A/N: Hey guys! So this is my first multi-chapter fic. I just have one other fic, a Puckleberry oneshot. If you've read it, this is nothing like that at all. This is an angst ridden future fic. Very angsty, very. I don't know how long it will be yet, but definitely not short. Anyways I hope you like it, reviews are love :D
Disclaimer: Glee absolutely does not belong to me, even if I wish it did.
Rachel Berry had been sitting at her desk, staring at the phone placed in front of her for the last 20 minutes. To a stranger it would appear as if she was her perfectly composed self. However inside, Rachel was about 2 minutes away from a full blown panic attack. It also wouldn't be her first one that day.
Come on Rachel, you have to do this. Pick up the phone and dial. Don't let the fear get to you, just pick it up and dial. It's the only way to guarantee her safety.
_
Earlier that day, a student had come into her office, looking a little frightened, and very shy. She didn't seem to know what to do, so she just shoved an envelope towards her, and sat down, pointedly looking everywhere except Rachel.
Rachel had slowly read through the seemingly innocent letters. At first they started out sweet and romantic, like your average high school secret admirer, but as she read on, Rachel noticed the change in the writers tone, from admiration to anger. It was almost imperceptible, but Rachel was all too familiar with notes like this. She had asked the girl, a freshman by the name of Becky gathering from the letters, where she had gotten them. The girl had quietly replied that they had been showing up in her locker first thing in the morning since about a month prior.
Rachel had decided to call the Lima police officer assigned to McKinley High after sending Becky to class stating she would call her back in later. Officer Derek Green arrived a short time later and had also read over the letters, however he insisted until there was an outright threat, or the writer announced them self, there was little the Lima Police Department could do to help. Apologizing, Officer Green got up and left, telling Rachel to call if there were any developments.
That was when Rachel lost it. She had run to the nearest bathroom, feeling the bile rise in her throat. After emptying her stomach she had slid to the floor where she broke down completely, giving in to the panic that had been rising since she had read those letters sent to Becky. They were so similar to the ones she had started receiving a little over two years ago. She felt the past pulling her under.
His words taunted her as he stood over her with the knife in his hand. Repeating the phrases from letters she'd been receiving for 6 months. Proclaiming his love, his need to be with her. Rachel struggled in the bindings around her wrists and ankles. She could feel the ropes digging into her skin making it raw, but she couldn't just lay there and not fight back. He laughed and just kept talking repeating over again that she was his, how he longed for her and watched her perform, knowing he had to have her. It made her sick to think he had been watching her and she had never realized it.
Rachel finally began to pull herself back to the present.
Its okay Rachel, pull out of it. There's still time to protect Becky, this won't end the same. She repeated those words in her head over and over again until the panic started to subside. When she had calmed enough, she slowly got to her feet and walked over to the sink. While she rinsed her mouth, and washed her face and hands, she thought about what she could do to protect Becky. The girl was scared, but probably wasn't sure as to what it all meant, what was really happening. Rachel on the other hand knew something was wrong. Those weren't your run of the mill secret admirer letters, and she was downright terrified for the girl.
Rachel had finished her work for the day, and for the next two days before realizing she couldn't put it off any longer, it was already way later than she'd realized.
That was how she ended up back at her desk in the Guidance Office staring at the phone. She knew of one person who would believe her, who would help her protect Becky; however picking up the phone and dialing his number was easier said than done. She knew she would regret making this phone call, but there was really no avoiding it. Tamping down the rising panic once more, Rachel finally squared her shoulders, picked up the phone and dialed.
_
Locking the door behind him as he entered his New York apartment, Noah Puckerman promptly placed his cell, wallet and holstered gun on the table inside the door, and walked immediately into the kitchen. Damn but he needed a beer after the day he'd had. Working in the Special Victims Division of the NYPD had its ups, and more than its fair share of downs. Today was one of those days where he wondered why he did it, why he put himself through seeing these broken women and children, many of whom would never be the same.
There was always that one case though, the one where everything went right, where they caught the bastard, and the victim had closure. Those were the cases that made Puck realize it was all worth it.
Puck also knew that sometimes, catching the bastard that had caused so much pain wasn't always the solution. Sometimes someone had suffered so traumatically that they couldn't be fixed, not even with the help of those who loved them. Come on Puckerman, stop thinking about it, there's nothing more you can do. It's over, get used to it.
He really didn't need to dwell on the past; he'd had one hell of a day to begin with. A young woman had shown up early that morning stating she'd gone to a NYU party the night before and had woke up this morning not remembering a thing past her first drink in her own dorm room. She'd been bruised up pretty bad, and after examination at the hospital, they had determined she had been raped repeatedly. Cases like this made Puck sick. To think of all the horrible things people could do to other humans.
Deciding he needed a distraction Puck flipped on the TV and after some channel surfing settled on watching the hockey game. There wasn't much else on to watch anyways. About half way through the game he got up and got another beer. The hockey game and the first beer just hadn't been enough to clear his mind of the shitty day he'd had.
_
Puck was woken out of a light sleep a little over an hour later to his cell ringing on the table inside the door. "I'm coming" he yelled, realizing full well whoever was on the phone couldn't hear him. Puck hated being woken up, he had a hard time sleeping most nights so he slept when he could.
Stalking over to the phone, he didn't recognize the number but that wasn't unusual, he was bad with phone numbers.
"Ya, this is Puck"
"Hi Noah"
He flinched, he recognized that voice. It couldn't be, not after all this time. "Rachel?"
"Yes, it's me" she replied as the past came crashing down on him.