Nowhere to Run

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N: This does deal with some mature and adult topics, so I do urge you to read with an open and mature mindset. Tori and Trina are 20 and 22, respectively as they would be as of February 2015.

Chapter 1 (Sister's Keeper)

All eyes on her, Trina Vega stepped into the neon lights that splashed onto the stage. They had a smoky effect that was embellished due to the haze of smoke that filled the facility.

She was not a broken woman, the gazes of men did not bother her as she walked across that stage and towards the long metal pole. Across the room she fixated her gaze on her sister, who was the primary reason she was here and dressed in a gem encrusted, silver bra as well as a thong trimmed with lace.

Tori didn't look, she never liked to watch. Trina didn't blame her, even though she'd become accustomed to this. The lights flashed before her eyes and dozens of hands extended into the sky, each held hundreds of bills.

A voice came over the P.A. system, announcing her entrance. She ignored it, and she ignored the hollering sounds of the men and women who surrounded the stage. Her hands slid through the air, fluid as ever, and her right hand clutched the metal pole firmly.

Trina brought her right knee up and pressed it into the pole, then flung her head back. Her long brown hair flew out behind her, and her mouth slid into a bright smirk. While she didn't like it, she needed to get paid somehow, and her job had become the least of their worries.

It all started three years prior. Or in truth, it had been brewing ever since Tori was born, and steadily grew worse throughout the years, but everything hit a boiling point three years ago. Even now, as she climbed the stripper pole, that final memory would play like yesterday-strengthening the resolve that she and Tori had in order to escape one lifestyle for another.

"If you two walk out that door, you do not come back. Do you understand me?" Her father's words stung her, but rather than keep her in they pushed her further away. Tori left with her since her friends dispersed and went their separate ways.

"It's your fault," Tori screamed, "You and mom. I'm not surprised she left you for your partner!"

"How dare you. After all that I've done for you?"

Their dad used his successful career as an excuse to say that he loved his family, when for damn near eighteen years all he ever did was ignore them. Their mother left him just before Tori's graduation and he grew depressed then threw himself more into his work.

He stopped paying for Trina's college, which left her unable to finish her degree. She resolved to leave, and Tori asked her if she could join her. This set off the volcano that lay dormant within their father, and he threatened to cut them off should they leave.

Now they were here in Texas; Dallas of all places, they hadn't heard from their father since the minute they left that door. They lived in a dangerous part of town, and Trina acknowledged it, so her primary concern was the safety of her little sister above all else.

Still, there was more to it than just two sisters trying to find their way through life, much more, and Trina wasn't feeling like uprooting once again.

She reached the top of the pole and threw her head forward, smirking at the crowd. Her muscles tightened as she kept a firm grip on the pole, and then she spread her legs out to the sides, performing a mid-air split.

The cheering increased, and money flew into the air with greater speed. Her eyes trailed towards her sister. Tori was looking away at the door, her hand was anxiously tapping the table.

Trina curled her legs and waist backwards, stretching her feet out and curling them above her head. It was taking all her strength to do this, and she had mere seconds to get her feet to the bar above her, or she would collapse onto the stage and the show would be over.

She stuck the tip of her tongue out from between her lips and shot her feet to the bar, curling her ankles and legs around it.

"This is one hell of a job," she thought to herself, "Thank god children gymnastics was worth something." You had to have some athletic talent to do this job, after all.

After work, she and Tori made their way to the motel room they rented out on a monthly basis. It was all they could afford that they could easily move out of if they had to. "How can you not feel disgusted?" Tori asked as Trina sat down to count her money.

"Because it's a job. I don't sleep around, the place doesn't allow anything more either." It was a strictly hands-off nightclub. Any men that got too touchy with the strippers was promptly thrown out. "It's just until we get enough to pay for college or something."

Tori often got half of what Trina made, but there was an issue with this deal. Trina didn't resent her sister for the problem they had, she resented a man by the name of Keith, and another by the name of Jorge.

Keith was a former boyfriend of Tori's, and a man that wound up getting Tori involved in drugs. Jorge was the dealer. Trina tried to shake Tori of her addiction, she wanted her sister to have a good life and to be able to live one rather than be hooked on something she had no business being involved with.

The issue was that Keith and Jorge had chased them all over the nation. They were the reason they continued to move from place to place, because these were dangerous men.

As Trina counted her money, Tori approached the window and pulled the curtains back a slight amount. Tori had become paranoid as a result of these two men, and as a result of the drug use. "Trina. Duke's out there."

Her eyes shot to the window and her breath rolled slowly across her tongue. "What?" Duke was the third problem and a thorn in her backside. He was the man that helped her get her job at the strip club, and because of that, he felt entitled to a small portion of her money.

"Shit. Stay inside, I'll handle this." She set her money down and approached the door, stopping to peer through the peephole. Duke was alone this time. He stood in western attire, had on a white cowboy hat and dark boots. "He's by himself. Yeah, I can handle this."

"Trina."

"Hush." She opened the door and stepped out slowly. Duke was standing in the parking lot beside his silver Camaro. "Duke, it's so good to see you." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Ah Katrina." The other problem she had with him was she wanted to be an 'agent' for her, one that would put her in those cheesy internet sex videos. He wanted to turn her to prostitution, and she wasn't having any of that. "How much money did you make tonight?"

"Nothing that you're getting."

He spread his arms out, chuckling with disbelief. "Really?" His hands fell to his waist and his eyes slanted. "Haven't we been through this?" Trina shrugged him off and remained calm.

She knew how to fight from the classes she had many years ago, so she'd always been able to take care of herself. Keith learned that the hard way when he tried to attack Tori back when they were in Seattle.

"Don't forget." Duke pointed at her and raised his voice. "I'm the one keeping Keith and Jorge from finding you and your sister. If I don't get my share, I can make sure there's nowhere you go they can't find you."

"Oh yes." She rolled her eyes and leaned to the right. "Because you have such a handle on gang activity." She didn't care for Duke's 'protection', especially when she was confident enough in her own power. "I've looked after my sister for nearly three years, don't think you scare me."

Duke pulled his hands back around his waist, which moved his jacket enough to reveal a gun. Trina's unwavering glare fell to the gun and her lip twitched into a bright smirk. "Put that gun away Duke, before I kick your ass. Some strippers might be broken and vulnerable, but I'm not. Don't assume I don't know how to get that gun from you before you even realize what happened."

Duke laughed lightly and dropped his arms. "This is why I like you. You're tough as nails and you don't back down, you'll make a man extremely happy one day." She scoffed at him and watched his head drop. "But that's only going to happen if you let people like me help you. You might think you're street-tough, but you've got a sister knee deep in drugs a boyfriend got her involved in. Face it, you need my help."

"I don't associate with gang activity." Duke squinted and pointed at the door, as if to suggest her sister was involved in such activity.

Trina rolled her head to the right and felt a darkness coming over her. "Your sister-"

"I said I do not associate with gang activity. What money I earn goes to my sister and myself, nothing more."

Duke laughed again and started to approach her. "Your sister." She tensed and bared her teeth at him. "Is addicted to drugs, and you're nothing but a stripper." She strengthened her stand and growled as he continued his approach. He lifted his head at the warning, and took a slight step backwards. "What happened to you two? You lose your daddy's favor?"

"If we ever had it to begin with. Yes we're on our own now, but that doesn't mean we have to turn to people like you in order to find our way." The minute she accepts his help, she knew he would only ask for more and more. Duke was as dangerous as Keith and Jorge, if not more.

Trina extended her right forefinger and approached the man, glaring sharply into his eyes. "I'm not giving you money, I'm not participating in your little sex tapes to earn an extra amount, and I'm not selling myself on the streets."

"You are making a grave mistake. All it takes is one phone call to your sister's dealer and he'll know where your motel is at. Your sister will be murdered because you do not accept my help."

"I would die before anyone touches her."

"Do you have a death wish?"

"I'll ask you the same if you don't get the hell out of my face." Duke raised his hands and stepped back slowly. Her glare sharpened and anger rushed through her veins like poison, waiting to spew out onto this man. "I'll give you to the count of five before you see how dangerous I can be. Stripper or not, I know how to fight."

Duke clicked his tongue and turned away with a defeated huff. "We'll continue this discussion another time then."

"No. We won't."

He looked over his shoulder and smirked. "Don't think there aren't people that would take advantage of you. No matter how great a force you think you are, there's always something out there that's bigger. There are people that know your weakness, they know how to hurt you, all they have to do is turn their sights on the girl in that room."

"Whatever." She waited and watched him get into his car and speed off. Once the coast was clear, her shoulders sank and an exhausted breath fell from her lips. "Christ. Wouldn't even have to deal with this guy if Tori hadn't ever met that asshole."

Trina stormed into the door and saw Tori sitting on her bed. The girl looked up from the book she was reading. It looked like she'd just jumped onto the bed, and Trina was fairly certain she heard frenzied footsteps coming from inside.

"You saw everything, didn't you Tori." Tori started to frown and slowly closed her book.

"Are we going to have to move again?"

Trina locked the door and shook her head. They'd moved too much in the last thirty months, so she had no desire to go anywhere else. Besides, the strip joint she worked at now was the best one she'd been.

"No Tori, there's nowhere left to run. We're all done. We're staying here." She looked at the money on the end table. It had been moved. "Tori, did you take any extra money?"

"No." Tori smiled nervously, then reached into her purse with a frown. "Yes…"

"You're not calling Jorge this time, and we're not looking for another dealer, we've had enough with that guy following us around." She understood how hard it was for Tori to quit, and she'd been doing so well since they moved to Texas.

They moved the summer of Tori's eighteenth birthday. The first place they stopped at was Sacramento, where Tori met Keith. Keith was doing dope, he got Tori hooked on it because it gave her 'peace' from the depression she'd slipped into as a result of their father kicking them out.

That pissed Trina off to no end, and when Keith's dealer-Jorge-began dealing to Tori, Trina had to find a job in order to pay. The best thing she thought herself capable of and qualified for was as a stripper, but once an income came in, Jorge demanded more money.

So they fled. Trina managed to break Tori of her connection to the drugs when they reached Seattle, but the girl began craving them and actually called her Jorge. Ever since then, they had to move, and it was Keith that would stalk them.

Dallas was their fifth move, and they met Duke at a bar. He gave Trina the card that sent her to the best strip club in town for her to work, and promised to make sure Keith and Jorge could not find them.

"We need to get you able to work, Tori. I need money to go back to school and finish my degree and you need to be able to have to be able to have a life."

"We have no friends, no family, and we live on the streets. I'm pretty sure having a life isn't going to happen."

"We'll make it work, Tori. We will."

So there's quite a bit of struggle. We may see Tori's friends in this story but remember they've all moved on with their life. The sisters have their things to struggle with. We will definitely see Mr. Vega, since he is a major player in this tale. The girls are in a bit of a rut but can they manage? They're not involved in gang activity and won't be, but that doesn't mean they don't deal with gang members. That part is clear since it's apparent that Duke is one, and so is Jorge. It can be assumed that Tori's ex that got her hooked on something she's trying to stay off of could also be a gang member. The girls themselves are not and will not be a part of any gang.