Author's Note: I am sorry I took so long getting this chapter up, school has been a nightmare. Thanks for being patient and I really appreciate your reviews, you have no idea how helpful they have been through this whole thing!

Chapter 17: The Rescue

Angela leaned back against the wall in the hallway, straining hard to listen to what was being said on the other side. She could hear Topanga's voice reach a higher, unnatural pitch from time to time, and what sounded like a firm, reasonable tone from Minkus occasionally. She heard nothing from the little boy, and hoped for a few seconds he heard nothing as well. Angela wasn't even sure she knew what she was doing outside a strange apartment. Did she expect Topanga to walk out, and apologize for keeping her waiting? Topanga didn't even know that Corey was preparing to leave town, never to return. She just hoped the argument would end soon, Topanga would leave the apartment with Adam and they could all go to get Cory from the airport

"You can't pretend it never happened, Topanga! Giving up your son four years back didn't change the fact that we made love. Don't you remember that?" Minkus questioned, after a few minutes of silence between them. Personally, Topanga had never felt so frustrated in her life, and was practically shaking in rage. She met the longing glance of Minkus with a glare.

"I was upset and I was being stupid, Minkus. That was one night, and one huge mistake that I've more than paid for by now," Topanga snapped.

"That's a lie! You told no one but your family, and kept it hidden until I had came in and told everyone everything. Being a coward does not undo what we had! You know I've always cared for you, and you've felt the connection to, that's why you came to me that night. When we were together...."

Topanga kept staring at him like he lost his mind. "When we were together I was upset with Cory! It's never been you, ever, Minkus. Not in sixth grade and certainly not now! It will never be you, so don't even try! That night meant nothing to me!"

In a brash move, Minkus knocked the vase off the table separating him and Topanga. His eyes flashed making him look almost psychotic. Slowly he approached Topanga and in seconds had her tight in his grasp. Squeezing her shoulders as hard as he, could he ask in a dark voice? "Say it again; say that it meant nothing to you! Not the fire, not the kiss, not anything!"

Topanga winced in pain but did not break eye contact. "It meant nothing." Minkus pushed her against the wall, allowing her head to hit solidly.

"You selfish bitch! How can you love that coward and not me! He abused you all through high school but I was always kind! I tried calling you after that night but you blocked my number!" The more Minkus ranted, the more frightened Topanga got. Her head was already pounding and her shoulders hurting from his intense grip. Minkus, though weak as a child, had become a very strong man.

He began kissing her neck, and Topanga wished she had the strength to cry out, but she found her voice had caught in her throat. She felt him move closer towards her, closing the gap between them, and her body tensed. Tears began slipping down her cheeks and began whispering the word 'no' over and over. His hands moved steadily from her shoulders downward, and Topanga prayed to God she could escape this moment. As he undid her skirt, she finally shouted the word, praying to God somebody would hear her. Closing her eyes, she prepared for the worst.

Suddenly Minkus released his grip on her, and fell to the floor. Topanga opened her eyes in utter surprise and found Angela there, vehemently holding a law book. Minkus was bleeding from the back of the head, and Topanga wondered how Angela managed to hit him so hard.

Sobbing, Topanga embraced her friend who gave her a tight squeeze and fixed her skirt. "Go outside and have the porter hail you a cab. I'll be down shortly with Adam and your things."

Topanga stared at Angela with a shocked expression, so surprised at what had happened. Numbly she stumbled for the elevator, drying her tears and trying not to reveal what had just happened inside the apartment. The elevator seemed bright and cheery; a reminder that the world Topanga used to know was a normal one, not the hell that her whole life had become in the last few days. By the time the elevator reached the lobby, she felt composed enough to ask the porter to hail her a cab. She diverted her eye contact, and wished that for once the city could be a quiet place, so that she could think without the distractions of the traffic. However, maybe she didn't want to think, because thinking would lead back to what had happened, (or almost happened) in the apartment, and she really didn't feel ready to go back to that scene just yet. How had Angela known when to come in? Why hadn't she come in earlier before any damage was done? From the throbbing in her head and shoulders, Topanga knew she would have bruises and nice lump to show her encounter with Minkus.

Then there was Adam. The poor boy had not been home more than an hour before the fighting and the violence had started. He would undoubtedly wonder why Angela was dragging him away from the house or why the man who had been so nice to him in orphanage was lying on the floor in an unconscious heap. A shudder ran through Topanga as she thought of Minkus, and she hoped that he would be out cold long enough for Angela to escape.

She almost cried in relief as Angela emerged from the building with a very bewildered Adam and her bag. They were safe now; Minkus could not harm them anymore.

Shawn was running through the airport once again trying to find Cory. He hoped that Cory would be in one of the bars before the terminal, not drunk, but remorseful over a glass of beer. He had seen Cory drunk before and prayed that that would not be how he would find his best friend. Frustration and anger built up inside of him, and if he had seen Minkus at that moment, he would have undoubtedly killed him on the spot. There was no restraining everything he felt for the man who had ruined his best friend's happiness for personal gain.

As the hour slipped by Shawn began to grow anxious. He had been in every bar in the airport and there was no sign of his friend. He had watched the terminal for Cory but Cory never showed. Shawn knew for sure that Cory had the ticket to leave but it seemed that he had gone somewhere else beforehand. However, where? Clearly, the hunt for Cory had not ended. Pinning him down to an airport had been easy but the flight did not even begin boarding for two hours. Cory could have checked his bag and gone elsewhere in the big city before leaving. It was deliberately that Shawn called up his brother to tell him the bad news.

Angela hung up her phone angrily. Jack still didn't know what airport that Cory would be leaving from, but whatever airport that was didn't have Cory in it anyway. He was still missing. She glanced at Topanga and Adam who had fallen asleep soon after the taxi started driving. Angela was reluctant to wake them but she needed to know if Topanga had any idea where Cory might have gone to spend his last few hours in New York City.

"Topanga," whispered Angela tapping her friend gently. Topanga jerked violently under her touch and sat up. She took a few minutes to wake up before answering her friend.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any idea where Cory might be?" Angela demanded.

"We always talked about coming up to New York City and walking around Central Park together, whenever we had the money to come up." Topanga recalled, before her eyes began to water. Another dream that would never come true.

Angela told the driver the change in plans. "I hope you're prepared to walk Topanga, because we don't have long before we'll loose your husband once again." Then Angela called up Jack and told him that they needed to find Cory who might be in Central Park and they would need to split up.

"Start at the entrance closer to you. At the center of the park there's a huge fountain, we'll all meet there as soon as possible,"

Jack agreed and promised to call Eric and Shawn. Angela hoped all would go well so that they could rescue more than one person this day.