Eddie stood in the hallway of an apartment complex in her police uniform as her knuckles collided repeatedly with the apartment door.

"Luis, it's me! C'mon, open up!"

No response.

Eddie knocked again.

"Luis, please open up," she pleaded. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

Luis had banged in sick for two days straight without telling Eddie first and that wasn't like him.

"Please go away," a dejected Luis said from the other side of the door. "I'm fine."

Eddie narrowed her eyes, her concern growing. "You don't sound fine. Just open the door so I can see you're okay and then I'll leave."

Luis sighed heavily. As he opened the door, Eddie saw the bruises that surrounded his eyes and mouth.

"Holy crap!" Eddie half-whispered, horrified. "Luis, wha… What happened?"

Luis looked down at the floor of his entryway. But he knew he had to tell her. If he couldn't trust her, who could he trust?

"Come inside," he said, moving out of the way so she could enter. She walked through the entryway of Luis' apartment into the living room, sitting on his couch. She had only been to his place once before when she helped organize a surprise birthday party for Luis' mom.

"If I tell you what happened," Luis said, noting she was in her uniform, "promise me you won't call it in?"

Eddie paused at her partner's request. "Did you hurt anyone?"

"No."

"Are you trying to hurt yourself?"

"No."

"Then we'll figure this out together," Eddie assured him.

A beat passed.

"So what happened?" Eddie pressed.

Luis looked down at the floor, clouds of shame passing through his eyes. He then looked up at Eddie and spoke.

"I was on a date two nights ago with this lady named Melissa. I thought it was an okay date, but it wasn't going anywhere beyond just one date. She seemed okay with that."

Eddie nodded.

"So I dropped her off at her place," Luis continued, "and came back here. A half hour later, she shows up at my door. I open the door and before I could even say 'Hello', she sucker-punches me," he said pointing to his black and blue eyes. "I took a couple steps back and she kept on smacking me and punching me until I fell onto the floor."

"And then what happened?" she asked carefully.

"She got on top of me," Luis continued, "smacking me and slapping me in the face while trying to…" Tears escaped his swollen eyes.

Eddie placed a soothing hand on her partner's back. "It's okay," she soothed. "It's okay."

"Smacking me and slapping me while rubbing my crotch. She was trying to get me to… You know."

Eddie nodded her head.

"God, I am so stupid!" Luis lamented. "I'm a cop, I should've known. I should've known!"

"Louis," Eddie said softly. "Louis, please look at me."

Luis looked at her.

"This is not your fault," she said emphatically and eyes full of sympathy. "I'm not just saying this because I'm a cop."

Luis raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"His name was Jake Singer," she continued. "I had gone on a date with him and it was a date that went nowhere. He walked me to my apartment and wanted to come inside so he could have sex with me. I tried to let him down easy, but he wasn't taking no for an answer… He slapped me, groped me, punched me. It took everything I had to get away from him. I locked myself in my bathroom and he eventually left."

"Wait," Luis wondered, concerned, forgetting his own pain. "Did this happen recently?" Far as he knew, Eddie had not seen anyone since Jamie's passing.

"No," Eddie said. "This happened my first year as a cop. Jamie convinced me to report it."

He looked at her, realizing what she was about to say next.

"Luis, you need to report this," Eddie urged carefully, knowing how resistant she was all those years ago when Jamie told her the same thing. "It sounds like it wasn't this woman's first time doing something like this and it probably won't be her last."

Luis knew Eddie was right, but… "I don't want to be the laughing stock of the 2-9," he finally confessed.

"You won't be," Eddie assured her partner, "because anyone who laughs at you will deal with me."

"How could you even take me seriously as a cop after all I just told you?"

"Because sometimes cops are victims, too," Eddie said, knowing exactly what Luis was going through. "But the difference is if you stand up for yourself, you won't remain a victim. That's what Jamie taught me."

Luis looked right into Eddie's blue eyes. He held out his hand, still bruised from the assault.

"If I'm going to do this," he said breathily, "I need my partner."

Eddie smiled and gently held his hand. Her thumb caressed his. Echoing what Luis told her two weeks ago, she said, "Your partner's right here."

Luis nodded, eyes full of determination and hope for the first time in almost three days. "Let's do it."

-

It wasn't easy, but with Eddie's help, Luis filed the report. Given the sensitive nature of the situation, Luis filed the report with Sergeant Carlson herself. With help from Erin at the D.A.'s office, they were able to fast track the warrant for Melissa's arrest as they did not want her to do this to another man.

As Luis and Eddie approached Melissa's apartment, Luis took a deep breath.

"You good?" Eddie asked her partner.

Luis exhaled, nodding as he did. "Let's do it."

Eddie knocked on the door firmly. "Police! Open up!"

Melissa opened the door. "Hello, Officer, how can I hel –" She froze when she realized who was standing next to Eddie.

"Melissa Regnis," Luis said, "you're under arrest for sexual assault in the first degree. Turn around, put your hands behind your head, interlace your fingers."

Melissa eyes grew dark as she smirked. "You know, Luis," she said malevolently, "last time we saw each other, it didn't go well for you."

Eddie stepped closer to Melissa. "If you lay one finger on my partner," she said, cocking her head in Luis' direction, "you have to answer to me." With gritted teeth and the wrath of God in her eyes, she continued, "And trust me, you do not want to answer to me."

Melissa and Eddie had a stare-off. Melissa blinked first. She sighed, turned around, put her hands behind her head and interlaced her fingers.

Eddie looked at Luis. "It's all you, man."

Luis nodded at his partner, then went to cuff his assailant. "You have the right to remain silent…"