*TRIGGER WARNING* SA mentioned.

Jones sat dozing at his desk. His hands folded neatly over his lap, and his head leaded back. It had been a long night, and even though he hadn't come into work until the afternoon, he was still exhausted.

Suddenly, the phone at his desk rang.

"Jones," he answered.

"Great. We'll be there soon. Thanks for letting us know,"

He hung up the phone and looked over at Tom. "Sophie Quinn is awake, sir,"


The pair of detectives knocked as they entered Sophie's room. She was hooked up to an IV. Jones's eyes traveled from her hand to the bag of fluids hanging on a pole next to her bed.

She was curled onto her side, staring past her father and out the window.

"Hello, Sophie. I am Chief Inspector Barnaby, and this is my Sergeant, Ben Jones,"

"Hello, Sophie," he said.

She turned her head to look at them, but didn't say a word. Her hollow gaze unaffected by their presence.

"Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?" Barnaby asked.

"Sure," she said quietly.

"Let's start with what happened to you a few days ago. Before you disappeared. You told your coworker, Lucy, that you had a bike accident. Is that what happened?"

"Of course it is!" Mr. Quinn answered for her.

"Mr. Quinn, would you mind letting Sophie answer the question?" Ben said politely.

"Sophie?" Tom gently prodded.

"I-" she started, but the nurse came into the room. Followed by the doctor.

Ben sighed as he, Tom, and Mr. Quinn were all ushered from the room while the doctor spoke with Sophie alone. Mr. Quinn was fuming that he was asked to leave the room.

"Would you mind waiting outside when the doctors are finished? We would like to speak to Sophie alone, Mr. Quinn," Tom told him.

"Why?"

"It might be easier for her to open up about her experience if she's only speaking to the police," Ben informed him.

Mr. Quinn seemed intent on ignoring them, and took a step towards the room as the doctor emerged. Tom grabbed him by the arm.

"Stay here," Tom said in his most level tone. "We'll only be a moment and then you can be with her again,"

Although fuming, Sophie's father took a step back and walked away. Ben let out a sigh of relief. Even though Tom was the one with his hand on the father's arm, Ben knew he would be the one to intervene if it got physical. And truth be told, he just wasn't in the mood. Although, he would go to any lengths to defend his DCI.

As the pair reentered Sophie's room they saw that she was now sitting up in bed. Her shoulder length hair was now brushed and she looked somewhat refreshed. Jones took in the sight of her still swollen lip, and the darkening of her skin right around her jawline. A bruise he hadn't noticed before due to the dirt she'd been covered in.

Although her legs were covered by the blanket, Jones couldn't help but visualize the bruises he saw there last night. Her hands were covered in scrapes.

"Hello again, Sophie," Tom said as he sat in the chair next to her bed.

Jones stood behind his Inspector and opened his notebook. Sophie's ice blue eyes darted from Jones to Barnaby.

"Hello," she said.

"Back to the question I asked earlier," Tom reminded her.

She carefully licked her busted lip. "I did fall off my bike, but…that's not how I got this," she touched her mouth.

"Tell us how," Tom said.

She cast her eyes downward. "I can't,"

"Why not?"

"I just can't,"

Tom looked up at Jones before carrying on. "Okay, let's move on from that. What happened the night you disappeared? How did you come to be in the woods near your house?"

"I don't remember,"

"Sophie, we know someone hurt you. We need you to tell us what happened," Ben interjected softly.

She turned her gaze straight on him, and it startled him to his core. He felt like she saw through him, and back again. He couldn't breathe until she said, "I can't. I'm afraid,"

"We can keep you safe," he heard himself whisper. He didn't know why he was whispering. But as he stared back into her eyes it just seemed like the right thing.

Silence filled the room. Sophie took a breath as if she was about to say something. Just then the door swung open and her father stormed back into the room.

"All right. That's enough. She needs her rest,"

Tom slapped his knee. "Fine. We'll see ourselves out,"

They were headed down the hall when the doctor called for them. They turned and she met them halfway.

"I thought you should know the results of the tests we've done on Miss Quinn,"

"Go on," Tom said.

"She was sexually assaulted, and beaten quite badly in the process I'm afraid. We were able to collect DNA, and it's been sent to your lab,"

"Thank you,"

Tom turned but Ben didn't move.

"Detective," the doctor called again.

He turned.

"Evidence shows that Miss Quinn has been sexually assaulted multiple times over a period of years. There's definite scarring, and she has an old break on her arm."

Ben and Tom exchanged looks.

"I just thought you should know,"