Taylor's POV

I am sitting in the Boss's office as we discuss what we could do as security for Ana at her offices when her phone call comes through.

I watch as his face changes from the calm demeanour that always falls over it when her name appears on his screen, to one of confusion and then he hits record and speaker so I could hear what is happening as well and my heart rate goes through the roof.

His speechless anger as Jack Hyde swears at Ana is reflected as pure murder in his eyes, Hyde's angry screams are reverberating in my ears and I am almost afraid to look at the Boss. We are out the door faster than is humanly possible and as I listen I'm calling Sawyer and telling him to get up there. No niceties, no SIP protocol, just get the fuck up there and save Ana.

Of course, as Sawyer reaches the elevators, the only one not already in an upward trajectory is being repaired and he has to run up the stairs, wasting precious time.

The Boss looks like his heart has been pulled out of his chest as he listens, trying to be as quiet as possible so that no-one on the other side might realise we are listening and trying to urge me to get there any faster than I already can.

I am trying to go through the scenarios and hope that Ana can buy herself some time before we get there when it all goes quiet except for what sounds like a muffled scream and then some grunts, swearing, there is a silence and we both crane forward to hear better and then what sounds suspiciously like gagging/vomiting followed by the very obvious sound of a thud and the curses of a man in pain. Hyde's enraged cursing has the Boss screaming at me "Where the fuck is Sawyer?"

Just as he says that, Sawyer reports "I'm here and going in" and we hear the crash of the door as he slams into it. He'd said something about management, well, all I can hope is that management doesn't stand in our way, I know what they all look like and if they bother to cause any grief, the Boss will have them walking out the door as soon as that SIP paperwork is signed.

The gods are finally looking favourably on us as the elevator opens as we run into the foyer and we are straight to Ana's floor, my training and my fitness is not enough though, the Boss sees Ana as she collapses into Sawyer's arms like a ragdoll. Tearing straight past the two shocked members of the management team who are just standing there with their mouths open, the roar ripping from the Boss's throat is not dissimilar to that night he saw Ana in the crushed car. For his sake, I try to restrain him but he has the piece of shit Hyde pulled out from under the door and up against the wall, his fists pummelling him in a flurry of shots that would make a prize fighter proud, before I have a chance to hold him back.

Sawyer lifts Ana and places her gently on the couch and rushes to join me to try to restrain the Boss. "Sir, let me handle this," I say, I can inflict more damage with less obvious visual impact but he just can't hear me, the blood lust is in his eyes and he is going to avenge whatever just happened to Ana.

However, a faint "Christian" from the couch and his hands drop, his talisman, his one true saving does it again and he lets the scum fall to the ground as he rushes to Ana.

"What is the meaning of this?" The fellow appropriately in my mind known as Roach finally asks.

I have Hyde in a hold that allows him to breathe but that's it and given the Boss's treatment, he is struggling with that anyway. Sawyer is standing like a barrier between us all and the Boss has Ana in his arms, trying to determine what the scum did to her. The day is getting even more interesting as suddenly behind the management team there also appears several police officers.

"I'm Ok" is the whisper from Ana, "I'd just like a cup of tea to wash the taste of him out of my mouth."

And still the idiot doesn't know when to stop because he manages to squeeze out "Fucking bitch, it's the best taste you'll ever have in your mouth, it could have been me, it should have been me," and it's only the fact that Ana dry heaves again that keeps the Boss by her side instead of slamming into him again, I do what I can while within the officers eyesight to ensure that he doesn't choose to speak again. The lady that is usually on reception scurries away and I hope she's going to make a cup of tea.

I address the police officers, "We have recordings of a conversation that was occurring in this room that indicated that Miss Steele was in imminent danger of attack and I asked her CPO to investigate and we made our way here. Miss Steele will when able, elaborate on what occurred however from what we heard, an aggravated assault and sexual assault was inflicted and Miss Steele acted in self-defence, immobilising the attack. Is that correct Miss Steele?

Ana gives a nod, she's like a tiny kitten, all eyes, curled up on the Boss's lap, his arms as much a protective wall around her as holding her, as he says "I need to get Ana to hospital, you can speak to me later."

"Ah sir, you'll need to stay and answer questions," the first office starts to say but from behind him the second officer comes forward to stand in front of the Boss.

"No, Mr Grey will be able to answer questions at a later time, here is my card, please call us as soon as the doctor clears Miss Steele." I didn't expect that and neither did the Boss who takes the card, nods his thanks and lifts Ana as if she was no more than the kitten she appeared to be moments before.

The second officer then turns to me, "Sir, as a protection officer, I assume you need to follow Mr Grey?" At my nod she continues with "If you allow me access, I shall cuff Mr Hyde here." Hmm, interesting, none of us have mentioned Hyde's name since she has been here. "And he will be detained until statements and evidence is provided." Very interesting, I step aside, granting her access but not letting go until he is appropriately restrained.

As we are about to leave, Roach again says "Can someone please tell me what has happened here, in my offices?"
"Sir, Hyde here assaulted Miss Steele, it is all on tape, her CPO intervened to stop a further attack, we arrived, the police arrived. Is that information enough? The detail will be in the police report and given that I reported that Miss Steele was in danger if left alone with Hyde this morning and the message was acknowledged by HR, Miss Steele should never have been in this room alone with him today."

With that we sweep out of the room, leaving Sawyer to follow when the officer says he can leave.

It's obvious when we reach the SUV that Ana is going into delayed shock, the Boss is beside himself, a blanket to warm her, a call to his mother who I am sure has given up hoping that Ana will ever get better with the things that keep happening and then holding her as tightly as he can to try and calm her.

Through the uncontrollable shaking, teeth chattering and silent sobs, we both finally hear what Ana is trying to say, "I didn't even get the job on my merits, he just employed me so he could get to you. I'm not even worth anything as an employee."

And the Boss to his credit lets out a growl that barely contains the rage he is obviously feeling, "Not only did he fuck with your body, now he's fucking with your mind, baby you are more than capable of doing that job and with more than a week under your belt, I am sure that they will see it."

"That's if I even still have a job with what just happened," she whispers.

"Ana, that was assault, they had been warned, they had a clear and direct report of what happened on Friday night and they acknowledged that you were not to be left alone with him. They should have spoken to you as soon as you arrived and you should never have been in his office. They can't fire you, if they even intimate it, they are gone, I'll make sure of that."

Oops, there goes his plan of not telling her anything about the SIP purchase.

Ana asks, "What do you mean?" and before he has to sweat over his answer, we arrive at the hospital.
If I never have to see this place again in relation to Ana, I'll be happy but somehow I don't think this will be the last time.

A barrage of tests later, it appears that she dodged another bullet, the pelvis crack isn't healing but wasn't too badly acerbated, she kneed him with her right leg so no damage there, that's her "good" leg although a deep bruise is already starting to appear so she must have hit him well. Thankfully she didn't sustain any damage to her left leg but the doctor was less than pleased to see her again.

"What is it with you young lady?" he said and while it was in jest, Ana's face fell and to his credit he obviously realised it wasn't the wisest thing to say, "Obviously you can handle a lot, so the universe keeps giving it to you, let's hope it starts giving you good things in abundance too, you deserve it."

This had Ana twisting her lips too, the Boss holding her tighter and texting and I have no doubt to John Flynn.

The blood tests to show whether she caught anything from Hyde will take a couple of days/weeks to come through and it was that, more than anything that I could see was troubling Ana. The Boss again, to his credit kept a tight hold on her, if she is allowed out of his sight anymore will be interesting and I see some major operations on security's behalf before the Boss is going to be happy to not be stuck to her side.

Back home, having been given a "rest for a few days" directive and a doctor's note on Ana's insistence, and finally calming Ana down, the Boss calls me into his office to discuss the plan forward and what happened in the SIP office. There was something about the fact that police officer, Officer Lisa Maxwell observed the situation, allowed me to continue to restrain Hyde less than gently, knew Hyde's name and said it with disdain and most importantly, did not make a fuss about his obvious injuries at the Boss's hands.

Calling Officer Maxwell who is happy to come to the apartment for the interview to speak to the Boss and I and saying she doesn't need to speak to Ana unless there is any additional information that Ana has in which case she can ring it through, the Boss is extremely thankful to not have to wake Ana and I am glad she is on the case.

The fact that the Boss had hit record as soon as he realised that Ana was calling to speak to him means everything was captured and is irrefutable evidence that Ana acted in self-defence, that we were justified in sending in Sawyer to assist her and from the look on officer Maxwell's face, quite justified in pummelling him to within an inch of his life. Her face as she listened to the recording was a picture of control but her eyes said something else entirely, finding out her connection to one Jack Hyde shall be interesting and something that Welch is already working on for us.

Grace's POV

I am almost starting to become paranoid, it seems that every time that Ana comes to our house, the next day something awful happens to her and I can't believe that this little slip of a girl, the one person who had such a positive impact on my son's life, this one person who simply exudes goodness keeps being subjected to awful things that are holding up her recovery. I so want her to be well and to be able to enjoy life with Christian, it was obvious the next morning after the gala that it had been a pivotal night for them. Ana looked so beautiful on the night, Christian looked so obviously in love and she simply glowed in the morning however the worry over the mystery bidder managed to overshadow even that joy, now here she is enjoying her dream job and feeling like a functioning adult and she is attacked by her employer.

Yesterday she came and helped Macy and it was beautiful to see him interacting, learning, actually enjoying learning instead of being scared of it, her gentle nature making him feel safe. The poor boy is afraid of so many things, another boy I lead to the slaughter via Elena. The mere thought of that witch turns my blood cold and I hope that Christian is doing his best to make sure that she never sees the natural light of day again.

I wonder what it is that attracts this evil to Ana and then Christian informs me that Jack Hyde only employed Ana so that he could get to him. So now he is blaming himself for once again being the reason for Ana's troubles when it is the fault of neither.

Christian informs me that he intends to take the rest of the week off work and take Ana away and I couldn't think of a better thing to do, she should be able to relax and enjoy some time with him. Her injuries don't need monitoring so I give my blessing and enjoy the hug that Christian gives me, it is so lovely to be held by him, so many years I spent wishing that I could just touch him and here I am being enveloped in love. All because of one beautiful broken Ana, such innocence that has shown Christian that he is worthy of love and is able to now show it. I hug him back and finally there is a small smile on his face.

"Enjoy the week off, you both need it, 'Doctor's Orders', if you need that. Shall I write you a note to show Ana? Oh, what about her boss?" A funny look passes over Christian's face and having seen that guilty look many times over the years, I say, "What have you done?"

Sheepishly he looks down then back up to me, "I've bought SIP, where Ana works."

As I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth, he says defensively, "I didn't trust that bastard, sorry Mom, and I thought if I took it over I could protect Ana, but I took too long and he made his move quicker than I expected, and once again, she's ended up injured, when will I stop hurting her mom, when will I stop hurting her?"

My poor boy, he hasn't done a thing wrong but is taking the blame again.

Ana's POV

I can't believe it, once again a trip to hospital, once again my pelvis is damaged so I will have to wait to give myself fully to Christian, I am beginning to wonder if it will ever happen! Add to that the fact that I didn't even get the job on my own merits, Jack just gave me the job so that he could get close to Christian, again someone was using me to hurt Christian, all I do is hurt him.

I can't stop the shaking, Christian hasn't left me for a second but when I say I need to pee he lets me go to the bathroom and that way he is able to speak to his mother without me being part of the conversation. I love how she has accepted me and I hope she doesn't start hating me for all the angst that seems to follow me. When I emerge to see the hug he's giving her and the love and gratitude in Grace's eyes, I decide that maybe all the pain is worth it if finally they have this in their lives, maybe it was all for a reason.

As soon as I open the door Christian leaves his mother's side and is by mine, her eyes shining with love and as I attempt to grab my crutches, he shakes his head and picks me up, I am guessing that walking will be out of the question for a few days. "Baby I am carrying you and I don't care what you say, you are still shaking and I don't care if the scans were clear, you would have jarred and shaken things when you were being so brave."

I am not going to argue, at this point, I am done with arguing, being strong, being anything, I just want to curl up and sleep as the adrenaline has now completely left my body and I feel exhausted. I simply nod my head and I think my acquiescence does more to scare him than anything else and with Taylor in tow with my crutches we are on the way to Escala before I have a chance to say thank you to Grace. It doesn't matter what the doctor says, I know my pelvis is not liking me at this point, the fire has spread across to both hips and its adding to my general feeling of bleh.

As Christian climbs into the car after depositing me as comfortably as possible then having fastened everything holds me in his arms, I struggle to hold the tears, the elevator ride has me burying my face in his shirt but once we make it to our room, the dam walls have well and truly been breached and I can't hold the sobs. Gently, very gently, he rubs circles on my back, holding me tight against his body, he bends his face into my hair, cooing in my ear, just letting me cry, unable to do anything and for once, simply being there, not trying to do anything, just being there for me.

My shaking hasn't subsided but as the sobs peter out and I feel like there can't be any more, he asks quietly, "Bath or shower?"

I manage to stammer, "A shower so that I can wash his filth away please" and the set of his jaw is so hard I am scared he's going to break teeth until I reach up and run my hand along it and he leans into my hand and his eyes soften.

"Shower it is" and he proceeds to wash me, his hands so lovingly running through my hair and over my body, lathering and then rinsing in a way that both relaxes and revives me however I am completely exhausted and allow him to dry me off and carry me to bed. Exhaustion claims me as he lays me down, the stronger hospital issue pain killers having a somewhat sedative effect especially when coupled with the exhaustion and the warmth and comfort of his arms around me and I fall immediately into an uneasy sleep

Awakening later, I am surprised to see Christian sitting in the chair near the bed, his head in his hands, hunched and looking for all the world as though he is defeated but at my gasp, he looks up at me and the smile hits his eyes immediately.

"Hello Gorgeous,"

Patting the bed I encourage him to join me but he shyly shakes his head, "I have bigger plans and if I crawl in there, we won't go anywhere," and he smiles at my reaction.

I hear what he says but I can only imagine I still need to speak to the police but he does his mind reading trick and says "Everything has been sorted, police statements have been provided, the police report has been lodged and we have been given approval to leave. Mrs Jones has packed our bags, now all you have to do is be dressed and we are off."

"Will you tell me where we are going?" I ask, glad that we are leaving then seeing how big the suitcase is, "How long are we going for?"

"We are going for the rest of the week, doctor's orders, you need to rest." He puts his hand up as I start to speak, "I have spoken to SIP, they are fine with it, more than fine with it," the last bit is growled and I have no doubt that they have been made to understand how wrong it was for Jack to have such access to me this morning. As I think about it again, I start to shake and Christian who has been watching me, has me scooped up and he is soothing me again and then a strange thing happens.

"Can I kiss you?" Christian asks me hesitantly and I realise he hasn't kissed me since he picked me up at SIP as he was too scared of my reaction. I almost launch myself at him, I so want to erase the last memory of Jack's mouth on mine and Christian is happy to oblige by the grin that spreads across his face. He starts at my forehead, works down my nose and finally ends on my lips, his hands kneading my back as he does so and spreading a loving sensation and he stays on my lips, not forcing himself in until I open to let him in but even then, it is a tentative sharing, no taking and I couldn't possibly love him more.

My tears fall on his cheek and he gently pulls me tighter, trying to calm me. "Baby, I love you," he pulls away to say quietly, "I would do anything, simply anything for you baby, I'm so sorry that my existence keeps causing you pain," and he drops his eyes and looks so forlorn.

"How can you say that? Every time I go somewhere or do something, someone chooses to use me to attack or get to you." I say incredulously.

He groans and silences me by pressing his lips to mine again and this time I take from him, leading, needing to feel him, needing to feel possessed by him and not some nasty pervert and he feels the change and deepens it but abruptly stops.

"No Ana, we have to leave, we have a long trip ahead of us and a flight schedule to keep." But he softens his abruptness by repeatedly reaching out and kissing me until he sighs and smiles and pulls away with a last kiss on the forehead.

He still won't tell me where we are going and taps his nose but hands me jeans and a beautiful cable knit jumper so I figure it isn't a tropical island but I don't care, as long as I am with him, I don't care where I am.

When we don't rise to the top of the building but head to Sea-Tac, I know we are flying further than Portland but am stunned into silence when I see the planes all with the GEH logo. Christian is looking at my face closely and I turn to him saying "How many do you have?"

He shrugs and says "Only three but we need to be able to cover various distances and I suddenly think of what Jack said and shudder. I ask shyly if Christian is going to fly the plane and he says he's doing nothing but be by my side this trip and then adds wistfully, "I don't have a full pilot's licence so can't yet anyway." I smile at him and he says "I can soar, we must do that as soon as you are well and I can fly helicopters, this comes next," and while the thought worries me, the idea of Christian in a pilot's uniform and cap has me smiling as I look up at him and he leans down brushing his lips on mine, then saying cheekily, "You like the idea of Captain Christian, I see."

As a nervous flyer borne of the fact that flights away had always led me to a worse unknown, I am holding onto Christian's hand tightly apparently because he squeezes it and I realise that I had been gripping tightly and I apologise to be met with a toothy grin, "Baby you can squeeze whatever you need to squeeze." Christian away from stress is a funny boy and I smack his arm laughing as I catch up.

I turn to look out the window and point to the clouds, "I love how the clouds have flat bottoms" and he outright guffaws.

"I've never noticed the clouds bottoms, but I do particularly like yours, would you like to get off it and have a look at the rest of the plane now that we have levelled off and can walk around?"

He takes great delight in showing me the full queen-size bed and functioning shower in the back and I smile at his enthusiasm for these big toys but once again Jack's words from Friday night come back to me, "Ha, he thinks he's so clever with those planes and toys, one day, one will fall out of the sky and that will be the end of him."