Sorry it's been awhile guys. Just with all of the stuff that's been going on lately.. Well, you know. Also, I'd like to point out that the drugs in this fic were going to be used before Cory's death so I hope that doesn't bother anyone too much. Okay well here's your new chapter. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review.

Rachel was sitting on the side of the bed in the dark, mortified. What had she just let happen? Getting up slowly, she walked, or really stumbled, over to her cracked mirror. The moonlight made her figure visible as she examined the eye that Brody had abused. It wasn't as swollen as it had been a few moments after he had first hit her, but it still caused her sight to be blurry. The black and purple colors that tie-dyed her face were depressing factors seeing as Brody wouldn't be able to use her for any business until it was light enough that she could cover it up with make-up. That was why he attempted to keep his temper under control as much as possible; nobody liked damaged goods. You couldn't sell something that was already broken. Used was okay. People go to Goodwill to buy used items, but they'll put whatever it is back if it's stained. That's what she was. Stained. She wasn't just stained from this, though. As she stared into the mirror letting that thought sink in, she finally allowed herself to feel all of the hate she felt towards herself that had been pushed away for the past several years. It all came flooding back at once. Whore. Slut. Ugly. Worthless. Waste of space. Unloved. Unwanted. Used. Fake. Stained. The sobs began rippling through her chest as her hands slowly moved up towards her head, shaking. Her fingers tangled themselves in her hair as the tears streamed down her face, her stomach heaving. She sank to the ground, closing her eyes as the disgusting details of the day's events rushed back.

"You what?" Brody questioned Finn, moving closer and raising a fist before waving in his two goons that always followed him around, doing whatever dirty work he needed done.

Rachel's jaw dropped slightly, horrified at what was about to go down between the two guys. Her eyes landed on Finn, the guy who had been with her the night before when Marley had been taken, and who had let her get away. Also, the guy who came by to check and make sure she was okay… Backtracking. That's at least why he said he'd come to find her. But… how did he do that, anyways? Find her? Shaking her head, she pushed that though from her mind and just focusing on the fact that he was there and was about to get whooped by Brody and his goons. Making a rash decision, she decided to intervene.

Swallowing her sobs, Rachel took a step towards Brody, "He just dropped by to give me a pack of cigarettes. I was out and I didn't know when you'd be back by. I know that you don't like me to wander around the city alone." After being in the system for as long as she had, her acting skills were almost to a tee. She could probably have been on Broadway. Continuing to step towards him, her voice dropped until it was as if she was purring at him, "Do you?" By this time, Rachel had placed a hand on his chest while the other was resting in her back pocket, her teeth barely gripping the side of her bottom lip as she gazed up at him.

She felt Brody move his gaze from her to Finn, who was standing behind her. Rachel closed her eyes, praying that Finn wouldn't try and change the story, that he would agree so they could both avoid further injuries. He apparently had given some sort of confirmation because she was sucked back into a conversation with Brody, although the only thing she heard was "…your eye won't be the worst of your problems." Then her face was brought to his and their lips were forced together. She looped her fingers in his belt loops, simply leaving them there, not wanting to do anything more with him, even though it was obvious he had other thoughts in mind.

Opening her eyes while Brody's lips were on her neck, she saw Finn turn and walk into the kitchen for a moment before turning around and walking back, not even giving her a second glance. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to push the embarrassment and sense of stupidity she felt right then. Taking her urgency as an invitation, Brody moved his lips back to hers and moved his hands up to her -

"NO!" Rachel yelled, slamming both of her fists against the ground. The tears had stopped, but her cheeks once again burned with the memory of the embarrassment felt earlier. She attempted to find something else, anything else to focus on. All of a sudden there was a sharp throb in her injured eye. Ice, she thought, I need ice.

Walking into the kitchen, Rachel opened up the freezer, sighing at the fact she didn't have an automatic ice maker but grateful that she'd thought to fill up her ice trays before her water stopped working. She emptied a couple of cubes into a washcloth and held it up to her eye before turning to go lay in bed. On her way out, she noticed a piece of paper on the other side of the sink she was sure hadn't been there before. The young woman picked up the note with her free hand and held it up until the moonlight lit the words enough that she could read them.

Rachel,

In case you're ever in need of a friend.

364-555-9283

Finn

Rachel lay the note back down on the counter, an immovable smile settled on her face as she made her way over to the bed. Laying down, she turned to where she could see the city. As she watched the cars moving down in the streets, her mind wandered to Finn. He had been so kind to her and she had no idea why. Then she thought about his smile… How only one corner of his mouth had curve upwards when he'd raised his hand for her to shake after asking her name while they were making out. How his lips had felt on hers, so soft yet seemingly made to mesh with hers. How it had felt to tangle his hair in her fingers, such an intimate move. With those visions dancing around in her head, she closed her eyes, safe from the replaying images of Brody earlier in the day, and allowed her tired body to find sleep.

Rachel groaned as the horn of some impatient drive blared through her window and into her ears, causing her to wake up and face the world. Her eyes fluttered opened and were greeted by the sight of her ceiling. Laying there for a few more minutes, her thoughts returned to the previous day's activities and she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head violently, attempting to force the images from her mind. It happened and now it was over with. There had been plenty of times when close to the same situation had happened before, but this time, she'd never felt so dirty about it. Perhaps it was because Finn was there… Finn! Immediately she sat up, and slowly let her gaze reach the counter, where his note still lay. A small smile formed on her lips, even though her brain was sighing heavily, happy that part wasn't a dream.

Standing up, Rachel walked over to the counter and simply let her fingers trace the outline of the note, battling with herself on what she should do. While her heart was urging her to call, something was holding her back. Something was telling her it wasn't a very good idea to get involved with this man. Then again, look at Brody. She'd gotten involved with him.

I obviously don't have very good judgment when it comes to people, she thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

Taking in a deep breath Rachel grabbed the note and shoved it into her pocket, deciding to take a chance on him. On Finn. She liked the way her body felt when she thought his name. It was like a million shivers crawling down her spine all at once, as her heart began to race; a good feeling.

Rachel turned and walked over to her small dresser and opened up the top drawer. Stripping herself of the shirt she had on in one swift motion, she looked at the three shirts left. She'd need to tell Brody she needed some every day clothes. Her heart sunk a little as she realized what she'd most likely have to do in order to get what she desired. Blinking the thoughts away, Rachel decided on the blue tank top that fit nicely to her ultra thin body. When she grabbed the shirt, she jumped as a small bag full of white powder fell on to the floor. It was the stash she'd bought from Puck. After Finn had helped her escape that night, she must have hid the bag under the shirt and just forgotten about it.

Taking a long look at the bag, Rachel poured a little out on top of the dresser and snorted it up, hoping this would help her have the courage to go through with the phone call and possible rendezvous with Finn. She slipped on the shirt and began walking towards the door, her mind already getting a little hazy. The door opened with ease so Brody must have forgotten to lock it on his way out last night, or had one of his goons unlock it while she was still asleep.

"Hi, Mrs. Pillsbury!" Rachel exclaimed; the fact that she was stoned wasn't hidden very well, waving a little too wildly for her neighbor's taste and earning her a very strange glance as the woman gave a small wave and went back inside of her apartment after retrieving her mail.

She skipped down the stairs and out the door, onto the streets of Chicago.

"Hudson," The Chief said, banging his hand down on the desk in front of him, "I'm not going to ask you again. What did you find out about the girl?"

"Chief, I told you, nothing happened. I found out where she lives and I went to see her. She wasn't there." Finn attempted to control his breathing and keep from fidgeting because he knew he was lying to the one man that could completely ruin this girl's life. Rachel's life. Keeping his gaze latched onto the chief's, he boldly allowed another statement to exit his mouth, "You can believe me or not, but that's what happened."

A few silent seconds passed as the chief stared Finn down, contemplating whether to believe him or not. His fingers made small drumming noises as he beat them one by one on the desk that he was hovering over. Finally, his eyes left Finn's and landed on Ryder, who had been asked to sit in on the confrontation. "You two are like brothers, right? Did he tell you what happened?" That was just like the chief, never trusting, always needing a second witness. In some cases it would be beneficial; in this case it was just flat out annoying.

Ryder opened his mouth to say that Finn had only called asking for information about an address when Finn spoke up, "He actually went with me." Finn kept his eyes on Ryder, hoping he would get the memo to just go along with it.

Glancing several times back and forth between Finn and the chief, Ryder said, "Yeah, I was."

Slamming his hands on the desk again, the chief exclaimed, "Well why didn't you speak up before, boy?! We've wasted valuable time! Now get out of my office and back onto the streets. This case needs to be taken care of!" Then he sat down in his chair and pulled a file out of his desk drawer, spilling the contents inside of it onto the desk and looking through them. He didn't even waste another glance up as Ryder and Finn exited into the hallway.

"Dude, what the hell was that?!" Ryder demanded in a hushed voice as he struggled to keep up with Finn's pace.

Not fazed by his best friend's harsh tone, Finn continued walking unwilling to stop for a moment and explain. He just needed to get out of there and away from any chance of the chief hearing what had actually gone down. If he found out, Finn knew it would all be over with. He just needed some time.

"Finn!" Ryder whispered louder, running some to catch up. "Finn, stop." He grabbed Finn's arm, twisted the door knob of a storage room they were passing, and pulled both Finn and himself into the room, closing the door behind them.

"What the hell!" Finn yelled, moving towards the door and getting even angrier when Ryder moved into his path. "Ryder, I need to get out of here. I'll explain everything once we're outside."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Ryder shook his head and planted his feet. "No, you're going to explain everything right now. You just made me lie to the chief! If he ever finds out, we'll both be suspended if not fired! Are you trying to get me kicked off the force?!" His hands were flying everywhere as he made gestures and angrily pointed a finger in Finn's face.

"No! I just.. I just need some time." Running a hand through his hair, Finn turned around and began to pace the room. "She… She was there yesterday." He paused, and glanced over his shoulder at Ryder who was waiting for a better explanation. "She's in some deep shit. I just want a chance to make sure that when all of this goes down, she's going to be okay. That work is her life, and I know that doesn't sound like much, and it definitely doesn't sound like anything good, but it is. This… This Brody guy has this hold over her. And the violence…" Finn's voice trailed off as he remembered what it'd been like to watch Brody hit Rachel. "Well it's bad." That was where he stopped. There was no need to even bring up the unexplainable feelings he had.

Ryder watched Finn as he continued to pace the floor, probably a million other things racing through his mind that he just didn't want to say out loud. Sighing, he said, "Okay."

"Okay?" Finn turned his head to look at Ryder, his eyebrows furrowed.

Nodding, Ryder replied, "Okay. I'll help; whatever you need. This girl is obviously important to you." Finn's breath caught. "You want to help her to a better life. I get it. You see so many cases like hers; you just want to be able to help at least the ones you can. That's important to you."

Letting out the breath he'd been holding, Finn let one corner of his mouth tilt upwards into a smile, "Thanks buddy, it means a lot." He walked towards the door and Ryder moved out of the way. Placing his hand on the knob, he turned his head, "You know… There is actually something you can do for me."

"That's impossible!" Finn yelled, throwing notebook across the room, causing a lamp to fall off of a table and onto the floor, shattering. "Oh… my bad."

Ryder waved a hand, dismissing it, and then proceeded to massage his temples. "I'm sorry man, the address is the only thing that comes up with I search 'Rachel Berry'. We know that's right because you went there and watched her exchange spit with the guy that beats her up, but there's nothing more than that.

After they'd reached Ryder's house, Finn had told him how the previous day had actually gone, still leaving out his mixed emotions of course. He didn't say much, simply nodded and asked a question every now and then. Once he said the Brody sounded like an asshole, to which Finn agreed.

"She has to have some sort of history though." Finn said, walking over to Ryder and plopping down in the empty chair.

Ryder banged his fingers along the keyboard, waited for a moment, and shook his head again, "I've tried and searched everything I can possibly think of. If this 'Rachel Berry' girl had any sort of past I would have found it." Considering how good Ryder was with computers, Finn knew that was true.

It just didn't make any sense though. She'd let him know about some of her past: the baby, her parents, etc… None of that was enough to do an extensive search. A lot of teens got pregnant at 18. Finn's heart sank.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Ryder questioned.

Pulling Finn out of his moment, he frowned, "Nothing that would help."

"Well I'm sorry man, but there's not much else I can do for you then… Maybe she'll call you and you can figure something out. You did say you left her your number." Ryder shrugged, getting up out of the chair and walking into the kitchen. "You want something?"

"Water's fine." Finn called back, taking out his phone and spinning it around in his fingers. Part of him wanted desperately for her to call, but then there was the other half of him. The half that was horrifyingly confused by what he was feeling. The half that knew if he got involved, it might bring up things from his past that he didn't want brought back up. The half that was afraid of what it would do it him, but most importantly of what it would do to her.

Then it rang.

Unknown number.

"Hello?" Finn said after hitting answer.

"Hello? Finn? This is Rachel."

His heart dropped and then sprang up, leaping about in his chest. "Hi."

"Hey!" She sounded more…. Happy than usual.

"Uh.. What's up?" Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"Nothing! You said to call if I was ever in need of a friend so… here I am!" Her voice was much too peppy. Something was off. Then again, he'd only met the girl twice. How was he to know what was normal for her?

"Oh, yeah okay um…" He looked up as Ryder reentered the room, pointing to his phone. Ryder mouthed, Is it her?, as he handed Finn his water. Finn nodded, taking the bottle, before returning to the call. "How about we meet at Le Bar Chicago? I know it's down near your place." And far enough away from here I won't have to worry about running into anyone. He kind of felt bad for thinking that but…

"Okay! I'll meet you there in an hour?"

"Sounds good."

"Bye Finn!" Her small voice rang in his ears as she ended the call, the dial tone now playing.

Hanging up, Finn took a big swig of the water then stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ryder asked.

"I've got a date with Rachel." Finn replied, placing his phone back in his pocket and walking out the door.

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