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Chapter 5: Rescued
Micky sat in the passenger seat of the Monkeemobile as Mike drove to the abandoned soap factory. Back at Piper's house, her friend and friend's father had come over. Piper introduced her friend as Willow and her friend's father as William Beckett. He stayed behind to watch Peter and Davy and make sure they stayed safe, just in case while Piper and Willow joined Mike and Micky. Once they were at a safe distance where they wouldn't be noticed, Mike turned off the car.
"Micky, take these poppers and set them off on the south side of the building, then meet us back here," Piper said handing Micky a small black bag after they got out of the car.
"What, why?" Micky asked.
"We need a distraction," Piper answered.
"I'm going in there with you," Micky protested.
"Micky, we really don't have time to argue," Piper said. "We need a distraction out here to lure as many of them away from the factory as we can. You and I are the only two who know how to set those things off properly and I'm sorry, but I'm going in there over you because I've been doing this kind of stuff for five years and you've been playing music."
"But-" Micky protested further.
"No," Piper said firmly. "I'm not arguing this one with you. Trust me. If your sister is in there I WILL bring her out. I promise." Without another word she started off toward the soap factory. Willow gave Micky a sympathetic look before following her.
"Cover our backs, Micky," Mike said. "I promise I won't let you down." Micky sighed as Mike ran after Piper and Willow. Micky knew she was right; he was better out here setting the distraction to clear the way for them, but he wanted to be with them. He wanted to carry his sister away from the arms of his father. He didn't have time to think of how messed up this whole situation was, but he knew when he did, he'd likely break down. For now, he had to focus on saving Rose. He could break down later.
He ran to the south side of the building, far away from the car. He scanned the horizon and the building for any signs of movement. He saw 2 men patrolling the area, but nothing more. It was quiet. And any doubts Micky had about whether or not this was even the right place faded. Micky watched the guards make their rounds and timed them. Once he was sure he knew their pattern, he set out to start setting off the poppers. Each had a time delay so he could set them off without being nearby. He set the timer for 120 seconds and placed them in a line leading away from the factory. He made sure to space them out enough so they would go off one after the other and draw the guards and anyone else nearby away. The noise was loud, but didn't sound like an explosion. It was a sound that would need to be investigated.
When Micky set the last one, he ran back towards the car. As he ran he heard the poppers go off behind him. He glanced quickly over his shoulder and saw the two guards making their way towards the sound. Four other men came out the side door to investigate the noise further. Micky ducked behind a bush near the car and watched. All six men were drawn far away from the building and were poking around the bushes and trees nearby, looking for the source of the sound. Micky knew they wouldn't find anything. The only thing the poppers left behind were puffs of smoke that only lasted a few seconds and it was too dark for them to see it. They'd be looking for awhile giving Mike, Piper and Willow plenty of time to get Rose and get out.
Nearly fifteen minutes later when Micky was getting very anxious, he saw shadows running towards him. It was just in time because the six guards were giving up the search and returning to their post. Micky moved to make sure the car was started when he noticed that the figures moving toward him weren't as he expected. He expected to see only four people, but instead he saw five. Mike was carrying another person in his arms, draped in a blanket and arms wrapped around Mike's neck.
"Rose, thank God you're ok," Micky hugged her.
"We need to get going; now," Piper said.
"Who is that?" Micky asked when they got close enough to him. He couldn't see the person in Mike's arms; she had a thick blanket wrapped around her entire body and her face was buried in Mike's shoulder, but he could tell she had a very thin frame. Her arms were thin and bony and her skin was pale. Her feet were sticking out the and of the blanket and even they looked bony and small. She almost looked like a child.
"Just get in the car and drive," Piper said. Micky quickly scanned all the faces of his friends looking for any hint. All he saw was fear and confusion. Piper shoved Micky toward the driver's seat of the car forcing him to give up for now. When they were only a few minutes away, Mike looked at Piper who was sitting in the seat between him and Micky.
"She's still shivering," Mike said. "And her lips are blue."
"Pull her tight," Piper answered. "It's possible she's developing hypothermia. She needs your body heat. Keep her covered and tight."
"Is she gonna be ok?" Rose asked.
"I need you to tell me what happened," Piper said.
"She...she was helping me," Rose answered. Micky was surprised to hear her speech was a little off. It almost sounded as if she were drunk. "My head was bleeding pretty bad and she was helping me. He tried to hurt me, but she...she convinced him to hurt her instead. Said I couldn't handle it and he'd make me worse. He got mad at her so he took her clothes and that blanket with him when he was done. I tried to keep her warm. I couldn't. That room was just so cold. She was so cold."
"I guess it's good he left the blanket in the hall," Piper said. "Willow, crank the heater."
"I already did," Willow answered reaching over to double check the car's heater was turned all the way up.
"I think he drugged her, too," Rose said. "Her speech has been really slurred and she seemed tired and weak to begin with."
"Your speech is kind of slurred too," Mike pointed out.
"Who is she?" Micky asked again.
"Don't worry about that now," Piper snapped. "You need to focus on driving." Micky almost protested again, but when he saw the four of them exchange worried looks with each other in the rear view mirror he decided to drop it. They had a reason for not telling him and he'd find out soon anyway.
Over half an hour later, Micky pulled back into Piper's driveway. Mike was still holding the tiny woman close to him trying to keep her warm. Micky offered to help him carry her inside, but Piper told him to just get the door. He was beginning to get aggravated at their secrecy, but couldn't allow himself to focus on it. He had other things to deal with.
"Put her on the couch for now," Piper instructed. Mike nodded and set her on the couch as instructed. "Go find some more blankets and someone make her some soup."
"What happened?" Davy asked seeing them come in. Mike ran off to find more blankets and Willow dashed into the kitchen. It was then Micky finally saw the woman's face and his heart nearly stopped beating. The blanket slipped off her head showing her bright red hair and beautiful green eyes. Her face had lost a lot of it's shape but he still knew who she was. Even though it was impossible. He was looking at a ghost. He stood there staring at the face he'd known so well that was now gaunt and pale, trying to come to terms with what he was seeing.
"What is this?" Micky finally blurted out just as Mike ran back in the room with blankets.
"Micky, take a deep breath," Piper said.
"I don't understand," Micky said. "She...she's supposed to be dead!"
"Just calm down for a second, Micky," Mike said handing the blankets to Rose so she could wrap the woman up more. "I know this is hard-"
"HARD!?" Micky exclaimed. "For five years I thought this woman was dead and now I see her sitting in front of me!? Hard doesn't even begin to cover it! What the hell happened!? I buried her body!?"
"You buried A body," Rose said. "Just not hers."
"You told me it was her," Micky glared.
"Micky, now is really not the time for this," Mike said. "We can talk about this later."
"You knew about this," Micky growled. He couldn't help himself. The thought of Mike lying about what his father did to his sister was bad enough, but lying about this pushed him past the point of no return. Before he knew what he was doing, Micky launched himself at Mike and clenched his fist. Before Mike could back away or defend himself, Micky punched him in the face. He moved for another, but felt arms pulling him away from Mike.
"STOP!" Piper exclaimed running between Micky and Mike as Rose pulled Mike away while Davy and William held Micky back. Peter tried to jump up from his spot on the couch to break up the fight but one look from Piper had him sitting back down.
"He didn't know!" Rose said stepping in front of Mike. "I swear to you, he didn't know! I couldn't tell him! So be mad at me, not him!"
"You lied to me!" Micky yelled. "You said you saw her before her body was burned! You swore to me it was her! The body had her ring!"
"I didn't have a choice, Micky," Rose answered. "He made me! He said if I told you she was alive, he'd kill her! I've been looking for her for five years. I've been trying to save her; to make it right! I'm so sorry, Micky. I was trying to protect her, I swear! Every time I got close, he moved her. I'm sorry!"
"Micky," the woman on the couch mumbled in the tense silence that followed Rose's answer.
"I'm here, Ginny," Micky said snapping into reality a little. William and Davy loosened their grip on him once he stopped fighting. He pulled himself away from them and knelt next to the woman he thought he'd lost so long ago.
"Don't be mad at her," Ginny said shakily. "She...she was trying to protect me. It's not her fault."
"I should have been there for you," Micky said. "I should have saved you."
"You couldn't have done any more than she did," Ginny whispered.
"I'm so sorry," Micky said.
"It's not your fault," Ginny said. "They told you I was dead."
"She needs to get some rest," William said.
"Once she eats some soup you can take her into my bedroom," Piper said moving over to inspect Mike who was clutching his face.
"The soup is ready," Willow said coming out of the kitchen. "Everything ok in here?"
"I think it is now," Piper said. "Raised emotions are expected right about now."
"I'm fine," Mike said. Micky turned to look and saw Piper was trying to inspect his face.
"You're bleeding," Piper argued.
"It's nothing," Mike said.
"Let her look at it, Mike," Micky said. There was silence for a few moments, but Mike finally lowered his hand to let Piper inspect his face. Micky knew Mike was trying to brush it off as nothing to keep Micky from feeling guilty. It wasn't working though. Micky had lost his temper and jumped to conclusions hurting his best friend. He knew Mike understood and he knew Mike wasn't mad, but he would still talk to him later and apologize. For now, Ginny needed him. Rose's words in the car suddenly flew back and hit him in the gut. Ginny had convinced his father to hurt her instead of Rose. His father had tortured her. And he probably had been for five years.
Mike only had a cut on his face and nothing more. It would heal. Micky helped Ginny eat soup and watched as color started to return to her face. Her fingernails and lips had been blue when he'd first seen her, but after warming up, her coloring was returning to normal. Just in case, Piper tested her nerves in her extremities to make sure she had feeling in them. Once she was satisfied Ginny would be fine with rest, Micky carried her into Piper's room and stayed with her until she fell asleep.
