Cole furiously tried to free himself again, knowing he had to get some signal to John that he needed to get the hell in here, now, but it was pointless- he could not make a sound. Just like he had with the phone, he was failing Starr all over again. Suddenly across the room, he heard Schuyler groan slightly, though he remained immobile, and Cole desperately hoped he was waking up.

The next few minutes were absolutely agonizing for Cole; he could now hear both John and his mother outside, arguing over the best way into the house, whether or not they should call Zach, if they should figure out a way to get the police here first, and Cole desperately wished his mom hadn't come; he knew John was holding back out of his worry for her, he would have kicked that damn door in by now if he was alone.

"What the hell is going on here?" Much to his disbelief, Cole actually felt a wave of relief when he heard Todd Manning's irritated voice a minute later.

"Zach Rosen has both of your kids, and Starr's biology teacher, he's holding them hostage- Cole called my phone earlier and I heard a second of what's going on in there. He said if we contact the cops, they're all dead. We need to- what are you doing, Manning?"

"I'm calling Rosen! He's got Cole's phone? Good, what's the number?"

"You're just going to set him off!"

"Marty, my daughter is in there with a convicted..."

"So is my son! John will get them out of there, but we have to work together!"

"Look, I guarantee you it's me he wants; he doesn't want to hurt anyone, he just wants payback, and I'm not leaving my daughter to him when I know that!"

Cole heard a key in the door, and relief shook him to his core as Todd, John and his mother came rushing in a moment later, looking ready for anything only to discover absolutely nothing waiting for them.

"Where the hell are they, John?" Todd thundered.

"I don't know, Manning, I thought he had them right here, waiting for-"

"Wait, shh," Marty ordered, frowning. "What was that?"

Marty quickly followed the sound, and froze, stunned, as her eyes first fell on Schuyler, unconscious and bleeding right to the side of the doorway in the living room, and then her own son, duct taped to a chair and screaming against his gag in a desperate attempt to get their attention.

"Oh my God, Cole!"

Marty instantly dashed over to her son as John dropped to his knees beside Schuyler, rolling him over and gently shaking his shoulders, and Todd looked infuriated by the scene- the absence of his daughter and Rosen from it in particular. Spotting Starr's phone laying forgotten on the table, Todd yanked it up, gripping it so tightly it nearly shattered in his hand, and quickly found Cole's number.

"Manning!" Zach answered brightly on the first ring. "That you I hear down there? Man, about time, twinkle and I here have been waiting!"

"Listen, you little bastard, you hurt my daughter and I will fucking kill you!" Todd thundered.

"Hey, Todd!" John snapped; too late- Zach hung up, and Todd kicked the wall in frustration.

"Goddamn it!"

"Nice work," John hissed, continuing his attempt to stir Schuyler as Marty carefully peeled the tape from Cole's mouth.

"Oh my God, are you okay?"

"Where's Starr?!" Todd demanded.

"Zach took her upstairs! I heard the door above me slam a couple minutes before you guys got in."

"My old room," Marty whispered in dread, exchanging a look with the two men.

"I'm going to kill that bastard," Todd seethed.

"Keep your cool, Manning, just-"

John was suddenly cut off by a weak groan of pain from the man on the floor beside him, and Schuyler's eyes fluttered open. He appeared confused for a moment, glancing around wearily, but reality suddenly came rushing back, and Schuyler abruptly bolted up, ignoring the pounding sensation it created in his head.

"Where's Starr?!" No time for questions or explanations about anything else right now.

"Zach's got her upstairs," John informed him quietly.

"Son of a bitch," Schuyler hissed, roughly pulling himself to his feet. "I'm going to kill him," he unknowingly echoed Todd. "I swear to God."

Schuyler ran his hand over his bloody head, eyes burning with anguish and guilt; he'd promised Starr he would protect her, and look at what happened; he'd been passed out on the floor while a psychotic rapist dragged her upstairs to do God only knew what. His anger boiling over, Schuyler slammed his fist to the wall in frustration; she'd only been here in the first place because of him, and he hadn't even been able to keep her safe. Some boyfriend he was.

"Hey, Schuyler, I think you need to stay down," John said gently. "Looks like you took a good hit, you're bleeding and-"

"Does it look like I care?" he asked impatiently, turning to Todd. "What are we going to do?"

"What the hell do you mean 'we'?"

"Both of you need to keep cool," John cut in. "Why don't you just let me go up and-"

"That bastard has my daughter, you're not doing shit without me!"

"I'm not just gonna wait here and twiddle my thumbs," Schuyler snapped at the same time.

"Mom, get this stuff off of me!" Cole requested desperately, drawing her attention away from the other three.

"Cole, I'm sorry, but I can't, because I know if I do you'll go flying right up those stairs!"

"Shouldn't I?! Starr needs help, mom!" And he'd already failed to help her in every other way tonight, Cole thought to himself bitterly.

"She's getting it!" Marty cried, nodding to the trio behind them. "Let them handle this. It's going to be okay, Starr's going to be okay."

"Okay, you obviously can't be convinced, but at least stay quiet and let me do the talking, okay?" John ordered.

Todd and Schuyler both looked none too pleased by this, but reluctantly nodded as they quietly made their way up the stairs, Todd pointing out the way to Marty's old room.

"Remember, both of you- lose your tempers, and bad things are going to happen, okay?" John said shortly, before rapping on the door. "Hey, Zach, it's John McBain. Why don't you open up, man? Why don't we end this before someone gets hurt?"

"Someone getting hurt is the fun part," Zach replied after a moment, John and Todd's presence apparently not worrying him- his voice was smug as ever. Schuyler wasn't even surprised by the rush of pure hatred it caused in him.

"You don't want to end up back in prison, Zach."

"Hey, don't try and play with me, John," Zach snapped, now sounding a little testy.

"All right, just chill, take it easy; we're all taking you seriously out here."

"Who's we?"

"Me, Schuyler, and Todd."

"Schuyler?!" Starr cried from inside the room before she could help herself, tears of relief burning her eyes to know he was okay.

"Hey, I told you to shut up!" Zach shouted, whipping around to face Starr on the bed where he'd pushed her, gesturing to her with the gun; Starr swallowed roughly and nodded.

In the hall, both Todd and Schuyler had a physical reaction to hearing Starr be spoken to that way, both appearing ready to kill, but John quickly shot them a look of warning, shaking his head. Schuyler clenched his fists, the force it took to keep from responding to Starr physically hurting him.

"Hey, Zach, I get it, I do- you have a score to settle. But listen, the kid's not part of this."

"Maybe not, but she's sure coming in handy!" he snickered.

"You're just getting in deeper, Zach. Open the door, let her go, and we'll talk."

"I don't need talk, I need money!"

"I can't make that kind of deal, Zach."

"I'm getting out of this free and clear, with money in my pocket, or so help me God I will kill her!"

Schuyler felt a violent rush of anger, turning and facing the other way as he took a deep breath, trying to restrain the urge to just kick the fucking door down.

"Hey, Zach," Todd spoke up, ignoring John's look. "You want a hostage? Take me." There was only silence in response, and Schuyler felt a surge of hope, praying Zach would agree to the trade. "Rosen?"

"Your daughter's real touched you'd trade places with her, Todd- it's just too bad you've got zero value as a hostage, considering everyone in this town- hell, everyone in this house- hates your guts. Besides, Starr here is just too cute- and she's growing up so fast, if you know what I mean."

"John, get Starr out of there, now; come up with a new plan, because this one clearly isn't working!" Schuyler hissed, panic making his heart nearly pound of his chest.

"Stay calm, I'm working on it."

Schuyler shook his head in disbelief, now feeling the slight urge to punch John. A convicted rapist was threatening to assault his girlfriend, but, oh, okay, John was 'working on it', he could totally stay calm! Schuyler looked around the hall, trying to find some way he could help Starr.

"What do you want, Zach?" Todd demanded, his own anger more quiet, seething.

"I told you!"

"Money? You got it."

"Good answer- too bad that wasn't what you said the first time I asked."

"You're right, that was a mistake- let me fix it now."

"Don't promise him anything until he lets her go," John whispered urgently.

"Listen he thinks I ruined his life- he just wants me to pay!"

"Hey, what's with the whispering?! Big meeting of the minds?" Zach snorted.

"Zach, let us see Starr, all right?" Schuyler blurted out before he could stop himself. "Just let us know she's okay, and you'll get whatever you want."

"He's right, Zach. I know there's a lot you and I need to talk about- just let us see Starr, and let me in, and you and I can have this out."

"Hmm, let me think about that…no thanks! Now, you should know I've got a gun pointed at your daughter's head right now, so you should all probably leave- who knows what could happen if you keep distracting me."

"Motherfu-"

John clamped a hand over Todd's mouth and all but dragged him back to the stairs, Schuyler following despondently as his mind raced to come up with an idea, ignoring the physical throbbing in his head.

Downstairs, Marty had finally given in to Cole's wishes and cut the tape off of him, but she gripped his arm tightly the moment he bolted from the chair, keeping him next to her.

"We're leaving this house right now, Cole, and we're waiting outside until it's over, come on."

"What?! Mom, Starr is upstairs, being held hostage by the same guy who…look, you don't get it," he sighed irritably.

"Don't ever fucking touch me, McBain!" Cole was interrupted as Todd spat those words, shoving John away from him the moment they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"What happened?!" Cole and Marty cried in unison.

"Zach's not up for talking," Schuyler snapped shortly.

"So Starr is still up there with him," Cole said in disgust, turning to his mom. "See, I can't leave, not when she's like this, mom- I love her."

"Well fine, then, I'm not leaving either! Look, we have to call the cops now!"

"No!" Schuyler shouted in frustration. "How many times does he have to say it? If we call the cops, he will kill her!"

"Well, what do you want to do, Joplin?! Sit here and just hope the convicted rapist lets my daughter go? Hey, if we're not going to be doing anything else- wanna tell me why the fuck you and my daughter were here in the first place? What, did you want round two with me and bring her with you- did you drag Starr into this mess?"

"You're blaming me? Zach is here because of you, Todd!" Schuyler exploded, even knowing that wasn't entirely true; it was more his fault than anybody's, but Schuyler had to direct this anger at someone or he was going to burst. "Zach has your daughter in that room because he wants payback against you! Starr is in this mess because you're a sick bastard and it came back to-"

"This is really helping, guys, great job!" John interrupted. Todd and Schuyler both took a breath, separating.

"Okay, Todd, is there a way into the bedroom other than the door in the hall? And the window?" Schuyler asked him quietly.

"You going somewhere with…hey, you okay?" John cut himself off to ask Cole, frowning- the boy didn't look so good.

"I'm fine," Cole muttered, shaking his head. His hand automatically went to his pocket, but he only felt an empty baggie within, and clenched his fists in frustration.

"You going somewhere with this?" John asked Schuyler.

"Yeah- I noticed a forced air vent in the hallway. Is there a duct that connects it to that room?"

"I don't know, but I had a blueprint drawn up last fall," Todd remembered, a gleam of hope appearing in his eyes. He disappeared for a moment and quickly returned with the blueprint in hand, which they all crowded around.

"Look, there's the ductwork," Schuyler said, spotting it quickly. "Just follow right along this path and it leads straight to the connecting bathroom of the bedroom- we can get in that way."

Everyone but Todd, too distracted with his mental planning, glanced at Schuyler in surprise.

"How did you-"

"When you're addicted to drugs and your friends and family resort to locking you in your room, you come up with unique ways to get of the house and get your fix, like getting out through the airducts" he muttered, shrugging uncomfortably. "Come on, let's go."

"Schuyler, you're bleeding, you've probably got a concussion," John interjected. "Maybe you shouldn't-"

"I promised Starr I wouldn't let Zach hurt her- I promised her," Schuyler said darkly, his voice thick with guilt and pain, his eyes swimming with emotion. "Let's go already."

"I'm going with you," Cole announced, starting to follow the trio.

"No, Cole," John said quickly as Todd and Schuyler continued without even pausing. "You need to stay here and protect your mom, all right? It's three to one already; we should be back downstairs, with Starr, within fifteen minutes, but if we're not, you call the station and ask for Officer Sahid, she'll know what to do. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, good man."

"Be careful," Marty said weakly. John threw her a reassuring smile.

"I will."

He took off as well now, and Cole paced around anxiously, frowning as he saw something glittering on the floor; he stooped down to pick up, his heart twisting when he realized what it was.

"What is it?" Marty asked softly.

"Starr's locket," he sighed. "The one with Hope's hair in it- she's had it ever since we thought Hope was…" he trailed off, shuddering. "It must have fallen off when Zach attacked her," he spat, suddenly clutching the locket so tightly that it nearly drew blood from his hand. He flopped down on the couch with a sigh, and Marty quietly sat next to him.

"What happened?"

"Huh?"

"A minute ago, you said you love Starr…what changed?"

"Nothing changed- I never stopped. I tried to, I wanted to hate her for lying for her dad and helping him get away with what he tried to do, and for moving on, but I can't."

"Moving on? Oh, I'm sorry, Cole, I didn't know Starr had someone else," she said softly, squeezing her son's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's why I was here, actually, I told Todd," he sighed. "Hey, you wanna know the really fun part? The new guy? Also here."

"What are you…Schuyler?" she gasped. "That's why he's here? Isn't he her teacher?"

"Yep," Cole said darkly. "That's why I came here to tell Todd, he had a right to know!" he told her defensively.

"But he wasn't here."

"No, he was here and I told him what happened. Then he took off."

"To go after Schuyler?"

"Yeah. I probably shouldn't have told him what happened, but I didn't know what else to do. Or maybe I just wanted him to kill the guy," Cole admitted darkly, before softening slightly. "Good thing he didn't, though, because Joplin can obviously protect Starr a hell of a lot better than I can."

"Hey, she's gonna be fine, Cole," Marty promised. Cole shrugged.

"No thanks to me. God, what if Todd had snapped and killed Schuyler? Who knows what Zach would have done to Starr by now, since I'm obviously useless!"

"Don't beat yourself up, Cole! It's understandable that you want to protect Starr from this teacher- he might be helping now, but if he and Starr are…together, that doesn't change the fact that he's doing a really bad thing." Cole nodded.

"I just don't want to see her get hurt anymore than she already has been."

"Of course not, sweetie."

"You know, the truth is it really doesn't matter what Starr does or who she does it with. It's not going to change the way I feel about her. I love her."

"Well, maybe after all this is over," Marty began hopefully. "You two can-"

"No, Mom, no. No, I really screwed up. She's not going to take me back. Besides, she loves Schuyler."

"She doesn't love him, Cole. Starr's being taken advantage of by an older man, she's in over her head."

"Well, don't tell her that," he snorted. "But look, it doesn't matter, as long as she comes out of this okay. I would leave town and never see her again if I thought it would make her come down these stairs in one piece."

"I know, I know."

"No, you don't. How could you possibly know how it feels to have the person you love trapped with some killer?"

Marty just looked away, her eyes heavy.

"I can imagine. Hey, Cole...does Blair know about this thing between Starr and her teacher?"

"No, I only told Todd."

"Soemone should really let her know..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Never thought your perverted fixation on my daughter and the fact that you're a drug addict would actually prove useful, kudos on proving me wrong."

"Go to hell, Todd," Schuyler replied calmly, continuing to crawl through the duct as quickly as possible; he had no energy left to hate Todd with, it was all too focused on saving Starr from this creep.

"You first."

"That's mature, Manning," John hissed from behind them. "You doing okay up there, Schuyler?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, his pounding head disagreeing.

"Who the hell cares, McBain- can we remain focused on my daughter, please?"

"Todd, don't think I don't care about-"

"We're here," Schuyler interrupted tightly, quickly but quietly kicking the vent out and silently dropping to the bathroom floor.

Todd and John quickly followed, and Todd and Schuyler both started to lunge for the door, but with an exasperated sigh, John yanked them back.

"Wait," he whispered. "For all we know, he still has the gun to her head and pulls the trigger the second he sees the door open. Wait until we're sure she's not going to get hurt."

With an infuriated sigh, Schuyler let go of the knob, just pressing his ear to the door instead. Thanks to him, the girl he loved was being held hostage by a complete psychopath, and now, even though she was only feet away from him, all he could do was wait here helplessly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Maybe I don't know your dad as well as I thought- I would have guessed that he'd have busted the door down by now. Or maybe he just doesn't care about his little Starr as much as I thought," Zach mused, still watching the door to the room carefully. "I mean, I'm not surprised the teacher gave up so quickly, he's got a whole classroom full of replacement girls to screw, but I thought daddy would have made a bit more effort."

Starr ignored his words in disgust; she knew Schuyler and her dad had to be figuring out some other plan, Zach's claims otherwise didn't get to her in the slightest. She continued struggling to free her hands since he'd duct taped them together behind her back, but when Zach glanced back and saw what she was doing, he just chuckled.

"By all means, keep trying if you want- I already know you're not going anywhere."

"Well, fine, because Schuyler's just going to get me out of here anyway!" Starr snapped defiantly. Zach slowly turned back to her, his expression quickly making her regret that.

He set the gun at the foot of the bed, then sat down next to her himself, smiling.

"Why do you want to get away from me so badly, twinkle? I mean, really, what have I done? Sure, there was that night with Marty, but your dad was there too, it was his idea, and you don't seem to hate him. I hurt your boyfriend downstairs, I know, but again, judging from that black eye, so did your father- just more proof he gets away with all the same shit I do," Zach spat, before calming down again. "I know I hurt you, but I told you, I didn't want to do to that- you made me," he murmured, reaching out and stroking her bruised skin with his fingertips. Starr felt violently ill, turning her head.

"Don't touch me," she hissed, sickened. Zach suddenly grabbed her chin and roughly jerked her head back over to look at him, his eyes dark.

"You say that to the teacher? Really, Starr, I don't see what makes us so different."

Starr just glared, not wanting to waste her breath arguing with the psycho. Just as Starr was sure Zach was about to get up to watch the door again, his fingers dug into her skin even harder, and he suddenly slammed his lips roughly to hers.

Starr screamed, but it was swallowed and drowned out as he violently moved his mouth against hers, biting at her lips hard enough to draw blood as he kissed her. She frantically tried to move her head, get away from him, but he held her too tightly. Starr's heart thundered in terror, disgust overwhelming her stomach, as she felt herself begin to cry against her will, still desperately trying to get away from him. Zach's free hand drifted to the bottom of her shirt, lightly skimming along her jeans, gripping the snap on them, and, receiving a surge of adrenaline from the fear currently in her heart, Starr managed to snap her head forward and roughly headbutt him. Zach cried out, briefly letting go, and Starr desperately tried to roll away from him.

"Get off of me!" Starr shrieked hysterically, feeling him grasp her wrist.

The terror she currently felt was so consuming that Starr did not even realize the bathroom door had been loudly thrown open, didn't even notice the three men rushing into the room, until only a moment later, Zach suddenly was flung off of her, thrown against the night table on the floor, his head connecting to the wood with a loud crack. She gasped, looking up in shock, and almost cried out in relief when saw Schuyler standing over Zach, a look of pure rage on his face, infuriation twisting his features into something cold and hard.

Taking a shaky breath, Schuyler managed to tear his eyes from Zach long enough to take a glance at Starr, and the moment he saw her frightened tears, the painful bruising all along her face, the blood on her lips, Schuyler felt something inside of him break- snap, perhaps, to be more accurate. Just like the desire for drugs, the overwhelming anger he'd used to have in his dark days had never really gone away completely. It was there just under the surface, held back by a firm band of restraint, but that band had been stretched in recent days by Cole's possessive behavior of Starr, by Todd's little visit, by Zach's behavior towards Starr downstairs, and now, the sight of what Zach had done to Starr caused it to snap completely.

It was like Schuyler's mind proceeded to shut down and his body just took control, that rage fueling him on, as he fell to his knees beside Zach, yanking him up by the throat to look him in the eyes; to his disbelief, Zach just laughed.

"What, you can't share? Hey, since you interrupted, just tell me until I get to find out myself- is she good?"

Schuyler's fist instantly shot out and punched Zach hard in the nose, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone. His hand, already aching from punching the wall, felt like it was now throbbing, but Schuyler ignored the pain.

"Schuyler!" Starr shrieked in surprise, her threat leaping to her throat; her attention was so completely focused on Schuyler and Zach that she barely even registered her dad sitting on the bed beside her, rambling on about how glad he was she was safe, and how sorry he was, and how he was going to murder Zach. "He's trying to get to you, just ignore him!"

Schuyler didn't even hear Starr, the angry buzzing in his head deafening him to everything else as he pulled back and punched Zach again…and again, and again. His fist struck the man's face over and over, even when Zach's body went limp, even when the blood began to flow, even when his fist was covered in his own blood as well from his torn knuckles, even when some part of his brain registered that his hand must be broken.

"Dad," Starr whispered, watching in horror; it was like Schuyler was in a trance or being possessed or something. "Do something, stop him."

"Why?" Todd asked with a snort, struggling to remove the tape from her wrists. "Rosen's just lucky I didn't get there first."

"Schuyler, that's enough, he's out- stop!" John shouted. Schuyler remained in that state of unawareness, continuing to strike Zach again and again.

"What's going on?!" Cole suddenly shouted from the other side of the door, pounding on it rapidly.

"Cole, they said to wait downstairs!" Marty cried nervously, obviously having followed her son up the stairs.

John impatiently threw the lock, opening the door, and Cole and Marty quickly stumbled in, only to suddenly freeze in their tracks as they took in the sight of Schuyler, looking like he was trying to beat Zach to death, while Starr and Todd watched from the bed, Starr in a stunned, quiet horror while Todd seemed amused, and John continued to shout at Schuyler, trying to bring him back to earth.

It registered after a moment, when what was happening with Schuyler wasn't so distracting, that he had just seen that Starr was okay, and Cole sighed in relief, rushing to bed.

"Starr, thank God you're okay," he murmured, reaching out to hug her.

Starr jumped, flinching and reeling back as soon his hand landed on her shoulder.

"Don't!" she shouted quickly. "Don't touch me!"

"Starr, are you…are you okay?" he asked slowly, furrowing his brow. Marty quickly joined them on the bed, reassuringly stroking Starr's hair which just made her flinch again.

"You're safe now, Starr, just talk to us," she encouraged softly. Todd jumped in now.

"Starr, tell me that bastard didn't-"

"I don't want to talk about this right now!" Starr shouted frantically, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe with all of them crowding her like this; she drew her knees to her chest, desperately wishing she could clamp her hands over her ears. "Just stop, I don't want to talk about this; just…get away from me, make Schuyler stop, and oh my God, dad, will you get this tape off of me already?! I can't move and it feels like I can't breathe, and I need Schuyler and I just need you all to stop and let me breathe!" she rambled on wildly.

"Okay, okay, sweetie," Todd said soothingly, shooting Cole and Marty a quick glare. "You heard her, get away from her."

Cole quickly slid off the bed as he was told, not wanting to do anything to make Starr worse- it was the absolute least he could do after all the ways he'd screwed up today. As Todd struggled to free Starr from her bonds, Cole joined John in trying to stop Schuyler, while Marty just hovered nervously by the door.

On the floor beside the bed, Schuyler slowly became dully aware of John and Cole's shouting, but it sounded dim, far away; it felt as though he was hearing them yell at someone else, not him. He could feel the hands on his shoulders, but quickly shrugged them off. Time was passing in a blur, and making Zach suffer for as long as possible was all he could think of.

"There, sweetie, it's off, you're fine," Todd said as he tore the remaining tape from her wrists, anger burning through him again when he saw that her wrists were red and raw now. If he stopped Schuyler, it would only be so he could kill Rosen himself.

"Finally," she sighed, instantly scooting to the edge of the bed.

"Starr, you shouldn't!" Marty said quickly, realizing what she was doing. "He's not himself right now, he doesn't know what he's doing."

"He's not going to hurt me!" Starr scoffed, sounding disgusted she would even suggest it. She took a deep breath, and continued. "Schuyler," Starr said in almost a whisper, delicately placing her hand on his shoulder.

Much to the shock of the other four, instantly, as if someone had just found his shut down button, Schuyler went still, breathing heavily as his shoulders sagged, that one quiet voice and soft touch finally doing the trick and getting through to him.

As he snapped back into awareness, Schuyler finally felt the pain in his hand, and looked to his torn knuckles, then Zach's face, almost unrecognizable after what he'd done, in utter shock, feeling a surge of horrified disgust with himself; what had he just done? Had all that progress he'd made over the years been for nothing if he could do something this horrible? And in front of Starr no less? Jesus, she was probably terrified of him now, like she had every right to be.

"Schuyler," Starr said again, desperate for him to look at her.

He finally did, and to her own surprise, Starr felt herself tear up in relief at the sight of those familiar eyes, finally feeling assured that she was safe now. Without another word, Starr weakly slid off the bed and onto her knees on the floor beside Schuyler. She released a great shuddering breath as she collapsed against him, winding her arms around his waist and burying her head against his chest, appearing as though she was trying to disappear into him as she cried. Schuyler took a deep breath, taking comfort in her scent, in the feel of her safe in his arms, and hugged her tightly, silently reassuring himself that she was okay, that he'd gotten there in time.

"I'm sorry," Schuyler murmured against her ear, his expression overwhelmed with shame, pulling her into his lap and rubbing soothing circles on her back as he scooted them back away from Zach's limp body. He felt another rush of self loathing as his motions left a mixture of his and Zach's blood stained on her shirt. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't," Starr choked out instantly, despite not even knowing what he was apologizing for- she didn't need to. "Don't be."

Schuyler dropped his head against her hair, and neither said anything else, just holding each other tightly, as the rest of the occupants of the room shifted around awkwardly, uncomfortable (particularly Cole) witnessing such an intimate moment- it felt like they were intruding. Todd looked furious over the sight, but even he knew better than to try and tear Starr away from Schuyler at this moment.

The room was thick with silence for a minute, nobody saying a word, but it was broken a moment later as they moved into action. Todd looked at his daughter to reassure himself once more she was safe, and reluctantly left the room, calling the cops.

"I should call Blair, she deserves to know what's happening," Marty said quietly, following Todd into the hall.

"Hey, Cole," John said softly, not wanting to disturb the girl. "I don't want to leave them here with Zach, not when he could wake up, so why don't you do me a favor and go call the paramedics? Tell them as much of what happened as you can so Starr won't have to."

Cole was so distracted, glancing back and forth from Starr and Schuyler to Zach's bloody mess of a face, that he barely seemed to hear him.

"Cole?"

"Yeah, sorry. I'll get right on that."

Cole left just as Todd reappeared, snapping his phone shut.

"Cops will be here any minute," he said to John, still watching Schuyler with his daughter like a hawk.

"What?!" Starr suddenly cried, her head snapping up to glance at her dad over Schuyler's shoulder, before she shot Schuyler a panicked look. "Oh my God, Schuyler, you have to leave," she said frantically, still crying. "If you're here when the cops get here, they're gonna want to know why you were here in the first place, and they're going to find out somehow, and so is the school!"

"I can't leave you, Starr," Schuyler protested strongly, shaking his head.

"I don't want you to go," she said in tears, her grip on his shirt, so strong that it was turning her fingers white from the force, proving that. "But I don't want you to lose your job more!"

"Starr, I could not care less about that, I really couldn't," he informed her, almost laughing over the idea that it would matter, especially now of all times.

"Well, I care! You love teaching, Schuyler, I'm not going to let you lose that because of me!"

"Because of you?" he repeated in disbelief. "Starr, it wouldn't be because…you know what, that doesn't even matter now. Just know that I'm not going anywhere."

"But-"

"Starr," Todd interrupted gently.

Starr glanced back, somehow holding Schuyler even tighter, like she was afraid he was going to disappear when she took her eyes off of him. Todd took a deep breath, willing himself to do this, much as he hated it. Joplin was the one person bringing his daughter any sense of comfort or safety right now, and he was the only one of them she wanted. After the hell she'd just been through with Zach because of his past, this was the absolute least he could do for his daughter. Besides, truth was, he had a tiny, grudging amount of respect for Joplin after what he'd just done to Zach.

"If the cops do ask, I'll them Schuyler was here because I asked him over so we could discuss your courseload."

Starr and Schuyler both looked stunned by this, and Starr just gaped at her dad in disbelief for a moment, feeling like she was Cindy Lou Who watching the Grinch's heart grow three sizes or something.

"Thank you, dad," she whispered simply, dropping her head back down to Schuyler's shoulder.

In the next ten minutes, the once silent house seemed to explode with action; Blair, the paramedics, and the cops all arrived within moments of each other, and everybody was firing off questions, demanding answers, trying to discover what exactly had happened, gathering evidence and trying to treat the injured. In the middle of all the chaos, Starr and Schuyler managed to find a small bit of peace, left alone in the room for a moment now that John had stepped out as well. They just clung to each other in silence as they soaked up the last moments they had before the chaos reached them too.

"Hey, Schuyler," Starr began weakly, sighing as she heard her mom's hysterical shriek of 'Where's my daughter?!' downstairs, heard her father instruct her and the paramedics to this room. They were in for a seriously long night. "I didn't get a chance to say this yet, and I don't know if I will later, so- thank you for saving me. I knew you would," she said softly, smiling.

"God, don't thank me for that, Starr, please," Schuyler grit out through his teeth. He might have gotten there soon enough to prevent Zach from doing something unthinkable, sure, but the fact that she'd been alone with him for as much as a minute meant he'd been too late- he'd failed her all the same.

Starr almost cracked a smile, thinking Schuyler was just in ultra modest mode or something. She dropped her head to the crook of his neck again, lightly nuzzling her nose against his skin.

"Love you, Schuyler," she murmured tiredly. For a moment, the only thing Schuyler could think was 'Why?' Why, after everything he'd caused her to go through this night, after the ways he'd let her down, did Starr even like him, let alone love him?

"I love you more than anything, Starr," he said honestly, pressing a light kiss to her hair.

Starr finally felt a small, but genuine smile tug at her lips as she pulled out of his embrace and reluctantly moved out of his lap, seconds before her mom came dashing into the room, quickly followed by the paramedics and her dad.

"Oh, Starr, my baby!" Blair wailed, falling to her knees beside her daughter, pulling her into a hug. Starr went tense, her mind instinctively panicking against her will at the tight hold; it seemed Schuyler was the only one who could touch her without the reactive freak out right now.

"Mom, please don't," she muttered uncomfortably, squirming away.

"Oh, baby, what did he do to you? Look at your face!" she cried a moment later, seeing the large bruise, beginning to swell now. "I'll kill him, I swear I will!"

"M'am, I'm sorry, but I need you to move so I can examine your daughter," a paramedic said gently.

"Of course, do what you have to!"

"Hey!" Todd suddenly barked at the team kneeling by Zach. "What the hell are you doing?! That guy held a gun my daughter's head, why are you treating him? Just leave him there to die, it's not like anybody will care."

"I'm fine, really," she heard Schuyler insisting. "I don't need-"

"Mr. Joplin," she cut in sharply, glancing away from the flashlight the paramedic had requested she follow with her eyes. "You probably have a concussion and a broken hand, don't be stupid, let them examine you-"

"Starr, sweetie, just focus on what the paramedic is asking you to do," Blair interrupted, looking like she was scared the mere effort of talking would break her.

Starr sighed, gazing around at the frenetic going ons in the room, all the voices making her feel a little dizzy; just like she'd thought, this was going to be a very, very long night.