disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 11: Save Me
"No, Casey's not that stupid. She wouldn't walk into danger like that. She's logical, rational," Derek said to Sam, still holding the phone to his ear.

"Derek, if that was true, then you would be dead. Logically, coma patients just don't wake up, like ever. Rationally, Casey should have pulled the plug yet didn't. And logically, when you did wake up and acted like an ass, she should have left you, yet she didn't. Casey may seem rational but she runs on her emotions," Sam replied.

"He probably told her no police," Derek said, knowing that Sam was right.

"Who?" Jason asked.

Derek wasn't listening to him though. "We have to get to the dance studio without the police knowing," he said, worried that the police would spook Darrin. "Their lives may depend on it."

"If they're still alive," Sam murmured as they devised a plan.

---

Casey parked her car in front of the dance studio. From the outside, the plaza looked isolated, almost peaceful, but she knew that in her studio horror waited her. Saying a brief prayer, she opened her car door, climbed out and walked to the studio. She unlocked the front door and stepped into the waiting room. Again, Casey was amazed at how serene the place looked. The office was locked up; all the dance studios' doors were closed. There was only a hint of light coming from underneath one of the doors and Casey knew that this was where her friends were, trapped inside with a monster.

She walked over and opened the door, seeing Darrin standing in the far corner, pointing his gun at her.

"Get in here and close the door," he ordered.

Casey did as she was told, looking around the room.

"Where are they?" she asked him.

He inclined his gun towards the closed door to the connecting washroom. Without thinking, Casey ran to it and opened it. Three pairs of fearful eyes stared back at her.

"Oh God," Casey said, dropping to her knees.

She was grateful that none of them looked hurt yet felt sick inside, seeing the duct tape on their mouths, hands, and ankles. All of them were cramped in the tiny washroom.

"Darrin, can I bring them out here please, the washroom is too small," Casey begged, turning around.

She was shocked that Darrin was only standing a few feet behind her. She didn't hear him move. He seemed like he was thinking it over. This was the first time she really looked at him and couldn't believe she never suspected him. His eyes should have told her all, as they were now.

"Only if you kiss me first," Darrin finally said.

"Wha- what?" Casey stammered.

"I'll even sweeten the pot. We can take off the duct tape on their mouths since no one can hear us now. But only if you kiss me, and it has to be a good kiss, not one of those silly pecks you always gave me on the cheek."

Casey felt nauseated. All those times she touched him, or let him touch her were not friendly touches to him but something more. Before she lost her nerve, she stood up and walked slowly toward him. She could hear her friends make noises of protest but she didn't look at them. She was too ashamed that her friends were in danger because of her.

She stood right in front of him, cupped his face in her shaking hands and pressed her lips to his. When she tried to pull away, Darrin wrapped his arm around her waist, pressing his hips into hers. He had the gun in that hand and she could feel it nudging her back, reminding her not to make sudden moves. His other hand slid up her side, grabbing her breast. Casey truly had to bite back the vomit, especially when he somehow managed to pry open her lips and stick his tongue in her mouth. She told herself not to give into the temptation to bite his tongue until blood was drawn. When she was running out of air, she dropped her hands and turned her head, breaking the kiss. That didn't stop Darrin though. He began to kiss her jaw and neck, pulling her closer.

"You have no idea how much I missed you Casey, no idea. Why did you leave me?" he murmured.

"Please," Casey begged, "let me bring our friends out."

Darrin sighed and stroked her cheek. "Okay princess, there will be plenty of time for this later."

He finally released her and she ran to her friends. She brought them out one at a time and sat them against the wall. It was hard though since their hands were taped together behind their backs. Casey looked at all three of them staring at the tape across their lips. She wasn't sure how to take the tape off. Slow and steady or rip it off fast like a band-aid. Apparently, Darrin had no patience and ripped off the tape that was across Anna's mouth.

"Bloody hell!" Anna shrieked. "I am going to kill you! And trust me, it'll be slow and painful! I'll start with cutting off your balls!"

Darrin slapped her before anyone could react. "Shut up!" he said. "I'll put tape back on if you don't shut up!" Without waiting for an acknowledgment, he ripped the tape off Sabrina's and Emily's lips.

"I'm sorry," Casey whispered to her friends.

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault. He's the one who hit me over the head with a picture frame," Emily said.

"It is her fault. If she had just pulled the plug on Derek, none of this would be happening. It was the perfect plan. I kill Derek, Casey was free to be with her soul mate; me," Darrin said.

"Naturally," Sabrina murmured but Darrin just continued his rant, beginning to pace.

"But as luck would have it, Sam reached Derek in time and saved him. I thought it was no big deal, Derek was in a coma and any person would see that the chance wasn't likely that he would wake up. A million to one; yet Casey here," Darrin said, waving the gun at her. Everyone tensed but he was far too gone to notice or care, "Was too stubborn. She just had to hang on when she could have been with me, the father of her youngest child."

Everyone looked at Casey, all having the same thought. Ben was the spinning image of Derek. There was no question of who the father was. No one wanted to enlighten Darrin though.

"Yet she chose to stay with Derek so I waited five years but I couldn't take it anymore. So I tried to kill him, pulled the plug myself and tried to make it look like an accident but instead he woke up. The bastard woke up. How the hell did he wake up? But it seemed like my luck was turning. Derek was a jerk, yelling and screaming like a child and I thought, if I wait a little longer, Casey would come to her senses and leave him and come to me. But you didn't, you stayed with him. I did everything for you. Anything you ever asked. I even went out with Emily."

"And slept with me, you asshole," Emily added.

"Why couldn't you just come to me? If you did, none of this would have happened," Darrin said, staring at Casey, almost pleading to her.

Everyone stopped moving when they heard a sound coming from outside. It sounded like a car driving by. Darrin quickly went to the door and opened it. As he stepped outside into the waiting room, Casey turned to her friends.

"Okay, we just have to distract him a little longer. I told Derek, Sam, and the police that Anna and Jason had a fight. Soon, Jason will call and ask if we know where you are. Once they realized that I lied, they will come," she whispered.

Now that the shock was gone, she realized that she should have told the police that Darrin contacted her but she was afraid that no one would let her go. Darrin for sure would have killed one of her friends if she didn't go.

"But if anyone comes near those front doors, he'll kill us," Emily whispered.

"That's true, but that isn't the only entrance," she said. At each of their blank faces, Casey continued. "There is a secret passageway from this studio to the store next to us. The door is right there," Casey said, pointing to the floor corner next to them. "Remember when we explored it and ran into Mr. Rae. He was angry because he used it for storage and was afraid that someone might try to steal from him. So he put a sliding lock on the inside of our entrance. We can't open it but someone in the passageway can. Once the police know, we'll be saved."

"There's a flaw in that plan. Everyone who knows about that is in this room or Mr. Rae," Anna said.

"Didn't you tell anyone?" Casey asked, looking at both Anna and Sabrina.

"No," they both replied.

"Not even Sam? You didn't retell the story on how we came across it?"

"No. I believe that was during the time Liza caught the flu and on top of that was the chicken pox. We were afraid she might not make it. We weren't talking about anything else," Sabrina explained.

"Anna? No one?"

"You know me. I wasn't dating anyone serious. Who would I tell?"

"Well, I told Derek," Casey said.

Anna, Sabrina, and Emily all groaned.

"We're doomed for sure," Anna muttered just as Darrin came back in.

"False alarm," Darrin said, referring to the sound.

Casey wasn't listening to Darrin though. She knew that Anna was probably right. The odds that Derek would remember the story weren't good. She had to think of a new plan.

---

"I found a secret passageway today. Okay, granted, it's being used for storage so it isn't that secretive but it was still really cool."

Casey's voice sang in Derek's ear as he and Sam were crouching in a bush behind the plaza. Inexplicable joy flooded him as he recalled that moment. "Okay, so here's the plan," Derek started but stopped when he heard a noise.

They froze because they hadn't told the police that Casey had lied. No one should know that they were here. This was the second time they had frozen in fear: the first was when they heard a car drive around the plaza. It didn't stop though and they thought that they had nothing to worry about. They turned slowly and saw Jason behind them.

"How'd you know where to find us?" Sam asked in a whispered, after relaxing.

"Next time you plan in secret, don't leave me on the phone," he stated. "So what do we do?"

"Okay, you see that store," Derek pointed. "In there is a door to a passageway that leads into the studio. We can get in without Darrin noticing and save our women," Derek said.

"So how do we get into the store?" Sam asked.

"Easy," Derek said.

He walked to the back entrance of the store as the others followed. Taking a crowbar, he forced the back door open. He knew that there was probably a silent alarm, but they moved fast. It was more luck than brains that they were able to find the passage door quickly.

---

Casey sort of had a plan. Mostly it consisted of seducing Darrin into letting her take off the tape that bound her friends' hands and ankles together so that while he was distracted, they could run. The flaw with that plan though is that there was no way that her friends would leave her anymore than she would leave them. As she was contemplating that plan, she heard a voice coming from underneath the floor.

"Hey Sam, Jason! I found the door!" she heard Derek cry.

'The fool' she thought.

"What the hell?" Darrin said, walking towards the corner as Casey heard the latch unlock.

Darrin raised his gun and she knew that she had seconds to react before Darrin killed someone. She glanced at the ballet Pointe shoes that one of the girls left behind by accident. These shoes were made to allow ballerinas to support themselves when they were on their toes. They were able to do that with the hard, flat end of the shoes. Casey grabbed one of the shoes, stood up, and struck Darrin on the head, causing him to take a couple steps back just as the passageway door opened.

"You bitch!" Darrin cried, grabbing Casey by the throat with one hand and threw her towards the mirror.

Casey's body and the shoe banged into the mirror. The shoe caused the mirror to break. As Casey lost her balance and fell, shards of glass came crashing with her.

Darrin had already turned his back on her, raising his gun towards the passageway. Casey grabbed one of the pieces of glass and stabbed the back of his calf. Crying out in pain, Darrin turned the gun on her, about to fire when Derek body checked him into the wall, grabbing his wrist to get rid of the gun. Darrin managed to throw him off and because of the force, Derek lost his balance and fell on his back. Like slow motion, Casey saw Darrin lift the gun, aiming at Derek.

"No!" Casey cried and like she did when Jared and Sam had tried to hurt him, she jumped in front. Lying on top of him, Casey protected his body with hers.

Also seeing things in slow motion, Derek rolled over, now blocking Casey's body with his as he kissed her. Giving her one more kiss before he died. Casey had no time to react as a gun shot echoed in her ears.

"No!" she screamed. It couldn't be the end. She couldn't have had Derek back for only a couple hours and have him die again. She couldn't heal after this. She was going to die too.

She ran her hands up and down his back, looking for the bullet hole but she felt no blood. Derek wasn't groaning in pain either but Darrin was. Casey opened her eyes and saw Jim standing over Darrin, handcuffing him even though his right arm was bleeding.

"Made it here just in time," Jim said to her.

He was a bit angry that no one had told him that Darrin had contacted them and was extremely glad when Tom Rae reported that his silent alarm was on in his store next to the studio. Putting the clues together, he came to the studio straight away and was finally able to accomplish the promise he made to Casey.

"Oh my God!" Casey cried sitting up as Derek did also. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Derek replied, leaning in to kiss her but she shoved him back.

"What the hell Derek! He was going to kill you! I was trying to save you!"

"I know," he said, cupping her face. "I had to save you. I couldn't let you die. You're my life."

"You're mine too, but…" she tried to chastise him.

"Can I kiss you now?" he asked.

"You probably don't want to until I get some mouthwash. Darrin forced me to kiss him," she told him.

"And he touched her too!" Sabrina added as she rubbed her wrists once Sam and Jason had cut Anna, Emily, and her free.

Before anyone could react, Derek grabbed the Pointe shoe that Casey had used as a weapon and turned around, smacking it in Darrin's balls as Jim pulled him up. At the hit, Darrin knelt down, crying in pain.

"That's for touching my wife!" Derek declared.

Before he could swipe him again though, Emily grabbed the shoe and struck Darrin across the head. "And that's for hitting me with the picture frame!"

Sabrina then took the shoe, punching his stomach. "That's for putting duct tape on us!"

Not one to be left out, Anna grabbed the shoe and hit him once more on the head, knocking him unconscious. Anna turned to Jim. "When he wakes up, make sure he knows that it was for ripping the duct tape off. And remind him that I don't make empty threats. If he ever gets out of jail, his balls are going to be cut off."

"Will do. And don't worry, I'll explain that these injuries were self-defense. I'll get your statements tomorrow." He winked at them before dragging Darrin out of the room.

Anna and Sabrina then looked at Derek. "So, I take it you got your memory is back," Sabrina said.

"Yeah, not all of it though. I'm sure it'll come back in time," Derek replied, pulling Casey close to him.

"Well," Anna said, smirking. "I should remind you then that you promised that if anything ever needed fixing around here, that you would handle it," she said. She looked at the broken mirror and chipped paint. "This studio needs to be fixed by next week," she smirked.

"And I think other things need fixing," Sabrina added, grinning.

Derek sighed. Even though Casey let him off easy, their friends certainly wouldn't. If it was up to them, he would probably be doing slave labour for the next twenty years.

"Well, I guess that leaves me no choice but to agree. Only on one condition though," he said.

They all waited, wondering what he had up his sleeve.

"Casey has to kiss me," he declared, not waiting for a response, he crushed his lips to hers.

Sam, Sabrina, Jason, and Emily all turned away, giving them privacy while Anna groaned and rolled her eyes. "At least get a room. No one likes such public displays of affection!" she scoffed.

"Really," Jason said, and before she knew it, he grabbed her and kissed her too.

Sam quickly took after them and kissed Sabrina.

Emily looked around her and pulled a sad smile across her face. She was happy for all of them but she had just spent many months with a psycho. She vowed that she would never again allow Casey to set her up on a blind date. She smiled again, thinking how much she would enjoy seeing Darrin behind bars.

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