Chapter 9: Not Like Before

She fumbled around in the pitch black, cursing the placement of the light switch on the far wall.

She heard movement behind her, the door seemed to have drifted closed of its own accord, leaving her utterly enveloped in darkness, "Louis, you're gonna have to come to me, I can't see a thing-"

She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, body turning to stone, her veins flushed with ice as she felt a breath on her neck.

Her sixth sense seemed to screamed, run.

"Surprise Red."

Despite herself, a gasp escaped her throat as her body clenched, shock striking her momentarily non-responsive, as her mind turned, processing a situation she had hoped she would never find her self in again, analysing her admittedly limited options.

She felt the back of his callous hand tracing its way down her forearm, sending an agonising chill shooting through her spine, but as his other hand closed around her opposite wrist, she felt a fire ignite low down in her chest, melting the icy fear that had frozen her to the spot, only to be replaced by pure red fury.

She prepared to lash out, taking a deep breath, readying herself for a fight, she would not lose this time. He would never get the better of her again, she would fight to the death to resist defeat.

But, as if on cue, his wandering hand brushed her stomach, suddenly reminding her of the small, barely there bump, causing the fire of fury to die down, replaced by an anxious squirm in the pit of her stomach, the desire to offend quickly overcome with the need to defend. Their little miracle needed protection, and a fight was far to risky.

She was Donna, her mind was her greatest weapon, and she intended to use it.

"Nick," she spoke calmly, successfully disguising the slight shake in her voice, "let me go."

"Ah, at last, she speaks."

Donna wriggled her wrist, testing his grip. To her surprise it loosened, as he released her. She turned slowly to face him, taking in the outline of his silhouette, his hands raised level to his head in mock surrender. She silently thanked the darkness for impairing her view of those cold, terrifying eyes. Although even in the pitch black she could still make out some of his features, more familiar to her then she'd care to admit, his face forever seared in her memory. His angular jawline decorated but a dusting of stubble, his dark thick eyebrows, menacing to say the least. His short black hair, which she imagined to be greying slightly with the passing of time. He stood at roughly the same height as her in heels, perhaps a little smaller.

"What do you want?" She asked point blank, crossing her arms purposefully over her stomach.

"Always straight to the point with you," he scoffed, taking a small step closer, which she mimicked, stepping backwards, "no, how have you been Nick? What have you been up to?"

She remained silent, her stare burning a hole in the wall behind him, as she glared determinedly over his shoulder.

"Well, as for what I want," he took another pace forward, but she didn't retreat this time, facing him head on, "as I'm sure you remember, I want lots of things, and I always get what I want." He reached to brush her cheek, but she promptly swatted his hand away, in the heat of the moment, her reserve faltered, striking him hard across the face in return.

A move she instantly regretted.

His hand went to the back of her head, gripping a mess of curls as he pulled her head back sharply. She struggled, but it only caused his hold to tighten.

"Nick," she reasoned, clinging to her last ounce of reason, "it doesn't have to be like this – just let me go, you can still walk out of here, you can stop this, just-"

The air was knocked from her lungs as he threw her backwards with a low blow to her abdomen, her head striking the end of table leg as she fell painfully on her back. She hissed as her head throbbed, immediately moving a protective hand to her stomach.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

XXX

Meanwhile, on the roof…

Harvey Specter stood idle, swirling a glass half full of sparkling champagne around as he watched the crowds roar past, the space filled with laughter, chattering, the clinking of crystal flutes, the low hum of the music, all turning to white noise as it fell on Harvey's ears.

His eyes searched the crowd for her. Scanning for a streak of red among the sea of heads. It had been almost twenty minutes since she'd run off in aid of Louis, give me ten minutes, her words echoed in his mind as he glanced at his watch for the umpteenth time, frowning at the Rolex as if he expected it to give him the answers as to why she had not returned yet.

"Mr Specter?"

Harvey turned to see Benjamin, the young man from the IT department, standing nervously in front of him, "I just wanted to congratulate you.. em.." he shifted awkwardly, as shy as ever.

"Thanks Benjamin." Harvey replied with a small nod.

"Where's Donna?"

"Oh, well someone told us Louis was upset so, she went to see what was up with him, you know how he gets.."

"That's odd," he mused, "I saw Mr Litt leave just over an hour ago with his fiancé, I over heard something about Ms Sazs having a migraine.."

"What? Really?" Harvey's Brow creased in confusion. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Louis or Shelia since they arrived almost four hours ago, and it wasn't like either of the pair to sit on the sidelines of a party, always at the centre of the action, mingling, dancing, chatting.

Something wasn't right. Why wouldn't Donna have returned if she couldn't find Louis downstairs?

"I- em, I have to go." Harvey mumbled, placing his champagne flute clumsily on the bar, spilling almost all of what remained.

He hurried off in the direction of the elevator, leaving a bemused and somewhat curious Benjamin standing alone.

Harvey pushed his way through the vast crowd, ignoring shouts of congratulations and greetings he received from nameless guests.

Call it telepathy, instinct, intuition, but he knew there was something wrong, it was almost as if he could hear her call out to him from where ever she was.

He had to find her.

XXX

Her head spun, tiny bursts of colour distorting her vision, already impaired by the pitch black dark of the room. With some difficulty, she reached up and grasped the corner of the table, pulling herself to her feet, scanning the darkness, locating the thin ribbon of light that escaped from the crack in the door.

But her heart sank as she realised that in the unlikely event she did make it to the door, she would never get to the elevator before he caught her, it would be a game of cat and mouse, and she didn't like those odds. Her heart beat a little faster as panic began to overwhelm any sense of reason or calm she had tried so desperately to hold on to.

It was fight or flight, and flight didn't seem to be an option anymore.

She turned on her heel, gulping as she faced him, "I'm going to walk out of here," she began, raising her hands defensively, "I'll return to the party, act like nothing happened-"

Without warning he took hold of her upper arms, forcing her backwards until her back collided with the metal bones of the shelving until. She whined, her already aching torso complaining from the sudden impact, another dose of dizziness taking its toll.

"For an actress," he laughed, one hand brushing the tangles of red hair from her face, earning a cringe from Donna, while the other closed threateningly around her throat, "you always were a terrible liar."

"I'm sorry," he mimicked the words she had spoken to him all those years ago, when she'd turned down his offers for the fourth or fifith time, "I'm just not interested in you like that. We both know you we're just playing hard to get, you just love a chase don't you."

"No," she shook her head, "Nick, no means no. You can't justify what you did to me, you raped me. I was never interested in you, I went out with you out of pity, thinking that at the very least we could be friends, that's my mistake for always trying to see the best in people."

There it was, the flicker in his eye she feared, that glimmer of evil, of anger.

His grip around her neck tightened slightly as she squirmed, "please," the last thing she had wanted to do was beg, but she could see no other option.

"Please," she gasped for air as his hold loosened, only to close again, stronger this time, "please, I'm pregnant" she choked.

For a split second, his menacing gaze seemed to falter, thrown off guard by the unexpected admission, but his eyes soon narrowed again, "maybe you aren't such a bad actress, I can't decide if you're telling the truth or not."

For a moment, Donna thought that he might actually let her go, that she – they, would make it out of this relatively unharmed. But then she felt him push her further back against the cold metal cage behind her, his elbow resting purposefully on her chest, a familiar crushing sensation burning her lungs.

She struck out with all her energy, struggling with every shred of power she could muster, but her body screamed out for air, her muscles felt limp. Her eyes widened, as she pleaded with him silently.

"You think I care?" He laughed, his face coming so close to her own that she could feel his breath on her lips, as if he was teasing her, the lack of oxygen beginning to take effect, "you are nothing to me, just a thing, something you use when you need it, and throw away when you're done. I used you all those years ago, it back fired on me, but not this time, this time, I'll win, and you're going to help me with that," she felt his free hand trailing up her thigh, lifting her skirt, inch by inch, she felt the hot tears that she'd been holding back sting her cheeks as they fell, "but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun along the way."

Just like before.

Just like before, he had her under his control, helpless, the one thing she promised herself she would never be. Just like before, his grip was too tight to escape. Just like before, his every touch seemed to burn her skin and turn her veins to ice all at once. Just like before, the world around her seemed to blur, leaving her isolated. Just like before, she couldn't breathe, the crushing sensation on her chest escalating her state of pure panic. Just like before, she wanted to run, but her body wouldn't respond. Just like before, she felt consciousness slipping through her fingers as her eyelids became painfully heavy. Just like before, she was ready to give up.

But then, in the blur of darkness she saw a flash of light, like a weak beacon of hope and she heard a distant bang of a door.

Not like before, Harvey had come for her.

She felt the suffocating weight of her attacker's body pulled from her, without him to trap her against the shelving she fell to her knees, her body weak and tired from oxygen deprivation. She choked, alarmed when she tasted coppery blood in her mouth as she coughed harshly. She gasped loudly, resting forward on the palms of her hands as her lungs learned to breath again, inhaling sharply, almost afraid to exhale, anxious that every breath would be her last.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion from there on wards, all she could hear was the throbbing of her pulse in her head as she willed her surroundings to stop spinning.

To the left she thought she heard disjointed shouts, with great effort, Donna turned her head in the direction of the commotion, she thought she could make out the shape of two bodies, struggling with one another.

"Har-vey-" she choked, the sound was barely there, her throat raw, she tried to stand, but her muscles rejected her mind's requested, falling to the floor again, her limbs felt like lead.

Out of the darkness she felt hands grip her shoulders, helping her to her feet, thank god, she thought, help was here.

But her flame of hope was quickly distinguished, as the stranger pulled her up roughly so that her back rested against his chest. His hand grabbed at her hair, pulling her head back and eliciting a yelp of pain as her aching neck was forced back wards at an awkward angle, worse still, she became aware of a sharp object pressing dangerously against the soft skin of her throat.

She struggled pointlessly against the second attacker's hold, "Harvey!" She tried again, this time louder, more desperate, her voice recovering slightly from the assault, although every sound still stung.

Her surroundings were beginning to come into focus, she could see Harvey out of the corner of her eye, he was holding Nick pinned against the far wall of the room, for a moment she allowed her self to be proud that he had undermined her attacker.

"Stand down Specter, or I'll slice her throat." A gruff voice came from behind her, she whimpered as she felt the tip of the knife pierce her skin leaving behind a shallow cut.

"Donna-" the waver in his voice made her heart shatter, she watched as he took a begrudging step back from Nick, raising his arms in surrender, his eyes on Donna at all times.

"Well well well," Nick crooned, wiping the blood from his lip as he rounded Harvey, returning to both Donna's and her captor's side, Donna's stomach lurched as he removed a small hand gun from his pocket, "isn't this an interesting turn of events."

XXX

Thanks for reading! If you liked it/loved it/hated it please leave a review and let me know! I love to hear your thoughts and theories!

Chapter 10 coming soon...

As always, thanks for the support!

Jess xx