I saw the spoilers for the episode on the 23rd and they have inspired this, my first long-ish Riain fic. It's probably going to be a bit darker & more angsty than the things I usually write so I'm going to keep writing the odd fluffy oneshot too.

I'll be super impressed if anyone knows where the title of this fic was taken from!

"Reet?" Iain frowned when he answered his phone just half an hour after he'd said goodbye to her, "is everything alright?" He was instantly worried, she never called him when she knew he was working, and, as he'd be seeing her again in just over an hour, he knew she'd only ring him if she really had to. "Rita" her lack of response worried him even more.

"He's been here" she finally sobbed into her phone, her breath catching in her throat, it had taken her a moment to find his number, her fingers shaking so much she could barely keep hold of her phone, "first the complaints and now, now he's been in my house Iain, he's, he's been in my bedroom."

"Get out" Iain said sharply, "get out of the house and ring the police. I'm on my way right now" she didn't need to tell him who she was referring to, he knew exactly who she meant. He briefly thought that it might not have been Mark that had done whatever it was that had Rita so afraid but he wasn't going to take that hance

"Iain" he could hear the fear in her voice and it broke his heart.

"It'll be okay" he promised, "go to the shop at the end of your road and ask the police to meet you there. He's probably just trying to scare you but if he is planning anything Rita he won't do it in public."

"Can you…"

"I'm on my way" he promised before looking over at Jez, "I've got to go, can you…" he didn't even know what he wanted Jez to do.

"I'll sort it" the younger paramedic nodded, "you go and make sure Rita's alright."

"Cheers mate" Iain jogged out of the ambulance station before speaking to Rita again, "where are you?"

"I'm going to the shop… like you said."

"Okay, I'm on my way but I'm going to hang up now so you can ring the police, if I'm not there by the time you've done then call me straight back yeah?"

He heard Rita sniffle slightly, "okay" she whispered.

"Reet" he said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I love you, I love you and we're going to be okay. You're going to be okay" he told her as he raced through the streets, not even bothering to apologise to the people he bumped into. Rita was the only thing on his mind and he needed to be with her as soon as possible.

"I love you too" Rita whispered before ending the call and dialing 999.

"Rita" she fell against him as soon as she saw him, unable to contain the sobs, the tears she'd been holding back since she'd seen her trashed bedroom, a moment longer. He held her tightly, kissing her head and telling her she was safe over and over again until he noticed her breath catching in her throat, "Rita" he said again, tipping her head so he could look her in the eye, it was then when he saw just how terrified she was.

"Iain" she gasped, "I can't, I…"

"Take a deep breath" he told her, doing so himself as he lead her out of the shop, "you're scared and upset, you're having a panic attack but you're going to be okay, I'm not going anywhere, you need to try and slow your breathing down Reet, you're going to be okay." He kept his breathing deliberately slow so Rita could try and match it, he'd had panic attacks himself after leaving the army, he didn't need to see the fear on her face to know how scared she was right now. He kept his eyes locked on hers as she looked up at him, his arms around her as he continued to talk softly to her, reminding her she was safe and telling her that he loved her in between stories of silly things Jez had said or done that he told her as an attempt to distract her from the thoughts racing through her head.

"Is everything okay sir?" Rita was just beginning to calm down when the police arrived.

"Yeah, are you here for Rita Freeman?"

The police officer nodded and Iain pointed to the woman in his arms before gesturing down the road, "she lives at number 63, do you want to meet us there?"

The police officer nodded again, "you can come with us in the car" he suggested but Iain shook his head.

"She's just had a panic attack, I think she needs the fresh air, it's not far."

Iain took the key from Rita when they reached her front door, her hands shaking too much to get it in the lock, "I've only seen my bedroom" Rita said once she'd stepped into the hall with Iain and the two police officers, "I erm, my ex-husband came to the hospital where I work last week, I've been staying with Iain ever since" she gestured to the man who still had his arm around her, "I was just going to pick up a few things and go straight back there but…" she shrugged.

"Do you know how he got in?" The policeman asked.

Rita shook her head, "the front door was locked, I moved here almost a year after he went to prison, he's never lived here, he's never had a key."

"Right" The policeman scribbled in his notebook, "I'll go upstairs and have a quick look, did you move anything?" Rita shook her head, she hadn't been able to, she'd stood frozen in the doorway, frozen with fear before her brain had started repeating one word over and over 'Iain'. The policeman nodded before turning to his female colleague, "you have a look down here" he said before turning back to Rita and Iain, "and if you just give us a moment to see if there's any other damage and double check there's nobody in the house and then we'll take a statement" he said as he headed up the stairs.

Rita felt sick, what if he was still here? What if he'd seen her come home, watched her call Iain? What if he'd been watching her for a while. "Iain" his name fell from her lips as he legs buckled beneath her, she couldn't do this, not again, she couldn't have him break her again, there was no way she'd be able to put herself back together again.

"You're okay" Iain sat Rita on the stairs before she collapsed into a heap on the floor, "look at me" he said firmly as he crouched in front of her, "look at me. He's not going to hurt you. If I have to stop working and be by your side every minute of every day, if you have to come to every shout with me, he won't hurt you. You might have been on your own before but not this time okay?"

"You…"

He took her hands and held them in his, "I'm not going anywhere Reet, you're going to be okay."

"Anything?" The policeman asked the policewoman who came out of the kitchen at the same time he walked down the stairs.

"The back door's been forced open" she nodded, "and this was on the table" she said, holding out a sheet of paper, the corner held in her gloved hand to protect the evidence.

Rita took one look at the note and felt her stomach churn, it was Mark's handwriting, she'd been right, he'd been here, he'd been in her house, and, as she read the few words he'd left her, she knew, she knew it would never be over. She could leave, she could move to the other side of the world but Mark would find her, he'd always come back. Mark wasn't going to let her move on, he didn't want her to be happy and Rita knew from experience, Mark always got what he wanted.