Brennan seemed pleased that it had worked out in her favor.  He had suspected it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to get a restraining order.  Her face was pretty beat-up, and she hadn’t even had makeup at his place to hide any of it.  She was a pro at covering bruises with makeup.

The drive back into the city had a calming effect, and Devon found her eyes drooping.  It had been a long couple of days, and with her head injury, she was just so tired.

“Hey,” Brennan said, shaking her shoulder softly.

She peeled open her eyes and saw that they were parked somewhere.  She rubbed her eyes, and immediately, she regretted it as pain shot through one side.

“Where are we?” she asked with a yawn.

“Jenn’s.  I just wanted to stop by and get my check.  Is that alright?” he asked, his face showing concern very clearly.

“Yeah.  I’m not going inside though,” she said, looking around.  She could see they were parked in the alley behind the restaurant.

“I didn’t expect you to.  Want me to grab yours while I’m in there?” he asked.

“I got mine last week.  I don’t know how you could even forget.”

“Distracted by a beautiful woman, I guess,” he said with a smile.  He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips.  “I’ll only be a minute.”

“Alright.  See you soon,” she said sleepily.

Devon closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window.  She could fall asleep again.  When they got back to Brennan’s, maybe she could sleep through the afternoon.  She hoped he would hold her.  Being with him calmed her nerves and allowed her to actually rest.

She felt herself drifting away when the handle of the car door clicked.  Her reaction time was off, and when the door swung open, she tumbled sideways out of the car.  She landed heavily on her hip as her hand struck the pavement.

“Ugh,” she grumbled.  She wiped gravel off her clothes and picked it out of her hand.  A sharp piece had embedded itself into her palm, and blood pooled at the point of injury.  “Great.  Add that to the list.”

She turned her head to look up at what had been the cause of her fall, and her vision blurred.  She scrambled backward, but he was on top of her before she moved two feet.

“Did you think I would just let you leave?” Reid grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet.

He looked terrible.  His clothes were a mess.  His usually perfectly manicured hair was tousled.  His eyes were bloodshot, like he hadn’t slept all night.  Still, it was nothing compared to how she looked.

“Reid, stop!  Leave me alone,” she said, trying to pull away from him.

He ignored her and started dragging her down the alleyway.  Her balance was shot, and she kept tripping over her feet and falling.

“Stop!  Reid, fucking stop!”

“You’re mine, Devon.  And I said I would have what is mine,” he said.  “I always keep my promises.”

She knew Brennan would return soon, but clearly, it was not soon enough.  She didn’t know where Reid was taking her.  If he got her somewhere private, she didn’t know what would happen.  Putting all her energy behind it, Devon screamed at the top of her lungs.  Someone had to hear her.

Turning around, Reid covered her mouth with his hand and shoved her back against the wall to hold her in place.  “Shut up!” he yelled into her face.

Her eyes went wide at the ferocity in his gaze.  He had gone crazy, completely crazy.  Whatever shred of humanity he’d had left in him had evaporated.

“If you make another sound, I’ll knock you out and carry you back to the car.”

Devon didn’t put it past him.  Her heart was beating so hard that she thought it might jump out of her chest.  She couldn’t stop staring into his eyes and wondering where the man she had once loved was.  Where was her greatness?  Had he never actually existed and she had only clung on to hope like a child?

“I’m going to release you, and you’re not going to make a sound or try to get away.  Right?” he asked threateningly.

Devon nodded slightly.  She was lying.  She would fight him tooth and nail to get away.

He slowly dropped his hand, and she kept her mouth clamped shut.  She wanted to take him by surprise.  She heard footsteps crunch on the gravel, and Reid’s head whipped to the side.  Devon used the distraction to her advantage, and for the second time in two days, she brought her knee up into his groin.  She hoped he would never be able to reproduce after this.

Reid dropped over, holding himself.  She turned to run, but his other hand shot out, catching her in the chest and slamming her into the wall again.  The air quickly left her lungs as he knocked the wind out of her, and she cried out.  She heard footsteps running toward them, but she didn’t look up to find out who it was.  She was concentrating too hard on trying to breathe.

“Hey, get away from her!” Brennan yelled as he approached them.

Reid stood and faced Brennan, planting himself between Brennan and Devon.  “Stay out of this.  She’s none of your concern.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Just get the fuck out of here!” Reid cried.

“I’m not leaving her,” Brennan said determinedly.

“Brennan,” Devon gasped out.

“I’m not going anywhere.  Don’t worry,” Brennan said to her.

“Don’t you talk to her,” Reid growled.  “Don’t even look at my girl.”

Brennan stared Reid down.  “I think you should just calm down and step away from Devon.  She’s hurt and probably needs medical attention.  She suffered a concussion last night.  Somehow, her head connected with a table.”  He waited for Reid to react, but he didn’t.  “If you care about her,” Brennan said skeptically, “then you’ll let me take her to a hospital.”

“You’re fucking stupid if you think I’m ever letting her near you,” Reid said.  “She’s fine.  She doesn’t need to go to a hospital.”

Devon slowly straightened, feeling air fill her lungs again.  She closed her eyes and opened them again, adjusting to the light.  She leaned back heavily against the wall for balance.  “Reid, stop it,” she said breathily.  “Leave him alone.”

“You can stay out of it, too,” Reid said, not even looking at her.

Brennan started walking carefully toward Reid, like a circus ringleader holding off a lion with a wooden chair.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Reid asked.

“I’m just going to check on her,” Brennan said, inching in closer.

“Don’t come any closer!” Reid yelled.  “We’re getting out of here.”

Reid turned as if he was going to walk away from the scene, and then he countered and swung at Brennan.  With considerable force, his right fist moved toward Brennan’s face, and Devon screamed.  Brennan must have been anticipating it because he deftly blocked the punch as if it bothered him no more than a fly.  Reid was thrown off balance with the force of his own throw, and Brennan took the opportunity to connect his fist with Reid’s jaw.

Reid cried out in shock and rushed Brennan.  Brennan sidestepped Reid’s advance, and then Brennan jabbed his fist into Reid’s kidney, causing him to double over.

“Not as easy to take on someone your own size, is it?” Brennan taunted Reid.  “Don’t worry.  I won’t tell anyone you were beat up by someone smaller than you.”

Reid glared at him with murder in his eyes.  He was bigger than Brennan, and that reminder made Reid try to counter with his size.  Brennan saw it coming and ducked Reid’s advance, sending him sprawling to the ground.  Brennan rushed forward toward Devon, planting himself between Devon and Reid.

Reid scrambled to his feet and charged Brennan again.  Reid threw a wild punch, but Brennan landed a hit first, cracking Reid’s nose with a terrible popping sound that rang throughout the alley.

“You broke my fucking nose!” Reid screamed at Brennan.

Devon rushed past Brennan to stand between Reid and Brennan.  She wasn’t stupid though.  She still stood closer to Brennan.  “Stop!” she screamed.  “Stop it!  Just stop it!  Hasn’t there been enough fighting?”