A/N: I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story. This chapter has some angst and violence but as they say, it's always darkest before the dawn. I can't make this story all happy times, can I? Nah, that would be boring. You know me, I like to throw in a little curve ball here and there. So this is it. You've been warned and this story is rated M for a reason.

Chapter 3

Angela ran into the house and found her Mom in the kitchen as she cut up vegetables for dinner.

"Mom! You'll never believe what just happened!"

"Probably not, but I'm sure you'll tell me," Jennifer smiled as she paused. "What's up?"

"Geoff Harris invited me to the semi-formal next week!"

"Did he, now? Was he by chance one of the boys from the other night?"

Angela sighed. Leave it to her mother to burst her bubble. "Yes. But he's not a jerk like Tim. When I first came to the school, he was nice to me. And then his buddies got to him and he didn't talk to me anymore, but he hasn't been mean to me, either. So will you help me find something to wear?"

Jennifer nodded. "Sure. We can go this weekend."

"Cool! I can't wait!"

X X X

Angela studied herself in the full length mirror. The royal blue dress was very simple, yet hugged her curves beautifully and made her eyes look even bluer than normal. Her long brown hair was styled in one long French braid that hung down her back.

She heard the doorbell ring and slipped into her matching shoes. Geoff had arrived, and she was more than a little excited.

However, as she came to the top of the stairs, she saw that it wasn't Geoff, but House and her Uncle James.

Both men looked up at her as she came down very carefully. She wasn't used to walking in three inch heels, even though she'd been practicing all week.

"Wow. What's going on?" Wilson inquired of his sister.

"Angela has a date to the dance tonight," Jennifer said proudly.

"Who's the lucky fella?" House asked Angela.

"His name is Geoff."

House gave her mother a dubious look. "And you're okay with this?"

Jennifer shrugged. "Sure? Why not? It's a school dance not a drive-in. She'll be fine."

The two men left just as Geoff pulled up in a shiny red Corvette. House immediately recognized him as one of the football players from that night at Carl's Jr.

"I have a bad feeling about this," House muttered as he watched the boy pass by.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Leave the kid alone, House."

"Hey…kid," House called out.

Geoff turned around and bristled when he recognized House. "Yeah?"

"Don't try anything stupid. She's a good girl. You got me?"

"Yes sir," Geoff nodded and continued up the path.

"Come on, House. We're gonna be late. She'll be fine."

But House wasn't convinced.

X X X

Geoff was the perfect date as far as Angela was concerned. He was on his best behavior and he made sure nobody bothered them.

"Wanna go outside for some air?" He asked her. "It's hot in here."

"Sure."

Geoff took her hand and led her outside to the back of the school.

"I like you, Angela," he whispered as he stood in front of her.

"I like you too."

"I thought I imagined it when you were looking at me before." His hand slid down the side of her dress and rested on her hip. "You're so pretty," he breathed in her ear as he nuzzled her neck.

Angela didn't know what to do next, so she just stood there, unresponsive.

"Geoff…I…"

"Shh, it's okay."

Then all of a sudden he was kissing her, his tongue was down her throat while his hands groped her everywhere.

"No…"

"Come on, Ang…you know you want this."

"No…not now…not here…"

"I'll be quick, I promise," he laughed. His hand was between her legs, and even though she kept pushing him away, he wouldn't let up. "Hey, what's the deal? I thought you liked me."

"I do. But not like this."

"Then let's go to my house. Nobody's home."

"No, I mean I don't want to…do anything."

"I thought you wanted to be with me, Ang."

"I do. That doesn't mean I want to do…that."

"You'll like it…all the girls do."

"I'm not like all the girls," she said and shoved him away. That only seemed to aggravate him and Angela was getting panicked. Just then, Tim and another boy came around the corner, both had clearly been drinking and she could smell the liquor on their breath as they closed in. "What's going on? What're you doing?"

"They just wanna party too, Ang."

Tim laughed. "Yeah, Ang. Why don't you show us what's under that pretty blue dress? Does the carpet match the drapes?"

"Wha…what do you mean?" she asked, backing herself into a corner.

Tim advanced on her and pushed her against the cold brick wall. When she had her chance, she brought her knee up and hit her target right on, causing him to cry out in pain. When he let go of her she ran, but ended up being stopped by the other boy, Dave, who wrestled her to the cold hard ground. Geoff clamped his hand over her mouth while Dave unbuckled his pants.

"Don't fight it, Angela," Geoff cooed. "Just let it happen. You can't stop this. I knew they were right about you. You really are a slut."

Oh no...No..No...No! This is NOT going to happen! her inner voice screamed at her. Do something!

The sound of all the laughing made something inside of her snap and she went ballistic.

She managed to kick Dave off of her and then grabbed the lapels of Geoff's jacket to hurl him over her and onto his stomach, causing him to scrape his chin hard on the cement.

That's when she saw the long branch nearby and grabbed it, whacking Tim in the side of the head, and then poking Dave hard in the stomach. Then she ran around the side of the building towards the street. She didn't see the approaching car until it was too late.

X X X

"Dr. House and Dr. Wilson, please report to the E.R. Stat. Dr. House and Dr. Wilson, please report to the E.R. Stat."

House and Wilson looked at each other, confusion on House's face and panic on Wilson's, dropped whatever they were doing and headed downstairs.

"We've got a teenage girl coming in. She was hit by a car crossing the road. Her parents have been called and they're on their way."

"What's the deal? Why did you call us?" House demanded.

"The patient is Dr. Wilson's niece, Angela Sorentis. Her father wants you two there when they bring her in."

The paramedics pulled up to the ambulance bay and House was there to open the doors to the van. They rushed her into one of the exam rooms and House took over. "What do we know?"

"She was hit hard, witnesses say she flipped over the hood of the car and slid off onto the road. She has broken ribs, possible kidney damage and most likely a concussion from when her head smacked the windshield."

Wilson examined her legs and her arms, finding what looked like scrapes. "House look," he said, pointing to the marks on her wrists and face. "Hand prints."

"That little piece of…"

"Hey, we don't know…"

"Do a rape kit. Make sure."

The heart monitor alarm went off and House grabbed a syringe full of epinephrine. "No, no, no…" he whispered as he injected her IV. "Stay with us, kiddo. Come on…you don't want them to win, do you?"

Once they got her vitals back to normal, House left her with the doctor to perform the rape kit. An hour later, Wilson found him in the cafeteria.

"Well?"

"She wasn't raped, House. Thankfully."

"Good. Then I won't have to kill the little bastards who were responsible. Just maim them a little."

Wilson stared at House as if he'd grown two heads. House was concerned about another human being? Had hell frozen over? "Why do you care so much, House? I mean seriously."

"Why don't you? She's your niece."

"I care. She's my only niece."

"Right. So then you shouldn't care if I care."

"Why do you care then?"

House playfully hit the side of his head like he was trying to make sense of the conversation. "Because I'd hate to see her be just another statistic at that school. I can hear it now," he said, mocking some old lady's voice, "oh, poor thing. She was literally bullied to death. Such a tragedy, blah blah blah. Wouldn't you rather hear "Wow! She was treated like crap but she rose above it and made something of herself."

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when the great Dr. House shows compassion."

"I'm just as capable of showing compassion as you are, Wilson. The difference is, a lot of people don't deserve it. Your niece is a good kid and she didn't deserve to have this happen to her. So yeah, that's why I care. And the jerks responsible for this will get theirs."

X X X

Angela slowly opened one eye, and then the other. The first person she saw was her father and then she saw House talking with him quietly in the corner of the room. When she looked to the right of her, she saw her mother reading a book in the chair next to the bed.

"Oh, sweetie…thank God!" Jennifer sighed with relief as she grabbed her daughter's hand.

Angela tried to talk but there was something covering her mouth.

"Don't try to talk," House instructed. "There's a tube down your throat. Do you think you can breathe on your own now?"

She nodded and he came over to her bedside. "This might be a bit uncomfortable. And your throat will be sore for a few days."

She choked a little as House removed the contraption and then took a couple of deep breaths in. It felt good and she even managed a smile.

"I think you're out of the woods, kid. You had us worried."

"Uncle James…" she whispered.

"He'll be down soon, sweetie," Jennifer said with a smile.

"Body…hurts…" she winced and tried to shift her position in the bed.

House looked up from her chart. "On a scale of 1-10 how bad is it?"

Angela held up eight fingers and he winced. "Where does it hurt the most?"

She pointed to her chest.

"You have three broken ribs. I'll give you something for that. Anywhere else?"

She shook her head.

"Okay. I'll be right back."

When House was gone, David sat down in the chair that her mother recently occupied. "Sweetie…did Geoff do this?"

"Yes," she whispered as her eyes begin to fill with tears. "Tim Tucker…and Dave Fraser were there too."

David's eyes widened. "There were three of them?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Here's the deal. You don't talk to anyone without me present. Understand? And I mean anyone. Not your uncle, House, anyone."

"They didn't…"

"I know they didn't. But if this goes to trial, and it might, we don't need it compromised in the event you accidentally say something that gets leaked. I don't trust any of those kids as far as I can throw them. And you're not going back to that school. If we can't get you into a private school for the rest of this year, we'll hire a private tutor until the fall. So don't worry. You won't be going back there."

Angela's tears of sadness turned into tears of relief as she grabbed onto her Dad's hand and cried softly.

A/N: Still with me? That's all the angst for now, I promise.

Also, a big thanks to all of you who've read/reviewed and to those who have added this story to their favorites/alerts. It makes me squeeeeee! I love you guys!