Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or any of their characters and do not make any money off this.

This story was pounding around my head after reading some of the Jori fics so enjoy.

Chocolate brown eyes slowly blinked open trying to erase the haze of a peaceful night sleep. She began stretching lifting her arms above her head when her brain finally kicked in remembering the night before, looking around she didn't see any trace of the raven beauty who had stayed the night wrapped in her arms. Tori Vega got out of bed with a look of confusion for a moment at Jade Wests disappearance but after a moment she smiled wide, she knew Jade would want to get home so she could take a shower and change into her own clothes and after their long night talking she knew Jade would have to have her beloved coffee. She hummed to herself while taking great care in picking out her clothes for the last day of school this week leaving her with a three day weekend to enjoy, but today was a little different and after last night she felt for the first time that she might just have a chance.

Tori had a secret that she has held onto since the first time meeting Jade West, the raven beauty caught her attention as such a passionate person and after meeting her boyfriend she allowed herself to become Jades friend or as close as she could since Jade most certainly did not make it an easy task. She was often ridiculed and made fun of by the gothic princess but felt it worth it especially when something like last night happened. Jade had come to her house the night before crying and of course, Tori let her in leading her straight to her room where she wrapped her arms around the girl and let her cry it out. After Jade had finally calmed down she slowly began to talk about her fight and breakup with Beck, talking slowly about the screaming match that had erupted after she wanted to watch one of her favorite horror movies and got worse after every second.

They talked for hours after Jade got herself under control, sitting back against Tori's headboard they sat shoulder to shoulder occasionally laughing at something either one had said. At one point Tori made the bold move and slipped her hand into the dark beauties giving her silent support for which her hand was squeezed in return sending her spirits soaring. They both were laying down after several hours of talking and letting Jade cry on her shoulder, Tori had her arms wrapped around Jade holding tight feeling her about to fall asleep when she whispered softly to her "Jade...I want to get to know you" she paused to lick her suddenly dry lips "if you'll let me?" She practically held her breath waiting for her answer when she saw Jade slightly nod earning a huge grin from Tori.

Tori finished her shower and quickly dressed putting the finishing touches to her outfit, running down the stairs she caught sight of Trina her older sister eating breakfast and doing her vocal warmups at the same time. Tori shook her head opting to skip breakfast not wanting to deal with her sister this early in the morning, her home life might suck and seemed to only be getting worse but she chose to focus on her school life today. None of her friends knew what was going on, her mom had left two months ago after her parents failed attempt to stay together. Before that they were gone all the time seemingly never wanting to be home anyways, only caring enough to stock the kitchen with food but little else. Her dad had taken to drinking when he actually was at home but that wasn't the worst part, apparently her parents fought a lot about money only Tori had no idea until her dad one night stumbled down the stairs coming from his room and proceeded to tear her down about how she was the cause of their problems since she just had to go to that special school which cost a lot more than when she was going to Sherwood. Ever since then she had gone out of her way to avoid her father in the past two months but sometimes he would come up to her room after drinking all day telling her how she was the reason her mother left.

Tori mentally shrugged off her melancholy in time to see Trina headed to the front door "come on Tori, you're going to make us late!" which only got her an eye roll in return. Tori grabbed her bag and headed to the door to lock it up before heading off to school, she wasn't going to let what's happened to her family bother her today, not when she was on her way to see Jade. She loved all her friends but they all had their own lives and were dealing with problems of their own, Andre was her best friend and usually she would confide in him just to get it off her chest but he had been dealing with his crazy grandmother a lot lately added that he seemed to have a different girl on his arm every other week. So she kept it all in and tried to act like everything was normal for which none of her friends seemed to notice, even when they would come over to play cards they never noticed anything was wrong since her parents were never around long before that. Although Tori would sometimes see Jade look at her with what looked like a question in her beautiful eyes but would quickly school her features after a moment.

Tori was brought out of her thoughts when her sisters car came to stop in a parking space at Hollywood Arts, she looked around for a moment before climbing out and watching as Trina ran to catch up with one of her friends leaving her alone. She looked around trying to see if any of her friends were around but mostly she was looking for Jades car to see if the dark girl was here already, after spotting it she practically skipped up to the front door of the school but not before she made a quick stop at the Grub Truck for coffee she bought for Jade.

Walking in she spotted Jade right away grabbing some books out of her locker, Tori smiled and set off to go talk to her about last night. She knew she would have to be careful and go slowly but she felt Jade was worth it and when she was talking about not wanting to get back with Beck the brunette singer felt hope for the first time.

Tori was half way to Jade when she spotted Beck come around the corner and worried for a second that things would get really awkward or they would start fighting again. She sped up her pace to hopefully help out if she was needed but froze when he put his arm around her and kissed her passionately while she put her hands on his chest. She was still staring when they separated which caused Jade to notice her standing there "move it along Vega!" she said while glaring at her. Tori worked hard at swallowing all the feelings that had tried to bubble to the surface and walked closer to the couple with a fake smile in place and coffee extended out "I got this for you Jade" she looked to Beck "hey Beck." He smiled and greeted her back while Jade took the coffee without comment and took a small sip letting her lips twitch into a quick smile only to grimace quickly after "I already have a coffee and it's much better than this crap!" Jade said while throwing it into the trash can that was sitting in front of a couple lockers.

Beck tried to calm his girlfriend down having already seen the impending explosion by rubbing her shoulders even though it wasn't working.

Tori took a step back seeing Jade glaring even harder at her, she could feel what was left of her heart breaking but refused to let any tears fall. Any hope she had from last night was dashed away after seeing what Jade did with her seemingly simple gift "look Jade, I'm sorry…I thought you might want a coffee."

"Well you thought wrong!" Jade spat.

"Jade" Beck said trying to get her attention.

She ignored "now get away from me so I can go back to enjoying my morning with my Boyfriend without annoying little half Latinos around." She announced boyfriend very clearly.

Tori glanced to Beck who was looking at her with sympathy then back to Jade, she smiled a little sad smile even though she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry and nodded slightly "ok Jade" she whispered. Tori didn't have the strength to fight anymore with anyone, she saw sadness creep into blue eyes but a second later it was gone replaced by her usual look of boredom. Tori nodded again and turned on her heel and walk away heading for her locker slowly, all the while keeping her features schooled not wanting to break down here in the middle of the hallway with everyone around. She got into her locker putting everything that she didn't need away only vaguely noticing the final bell chime and hearing the other students walking to class. Tori blew a breath out after everyone had gone to class, normally she wasn't one for skipping school but it was Friday and after what happened with Jade she didn't want to be here anymore so after she put her bag up and made sure she had her phone Tori turned and walked right out of school. She didn't want to go home since that was a place of depression and anger now instead of a welcome and comforting feeling so instead she decided to walk to wherever as long as it took her away from Hollywood Arts.

Jade turned away after Tori turned around to head to her locker, she needed to keep up her mask of indifference since she really had no idea how to feel. When she had gone to Vega's house the night before she just wanted to talk to someone about her breakup with Beck and she knew Tori was one person she could trust. What she didn't count on was how comfortable it was to just be herself and not be the one everyone at school expected to see, she knew Tori wouldn't say anything if she let down some of her walls and allowed herself to actually enjoy the company she was with. Sometime throughout the night while they were talking Vega had boldly slipped her hand into hers squeezing it for comfort, she had actually enjoyed the contact and found herself relishing how soft the other girls hand was. When her eyes started to droop it was Vega's arms that slid around her holding her tight as if to protect her from anything. Jade stayed that way while a silent battle raged in her mind, she very much enjoyed being wrapped in Tori's embrace but that was the problem. She shouldn't be comforted by the brunettes hold, when Beck would hold her it wasn't nearly as comforting and once they started having sex then that all it was, he only held her now to get sex.

Jade heard the warning bell a second later with Beck trying to get her attention but she ignored him and walked to class. She told Vega the night before she was done with Beck and with every word spoken to Tori she felt more convinced that she had made the right decision, she let Tori have a glimpse of her softer side and never regretted one moment but all that changed when she spoke the last words of the night "I want to get to know you." Jade felt herself nod before she could really register what she was doing. With that phrase spoken so softly Jade was in turmoil trying to figure out what Tori meant by saying that, even wrapped in her arms Jade didn't sleep that well feeling the brunettes body pressed against hers and ended up getting up early leaving Vega asleep while she snuck out to head home. The feelings she was having were frightening and confusing and leaving her with a loss of control and control was not something she wanted to lose so she panicked and on the way home stopped by Becks trailer waking him up early in the morning and asked if he could forgive her for being such a gank and take her back. It didn't even occur to her at the time when she was asking Beck to take her back that is was far out of her character but she could hardly care, she wanted Tori's words to disappear from her mind because she just could not think of anything else.

Jade West didn't see or hear anyone as she walked on autopilot to her first class of the day, she knew Beck was beside her but was too deep in thought to care to respond to anything he was saying. She just needed to make it through today, they had a three day weekend starting the next day and spring break in two weeks where she got to get away with Beck, which would give her more than enough time to sort through everything that's happened. One thing though that stuck with her was the look in Tori's eyes after she threw her coffee away and told her to go away, it wasn't her normal look of annoyance or frustration when she made fun of her or when she did something to get on her nerves. It was sadness and heart break she seen and when Tori gave her a small sad smile, somehow she knew it meant Vega was done trying. For which she should be happy as hell over but just can't seem to feel anything but guilt for what she did earlier.

She sighed and looked around for the first time in a while, class was almost over and she hadn't heard a thing but couldn't bring herself to care. She saw Beck sitting next to her taking notes and Andre a couple rows over acting like he's taking notes but looks to be texting, Cat and Robbie were in her next class along with Vega. She would just keep her head down and make it through the day so she could just go home and lay down.

Tori walked along the side walk with her head down and shoulders slumped just going over the past couple of months which has seemed more like a living hell for her than anything else. Tori sniffed and wiped her eyes, she needed a change in her life that was actually a good one, to many things have gone wrong recently and right at that moment she was wondering if there was a do over button she could push.

She had been walking for almost an hour without really seeing anything when she heard yelling coming from the alley way she just passed. Tori jogged back to the opening and looked in to see a woman being thrown and cornered against a brick wall by three guys who looked like they could be just out of high school. She didn't even think about what could happen when she started running to help out, she felt so much pent up rage over everything that had happened she just reacted to three bullies chasing and cornering an older blonde. She scooped up a lose board on her way and swung just as one of them turned earning him a broken nose as she passed him coming to stop next to the unknown blonde brandishing her makeshift bat.

Tori looked to the other two who were by now laughing at their injured friend who was covering his nose and spitting out blood. He shook off the pain and glared at the other two then looked back to her.

Tori looked back "now leave!"

He shook his head "no way bitch" he looked to the other two "grab the blonde and I got this other bitch." He looked back just in time to see her swing letting him raise his arm in time to trap the piece of wood between his arm and side.

Tori's eyes went wide when her bat was caught, she pulled but before it would come loose a right hook came across her jaw knocking her into the wall behind her. She heard the older woman start yelling but before she could focus on it Tori felt another blow to her stomach knocking the wind out of her. Falling to her knees and gasping for air she felt a hand lifting her chin so she would look up, he was smirking "not so tuff now are you!" he said before she caught a glimpse of his fist before it connected with her right eye, her head snapped back and groaned in pain before another one came again across her jaw knocking her to the ground. The only thing she could think of was the pain in her face while lying there, she heard him laugh and start to walk away before coming back quickly and kicking her in the ribs making her cry out in pain. He reached down going through her pockets grabbing out anything that was in there, he turned around throwing everything but the cash which was only ten bucks to the ground.

Elizabeth couldn't believe what was happening, first she's caught off guard by three guys as she was coming out the back way of the floral shop and now the young girl that was trying to help her was getting beat to death. She watched as the young brunette was hit and knocked into the wall behind her, she made to dash forward to help but was held back by his two friends who just cheered him on as their friend beat the hell out of the girl. Elizabeth screamed for him to stop and leave her alone but all anyone did was laugh, she silently breathed a sigh of relief when he turned to walk over to her but she quickly screamed again when he turned back to kick her and after digging in her pockets he turned back looking very pleased with himself and walked over to where she was being held. His friend held out her purse to him so he took it and looked inside grabbed the cash and threw the purse behind him "that's all we were after before that stupid bitch decided to play hero" he said then gestured for his friends to let her go.

Elizabeth rushed over to the injured brunette grimacing at the apparent damage, she could hear the three walking to the other end of the alley behind her and hopefully leaving for good. She went to her knees and smoothed the hair out of the girls face "hey, you ok? Can you stand?" The girl nodded weakly and went to move wincing in pain "hey, it's ok I got you" reaching down Elizabeth helped her to her feet. "I know this is a stupid question but are you ok?" Elizabeth rolled her eyes at herself but saw the brunette nod slightly, she tried to catch her one eye that wasn't swelling shut but the girl was looking over her shoulder in the direction the guys went. She didn't answer but was swaying slightly on her feet, she was about to try and get her attention again when the girls one good eye went wide before she felt herself being pushed to the side. Falling to the ground she heard a loud bang before she hit the concrete, she quickly looked for the shooter but only caught a glimpse of the one of the three run completely out of the alley.

She looked to the girl who had both hands holding her stomach gaping like she had no idea what just happened. "Oh god" she said to herself, getting off the ground and rushing back over to the girl just as she was collapsing. Elizabeth helped her to the ground "ok sweetie I gotta take a look" the girl was breathing heavy wincing and groaning in pain, moving the girls hands she noticed the dark color blood soaking through. "Ok, keep your hands there and keep pressure" she knew this girl didn't have long and had a quick thought. She picked the girl up who looked to be fading in and out "keep pressure and try to stay awake sweetie!" while moving over to her car as fast as she could and put her in back and jumped in front speeding straight to her lab. Grabbing her burner phone out the console and stripping off her blonde wig she dialed her husband ["Hello"] "I need you to meet me at the condo by the beach in ten minutes…please move fast." Closing the phone she sighed and looked back to her injured passenger seeing she was pale but still breathing and gripping her stomach, she hated using code words but someone could be listening in and they have done good keeping under the radar from the Brother Hood.

In record time the Elizabeth pulled up to the run down looking warehouse, she slowed down until she saw the sliding door open allowing her to drive inside screeching to a halt and hopping out "grab the girl and get her inside now! She's got a bullet wound to the lower abdomen, she passed out a few minutes ago." Running into the inner part of the warehouse entering her code for the door to open she held it open for the two coming through "Liz, I don't know what you're thinking but if it's what I suspect your crazy!" She followed behind him waking up different computers "she saved my life Steve!" she said while typing in passwords that protect all her work. Looking up into the lab she saw her husband hooking up the girl monitoring her vitals, he rushed back in "what do you mean she saved your life and why does it look like someone beat the hell out of her?" Elizabeth never stopped from getting everything ready "I was ambushed by three guys outside the floral shop I go to sometimes, she came to help me but wasn't a match for them but as they were leaving I went to help her stand up." She paused remembering the look in the girls eye "I was trying to get her attention when she pushed me out of the way when one of those guys pulled a gun and fired." Turning to look at him he had a surprised look on his face then wrapped her up in a hug "alight get off me and get your part up and running."

Elizabeth looked back into the lab where the girl laid there "you'll be the alright sweetie" she whispered. Going back to her console she heard from behind her "are you sure about this Liz?" Never even stopping in her work she nodded "she'll die Steve, even if I was to take her to the hospital the damage is too much for any surgeon" looking at the medical screen again looking at the readouts after the scans were done "she would have just bled out internally. So stop asking questions, she's the perfect candidate for the Mark II."