Targeted

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: This story takes place during one of Beck and Jade's breakups, it will make more story-sense as the tale progresses

Chapter 1 (Red Card)

An awkward air surrounded them as they sat around the kitchen table, each holding a pair of cards in their hands and eyeing them carefully as if to ignore the elephant in the room. For Beck, it was impossible; and all he could focus on was the dark haired girl seated across from him.

Jade acted like she didn't care that it was over, but he knew it was just a ruse from a girl trying to act tough. It was the reason for the breakup, she never acted like herself and always put on a tough front. He knew why, even, she was still upset with Tori-even all this time later.

She hated how Tori looked at him, how Tori spoke to him, and even went so far as to accuse their friend of trying to steal him from her. He initially wanted to befriend the girl to show Jade that the new girl wasn't all that bad, and so far Tori seemed to be just fine-but Jade just couldn't get over her jealous, threatened nature, and Beck was fed up with it to the point he was giving up.

Jade used to be such a great judge of character, but ever since Tori's act of vindication during that small impromptu drama lesson in Sikowitz's class, she'd lost all sense of rationale and reasoning.

"Beck?" Jade didn't bother looking from her cards. Her right cheek was sucked in and her eyebrows were heavy over her eyes. "Beck, it's your play."

"Dude." Andre nudged him sharply in the side, making him flinch. He glared sideways at Andre and cleared his throat. "You're staring. Are you going to play? You're making everybody uncomfortable."

Beck glanced at the four cards on the table. There was an Ace of diamonds, a King of clubs, a four of diamonds and a ten of Hearts. Looking back at his hand, he had a ten of spades and a Jack of clubs. If he wanted to continue playing, he had to go all in.

He was riding on the pair of tens, but if a queen popped up, he could win. Clearing his throat, Beck pushed his final chips into the pot and closed his eyes. "I'm all in, sorry for the hold up."

His mind wasn't on the game, it was on his girlfriend; or at least, his ex-girlfriend. He hated that they weren't together and hoped this would just be a dry spell. Beck prayed Jade could see that she was being unreasonable and that she could get over her petty grudge; he hoped this breakup would be a wakeup call for her.

Robbie set the next card down and Beck's eyebrows went up slightly, it was an Ace of spades. "Damn it." The others started to reveal their cards, then all eyes fell onto Tori's. She had a pair of aces in the hole as it was; the Ace of hearts and the Ace of clubs. "Holy shit!"

"Good hand, Tori!" Cat pat Tori's shoulder and the girl smirked as she pulled in the chips. Beck threw his cards into the pile of discarded cards and pushed back his chair with a sigh.

"With that, I'm out." He moved over to the couch where Trina was reading through a large book. She had on a leg cast and her eyes looked as though they were directing fire to the pages she was reading. "Hey."

He rarely acknowledged her, but he was bored and she was the only one not paying attention to something. "What do you want?" Trina refused to look up, though her speech was candid and civil. "Make fun of me a bit more?"

"Ouch. You act like we pick on you regularly."

"You do." The most recent insult to Trina was yet another incident caused by Robbie. He told Beck and Andre about the stage incident where he cut Trina's harness, but this time Trina annoyed him by ignoring him somehow. In her defense, he'd taken up 'bad-news-singing' again, and someone hired him to sing a rejection letter sent to her from some party.

What wound up happening as a result was a prank Robbie orchestrated out of revenge for her giving him the cold shoulder-inspired by the old Stephen King movie Carrie. Unfortunately it didn't go as planned, the bucket broke from the rope and landed on Trina's leg as she was jumping out of the way. Jade laughed as she always did, videotaped the entire thing, and posted it on youtube.

"So how many times do we have to apologize?"

Trina raised her head for the first time, and if looks could kill, Beck felt for sure he'd be six feet under. "Until you and your friends stop treating me like shit and taking advantage of my sister." He chuckled and raised a hand to his chest.

"How do we take advantage of Tori?"

Trina stared at him for several seconds before slowly closing her book. A lump formed in Beck's throat as the girl sat upright and narrowed her eyes. "You don't think I see it? Jade pretends to give a damn just to make you happy while you prance about my sister." Beck sighed as the elder sister's words twisted around him like a snake ready to sink its venomous teeth into him. "You've made her popular, and now you're all popular, so you're still hanging about her. Her father's the deputy chief of police now, so you do whatever the fuck you want and my dad just looks the other way…"

He leaned back, tugging on his collar. The temperature in the room was the same, but for some odd reason Beck could have sworn it shot up about twenty extra degrees. "But I will say this: My father is retiring, and there's going to be a new sheriff in town soon."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Trina tossed her book aside and stood from the couch. He couldn't understand why Trina hated them so much, but then he did know she had to be sore when it came to them picking on her so much.

"I'm trying to get them to bother you less, you know. I mean you can't really blame me all that much, can you?" He leaned back as she rolled her eyes and walked away. His lip tucked under his teeth and he glanced at the book, Catcher in the Rye, with a deep breath he shook his head. "Who am I kidding? I'm part of the problem."

Hell, he was almost as bad as the others when it came to disrespecting Trina and her family, and he knew it. It was time for a change, and he was trying to get the others to realize that; but part of him worried it might be too late.

If anything, Tori could convince her family that her friends were okay. Maybe she could help the remaining Vegas to forgive them.

Trina stopped a few feet away and turned around, her cat-like eyes falling on him like a hot knife. "Oh Beck." He folded his arms across his stomach and raised his eyes, pouting his lower lip. "If Tori hasn't told you yet, our uncle is coming to visit the states, he is bringing his family. You and your group need to make yourself scarce."

"Why?"

"Do we need a reason? Mom and dad would prefer not to have any outside guests." Trina put her hands to her hips and arched her right eyebrow. "Or can you guys not respect our family enough to take a simple request like that?" He rolled his eyes and looked away, grumbling under his breath.

"It's not always about you, you know."

"What did you say?"

He looked back at her and shrugged. "You're always having to be center of attention, it's kind of annoying, and kind of why people pick on you." Trina leaned back sharply, her lips thinning against each other.

"And yet you and your group enjoy being in the spotlight so much." She crossed her arms and turned around, her hair flying high behind her. "I'll be sure to let Dad know you guys might show up uninvited like you do so many times. In our home country, at least for my family, it is a huge slap across the face to have unwelcome guests during a time devoted solely to an entire family gathering."

"Unwelcome? Dude, we're friends of the family."

Trina paused, shrugged, then continued to walk on. "Sure. You are friends of the family, but my father does not want you here; and quite frankly, neither do I." She walked off, moving like a slow storm cloud in the sky. Beck exhaled and jumped when Tori stepped next to him.

"Don't mind her." Tori smiled bright, her eyes glinting under the living room lights. He smiled gently and sank further into the couch. "She's just having a bad day lately. At least her leg is getting better."

"Sure." Trina was limping as she walked, and no longer needed crutches, so that was a good sign. "I guess she's got a right to be mad at us."

"Yeah, she'll get over it. She often does." Tori pat him on the shoulder and ruffled his hair, causing him to flinch in surprise. When he looked at Jade, the girl scoffed and turned away. "Anyway, guess what!"

"What?"0

"Sikowitz was telling us something about this wealthy couple staying at his sister's hotel. I was thinking we could all go perform for them. Make a lot of money." Beck raised his eyebrows while the group cheered the idea.

He agreed, there was nothing wrong with a little extra money to pocket. He smiled and nodded at Tori, grateful for the idea. "Think they'll tip well?" She put her hands in front of her waist and grinned with confidence.

"Hopefully! I mean hell, if they do, even splitting it amongst all of us would still be great." Jade walked up, looking unconvinced and irritable as ever.

"I don't like the sound of it. I mean sure, it's nice and all, but since when do we play gigs for tourists at hotels?"

"What's wrong with it?" Robbie inquired. He scratched his head and walked around Jade, looking her up and down. "Or are you just shooting it down because it's Tori's idea?" Jade huffed and folded her arms.

"I am not! I just don't like the idea."

"It could earn a lot," Cat chimed in, "Maybe as much as Sam and I make babysitting." Even Andre seemed for it, so eventually Jade uncrossed her arms and gave in, albeit reluctant.

"We'll talk about this later," Beck promised her. He didn't know why she was so uncomfortable with the idea, she usually jumped at any gig that sounded like a great moneymaking opportunity. Hell, Sikowitz himself was able to set it up, so it was just that easy. "But give it a chance, alright Jade?"

"Fine," Jade replied, "But don't come crying to me if something goes wrong." Jade rubbed her stomach and walked towards the stairwell. "I need to use the restroom. Not feeling well." Beck sighed sadly and watched as Jade departed, and surprisingly Cat ran after her as though concerned about something.

The gig came in the following weekend, Beck had a full week to prepare his choreography while the girls practiced their singing and the guys practiced their instrumentals.

He was currently seated in the lobby with Andre, who was practicing on the hotel's grand piano. "You know something, I've been thinking a lot about things lately…" Andre pulled his hands from the keys and turned to face Beck. There was a look of intense contemplation etched upon his face, a look Beck knew all too well.

His oldest friend had always been on the fun side of things, never too serious and often the biggest playboy in the room; but when it came down to the moments when Andre took it down a few notches and became serious, Beck knew it was the best time to pay attention.

Beck set his phone on the table and cleared his throat. "What's up man?" Andre leaned back, folding his arms across his chest.

"Trina's turned eighteen recently, right?" Beck hummed once as Andre raised his hand to his chin. "Tori said something about Trina going to their home country for college-wherever their dad's family is from…in two years, Tori might follow her."

"I'd say there's a good chance of that. Why?"

"Well, it got me thinking." Andre dropped his hand to his knee and looked over his shoulder at the piano. "I've always loved playing on instruments, it's a great hobby but what do I want to do with my future? We've got two years to decide."

"I think we have more than that." No one ever had to decide what they wanted to do right away, and there was even less chance of them figuring that out by the time they went off to college. "You know how many people change majors once they go to college?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure if music is where it's at for me." Andre shook his head, closing the lid over the keys. "Sure it's fun, and I've always been about fun. Parties, girls, whatever it is that's fun, you name it. Maybe it's time to settle down. I mean, you and I, we're the oldest of the group-if you don't count Trina."

"Pretty sure nobody in our group has counted her." He rolled his eyes and Andre let out a heavy sigh. It wasn't meant to be malicious, it was the truth. Trina had never been a full part of their group, and half the time she was around it felt like she was there for Tori. "Sometimes it seems like she's just there to smother Tori, which is kind of why the others push her out sometimes…I mean she's gotta learn to let her little sister have some freedom to spread her wings."

"Yeah, yeah, but beside that." Andre brandished his hand in the air and stood up. "I don't know what I want. Do you? Is acting where you want to go?" Beck frowned, his stomach turned inside and he flicked his eyes over to where Jade was seated across the room with Cat. "I mean, what is it that you want, Beck?"

All these years the only thing he'd ever been sure about was wanting to be with Jade and to spend a lifetime with her, and right now she was all he could focus on. "I'm not even sure anymore. Performing doesn't excite me anymore. Not much does." Andre frowned and followed his gaze.

"I get it man, you're bummed because of your breakup with Jade." Andre pat his shoulder and watched for a moment with him, making the moment feel less creepy than it actually was.

Cat was all over Jade, as though babying her. Even Sam looked annoyed, and she was only there because Cat asked her to be. Jade was brushing makeup on her face, but every few seconds Beck noticed a strain on her face as if she were feeling ill, and her hand was resting on her stomach.

"I hope she's okay, she's been feeling sick all week." Beck pulled his eyes away and sighed. "She won't even look at me though, I feel like an idiot."

"You should talk to her, tell her how you feel."

"I just wanted her to stop acting so threatened and jealous, that's it. That's all I wanted." He ran his hand through his hair and released a stuttering breath. "I want a life with her, but how can that happen if she's constantly judging every single girl that breathes the same air as me?"

"Honestly, it surprises me a bit too." He knew as well as Beck did that Jade hadn't always been this way. She was usually a great judge of character, but ever since Tori stage-kissed him, Jade has been forever against the woman. "I mean it seems like she and Tori are slowly starting to get along again, but there's still that look of spite…honestly I'm wondering when Jade's going to stop feeling like Tori's a threat."

"Who knows?"

"Maybe when you stop breaking up with her over it and letting Tori act all bubbly with you? Hm?" Beck jerked his head back, offended by Andre's suggestion. Andre grabbed a small rag sitting atop the piano and started to wipe it off. "I may not be the best expert on relationships." Beck smirked, causing his friend to roll his eyes. "But even I know when things go too far. Remember I had a small crush on Jade that one time, and you remember how badly that ate at me?"

He grit his teeth. "I remember." Andre told him about it well after the fact, and while it annoyed him at the time, he respected his friend more. However he still didn't like to imagine or think about it. "I also remember you saying you'd never bring it up again." Andre chuckled nervously and shrugged.

"Yeah well, sorry I'm breaking that rule. I'd like to say you almost using Tori as a rebound is a bad move." He closed his eyes, feeling Andre's words like a knife to the heart.

"I was in a bad place then. I told you that. Tori stopped me, remember?"

"I also remember Tori saying she saw the reflection of her laptop on the mirror above the television." Beck furrowed his brow and Andre smacked his lips once. "She saw Jade watching and had to stop you."

"Shit."

"Yeah. Like I said man, you and Jade have some issues to work out." Andre dropped the rag and looked up at the clock. "It's almost show time. We should get ready, I've heard a lot about this couple."

"Oh?"

"I hear they're really powerful in their homeland, so if we want to get noticed, we can't mess this up."

Beck nodded and started to help everyone set up. It didn't take long to get everything in place in the lobby, and when they were ready, the couple had positioned themselves on the couch.

They were well dressed, had well-groomed hair and clean faces. They were middle aged, and the man had what resembled a family ring on his finger. Before they started playing, Tori ran up to them, she had a look of fright on her face and was speaking in a frenzied tone.

"Guys, Mr. Sikowitz just told me something about these guys. We cannot mess this up." Beck raised an eyebrow and Tori continued looking over her shoulder, then back at them. "These guys are a part of some mafia family." Almost immediately Robbie began laughing. Andre and Jade remained quiet while Cat's eyes grew incredibly large.

"You're joking, right?" Robbie asked. "I mean come on, everyone knows the mafia isn't real anymore. It's all gangs."

"It's not like that in other countries," Tori snapped, "They're from Spain, and Sikowitz says they've got ties to the Spanish mafia!"

"Where did he get that information? How do you even know it's accurate?"

"Hey come on!" The man called out with a thick accent. They looked to the man, who was raising his hand and revealing the S on the top of his ring. "Are we going to play or not?"

"That's Raul Sidero." Tori pulled her hair back and shut her eyes. "Part of the Sidero family in Spain, we cannot insult or disrespect him. We have to perform perfectly, pay tribute to his culture and honor him. If we mess up, we're in a lot of trouble."

"How hard can it be?" Robbie laughed and Tori shot him a tense glare. "What is he, a crime boss?"

"No, according to Mr. Sikowitz, he's here because apparently someone in the family is going to become the new head or something. I don't know how accurate the info is, or even how Sikowitz knows all this, but just in case…let's be careful."

That was where it all began to fall apart. The performance went well, with Beck providing some dance moves to Tori's lead singing. Cat and Jade played backup, but almost immediately he could hear the lack of interest in Jade's voice. Andre and Robbie did their best on the instrumentals, and the group tried to ignore the fact that Robbie had set his puppet on the edge of the piano.

It didn't take long for it to happen; but when the incident occurred it was all over in a few swift seconds. Beck had been focused on Jade and there came a moment where she started to lurch, covering up her mouth. Overcome with worry, Beck jumped back in mid dance, striking the piano sharply.

Rex then slid off the piano, striking Robbie's ankle and causing him to fall into Cat, who proceeded to trip over Tori. Tori screamed and flung off the stage, landing roughly in Raul's lap. Her hand grabbed the collar of the dress that the man's wife was wearing and tore it down as she tried to pull herself up.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Tori cupped her hand over her mouth as the couple shot up from their seats. Beck's eyes grew large as he watched a look of pure rage overcoming the man. "It was an accident, honest!"

"I come to America, and this is how you treat us?" Raul slung his hand out and started to growl as Robbie started his laughing. Beck and Andre already knew their friend enough to recognize the horrible habit Robbie had of laughing when he was nervous or scared; but judging by the offended look upon Raul's face, the man was not taking it that way. "You laugh at me? What is this to you, a joke?"

"N-No," Robbie replied. "Honest, it's not a joke." Right then, Jade pulled her hand from her mouth and threw up onto the clean lobby floor, with some splatter hitting Raul's shoe. If the man's face could grow any redder, Beck wouldn't have thought it'd be possible.

"Oh god." Jade shambled away, her face turning a mixture of embarrassed and horrified. She was apologizing profusely as Cat dragged her away to the restroom.

"Here," Tori stuttered while grabbing Andre's rag from the piano, "Let me clean that." Andre began to protest, but it was far too late. Beck had to hide his eyes as Tori proceeded to polish Raul's shoe with the greasy and dusty rag. When she finally noticed, her hand was shaking horribly and she could hardly lift her head up to the man glaring down at her. "I-I am so sorry."

The night didn't pass easily for any of the group. Beck hoped that everything would be fine and Mr. Sidero would chalk it all up as an innocent mistake; but even still that wasn't the first thing on his mind. He needed to talk to Jade, to find out if she was okay-he'd never seen her the way she was then, so something was definitely up.

Still Jade wasn't taking his calls, nor would she text him back to let him know anything was okay. All he could do was make the attempt to sleep, and pray that she'd be okay.

In the morning he awoke to find a package addressed to him in the mail, and when he opened it he was filled with a rush of confusion and shock. There was a large red card with a spade upon it.

Desperate to find out the meaning of it, he got the group together; and Cat convinced Jade to come out. He saw the same look of concern in their eyes as well, as each held a similar red card. "We've all got one," Andre muttered, "A spade with fire around it."

"What does it mean?" Robbie asked.

Tori put her hands up to her face, groaning loudly. "We've been carded by the Sidero family. Thanks to our little stunt, the mafia is out to get us, that's what it fucking means!"

Jade leaned over Tori's shoulder, her eyebrows rising. "Tori, yours is different." Beck hummed and Tori looked down, her eyes filling with a sense of fear. "Yours has a heart instead of a spade. What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh my god, I don't know. I don't know what any of this means." Tori's hands cupped over her mouth and she shut her eyes, whimpering fearfully. "I-I think I need to call my dad. He might know what to do…"

Well, I hope you enjoy this, because it's going to take a turn that I've not done with the Victorious troupe yet. As much as I love the mafia, I've not done a mafia tale yet.