Warning: Bad language in this chapter.

"What do you think? Can I please be ungrounded?" Maya begged as she followed Shawn around their apartment like a shadow.

"No, you snuck away with Lucas and then lied about it. You clearly haven't learned your lesson. Just be thankful I am not extending your punishment an extra week." Shawn answered.

"Ughh! Fine!" Maya stormed off. "This is bulls***!" She muttered under her breath.

Shawn ignored her outburst as he poured some coffee into a to go cup and grabbed his wallet.

6 Days Ago...

"So we agree then?" Shawn asked looking around Cory's living room.

He told Maya he would be working late that night, but instead he arranged for her friends to meet in this way.Cory, Topanga, Riley, Farkle, Lucas, and of course, Shawn, all gathered in the Matthew's apartment. Cory had dimmed the lights and made them all talk in a whisper while huddled in a circle - you know, for dramatic effect. It was the day after her attack, and no one bought her story. There was no way she could have those kind of bruises from "slipping on ice". Riley had seen that episode of One Tree Hill when Brooke was attacked and told everyone she "fell down the stairs". That story was just as bogus as Maya's, and there was no way anyone was believing it.

They all nodded their heads in agreement

"If Maya is not going to tell us what happened, then we have to find out for ourselves." Lucas said firmly.

"Does everyone understand what they are to do?" Shawn questioned. Again they nodded. "Good. I told her she is grounded for two weeks. Which means we only have two weeks to figure this out."

"We've got two generations of the best schemers in the history of the world, we can do this Shawny." Cory reassured.

"I hope you're right, Cor..."

Present Day...

"I'm going out for a bit, Maya." Shawn yelled up. He waited a moment, but despite not hearing a response he left the apartment.

Now a week had passed since Maya's dreadful night. Shawn was meeting up with the rest of the group for a progress report, though he knew they hadn't made much.

The gang had been waiting for a good ten minutes, when Shawn arrived. Farkle, Riley, and Lucas were seated on the couch, while Topanga stood next to Cory with her arms crossed. There was an awkward tension in the atmosphere, but Shawn didn't understand why, so he disregarded it.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He apologized.

"It's okay. Has she said anything more at all?" Cory asked, already knowing the answer.

Shawn shook his head. "Lucas, did she talk to you at all last night?"

"No, sir. I couldn't get her to open up about it."

Shawn sighed. "Did you check her phone?"

Lucas bit his lip as he slowly nodded. "Only because she wouldn't tell me! I don't see why you couldn't have just taken her phone when you grounded her!" Lucas said bitterly, seemingly coming from nowhere.

"I'm still trying to build a relationship with her, and breaching her privacy by reading her messages like that -"

"So it would be better if I did! We just became boyfriend/girlfriend!" Lucas said raising his voice.

"Oh, so you are boyfriend/girlfriend now?" Shawn fought back in a slightly mocking tone.

"Wait, boyfriend?" Riley jumped in, a little hurt after hearing those words out loud.

"Well, we would be if you gave us the chance to!" Lucas yelled.

With that, everyone broke into a roar of arguing. There was simultaneous shouting, and there might have been some pillows thrown. Most of the fighting wasn't even relevant to the original dispute. At one point, Cory and Topanga were arguing over how Cory did or didn't fold the clothes. Meanwhile, Farkle and Riley were fighting over the fact that Riley won't go out on a date with him because she's still into Lucas (which is a whole 'nother story in and of itself). It was like all of their frustrations were being poured into this verbal brawl.

"ENOUGH!" Cory finally shouted over all the other voices. He took a deep breath in and exhaled. "What did her phone tell you, Lucas?"

Everyone looked to the teenage boy who was now clenching his fist. "It is as we thought, she made a bunch of calls and texts to Rich. I think she was suppose to meet him at the Nighthawk. He is definitely involved." Lucas said disappointed. Just like that, everyone went speechless.

"Son of a b****! I am going to kill that b******!" Shawn said firely, throwing his arms fiercely through the air.

"Shawn! Calm down! Calm down, Shawn!" Cory grabbed his friend's arm.

He quickly shook it off, though. "NO! HOW COULD HE DO THAT TO HIS OWN DAUGHTER!?" Shawn began to cry. "His own daughter..."

"I know, Shawn. I know." Cory patted the back of his tearful friend.

~~~~~§~~~~~

Maya kept hearing the buzzing. "SHAWN! Aren't you gonna get that?" She heard the noise again. "UGH!"

She went to the box by the door. "Who is it?" She questioned.

"It's your mother's lawyer, Donald Burton."

"Oh. Come on up." She cued.

A minute later he was up and knocking on her door. She let him in promptly.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"We are still processing your mother's liquid assets and will requests; however, we think it is safe to give you this."

He handed her a jewelry box with none other than the ring in it. Maya would soon come to realize how wrong the lawyer would be.

~~~~~§~~~~~

"I'm gonna go confront him."

"No, Shawn, I don't think that is a good idea." Cory stated reasonably.

"I'm going, Cor. He can't touch my Maya like that. It makes me sick!" Shawn stood up after being seated to regain composure.

"You don't have any evidence!" Topanga stepped in.

"I'll get proof. One way or another, I'm going to take him down."

"Don't do anything against the law, Shawn! Be careful, or even I might not be able to get you out of trouble." Topanga advised.

Shawn ignored her as he stormed out. He knew something like this would happen. From the moment he met Richard Pritchett he didn't like him. So when he came around the second time, at Christmas, Shawn did a little more digging. On paper, that man was perfect. But paper is easily manipulated.

His angry thoughts guided his feet towards the address etched in his brain. How dare he lay a hand on Maya. She deserved better. She deserved stability. No kid should have to be put through what he imagined she had endured. Maybe he was projecting a bit of his childhood woes onto her situation, but God knows she has had more than her fair share.

It took Shawn two subway stops and a cab ride to get to Rich's house. He lived in the penthouse of one of the richest buildings in the area. A disgusted Shawn pounded on the door, until Rich finally opened it. Shawn had obviously disrupted a morning brunch or something, because he could see Rich's new family eating in the background. That didn't stop Shawn from saying what he wanted to say.

"Shawn -" Rich started.

"So, this is what the cave of a monster looks like? It's nicer than I'd expected. Nice chandelier." He said rudely.

"Excuse me!" Rich replied offended.

"You son of a b****! I don't know what you did to Maya, but I'm gonna find out, and when I do you are going down. Hard." He spat bitterly.

Rich looked back at the faces of his mortified family. He pushed Shawn out the door. Rich stepped outside the door with Shawn and closed it behind him.

"Look buddy, I don't know what you are talking about, but now is not the time or the place to be spatting such nonsense!"

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I am talking about. You're not going to get away with it!"

"You have 5 seconds to leave before I call the police." Rich threatened.

Shawn laughed. "Okay, I'll leave. But it's not me the police will be after."

Rich watched Shawn take his exit before joining his family again.

A blonde women at the one end of the wooden table starred at him troubled. "What was that about, Richard? Who is Maya?"

"I have no idea. I think he was drunk." He cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I have to make a phone call."

He walked into the corner of the next room and pulled out his phone. "The lawyer stopped by? Good. Our timeline has moved up. The guardian is unto us." He paused for a moment before darkly saying, "Do it, now."