A voice sounded behind Emmett, loud in his ear, clearly intended to reach Margot as well.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you." Callahan repeated the words Emmett had heard him use to intimidate first year law students year after year after year. Until then he had never fully appreciated just how menacing it sounded. Emmett pulled Elle, who had jerked awake at the sound of Callahan's voice and was now trembling in his arms, closer to him, holding her as tightly as he could.

"I must admit, Emmett," Callahan said, "I'm rather impressed with your crafty little rescue plan. However, the next time you decide to pretend to have a girlfriend, you might want to try bringing someone a little more ugly. Everyone knows scruffy corduroy doesn't get the pretty California blonde." He then held up Emmett's cut up shirt and smirked. "You should also try not leaving behind incriminating evidence." He chuckled to himself and proceeded to tie Margot's arms behind her back. The man holding Emmett followed suit, pulling Emmett's arms roughly behind his back and causing Elle to fall to the ground. She cried out as she hit the ground trying to back away as Callahan handed Margot to another assistant and proceeded towards her.

"So, my little pet has tried to escape from me? This simply won't do. We shall have to teach you the consequences of running away, and I don't think you'll enjoy the lesson." Callahan smirked as he raised his arm and brought it down on Elle's face, striking her with all his might. Even as she fell to the ground once more, Callahan reached down, caught her arm and pulled her into a kiss.

Something in Emmett seemed to crack at the sight. Adrenaline flowed through his veins, and he wrenched himself from the arms of his captor, running at Callahan. He pulled Elle out of Callahan's grasp, and kicking his sensitive spot with as much strength as he could muster. Callahan yelled and bent over in pain, as Emmett scooped up Elle and ran back for Margot. After striking down her captor, he held Elle as tightly as he could and raced down the block, away from their attackers with Margot following at full speed.

A few blocks away, when Emmett thought they were safe for a minute, they stopped to rest. Concealed behind a bush, Emmett looked down at Elle, whom he was holding tightly to him. Her face was pressed into his chest and she was trembling. Now that he had the chance to really look at her Emmett clearly saw the signs of blatant abuse all over Elle's tiny fragile body. Almost every inch of her skin was bruised, some worse than others. Her hair was streaked with dirt and what Emmett realized with a pang was dried blood. She was also impressionably thinner than Emmett could remember, and Elle had been skinny to begin with. The extent of her injuries was ringing an alarm in Emmett's head. She was far worse than they had anticipated. She needed a hospital. Fast.

He looked to Margot who was eyeing her friend's injuries with a look of horror that parallel to Emmett's own.

"We have to get her to a doctor." She whispered. "She looks like walking death."

Emmett nodded. "I'll call a cab. Text Serena and Pilar and try to find out where the hell they are."

Margot nodded and pulled out her phone. Emmett pulled out his own and dialed the number for the cab service. After telling the cab where to pick them up, Emmett turned his attention back to Elle. She was shivering violently and Emmett pulled her closer still, rubbing his arms up and down her back in an attempt to warm her.

"Elle," he whispered in her ear. "How are you doing?" She whimpered softly in response, and he squeezed her gently to try to comfort her.

"Shhh. Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

She started to cry.

"Shhh." He rocked her back and forth gently like a baby, as she sobbed into his chest.

A/N-Ok, that took me entirely too long to post (yet again). I'm really really sorry. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter; it just didn't want to come. Anyways, I'll really try to be better about updating this time…

Question? Corrections? Suggestions? REVIEW!!