Chapter 18: Life Is A Highway

Emma stirred a bit and stretched as the train came to a halt. She frowned at the weight on her shoulder. 'What the hell?' she thought to herself, looking over to see Tory sleeping peacefully, using Emma's shoulder for a pillow.

Memories of the night's events skipped through her mind and she sighed. 'Great!' she thought. 'I'm such an idiot! How can I promise to take care of this kid when I can't take care of myself?'

Emma sighed again and shook the girl. "Tory? This is our stop."

"Where are we?" Tory asked as she stretched, a noisy yawn escaping her lips.

Emma looked out the window and frowned. She chuckled as she yawned and stretched, following Tory's lead. "Don't know…but it's the end of the line."

Tory nodded and stood up, following Emma from the train. "Are you hungry? I've…I emptied my account before I left. It's not much, but-"

Emma shook her head, stifling another yawn. "Save your money. You eat. You're the one that's eating for two."

Tory trembled a bit and Emma chuckled and threw her arm protectively over the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll get you somewhere safe…you and your kid. I…I promise. OK? Until then…I'll take care of you both."

Tory smiled, and Emma saw that, underneath her fear, she was really a pretty girl. She reminded Emma of Ellie…the same build…same height…same hair…but Tory's eyes were a startling blue. They were so light blue that they were almost white. Emma smiled back, forgetting all about her own urge for the 'stuff' in her pocket for once. This girl wouldn't make it on her own…they needed each other. And Emma had found her purpose.

Alex woke up and stretched. Her body ached and she frowned. 'What the hell?' she thought grumpily. She tried to sit up, but Jay's head was on her hip. Her frown deepened as she tried to process the events of the night before.

"Jay!" she hissed as her eyes widened. "Get up!"

Jay groaned. "What the hell?" he groused as he tried to sit up. "Get your elbow out of my eye!"

"It's not my elbow, Jackass! It's my heel!"

They slowly proceeded to untangle themselves, moaning and groaning in pain as each joint and muscle screamed out for relief.

"What the hell happened?" Jay asked, running a hand through his hair. "Did we fall asleep watching a movie?"

Alex's eyes filled with tears, but she took a deep breath and hissed it out hard, fighting them back. "No! Emma took off last night!"

"Shit!" he said, running his hand through his hair again. "How could I forget?"

Alex sighed sadly. "Fuck! How in the hell can an apartment seem so empty when it's not, you know?"

Jay hugged her. "I know. So…you're ditching school today, right? Maybe we can ride around a look for her."

Alex shook her head as the anger and rage began coursing through her again. "No…I've got something to do."

"But, Lexi! It's Emma!"

"No shit!" She sighed harshly. "Just…you and Aaron look. I've got a score to settle."

Jay looked at her with a frown of confusion but nodded.

Tracker ran an angry hand through his hair as he stared at the letter. "Don't do this to me, Little Man!" he grumbled.

"What is it, Dear?" his mother asked as she entered the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee.

Tracker sighed and put the letter away. "Nothing to worry about. Just…just a bill from the hospital," he lied. "No big deal."

His mother paled. "Sean…is he all right?"

Tracker nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course, Mom. He's a Cameron boy."

She smiled back and patted his hand then left the kitchen. Tracker sagged in his chair and sighed. He'd taken in his mom because he knew that she couldn't take care of herself. She needed somewhere she felt safe to sober up. He pulled the letter from his pocket again and frowned. This was a good thing, right?

He sighed and shifted in the uncomfortable chair. No…it was only partly good.

"Track,

I'm ready to get out of here. Sick of this place, and Nurse Mitchell says I'm ready. You were right. Shanna's not…she's not right for me. She's got this obsessed shit going on in her head. We were just supposed to be friends…with uhhh…you know…benefits. But I can't talk to any other girl or she wants to pick a fight and then screw. Yeah, I'm a guy, so I'm all for sex, but not when I'm waiting for the knife to stab me in the chest or slash up my face.

I just get this image of a razor blade or something, and she's screaming that she'll make me so that no one will want me. Funny, huh? Sick thing is, I think she's fully capable. The bitch is nuts! She's nothing like most of us in here.

I want to go home, Track! I'll even go to Alberta and suck it up and forgive and forget with Mom, if that's what you want! I'll act like she's been a good mom all these years! Just please get me the fuck out of this shit hole, Man!"

Sean"

Tracker sighed and looked at the letter again. It was the last line that worried him most. Sean never begged for anything…ever. Not even when they were little. But lately, Sean seemed weaker. This letter just proved that either his theory about Sean's weakness was right…or the girl was batty.

Either way…Tracker sighed again and went to the phone.

Emma stood outside the bathroom stall, cringing at the sound of Tory's morning sickness. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she coughed a few dry coughs and flushed the toilet, signaling the end of her long bout. "Feeling better?" Emma asked the girl as she stumbled to the sink to clean herself up.

Tory, who had become stark white, nodded with a frown. "Don't think I'll ever get used to that," she rasped with a chuckle before running a toothbrush over her teeth. "Ugh! So gross!"

Emma smirked and nodded. "Yeah…puking will do that to you. So…I take it you've lost your appetite?"

Tory nodded. "Oh, yeah…"

Emma smiled. "You should try to eat something. Come on…we'll find something to settle your stomach."

"Like anything could ever do that!"

Emma laughed as they headed to a vending machine. "A lot of women eat Saltines…but my mom swore by pretzels. The starch soaks up the acid or something. Anyway…we'll get you a few bags of each. Just to tide you over until the next train ride."

"Where are we going?"

Emma thought for a moment then shrugged. "Anywhere…nowhere…wherever the spirit moves us," she said with a smirk. She thought for a moment and shrugged again. "Just like that song my mom used to listen to. 'Life is a highway…I wanna' ride it all night long." She laughed.

Tory smiled as she tried a pretzel. "Think we'll find a place to stay?"

"Of course we will!" Emma said reassuringly, though her mind had just been asking her the same question. "Look…I've got…people. I know people who…they might know how to get you the help you need. We'll have to double back some…try to find the train that stops there, but we'll-"

"What are you going to do? I mean…after your friend helps me? Are you going to stay a bit?"

Emma shook her head. "I'll help you get settled, but…"

"You're leaving us?" Tory asked as her hand touched her stomach. Tears of fear swam in her eyes.

Emma sighed. "Tory…I have to. I…this…this friend…too many bad memories, OK?"

"Then why are we going?"

"Cause you need more help than I can give you!" she replied as she pulled a steaming cup of tea from the machine. "Here. Take this and go sit down while I get me a cup."

Tory wrinkled her nose. "Oh…I don't like tea."

Emma smirked. "Oh…well…you'd better learn. It's peppermint tea. Works wonders for nausea."

"Really?"

Emma smiled and nodded. "Yeah. And if this doesn't work…we'll buy you some ginger tea next time."

"Thanks. You…you sure know a lot about pregnancy…"

"Yeah…I was in high school when my mom had Jack. So I remember making a lot of nausea relief trips…or worse…ice cream runs…at two o'clock in the morning!"

"Wh-what about your dad?"

She smiled fondly. "Oh! He was so awesome! He would sit there and rub her belly for…" her mind recalled the past few months, and she shook her head quickly, removing all memories of Snake, good or bad. She replaced them with the anger she'd grown accustomed to. "He isn't my dad, actually. More like my step dad. And, if it weren't for my mom…my real dad wouldn't be a brain damaged freak!"

Jay sighed and shook his head sadly. "I don't think we'll ever find her, Man."

Aaron rolled his shoulders. "You think that Teddy has her, don't you?"

Jay frowned. "Hell, no! Teddy's…well…Teddy's too conceited to not be bragging right now."

"True." Aaron sighed and looked up at Jay. "You're gonna' wanna' kill me…"

Jay frowned, studying Aaron suspiciously. "What the fuck did you do, Man?"

"I…punched her."

"You what?"

"She went down on Dogg! With me right in the same fucking house! She's my girl and she's-"

He grabbed Aaron's shirt roughly and shoved him against a tree. "Green Peace doesn't belong to you…you or anyone, Asshole!"

"Hey! She knew the rules! When she's with me, she's my property!"

Jay shoved him back and shook his head. "You're a fucking idiot!" He sighed. "I miss Cameron! At least with him…he might have had balls, but at least he got that chicks weren't furniture!"

"Oh…and tell me you don't keep Alex on a tight leash!"

Jay snorted. "Nobody keeps Lexi on a leash…or Emma. You're gonna' have to learn…just cause you call her a bitch don't mean she's a dog!"

"Yeah, Track. It's that bad," Sean said into the phone later that afternoon.

"Well…how do you expect me to fix it?"

"Get me out of here!"

Tracker sighed heavily. "Get yourself out! Prove that you're ready!"

"Track!"

"Sean! Look…I…I already called your doctor. You think I wouldn't? He said that you have to go talk to him. Tell him why you think you're ready."

Sean sighed heavily and slid down the wall. "I'm never getting out of here, am I?"

"Oh, that's it!" Tracker said knowingly. "Just give up like you always do."

"What?"

"Every time things get rough, you give up! You couldn't handle the fact that Emma might be right about Jay, and you gave up on the first good relationship you ever had! You couldn't handle going back and facing Wasaga…our folks…until Degrassi got too tough to handle. You bailed on the first girl who made you start seeing what was wrong with Jay…ever since Emma…"

"What did you expect me to do? Stay there and hurt them both? Watch Ellie slit her wrists because she couldn't handle the fact that I still have feelings for Emma? Damn, Man! I killed for her!"

"I know! Now…either prove to the doc that you got your shit together, or you're going to have to rot there! There's something I finally can't bail you out of and you're on your own!"

Emma sighed, looking down at her shoulder to see that Tory had fallen asleep again. She frowned as she sipped her peppermint tea, trying to stave off the cravings that were making her nauseous.

'Dammit!' her mind hissed at her. 'You just had to do this to yourself again, didn't you?"

Emma took a shaky breath and closed her eyes tightly as the train sped through another dark tunnel. She couldn't handle the darkness of the tunnels. They seemed to make everything stand out in a bizarre relief that left her stomach rolling and her mind spinning.

'Not yet…get Tory somewhere safe…three…two…one…breathe…don't puke…' her mind directed. 'Shit! This hurts!' the other voice in her mind screamed.

Tory made a small moaning sound and Emma's mind was distracted from her problem for the time being. She looked at the small girl whose head was lying on her shoulder. She watched her sleep.

'Just remember! Remember that you're staying clean for them! After you get them to a safe place…use all your whoring little ass wants! Hell, snort it until you choke on it for all I care! Just…make sure they're safe!'

Emma sighed and released some of the tension from her eyes, forcing her body to relax. She felt herself drifting into a strange doze…not able to sleep, but not able to stay fully awake either…

Alex walked down the halls of Degrassi, keeping an eye out for her target. Emma had made her promise not to bother…but that was when she thought she'd be home to have to deal with it…

Alex's smirk flickered on her lips as she heard giggles floating down the hall. Well…if her guess was right, payback was about to come…

She looked up and scanned the crowd. She frowned. Chris Sharpe…not exactly who she was looking for, but he'd do. For now.

"Hey, Sharpe!"

Chris's head snapped up, but dropped again as the snickers grew louder. He tried to push his way through the crowd and past Alex, but she caught his arm roughly and shoved him against the lockers.

"Ow! Hey!"

Alex shoved back again as he tried to step away. She smiled maliciously at the sound of air being forced from his lungs as his body thudded against the lockers again. "Where's your boy?"

Chris made a hissing sound through his teeth. "He aint' my boy!"

Alex smirked. "Well…a picture says a thousand words…and in your case, maybe a million. Never knew you had it in you, Sharpe!"

"I don't!"

Alex shrugged. "Whatever. So…?"

"So…what?"

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes, pressing him harder against the locker as he winced. "Hurt?" He nodded. "Good. Now…where's Stone?"

Chris shrugged. "I don't know! H-he never showed up today!" he gasped painfully.

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes, letting Chris go. "Tell him I'm looking for him…and I'll find him."

Chris watched her turn to leave. He caught her wrist. She turned back, gaping at his wrist for a moment before her eyes snapped icily to his eyes. "I know you're not touching me!" she hissed.

She frowned at the pained, shamed look in his eyes. "I'm…I screwed up, OK? Tell Emma…I didn't know, OK? I didn't know I hurt her this much."

She rolled her eyes angrily. "You didn't-"

He shook his head sharply. "Emma…she's always been tough. Now…"

Alex glared, snatching her wrist away. "You two sure broke her, didn't you?" she hissed as she walked angrily away.

Jay sat outside the school. He had his back to the ravine, facing Degrassi, but looks could be deceiving. What no one realized was that Jay was watching his back…in the reflection from the corners of his sunglasses. A smirk grew on his lips when he saw the person he was waiting for…meeting up with Aaron.

Jay waited. Aaron took the cash, handed over a few pills, and turned and nodded to Jay, who stood up and followed the other guy into the woods. As soon as they were out of sight, Jay grabbed the guy and shoved him to the ground.

"What the-" his voice cut short as his green eyes caught sight of Jay and Aaron standing over him. "What's this shit? Bringin' your buddies in on your business, Aaron?" he asked as he started to stand.

Aaron kicked him in the ribs. When he doubled over, Jay pushed him back with his foot on Teddy's shoulder. He knelt down and glared at him for a moment. "Just the little shit I was lookin' for…"

Teddy smirked, holding his ribs. "You think you can protect her?" He laughs, gasping in pain. ""You two are suckers! You can't watch out for her twenty-four seven! I'll catch her alone…and when I do…"

Jay nodded to Aaron, signaling that he had all the information he need. He glared back down at Teddy. "The only thing you're gonna' be catching is an ambulance!"

Emma shook the small girl awake. "Tory? Come on. We're here."

Tory yawned and stretched. "Already?"

"Yeah…come on. I need to check a map." She sighed. "I sort of know his street he lives on, but not the exact house number…"

"Oh." Tory yawned again, shouldering her backpack. "You wouldn't happen to have any of those pretzels, would you?"

Emma shook her head with a frown. "Sorry, but we finished those off an hour ago. Why? Upset stomach?"

Tory nodded. "A…a little."

Emma dug through her bag and pulled out a package with a smile. "Good thing I bought a pack of soda crackers."

Tory smiled softly as she took the small green box. "You're a life saver! Thanks."

Emma nodded absently as she stared at the map on the wall. "OK…according to this, we're only seven blocks away. Think you can walk that far?"

Tory nodded. "Yeah. I think so."

Sean sighed and stared at the ceiling above his bed. He was trying to figure out what to say to Doc Evans to make him realize that Sean would never heal completely here. Suddenly, the weight shifted on the bed next to him and he frowned as he turned his head.

"Hey, Shanna."

She pouted. "No Shanny? Are you mad at me?"

He shook his head and looked back up at the ceiling. "No…I don't think so…why? Should I be?"

She chuckled and snuggled against him, nipping at his neck. He sighed and shrugged away, making her frown. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about some stuff."

"Oh. You mean someone?"

"Hmmm? No…things."

"You sure you're not thinking about her again?" she asked, a little more hotly than she'd intended.

Sean sighed again, standing up. "Nope. For once, I'm not thinking about her," he said. "I've got a session. See you later."

Tracker sat on the couch, staring blankly at the TV screen. He was starting to hate this place. He was feeling suffocated. For once, his mom was actually trying to be the person he'd always needed her to be, and it was driving him crazy! It would have been one thing if he was ten again…not that she'd been there for him at ten…but at his age…it was too much.

"Dinner's ready!" she called from the kitchen.

Tracker sighed and rolled his eyes. "Coming, Mom!"

He stood up and made his way to the kitchen. He hated his days off!

"So…how's work?" she asked as she scooped spaghetti onto his plate.

"Sucks, as usual," he mumbled, taking a bite of the slightly burnt garlic bread. A thought occurred to him, making him smile to himself. "Mom? You really need to get out some. You have…you have a lot to give to the world…"

She frowned, twisting her hands nervously in her apron. "What are you saying?"

"Why don't you volunteer at the soup kitchen or the homeless shelter? I mean…it would get you back into the work force without a huge leap. You can make new friends…"

The doorbell rang and he sighed, rolling his eyes. He tossed his napkin on the table and stood up. "Hold that thought," he muttered as he walked out of the kitchen to the front door. He yanked it open and frowned. "What the hell?"