A/N - This one shot will obviously deal with Siobhan and Roger's relationship and his treatment of her.
Finally Sorscha could go home. She'd stayed behind to finish the last of her evaluations and she was exhausted. Night feeds were completely destroying her sleep schedule so she was behind on a few things. Once she'd packed up her things, she headed towards the front door but something caused her to stop dead in her tracks. She could hear a woman's voice, which had startled her slightly as she hadn't realised that anyone else was still there. As she listened, she deduced that the voice belonged to Siobhan and worryingly, she sounded upset. Sorscha silently crept over to stand by the door of the meeting room that Siobhan was obviously in.
"You always say this Roger, you apologise and say you'll stop drinking, then you do the same thing again." Siobhan was clearly in tears.
"Look Siobhan, I know I upset you last night. I know I hurt you but you need to take responsibility for the way you push my buttons, you know you're making me angry and you keep on going."
Sorscha frowned as she listened to Roger's words, what did he mean he'd hurt her? As much as Sorscha didn't like Siobhan, the idea that Roger could be causing her harm made Sorscha feel sick. Despite his age, Roger was a strong man who was much bigger than Siobhan. Even if she did make him feel angry that didn't mean he had the right to hurt her, how could he even make such a suggestion?
Sorscha moved over somewhat, allowing her to see into the room slightly. Her heart sank as she saw Siobhan stood with her arms wrapped around herself, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the floor, dejected. Sorscha watched as Roger stepped into view and attempted to touch Siobhan, causing the blond to back up against the table behind her. Roger sighed loudly, clearly irritated by Siobhan's refusal to submit and accept his empty promises.
"Siobhan, I don't have time for this. What do you want, I'll buy you anything you want. A necklace?" He took another step closer and placed his hands on the table, effectively pinning her there. Siobhan was making a noise that was breaking Sorschas heart, it was a small hiccuping sound punctuated with small cries. She'd never seen the blond like this and it was taking every bit of strength she had not to storm in there and hug her. She wanted to understand more about Siobhan's situation so she stayed put, desperately hoping that Roger wasn't going to do anything physical.
"I don't want a necklace Roger." Siobhan had finally caught her breath enough to speak.
"What do you want then?"
Sorscha really had no idea what Siobhan was going to ask for. Perhaps whatever went on between the couple wasn't enough to dull the shine that Roger's money could offer? When Siobhan did reply, it made Sorscha want to take back every mean thing she'd ever said to Siobhan. It made her want to go back in time and push past the blonds walls and be her friend, despite her prickliness.
"Can you just hold me for a bit?"
As much as Roger made Sorscha feel nauseous and as much she wished Siobhan was asking anyone else, she wasn't. So Sorscha silently pleaded in her head, begging that monster to put his arms around the blond. She wondered how much comfort the arms of a man like that could really provide, probably very little, but it was what Siobhan wanted at that moment. When Sorscha heard Roger respond, she felt hot tears behind her eyes, threatening to fall.
"Don't be so stupid. If you're going to be like this, that's fine, you'll get nothing. We need to go, I've had enough of this. Go to the bathroom and sort yourself out, you look a mess."
Immediately, Sorscha dashed round the corner to prevent Siobhan walking into her. She knew exactly which bathroom was closest, so once she'd heard the door to the meeting room close behind Siobhan, she rushed to follow her. As she pushed the door to the bathroom open she spotted the blond immediately, dabbing tissue underneath her eyes. When she heard the creaking of the door hinge Siobhan whipped around and stared at Sorscha looking both terrified and confused.
"Sorscha, I didn't know you were still here." Her voice was almost back to normal but it was clear that her throat was sore from sobbing.
Sorscha stepped forward and smiled "just had a few things to finish." She paused before asking gently "you know the way he treats you is wrong don't you? Nothing about what just happened was okay, please tell me you know that?"
Siobhan opened her mouth to reply but no words came out. Instead she nodded slightly before looking down at the floor, her arms hanging limply by her sides. When Sorscha took another step towards her, the blond didn't look up. She didn't move as Sorscha wrapped her arms around her but after several seconds, she lightly placed her head on the younger woman's shoulder.
"Siobhan, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you've been going through. I'm sorry for poking fun at you and talking about your relationship, clearly I had no idea what I was talking about."
They stood together for a couple of minutes before Siobhan suddenly backed away a little. Her eyes were dry now.
"Sorscha, I'm fine honestly. All couples have arguments, I'm being dramatic. Honestly, I'm fine. Please don't mention this to anyone, it's private and I don't want them to get the wrong idea."
"Siobhan, he said he was sorry that he hurt you. He doesn't have the right to hurt you, that's not just a couples argument. Please don't clam up and go back to accepting his abuse, I can help you."
The blond shook her head vigorously as she grabbed her bag from the sink and went to leave. Briefly, she turned back to look at Sorscha with an unreadable look in her eyes.
"Look Sorscha, not everyone is easy to love. We all get what we deserve in the end and I've accepted that now. Nobody is ever going to..." she trailed off before snapping "just don't worry about it. Go home to your wife and baby."
Sorscha stood in silence once Siobhan had left, stunned and confused. Surely Siobhan didn't truly believe that she deserved to be treated so poorly? What was she going to say? Sorscha muttered to herself "nobody is ever going to..."
Suddenly, it came to Sorscha. She said out-loud to nobody "love her. Oh Siobhan that isn't true."
"I promise you that's not true."
