Disclaimer: Victorious and all of its associated copyrights are not my property and I stake no claim to them.

A/N: So I've had this idea ever since 28 December, 2013, the exact reason why will be explained later. In light of recent events, I've dug up this story idea and began working on it again. I'm testing out a different format, so let me know how you like this one.

A plethora of trigger warnings in the coming chapters. I'll try not to go into a ton of detail on most of it but keep in mind this isn't light.

Jade's POV

I can feel the familiar burn in every corner of my body even with the freezing rain pouring down on me. Water trickles down my cheeks as if I were crying, even down my neck, over my shoulders, across my chest. I'm soaked from head to toe but that's barely a concern. My deep breaths are creating miniature clouds in front of my face and the rain drips off of my eyelashes, as if nature really didn't want me to see anything. I drag my forearm over my face for at least temporary clear vision and continue running.

When I left it was about 67 degrees outside, but as the sun slowly started to rise higher in the sky, the frigid air was getting slightly less unbearable. Beck had always told me not to leave before the sun came up, but that wastes too much time. Every time my feet connected with the rain-soaked road, water splashed up around my ankles like it felt I wasn't already wet enough. As I approach a busy intersection, I was forced to pause to avoid getting personal with someone's front bumper as they blazed down the street. When he notices me stopping, my loyal dog halts as well, standing by my side awaiting his cue to run again. I pull the hair band off of my wrist and put my hair up in a loose ponytail to keep it away from my face, something I should've done about 7 miles ago, but whatever.

I kneel down to retie one of my shoes as I waited for the light to change. A solid stream of cars passed through the green light, all with their windows up to protect their precious selves from the rain. Finally a red light grants me permission to cross the road without getting hit. Around the 10th mile my house came into view. Well, the huge fence and multiple trees surrounding it came into view.

I grab a towel from by the door and drape it over my shoulders, kneeling down to take off my soaked shoes and socks, followed by the tie in my hair, allowing me to dry it at least a little bit with the towel. All the while my dog sat next to me, wagging his tail. I smile a bit at him and grab his towel to wipe off his paws and get some of the water out of his fur.

After drying off enough to be able to get to my room, I left my shoes by the door and kept the towel, leaving the front room and passing through the living area to go up to my room. I saw my roommates and trainers, Beck and Andre, along with my best friend Robbie all sitting around on the couches.

"Hey Jade, what'd you run?" Beck asks me as I walk past.

"About 10 miles," I call over my shoulder

Robbie hops up and comes over to my side, "It's been raining ever since you left, you feel alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna get changed and we can start."

"Jade!" I barely heard Beck yell out just as I was about to go up the stairs.

I turn around and go back to the living room, raising an eyebrow at him "Yes?"

"Is it cool if my girlfriend comes over later?"

"How much later?" I ask, continuing to dry my hair off.

He checks his watch, "She wanted to stop by after she went to visit her friend. Says she checks on her around 2 every day."

I shrug and mumble an "okay" before going up to my room to change. It was only after I closed the door to my room that I caught the fact he said she "checks on" her friend, which I thought was strange.

Around 4 in the afternoon was when Beck's girlfriend finally stopped by, coming down into the basement, a lot quieter than usual. I was used to her constant chipper, and this subdued demeanor was off-putting. Oddly, she seemed to be watching me closely for reasons unknown.

Beck said something before I did, catching her attention while we took a break from our drills, "You alright babe? You seem off."

She shook her head, "Just a lot on my mind."

Andre pats her shoulder with his ever present smile, "What's on your mind, Cat?"

"It's just…" She stops and thinks for a moment, as if she suddenly forgot what she was going to say, or lost the nerve to say it. Finally she seemed to get herself together and look straight into my eyes, "Jade, do you or did you know a Tori Vega?"

I froze, my grip on my water bottle nearly crushing it.

Flashback

"So you're going to be doing what? Recreational face punching?" She nearly screams, tossing the wadded up flier into my locker

I shrugged, "I guess. If it's up to me I'll do most of the punching though."

She pointed at me as I slammed my locker shut, "You're crazy."

I smirked and kissed her cheek, making her blush, "Crazy for you."

"Shut up," Tori mumbled around a shy smile.

End of Flashback

"No."

A few hours earlier

Tori's POV

I hate mornings.

I think its morning.

Probably not.

I roll over and check my phone, which now runs on military time, since I could never distinguish whether it meant AM or PM, and god knows I wasn't able to keep track myself. I see it's around 2 in the afternoon and sigh, deciding it's about time to drag my sorry ass out of bed. I throw on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top before grabbing my phone and going out to the living area of my flat, stopping in the hallway to look around and make sure Steven isn't home. I sigh in relief when I see he isn't, uncapping a bottle of tequila from the coffee table and making myself comfortable on the couch, grabbing the little baggie from the hallowed-out section of a book sitting near the alcohol.

Just as I'm splitting the coke into lines for my usual morning, or afternoon, pickup, I hear a key unlocking my door, and my friend's voice from behind it, "I'm coming in!"

I roll my eyes and ignore her, snorting up the first line and enunciating my pitiful nature with a swig of tequila.

"Really? Coke and alcohol already? You just woke up, didn't you?" Cat scolded me as soon as she walked in.

"Fuck off," I mumbled, scooting over a bit to make room for her.

Cat sighed, "I'll ignore your usual afternoon chipper and tell you all about the date I had last night."

I was thankful for the distraction and grabbed my bottle and sat back, facing her, "Enlighten me."

She smiled brightly, "Okay so, I was at the bar the other night and ran into this guy, his name's Beck, and we immediately hit it off," I took another drink, "We talked for like, two hours afterwards, and he asked for my number. Few days ago he called and asked if I wanted to go out with him, and I was like hell yeah let's tear up the town. Guy picks me up at my apartment in this sleek ass car, and takes me out to this fancy pants restaurant, letting me order whatever I wanted, I mean this dude is loaded." Another drink, "Eventually I ask him what he does for a living, since he's got cash falling from the fuckin' sky. Apparently he's a trainer for a world-famous MMA fighter and gets a good chunk of her winnings…"

Her voice faded after that. I think she continued talking, but I couldn't hear her over my own raging thoughts.

Flashback

I drummed my fingers impatiently on the locker nearest to the office, thinking up all of the possible horrible punishments she could be facing right now. I ran my fingers through my hair and glanced at the clock next to the office doors, 2 minutes until lunch was over, 4 minutes for passing period…

The door opened and she exited, looking as unperturbed as she did going in. I immediately went up to her and grabbed her arm, "What happened?"

She shrugged, continuing on to her locker and pulling me with her, "Mr. Allen says I need to vent my anger in some other way than punching people in the face at school. So the next best option? Obviously punching people in the face in a controlled environment."

I raised a curious eyebrow and she handed me the now folded up paper she had in her hand as she turned to her locker, putting in the combination. I glanced at the paper, a flier for a new MMA gym opening up near her house. She continued on as she grabbed her books for algebra and science, "He said he knew the guy who owns the place, and would put in a good word for me, so we'll see how that goes."

End of Flashback

"Are you listening?" Cat asked, exasperated.

I shook my head, "I zoned out, sorry."

"Well anyway," she continued as if nothing were wrong, "Apparently Beck lives with this girl, which was a huge red flag right off the bat. Luckily she's a lesbian, I guess, and she's never shown an interest in him in the 5 or 6 years they've known each other."

I shrugged and took another drink, "I mean if she likes pussy then you're more of a threat than he is."

"I get that but like, lesbians like penetration, right? What's the difference?"

"There's a big difference, babe," I snorted, standing up and heading to my kitchen to make myself something to eat. "Besides, if they live together and nothing's happened so far, nothing's going to happen. I mean, how old are they?"

She followed closely behind me, "He's 25, and she's the same age as you I think, around 22."

I hesitated a moment, "Wh…What's her name?"

"Jade West, she's got a contract with SFC."

Flashback

"Ja-Jade! Stop!" I giggled, trying to wrestle out of her tickling grasp. Eventually I got out from under her, but her superior strength and now training didn't allow much further, and I soon found myself pinned beneath her again.

"I win," she smirked.

I tried to catch my breath and shook my head, "Are you surprised?"

Jade shrugged, "Not particularly."

She got up and held out a hand to me, I sighed and grabbed it, "You know, some day when you're a rich and famous fighter, remember the first person who's ass you whipped."

"How could I forget?" She smiled, not bothering to let go of my hand.

End of Flashback

I swallowed hard and shook my head, "I think you should go."

"Are you sure?" Cat asked, "You don't seem like you're doing so well."

"I'm not."

She crossed her arms, "I'm not leaving if it's going to put you in danger."

I groaned and threw my hands up, "Fine! Then monitor me, I don't give a fuck!"

I headed towards my bedroom, fully aware that Cat was right behind me. She grabbed my shoulder and turned me around, "Tor, what's wrong with you?"

"I can't deal with this, okay?" I shook my head, continuing on to my closet and into my stash.

"Can't deal with what?!"

"SHUT UP!" I snapped, standing up and getting in her face. I always tried so hard to keep my temper in check around her but right now it was near impossible. "Just shut up, okay? I will explain when I'm not on the verge of completely losing my sanity, now if you don't want to see this, go wait in the living room."

Cat sighed, putting her hands up in surrender and leaving my room. I went back to the box in my closet and grabbed a fresh needle along with the little bottle.

A few minutes later, feeling better but still shitty, I left my room and went back out to the living room, seeing that Cat was lounging on my couch using her phone. I grabbed my bottle of tequila from the kitchen and joined her.

She looked up from her phone at me expectantly. I knew what she wanted.

"I used to know Jade. That's all."

She'd have to wait.

A/N: Cover image is an edited picture of Ronda Rousey, current UFC women's bantamweight champion, and who I took inspiration from for Jade's character. Leave a review and let me know how this story's looking so far...