Chapter 9

'Help! Somebody, please help me! Anybody….' Tears were streaming down her face; she was choking on her own words. His knee came in contact with her stomach again, forcing the air out of her lungs and she doubled over in pain. She fell down to recapture her breath. That was a mistake. That was the pause he needed. He began kicking her over and over again, to no particular body part as long as he inflicted pain. She rolled over and tried to get away on her hands and knees. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to him. 'No!' She clawed at the cement floors and screamed as loudly as she could. She wouldn't go down this way! Her legs began thrashing around violently until she finally struck him. After that, she continued to lash out at the same spot. It didn't take long for him to drop her and coddle his own wounds. She scrambled to her feet, and, using the night to hide her, she ran. She kept herself close to the walls, pressing up against them as if she could force herself to be merged into one. She stopped to breathe. For a moment, everything was silent and she thought he had left. He hadn't. She realized this when his hands closed in around her neck, making it harder for her to breathe. She was pulled away from the wall. Colorful stars sprang to life in her vision when the back of her head was slammed into the wall. Her body was growing weaker… 'Please…'

Danny woke up gasping for air and struggling to break free of the blanket cocooned around her body. Finally, breaking free, she rolled out of bed. She bent over and braced herself with her hands on her knees. Her breathing was erratic. She was trembling hysterically. Her stomach was knotted up. Shit. She bolted for the bathroom and barely skidded to a stop at the toilet as the bile rose in her throat and she dropped to her knees and clutched the porcelain bowl, ignoring her body's painful protests to doing so. Before long, the wave of vomit passed. Her cheeks were wet. She was crying. She eased herself to the ground, squeezing between the toilet and the bathtub. Her elbows sat on her knees while her forearms crossed and her hands landed on her shoulders. She was doing her best to control her heartbeat and breathing. Her tears on the other hand, she ignored. She had a right to cry dammit! She could cry in the depths of the night with no one around. It wasn't weakness if no one was a witness.

Calleigh was a light sleeper, she always had been. She was awakened by footsteps pattering on the bathroom floor. She groaned and stretched. The alarm clock next to her bed said it was four in the morning. She groaned again and rolled over to go back to sleep. Then she heard gagging. She sat up debating whether she should help or not. Quiet sobs made her decision much easier. She slid out of bed. Her eyes were adjusting to being awake when she peered into the open bathroom. Danny was wedged between the toilet and the tub, sobs wracking her petite frame. She was a tiny ball of fear.

"Danny?" Calleigh said quietly. She had tried not to startle her, but Danny flinched anyway. Calleigh cautiously made her way over and sat with her back against the tub. "Danny, it's alright. You're safe here. No one's going to hurt you; I won't let anyone hurt you, I swear."

"I know. I'm sorry I woke you up. You should go back to bed. I'm fine. I'm fine." She repeated quietly. Tears still streaming down her face.

"It's almost morning, I can stay up. You know, it's okay to be scared, and wounded, and feel out of control. It's normal." Calleigh set her hand on the outside of Danny's knee.

"It was just a nightmare, but it felt so real. I could feel his breath on my skin. I felt his foot hit my body over and over again, bile burning my throat… His hands on the zipper of my jeans… I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe." The knot tightened around her stomach again. She pulled herself up to the toilet and started heaving again. Nothing came up, but her body wouldn't stop convulsing. Calleigh got up on her knees. She used one arm to hold her hair out of Danny's face and the other to brace her frail body against her own.

Danny finally stopped and she began to catch her breath. Calleigh's arms wrapped around her, and Danny sank into Calleigh's embrace and began to weep again. Calleigh rocked slightly and stroked the young girl's dark hair. After a while, Danny had cried herself into a fitful sleep. Calleigh pulled a towel off the shelf and slowly lowered Danny to the ground, using the towel as a pillow, while she slid out from beneath her.

She took one last look at Danny. She looked so young and exposed. The sun was spewing a few rays of light across the ocean. Calleigh shut the door and went to start the coffee.

************

"Can I ask you one more time not to make me go here?"

"You can, but the answer is not going to change." Calleigh and Danny were walking through the parking lot to the front doors of the school.

"Calleigh, please. How am I going to blend in? I am a new student in police custody and I'm covered in bruises and bandages. I'm going to stick out like a damn buffalo in a herd of zebras. Why don't you just put a shirt on me that says, 'I'm just waiting for my rapist to come finish the job'."

"Danny, we're going to protect you. Nothing is going to happen to you. Do you understand that?" Calleigh stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder and looked at her face.

Danny looked at her with a mock innocence, "No I don't. You should cuff me and take me to interrogation until I do understand it." She held her hands out to Calleigh while her eyes looked teasingly at her.

Calleigh rolled her eyes and they landed on her wrists. She saw a thick line. A thick scar. She quickly grabbed her wrists and turned them further so she could see. There was one on each wrist. Danny froze for a moment before pulling her hands away and continued towards the door in silence. Apparently she had done more than thought about suicide, she had tried it. Calleigh followed in a stunned silence. Danny was such a mystery. Calleigh couldn't figure her out, and maybe Danny was right; maybe she didn't want to.

They walked into the main office. There were a few students sitting in the waiting area. Calleigh saw Danny self consciously put her hand on the dark bruising around her neck. She put her hand on her back for moral support.

"Can I help you?" The secretary asked cheerfully. She was a plump middle aged woman with a bright smile.

"Yes, I need to speak to Principal Harris." Calleigh said nervously.

"Miss Duquesne?" A man who was standing nearby inquired.

"Yes." Calleigh responded.

"I'm Mr. Harris. Lt. Caine said you'd be here." He smiled and held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you." She returned the smile shook his hand. "I didn't picture you so young. When I was in school I could have sworn my principal was half past dead."

"I'm not as young as I look. And what about you? You don't look old enough to have a daughter in school here. You look barely day over twenty five." He smiled at her again.

"Oh god, I think I just vomited a little in my mouth." Danny interrupted the corny flirting that was going on. "Mr. Harris. Calleigh, here, well, let's be realistic, she's out of your league. Way out. In fact, if your league were to explode, she wouldn't hear the sound for another three days. So if you can stop kidding yourself and stop shamelessly flirting, even though you're married, and get down to business, I'll be over there sitting in that very uncomfortable looking chair." Danny turned her back to them and did just that.

Mr. Harris fidgeted with his wedding band and motioned for Calleigh to follow him. She smiled awkwardly and followed him down the short office hallway. The flirting was history and neither of them commented on Danny's blunt statement.

"So, what can I do for you?" He sat at his desk and looked at her.

"Danny is in police protection. We need her here because she would stand out in the typical places we would assign her to. She looks like a hundred other girls here so it will be much harder to spot her, even if she's followed. She can be put in any classes that are available; she has no records or transcripts. This is strictly a favor for the county. I will also need to be called right away if she doesn't show up to class. I think that's all we need to discuss."

"Will she be putting my other students in danger?"

"No, of course not. No one knows she's here. She was raped and she managed to survive. That's her only crime." Calleigh assured him.

"Alright, I'll take her to the counselor's office to set her up in classes."

"Thank you." She reached out to shake his hand.

He responded accordingly before leading the way back to the waiting area. Danny was leaning against the wall flipping through a magazine. Obviously, the chair was more uncomfortable than it looked. Calleigh could tell she was trying very hard to ignore the looks and whispers of the students walking through the halls to get to class. God, she hated leaving her here.

"Danny, I'm off. Call me if you need anything. If you don't show up to any one of your classes, the school will call me and I will hunt your ass down. Clear?"

"As mud. How am I getting back to your place?"

"Look for one of the Hummers outside. If I can't come get you, someone from the lab will." Calleigh gave her a reassuring smile before turning and walking away. She wasn't sure if she was trying to be convincing for Danny, or herself.

Mr. Harris set his hand on Danny's arm. She hadn't been paying attention to him and quickly shied away. He retracted his hand immediately. She cursed herself silently before murmuring an apology. He smiled gently and led the way down the hall to the next office. Within ten minutes she had been placed in eight classes. Most of them were your generic classes, very few career oriented or art based classes.

Soon, she was sent off to class. Algebra. Yeah, today was definitely going to be a long day.

Calleigh arrived to work late. This is why she would probably never be a mother; she was too concerned with work. Work…that was her baby. Not like she was excited to get to work on the shooting though. She always wanted to get justice for the victims, but even the three people from the shooting didn't compare to Speed's daughter. That was the case she wanted to be on. She bypassed her co-workers to get to her lab. She really didn't want to hear all the jokes about her being more domestic and about her biological clock right now. She had so much work to do, and not enough tolerance. Processing all those casing would take days. She settled in for the tedious work ahead of her.