Nick could hear a strange, rhythmic thumping as he ran down the upstairs hall. He pulled the bedroom door open, finally understanding the meaning of the phrase "he had his heart in his mouth;" he couldn't breathe, he couldn't swallow, and time seemed to stand still as he tried to take in what he was seeing.

The huge bed, which was in the middle of the room, was a rumpled mess, and seemed to have some blood splattered across it in a random pattern. Danny was on the floor, writhing in pain, hands clasped between his legs, making soft mewling sounds like a kitten, and even though the damage to him seemed to be in the groin area, blood was pouring from his mouth and nose.

The thumping noise Nick had heard from the hall was coming from the bathroom door, which Sumire was slamming, over and over, on Larry's head, which was just as much of a bloody mess as Danny's. Larry wasn't moving, merely bouncing back and forth with the movement of the door.

Sumire, too had a bloody nose, though she didn't look nearly as bad as the two men. She was standing, for one thing, and conscious, which were two things that couldn't be said about the other two. Her shirt was ripped at the shoulder, showing a strap and cup of a black bra, and a contusion on the soft flesh of her belly that was nearly a perfect circle and was blue, darkening quickly to purple. Her long hair was half out of the bun and hanging half way down her back. She was making small sounds of effort, her breath exploding out of her in small puffs with every slam of the door against Larry's face.

"What the fuck is going on?" Carol's voice came from behind Nick. She'd been alarmed at his expression, and the way he'd gone tearing up the stairs, and had followed him.

The sound of her voice got Nick moving, and he leapt forward to where Sumire was trying to flatten Larry's head.

"Mimi-chan? Hey, kiddo, you have to stop, you're going to kill him," Nick said, striving to keep his voice neutral and even, though his heart was still beating like a triphammer in his chest, and adrenaline was coursing through his system.

He reached out a tentative hand and put it on her shoulder, ready to move back if she turned on him.

She accepted his hand on her shoulder, so he pulled back gently, adding his other hand.

"Sumire? Sweetie? Stop now, okay? You're safe, you're safe now," he assured her.

"Safe?" Carol repeated. "What the fuck happened here? Did she do this to them by herself? Sumire, did you do this to them by yourself?"

Nick took a deep breath as he saw more people in the doorway behind her. Among them he could see Mandy and Rachel.

Great.

Sumire let herself be pulled away from the door, and the thumping noise stopped. Nick could feel how tense and taut she was under his hands. She was thrumming like a top, and he felt like she would disappear in a crackle of electricity and smoke if he squeezed her shoulder too tightly.

"She came up here to use the bathroom, and those two skid marks came up here to try to get busy with her," Nick said, his voice loud so everyone could hear him. "I came as soon as I found out so I could help her, but obviously she didn't need my help."

"What kind of help would she need?" Mandy asked, stepping into the room. "What the fuck happened in here, anyway? They don't like kinky stuff like this. What did she do to them?" She turned to Sumire, who still hadn't said a word. "What'd they want you to do, honey?"

"No, Mandy," Rachel said, stepping forward to explain. "I think she didn't wanna do anything, see? She said no."

"What?" Mandy was shocked. She took a another step closer to Sumire. "Do you even know who these guys are? They practically run casting for the biggest studios in town. You'd have been in! I mean, a girl who looks like you? How else were you ever going to make it? You want to be Nick Pensieri's PA forever? Running around picking up his cleaning and coffee?" Mandy shook her head in disbelief.

Sumire took a shaky breath. "I'm not his PA," she finally said in a whispery breath.

"So you took both these guys down all alone?" Wayne asked, speaking for the first time. "Or did Nick come in and help you?"

Sumire shook her head. "Just me," she said. She reached over and grabbed a tissue for her nose, using her other hand to hold her ripped shirt up to cover herself.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Nick asked, releasing her shoulders.

Sumire looked at him and nodded, addressing only him.

"I came out of the bathroom and they were waiting for me. They propositioned me. I guess they thought I'd say yes." She gave a little shudder. "So I said no, then they grabbed me and threw me on the bed anyway. They seemed to think I was your PA, too, though I don't know why. So Larry was up by my head, holding my hands. I guess Danny was going to go first. So I spit in his face, and he slapped me, then punched me. So I bucked up and kicked him between the legs, really hard, and he fell backward off the bed." Sumire smiled her small smile, and Nick felt proud. "So then I kicked up over my head and nailed Larry pretty hard. I heard his head hit the wall, anyway. He let go of my hands and I got off the bed and jumped on Danny's neck, then I stomped on his face as hard as I could. I might have dislocated his jaw. I know I broke his nose, I felt it give under my shoe. So then I was running for the bathroom and I heard Larry behind me. He pushed me into the door, and the doorknob got me in the belly pretty hard. I got behind the door and slammed it behind me as hard as I could, and it happened to catch him just right, and he fell. So I slammed the door on his head again, and I got lucky and it caught his face, so I just kept on going." She took a deep breath and shrugged. "Then you came in. That's it."

By then everyone at the party had crowded into the doorway and the bedroom, and everyone was silent, spellbound, listening to her recount her ordeal.

Nick heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw Danny struggling to sit up. He was working his jaw, but it was opening and closing, so it probably wasn't dislocated.

"You're never going to work in this town, you stupid cunt," he mumbled through his damaged and bloody mouth. "You can kiss any though of a career goodbye, you evil bitch."

"Shut up," Nick said, shaking his head. He turned to Carol. "I'm taking her home, okay? You got this?"

Carol nodded her head. "Hold on a sec, though." She stepped over to her closet and returned with a pink sweatshirt, which she held out to Sumire. "She can't go home like that."

Sumire made no move to take it, so Nick took it from her and quickly pulled it over Sumire's head. He helped her get her arms through while she stood there, unmoving.

"Come on, Purple, let's get you home, hm?" he murmured.

"Hey  you guys, I'm so, so sorry," Wayne said as they passed him.

Nick shook his head. "Not your fault, man."

He quickened his step as they went down the stairs. He thought Sumire was acting a little weird, and he was  concerned about her being in shock or something.

"You feeling okay?" he asked as he opened the car door for her.

She nodded as she pulled the door shut.

"Should I put the top up?"

But Sumire shook her head. "I think the air will feel nice," she said with a little nod.

Nick put the key in the ignition, but looked over at her before turning it.

"I'm a little shaken up, but I'm okay, Nick-san, honest. I just want to go home," she told him.

"If you need a hospital, I'll take you," he assured her.

"No, I'm okay, I'm okay. I'm surprised no one suggested calling the police, though," she said.

"This is Hollywood, no one wants the publicity, don't you know that?" Nick asked with a laugh. "Especially if what those girls said is true and those two guys are in charge of casting for some studio? Though they can't be too important or I'd know who they were, you know?"

He turned the key and the engine roared to life.

"Let's get you home, kiddo," he said, turning to look at her once more before backing out to the street.

"What's with the 'kiddo' stuff?" she asked. "I'm twenty three. Aren't you twenty seven? Only four years older?"

"But that's only in years," he responded. "In all the ways that matter, I'm as old as the hills compared to you.

"Though you're pretty amazing in the self-defense department, I must say," he added. "Where did you learn all that?"

"I took self-defense classes at UCLA," she explained. "Although not everything I did was taught in class. No one told me to slam the door on his head over and over, for example. I couldn't stop once I started, though, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Nick answered grimly, his grip on the steering wheel getting tight.

When they got to Sumire's house, she thanked him and got out of the car.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"What do you mean? I'm not leaving you alone tonight," Nick said, perfectly reasonably, he thought. "You've been through a severe trauma. You dealt with it amazingly, but still."

"Nick, no, I'm fine, you don't have to baby-sit me," she said.

"I'm not leaving you," he repeated.

Sumire stopped walking and turned to look at him. "Please, Nick. I'm exhausted, I'm in pain, and I have a headache. I want a hot shower, and I want to go to bed. Don't make me stand out here and argue with you, okay?"

"I'm not leaving you," he said again.

"I don't even have a place for you to sleep," she said, flapping her hand against her leg.

"You have a couch, that's all I need," Nick assured her.

Sumire wobbled where she stood, and reached out a hand to brace herself on the hood of Nick's car.

"There, see?" Nick said, reaching out to carefully grasp her elbow. "Let me help you. Please."

Sumire sighed, giving up.

"Come on up," she said, and he could hear the exhaustion, the quaver, in her voice.

"Thought you'd never ask."