A/N: seeing as I'm already up to the fourth chapter, and still haven't posted any part of this story I'm just going to assume it's going well, and say THANKS. ;)

Chapter Four

The room they entered was much like the entry; the walls were painted in pastel colors and the floor was carpeted. A few square tables and chairs were scattered around the room, but there were no other signs of people ever having been in the room.

Emily was taken into a separate room, allowed to go in on her own this time. She looked around and realized it was an office; papers stacked all over a desk, the walls were lined with bookcases and file cabinets. Unsure of what to do with herself, she took a seat on one of the couch chairs in front of the desk, and enjoyed the feeling of the soft cushion beneath her.

Her head quickly turned to the door when it was pushed open a couple minutes later as Mrs. Sheffer walked in and closed it behind herself. "Would you like something to drink Emily? Perhaps some tea?"

"No, thanks."

"Water? You look very thirsty. You probably are hungry too; it's been awhile since you last ate. I'll have them bring in a sandwich for you shortly." Before Emily could answer a water bottle that was hidden behind one of the filing cabinets was placed in her hands. She gave Mrs. Sheffer a small nod of thanks before opening it and drinking more than half of it down, only just realizing how thirsty she actually had been. "Don't worry, I have more, drink," Mrs. Sheffer assured her.

Mrs. Sheffer sat down at the desk and opened a drawer to pull out another two water bottles and place them on the edge of the desk in front of Emily. Despite her thirst, Emily just finished the one water bottle and waited for the real purpose of why she's here to be brought out into the open.

"I have some good news for you. However, I can only set things in motion if you agree to comply with me today." Mrs. Sheffer leaned forward.

"I thought we sorted this…"

"Emily, please, I can get you out of here and into safety. I'll make it nice and easy for you, okay?"

Emily nodded slowly.

"I've managed to get you out with just a warning. The private judge I worked with looked at your outstanding grades and took notice that the fight yesterday was your only offense on record. We both agreed that you have the potential to leave the system without the likelihood of ever committing an offense again. You just have to sign this statement right here, confessing to having done such offense and you'll be one giant step closer to being 'sorted.'"

"Okay..." Emily accepted the pen handed to her and signed the document. She tried to force herself to read over the print but it was too long and she kept reading the same sentences over and over again without getting further or actually taking any of it in, so she just pushed it away in hopes she didn't sign anything she shouldn't have.

"Emily, I'm going to be very to the point with you, it hasn't been said outright to you yet and I want to make sure you understand, considering the severity of this is very high... Are you okay with that?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, Emily, it matters very much so. I'm not going to force you into anything, whether it means you hearing something or you doing something. I'm here to help you and that means giving you choices."

"Okay, go on..."

"I suspect abuse."

"What?"

"Specifically, verbal and physical abuse, more than likely from a figure at home."

"It's not."

"Emily… I need you to be completely honest with me. I can offer you protection if you tell me you need it."

"There's nothing you can do. Don't you think I know? I've lived with her for seventeen years! Don't you think I've tried to protect myself? It can't be done. Don't waste your time..."

"For fuck sake, Emily, this isn't a waste of time! You aren't a waste of time. You need to understand that right now you have the opportunity to help yourself, and right now you're hurting yourself more than the person who gave you those bruises, by denying my help, by continually denying you're worth anything."

She isn't sure whether it's because it's the truth or because Mrs. Sheffer was acting genuinely angry only out of concern for the sake of Emily's welfare, that Emily started to cry. She was overwhelmed and didn't want to be there, she wanted to run away but she knew she couldn't, she had nowhere to go. "I need help..." Emily confessed in a whisper through her tears. Mrs. Sheffer quickly got up and pulled Emily into her arms, careful not to squish Emily's injured arm, yet hold her tight enough to give the girl some proper comfort and sense of security.

"It's going to be okay. I promise… that's all you needed to say. Shhh. Shhh. It's okay now."

Emily was laying down on one of the couches in the lobby, when she opened her eyes and saw the woman who had been assigned her officer, sitting on a chair next to her. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah. Kind of…" Emily sat up and stretched her arm while she yawned.

"You slept for a few hours, there."

"What happens now?" Emily asked quietly.

"I think Mrs. Sheffer plans on telling you, she should be out here in a minute or so…. Speaking of…"

Mrs. Sheffer strolled into the room and sat down next to Emily on the couch. "Feeling better, Emily?"

"A bit, thanks."

"I'm very glad to see you got some rest…"

"Would you- Could you just…?"

"Get to the point?" Mrs. Sheffer finished the sentence Emily was having a hard time getting out. Still lost for words, Emily just nodded in response. "I suppose I can; your claims are being investigated and based on the visible amount of physical harm you've taken whether or not it's because you are telling the truth, it's been decided that until the investigation comes to some decent evidential conclusions, it would be in your best interest to be placed in a foster home."

Emily's face was unreadable; her eyes just blinked with a blank expression, her mouth was not smiling nor was it frowning.

"Okay, Emily?"

"I-I'm not sure."

"I'd be checking in on you regularly; you and I would have a session together once a week at least… unless it became necessary to see each other more frequently. If anything were to make you feel uncomfortable you'd have a mobile I'll be giving you when I drop you off so that you can have a direct line to me at any time. If you feel like your life is in danger then you can call the police and they'd take you into protection under high priority. You're still a minor, being seventeen, so you will have to listen to your temporary guardian, although I promise they only have your best interests at heart with any of their rules…"

"I still… I just, I don't know."

"How about I introduce you to the arranged foster parent and then allow you to decide? I think you'll be more than happy with who I selected to foster you."

"I guess."

"Emily, to be fair, I really want you to try, okay? The easier you get on with your foster parent, the easier it'll be for us to complete the investigation, knowing you're well taken care of."

"Okay."

"I'd like to leave now, she's expecting us."

"Now?" Emily asked surprised by how quickly this was all happening.

"Breath Emily, control your breathing. There's nothing to worry about. I'm not going to leave your side until you say so." Mrs. Sheffer put her arm around Emily's shoulders and escorted her outside, leaving the guard behind after a few kind words of good luck and thanks were swapped.

She helped Emily buckle into the front seat of her small, black BMW and shut the passenger door before walking around the car and getting in the driver's seat. "I hope you don't mind the radio, I just am not a big fan of silence. Although if you do mind… feel free to say so… and I'll turn it off." She turned up the radio to a pop station she thought Emily would enjoy, like most normal teenagers. Mrs. Sheffer didn't really care what kind of music they listened to, just anything to fill in the empty silence of the car ride, knowing Emily was probably not in the mood for talking…

Emily wasn't really paying any attention to the music, she just watched out the window, looking at all the signs that meant they were going further and further away from the place she was supposed to call 'home'. She had nodded off fairly soon after the amount of signs slowed and they drove into the country.

She felt a few gentle taps on her shoulder and woke up, noticing the music was turned off and the car wasn't moving. "Emily, we're here." Her big brown eyes slowly fluttered open, she thought they were going to be in the country because that was the last type of landscape she saw out the window, but now she was looking at road lined with town houses.

Mrs. Sheffer got out of the car to open Emily's door and help her up. Emily didn't have any bags with her and wondered where she was going to get stuff she'd need for the amount of time she'd be staying in the foster home. She hoped that she wouldn't be given some stash of blue jumpsuits… Her worries changed when they were standing in front of one of the houses, What if they don't like me? What if they are secretly just as bad as Jenna? What if they give me back to Jenna? What if Jenna finds me? This could make everything worse…

The social worker rang the doorbell and gave Emily a gentle squeeze of the shoulder before the door was swung open by a middle-aged blonde woman. "Hello, love, you must be Emily!" She quickly pulled the smaller girl into a hug despite the squeal of objection.

"Gina, her arm is broken."

"Oh, fuck! Sorry! Shit, I'm not supposed to swear in front of either of you…" Gina let go of Emily to cover her mouth. "Old habits die hard…" For a second Emily allowed herself to be amused by the woman.

"Its okay, Gina, she's not as young as the other ones…" Mrs. Sheffer excused the behavior.

"Certainly not... Seventeen, right? By far the oldest we've ever had around here; that is if you don't include my biological seventeen-year-old daughter…Come in, come in… let's all sit at the table and have a cup of tea, unless you prefer coffee on the couch?" Gina chuckled lightly while guiding the two others inside the house. "Naomi's upstairs working, always busy that girl… So Emily, I'm told you do well in school, like my Naomi, that's very nice."

Emily understood that Gina making the association between her and Naomi wasn't some way she was trying to sneak in a way to brag about her daughter like Jenna would have done; it was more about finding common grounds, genuinely wanting to relate and share that proud feeling with her. "Um, yeah, I guess… kept my mind occupied…" The smaller girl wasn't sure why she added that last part but noticed the shared glance between Mrs. Sheffer and Gina…

Three high-pitched beeps went off and Mrs. Sheffer reached for the pager attached to the skirt of her suit. "Christ, there's an emergency at the station… Emily, may I have a word with you in private?"

"Oh, don't mind me; I'll just leave you both to it for a moment." Gina left the room brushing away the thanks Mrs. Sheffer was throwing her way.

"You're going to leave me now, aren't you...?" Emily said bluntly.

"Only if you think you're okay without me."

"I don't need you." Emily was now bothered.

"Don't answer me out of spite, Emily. We are going to have to help you solve your authority and independence issues. I'm trying to help you and if you want me to stay I'll stay. You have no reason to feel ashamed if that's the case, it's what I'm here for."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's a learning process. I'm an adult and I understand what you're going through is very complicated and overwhelming, and that sometimes it's easier to put up a front and push everything away than to make hard choices that could end up with scary consequences. So, to clarify, I understand you don't need me, I'm asking if you'd like me to stay with you and Gina longer."

"She's okay."

"Good, I'm proud of you, Emily. You're being very brave. Here's the cell phone I promised. There's all the numbers you may need labeled in there, including my own. Don't hesitate to call me, even if it's for something small. If you need to talk, I want you to know that either I or Gina are here for you. Gina will help you get anything else you need while you stay here, so don't worry about money or anything like that. And try not to worry about those other things too much, okay?"

Emily didn't answer. She didn't think she had the power to not worry about the other things because everything around her reminded her of the reason she had to stay at a foster home in the first place… She just gave a look that Mrs. Sheffer would understand that meant she thought be okay.

"I'll talk to you in the morning. Remember to call me for anything at all if you need to before then. I can even pick you up at anytime at all if you need me to. Don't hesitate. Good luck, Emily! I'm going to keep my promises! Oh! And Gina should have some painkillers I sent over earlier for your arm in case it bothers you, and some sleep medication as well to help you get back into a regular schedule. Bye, dear! Bye, Gina!" Mrs. Sheffer gave Emily's visible hand a squeeze, (something she seemed to be getting a lot of recently), before exiting the town house.

Emily wandered into the hallway near the entryway, unsure where Gina went, and ended up looking at a few framed pictures hung up on the wall. She saw a few pictures of a teenaged blonde girl and guessed it they were probably Gina when she was younger until she saw a different picture with Gina and the teenage girl from the other pictures together… She then remembered Gina mentioning something about having a daughter her age… the one who was apparently into school and stuff…

Her head snapped up in the direction of the staircase when she heard someone coming down them. The sound frightened her, the way it reminded her of hearing the sounds of feet hitting the wood above her head when she was locked under the staircase at Jenna's house. She fell to the floor because her knees were trembling so hard from being frightened. It was as if she was back under the staircase locked up inside the closet again.

"Shit, are you okay?"

Before Emily actually noticed what the girl crouching in front of her had said, she noticed the girl's piercing blue eyes looking at her. It took her a second to compose herself, realizing she was staring. She had already forgotten that she fell and had a disturbing flashback a few seconds ago…

"What?" Emily asked, unsure of what was just said to her.

"Did you hit your head on something? How many fingers am I holding up?" Naomi didn't realize that Emily was just distracted and didn't hear her first question. She was actually concerned that the smaller girl did something to affect her thought processing.

"Three."

"Oh, good. You're okay…"

"Um, yeah, thanks." Emily attempted to lift herself off the floor but ended up falling on top of the blonde who was crouched in front of her. "Shit, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, let me help you." Naomi helped Emily up so that they were both standing upright.

The shorter girl realized the blonde was staring at where her arm should have been poking through one of the sleeves. "Oh, it's just broken."

"Broken…? I think you need to have an arm for it to be… broken…" Naomi chuckled, amused by her own dark humor…

Surprisingly Emily found it funny, "I'm not missing any arms, just my broken one is inside the jumpsuit. Hurt too much to bother trying to get it through the stupid sleeve…See?" Emily wiggled her sling a little bit inside the blue jumpsuit; Naomi hadn't noticed the protruding spot before…

"Fuck, I'm stupid." Naomi muttered.

"That's not what I heard…" Emily muttered back.

"Sorry?" A look of confusion passed over Naomi's features.

"I just… I… sorry… I meant nothing by it…" Emily said, embarrassed now.

"No, you obviously meant something by it…"

"Your Mum just um, mentioned something about you being smart." Both girls blushed, only Naomi's looked much worse because her skin was much whiter compared to Emily's olive-y complexion.

"That's embarrassing…" Naomi mumbled.

"At least she's proud of you…" Emily mumbled back…

"Yeah well… at least… fuck it, you win." Naomi mumbled in return, while she shifted on her feet.

Both girls were startled when Gina walked in, "Jesus you girls mumble a lot, you're both going to have to start annunciating and speaking louder if you ever expect anyone else to understand you."

"Mum! Were you just watching us?"

"Possibly... I was just hoping you'd be alright…"

"Are you joking? She doesn't look very threatening, she's tiny… As much as I know you love me and only want to protect me, I honestly think you need to stop over-analyzing these things…" Naomi sighed.

"I was actually talking about, Emily, hun." Gina chuckled.

"What?" Naomi was clearly surprised.

"You can be a bit of a bitch to new people, love. Nothing personal…"

"You've got to be shitting me…" Naomi mumbled…

"What, I can't hear you love… speak English…" Gina chuckled again.

"I understood her." Emily said clearly, her words caused Naomi to look up and meet her eyes, both sharing a quick smile, perhaps some sort of truce was made in that moment, before looking away from each other.

"Right then, I suppose you two will only be communicating with each other the way you're both mumbling so much… when you want to tell me what you girls want for dinner just write it down on a piece of paper so I we don't have any misunderstandings…" Gina continued to chuckle and left the room to go get started in the kitchen and clean up a few dishes to set the table.

The both stood in silence for a minute before Naomi couldn't bare it anymore. "Don't believe her, I'm not a bitch…"

"I think she was just teasing you…"

"Right, well, just in case," Naomi held out her hand, "I'm Naomi Campbell. I swear, if you laugh at my name, I will change my mind and be a complete bitch right here and now."

Emily bit her lip not to laugh, slightly scared at the possibility of losing her first ever friend. Is that what this was? The beginnings of a friendship? Emily had no idea where that thought came from, and quickly pushed it aside in order to be polite, "Emily… um…" She didn't really want to tell Naomi her last name, would prefer not to admit it out loud, because it wasn't as if she was ever really a part of the 'Fitch' family anyway.

"Nice to meet you Emily 'Um'…." Their hands touched and they both quickly pulled away, each feeling goose-bumps run up their arms the instant they had felt each other's softness. "So… Emily 'Um', I'm not one to judge, but may I ask why you are wearing a jumpsuit?"

"I had to go to jail for a day…"

"What?" Naomi's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened a bit. She had been expecting some sort of answer like Emily only had a second to grab something to wear, or that Emily worked at some type of gas station, or that Emily…something, less... well… anything but 'I had to go to jail for a day.'

"I um, beat up a guy…" Emily mumbled, trying to look away from those piercing blue eyes and find something else to possibly ask about and change the topic.

"You… beat up a guy? Are you like hiding a metal arm inside that jumpsuit or something?"

"No.… do I really look that weak and pathetic?"

"Maybe it's just cause you're small and bandaged up that I'm finding this hard to believe."

"Well, those were from something else… the guy didn't really do much to provoke me, he didn't fight back either…"

"Just some bloke who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"I suppose."

"Shit." Naomi shook her head with resemblance of disbelief. "Right, well, I have no reason not to believe you… yet… so the side of me that 'doesn't get on well with new people' is going to offer you a change of clothes…"

"That would be really great…thanks."

Naomi nodded her head in the direction of the steps, "Why don't you go up first, so I can be behind you in case you um, get off balance, being one-armed and all…"

"You sure you don't just want to stare at my ass?" Emily blushed immediately after she said that, having no idea where that came from. She inwardly kicked herself for being so stupid. She hoped Naomi wouldn't take it personally as some kind of lesbian crack, when she hardly even knew the girl.

"Yeah, that baggy jumpsuit just makes you look super sexy…" Naomi rolled her eyes. Emily let out a breath of relief she wasn't aware she had been holding, knowing that Naomi's retort back had meant no harm was done. "Come on, up you go, sexy pants…" Naomi chuckled playfully, and bit her lip.

Emily gave in and climbed up the steps, secretly thankful that Naomi was behind her because she ended up tripping and nearly tumbling all the way back down… twice.

"On your left, there." Naomi said from behind her. The shorter girl entered the room and audibly gasped in awe, never having seen something so uniquely and intriguingly decorated. There was a chain of little orange bulbs hanging from one end of the room to the other, political posters she had seen in random places when she left home scattered on the walls, and most importantly, the bed was humungous compared to the cot she used to sleep in. She couldn't resist taking a step closer and feeling it with her hand, pressing it gently as if the whole thing could collapse if she touched it with any more force.

Naomi noticed the unusual behavior and decided to take a chance at pushing the smaller girl, "You can try it out if you like…"

"What?" Emily was taken aback. She hadn't ever slept on something that looked so soft and comfortable. Just by the way the mattress gave easily melded beneath her hand, it instantly gave her a feeling of relaxation.

"Go on, climb on, give it a test. It's a lot comfier than it looks."

"What do you mean, it looks incredibly comfortable…" Emily looked back at the bed, confirming her statement.

"I'm only kidding… you can try it out while I look for something that'll fit you… which may prove to be a bit difficult, you're quite a bit shorter than I am…"

"Wow." Emily slowly lowered herself onto the bed, backwards so she didn't land on her arm. She used her feet to center herself, allowing her eyes to flutter shut and just feel the complete comfort swallow her whole.

A minute later Naomi turned around with a t-shirt and pair of shorts in hand, "These may be a little bit big... but they're as close as I thi-" Naomi saw Emily's arm inside her jumpsuit evenly rising and falling to the pace of her breathing. "sure, test it out… fucking hell. Should've had you test out the one in the guest room you're were supposed to be staying in... Emily?" She put the clothes on the end of the bed frame and walked over to the side, now able to hear the soft sighs as Emily exhaled in her sleep.

She lifted Emily's good arm an inch off the blanket and let go of it, watching it fall limp onto the bed, Emily didn't stir due to the motion. "Out cold. Alrighty then... Goodnight, Emily 'Um', I'll see you in the morning…" Naomi sighed and turned out the lights before she went downstairs to find out what her Mum made for dinner.

I really hope that I've managed to stay in character even though this is AU… it's a bit of a complicated task… that being said, leave a review and let me know what you think… LOVES YA k thanks.