A Clean Slate

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious.

A/N: This is a sequel to AUTUMN LEAVES. There are multiple things that will be happening in this story. So without further ado, read on (Though check out Autumn Leaves if you've not read it, specifically the last few chapters. This starts around the time that left off).

Chapter 1 (Making Ends Meet)

Trina walked into her sister's home after picking her daughter up from preschool. She watched with a smile as four year old Sasha ran past her, her pink backpack bouncing with each step. The young girl ran to her aunt's recliner, grinning at the woman in the chair. Tori was reading a book, waiting for her husband to get home. "Hi Aunt Vic-tree!" Sasha squealed. Tori closed her book to set it aside and let Sasha climb into her lap. "Momma quit her job again."

With that, Tori's smile fell and she slowly looked to Trina. Trina's heart sank for a second as she let out a nervous chuckle. "Again, Trina?" Tori let out a heavy sigh and looked back to Sasha. "What are we going to do with your mom?" She hugged her niece tight, then set her on the ground so she could stand up.

Tori was on a short leave from the FBI due to a pregnancy. She was due in a few weeks for her first child, a spring birth just like Sasha was. Sasha was highly anticipating the birth of her first cousin. "I went on leave so I could avoid the stress of the job, Jade and other agents donated some of their vacation time, and I'm still dealing with stress? Come on Trina, you can't keep quitting!"

"My manager was a-" She wanted to say he was a pervert, but she didn't need Sasha picking up any words like that. Tori folded her arms and gently tapped her finger on her left forearm. "Point being, I need a job with a female boss." Tori bowed her head as Sasha scurried for the nearby couch. Trina lowered her tone to a whisper. "I'm tired of sexual harassment."

"Trina." Tori put her fingers to her forehead and groaned. "I get it, I do, but you need a job for the money. I'm helping by giving you a place to live so you don't have to pay bills-but that doesn't mean you're not going to work. House rules, remember."

"At least I didn't punch my boss this time." She flashed an innocent smile as Tori rolled her eyes. One of Tori's extensive rules for Trina was that she had to stay clean. The very first job she held was a waitressing job, her boss made the mistake of smacking her ass, so she responded by punching him square in the jaw. Old habits die hard.

Fortunately no charges were pressed because Jade had been there at the time, so the presence of an FBI agent was enough to scare the boss into crawling back into his cave of an office, but Trina did get an earful from her sister when she got home. "I had to pick up Sasha from preschool, so I didn't have time to punch him." She smirked and Tori rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'm going to call Jade up and we're driving back to your job and getting your job back. We will deal with the boss when we get there…You know you need the money."

Sasha looked up from the couch, raising her eyebrows, "I thought we had money, Momma?" Trina closed her eyes and crossed her arms, smirking now that she had a comeback to use on Tori.

"We did dear, until the FBI donated all of your father's money and made us poor." Tori's jaw dropped as the young girl looked to Tori, not truly understanding why her father's money was given away. Since Trina never married Jesse or reached any sort of financial agreement with him, she was not legally entitled to his money after death. Even his sub shop had to be closed down. However, some of the money was still floating around as they were trying to determine ownership, considering Sasha was his daughter.

"Aunt Vickery why did you get rid of my daddy's money? Mommy needs it." It was just one of the prices Trina paid to be free from the gangs in LA. Tori frowned at Trina, who simply shot her a smug look as the woman now had to explain to a young child why her mother was now poor. She was too young to understand what a trust fund was, though.

Trina simply smirked back at her, took a deep breath and turned to Sasha with a smile. "Your daddy would have wanted to help others, so his money went to doing that. You and your momma are secure financially so long as you're living under my roof I'll make sure you don't go hungry." Sasha smiled graciously and looked over to Trina. Tori looked back at her with the same smug expression, pleased to have avoided Trina's plan. "That backfired fast. When she's older you need to explain some of it is in a trust fund set up for her college."

"Nice. Except I still don't have that much money."

"You've got a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, and Director Lunsford himself cleared your record. You don't need to stay on waitressing jobs, Trina. You can work as a police officer if you wanted." She shook her head and lifted her shoulders. It was hard to think she could go that route, especially when she didn't believe she deserved it. "You can get practically any job you want."

"That's the thing, I don't think I'm qualified anymore. You're also forgetting Katrina Vega has a bachelor's degree. You had me change all my information. Unless they're close, they don't call me Trina."

"I know. It's better that way, and for good reason." Gangs were still out there, they would recognize her in a heartbeat. She'd heard talk on the streets, even gangs here in New York, all the way into 2019, months after her alleged 'death', they still talked about her and Jesse Klein's daughter. Tori wasn't going to let her go fully into witness protection, in which case she'd never see her sister again, there was no point in it either, so for most people that didn't know her, she was 'Sherry Crown'. For Sasha it was easier, she was simply called by her middle name, Elizabeth, but most were able to still call her Sasha.

"As far as I'm concerned the bachelor's is useless…"

"Why? You could even be a legal secretary. A Paralegal. Anything you wanted to be."

"Because I was in a gang for five years, Tori. Five years I was doing things that a law enforcer shouldn't do." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as Tori's shoulders slumped down. "I have no business in that field. You do." She could attempt to go back into college, but she had no way to afford it. Whatever was left of Jesse's money was to remain in a trust fund account until her daughter was an adult and attending college, so it was untouchable. "You're the agent here, you're the one carrying on dad's 'family tradition', and I'm the one that screwed up…"

Tori stepped forward and lifted her hand to Trina's shoulder, smiling sadly. "You're doing the best you can, and that's what matters. Okay Trina? What matters also is your daughter. She's your world, isn't she?"

"Of course she is." No one, nothing was more important to her than her daughter.

The sister pulled her hand down and looked her in the eye. "Then let's go get your job back, and hopefully while you're working you can still look around for something better. It doesn't have to be in the criminal justice area, but it should be something that pays better than waitressing…You need to provide for your little girl, and I'm only able to really help you until you get on your feet." Tori motioned to her protruding belly and raised her eyebrows. "As you can see, I'm starting a family too. So my career and my family are going to leave me pretty busy-"

"I know, I know you're not able to handle things forever."

"I just want you to be able to have that life you want, Trina." Tori paused and Trina's eyes drifted off to the side. "The life Jesse would have wanted for you and Sasha." Her heart clenched in her chest as her muscles tensed. Even now, it was still hard to see herself without him. She was going to do the best she could to move on, and she was trying her hardest, but still she had moments where she'd break down.

"Right. Sometimes I wish things had been different…"

"You don't talk a lot about him. I know it's difficult for you, but I'm your sister and I know you loved him. If you ever want to talk, you know I'm going to listen."

"Not today though…" She held her breath and looked over towards Sasha, who was now playing with a toy she'd stashed away in her backpack. "Like you said, we need to go get my job back."

Tori wasn't entirely aware of the events surrounding Jesse's death, nor of their time together. She knew Beck had been responsible somehow, but nothing more than his involvement had ever been discussed. She knew him to be the reason Trina never dated either, not wanting to waste her time with love or romance when she had a child to focus on, as well as her job.

"When can we go?" She asked with hope of changing the subject. Tori never approached the topic out of respect for Trina's wishes. Trina could always see how much Tori wanted to know, to be there for her and to talk about that life. There was plenty the FBI knew on her and plenty Tori already knew, so much that she was shocked her sister was so readily able to forgive and help her try to heal.

"Just as soon as Ben gets back from court, he'll be able to look after Sasha then." There were times when Tori wouldn't be able to be home and Ben was down at the office or working a trial, so Trina would end up taking Sasha to work when that happened. It was allowed and Trina did not trust anyone else around her daughter, so babysitters were out of the question unless it was Tori, Ben, Jade, or Jade's husband.

"Sounds good to me." She watched Tori grab the phone to call Jade. She had a bad feeling in her stomach that the boss was about to lose his job, but the man deserved it. Trina was asking about a possible raise in her pay since she'd been working harder, and he had the gall to suggest oral sex as a solution for earning a little extra pay. "So what's going to happen to my boss?"

"Remember that every supervisor has a supervisor above them, Trina." Tori put the phone to her ear and gently tapped her foot. "We will simply go to the top rung if we have to, put him on hot coals."

"Some of the other girls that work there said he does the same thing to them. And you know what? There's one woman working there who could do the job better, but never gets recognition!"

"All viable things to discuss…" Tori lifted a finger, "Jade's on." She walked off to the side and Trina moved over to the couch, sitting beside Sasha.

The young girl smiled at her and leaned into her, "You're going to go back to work Momma?" Trina ran her hand through Sasha's hair, feeling her heart skip in her chest.

"Yes baby. I'm going to go back."

"What about the mean boss?"

Trina looked over to Tori, who was throwing her hand in the air as she spoke in a rapid tone to Jade. "I think your Aunt is handling it." There was no doubt in her mind, when Tori grew passionate about something, she got stuff done. Probably, she wouldn't even be here now if it wasn't for Tori. If there was anyone in life she was more grateful to, she didn't know.

"She handles a lot of stuff doesn't she, momma?"

"Yes, because she loves us. We owe her a lot…"

So it begins, several months ahead. There's going to be a family in here that some of you may recognize and you may not. Let's just say Trina won't be single forever, Sasha will get a dad eventually but it'll take some time. That's only a small portion of what's to come. The biggest part is Trina trying to get on her feet and to be a good mom. A lot of the way Trina is with Sasha, doing the best she can and trying to do whatever it takes is sort of a tribute to my mother. That being said, Trina does have a fake name she uses (though those close to her as said in the chapter do know her) "Sherry" was my mother's name.