turns her head towards me and nuzzles my cheek and it takes all the self control I have to not wake her and kiss her until I feel better.
Her gentle breathing and undecipherable quiet mutterings start relaxing me, the darkness retreats and I am being lulled to sleep when I suddenly have one of those stupid body jumps that happens as you are dropping off to sleep and my knee connects with her leg and she wakes with a squeal of pain and I am mortified. I can't even look at her and say "Oh baby, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" rubbing her leg where I kneed her and she simply giggles "Well if you wanted me to get up, you could have just tapped me" and she leans into me and giggles again "Look at me" and I can't, she is going to see that I am a mess. "Look at me Christian" she says quieter but with the strength of steel and I drag my eyes up to hers. In the semi-darkness of the room I can still see them deepening as she looks at me, the smile fading from her lips, "What's the matter Christian, what's happened? Can you come up here because you need a hug?" I still can't move, I hate that I have once again added to her pain but more importantly, I don't want her to see me, as my 15 year old self, exposed and battered and then I realise she said "YOU need a hug" and I stare at her and gasp out, "How do you do that? How do you know?"
"I can feel it Christian, you are radiating pain. You look like you are made of sand, one poke and you'll crumble. I want to be the water that keeps you together, makes you stronger and able to withstand the desert winds" her eyes don't leave mine as she speaks, drawing me towards her until I can bury my head in her hair again, I need to smell her, to fill my nostrils so that my brain can get it's fix of Ana. I am lying on her right arm and she has it wrapped tightly around me and it finally registers that she is trying to tug me back towards her face and I am happy to oblige.
If I could swallow Ana whole I would, I need her essence in me and finally as the black cloud rolls away and I release her, she is gasping for air but her eyes soften as I apologise and touch her swollen lips. "It's perfectly fine Christian, do you want to explain what that was all about? I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong?" and I whisper almost under my breath "You help me by just being you." And I really don't want to tell her what has happened, not just all my fucked-up shit and reaction to Macy but I haven't even thought about how I am going to tell Ray and Ana about the fact that Carla has been with Stephen the last couple of days, let alone the fact that she has now been arrested.
"Ana, I'm sorry, I was having a major flashback to my 15 year old self and I am sorry, I shouldn't have put that on you" I hesitate and she waves her hand airily as if to say it was "no bother" and indicates that I should keep talking and I realise that Ray needs to be involved in the next bit of the conversation so I say "I have something really important to tell you but I need Ray here too. Can I get Mrs Jones to bring you some afternoon tea while I speak to my security and find out what is happening now and then we can all sit down and … I'm sorry, don't look at me like that, I don't want to say what I need to tell you twice." She looks at me like she's trying to work out if I am weaselling my way out of telling her something and I assume she sees that I am actually telling the truth and simply pulls me back down and gives me a feather light kiss on the nose and as I smile, she continues and kisses me on the chin. She is grinning now like a Cheshire cat and I decide to beat her at her own game and grab her face between both hands and place feather kisses on her eyelids, her nose, her ears and then back down her cheek bones and stop as I am about to reach her gorgeous lips and I am not mistaken that her heart rate has gone through the roof but she is giggling and she pulls my head down and crushes her lips onto mine, then just as I feel an opening and am about to poke in my tongue she abruptly stops and pulls away giggling "Once you tell me….."and clamps her lips together in a thin line even though she can barely control it, her whole body shaking from the controlled laughter until she grimaces and it slowly fades. It's me then scowling at her that makes her say "I know, no sense of self preservation… but it was worth it to see your face" and I melt and kiss her on the forehead, promising to be back with Ray and the full story.
Taylor's POV
"Shit, the Boss's gone, I didn't even see him leave. Look, he's going in with Ana, where was he looking before he left Welch? Really? He was looking at that monitor? Shit he was watching Macy. What are we going to do about the kid? The cops strung him out a day more than they should have, can you find out why Welch? The Boss is going to want to know and he's going to have someone's ass for it I am sure."
Hmm, he's turned off the camera in that room, at least he's thinking straight, I don't want to see any more than I have already between these two, I have been missing Gail and watching them isn't helping! Right, mind back to the job, "I guess we'd better call Carrick and make sure he can set the legal actions in motion now that they are in custody so that there is no chance of them getting out any time soon"
We spend the next half hour providing information to Carrick and the rest of the legal team, liaising with the PR team to make sure that the Boss's name isn't anywhere near the pap photo and then the door bursts open and it's the Boss.
Rapid fire we discuss with the legal team that the information coming back from the police is that the report will show is that someone was suspicious when they saw Elena pick up Macy from school when school wasn't finished. That person had been suspicious previously and had mentioned it to the social worker on his case, who was also suspicious as they had seen the cuts and bruises but Macy wouldn't say where he had obtained them. The story will continue that the social worker gave Macy the watch and therefore there is absolutely no link back to the Boss and us as his security team.
The legal team thinks it's up to the Boss as to whether he discloses, his disclosure would probably cement the fact that there is a pattern of abuse of minors especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, kids with issues, but it's up to him as to how much he wants to say and when.
As I thought, the Boss is upset about Macy, he paces back and forwards agitated as he says "We have to get hold of Macy and make him safe. I want him seeing John Flynn straight away and I wonder if Mom would take him on as an emergency foster, at least until he can be put safely in a home where he is not going to be damaged further. Do we know where Elena got her claws into him?" I know he isn't going to like the answer when I say, she met him through the hospital outreach services organised by Grace and would take him for weekend activities. The glass sailing through the air is adroitly caught by Sawyer, saving Gail having to clean up a mess but it doesn't improve the mood of the Boss, realising that Grace is going to be extremely upset about having allowed another child into Elena's evil clutches.
Then the Boss drops a bombshell that none of us had thought of "I have to tell Ray and Ana about Carla being arrested and worse that she has spent the last few days in the company of Stephen Morton. Ana at least knows how rotten Stephen Morton is but Ray does not. Welch do you want to join us for afternoon tea now and I will tell them both at the same time. I think you will need to ensure that Ray stays here and doesn't do anything rash in anger on Ana's behalf, maybe you can reminisce or something, the bar is open to you, you just need to be functional in the morning. I will be dealing with the fallout for Ana."
The Boss goes to his office to call Grace and ask for her assistance with the emergency placement of Macy and from watching the monitors, I'd say he doesn't mention where the Evil One managed to put her claws into him as the conversation seems to be quite quick and unemotional although his hair looks like a crow's nest from the amount of times his hands have gone through it.
I understand how much pressure he is under with the disclosures he is about to make to Ray, watching him the other night with the legal team made him the most human I have ever seen him, closest to breaking point and watching his family affected by the disclosures and these are similar disclosures to another father who is about to hear things a father never wants to hear. I sit there imagining how I would feel if someone was to tell me that those things had happened to Sophie and my heart races and realise that it might be better if I tell Ray, rather than the Boss. Then it will be a father talking to a father and I go to the Boss's office and wait for him to notice me, when he does, I can't bear the anguish in his eyes and raise my hand "Permission to speak freely sir?".
"Sure Taylor, what is it?" The Boss's words are wearily squeezed out, it's not late in the day yet but it seems the last few days are catching up with a vengeance.
"Sir, I suggest that as a father, I should lead the talking about what has happened to Miss Steele over the years at the hand of Stephen Morton and her mother, so that it is a father speaking to a father, rather than you who are otherwise involved with his daughter. Then we bring Miss Steele in when you tell them what has happened today." I suggest, I don't know how Ray is going to handle the disclosures of the damage done to his daughter over all those years but he doesn't need them associated with the Boss in anyway, the saving of his daughter can be attributed to the Boss instead. We all need Ana in the Boss's life, so this is for all of us.
He thinks it through for a minute and nods, "So Welch reacquaints himself first, you tell him the background on those two and then I bring Ana back in and I tell him what has happened today? Ok, let's do it."
Ana's POV
Oh Good Lord, I really don't like being stuck in bed but if the benefit is that Christian crawls in periodically with me, then I'll take it but he is such a mess, can I deal with it all on top of my own. Thinking of which, I haven't heard from anyone since I was a bitch to Kate, I really don't like being horrible but yesterday I needed to hear what Christian had to say. I'd better fix it as I just find it easier if no-one is angry at me, they leave me be and quite frankly, life is much easier that way.
As I look for my phone in my handbag, I can't find it and dig a little deeper and then I sit there shaking my head smiling, seriously, where did he find a phone cover like that? Pearls and diamonds and a swan, somehow I don't feel like a swan but he is making me feel like the ugly duckling that finds out it's a swan, he makes me feel beautiful and I am not. I still haven't had a decent shower and I will be bringing that up with the nurse that is coming in, I desperately want to have a shower but I don't know how that is even possible with this massive cast. As I am thinking this Gail appears with the nurse and makes the introductions and goes into the bathroom to show "Melanie" what facilities are available. The nurse returns with a smile on her face and says "I bet you are itching for a decent wash aren't you?" and I can't help but think that I must stink and simply nod. "Well, what we are going to do is pop your leg into this special bag and at the top we use this tape that is effectively duct tape which will stop the water going in and you can sit on the shower chair that Mrs Jones is bringing up and have a lovely shower all by yourself, so you can feel like finally you have some control in your life" and I smile, she has obviously been doing this for a while and knows what it feels like "and then you call out and I will help you out again and you can get dressed."
My hand flies up to my mouth, "I don't actually have anything to wear here, what am I going to do?" and Gail appears with a smile and says "On the contrary, Mr Grey has had a number of clothes delivered in your size, Melanie if you come through into the closet, you will find this whole section is now Miss Steele's" and I am completely overwhelmed. Gail comes out and sees me and is quickly by my side, she puts her arm around my shoulder and says simply "Mr Grey is a good man" quietly rubbing my arm until I calm back down. She smiles at Melanie who is the height of efficiency and has my leg encased in the protective bag and is wheeling me into the bathroom before I have time to think and behold there is the most amazing shower and I start giggling and say, "Do you have any idea how this works?" and she says "Let's get Mrs Jones in here to give us a quick run through, basically I think you could stay in here a week and still not know what each of these buttons does." Gail returns with a huge smile and shows us the pertinent points saying, "I bumped something once cleaning it and ended somewhat cleaner than when I came in" and I can't wait to sit in there and enjoy the water pulsing against my skin, removing the smell of the hospital while listening to orchestral music.
Melanie settles me on the chair and asks if I would like assistance taking off the gown and I hesitate, I have never consciously let anyone see my body since Stephen Morton attacked me, I'm well aware that the hospital staff must have seen it all because I was in a gown when I woke up in emergency, but I can't let her see. She recognises the hesitancy and organises it so that I can remove the gown and replace it with a robe and she brings me into the shower and moves me to the shower chair, I can't believe her strength, she lifts me like I am a ragdoll and doesn't strain at all, she places clean towels within reach, the shower is a dual head one with a seat running around 2 sides so is able to place them there and I will be able to be swathed in a towel when she comes to help me out. She places on the towel a small bell that I feel ridiculous ringing but she assures me with a grin will only be for the bathroom, so it isn't like she is my slave as I state indignantly and leaves me to it.
The rain shower heads are amazing, I have always loved walking in the rain and the droplets from the showerheads are so soft, it's like sitting in a summer shower and I lose myself in the sensation. I am enjoying luxuriating in the sweet jasmine smell of the shampoo and sensations of the massaging jets on my back and finally feel clean when I hear an almost urgent "Ana are you in there?" at the door and I say "I'm just having a shower" and I can't help myself "You do realise I can't really go anywhere, where else would I be?" there's a small pause and then I hear "Do you need any help?" and I panic, he can't see me like this, I turn off the water and grab a towel "Umm, no I am almost finished, would you be able to call Melanie up please?" again a pause and then a hopeful "I can help you."
"Fine, just wait until I say you can come in then" I huff and quickly dry myself, wrapping one towel around my nether regions with a bit of jiggling, one around my top half and am about to wrap the last one around my hair when I hear an exasperated "Ana?" "Gee, you don't do waiting do you?" I growl back at him "Fine come in" and as he walks in "Well do you like the wet rat look?" and he smiles and just walks in, takes the towel from my hand and wraps it expertly around my hair "You're beautiful no matter…" he says and slides one hand under me and the other around my back and walks carefully and slowly out to the bedroom.
Melanie is standing there looking a little annoyed but quickly puts another towel down so that the cast cover doesn't drip all over the bed, she quirks an eyebrow and says "We normally remove the cast cover in the bathroom so that they don't drip everywhere" and he just looks at her like he couldn't care less and says "It's easier for me to lift her and I don't want her moved unnecessarily, if I had put her in the chair in the bathroom then I'd have to lift her again and jolt her again" and I can't fault his logic "So please, show me how to remove this cast cover" and together they remove it. Hmm, well, that area of my leg won't need any shaving that's for sure and while I desperately hold the towel in place to save my modesty, Christian looks up at me and smiles wickedly, once he realises that the removal hasn't caused any permanent pain. He silently rises from the side of the bed and disappears into his closet and I can feel my cheeks redden when he comes back with a pile of clothes including intimates and says almost casually, "I asked Caroline Acton at Neiman's for string tied underwear so that you can put them on easily and leggings that will stretch over the cast" and despite my embarrassment I am extremely grateful, he really did think of everything.
"If you can get dressed quickly, I'll help with your hair and then we can join everyone else for afternoon tea and I can tell you what I said I was going to tell you earlier, ok?" He adds the "ok?" so that I don't question him I am sure and I nod and he and Melanie walk out of the room and I hear him say, "Aren't you going to help her?" and she explains "She doesn't want anyone to see her body" and then they are out of earshot and I don't hear if he responds, ah well, now he knows I have some sort of issue. I discover that it is quite difficult to lift my shoulder but am dressed in a matter of minutes, the string ties did make it easy, I'd been wondering how I was going to wear something with that cast.
I start towel drying my hair and then hear the knock on the door and call out "Come in" and he's across the room, the towel is out of my hands and he is drying my hair with a grumbled "I said I'd do it", he walks quickly into the bathroom and is back with the hair dryer and brush and gently dries and brushes out all the knots and repeats the performance in the hospital when he made the perfect braid, this time it's more of a sexy messy braid and I can't help but to reach up and pull him down for a thank you kiss. He groans as he breaks away, "Oh Ana, I'd do anything to stay up here with you, just the two of us but we have to go downstairs and I'm sorry, I am going to be telling you something that is going to upset you. Will you promise that you won't shut me out and let me be there for you?" I'm more than a little scared, assuming it has something to do with Cecilia and then he says "We have to tell Ray what Stephen did to you as part of the explanation of what Cecilia's motivation is and also to explain what has happened today. Are you going to be ok with that?" I am completely stunned, I managed to hide it for all these years from Ray and I know he is going to be devastated. I whisper horrified "Daddy is going to be a mess" and he says "Taylor is going to do the talking, he is a dad and wants to tell as one father to another and that way I can concentrate on you" and I nod, Ray will probably take it better from another military guy. And then Christian floors me with "Oh, we just discovered today that Welch, the head of my security, was on base with Frank Lambert and Ray when you were born, so he met you before all of us. He is downstairs now too and will be reacquainting himself with Ray, so this is going to be a tough afternoon for him but I am hoping that Welch and Taylor can help him out at the end of it all, and he is staying here so we can make sure he is ok. Ok?" and I can just nod, how on earth did my world get so complicated?
"All right then, you're coming down with me" and he picks me up in his arms, I'm enjoying this part of the situation and he gives me a quick peck, not allowing me to deepen it, his eyes glinting with amusement and we head down the stairs and he places me on the couch in the big room, in front of the fireplace and a table overladen with afternoon tea.
Taylor walks in with another fellow and Christian introduces him as Welch, his head of security and I smile and ask Christian "Does anyone have a first name at all?" and at his response of "You will call him Welch" I simply giggle and shake my head and watch Welch's stern military demeanour change as though a switch was flicked. I imagine that like Ray and Taylor, his face is usually tightly controlled and I see a number of emotions flick across it, amazement, happiness and then something else and he steps forward and offers his hand and says "It is lovely to see you again Miss Steele, little Miss Canny Annie is what we called you on base and it is a pleasure to be of assistance to you now" and everyone is looking at him quite shocked including me. "You remember me?" I say a little incredulously and then I notice Ray who is looking towards Welch and steps in with a "Welch, I don't believe it! God, I haven't heard "little Miss Canny Annie" for 20 years" and he chuckles, "You had everyone on base wrapped around your little finger. How you didn't turn into a little brat from those 2 years, I don't know." and then he pauses as he realises that everything that happened after that would have hammered out any brattiness if it had ever existed.
Christian's POV
When Ray says "How you didn't turn into a little brat from those 2 years, I don't know." it is the perfect lead in and I say "Actually Ray, I have an idea why not. In our investigations over the last 4 days we have uncovered so much material that rivals the disastrous start to life that I had, we don't need to go over my story now but Ana told me quite a bit over the last couple of days and we found a lot of other information that I am horrified that Ana went through at the hands of Carla and then Stephen Morton." I put my arm around Ana and can feel her shaking and ask "Are you ok baby? Do you mind if we share it all with Ray now" and she gives me a small nod, looks at Ray and tears up. "We can leave if you want and let Welch and Taylor do the talking" I offer but Ana shakes her head and says "I lived it, talking about it is the easiest part, I'll stay."
"I've asked Welch and Taylor to set it out because we need to explain what has happened this afternoon" and she looks sharply at me and I just squeeze her hand to say "I've got you".
"Ray, everyone, sit down" I say and pass beers around, pushing the bowl of nuts towards them.
Taylor sits forward and says to Ray "The girl who ran Ana" and he looks at me and I nod, she's not Miss Steele to Ray, "The girl who ran Ana off the road is Cecilia Morton, the daughter of Stephen Morton…" and he continues with the whole sordid tale of how Cecilia has admitted to everything before and now. Ray sits absorbing it all, his face tightening as he looks at Ana curled cringing into my side and then when Taylor mentions the way that Stephen treated both Cecilia and attempted to attack Ana, there's a strangled moan and what sounds like an "I'm sorry" to Ana and she just shakes her head. The next bit is more difficult as Taylor starts to attempt to explain why Elena is involved and I realise I need to say it and do simply as much as the embarrassment is killing me "Elena was a family friend, she is a pedophile and seduced me at 15 and she is into the BDSM lifestyle, she introduced me to that, she met Stephen Morton somewhere along the line and also Carla and was involved in setting up liaisons for both of them as well as enjoying Stephen as one of her partners." Ray is looking at me and I say "Ana is safe with me, don't worry" and I mean it, I don't know what I am going to do but there is nothing in me that wants to take a belt or a cane to Ana, it doesn't figure anywhere in my brain and while I have been warring as I did today with the loss of control and of what I have always known, I know that I won't subject Ana to any pain. I'd sooner let her walk away and die myself than be the one to hit her again. Ray is looking at Ana who finally looks at him and gives him a small smile and he seems satisfied although somewhat disgusted and I don't blame him.
"Anyway, it seems that Elena is still molesting young boys so we set up a sting yesterday but the police didn't act on it and we had to allow a young fellow back into her clutches and today thankfully, the police were able to take Elena into custody. However, both Stephen and Carla would taken into custody at the same time" and Ana jerks up and I cringe at the pain she must be in, although she doesn't seem to feel it as she exclaims "Why? Why was mom there with Stephen?" and Ray is looking greyer in the face with every passing second as I continue "Well, it seems that since your Mom has been here in Seattle, that she decided that she'd like to reacquaint herself with Stephen and has spent all the time since you last saw her with Stephen. She contacted a drug dealer and bought some drugs, at the time she told him that I was paying for her accommodation so she had more money, the drug dealer passed that information onto a paparazzo friend of his. She shared the drugs and … herself with Stephen, who missed an appointment with Elena who then summonsed him over there today and so they went together. On the basis of the information from Cecilia and the drug solicitation, both Stephen and Carla are in custody. I'm sorry honey" I direct at Ana as she bursts into tears and through the sobs we can all hear "She knew he tried to rape me, she knew he nearly killed me when he caned me, she knew that Cecilia tried to kill me and she took your generosity and used it to go and have sex with Stephen Morton and to buy drugs and not even bother to come and see me. Why does she hate me so much? It wasn't my fault I was born" and I can't hug her any closer. Without realising it, she is on my lap and sobbing into my neck and I can only whisper into her ear to try and calm her, her ribs must be aching and the sound of her wheezing breath is scaring me but she is just getting more and more worked up.
I hazard a look at Ray and his head is in his hands and I know he's blaming himself and then Welch says to him.
"Ray, you did what was right from the beginning, don't blame yourself for not knowing, it took a lot of work to find what she'd done, I know what she was like from before and still I had to dig really deep to uncover all this stuff. Annie is built of the strongest steel, she'll pull through, you're her dad, she's not blaming you, you were the only one looking out for her from the beginning. We all knew that Carla wanted to party, that's why everyone respected you for taking on Frank's kid because he wasn't there to protect her any more. You've done that and admirably given what I have found." I don't know if Welch has provided enough comfort but it seems to be more than I can provide Ana at the moment and realise that perhaps Ray can provide more given that he has had to rescue her before so I signal him to sit up and I carry Ana over to him and place her on his lap.
At first the sobs get louder and then whatever he is softly singing in her ear calms her down and the sobs become hiccups and finally she just curls up in his lap and accepts his presence and he closes his eyes and rests his head on hers, tears rolling down his cheeks falling and mingling with hers, a picture of a father protecting his daughter with his heart laid bare.
It's simply too much to bear and we quietly leave the room to allow them to grieve.