The Untold Story

7. Unbeknownst to the Knight...

A few hours later, Natasha was discharged and true to his word, Nathan was there to take her home.

"I didn't want to leave your car in the street so I'll drive you home in it then my partner will pick me up from your house. Is that okay with you?" Nathan asked.

Natasha nodded as she followed him out of the hospital and to the parking lot. Nathan helped her into the backseat of her Toyota Avalon and got into the driver's seat once she was settled in comfortably. 

His gaze fell on the discarded groceries on the passenger seat as he maneuvered the car out of the lot.

"You big on baking?" 

Natasha was momentarily confused before she remembered what she had been doing before Max's attack. 

"Yeah, I guess." Her thoughts were churning up a storm rendering her less than sociable.

Nathan gave up trying to get her to engage in conversation and concentrated on driving although occasionally he would glance at her through the rear-view mirror. She sat staring blankly out the window, brow furrowed. Once in a while she would run her fingers through her golden brown hair and sigh. He was about to ask if she wanted to talk about what was bothering her when she shifted, folding her legs beneath her and leaning back on the seat. Memories of a different brunette hit him like a punch in the gut right then. He forced them back down and tore his eyes away from the mirror, not looking back until he drove up her driveway.

"Home sweet home," he said, forcing cheeriness into his voice. When Natasha didn't make a sound, he turned in his seat to face her.

"Natasha?"

Hazel eyes stared back at him and the look in them tugged at his heart.

"What's wrong?"

Natasha looked down and busied herself with a loose thread in the seat cover, still silent. Some locks of her hair fell out of her clumsy pony tail,  obscuring her face. Nathan waited patiently until she finally spoke.

"Where's Max now?" she asked quietly, still tugging on the loose thread.

"He's at the station. I have 24 hours to charge him and I fully intend to," Nathan said, reminding Natasha of their prior conversation.

"If I'm not mistaken a slap counts as Simple assault?"

Nathan nodded, wondering where Natasha was going with this.

"Charge him with that," Natasha said.

"You want me to charge him for a slap he gave you months ago and ignore today's incident even though it was Aggravated assault and warrants a greater punishment?" he asked, surprised.

"I want you to present him with a deal." Natasha finally looked up, hazel eyes almost matching the golden undertones of her hair. "If you charge him with Simple assault he'll get community service at the very least or six months in jail, give or take three months for good behavior. Only if he signs a contract that says he won't come anywhere near me, my friends or my family. If he breaks that contract then deal is off and he will rot in jail."

"I'm not your lawyer Natasha and I don't make deals with criminals," Nathan said, shaking his head. 

"I can't go to my actual lawyer with this Nathan! Uncle David will tell my mum and then the whole ugly truth about what Max did to me all those months ago will come out and I just don't want to deal with that," Natasha argued.

"The best way to deal with this is to tell the truth so that he can be punished in full for all his transgressions."

"That'll only put my family and friends in danger!" Natasha yelled.