Hope everyone likes this new story. It's a little dark at times and I hope I can do such a serious subject justice. Please read and respond!

Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi

The lyrics are taken from a song called TAKE IT LIKE A WOMAN by Alice Cooper.

I bet ya never thought

That it would ever turn out like this.

Mama's little girl

Daddy's little princess

Ya thought you had your Mr. Right

But he was really Mr. Hyde

He tied you up, pulled your hair

He slapped your innocent face

Yeah you were black and blue

He laughed at you

So what'd you do?

Aw, you've been beaten down

Kicked around on the ground

But you took it like a woman

Victimized, terrorized, paralyzed

But you too it like a woman

"Yo, Hogart!" Towerz called, waving at Jay. "You in?"

Jay turned his trademark smirk in the direction of his friend and nodded his head simply. He slid his black sunglasses onto his handsome face and strode in his usual carefree manner over to Towerz. He could tell by his smile that whatever he had scored, it was good.

"Basement?" Jay asked walking past his friend.

Towerz nodded and followed his unofficial ring leader into the school. How Jay had gotten the key to Degrassi's basement, he had no idea, but Jay always had his ways. He was a thug's magician and the rest of their friends worshipped him for it. If you needed something and thought it was impossible to get, put Jay on the case and it'd be your's in no time.

Jay looked around before taking the key from his pocket and letting himself and Towerz into the dark staircase. "If you hear or see anyone, we split, okay? And if we get caught, you know nothing."

Towerz grinned. That was Jay. Always covering his own ass! When you lived like Hogart, you had to be careful all the time.

At the bottom of the stairs, Jay took a right, past some noisy machine that Towerz guessed was part of the school's furnace. It was a tight squeeze, but Towerz knew that Jay had a plan. They needed a safe place to smoke this juicy joint where Raditch wouldn't know. Both were on academic alert and all Raditch needed was a whiff of something funny and they were both goners!

Jay kept walking until he reached an open area. Here, he turned to Towerz and smirked. "Let's light it up."

Towerz got out his lighter and the joint, inhaling as he lit it. He exhaled and handed the joint to his friend. Jay seemed distracted, accepting the joint, but still not putting it to his waiting lips.

"Look if you're not gonna hit, then hand it back over," Towerz said, annoyance in his whispered voice.

"Shh!! I hear something," Jay hissed.

The muffled voices were unclear, but Jay knew it wasn't the janitor down here to check on the furnace or grab some more toilet paper. There were two voices, indistinct, so Jay followed the sound further into the blackness of the dusty basement.

He heard the loud crack of hand on cheek before he saw the people. A fight in the basement? There was something sinister going on down here, and Jay was gonna find out what.

Jay stepped soundlessly until he came to another small, but open space. He hid himself behind a stack of cardboard boxes and poked his head around to see who was down here and what they were doing. He jumped when he heard another slap, this one causing a small whimper. Is that a girl's voice? Jay suddenly felt like he had just walked in on something he was never meant to see.

"I thought I told you that I didn't want you talking to JT anymore!" the deep voice asked. "When I tell you to do something, I expect you to listen! Why do you make me mad at you? Do you like this?"

Jay could hardly breath. He waited until he heard another slap and then stepped out, revealing himself to the shocked guy.

"Why don't you try that with someone your own size?" Jay asked.

His mouth dropped open when he spotted Rick Murray, the school outcast, holding a blond girl by the wrist. Hadn't he learnt his lesson with Terri? The girl had her back to Jay, but he could tell she was crying.

"Are you okay?" he asked the girl, stepping forward until Rick separated himself from her.

Rick turned to leave, but found himself face to face with Towerz. "Where the hell you think you're going, punk?"

Jay saw that Towerz had a firm hold on Rick and turned his attention back to the girl. "Hey? Are you okay?"

Jay nearly dropped to the floor when she turned around. It was Emma Nelson...