A/N I do not own these character's. They belong to Private Practice Program. That said, it's been a few months since my last fanfic. The fall's been busy with school and I was involved in a writing project during Nov.

I was requested to write this fic and decided to give it a go. Dec. is a busy time for me as well as many of you with the holidays. I will try to update as often as I can.

This fic takes place following episode 10. It picks up on the scene in which Cooper asks Sheldon for help.

Chapter one - Lean On Me

Let's begin:

Cooper sits quietly on the couch in Sheldon's office. He's looks down at the floor. He's squeezing his fists together waiting. He finally looks up at Sheldon. "I asked you if you could help me. Why are you staring at me like that?"

Sheldon straightens up and clears his throat. "Sorry, you caught me off guard for a moment."

Cooper's impatient. He throws his hands up. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Yes, yes. I will help you, but honestly, it sounds like Charlotte needs the most help, from what you've said." Sheldon takes a sip of his coffee.

Cooper raises his voice. He speaks fast and loud. "Charlotte isn't going to ask for help. According to Charlotte she is right as rain. She's pretending this is okay with her." Cooper takes a breath.

Sheldon interrupts. " So you think she is pretending to be okay?" Sheldon pauses and begins again. "You think she isn't really okay with Lee Mchenry going free?"

Cooper shouts, "Of course she's pretending. My Charlotte, the Charlotte I know and love would never be okay with letting that man go free. But this Charlotte, I don't know. I don't know this Charlotte."

Sheldon waves his hand to calm Cooper down. "This is your Charlotte. She's in there. You have to bring her out."

Cooper takes a deep breath. His voice is quieter. "How do I do that? Can you help me?"

"I'll help you." Sheldon offers in a calm voice. "Charlotte needs to be honest about her feelings. She needs to get out her anger and quite frankly, she needs a good cry."

"That's the thing. She isn't doing any of that. She's acting like it's okay. How do I make her do that?' Cooper asks.

"You know her best. You'll think of something." Sheldon sips his coffee.

Cooper's mouth drops. "Are you kidding me? You're the shrink. I'm asking you how to do it."

"You'll think of something. In the meantime, you need to get her into therapy." Sheldon writes a name on a business card with pen.

"Seriously, people pay you for this? I already told you Sheldon. Charlotte doesn't want to go to therapy. She hates shrinks."

Sheldon's still writing. "Charlotte hates shrinks because they make her open up and talk. Charlotte's not a talker."

"Tell me something I don't know Einstein. How am I going to get her to agree to go?" Cooper asks sarcastically.

"If anyone can talk Charlotte into therapy, it's you Cooper. You hold some mystical power over her. I don't know why. I've been trying to figure it out. You got her to agree to marry you." Sheldon sighs. "If you could get that woman to marry you then you can get her to go to therapy." Sheldon hands Cooper the business card.

Cooper takes the card from Sheldon and gives him a glare about the last comment. "If you're holding a grudge against me I could talk to someone else about this."

"I want to help Charlotte and she loves you." Sheldon concedes a smile. "I'll help both of you."

Cooper reads the business card. "Who is this woman? Dr. Perri Lewis?"

"Dr. Lewis is a psychiatrist. I highly recommend her for Charlotte to talk to."

"Why not you or Violet?" Cooper asks.

Sheldon clears his throat. "I don't think Charlotte would be comfortable talking to me considering the circumstances. We were intimate for a short time."

"I know. I know. You didn't need to bring that up." Cooper insists.

"Well, you asked." Sheldon responds "And Violet is your best friend. I don't want Charlotte to worry about confidentiality. Violet was the one who told you Charlotte was raped." Sheldon puts his coffee down. "Perri is good. Get Charlotte to talk to her."

Cooper shakes the card in his hand and takes a deep breath "I'll try." He says.

"Do more than try Cooper," Sheldon stands up and puts his hand on Cooper's shoulder. "Charlotte's depending on you. She needs you to come through for her with this."

Cooper nods his head, gets up and shakes Sheldon's hand. "Thank you."

"And I'll see you again in my office at the end of the week." Sheldon firmly shakes Cooper's hand. "You're going to need someone to lean on."

Cooper puts the business card in his pocket, and nods at Sheldon as he walks out the door.

Cooper arrives home an hour later with a shopping bag in his hand. He finds Charlotte sitting in bed. She's wearing a black sweat suit reading. "How was your night?" He asks calmly with a smile.

"Like any other night." She answers quietly. At least she's not talking in rhymes but that's because he screamed at her for it last time. He still feels bad about it. She hasn't used any cliché's since that night. "What's in the bag?" She asks.

"It's for you." He hands her the shopping bag. She looks in it. She looks up at him with a puzzled expression. "You got me new glasses and dishes? Why?"

"I got them from the dollar store." He answers as he draws a circle on the wall with a marker he took out of his pocket.

"Have you lost your mind Cooper?" Charlotte looks at him bewildered. "Why are you drawing on the wall?"

Cooper turns to her and answers calmly. "I'm going to take a shower. I want you to pretend that the circle on the wall is Lee McHenry's head or that DA's head. Whoever you want. I want you to take the plates and glasses and throw it at them."

Charlotte looks at the plates and looks at him.

"I'll be in the shower. I'll leave the door unlocked, if you need me, just come in." He kisses her on the top of her head and walks into the bathroom. He turns the shower water on but doesn't undress. He stands behind the door listening to see if she throws the glasses and plates at the wall. It's quiet for a few minutes.

Charlotte looks in the bag. She pulls out the first glass and studies it. She looks at the circle Cooper drew on the wall. She waits a minute to get up the nerve and flings the glass at the circle. She hears the clinking of broken glass hit the floor. She throws another glass and another. Each time she throws a little harder. By the tenth glass, she is wailing them hard at the wall. She runs out of glasses and starts throwing the plates. They're heavier and louder. She throws them hard. As she throws the plates, she starts to scream at the circle on the wall. "Why? Why? Why?" She runs out of plates and bangs her fists on her bed. "Why?" She screams. "Why me?" Why?"

Cooper's listening on the other side of the bathroom door. He's not sure what to do. He wants to hug her but he doesn't know if she'll get upset. He hears her call his name.

"Cooper?" Charlotte cries out.

"I'm in the shower." He yells back as he quickly undresses. He jumps in the shower just as he sees the bathroom door open.

"Cooper?"

"Yes, Sweetie?" Cooper grabs the shampoo.

"I need you to sit with me. I don't want to be alone."

"Okay Sweetie. Pass me a towel over the shower door." He quickly rinses the shampoo out of his hair, turns off the water and grabs the towel. He wraps the towel tightly around his waist and walks out of the shower. She's sitting on the floor. Her eyes are red from crying. He grabs his robe off the hook. He hastily puts it on and ties it closed.

She looks up at him and gives a crooked smile. "Gee, you'd think you were the one that was raped. You're being all modest with your towel and robe."

He's surprised. That's the first time he ever heard her use the "R" word. He's not sure how to respond. He hesitates and stumbles his words. "I just thought, you wouldn't want to see me, because I'm a man... that you wouldn't want to see me naked."

She looks at the floor and softly tells Cooper, "he left his clothes on. His shirt was buttoned all the way up to the collar. The only skin I saw was his face and his arms. He had his sleeves rolled up and I saw those arms punching me over and over."

Cooper slides down to the floor and sits next to her. He grabs her hand and squeezes.

Charlotte takes a breath. "I think he left his pants on. Just pulled 'em down enough to do his thing." She squeezes Cooper's hand. "I don't know for sure. I didn't look down there. I kept screaming and he kept punching me. I saw stars the first time he came at me. I hardly felt him cuz he punched me so hard." She stops and takes a breath. "The second time I felt him tearing into me but I didn't feel his legs. He must have left them pants on." She's still squeezing Cooper's hand.

Cooper feels his hands getting sweaty and his face turning red. He had no idea that Charlotte had to endure Lee McHenry going at her not once, but twice. He wants o cry. He wants to punch something, but he can't. Charlotte needs him to sit there and listen and hold her hand. He can't help it. He could feel the tears streaming down his face and his shoulders start to shake.

Charlotte looks up at him. "I need you to be there for me, Coop. I can't have you bailing on me."

He cups her face in his hands and looks in her eyes. "Never. I will never bail on you. I promise. Okay?"

"Okay." She answers as they get up off the floor. Charlotte goes back to bed and opens her book. Cooper lies next to her. He tosses and turns. He tries to sleep but every time he closes his eyes he sees Lee. He knows what Lee McHenry looks like. He saw him at the lineup. He imagines Lee fully clothed with his shirt buttoned up to the neck, sleeves rolled up, on top of Charlotte, punching her. He can't get the image out of his mind. He gets up out of bed.

Charlotte looks up. "Where are you going, Cooper?"

"I'm going to clean up this mess." He walks out of the room.

"Cooper?" Charlotte calls.

He comes back in the room with the broom and vacuum. "I promise you. I'm going to clean up this mess for you." He begins picking up pieces of glass. "Oh. I made an appointment for you tomorrow morning with a Dr. Perri Lewis."

Charlotte puts her book down. "Who's she?"

"She's a psychiatrist. I want you to talk to her." Cooper continues to pick up pieces of broken glass. "I don't care if you don't want to talk. You'll sit and listen to what she has to say."

"Cooper, you know how I feel..."

Cooper interrupts. "I know what you need. Let me be in the driver's seat for once Charlotte. You need to trust me. Lean on me this time." He looks up at her. "Okay?"

She sighs. "Okay, I'll go this once but if I don't like her I'm not going back. You hear me Cooper?"

"I hear you." He answers and smiles a little as he sweeps up the glass. She's starting to sound more like his Charlotte already.

Please review and let me know what you think.