"Zach Rosen- you were there, you raped my mom."

"Good guess!" Zach said brightly, wandering into the living room.

"I remember your face from when you were on trial," Cole said, following after him. "I memorized your face, Powell Lord's…you almost ruined my mom's life!"

"Oh, yeah? Well she actually did ruin mine, the bitch," Zach spat.

Cole instantly snapped at his words, lunging for the man, but Zach easily stepped aside, gripping the back of Cole's shirt and slamming his head into the wall beside them. Cole instantly hit the ground like a ton of bricks, unconscious, and Zach chuckled.

"Huh; looks like I can do whatever I want to Marty Saybrooke's kid," he mused, gazing around the room curiously. His eyes fell on the safe that Todd had left open, and Zach simply grinned when he noticed the gun. "Oh, Todd," he laughed, walking over and taking hold of it. "You just make it too easy."

Zach played with the gun, gazing at Cole's body while he thought, but eventually decided against it. He couldn't risk someone hearing something, someone unexpectedly showing up, and him getting put away for the kid's death so soon- not when Cole wasn't even the offspring he really wanted. Besides, there were other ways to hurt Marty- she seemed awfully attached to that guy who'd just married Todd's ex-, but Starr Manning was the only thing Todd truly cared about, the one thing he could truly use against his old frat brother. He couldn't risk being caught before he made Todd suffer through her.

The phone rang a moment later, and Zach waited for the message curiously, absent-mindedly rolling Cole over so the dumbass didn't suffocate against the carpet or something.

"Dad? It's Jack. Listen, I'm sure Starr's going to throw another bitch fit if she catches me calling you so I have to be fast, but I just thought you might need to hear this- Starr's been messing around with her teacher dad, Schuyler something, and I just heard her tell Langston that they did it. I mean, totally sick, right? You have to do something about that! I just thought you needed to know, because I'm worried. Hey, if the court finds out this happened with mom and McPain watching us, you can get custody back, right? You should tell someone! I gotta go, dad, I'll talk to you soon."

The call ended, and Zach laughed brightly in disbelief; it seemed daddy's little girl wasn't so innocent. Her teacher, really? She might be a fun one.

Zach knew he should probably take off now, until his plan was a little more solid, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do and when, but instead, he settled down on the couch to wait; he just had to see how Todd Manning took this news.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Completely unaware of the drama building everywhere else, Schuyler was just sitting in his apartment, quietly grading homework when there was an unexpected knock at his door.

Not thinking there would be anything wrong (figuring if it was Cole again, there would be more pounding and threats), Schuyler just calmly walked to the door, pulled it open, and came face to face with Todd Manning.

Even as Schuyler's stomach instantaneously dropped, panic momentarily gripping his mind as he realized what his presence must mean, he managed to keep up a calm façade, just nodding in greeting.

"Todd Manning, right?" he asked politely, as if he didn't know. Todd smiled tightly.

"Yeah, that would be me."

Then suddenly, so quickly that Schuyler barely even saw him move, Todd's hand shot out, and in one swift motion, gripped Schuyler's neck and bashed him face first into the door with all his might. He roughly shoved him back into the apartment afterwards as Schuyler's vision exploded before his eyes, spinning and blurring as his head screamed with pain, and he collapsed to the ground. Todd calmly stepped into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him, and walked over to Schuyler, crouching beside him as he gripped his collar, yanking him up so he had to look him in the eyes.

"Heard some really interesting things about you and Starr today, Joplin. Things that made me realize I should make it clear to you that nobody hurts my daughter and gets away with it."

"From Cole?" Schuyler spat in disgust, his head throbbing in protest as she spoke, his skull aching. "Whatever that kid told you isn't true."

"Doesn't matter where I heard it, just that I did, unfortunately for you."

"I didn't hurt your daughter- I never would."

Todd's fist now slammed into Schuyler's face, knocking him back to the ground as Todd abruptly rose to his feet as if just being near Schuyler sickened him too much.

"I don't recall saying you could talk, you little pervert."

"You've got the wrong idea, Todd," Schuyler sighed, knowing it was a lost cause.

"Really? Want to explain to me why, apparently, several other students saw you two kissing, then?"

"That was a misunderstanding," he hissed, weakly pulling himself to a sitting position. "Starr had a little crush on me, and she kissed me once, before I made it very clear that I was her teacher and it was never going to happen."

"Oh, so this is all my daughter's fault? You're blaming her?" Todd demanded.

"I am not blaming Starr, I didn't say that!"

"And if that's the case, why did Starr's best friend say Starr personally told her you two are together?"

Schuyler slowly shut his eyes as he released a breath, knowing there was definitely no hope now.

"Tell me why…"

Todd trailed off as the doorknob turned, and suddenly, Starr walked into the room, her smile instantly fading as she gasped in shock over the sight of her father greeting her.

"Dad?!" she cried in a panic, not yet noticing Schuyler. "What are you- oh my God!" she shouted as she saw Schuyler on the floor, rushing past her dad.

Starr collapsed to her knees beside Schuyler, and her eyes instantly filled with horrified tears as she saw the damage her father had done, lightly brushing her fingers across his injured skin.

"Oh my God," she whimpered, her heart growing cold to see her worst fears were being realized. "I'm sorry, Schuyler," she whispered, no other words capable of encompassing everything she felt in this terrible moment. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Starr," Schuyler tried to reassure her, even now, gently cupping her cheek.

"Get your hands off my daughter," Todd exploded, seeing red. Schuyler let go, but Starr kept her arms around him supportively, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her father- now just being seen as the man who had hurt Schuyler. "So, it's just a little crush on her part? That's why she just let herself in like she lives here? Joplin, give me one good reason why I shouldn't snap your neck," he hissed, not even acknowledging Starr's presence. Starr felt her anger truly boil over.

"How about the fact that you killed his mother?!" Starr screamed, jumping to her feet and standing in front of Schuyler protectively.

"What, is that what he's made you believe?" Todd snorted. "His mother killed herself."

"Yeah, because you blackmailed her! You had her so upset that she thought she was responsible for my baby's death! That's why she died!"

"You pushed her to it," Schuyler hissed in agreement as he clambered to his feet, being filled with a burning hatred for this man as he thought of everything he'd done to Starr, and what he'd done to his mom, the two people in his life that meant everything to him. Starr quickly wound her arm around his waist supportively, glaring at her father defiantly. "That's why she died. She was protecting me from you, because she didn't want anyone to find out that I was stealing drugs from the hospital because, yeah, yeah, I'm an addict!" he snapped.

"And a pervert- quite the double threat."

"What is wrong with you?" Starr demanded, her voice trembling. "How does it not even affect you to know that you caused a good woman's death?" Todd continued to ignore his daughter.

"So you're just going to make excuses for your mother? Hell, can I throw in a theory about why she killed herself, if we're playing this game? I think she probably offed herself because she found out you like to swim in the kiddie pool."

"Oh my God, dad!" Starr shrieked in disgust as Schuyler took a deep breath, resisting the urge to fly off the handle.

"That is not what happened."

"I think so. This proves it," he said, nodding between the two of them. "You know, even if I don't kill you now like I should, you're going to prison. You know what they do to pedophiles in prison?"

"I'm seventeen, dad," Starr hissed. "That's legal here anyway."

"Oh, God, the court is just going to love hearing this happened on your mother's watch," Todd noted to himself with a smirk.

"Please tell me you're kidding, dad. Please tell me you are not actually viewing this moment as another way to one-up mom, because I thought I made it clear when you took advantage of my mom being in a coma to try and get custody of me that I don't appreciate being used in your sick games like that."

"Shut up and stay out of this, Starr," Todd snapped, finally acknowledging her.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Schuyler thundered, starting to step forward before Starr quickly pushed him back. "You are so full of shit, Todd. You claim you're here to protect Starr, because nobody hurts your daughter, but look at how you treat her- think about all the ways that you've hurt her worse than anyone!"

"Don't you say a goddamn word to me about my daughter, you perverted creep. And you need to stop talking about things you don't understand, Starr; he has taken advantage of you, you can't see clearly anymore."

"Oh come on, dad, like I'm actually someone who can be taken advantage of!" Starr scoffed. "And he is exactly right! Just think about why you were blackmailing her in the first place!"

"Yeah, remind me what that plan was, Todd," Schuyler sneered. "Let's see if I remember it right; you were going to let Starr go on thinking that her baby was dead while you raised it with some woman who didn't even know who you were. You were just going to let your daughter keep on mourning and grieving forever while you took advantage of a woman you raped all over again! Am I about right, is that close? You plotted to do all that, you caused my mother to kill herself, and you don't even feel bad, do you?"

"Oh, I think I see what this thing is really about now," Todd began, weaseling out of acknowledging anything either had just said. "This is your idea of an eye for an eye, isn't it? You think I killed your mom, and so you went after my daughter. When she walked into your classroom, you must have thought you won the lottery, huh?"

"No, Todd. Not everyone is as sick in the head as you," Schuyler replied furiously, while Starr just gazed at her father in stunned disbelief, the tears burning her eyes yet again. How could he even think like that? "You realize you are the only person messed up enough to come up with something like that, right? I would never do something like that, to anyone, but especially Starr."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I love her," Schuyler replied calmly. Starr whipped around to gaze at him in shock, unable to believe he'd say that in front of her dad, when the man had nearly broken his face just because of secondhand info from Cole.

"You are sick, you know that?" Todd thundered, seeming to snap over Schuyler's words, his usual eerie, calm control vanishing. "I don't give a shit what you've made my daughter believe, about what kind of guy you are, about what she feels for you, you are a fucking pervert who take advantage of a depressed, lonely young girl. But let me tell you something, Schuyler, nobody does this to my daughter and lives to tell about it, nobody. She tell you what I did Cole? He's lucky he can still walk."

"Huh, and you wonder why your daughter has issues with men- at least that's the way you see it," he added, squeezing Starr's arm; she briefly nodded in understanding.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means considering that her DNA is half you, considering the way you raised her, and all the shit you've done to her and put her through, it's a goddamn miracle Starr turned out the way she has, you sick son of a bitch!" Schuyler shouted. "Is that clear enough for you?! Because I can sure as hell expand if you want me to!"

Todd started to move towards Schuyler, the look in his eyes murderously angry.

"Starr, get out," Todd hissed. "You don't need to see this."

"No," she breathed.

"Starr, I said get out."

"And I said no!" Starr fired back heatedly, planting herself directly in front of Schuyler. "Back off, dad! Considering you once shoved me down a flight of stairs, this might not deter you, but you're going to have to hurt me if you want to do anything else to him!"

"Starr," Schuyler hissed behind her, sounding truly panicked over the possibility of Starr putting herself in harm's way to protect him, trying to shove her away. She refused to budge. "Starr, please, don't. Move, now."

"Listen to your little boyfriend here, Starr. His life is going to be completely destroyed within a couple of hours anyway, protecting him now is just delaying the inevitable."

"Dad, what the hell is wrong with you!" Starr screamed hysterically, her voice stunning Todd into freezing where he stood. Starr recalled her reaction every other time he'd hurt someone she cared for, begging him to stop; well, she was done begging. "Do you not comprehend what a horrible human being you are, that you are an even worse father?! You pushed me down a flight of stairs when I was pregnant, and I tried to let it go, let you use your anger as an excuse. You tried to kill Cole, more than once, you beat up Markko, you even slapped Langston, but yet again, I excused all of that, looked the other way, let it go because I loved you! You planned to kidnap my baby, take her away from me forever, let me spend the rest of my life grieving her death! You blackmailed my doctor, tried to ruin the life of an innocent woman and her son, and you caused that woman's suicide, and even knowing all of that, I protected you! I committed perjury for you, and could have been sent to jail! I didn't think it was possible to follow all of that, but hey, big surprise, you found a way to disappoint me even more! My mom was in a coma, and I was alone and scared and miserable, and what did you do? You took advantage of her condition to try and make me live with you, even when I said I didn't want to! And look at you! Even now, finding some way to tear me apart from my mother is at the front of your mind!

"You have done all that to me, and I always forgave you, and made excuses, and gave you another chance, and this is how you repay me?" Starr hissed in disgust, her throat hoarse from all the infuriated screaming she had just done. "I repeat, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I am protecting you, Starr."

"How?! By beating up the guy whose mom you killed, trying to ruin his life even more than you already did?! And from what, exactly?! A guy who respects me, takes care of me, treats me well, and just happens to be a little older? A guy I love? Because guess what? I love Schuyler, dad!"

"You don't love him, Starr!" Todd spat. "You're acting out, this is a phase! That's not even you talking, it's him!"

"How the hell would you know?! You know nothing about me, or us! I love him," she repeated firmly. "He is the only person that I have ever felt like understands me, and I feel safe with him, and I'm…I'm finally really, really happy, because of him! And I swear to God, dad, if you destroy Schuyler, or hurt him any further… if you cause him to leave me and I lose the only really great thing I've ever had, you can go to Hell as far as I'm concerned! I swear to God, I will hate you forever; you will be as good as dead to me," she spat, her voice quieter than ever, but ringing with sincerity, and a furious passion to it; her obvious anger was so overwhelming, it was almost frightening. "I mean that this time. I don't care if Tea comes around again, crying and telling me you tried to kill yourself because of me- I won't even blink.. Do what you will, but I want you to be clear on the consequences."

The room was deathly still, the silence somehow deafening, as father and daughter simply stared each other down. Starr could read nothing off of her dad, and just hoped the fact that he hadn't laughed, yelled at her, snapped, done something, was a good sign.

After what felt like an eternity, Todd shot Schuyler one more look of pure venom before slowly backing away, looking as though resisting the urge to kill Schuyler right then and there was physically painful.

"I'll give you one choice in this matter, Starr," Todd said quietly as he reached the door. "You end this tonight, and I don't kill him. It ends here, and we can pretend it didn't happen. Take it or leave it." He didn't wait for a response, turning and opening the door before pausing a moment, turning back to glare at Schuyler once more. "I strongly suggest that you don't let there be a next time, Joplin."

Todd left, his quiet steps and the soft shutting of the door somehow more intimidating than if he had shouted and slammed it.

Schuyler and Starr both stood in complete silence for a moment, the tension slowly evaporating from the room with Todd's absence. Schuyler gave a slight sigh of relief; while that had been beyond horrible, he had to consider the fact that he didn't need an ambulance, that the cops weren't breaking down his door, kind of a win.

"Starr?" he asked softly, lightly placing his hand on her back when he noticed that the girl had yet to move, and was just staring into space with a blank expression. She jumped as he placed his hand on her, finally looking at him, and to Schuyler's surprise, Starr's face suddenly crumpled and she burst into tears.

"Oh my God, Schuyler, I am so sorry!" she wailed, wringing her hands as she struggled to breathe around her sobs. "I'm so so so sorry!"

"Starr," Schuyler began in shock, grabbing her shoulders and gently rubbing his hands up and down her skin, desperately trying to calm her down.

"I hate him so much! I swear, I will not let him do this to you ever again, Schuyler, and I won't let him do a thing to your career," she rambled, taking in short gasps of air.

"Starr, please-"

"If he does say something, I'm telling them I became obsessed with you, that I've been stalking you and you've been trying to keep me away, that the only reason you didn't transfer me out of your class or tell someone is because you were afraid I'd snap and hurt myself or something- oh, that could work! I can make Langston tell them I only told her we were together because I was having delusions, I can convince them that-"

Starr was suddenly cut off by Schuyler gently cupping her head in his hands and pressing his lips to hers- briefly, albeit, since she already seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating, but long enough to silence her.

"Starr, calm down, please, breathe," he instructed gently once he let go. She nodded, dazed, taking a deep, trembling breath. "Now, first of all- do you honestly think I'd let you do that?"

No, she didn't, that was precisely the problem; Schuyler would probably do something truly stupid like back up her dad's story and say he took advantage of her in some attempt to protect her reputation from being destroyed, which would be truly pointless because if he ever did that she would kill him and spend the rest of her life in jail anyway.

"Everything is okay, Starr."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" she shrieked before she could stop herself. "Look at what he did to you!"

"I'm fine- I'm fine Starr," he repeated when she snorted. "That was nothing. We're both okay."

"Okay, physically, but what if he tells the school?" she blubbered, giving up on trying to wipe away the tears at this rate. "Because I can't just end this, it's selfish but I can't- unless you want me to," she added hesitantly. Schuyler looked stunned.

"What? God, no, Starr, of course not." She briefly smiled through her tears, but it quickly disappeared.

"Well, if I can't somehow make him believe I did, he's going to run to the school, and you're going to lose your job!"

"Then it happens," Schuyler said simply, shrugging. "And everything will still be okay. I can handle anything he might do as long as I still have you, Starr, I mean that."

She looked at him dubiously, still shaking with sobs, and Schuyler pulled her body tight to his, running his fingers through her hair until his hands came around to cradles her head.

"Starr, I want you to listen to me," he murmured gently but firmly. "What you said to your dad, about you losing me if he tries to destroy me? Never going to happen. I want you to know, even if your dad does go through with this, you won't have lost me; I don't care what it means will happen to me, I won't leave you, not ever again- not as long as you still want me around."

"What?" she asked softly, genuinely startled.

"Starr, I could never bear to hurt you again, or more selfishly, be away from you, I just couldn't do it."

"If I ruined your career you wouldn't…hate me?"

"No, not for a second, not even close. I mean it when I say I love you, Starr, I need you to believe that. I love you," he repeated firmly. "You're it for me. Whatever else may happen doesn't matter."

That finally did the trick; the tears stopped and Starr managed to breathe, grinning warmly as she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him down and kissing him. Schuyler held her securely, kissing her fears away, and Starr almost sighed against his lips in relief; if she always had him, always had this, she could handle whatever came along too.

Schuyler only released her when air became a need and did not loosen his grip on her one bit. Starr just moved her arms to his waist and hugged him tightly, laying her head against his chest and listening to the soothing sound of his heartbeat as she regained her breath.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed locked in that embrace, holding each other without saying a word, until they finally pulled away and she glanced at the clock, her eyes widening with surprise when she saw how much time had passed since she'd arrived.

"Crap. I hate to say this, but I should probably go," Starr said reluctantly. "Last thing we need right now is my dad coming back and finding me still here. I'll call you the second I get home, okay?"

"Please do," he sighed, still worried about her. He knew Starr loved him, but seeing just how unhinged she'd become over the thought of something happening to him, or losing him, had unnerved him; hypocritically, he knew, since his own feelings on the thought of something happening to Starr were even worse, but he couldn't control it.

Eyes flickering to his injuries again, guilt weighing heavily in them, Starr managed a weak smile and kissed him once more.

"I love you so much," she said.

"You have no idea how much I love you, Starr."

"I think I'm starting to get the picture," she laughed sadly, lighting brushing her fingers across his bruising skin.

Starr left after one more kiss, and Schuyler watched her go with a heavy heart, suppressing the urge to call her back the moment the door shut.