Here we go again. I've already told some of you that I was going to try my hand at writing an AU. I'm not sure how good it's going to be but I promise I will give it my all. Hopefully it's a success! So read on and let me know what you think! So far I've had fun with it. It's kind of taking off like the last one did! I hope you like it! And just a reminder to those of you that don't know me or my writing well, I never know how long a story will be. Ever. So this could end up being a normal ff story or a ridiculously long piece of writing. So, no complaints if it gets to much for you because you have been warned ;) I also realized that I can not please everyone! And until I start getting paid for writing it or you start getting charged for reading it, I'm not going to try too! I hope to see some familiar faces! Thank you all for reading. XD

Chapter One

Carol wrapped her arms around herself to try to ward off the chill. The night was typical for Georgia. Hot and humid. The chill was internal and she knew it would take a long time to rid herself of it completely. She should have known better than to get the dog but he had made her feel safe for a little while.

"Mrs. P..." The police officer began, but she interrupted him.

"Mason. It's Ms. Mason." She corrected before the man could utter her soon-to-be-ex husbands last name.

The two men shared a look. This was not the first time she had met them. The first time had been at the hospital where she had stayed a few days after the first time Ed had beaten her. She would meet them again a few months later, the second time that she had landed in the hospital. This would be their third time.

Officer Walsh looked at her from under a heavy brow. "Look, Carol." He said in a low voice, "Officer Grimes and I, we know who did this. But we can't go arrest him for it. No one saw him do it."

She was surprised to hear him use her first name. It almost made her sick to think that she had dealt with them so much that she knew them this personally. She hid her distress under a steady gaze. She was done cowering. She lifted her chin a fraction of an inch and then nodded. "I know you can't arrest him for it. I still had to call. I should have known better than to think that a dog would deter him."

"Do you think he'll show back up tonight?" Officer Grimes asked.

"Probably not. I'll be fine. Thank you both for coming. And for... cleaning up." She tried to make her voice strong but it wasn't working. She was terrified Ed would show back up but there was nothing they could do about it. Deep down he was a coward anyway. He would be too afraid of getting caught. She hoped.

Neither man looked as though they wanted to leave but they couldn't stand there all night.

"Do you have anyone that you might be able to stay with for a few days?" Officer Walsh asked. "I know that the last time we spoke to you you didn't have any family or any close friends but maybe now, since Ed hasn't been around, you've made some met some people or something?"

She was touched by the amount of concern these two men were showing. They were the good guys in her book. Not all cops were, but these two were great. "I haven't gotten out much." She said with a soft smile for both of them. "But I think he just wanted to scare me tonight. He'll know that you've been here. I'm sure I'll be fine."

They both still looked indecisive. Officer Grimes cleared his throat. "I can call my wife and tell her what's going on. I think you two would really hit it off. Maybe you could come to my house tonight and..."

Carol held up a hand. "No. No thank you. Really, I'll be fine." There was no way she was going to impose on anyone. She really did believe he would stay away. At least tonight. He wouldn't act again for a little while. She was silently reassuring herself.

They glanced at each other again before both sets of eyes landed on her. Officer Walsh gave her a lopsided smile. "I get off in an hour. I'm gonna park my squad car right outside. I ain't got a wife so it wouldn't be very appropriate to invite you home. But I'll be here."

Carol looked between them with wide eyes. He couldn't be serious. "You can't do that."

"On the contrary, ma'am. I can. You go on back inside. Keep this place locked up tight." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. Officer Grimes handed him a pen. He scribbled something on the back of it and handed it to her. "This is my cell number. Anything happens you call the station and then you call me."

She stared at the card for a little while. God, these men must really pity her to be offering so much. This town was small, that was something she wasn't used too. She had moved here from Atlanta a few years ago to take care of her grandmother after her grandfather had passed away. That was when she had met Ed. She was used to big city cops. They were desensitized by the harshness they dealt with on such a large scale. These small town guys were much different.

Officer Grimes cleared his throat. "Look, you've done all the right things here. You've gotten your restraining order. As soon as we catch him violating it, we're going to do everything we can to see that he gets put away a while."

She looked up and couldn't help the sad look she knew was in her eyes. The problem with that was, the next time he broke that restraining order, she probably wasn't going to be alive long enough to report him. But she kept all of that to herself, thanked the two men, and then headed back inside.

She locked all of the locks on the door and then leaned her back against it. The house was too big for her to secure. Her grandmother had left it to her when she had passed away and it was too much for just her. There was still a mortgage to be paid and that was too much too. Keeping it cool in the hot Georgia summers and warm during the cold Georgia winters was also too much. And just today she was informed that she was no longer employed.

She had met Ed two and a half years ago. He was the first person she met as soon as she had gotten to town. He had been working on a friends lawn mower, who just happened to live next door to this very house. They had struck up a conversation over the fence right away. He had been sweet and charming and she had instantly fallen for those charms. He had asked her out and she had declined. He wasn't one to give up easily. After a few weeks she had figured that she had talked to him enough to know that he was an okay guy. Her grandmother had approved when he showed up with flowers, actually asking permission from the old woman, to take her granddaughter out. Carol had been floored.

Six months later they were married and six months after their marriage was when he had started hitting her. As soon as they had married he had changed. He was cruel with his words at first but that quickly got old for him. She still had trouble believing that she had fallen for all of his crap. When her grandmother died, leaving her everything, she finally left him. But she was definitely not rid of him.

She made her way through the house, double checking the locks on the windows. She even went through the three bedrooms upstairs and double checked. The house was locked up tight. She shut her bedroom door, locking it behind her. She didn't turn on any lights. She went straight to her bed and plopped down gracelessly onto her back.

She figured now would be a good a time as any to feel sorry for herself. She had no one else to blame for the way her life had turned out. She had had big plans for herself before meeting Ed. She had dreamed of going to college. She wanted to experience everything she could while she was young. She wanted a career first, something in the medical field, then she wanted to meet the man of her dreams, get married and then start a family. She had all of her ducks in a row. She had a plan. And then here came Ed, kicking her ducks and derailing every detailed plan she had. And she had been stupid enough to let him.

How had she not seen that horrible man for who he really was? Now she was twenty four, broke, unemployed and was going through a messy divorce. She had very little in the bank, no job skills to speak of and more bills than she could ever pay.

Ed had been the one who insisted on handling everything once they were married. He worked, he paid the bills, he bought their house and their car. He had done it all while she happily kept an immaculate house and learned every recipe she could, just to try to keep the bastard happy. She was so ashamed of herself. Ashamed for falling for his lies. Ashamed of enduring his abuse. And most of all she was ashamed of losing herself. She had become a woman that she didn't even know and she was paying for it now.

After a while she pulled herself from her misery long enough to peek out the curtained window that looked down on the quiet street below. True to his word, there was officer Walsh's car, right out in front of her house. Instead of feeling relief she felt guilty. This poor man was going to spend the whole night sitting there guarding her. Why couldn't she have fallen for a man like that? A man that was willing to lose sleep and comfort just to keep a stranger safe?

She huffed and then ran a hand through her hair. Well, if he was going to spend the whole night out there just for her then the least she could do was give him something in return. She hurried down the stairs and turned on the lights in the large kitchen. She always had too much food. She loved to cook but it was only her and so she always had more leftovers than she knew what to do with. After she had adopted the dog they had shared meals together. She figured that wasn't the best thing but the big mongrel seemed to adore her for it. She blinked away tears. She still couldn't believe he had killed her dog.

She pulled out a container and opened the lid. Last nights lasagna had been a huge success. She pulled out a huge piece and plopped it on a plate along with some steamed vegetables. All of that went into the microwave as she filled a thermos full of sweet tea. She was probably being silly. Surely the man had already eaten dinner but he did say that he was single which meant that his dinners probably consisted of frozen meals and take out.

She hurried down the sidewalk with her load. He was getting out of the car before she made it to the street. He flashed her a bright smile.

"What's all this?" He asked, gesturing towards the plate of steaming food and the thermos she had tucked under her arm.

"It's a thank you. It's all I got." She returned his smile as he took the plate and gave it a sniff.

"Oh, wow. You know how long it's been since I had myself any real food?" He asked as he shoveled a forkful into his mouth and then rolled his eyes dramatically.

She laughed. The sound startled her. How long had it been since she had laughed?

He went on. "I think the last time was Thanksgiving, last year. Rick had me over for the holidays and all that. But I gotta say, Carol. The last time I had food this good was never. You're a culinary Goddess." He winked and she found herself laughing once more.

"Well, I thought I needed to do something. I feel bad about you doing this." Her smile faded.

He leaned against the hood of the car and crossed his feet at he ankles. She sat down on the curb and hugged her knees.

"There ain't nothin' to feel bad about. I'm a night owl by nature. If I wasn't here tryin' to protect and serve I would be at home sittin' on my ass in front of the television and eatin' a t.v. Dinner."

"Well, thank you, Officer Walsh." She said sincerely.

"Shane. You can just call me Shane." He sat the empty plate down and unscrewed the lid off the thermos and took a long drink. He rolled his eyes dramatically once more. "And you keep all this up and you'll never get rid of me. No need for any thanks."

She took his empty plate but told him to keep the thermos after wishing him a good night. She felt better knowing that he really didn't seem to mind standing guard all night and he had enjoyed the food. Once her conscience was clear she was starting to feel sleepy. After cleaning up the minimal mess she had made in the kitchen she finally made her way back to her bedroom. It didn't take her too long to fall to sleep. Staying asleep was an entirely different matter all together. She kept dreaming of fists and mutilated dogs.

The next morning she woke up to the sound of the phone ringing shrilly on the bedside table. She answered it groggily without even looking at the caller I.D.

"Hello?" She mumbled.

"We need to talk."

She sat bolt upright in the bed, her heart instantly hammering in her chest. "Stop calling me. I don't have anything to say to you." She said, hating the fear that she knew he would hear in her voice.

"You think that's gonna stop me? You can fuck every cop in this town, it isn't gonna stop me. You need to stop this bullshit and come home. You're mine."

"How did you get this number?" She whispered.

"You ain't the only one with friends around here. Give it up, Carol. Whether you like it or not, you're comin' home." Ed growled into her ear and then the phone went dead.

He had been watching the house. He saw the squad car and probably had seen her talking to Officer Walsh last night. She threw the covers off and hurried to the window. The car was gone. Of course it was gone. What did she expect? For him to stay all day until it was time for him to go back to the police station? She made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat as she shoved herself away from the window.

Why couldn't he just leave her alone? What in the world would make a man like that think a woman could be with him? She was sure that he would have gotten worse the longer she had stayed in that marriage. She grabbed some clothes without even looking and headed to the bathroom down the hall. When she was undressed she turned and grimaced at the reflection in the full length mirror that hung on the bathroom door. It was a ritual.

Ed hadn't just tormented her with violence over the last year and a half of their marriage. He had done everything he could to beat her down emotionally and psychologically also. She was trash. She was useless. No man would want an ugly hag like her, but him. She was good for nothing. A thing to be used and thrown away. She should kiss his feet for even being seen with her in public. And that was just him warming up.

She stared at the woman staring back at her with a critical eye. She wasn't flawless. She knew that much. But she was nothing like what Ed had described. She wasn't an ugly woman. She wasn't beautiful but she wasn't hideous like he always implied. She wasn't blessed with a slender super model body but she wasn't a cow, like he had told her a thousand times. She wasn't skin and bones but she was fit enough. Her stomach was flat and her hips and thighs were firm. She wasn't ashamed of her body the way he had wanted her to be.

Well, she hadn't been ashamed of it. He made sure, that last night she had stayed in his house, the night she told him that she had had enough, that no man would be able to look at her and see anything remotely desirable.

She moved her arms from around her stomach. Scars. Nine total. He hadn't cut her up bad enough to kill her. Only bad enough to make sure she was marked. It was like he had signed his name to every one of them. A few were long and deep and particularly ugly. Most of them, though, weren't as bad. She was still unlikely to ever let another man see them. She wasn't interested in being with anyone again anyway. The way she looked at it was, the only person you could ever fully trust was yourself. You couldn't believe things that people said because people would say anything to lure you in and then once they had you, you were in for a world of suffering. That was how she tried to think anyway. She didn't want to trust people. That didn't mean she never would. It was an inner battle she fought often.

"No thank you." She said to her reflection.

Her gaze traveled down to the other scars. Five on each leg. Her inner thighs, way up high. Her hands started shaking when she thought of how terrified she had been when he had given her those. He had made damn sure that if any other man ever touched her, he would know that Ed had been there first. He had been arrested on assault charges. He had spent three months in jail. His cousin was a District Attorney and had gotten him out of most of it.

She had suffered and she had survived and now her life was just that. Her life. She turned away from the woman in the mirror and turned on the shower. She had things to do. She would have lunch with her lawyer, she would call the mortgage company, she would make payment arrangements on her utilities and then she would find herself another job. And then before she came home, she would buy herself a gun. The dog hadn't been as much help as she had hoped but even Ed wasn't strong enough to beat up a bullet. This was a new day and she was a new Carol. Things would get better. She truly believed that.

She hadn't survived everything she had been through to give up now. Not when freedom was so close she could almost touch it.