Surprise, I wrote another chapter, and I'm actuality happy with where this one went. Just took getting a lot of distance, and seeing where the story took me.

Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to others, and not me. No money is made from this story.

Warning: Jade's recovering from being shot, and we mention suicide, teenage death, isolation, and promiscuity. You've been warned.

:}

Jade sat in the bed, ignoring the voices from the people talking near her, not wanting to know what was happening. They were going over the details of her immediate, and potently long term, future. However, none of it seemed to matter to her. Not at that moment. Not when her body ached so much, despite the painkillers they pumped into her body. Her body hurt, and yet they kept talking.

It didn't matter how often the doctors told her she was lucky to be alive, and twice as lucky that the surgeon she had was on shift that night. They told her that the bullet had passed through her, and so she would heal much faster. In fact, the damage she'd sustained wouldn't have caused the coma if not for two factors. The bullet had gone through her torso, nicking a couple of very important organs in the process, then she lay on the cold tile floor for over twenty minutes. 'Frankly, it's a miracle you weren't dead on arrival, considering how much blood you'd lost. Plus, we had to do something about that lung..."

Jade didn't respond to the man explaining everything, she didn't have too. He wasn't talking to her, other then that aside. Not that time. Instead, he was telling her father why she couldn't go home for at least another two weeks. 'Gods, I wish he'd skip the asides. I don't need any of this.' Jade thought as the doctor turned his attention back to her father.

"So anyways, while she's recovering fast enough, we'll want to keep an eye on her, see if there are any infections we need to stay on top of." The doctor, a nice, young man, a resident at the hospital, who had been tasked with telling them how she was doing. Behind him, and older man with a stern expression was watching the boy, seeing what he might miss. That was the trauma surgeon, older and more experienced, who'd worked on her when she showed up, because they decided she needed all the help she could get if she were to survive. "Also, physical therapy." The young doctor continued.. "Jade's been, for the most part, bed bound for over a week. More, if you count the coma. We've started her on exercises to strengthen her muscles, and are pleased with the progress. Everything looks to be healing up nicely. Once the stitches dissolve, we'll know more, and should be able to send her home. That is, assuming you can keep up with her psychical therapy, and the other demands her condition will have."

"Then move her to a less expensive room." Mister West insisted, seeming not to care about the details of her condition as much as, well, how much it was costing him. "I'm not paying for her to be coddled. She survived, her mother and I are very happy. But that doesn't mean we need to be driven into the poor house just to cover her room and care."

"You have very good insurance." Another man, from the accounting part of the hospital, insisted. He was there, apparently, to field questions like this. "Plus, you've reached you've already reached your maximum deductible. And from what I can tell, in order to fully recover, Jade here's gonna need a lot of care. If you want us to provide home care..."

"Too expensive." Mister West exclaimed. "I'm not sure how well pay the bills we have, for the treatments she's already been through. Which brings me to, why haven't I seen the bills for this?"

"Thats between you and your insurance company." The doctor tried to avoid getting dragged back into this argument.

"It's already been paid for." The man from accounting said. In addition to helping field questions, he'd been going over the numbers with the man from mister Wests office, and they both looked pleased with the results.

"It's already been paid for?" Mister West asked. "What about if she needs special help, from out of our coverage?"

"Mister Thornsmith agreed, just a couple of days after the shooting, to cover whatever insurance didn't, as a way of saying thanks for saving Miss Vega's life." Chuck, from the business office at Mister Wests work, explained. "And let me tell you, given his reputation as a tight wad, I was amazed. But I guess he'll spend money for good publicity, and thats exactly what this is."

"I heard someone died in the attack." Jade said, her curiosity finally overpowering her exhaustion backed restraint. Next, she asked a question no one in the room had wanted to answer. "So who was it? Who died?"

The room was silent, with her father, for the first time, looking uncomfortable. He had all but said he'd have been happier if Jade was the one gone, except even he knew that was a lie. He'd just reverted to his bad behavior once he realized his child was alive, and was able to face him. Leaving her body unidentified as long as they did was the cowards way of dealing with their pain, and now, there was another family suffering the same fate, even as Jade's got to silently celebrate having their girl back among the living.

"I don't believe thats important." Chuck tried.

"Please, I need to know, who was it who died?" Jade asked, a dark feeling in her gut. 'Please don't be Vega. No, if it was her, we'd have heard about it. Besides… Beck got her out...'.

"Some girl named Marcy." Edith, her fathers current wife, volunteered. Jade suspected she was the one person who really hated that she survived. However, to Jade, that name threatened her with yet another kind of loss.

"Marcy?" Jade asked. "There's more then one Marcy's at Hollywood Arts. You're gonna have to give me more."

"It's not like you knew her." Mister West said.

"I believe her family was military, which is why it took so long for them to come see her, er, you." The doctor stated.

"Marcy Scott?" Jade asked, watching with a strange horror as the faces of the adults in the room all seemed to confirm that name. "My god, Marcy? But, she was, I mean..." Jade's shoulders dropped. "Marcy, Why?"

"I take it you knew her." The accountant said.

"I know her. Knew her." Jade said, feeling ever worse. 'As if my nightmares weren't bad enough.' her mind flashed to the recurring nightmare of the man, his gun leveled at her, smirking an evil grin, and moving closer as her body exploded in pain. In her dreams, her scissors missed, and he stepped closer, or would come out of the bathroom of the her hospital room, or even be in her closet, at home, waiting for her. But the pain of losing her friend was enough that Jade knew she needed to share. "Marcy was this new girl, a dancer, but she loved to write. I remember seeing something she'd been working on, speaking on her feelings of loneliness. I liked it, felt it… it was good. So I offered to help her out. I was gonna introduce her around, help her make friends. I was her fucking mentor." Blue eyes looked up, looking for anyone to help take away her growing emotional pain. "I was her mentor. My god, I'm her mentor, the only friend she had in the fucking world, and I couldn't even mourn her."

"Well, you can now." Edith said, a dark smile on her face. Everyone ignored her.

"I'm sorry for your..." The doctor started to say.

"Whens the funeral?" Jade snapped. "I have to be there. She needs a friend, someone to tell her father how talented she was. How much life she had, in her lonely existence. S-she needs me..."

"The funeral was this morning." Edith informed her. "Sorry you missed it." Then to her husband, she added "It was announced on the slap. You know I like to keep up with what they do at that school."

"This morning?" Jade sounded crushed.

"Jade, you wouldn't have been able to go, even if you'd have known." The doctor said. "You still need to heal, get stronger, recover. Maybe you can make the wake?"

"Wake?" Jade wondered.

"It's an old tradition, but in the modern world, it's often done quite differently. You see, you need to get the body dealt with fairly quickly, but now a days, often the extended family of a person can be spread out, and so won't be able to attend the funeral. So many people have a wake, or some kind of remembrance, a couple of weeks after the death. You know, so everyone can get together and remember what the person was like." The doctor explained. "So, I think that covers everything. Anyone got anything?"

"Yes." Edith said. "Why didn't Jade's annoying friends tell her the name of the dead girl?" Jade hated agreeing with that woman, ever. But she did wonder about that.

"We'd asked them not to give her any bad news without checking it with us first." The doctor said. "She was weak, and gunshot victims often have flashbacks, nightmares, all kinds of emotional trauma. Thats why she sees a therapist every day, and will continue to see one weekly for the next year plus. It's also why they didn't volunteer that information, and probably pivoted the conversion away from that subject. She didn't need the survivors guilt." He shifted to look at Jade. "Again, I'm sorry for your loss."

"When you go, send them in." Jade spat at her dad.

Of Jade's friends, Tori and Beck had made it a point to visit her every day. The others tried to do the same, but only those two had kept the commitment up, even in the face of school, and in Tori's case, a list of other commitments that drained the time away from her. Yet the two had dropped by, in some cases staying a while, every day since Jade woke up. Now, it was time for her to confront the two of them and deal with a list of problems.

Seeing the new uncomfortable look on her husband, Edith seemed to be way to happy. "Oh darling, can we stay and watch?" She almost begged.

"No, I think this is something they'll have to do in private." Jade's father said. "Edith, please go ahead. I need to talk with my daughter, alone."

"You're just going to try and move her to a semi private room, aren't you?" Chuck accused.

"No, because someone paid for the upgrade." Mister West said. "Specifically, someone other then me. No, I just need to cover a couple of things with Jade. You go on, I'll catch up."

The others filed out of the room, allowing Mister West a moment with his child. "Jade, I have two very different things to cover. First, the school district is sending a tutor, to help you catch up. I'm very interested in this. If it works, then maybe we won't have to send you back to that school. I wasn't too thrilled with it to begin with, and the lack of security was and is frightening. I just don't see that improving. Also, if you do go back, in your condition, you'll still probably need to skip a lot of the extra curricular activities, at least for a while. I'll get you a doctors note."

"Thanks." Jade drolled. 'I'll be able to do enough. Just have to clear every fucking thing with my doctor. But I'll perform again, in the showcase if possible. I'm not losing any opportunities just because I was shot!' Jade felt her spirit rising to the challenge. "I'm going back, so make sure that tutor knows it, and can catch me up with my work."

"Look, I'm still against this creative shit you wanna do, but I'm happy to have you go to any school you want." Her father said. "I'm just happy to have you alive. And that brings me to the second thing I wanted to discuss."

"That is?" Jade asked, not liking how coy her father was being.

"Your friends seem to have become rivals." He pointed out. As the confused look overtook Jade, he clarified. "Those two, the one's who look like siblings, they seem to be rivals for your affection. You know I do like Beck, but there's something to be said for someone with the right contacts to help you in an otherwise impossible career."

Jade watched her father, eyes scanning his face for any signs this was a joke. "So Tori did say something like..." Jade started, her voice low.

"I believe she did." He said. "Um, I exchanged a bit of gossip with one of the nurses, earlier, while trying to avoid coming in here. I know, I really should have visited sooner, before the accountants got involved. It's just, I raised a strong girl, and it's hard for me to see you as anything but. Laying here, even now, I have trouble accepting this, and thats knowing you'll make a full recovery." He sighed. "I wanted you strong. Do you know why?"

Jade shook her head. "No, why?" She asked. It was, to her, a strange confession.

"Ever hear a song called 'A Boy Named Sue'?" He asked.

"Johnny Cash, right?" Jade said. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, country music does feel like your speed."

"Actually, a man named Shel Silverstein wrote it, and even released an album that had that song, the exact same year. But Johnny Cash had performed it at his concert at San Quentin. It was Johnny's biggest hit ever." Mister West almost surprised his child by knowing this. "But the reason I told you was, I realized that this is a hard, cold world, and I wasn't going to be able to protect you. Not ever. So I let nature do it, making you strong. Maybe I didn't name you something that people would made fun of, but at every opportunity, I let you solve your own problems. I admit I may have made a few mistakes, but I believed I'd succeeded in raising a strong child who would fight for what she believed in. Someone who might just make it in show business. Only down side, you became less and less likely to listen to my advice. Otherwise, you'd have gone to PCH, and prepared yourself for a life where the risks are manageable, and success is more likely."

"You mean becoming a lawyer?" Jade asked.

"You're smart." He said. "I'd hoped you'd become something useful. But back to the point. Beck, he never supported you, and that worried me. I realized, maybe thats what you were used to, and thus what you were looking for. I… I hadn't thought it through enough, and now, I realize, maybe this event, getting shot, it can help you find someone who will support you. Trust me, being strong is far too much work when your child is in the morgue, and you have to go identify her body."

Jade found herself hugging her father, despite the pain. "Dad..." Tears started to flow, but he cut her off.

"No, you have to be strong." He told her. "This is important, because while many a high school romance fails, I suspect whomever wins this rivalry will be with you for quite a while. I guess I'm saying, choose carefully."

"And if I chose..." Jade started.

He cut her off. "I don't care about the gender of your relationship, just that they can give you the emotional support I avoided, back when I wanted you to be strong." He flashed her a quick smile. "Now, I think it's time you clarified what you want from them, so they can work out their end of this equasion."

Outside, Tori and Beck were sitting in the waiting room, each nervous about how to proceed. Up until that moment, they'd been walking on eggshells around Jade. Both knew she was having a hard time dealing with the memories of getting shot, not to mention almost dying. As a result, that week, they'd been with her when they could, offering all the strength they had, but neither had bothered to make as move yet. Not until today, when each of them brought their A game to try and convince her to give them a chance. Both knew that today's decision wasn't likely to be final, but still wanted first shot, just in case there would only be one. They both also knew that today had to be handled delicately, so they could maintain their friendship even as they adjusted to one of them dating Jade.

"So, I hear Mason helped pay for Jade's treatment..." Beck said, trying to dispel the silence. It wasn't helping either of them.

"He offered to pay the medical expenses for all the shooters victims." Tori said. "Then he turned around and put up a Helpfundme page, making back every dime he claimed to donate. But he does get the credit, and I suspect he made a bit more then he originally spent. So, yea, he may have put money in for Marcy's funeral too."

"Yea, that sounds like him." Beck sighed. "I tired to go to Marcy's funeral..."

"I know, kinda hard when they hold it in the morning, on a school day." Tori agreed. "It's like they didn't want anyone to attend."

"Anyone from Hollywood Arts." Beck clarified. "How many showed up?"

"Over a hundred." The singer replied. "But I'd say only half came from Hollywood Arts. She had a lot of family, all in the military. Once they gathered, they were all over the place. And who brings a date to a funeral?"

"Someone who wants to have a person holding their hand as they say goodbye to a family member." Beck replied. "Or someone who is afraid of breaking down. Maybe even someone at that stage where they need to share things, so they bring a date."

"Okay, I get it." Tori groaned. "So, how do we tell Jade about Marcy?"

"No biggie." Beck said. "It's not like she knew the girl. Hell, Marcy was a shruggr's shrugger, the kind we feel bad for, cause no one deserved to die like that, but we don't really miss her, because we had no idea who she was."

"I don't know..." Tori started. "Her family was and is mostly career enlisted, military. I get the feeling she was isolated. I kinda wish I'd found a way to reach out to her, let her know she didn't have to be alone in this big, bad, scary world."

"I suppose." Beck agreed. "But right now, Jade's our main concern. You can tell her you went to the funeral, how many people were there. Maybe that will help Jade think Marcy wasn't so alone."

"Cause thats a whole lot better." Tori scoffed. "Wait, this is Jade, you never know whats better for her. Okay, I'll handle telling her about Marcy, and you tell her about Cat."

"Whats to tell about Cat?" Beck asked.

"Not much, but I needed something to divide up the work." Tori told him. "Maybe we let her know that Cat really wants to visit, but after seeing her in a coma, as she slowly was walking up, Cat got herself barred from visiting?"

"She was just confused as to what a coma means." Beck told the Latina. "I'm sure she'll be allowed in once more, after she promises not to hit any of the patients again."

"Yea, you tell her that." Tori said, sighing. "Why do I agree to the hard chiz?"

"Because you're too nice." Beck reminded her. "But don't worry, I'm not planning on using that against you. I just, I didn't go to the funeral, cause I was afraid it'd be awkward. I don't know any of those people. Hell, if I hadn't looked her up on the slap, I wouldn't have even known what she looked like."

"Kinda like Jade." Tori said. "Shorter, with a more, um, reasonable body, but similar features, and her hair was naturally black, instead of dyed. She was a dancer. I think thats what everyone talked about, how she loved to dance. Got lost in her movements. Obviously she was a very kinetic person..."

"Yea, Jade'll like that you did your research." Beck commented.

"I just, it's like they didn't know her, so they kept talking about her dancing, like that was all there was to her." Tori griped.

"Maybe, I don't know." Beck said. "You're looking too deep. People just aren't that deep. I mean, I hate to say it, but so many people are just a layer or two below the surface."

"I don't think so." Tori argued. "Take Jade, for instance. What, in our entire time together, would make her trade her life for mine?"

Beck opened his mouth, only he froze. "I honestly don't know." He sighed. "Me, maybe. Definitely for Cat, depending on the day. But anyone else in our group? No. Not likely."

"And thats the thing." Tori pushed. "Jade's a hell of a lot deeper then we think. I found out, from Sinjin, that Jade wrote poetry. Poetry. She'd submit them to on line contests, under pen names. Won herself a few prizes, and not just the scam prizes where you send them money and they send you a cheap certificate claiming you came in judges choice. But thats our Jade, all deep and chiz."

"Yea, thats our girl." Beck agreed. "So, it sounds like your putting the work in on this. Just don't go all stalkery on her. That, I can tell you, is a turn off."

"I totally get that." Tori nodded. "Lets divide up the rest of the heavy lifting."

"Not much else to discuss." He said, smiling.

"Oh, there is." Mister West said as he walked in to the waiting room. Both had ignored Edith when she walked in, so neither was ready for him to join the conversion. "Jade will need about a years worth of physical therapy to return to where she'd been. Not saying she won't get close sooner, just they're offering the year, and we're taking it. Also, she's gonna be home schooled for at least another month, and even when she goes back to Hollywood Arts, there will be activities she won't be allowed to participate in. And oh yea, she's gonna be stuck here for at least another two weeks. Anyways, she already knows all of that, but you may want to discuss that, after you cover the big issue, which is which one of you is gonna be dating my daughter."

"Sorry, what?" Beck asked.

"No mater, I've already gone over that stuff with her, so why don't you two head on in and talk with her. Then, find out why her hyper active red headed friend hasn't been by in over a week. I think she misses that nut job." Mister West said. "But go, talk. Whichever one of you winds up with her, I'll be open minded and accept you with open arms. Tori, Beck here will tell you I don't play favorites, so I'm only rooting for you because an early pregnancy would delay her career. So, go." He pointed towards Jade's room. "Edith, I think we're leaving now."

"Fine, those two are far too civil." The woman griped. "Lets find out if Monica is available for a little fun?"

"Before you get to judgmental, Monica is a masseuse we use for couples massages, and the occasional three way." Mister West explained. "So, yea, I'm.." He followed his wife out the door and towards the elevators.

"Yea, cause that wasn't awkward at all." Tori said. Then she noticed Beck was already on his way to Jade's room. "Hay, wait for me..."

Tori trailed Beck into the room, finding Jade sitting in bed, glaring out the window. "Um, bad news?"

"That told me how long the recovery process is." Jade replied. A dark, hurt smile crossed her face. "I'll be fine, good as new, in a year or so."

"Your dad mentioned something about that." Beck tried. "But hay, you always wanted a scar."

"I got one." Jade admitted. "A tiny tiny one, cause they chose to use selective endoscopic surgery caused, and I quote, 'Less trauma to the body.' Like my body wasn't already traumatized. They claimed it's one of the reasons my chance of recovery was so high, at almost thirty percent." Another dark, empty smile. "Personally, I feel that they wanted to play with their neat toys, and my dying body was as good a training field as any. Then again, I'm here, gonna have a much smaller scar, so that'll help me with rolls, and I didn't lose any boob mass, so I still have the big ones."

"Oh, thats good." Tori flashed a nervous smile. "I went to..." Her voice caught in her throat. "Sorry, you're stuck in here, and I'm talking about going places."

"I wanted to go to Marcy's funeral." Jade griped.

"Cause she died instead of you?" Tori asked. "Sorry, that was insensitive of me."

"Tori went to her funeral." Beck pointed out. "They talked about what a good dancer she was."

"I think, maybe, that was the cover, cause the people, even her family, they had no idea who she really was." Tori said. "I don't know, but I suspect she was a lot more then a dancer. I just, we'll never know, cause she's dead, and I'm so sorry, I didn't want to bring you down like this, but I went to her funeral, like so many from school, just to find out who we'd lost, and it's like no one knew her. How can someone go to Hollywood Arts and not have anyone know them?" Tori shook her head, and when she spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Jade said. "After her mother ran off, Marcy didn't really have anyone. She was supposed to be living with family, but that family kept taking deployments, or worked, or would be at sea for days on end. Marcy just got tired of trying, and gave up. Escaped into her writing, and dancing, cause the second, you really can do it like no one is watching, when no one is."

"Wait..." Beck managed, before he couldn't string any more words together. It shocked him to realize that Jade was capable of reaching out.

"You were her friend?" Tori asked, sharing Beck's disbelief.

"Yea, I was her friend." Jade confirmed. "I kinda got roped into it. Dickers asked me to help her with an assignment, writing a scene, and I loved how she expressed herself. I understood, just from her words, how lonely she was. We got to talking, and I was trying to phase her into the social group. Only, every time I tried, things came up, and she'd only been there a short time, so..." Jade's head dropped. "Now she's dead, and I fear I was her only friend in the valley."

"I'm sure she had other friends." Beck said, offering what comfort he could.

"I don't know." Tori remarked. "As I said, everyone talked about her as a dancer. No one mentioned her writing."

"Thats because her friends are all military brats, and so moved around like she did." Jade told them. "They'll be here, as soon as they can. Probably for the wake. I wanna go to that, talk to her family, let them know she was such an amazing girl, pushing on even though she was almost alone, scared of making friends because her father might move home bases again, and she'd have to relocate, starting all over. She didn't want the pain of losing another friend." Jade sighed. "I liked her, wanted to be her friend. I listened to her talking about her life, helped her find ways to compensate. I talked her into seeing a therapist, she was gonna tell me how that was working out. Only she never got a chance. She died, isolated from the people who loved her, and gods, I wish I could have been there to hold her hand, so she wouldn't have died alone."

The pale girl was crying now, mourning a friendship that was too young, but had such potential. Tori and Beck both put hands on her shoulders, trying to give comfort without knowing the limits of what they were allowed to do. Jade, for her part, accepted each of them as a friend, and let herself feel her pain. It was a dark, hurtful distraction to the next problem the injured goth was going to have to face.

After several minutes, Jade seemed to pull herself together. "You know, it sucks, that they didn't tell me about her until today." The goth said.

"We're sorry." Tori said. "We weren't sure you were strong enough to hear. I'm so sorry."

Jade gave a half smile. "I'm never gonna be strong enough to hear about the death of someone like Marcy. Not her, not Darla, and certainty not one of you guys."

"Who's Darla?" Beck asked, and immediately realized he'd stepped on a land mine.

"Friend of mine, from before I met you." Jade said. "She was older, a couple of grades ahead, and was my student mentor in grade school. We kept in touch, up until her hyper religious parents managed to drive her to suicide, just because she realized she might be gay. Of course, I only knew about her struggles cause we were email buddies. Her mom moved them out of California when it became apparent that she needed." Jade made air quotes, "'Small Town Values.' Thats code for not being gay, I guess. But Darla wrote of being alone, how everyone pressured her to change, constantly letting her know something was wrong with her, until she couldn't take it any more, and hung herself. The last part I got from her father when he told me she was dead. He had no idea why god would do that to his family. I didn't know it at the time, but now I do. Plenty of Christians seem able to accept, even love, their children for being who they are, and not judging them for thoughts or questions they have when a teenage." Jade was shaking. "Why couldn't that have just assumed it was a phase, and let her live long enough to find out that it gets better?"

Tori slid in closer, sliding her arm around the shaking girl. "Would you please do something for me?" Tori asked the girl. "Talk to a professional, cause, well, we're only allowed so much tragedy in this part of L.A, and you're using up all ours."

"They have plenty of tragedy in some of the more gang infested areas." Jade pointed out. "But this does bring up a couple of things. Um, Beck, you may wanna sit down for this."

Beck found a seat, pulling the chair closer. Tori let go of her friend, and took the other chair. Jade regarded them both, watching for who knows what. "Okay, I think we need to get something clear. Well, two things. Three?" Jade groaned. "My god, I'm becoming a Monty Python sketch."

"Monty…?" Beck asked.

"No one expects the Spanish inquisition." Tori said, smiling a half smile. "My dad has their, well, their everything. Episodes, movies, even 'And Now For something Completely different.' So I kinda know about their one running gag, one of their better known ones, and how they made a joke out of counting."

"Okay, thats another point for Vega." Jade said, smiling. "I introduced Marcy to Monty Python, cause I felt she might like their approach to humor. Some of the jokes, she didn't quite get. Then again, most people have no idea how educated those guys were." Jade rearguard Tori. "Have you seen their German stuff?"

"Yea, but don't speak the language, so it's a lot of reading." Tori admitted.

"Yea, but the tourist gag, well worth it." Jade remarked. "Okay, getting distracted. I have a few things to go over. Number one, why'd you let Cat try and wake me up when I was coming out of the coma? It didn't help, other then her getting me back for that scene from our Dale Squire short. However, it also got her kicked out of the hospital."

"We were so relieved to know you were waking up, and honestly, no one knew it took so long for someone to wake up from a coma." Beck started. "So, we kinda lost track of her..."

"We only took our eyes off of her for a second..." Tori added.

"And you can't do that." Jade cut in. "Not with small children, and certainly not with Cat. But thats beside the point. When were you gonna tell me she wasn't allowed to visit? I was kinda expecting her."

"We, I mean, I was gonna tell you." Beck said. "I just, we got caught up in you knowing Marcy, and it got confused from there."

"And before, things had gotten complicated, like, um, your dad said..." Tori stammered, trying to bridge out of that difficult topic.

"Okay, I get it." Jade waved her hand. "Now then, I don't know if I need both of you here for the next part, but I'll just do it, cause I.. I need to get through this." Her eyes focused somewhere far away. Both of her friends felt their ears perk, just a little, as they remembered what Jade's father had said outside. Then, the goth was speaking again. "Beck, I hated you for leaving me there, on the floor." Her blue eyes shifted to lock onto his. "The stupid part was, you did exactly what I wanted you to do, and I still felt betrayed, cause you never even looked back to see if I was alive. I'm fairly sure I'd have told you to run, if I could, and you'd have looked back. I wanted you to get yourself out. You, and Vega, and Cat, and Andre and oh hell, even Robbie. I wanted you guys safe, and carrying me out wasn't gonna make that happen. I just, if felt like no one cared, cause no one even looked back. Sikowitz, he ran out too, but at least he looked at me. I'm not sure, cause it was cold and I was hurting and I have no idea what I was thinking, but I almost feel like he mouthed 'I'm sorry.' Then again, he could have shouted it, and I just didn't hear him." Jade let him go, her own eyes once again far away. "I was dying. I knew it. Not sure when I slipped into unconsciousness, cause I could have danced back and forth, and just not remembered it. Or maybe it felt like I was just closing my eyes, and I didn't notice the time passing, up until I closed them, and when I opened them again, I was here. But I felt cold, so fucking cold, and alone, and I hated dying like that."

"Oh god, I'm sorry." Beck moaned, his seat saving him from falling. "I acted on instinct, and pulled Tori out of there. I..." He looked around, trying to find a memory where he came across as calculating, making the best decision based on the information he had. Unfortunately, he had heard the memories of everyone else, reminding him that he just acted. He hadn't though about Jade until he was out of the building. "I'm sorry. I didn't think...'

"And neither did I!" Her voice cut through his potently rambling apology, stopping it before it began. "You think, for a moment, I haven't been thinking about why I acted? I chose to give my life for hers, with a real chance I wasn't gonna do much more then buy her a few moments. Hell, it was even possible that the guy, he might have had trauma plates, and my scissors would have just bounce off. But I acted, lost one of my better pairs of scissors, and took a bullet. Thats something I never once thought I'd do, and yet, I acted, didn't think, and it told me a lot about myself." Jade pulled strands of her now brownish hair out of her face. "Mostly It told me I was kinda stupid, but also, that maybe I needed to reevaluate my feelings for everyone."

"Can you forgive me?" Beck asked, his face now stained with tears.

"I'm not sure I can forgive myself." Jade replied. "It'd be easier if you'd have listened to me." Her hand went up, stopping any more words. "I get it, I'm hard to deal with, and sometimes, you tune me out. I think, now, that maybe I always wanted the wrong things from you. I wanted to say," she shifted, focusing, making sure she was clear, "I'm sorry, cause I used you." She held him with her eyes. "I used you for your popularity, how much everyone wanted you. Hell, every time some girl fawned over you, I told myself 'He's mine'. Thats why I was so crazy jealous, cause you never really were mine, and when you let the girls flirt with you, never once tried to tell them you had a girlfriend, it hurt." She sighed. "Best day of our relationship may well have been when you told that bitch Haley that you had a girlfriend."

"Really?" Beck asked.

"It said you were mine, in a way that couldn't be denied. And it said that if she did try for you, it was on her, not you." Jade explained. "You see, babe, you were great, better then I deserved. And I did, I did love you. Enough to give you everything I had. Just not the way I should have loved you. If I was honest with myself, then I would have realized that I needed to love someone where being with them wasn't about how they made me look, but how they made me feel, to the point where how we looked was secondary. I'm sorry, but as much as I care for you, us, we're not getting back together." She offered her best smile. "I do need a best friend, however."

"I can do that." Beck said, offering his hand, and they shook.

"Aww." Tori moaned. "Sorry, it's just such a sweet moment."

"Tori, I have a couple of things to say to you, starting with," Her voice dropped into a growl, "Never call me a bitch again."

"You heard, huh?" Tori asked.

"Yep." Jade replied.

"I was angry, and found myself telling you I cared, in the angriest way possible." Tori tried to explained, but her hopes were dying.

"I heard it from my dad, who apparently got it by gossiping with the nursing staff here." Jade continued. "But I do appreciate you taking the time to admit you cared, cause it makes the next part easier." She held out her hand, waiting for Tori to take her. "Come on, I need touch for this part."

"I'm scared." Tori said.

"And I'm not yet strong enough to hurt people." Jade assured her. "Give me your hand."

Tori held hers out. Jade took it, and smiled a shy smile, suddenly not sure she could say what she had too. "Okay, Tori, it's like this. I didn't hear you calling me a bitch, but I did, cause thats what drew me back. I was aware of someone calling me, and the nurses said you were there, telling me how much you cared. And, and I..."

"Go on, your so close." Beck urged. At the glare his ex threw his way, he shrank down. "Should have let you have the moment, shouldn't I?"

"Okay, let get through this." Jade decided. "Tori, we can date. I'm gonna need one for the wake. And after, once I'm strong enough, we'll find out if what we have will stand the tests that life throws our way. I know, we'll have a lot of challenges as we move onward, but I'm thinking this getting shot thing is gonna be one of the bigger ones. The other? Well, you're about to break out, be a major star, and I don't wanna stand in your way."

"And if I say we'll find a way to make it work?" Tori asked, tightening her grip on Jade's hand.

"I'll believe you." Jade said. "Look, I know, it's a risk. But the way I see it, I've already risked a lot, telling you how I feel,..."

"And the whole stepping in the way of the bullet thing." Tori added. She saw her girls blue eyes glaring at her. "Shutting up now."

"Thats gonna be a major hurdle, isn't it?" Jade asked. "Look, I don't want you to want me cause I saved your life. I want you to want me because I'm the one you feel the most strongly towards, the one you loved for other reasons."

"And if you are?" Tori asked. "Look, I know we're gonna revisit that whole you getting shot thing again and again, cause we're gonna fight, and you did take a bullet for me. I'm just saying, it's not the reason I fell for you. I know now, I'd fallen for you before this ever happened. And I get it, why you were reluctant to act on your feelings, cause of needing the trappings of popularity, maybe not wanting what happened to your friend to happen to you."

"You're talking about Darla?" Jade clarified.

"Hush now." Tori said. "But yes. I can see how you'd have been scared to lose everything you had, like Darla. And I see now how losing Marcy hurt, cause she was you chance to give back to Darla for what she'd done for you..."

"I was hoping to have her date Beck." Jade cut in again.

"Oh, thats so sweet." Tori cooed.

"Um I think you're off track now." Beck prompted. "Tori, Jade is willing to try, because she realized she can't live a lie. I'm thinking Marcy was helping her see that." His head turned to face his other friend. "And Jade, I believe Tori's saying that she's willing to love you, already loved you, from before. Now then, we're all in agreement that you two are in love, and gonna have a lot of issues to face over the next few years. But think on this. If you two manage to keep it civil, work out your differences, and love one another even as you find your way through life, then even a few short years is better then being alone. So why not risk it? Be in love. I'll tell you what? I'll even make the announcement, on the slap. You two just work on your many, many issues."

"Or, and this is just an idea, we don't tell everyone until Jade's up and moving around. Give s a shot at being a couple." Tori suggested.

"Make the chizzing announcement." Jade said. "I would, but they limit my on line time, and cell phones don't always work in these places."

"Done and done." Beck said. "Um, Tori, you may want to send Jade a confirmation, so she can confirm, change her status, once she's allowed back on line."

Tori smiled at the pale girl. "I guess we're dating."

"Yep." Jade said.

"Do you wanna be alone?" Beck asked.

"I want the whole fucking gang here so I can have visitors." Jade said. "Maybe tell them I care. But no, Tori and I will have plenty of alone time. Right now, I can't do most of what I wanna do with her anyways."

"Kinda personal, don't you think?" Tori said, blushing.

"No, I won't be able to dance or a while." Jade assured Tori. "Then, of course, there's sex."

"I never realized how much you're like your father." Beck said. Smiling at the glares both girls threw his way, he added "What, this may be one of the few times I can say it and not worry about her throwing anything at me."

"Tori, hand me the bedpan." Jade instructed.

"I was kidding." Beck begged off.

"Okay..." Jade sighed, deflating a bit. "I know it's kinda odd, but could we just watch a movie together? Turn on the television and just watch something?"

"Sure." Beck said, as he stood up and found the remote. He flipped through the channels until he found an old musical, deciding that they would watch that. However, when he turned to find out if it was okay, he saw Tori kissing Jade, gently holding her as they meshed together.

'Marcy, I hope your in a better place, and that you allow Jade this much.' Beck begged the spirits. 'It looks like they've already begun to bond.'

:}

Not sure if this is it, cause I was surprised when this wanted to be written. So, thoughts are appreciated. Also, on Marcy Scott. I loved that I gave her a bit more depth. Hope you enjoyed it.

So, review.

Written in loving memory of Marcy Scott, a character I wrote fr the first chapter. You inspired the second chapter.