Hey guys,

Just letting y'all know that I'll be posting a new fic tomorrow or the day after, in which Tate is Will's biological kid, so be on the lookout for it!

Chapter Thirty-Five: Detoured On Some Random Backwoods Path To Hell

WARNING: ATTEMPTED sexual assault. Nothing too graphic, keyword being ATTEMPTED

"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." ― Ettiene de Grellet

Monday, October 20th, 2010, 2:00 PM

The final bell for the day rang and Tate started packing up her things. She'd finally finished the last of her college applications which meant she'd been able to actually work on her homework during her study hall.

"Wanna come with me and get something to eat before I have to go to volleyball practice?" Ellie asked from where she was sitting across the table, shoving her school supplies into her backpack.

"I wish I could but I have to go home and watch Kit and Henry," Tate replied apologetically as she zipped up her bag.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then," Ellie said before walking out the entrance at the front of the library.

Tate got up and headed towards the back entrance so she wouldn't have to walk through the whole campus to go home. When she got outside, she noticed a blue truck parked in the large alley that sat between the library and the main building, but she ignored it and headed toward the gate.

"Tate!" a voice called and jumped, slightly startled, before she turned to see who it was.

"Oh, Mr. Donovan," she said, greeting the man.

She wasn't exactly sure why he was on campus, seeing as how he'd quit at the end of the previous year. It was slightly strange seeing him in jeans and a t-shirt instead of the slacks and button-down shirt that he'd wear when he was teaching, but otherwise, he hadn't changed since Tate had last seen him. His brown hair had a few more strands of gray in it and his brown eyes seemed slightly livelier but that was the only real difference.

"It's been a while, how's it going?" he asked her.

"It's good, I guess. Senior year's not too bad,".

"Of course, you skipped a grade; you were always so smart," he stated.

She wasn't sure why, but the way the man phrased his response made her uneasy. It was almost like the fact that she was smart made him bitter.

"So, what are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Just…visiting some friends. Teachers do have a social life, you know," he explained as he took a step closer to Tate.

"Right, of course," she said, unconsciously taking a step backward.

There was something off about the man's demeanor, but she couldn't tell what. He seemed slightly nervous and kept looking around as though someone was going to jump out and attack him at any moment.

"Listen, I better be going, I have to babysit my little brothers. It was nice seeing you though," she told her teacher.

"Have a nice afternoon,".

At his goodbye, she turned around and started heading toward the gate. She'd almost made it when a hand clamped over her mouth and something slammed into her neck, sending a stabbing pain through it. Before she could even think to move or scream, everything started growing blurry and she felt so incredibly tired. As her vision faded to black and she began to slip into unconsciousness, she heard a man's voice right next to her ear.

"You and I are gonna have some fun, Kenzie,".

The first thing Tate was aware of was how cold it was. It was freezing, and that was saying a lot coming from someone who grew up in New England. There was a pounding ache in her head like a hammer was hitting her skull over and over again. She tried to open her eyes, only to find it extremely difficult. They were so heavy, like the rest of her limbs. Finally, she forced her eyelids open and slowly blinked a few times to clear up the blurriness. She was in some sort of cabin by the looks of it, but she couldn't remember how she'd gotten there. There was a hardwood floor beneath her and the cold from it seeped into her. She lifted her right hand to try and rub her eyes, only to find it attached to a radiator. Except she wasn't just attached to it, but rather her wrist was handcuffed to it.

A wave of fear crashed through her as she slowly remembered what happened. Her breathing sped up as she recalled the way someone had grabbed her from behind. No, not someone. Mr. Donovan.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin creaked open and Donovan walked in carrying a duffel back, which he dropped on an old oak table by the door.

"Well, well, look who's finally decided to join the party," he said as he gave Tate a twisted smirk.

Her blood ran cold and she couldn't stop herself from trembling. She'd seen that smile before, on almost every single one of her foster fathers. It was the smile they gave her right before they reached for their belt or backhanded her across the face. It was the smile of someone who was looking forward to hurting another person.

"What did you do?" she asked shakily.

"Cmon, Kenzie, don't be so dramatic. You're fine, I just had you take a little nap is all," he told her as he walked forward and crouched down in front of her.

Tate flinched away from the man and pressed herself as far as she could into the corner of the room.

"T-that's not my name," she said and the man laughed at her.

"And here I thought you were the smart one. You're telling me you really never noticed it?" he asked Tate condescendingly.

"Notice w-what?"

"How different you were from the rest of them. You never even thought to wonder why you had brown hair and the rest of the Jacobs were blonde. Why they all had such light blue eyes and yours were so dark? Why Thomas Jacobs couldn't give you the time of day and yet spent all the time in the world with his son,"

It took her a few seconds longer than it normally would have to understand what he was saying, probably from whatever sort of drugs he'd injected into her. But eventually, the realization of what he was implying hit her like a ton of bricks. Normally she wouldn't believe what a psychopath was telling her, but it made so much sense that she couldn't ignore it.

"Ah, there we go," he said as he saw the understanding in her eyes. "Now you got it,".

"Why did they lie? she asked quietly.

"Well, it's quite simple, my dear," he said as he leaned forward even further. "They thought they could keep you all to themselves,".

Tate found herself wishing the room was bigger as she tried to flatten herself against the wall in an attempt to get away from the man. Unfortunately, she could only move so far back and the man kept coming closer, forcing her to meet the gaze of his cold brown eyes.

She wanted to beg him to let her go. To be him to just drop her off somewhere even remotely close to DC and she'd find her way home. She wanted to plead with him to take her home, where it was warm and safe. Where her family was. Where she was loved. But she couldn't. She could only ask him one thing.

"What do y-you want with m-me?" she whimpered.

"I'm just doing what should've been done in the first place. Righting the wrongs, so to speak. You see, you should've been with me from the start. You, me, your stepbrothers, we could've been together, but your insolent father had to go and ruin it all,".

She wanted to ask who he was talking about, but the man continued and the words he spoke made Tate freeze. She didn't dare move as he told her:

"But don't worry dearie, I'll make him pay,".

Tate had fallen asleep soon after Donovan had entered the cabin as the final traces of whatever she'd been drugged with ran through her system. When she woke up, her head wasn't pounding quite as much, but she was still trembling. Whether it was due to fear, the cold, or shock, she wasn't sure; all she knew was her hands wouldn't stop shaking. Her stomach clenched as she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, trying to stay warm but also to make herself feel the tiniest bit more protected. She rested her head on her knees, and it was then that she noticed she no longer had shoes or socks on. He'd taken them off, and her feet were numb with cold.

The cabin was once again empty so she looked around, trying to see if there was any way out. She was just about to give up when she spotted it. The small piece of silver metal on the table. A key. The key to the handcuffs keeping her from leaving.

Before she could lose courage, she quickly stood up and stretched as far as her handcuffed wrist allowed her to. She reached towards the table, wincing slightly as the metal cuffs bit into her skin, and just managed to grab the key. Tate made quick work of unlocking the cuff and headed towards the door. There was a smaller table by the door but the only things that sat on it were another key and a wallet. She grabbed the wallet and looked inside to see if there would be anything useful, but the only items in it were credit cards and a driver's license listing Donovan's name as Daniel Brown. Tate figured that was probably the man's real name, as it would've made more sense for him to lie to the school about who he really was. Setting the wallet back down, she reached for the doorknob and tried to twist it, but it wouldn't budge. She was locked in.

Tate whipped around, hoping there would be another door at the back of the cabin, only to find Brown staring at her with rage in his eyes.

"Going somewhere?" he asked as he started to walk towards her.

Recognizing the look in his eyes, she began to plead.

"Please, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

Her words were cut off when Brown grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her onto the floor. Before she could even attempt to get up, a swift kick was delivered to her ribs and she gasped in pain as she tried to breathe. Several more hits followed and soon the pain was the only thing she could think of. Tate curled into a ball, trying to protect herself, but the hits kept coming. Eventually, after several torturous minutes, there was another hard kick to her stomach. And as a fiery pain enveloped her, everything went black.

Five Days Later

Tate used her arms to push herself into a sitting position, ignoring the burning ache in her ribs. At least one of them was broken, she was sure. Brown seemed content to hit her whenever he pleased, no matter how much she tried to stay quiet. She was basically one giant bruise at this point. She still hadn't been able to stop shaking, although that might have been due to her lack of food. Brown had given her food maybe three times since he'd taken her, but she hadn't eaten in almost three days. The hunger pains in her stomach were only outweighed by the ache in her ribs, and the pounding in her head that had started up again after the man slammed her skull into the floor.

She glanced down at the watch on her wrist, Theo's watch. Either Brown hadn't noticed she had it, or he didn't care enough to take it. She'd been gone for seven days, an entire week, and no one had come for her. Tate had been so sure that someone-the police or the FBI or someone, anyone-would come for her within two days, but no one did. She was all alone. She'd tried to stay strong, she really had, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out. The fear and the pain were eating away at her, and she was exhausted. It'd been particularly cold out the past few days, and being warm was a faint memory. She wanted JJ and Will. She wanted, no, needed, her mom and dad. But they weren't here. It was just Tate and a maniac in the middle of the woods, where no one could find them.

The front door banged loudly and she looked up to see Brown entering the cabin. She did her best to hide her flinch and looked down at her lap, trying to avoid the man's cold and calculating eyes. It wasn't until that moment that she noticed she'd picked her fingertips raw. It'd been a nervous habit she'd always had as a little kid, one she'd replaced by fidgeting with her necklace. But she'd lost the gold medallion so she'd absentmindedly reverted to old habits.

Brown walked over to the table and sat down in a chair, sighing as he ate a piece of bread that he'd left out.

"I'm getting bored, aren't you?" he asked her and Tate wrapped her arms around herself.

In a flash, the man was crouched in front of her, and Tate's stomach clenched as she tried to stop herself from shaking.

"Are you just gonna ignore me then?"

She quickly shook her head and glanced up at the man. He seemed different than he'd been during the previous days. His moves were less calculated like he no longer had some sort of grand plan. Tate wasn't exactly sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing for her, but it frightened her all the same.

"So, I asked if you were bored," he insisted.

"N-no, I'm not," she whispered, not liking his tone of voice.

"Really, cause I am," he said. "What do you say we have a little fun?"

Tate shook her head frantically as the man crept closer. He had a look of hunger in his eyes; like a lion stalking its prey. She'd only ever seen that look once before. On Oliver McClaren.

Suddenly, the man sprang forward and pressed his lips firmly to Tate's. She tried to get away from him, but there was no escape. Her back was against the wall and Brown was too strong. As he finally pulled back, she could feel hot tears dripping down her face. She couldn't go through this again, she wouldn't make it this time. She barely survived last time. It wouldn't just hurt her, it would destroy her.

He reached for the waistband of her leggings and slipped his fingers inside them. They felt burning hot as they brushed along one of her hip bones and a wave of nausea came over her. She was thoroughly shaking as she tried to stop herself from throwing up. She'd never felt so cold before. She tried to force herself to breathe but there was a burning sensation in her lungs. She couldn't get enough air, no matter how hard she tried.

Just as she thought she was going to pass out, throw up, or both, the man's phone rang.

"Saved by the bell," he said, giving her a grin before he answered the phone and walked outside.

Tate gasped in relief and sank to the floor, no longer having the strength to even sit up. She was shaking so much her teeth were chattering and her body trembled even more once she began to sob. She laid down and curled up into a ball as the sobs wracked her body. She couldn't do this anymore. Tate had never been a firm believer in God-too many things had gone wrong in her life-but as she lay there crying, she prayed. Prayed for someone to come save her, to protect her, to take her home.

As she cradled her head with one hand to protect it from the cold floor, she could hear Theo's watch ticking in her ear. It'd been the one constant over the past few days, hell, over the course of her entire life. The quiet watch that never stopped ticking. It never paused, never sped up. It was just a steady tick-tock.
Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

It was the only thing she had left, the only piece of home she could grasp onto.

Tick.

It was what Theo had left her, what JJ had given her. The first olive branch the woman had extended towards her.

Tock.

It was reassuring, almost like a heartbeat. Something that told her she was still here, still alive. That she hadn't been left completely alone.

Tick.

They were coming. Someone was going to find her.

Tock.

Weren't they?

Tick.

Tock.

"Love is a dagger. It's a weapon to be wielded far away or up close. You can see yourself in it. It's beautiful until it makes you bleed," – Loki