When Souls Collide

"Fine." Marcus stood, took one last look at Tabby and stalked after Cooper.

Tabby's tension eased the minute the two men were out of her sight and she relaxed, slumping against the sofa cushions, drained by the stress. Tears had started falling and Petra passed her a tissue, speaking softly, trying to comfort her. Tabby was reeling from the confusing emotions and pain swirling around in her brain like soup in a blender. Why was he so angry...at her? Or at Jerry? Tabby honestly didn't know. Marcus had looked like he had wanted to tear her apart and it had terrified her.

In the kitchen, Marcus paced like a caged beast, running an absent hand through his hair and rubbing his face. Cooper leaned indolently against the door frame, watching his friend with one curious eyebrow raised high.

"Wanna tell me what that was out there just now? You scared the fuck out of her, man. Don't you think that she's had more than enough of that tonight, asshole?"

Marcus huffed, wanting to growl and snap at Cooper like a rabid dog. He almost told his friend to fuck off, except the realisation that he was right hit him in the heart and sobered him. Marcus groaned, feeling some of the violence evaporate. He was such an asshole for scaring her like that, but his temper had simmered and boiled over while he had listened to her story. The animalistic need to protect what his inner beast had claimed as his had blinded him with possessive rage. He had wanted to kill Jerry with a vicious, blood-thirsty urge that had him locked onto Tabby as the source of his aggression. Thank fuck that bastard hadn't had the chance to rape Tabitha, nothing would've have been able to hold him back from hunting him down and dismembering him if he had.

He had wanted to protect Tabby, make her feel safe but instead, he had terrified her. Cooper was right, he was an asshole.

"I don't know, man. Shit!" he cursed, clenching his hands into tight fists. "I hate assholes that hurt women, you know?" Cooper wasn't an idiot and he had known Marcus for long enough to know when the man was deflecting. What he couldn't figure out, was what exactly was eating at Marcus, only that it had a scared, traumatized young woman at the centre of it.

"You gonna be okay, Sarge?" Cooper asked, noticing that Marcus' eyes kept flicking past him and out into the living room, searching for Tabby. He'd never seen him so rattled by a woman before and it freaked him out a bit. Marcus was normally the coolest head in their group, the guy you could always count on to get everyone's ass out of a bind, but he was acting positively feral tonight.

"Yeah, I'm good," Marcus mumbled, trying to edge past Cooper who thrust a hand out and caught him in the chest. He shot daggers at him but Cooper held his ground.

"You sure?" Cooper asked skeptically, "because honestly, you look like you're itching to rip someone apart right now."

Marcus gave him an evil smirk, "I am. You volunteering?"

Cooper dropped his hand and chuckled. "Not funny, man. Just dial the aggression down and sort yourself out before you scare her away."

With Cooper sorting Marcus' crazy behaviour out, Jaz continued interviewing Tabby. He carefully reviewed his notes, clarifying some of the details with Tabitha. "Just so I have this correct, your boss' name is Gerald Moran, but he goes by Jerry, right?" Tabby nodded, feeling sick at the mention of his name.

"Do you know where he lives?" Tabby shook her head and immediately regretted it, the movement made a wave of nausea crawl up her throat and she swallowed hard against it. "I'm not sure but he lives with his wife. I'm sorry, that's all I really know about him. He only took over three months ago and really didn't socialize with the staff."

Jaz smiled, trying to put the shattered woman at ease. "It's okay, Tabitha, you've given us enough to make a start in finding him." He gave her a determined look. "We will find him, I promise."

She felt Marcus's presence before she saw him. Something electrified the air behind her making the tiny hairs on her neck quiver with the static attraction. A swarm of butterflies took flight in her chest, brushing feathery wings against her ribs until she felt dizzy with the sensation. Sharp jolts of desire made her pussy tingle and moisten, making her vibrate with awareness and arousal.

She didn't have to turn around to know that Marcus had returned and was standing behind her, every sense...every nerve in her body had lit up and oriented itself on him in an instant. Something inside her began humming in pleasure, dispelling some of the dizziness and pain that was threatening to split her skull in two.

Jaz was too busy checking his notebook and hadn't noticed the flushed hue that had turned Tabby's pale cheeks a bright rosy colour. "This is good, real good, Tabitha. Besides your stained clothing and the injuries to your face, is there any other physical evidence of the attack? Did he hurt you anywhere else? You've stated that you managed to defend yourself before he was able to complete the assault, but did he leave any other wounds or marks, Tabitha?"

Tabby stared at him, unable to speak. Jaz looked up in time to get a glimpse of her blush disappearing as memory made the blood rush to her feet. Flashbacks of Jerry's hands on her arms, on her breasts and coming at her face filled her vision. He was all over her, blocking out everything around her and consuming her like a black hole. She squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to block out Jerry's leering, drooling face but it didn't help. He just got bigger and bigger in her mind's eye until he was all she could see.

Tabby was shaking, her breath coming in clipped puffs with potent fear turning her insides to roiling liquid. She could feel her brain shutting down, losing her tentative grip on reality as fatigue and emotional overload caught up with her and sent her spinning like she was trapped in a washing machine.

Petra noticed Tabby beginning to lose her grip and put her hand on her leg and squeezed her knee. "Hey you. Where did you go?" Tabby opened her eyes slowly, following the sound of Petra's voice out of her waking nightmare.

"Am I ever going to be free of him, Pet?" she sobbed.

"Yes, lovey, it will take time but the shock and memory will fade."

Jaz was still waiting patiently for the answer to his question, looking unsure of what to do and feeling like a shit for triggering her panic attack.

Satisfied that she'd stopped Tabby's flashback, Petra turned to Jaz. "She has bruises," she said, giving Tabby a half-hearted smile. "Sorry, babe, I...saw them when I helped you undress. Your upper arms had purple finger marks all over them." She paused, looking uncomfortable. "And on her breasts." She turned to Diego, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. "You can see...finger prints beginning to bruise. I'm so sorry Tabby, I couldn't help seeing them!"

Tabby wrapped her arms tightly around herself, quietly weeping while her best friend explained that which Tabby couldn't acknowledge. She had adamantly refused to look at herself in the bathroom mirror, didn't want to see the bruises and the imprints of his fingers on her flesh. How could she make herself forget what had happened, if she was stuck wearing a constant reminder of his grubby, filthy hands on her body?

And...god... she really just wanted to forget...everything...just wanted to cram all those horrible memories into a box and drop it into a hole so deep that only the devil would ever find it. She wanted to purge herself of all that evilness and send it to the place it belonged.

Petra's arms came around her and pulled her close so that Tabby could bury her face against her friend's chest. "Shh, baby. It's gonna be alright. I promise," she crooned as she rocked Tabby.

Cooper cleared his throat, not wanting to press the shattered woman but needing to do his job. "We are going to need to get pictures of the bruising, Tabby. You also need to get checked out at the hospital, that cheek needs to be x-rayed to make sure the bone beneath isn't fractured. You might also be suffering from the effects of a concussion," Cooper said gently, coming around to sit in the arm chair.

Just the thought of leaving the safety of Petra's apartment filled Tabby with panic and she began to shake even harder in Petra's arms.

"Please," she begged, her teeth chattering from anxiety, rather than cold. "I don't want to. I just want to go to bed. Please," her eyes scanned those around her, imploring them to understand. "Can't this wait?"

"It really can't, Tabitha. The sooner we get the physical evidence documented, the sooner a warrant can be issued for his arrest." Jaz paused, letting his words sink in. "I know you are tired, but you do want Jerry arrested don't you? If he's done this to you, then there is a good probability that he will try it again with another woman. She might not be as lucky as you were to fight him off the next time."

Cooper spoke up. "Petra can come to the hospital with you so that you won't be alone with any of us, if that's what's making you nervous. Is that okay, Tabitha?"

"Tabby," she mumbled, eyes fixed on her hands that she had locked together with the fingers interlaced to keep the tremors at bay.

"What's that?" Cooper cocked his head, trying to make out what she had said in her whispered voice.

"Tabby. You can call me Tabby," she said a little louder now, looking up at him with a wan smile. "Only my mother calls me Tabitha. I always feel like I'm in trouble when someone uses my full name."

"Okay, Tabby it is then," Cooper laughed.

Everyone chuckled at her statement and Cooper grinned back at her. With his eyes alight, some of the tension had left his face and Tabby was struck by how handsome the man was; all beach blond, tousled hair falling in front of sapphire blue eyes that held nothing but compassion and concern for her in their sparkling depths. He was tall and muscular, her eyes traced the contours of the well defined muscles stretching the fabric of his tight fitting t-shirt, and yet, his impressive size wasn't intimidating. Quite the opposite in fact, he exuded a quiet, gentle strength that made Tabby want to trust him. He made her feel safe and protected, just by being in his presence.

She glanced quickly at the other two men, Diego and Jaz, noticing the similarities between them and realized that the same could have been said for both of them too, Marcus included. They were all impressively built men and she thought that she should have felt threatened, especially in light of what Jerry had done to her. These powerful men should terrify her. Instead, she had the overpowering urge to crawl into the middle of all four and seek refuge behind their fortress of muscle and power, safe from all the bad things that continually seemed to find her.

Her mind drifted back to find four pairs of eyes watching her with concern straining them and Marcus' gaze behind her, fell upon her like a sunbeam, warming her from the inside out. She hadn't realized that she'd gotten lost in her head and flushed, embarrassed by the attraction that she was afraid that they could all see written on her face.

Thoughts drifting, Tabby wasn't aware of how many times her hand had absently rubbed her temples or that she couldn't help squinting her eyes against the light, but Marcus had and worried him. His instincts were telling him that something wasn't right with her and that it was time that he stepped in and took control of the situation. He swung around to the front of the sofa and squatted down in front of her. She had closed her eyes again and he could see her wincing in discomfort with every sound.

"Tabby, can you open your eyes for me?" he spoke quietly, keeping his voice deliberately soft so as not to startle her. She knew that he was there of course, the strange connection she had with him had flared hotly the minute he had moved closer to her and she could smell the spicy, woodsy aroma of his cologne bringing his masculine scent into her nostrils with every breath she took. The way her body reacted to his proximity, vibrating like a tuning fork, pretty much made her eyesight redundant. Tabby had a feeling that even blind, she would be able to find Marcus in the even the deepest dark, there was just no denying the gravitational pull that existed between them.

She cracked open her eyes, having more trouble with her right side. The skin felt stretched and tight, a deep, throbbing ache had settled around the outer corner of her eye socket and she reached a tentative hand up to touch it gently, grimacing from the pain as she gingerly prodded it.

"You're going to have a pretty impressive shiner by morning, sweetheart." Marcus smiled at her and she found herself instantly captivated and smiling shyly back. "Is your head hurting?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"The lights are bothering you too aren't they?"

"A little," she hedged. He raised an eyebrow at her skeptically.

"Okay...a lot," she conceded.

"This is important, Tabby. Did Jerry hit you or did you hit your head on something?" Marcus' eyes watched her, tracking each grimace of pain and noting the way she was having trouble thinking quickly.

Her voice was small, barely more than a whisper and cracked when she spoke. "When...when he threw me...I...my head hit the desk pretty hard."

Marcus straightened up, and rested a hand on Tabby's knee, pleased that she didn't flinch from his touch. "I'd like to check the back of your head, is that alright with you?" Her eyes darted nervously and Marcus felt her muscles go rigid under his hand.

"He knows what he's doing, Tabby. He used to be an Army medic so you can trust him, okay?" Cooper said. The tension in her body eased a fraction, but the doubtful expression on her face told Marcus that she really wasn't sure. She surprised him by giving him a shallow nod in the form of permission.

So brave, he thought, his heart filled with pride for the courageous young woman before him. She was fighting her own misgivings to let a virtual stranger touch her even after nearly being raped a few short hours ago. He wanted to hug her and tell her what an amazing woman he thought she was, but had to bury that urge. Not now, he promised himself, but one day he will take her into his arms and protect her so that nothing bad ever harmed her again.

Marcus stood and very slowly slid his hand up the back of Tabby's neck, sending a shiver racing down her spine. He knew that he was taking advantage of her permission in this small way, but he couldn't resist being able to keep his hands on her for longer than was absolutely necessary. He felt a little like a thief, stealing this precious contact from her without her being aware of what his ulterior motive was.

Yes, he was undoubtedly an asshole, but he didn't care.

Tabby gave a little shudder, his hands were so warm and big, almost the size of her head, and his gentle touch felt incredibly good on the back of her neck. The way the callouses on his fingers grazed her neck sent waves of goosebumps rushing over her skin and into her nipples, making them harden and tingle with tiny electric jolts. She closed her eyes, relaxing into his caress, that is, until his probing fingers prodded a spot on her scalp and pain knifed into her brain. She gave a startled yelp and pulled away, breathing hard through the blast of agony.

"Easy there. You must have hit your head pretty hard, you've got a knot the size of a golf ball." He crouched back down in front of her and tilted her head up with a finger under her chin. Again, the touch was not entirely necessary but something inside him had grown agitated the moment Tabby had pulled out of his reach. The second his skin met hers, his beast immediately settled and began to purr in sleepy contentment.

Marcus forced his attention back onto Tabby and away from the growing constriction in his pants. This was important, you idiot, he chided himself and ignored the raging need scalding his veins.

"We need to get you to the hospital and get that checked out, Tabby. You are showing symptoms of a pretty good concussion and that needs to be looked at by a doctor."

Panic gripped her belly and she shook her head in protest, pulling back and setting his beast off growling in displeasure. Marcus' eyes got hard and he fixed her with a determined look. "One of two things is going to happen right now, sweetheart. One," She tried to look away but he redirected her gaze with his hand cupping her chin, keeping her eyes on his and soothing his libido with the eye contact. "One: I will drive you to the hospital myself or two: I'll call you an ambulance. Either way, you ARE going to end up at the hospital this morning. How you get there is the only choice available to you right now."

"I wouldn't try to argue with him, Tabby. He's a right stubborn git when he sets his mind on something," laughed Jaz, earning himself a dirty look from Marcus. "Oh don't get your knickers in a twist, old man. I only speak the truth."

"He's got you there, buddy," Cooper chimed in, grinning like a wise-ass.

It was then that Tabby took notice of Jaz's unusual accent. She hadn't noticed it before because it seemed to get thicker when he was at ease and joking around, like he had just done now. He hid it better when he was being more formal, like when he was taking her statement. It sounded like an exotic mix of British English and slight East Indian accents that made his pronunciation and cadence sound almost lyrical. There was just something fun and friendly about the man when his natural accent shone through, Tabby thought.

She studied him closer now, her eyes taking in the light toffee hue to his skin that she'd somehow overlooked before. He was smiling brightly at her and had eyes the colour of milk chocolate that twinkled with mischief and amusement.

Tabby grinned back at him and blurted out the first thing that entered her mind. "I love your accent. It sounds really cool." She groaned immediately after the words had left her mouth, embarrassment making her cheeks flush brilliant pink. She suddenly wondered what the hell had happened to her stupidity filter. Apparently the knock on her head had broken it and her mouth was operating unsupervised.

What a lame thing to say, she thought. You've known the guy, for what? Five minutes and that's the best you can come out with? Tabby felt like her thoughts had developed ADD - she kept skipping tracks and wandering off topic, unable to stay focused on any one thing for very long. She rubbed her aching head again, glancing back at Marcus who seemed to be waiting for something from her and was watching her flounder about with a curious eyebrow raised.

Did she forget something? Had he asked her a question?

"Ta luv. It's definitely a source of curiosity. Let's just say that I have a mixed heritage." Marcus shot him a "you can shut up now" look and Jaz gave a little cough and nodded. "I'll tell you about the scandal my father created another time, but I think you still have a question to answer."

"It's nice...different. You should talk more," she added, trying to buy time while she searched her fragmented memory for Marcus' mysterious question. She was so focused on trying to remember, that she barely heard Cooper and Diego groan together and slap their foreheads theatrically. Marcus closed his eyes and slowly shook his head with another of his stellar smiles warming Tabby and instantly distracting her again.

God he looks so sexy when he smiles, she mused, her thoughts turning to cotton candy in her mind - sweet and tangled up.

"You didn't just say that! Now he'll never shut up!" Cooper and Diego complained at the same time.

"Bloody tossers," Jaz grumbled with a grin and turned to Tabby. "So luv, will it be a ride with big and ugly or shall we call you some handsome paramedics to escort you to the hospital?"