~* This part, if you can't tell by the chapter title, is a little depressing. The crap, pardon my French, sort of hits the fan. But read and review, please! And I promise this will be the last of the extremely depressing stuff. *~

Disclaimer: Apart from Heidi and Mary, the characters are not mine.

At Monica's words, Chandler wanted to do a dance.

"You're serious?" He checked.

"Yes. I need to leave him. It's just going to get worse." Tears began to tumble down her face. "I'm just so afraid, Chandler. I'm so afraid."

"Of what honey?"

"He's going to be so mad. So mad, and he might try to take Heidi, or hurt me, or...." She shuddered. "He might even try to....Chandler, he's capable of anything." He wrapped his arms around her. She was shivering from the fear of what could happen. Of what Pete would do when he found out that she was divorcing him. Him being mad was the understatement of the century.

"Nothing is going to happen to you or Heidi as long as I'm here," he promised. "Nothing." And he meant it. And as she looked into his eyes, she knew that he meant it. She knew that he would do anything in his power to make sure that she was okay. And at that moment, she loved him for it, but that didn't mean that everything was going to be okay. It simply meant that Chandler was looking out for her, and while that was a lot, it wasn't enough to completely reassure her.

"But Chandler...."

"Nothing, now get some sleep. We'll talk about this later." She nodded and drifted off to a disturbed sleep. He slipped out of her room and into the waiting room where his friends were getting ready to leave.

"Chandler?" Rachel asked seeing his face. "What's going on?"

"She's leaving him." His face broke out into a grin. "She's going to leave him."

"Are you kidding?" Phoebe asked as a smile crept onto her face.

"No, she just told me that she needed to get her and Heidi out of there," Chandler shook his head and sat on the chair next to Joey. "She never ceases to amaze me."

"Yes!" Ross breathed and hugged Rachel. He would do whatever Monica wanted him to do, or needed him to do. He would finally make it up to his little sister and be the protective big brother like he should have been.

"Does she have a plan?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know. I think she does," Chandler replied. "You know Monica, she never does anything half-assed." They all nodded and laughed. They would get their friend back. They were getting Monica back. No one worried about Pete. He would be a distant memory, that was all. A distant memory.

Monica had a nightmare that she couldn't shake that night. Pete was following her and telling her that she could never be free, that she could never leave him. Over his dead body would she be allowed to go free. She woke up sweating and found Rachel and Ross next to her bed.

"Ready to go Mrs. Becker?" The nurse chirped cheerfully when she came into Monica's room. Monica nodded shakily. Rachel offered her a reassuring smile.

"Everything's going to be okay now, Monica," she told her.

"Rachel, he's leaving for a business trip," Monica told her leaning forward. "An extended business trip. On Monday, and that's when I'm leaving. I'm packing my bags and I'm heading straight for city hall and I'm filing for custody and divorce." Rachel looked at her friend. She was so strong. Rachel had thought her weak for not leaving Pete, but then she realized that if the roles had been reversed, that she probably wouldn't have been able to leave her husband either. Now with Monica's eyes flashing with anger and determination, Rachel had the peaceful feeling that things were going to be okay. Someone should have told her that trouble resulted when you were lulled into a sense of complacency. Monica's perfect plan, wasn't so perfect after all.

Monday morning, Pete got up and got ready to leave and packed his bags and gave Monica a kiss goodbye and was gone. Monica wasted no time in getting up and pulling boxes out and beginning to fill them with her things and then moving down to Heidi's room and packing her daughter's things as well. She had confided in Mary, hoping that the young woman would keep her word. She had told no one else except for Mary and her friends that she was leaving Pete. She hadn't even told Heidi, who wouldn't have understood anyway.

"Mrs. Becker?" Monica heard her name and jumped three feet into the air. She turned to see Mary standing there.

"Mary, you scared me." She put her hand over her palpitating heart as she tried to calm herself down.

"Sorry," Mary smiled sheepishly. "I just wanted to see if you needed any help." Monica smiled gratefully at the girl.

"Thanks Mary," she told her honestly. "Can you help with Heidi's things?"

"Sure, Mrs. Becker," Mary began folding clothes and placing them neatly into boxes as Monica ran back down the hall to her bedroom to finish packing her things. She closed the door behind her gently and turned to face the closet. She made her way to it and pulled a box near her.

"What's with the boxes Mon?" She heard. Her heart stopped and she held her breath.

"I was just going through my things to see what I should give away and what I should keep," she lied. She turned to see Pete sitting in the chair next to the fireplace. She tried to plaster a convincing smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I forgot my briefcase," he said pointing to the bed. She felt her legs trembling in fear.

"Oh," she managed to squeak out. "Well, you'd better go before you're late."

"I think that the plane will wait," he assured her. He crossed the room to where she was and grabbed her neck roughly. She cried out in pain. "I don't believe you. I don't believe that you're just 'cleaning your closet.' So what are you doing?"

"Pete, please, I can't breathe," she sobbed.

"Tell me, Monica, what are you doing?"

"Pete."

"Monica," his voice was a low hiss now. "Are you trying to leave me?"

"I...Pete...you're hurting me."

"You can't leave me," he dropped his hands from her neck and she fell to the floor gasping for air. She felt his hand hit her cheek and the stinging feeling that came afterwards. She felt him roughly seize her and pull her to her feet.

"Pete, please, stop."

"Are you leaving me?"

"Please," she was shaking now as blow by blow hit her. Her lip was bleeding and her neck and face were starting to bruise and swell. His last punch made her reel backwards into the dresser, and as her head hit the corner of the dresser, she remembered thinking of Heidi before succumbing to darkness.

Chandler opened the door with the key that Monica had given him and let himself in. He was there to help her with the boxes and to take her to city hall.

"Mon?" He called softly. He didn't get a response. "Monica?" He looked around the apartment and found nothing. "Mary?" Mary appeared in the hallway after coming out of Heidi's bedroom. Her face was lined with tears. Chandler felt his heart stop. "What happened? Mary? What happened?"

"It's bad Mr. Bing," she said sobbing. "He came home when he forgot something. I called an ambulance, and they should be here soon."

"Where is she?"

"In her bedroom, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I should move her or not. I just covered her with a blanket."

"Where's Mr. Becker?"

"He left. As soon as he was done, he left." As soon as he was done, the words rang in Chandler's head.

"Heidi?"

"She's in there," Mary pointed to the door behind her.

"Good, keep her in there." He left Mary in the hallway and rushed back to Monica's bedroom. He opened the door and took a sharp intake of breath. She was lying on the floor unconscious. Her face was bruised and swollen, and he could see finger marks on her neck. When he lifted the blanket, he could see that she was bleeding, and her silk pajamas were beginning to soak in blood. He began to cry. For Monica, for Heidi, for the baby that she no doubt miscarried, and for the situation in general. The paramedics came in and rushed her to the hospital.

"What happened?" The one asked Chandler.

"Her husband, he, um....she was trying to leave him and he....beat her." He breathed a deep sigh. "She was pregnant, is...I don't know, um, what hospital?" The paramedic told him and Chandler nodded and went to find Heidi and Mary.

"Mommy?" Heidi asked. "Where's Mommy?"

"She's hurt, Heidi," Chandler explained gently. "I'm going to take you to Uncle Ross's okay?" Heidi nodded and wrapped her small arms around Chandler's neck as he stood and carried her out of the apartment. How had things gone from looking up to so horrible in such a short time?

~* Like I said, this is the last depressing, or at least really depressing chapter. It's going to get happier, I promise! But you have to review first. ~*