"Troy, are you sure you're up for movie night? You hit your head pretty hard yesterday."

"I'm fine Annie. I went to the doctor and I don't have a concussion or anything. I'm good to go."

Annie stopped walking as she readjusted her backpack straps, moving her phone to her other hand. "That's good. Is everyone able to make it?"

"Pierce has something at his country club so I don't think he's coming. And Elijah and Jordon have a recital so Shirley said she might miss the beginning of the first movie. Everyone else should be there. When does your extra credit project meeting thing end?"

"It just got done now. I'll pick up some snacks on the way home, so I should be there in a little bit."

"Great. Get some chocolate covered pretzels. The good ones, not those lactose free organic soy ones Britta gets."

"Will do. See you later."

Annie put her phone in her shirt pocket and took a step forward when she walked right into the janitor. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's cool."

"That's good. It's…Jerry, right?"

"Yea. Hey, how's Troy doing? I heard he slipped in the pool yesterday and hit his head."

"He's fine. Nothing to worry about."

"That's good. Last thing I need is to be blamed for something else I didn't do."

"What do you mean?"

"The reason Troy slipped yesterday was because someone poured cooking oil all over the tile next to the pool."

Annie's face paled as she took in that bit of information. "What?"

"Yea. The Dean called me in and blamed me for the whole thing. I told him, I have no idea how cooking oil got there. I wouldn't have that anywhere near a pool. You pour that on wet concrete and of course someone is going to slip." He paused as he saw how freaked out she looked. "You ok?"

"I have to go." She ignored his protests as she started walking away, her steps growing more hurried the further she got. She rounded a hallway corner when strong hands grabbed her and pulled her into a darkened alcove.

Despite being bathed in shadow she was able to make out that the person who grabbed her was Owen. "Get away from me!" She tried to get away but he pushed her hard into the wall, putting one hand around her neck to keep her in place. She tried to control her fear as she looked into his eyes. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? What do I want?" He tapped his foot softly as he held her, creating an unsettling metronome like beat. "All I wanted was to find someone to love. Someone who loved me. I thought I found that in you, but I was wrong. You're too busy being made a whore by every guy around."

"Please…please let me go." Annie's teeth chattered as his fingers pressed into the flesh of her neck.

"Why? To go back to your johns? To go back to that pervert Jeff and all the others? They're making you a filthy whore. They have to be gotten rid of if you're ever to be clean. And once you're clean we can be together."

"LET ME GO!" As Annie started to scream Owen grabbed her head and slammed it hard against the wall. Black spots clouded her vision as he placed a hand over her mouth. "Maybe you don't want to be saved. Maybe you like being a whore. Fine. If you want to be a whore then I'll treat you like one." With that he used his free hand to unbutton his pants as he ground his knee between her legs.

Annie bit down into his fingers, tasting blood as she fought back. Pure survival instinct took over as she violently kicked and punched him. He furiously unbuckled his belt as she scratched at his face with her fingernails. As Owen's pants dropped Annie managed to kick him hard in his groin. He cried out as he involuntarily released his hold over her face, placing both of his hands between his legs. Annie charged at him and pushed him out into the hallway, throwing him against a classroom door. As he struggled to regain his footing Annie took off down the hallway.

She got about halfway down when she felt his hands grab her backpack and the back of her cardigan. Screaming loudly she blindly swung out her arms and legs, connecting with Owen's body. As the back of her sweater ripped she violently thrust her arms until they were out of her backpack straps. As he lunged at her she elbowed him in the jaw and kicked him in his stomach. He cried out in pain as Annie drove her palm into his nose, causing him to fall to the ground.

Annie ran down the Greendale hallways, running faster than she ever thought possible. The cold night air smacked her in the face as she pushed the doors open, not stopping as she raced down the steps and through the parking lot to her car. Despite her shaking she managed to unlock her door and start the car, peeling out of the parking lot.

Annie sped down the streets of Greendale, barely able to see through her tears. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, sobbing uncontrollable as she drove. She was shaking so badly that she kept weaving from one side of the road to the other. When she came to a red light she raced through it, narrowly avoiding being plowed into by an oncoming car. All she cared about was getting as far away from him as fast as she could.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ten bucks says Jeff's not coming and will call before ten with some lame excuse." Britta said with a smirk.

"I'll take that bet. You in Abed?" Troy said.

"If anything Jeff will show up, but he'll have an excuse for having to leave early."

"Wait, I'm changing my answer to that Britta. That's more Jeff's style."

"You can't change a bet once it's been made Troy."

Just then the front door violently flew open, causing Troy and Britta to yell out in fright. All three of them looked over as Annie took a few wobbly steps in before she dropped on her hands and knees to the floor.

"Annie!" In a flash the three of them were beside her. Troy and Abed pulled her up while Britta pulled a chair over. As they sat her down Britta took in Annie's appearance. There were bruises and scratch marks all over her arms and neck and her eyes were red and puffy. Her sweater was practically torn to shreds and she was unable to stop shaking. Britta squatted down so she was eye level with her friend. "Annie, what happened?" She said in a calm clear voice.

"O,o,owen…" Annie stuttered out as her jaw struggled to work. "He, he attacked me. He grabbed me and he, he tried…" Her voice caught in her throat as she seemed to scream in silence.

While Britta herself shook slightly from what she heard she managed to remain calm for Annie's sake. "Troy, get her a glass of water."

"Britta, wha-."

"Troy!" She hissed at him. Troy ran to the kitchenette as Britta looked at Abed. "Abed, get Annie a blanket." Abed nodded his head and ran to get one as Britta turned back to Annie.

"I fought him off…" Annie said as Abed draped a blanket over her. "I stopped him before he could…" Her throat caught again as the memory of what he did, of what he tried to do, of what he almost did to her, ran through her head.

"Shhh. It's ok Annie. You're here. You're safe now." Britta said in a calm soothing voice. She looked over at Troy and Abed. "Call 911 so someone can be sent over here. Then call Jeff so he knows what's happened."

"Jeff." As soon as she heard his name Annie instantly stopped shaking. Fear flooded her but it wasn't for herself. She rose from her chair, the blanket falling to the ground. "We have to find him!"

"Annie, we're going to call Jeff." Britta said.

"You don't understand. I think Owen's going after him!" She quickly ran to her room, looking through the keys she hadn't realized were still in her hand until she found the one for her lock box. She pulled the box out of her dresser drawer and opened it, taking out the gun she had bought the first week she moved into her first apartment. She took the ammunition and with surprisingly steady hands began to load it.

She didn't even look up as Troy came to her doorway. "Annie, what is going-what are you doing with a gun!"

"I lived in a terrible neighborhood." She said as she finished loading it. Checking to make sure the safety was on she marched past Troy into the living room. "We have to find Jeff. He's in danger."

The three of them looked at Annie, unsure of what to do. "Annie-."

"NO! We can't just sit here. Owen's obsessed with getting rid of the men in my life and he knows how much Jeff means to me. He's going to try and hurt him, I know it."

"Look, we'll call the police and they'll-."

"We don't know where Jeff is Troy. He could be in several different places. BY the time we wait for the police to get to him it could be too late. We have to get to him first!"

In spite of her diminutive statue, at that moment she held the authority of a five star general. Abed nodded his head as Britta pulled out her phone to try and call Jeff. "What do you need?"

"Britta, do you still have your knife on you."

"Yea."

"You and Troy go to that bar he goes to, the one you two fought about on Troy's birthday. If he's not there go to his law firm, he might be doing some work there before he was going to come here. Abed and I will go to his place."

Britta pulled her phone from her ear, groaning in frustration. "I'm not getting him; it's just going to voice mail."

"Keep trying. Let's go!"

They ran outside and then split up into their search teams, speeding away in opposite directions. Abed drove Annie's car, glancing over at her as she continually tried calling Jeff.

"Jeff, please answer. Owen got to me and he's coming after you. If you're home lock your door and all your windows. If you're somewhere else stay in a crowded area. We're coming to you." She tried calling him a few more times before leaving another message. "Jeff, for the love of God answer your phone. You're in danger. Owen's coming after you. Please answer me so we can find you!" She kept calling him every few seconds, yelling in frustration every time his phone went to voicemail.

Faster than he had ever gotten there before Abed pulled into the parking lot of Jeff's apartment complex. He slammed on the breaks as they saw a man standing over another man. Before Abed could even turn off the engine Annie jumped out and ran forward, seeing Owen holding a knife over Jeff's blood covered body.

"STOP!" Annie yelled as she pointed her gun at Owen. Owen paused in mid swipe as he looked over at Annie. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

"Annie…" Jeff weakly cried.

"This is the only way!" Owen yelled. "He's the worst of them all! You'll never be clean as long as he's in our lives!

Annie took a careful step forward, blocking everything out except the simple need to save Jeff. "Owen, if you do this it won't make me love you. If you kill him all it will do is make me hate you forever."

Owen looked at her, his eyes shining with madness. "It's the only way! You can't love me until I'm the only man in your life! Only then will we be together forever!"

"Owen, get away from him right now or I will shoot you!"

"YOU'RE MINE! MIN-!"

Annie pulled the trigger, shooting him in the chest. Owen dropped his knife as he fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Abed ran forward and grabbed the knife as Annie knelt beside Jeff.

"Jeff, hang on. It's going to be ok. It's going to be ok." With shaking hands she pulled out her phone and dialed 911.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You better rest up and heal quickly sweetie. We want you back in your study chair as soon as possible." Shirley said as she smoothed Jeff's hospital blankets.

"I actually was stabbed in the sixties Jeff. Anyone who says hippies are non violent never went to Arizona. Point is, I now have a cool scar that really impresses chicks. And I'm sure the same can be said for impressing guys."

"Ok, I'm going to need a lot more painkillers to hear anymore Pierce." Jeff said.

Pierce bobbed his head as he sighed deeply. "What's wrong?" Britta said.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing's wrong. Just seems this nut job thought every guy in Annie's life was a threat except for me."

"Seriously? You actually upset that Owen DIDN'T try to kill you?" Troy said in disbelief.

"No. But I still have life in me. I could have been thought of as a threat. Instead I was just passed over like a forgotten relic."

"Well Pierce. The next time someone becomes obsessed with one of us I will personally tell them how threatening you are." Jeff said.

"Jeffrey!" Shirley hissed. "Don't even joke about that. The man may infuriate me but even I don't want him dead."

"Oh Shirley." Pierce stepped forward and wrapped his arm around her in a one armed hug. Despite visibly cringing she grudgingly patted his arm in gratitude over his gesture.

Britta looked out the open door and saw Annie and Abed approaching the room. She quickly walked out into the hospital hallway. "Hey. Nice plant." She said as she pointed to what was in Annie's hands.

"Thanks. I figured Jeff would like it."

"Did you finish with the police report?"

"Yea, we told them everything that happened. I may have to go down to the station at some point for a few more questions, but they're done with me for tonight."

"That's good. Abed. Can you give us a moment?"

"Sure." As Abed went into Jeff's room Britta gently pulled Annie back a few feet.

"How are you doing?" She said softly.

Annie took a shaky breath, knowing exactly what Britta was asking about. "I just…this has never…"

"Annie, you know this is in no way your fault, right?"

Annie nodded her head as her eyes teared up over the memory. "I was so scared Britta…"

Britta hugged Annie, gently rubbing her back as she held her. "I know you were. But you fought back and managed to get away. That's…better then what happens to a lot of women." She pulled back as Annie took deep steady breaths. "Annie, I'm here for you. But if you need to talk to someone else about what happened…"

"Thank you." She glanced towards the door before looking back at Britta. "Don't tell anyone. At least not yet. I'm not hiding it. I told the police what Owen did so he doesn't get away with it. But…I'm just not ready…"

"Of course Annie. I won't say anything."

"Jeff already knows. Or at least I think he does. When the police arrived at the scene I told them what happened as Jeff was being treated, and I think he heard." Annie glanced over at the door. "I thought he was going to die Britta."

"I know. I was scared too. But he's going to be all right. The doctors treated him and said he should make a full recovery."

Annie smiled a little at hearing that again. "I want to see him." She walked to the door and lightly knocked on the door. "Hey."

"Annie!" Troy, Shirley and Pierce raced over and hugged her.

"I'm ok. Thanks guys."

Abed looked over at Jeff and then Annie, catching the look they shared with each other before clearing his throat. "Hey guys. I saw some candy in the cafeteria. Anyone want to get some?"

"Sure, I'll go." Britta said as she darted in, miraculously getting the hint. She grabbed Troy's hand as she pulled him out of the room.

"Come on Pierce." Shirley said.

"But I don't want any more candy. My pants are starting to feel tight from all my eating."

"Well then you can sit and watch us eat for a change." With that she practically pushed him out of the room. Abed gave Annie a quick look before closing the door behind him.

Annie tentatively walked over to Jeff as she held out the small plant in her hands. "I read somewhere that plants are better to give to someone when they're in the hospital because they give off oxygen, while flowers take oxygen in."

"It's great." Jeff said with a smile. He pressed a button to move the bed up as he took the plant from her. "'Get better soon Mom'?"

"That was the last one in the gift shop." She took the plant and put it on the bedside table before looking at him. "Jeff, I am so sorry."

"Annie, this wasn't your fault."

"But maybe if I-."

"Annie, none of us could have seen this coming. I knew there was something wrong with him and I never thought it would get this bad."

She gently sat at the edge of the bed, tracing her finger over his leg through the sheets. "Well, I still feel bad this happened to you."

"Fair enough." Jeff cleared his throat as he prepared to ask his question. "So…Owen. Did, is he…"

"No, he didn't die." Annie said with equal parts relief and regret. "He's currently handcuffed to a hospital bed under 24 hour guard watch. As soon as he's able to they're transferring him to lockup."

"After what he did to you, after what he almost did…" Jeff's stopped as his throat choked with emotion. "I'll make sure he never hurts anyone else every again. And if you end up needing a lawyer I know some good ones. If I could I'd personally be your representative."

"Thank you."

"Come closer." Jeff waited until Annie scooted up a bit before taking hold of her hand. "You saved my life." He said with true admiration.

A few tears fell down her face as she looked at Jeff. "I was so scared Jeff. I was terrified I wouldn't find you until it was too late. And then when I saw you…"

"Annie, what you did…it was beyond amazing. You may just be the most incredible person I've ever met." He waited a few moments before he continued. "Annie, this might be a bit soon. But would you like to go out to dinner with me? After I'm out of here and actually healed up of course."

She narrowed her eyes as she pondered what he meant. "You mean…like friends?"

Jeff shook his head as he readied himself. "I mean…like an actual date. You asked me not too long ago when I was going to get it together about what I wanted from you. Well, I finally have. And what I want is to take you out on an actual date. Then kiss you. And then see where it goes from there."

She looked at Jeff for several moments before a slow smile crept over her face. "And it only took you almost dying to finally figure out what you wanted."

"I guess I go more for big life changing signs." He started to laugh, then groaned as he held his stomach. "Just to warn you, it'll be a few weeks before that date happens."

"That's all right. I've waited this long. What's a few more weeks?"

The End