From where she sat Helen watched Tank interacting with Jubilee and Kitty. Both girls had learned in the weeks at the facility that he was a man to be trusted, that he would protect them with every ounce of strength and fiber in his body – a lesson that she knew had been both painful and hard fought.

Despite his impressive size and the rather dangerous skills he had both in the medical and fighting sense he’d never once tried to defend himself when either of the girls was scared and reacted physically, instead he’d tried to calm them, to let them deal with the pain and the torment that his presence brought out in their minds however they saw fit.

The first time he’d tried physiotherapy with Kitty Jubilee had nearly tried to kill him. She’d attacked him, launching blows and biting and kicking at him while Kitty had scrambled into the corner, curling into a ball and scrubbing at her ankle where she’d been touched.

Tank had merely pulled Jubilee in against his chest and rocked her while she struggled until her screams of anger had turned to sobs and her sobs had turned into whimpers and broken hiccups as the fight had left her. The sight of a man weighing in at nearly four hundred pounds and a good two feet taller than the slim Eurasian girl sitting on the floor while she clung to him sobbing, tears running down his own face should have been cause for teasing, for some torment from his peers but it wasn’t, instead the staff had been unable to meet anyone’s eyes for a few minutes before they all disappeared, retreating to their own duties.

It had taken long hours, and a lot of work for the girls to trust him enough to allow his touch. Endless days of casual touches, soft brushes of a hand on the arm, reaching behind one and grabbing something that was set aside and rarely if ever used, a quick, brotherly hug – all gave them the impression that he wasn’t interested in hurting their minds or their bodies, instead he was asking for permission to touch, to be granted access to their personal space.

Shifting on the stone wall that ran around the indoor garden she tended routinely, she watched Kitty smile shyly at Tank who was doing the daily round of physical therapy activities with her. The way the big man’s hands were wrapped around the slim girl’s ankles at one time would have sent warning bells ringing throughout those in the area; now though all it did was encourage a sense of security and well being.

Helen did of course recognize that Tank had in no way attempted to touch either in a way that was too intimate, too personal. Small, casual touches that had eased the girls into feeling secure enough to allow him to help their bodies heal along with their minds had been carried over from the early sessions to their trips out of the medical area and into their private rooms, into their lives that had come to encompass all of the house they now called home.

“They seem to be recovering quite well,” the soft, slightly accented voice had Helen smiling as she glanced up into the green eyes of the therapist.

“Both bonnie lasses are doin’ well Rebecca,” Helen teased, using the hint of Scottish accent she still possessed despite having left Scotland so many years before.

“Indeed,” settling next to her boss Rebecca shrugged, “I haven’t been able to make any progress with Streaks yet. She refuses to talk, just stares at her hands and giggles.”

“I don’t expect that you will. I’ve been hoping she’d confide in me but to no avail. Perhaps you could just focus on the other two. They’re survival and healing is more likely to come before Streaks.”

“You’re not giving up on her are you? That doesn’t seem like you?”

“No, no I’m not giving up on her. I’ve got something in mind to help her and you’re not it.”

“What has she said to you?” Rebecca asked softly.

“She talks in riddles most of the time,” Helen allowed refusing to speak the name of her son refusing to give some credence to the old ghosts that haunted her. She would give the girl her mind back or die trying and Rebecca couldn’t help her with that.

“Any indication of how long they were prisoners?” Rebecca asked changing the subject realizing that she wouldn’t get anymore of an answer than she’d already received the numerous other times she’d asked.

“From what I’ve been able to glean from the records and from what Jubilation and Katherine have said months. Close to a year.”

“And no one came to look for them? No missing person’s files were ever started? I find that hard to believe. I mean they’re kids, they’re..”

“Babies who were sent to do a woman’s job?” Helen asked softly as she glanced at her. “I know. When I find out who sent them to do whatever it was that landed them in the hands of the military I’m gonna rip them apart slowly, painfully. I’m gonna give them a taste of the hell these girls endured!”

The low, furious snarl held more than just violence, it held a thread of promise, a thread of steel and Rebecca shivered, “Give ‘em one for me,” she whispered softly before shifting, “I’m off. I’ve got a couple of other clients to see. You keep me pretty damn busy.”

Helen didn’t glance up, nor did she turn. “I apologize for that.”

“Don’t,” Rebecca spoke quickly, “It isn’t you that treats these people like objects. You don’t rape and torture them… you save them. We have to save those we can.”

With a nod of understanding Helen listened to the woman’s fading footsteps. She knew that she couldn’t save all of them, knew that some were simply too weak to heal and it was for those that she had vowed to fight.

With a final glance at the two girls and Tank who were laughing softly and doing some mini wrestling moves Helen headed for the one room that held the most mystery and the most desperation.

Slipping inside she glanced at the young woman checking the monitors and smiled as the woman nodded and slid silently from the room. Locking the door Helen moved to her customary position, a tall backed chair across from the girl who lay staring at the ceiling unemotionally.

“Hey Streaks, how’s it going today?” she whispered softly, somehow knowing the girl could hear her. “Your friends are doing well.”

Silence greeted her and she shifted, “sooner or later you’ll have to break down and talk to me. Silence may be golden but it gets old.”

“…”

“I think Katherine’s found a friend in Tank, she seems to enjoy their sessions a lot more,” Helen spoke softly, noting the flash of fury in the dark gaze but getting no verbal response. “Neither has said yet where you came from so I have to guess. I mean it would be easier for all concerned to return you back to wherever you called home if I knew where it was..”

“No!” the word was soft, rough, and filled with honest terror.

“Well you don’t seem to like it here,” Helen rose and padded over to the bed to stare down at the girl. “Or are you just too damn scared to take the chance?”

The look of fury held her gaze, not backing down, but Helen noticed the tears, notice the smell of pain, the stench of something that stank...something akin to betrayal. Smiling softly, understandingly, Helen took the girl’s hand, “Whether you believe it or not I am your friend.”

A slow, disbelieving shake of the head and a dark look before a single tear trailed down the girl’s cheek. “Your friends call you Rogue, but it doesn’t seem to fit you right now. You seem to be hiding within your own mind… why?”

Helen nodded and patted the hand she held before moving to get another blanket, “You know I understand the need to keep silent, the need to hide the truth. Life can be a bitch, and there are days when you don’t get a chance to have what you want, what you need, and its easier to just shut yourself off from the hope. The only problem is, when you do that sometimes you shut yourself off from those who would help you.”

“I remember what it felt like to love someone so strongly, so powerfully that you were willing to take their secrets to the grave… but he didn’t want that. He wanted me to live, wanted to raise our children, to have what he knew he couldn’t give me. In the end I couldn’t protect him anymore than he could protect me from the pain of loss. Give me a chance Rogue, let me in a little. Let me help you protect him,” Helen whispered softly tucking the girl in and starting for the door.

“You’re lying.”

Helen smiled slightly before wiping the expression from her face and turning to look at the young woman, “Am I? Guess you’ll never know as long as you keep hiding.”

Opening the door she slipped out into the hallway and headed for her office. She had something to do, something to find out.
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