AN: I do not own or operate the characters from Victorious. I keep them alive. Someone else owns them and has already made a fortune from them. This story takes place in an alternate universe. It doesn't follow my other story arc. This story is full of violence and nasty language. If you don't want to read that kind of thing then I am sure there are other fine stories you could read. If you do like stories about strong women who don't take anything from anyone, but take what they want from everyone this story is for you.
Trust me there will be Jori, but we aren't there quite yet. Enjoy S.M.
Guns Don't Kill, I Do
Chapter 1: My Kind of Town
"What the fuck is that sound?" I am slowly coming out of this haze. "Ah it is morning. What the fuck is that sound? And who is this chick in my bed? This is my bed right? Ya. My phone that is what that is."
Raven reaches and swipes at the nightstand missing her phone the first two times and then manages to get it on the third time. She lifts it to her face and sees that it is a familiar number. It was Oliver. She should never have given that slug his phone number.
"Mr. Oliver to what do I owe this honor?" Raven was really putting it on.
"I am expecting a big weekend and I am in need. Can you set me up for tonight?" Becket Oliver was a club owner and small time wise guy. She had made a connection with this guy about a year ago. She had set him up with some personal goods and then some he could hand out in his club and look like a big shot. He was happy with her and the candy. This was small but an inroad.
"How much and when?" Raven asked. She was known for being direct and straight forward.
"I need at least a quarter chicken and a 100g of Molly by five. Can you cook that for me?" Oliver asked.
"Ya I can do a quarter and a 100. I need the money on delivery. I will make some calls." Raven hung up without saying goodbye. It was her style.
The blonde girl lying next to her wrapped in the sheet was now starting to move. "You have to get out of here. It was fun, but we are done and I have things to do." Raven said rather unceremoniously.
Raven sat on the side of the bed while the blonde got up and grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathroom. It was her time to do the walk of shame. Raven lit a cigarette and took a deep drag and then coughed until she couldn't catch her breath. "These damn things are going to kill me." Then subconsciously she rubbed the scar on her shoulder that was mirrored on her back.
The blonde came out of the bathroom dressed and ready to leave. She thanked Raven and then said, "I don't even know your name."
"Good it is better that way." Raven didn't even turn to look at her. She was just entertainment. She really didn't mean anything to Raven. The girl stood and stared at Raven's body as she stood and stretched. Her body looked like a road map of scars. Who was this girl?
Raven waited until she heard the door slam and then she crushed out her cigarette and headed to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and the woman that she saw staring at her was not someone she knew. Her long dark hair with the green extensions didn't seem as healthy as it was at one time. Her skin was showing the stress and age. She used to be beautiful, but now she didn't see it now. "Fuck I hate my life!"
She took a shower and found something to wear. She always work black. She found that it was intimidating to some and any edge she could get was worth it. It is a good thing that Raven always ran a little cooler than everyone else, because in this city feels like it was built on the sun. She didn't spend a lot of time outdoors anyway.
She then started to accessorise. She started with her rings. She wore large silver rings on he hands. She picked them especially for their sharp edges. Many times they have come to her aid cutting faces in a punch and inflicting pain. Raven strapped on a heavy leather belt that had a two hidden push daggers in the back. She then put her .22 auto in her calf high black leather boot. Finally she tucked her Glock 9mm in holster in the small of her back. Now she felt comfortable.
Raven checked her phone. There was nothing new. She call her partner Ivy. "Ivy, ya I got a call from Oliver he wants a quarter chicken and 100g of Molly by five. I will be at your place in an hour. Be ready this time." Then she hung up as she always did without saying goodbye.
She lit another smoke and sat in a soft chair in her living room. As she reached for the ashtray her shoulder sent a shock of pain through her system. Even though she tried to forget her body seemed to want her to remember.
She wasn't Raven. She wasn't even sure who she was these days. When she was born her mother named her Jade for the color of her eyes. Jade West! Who was she? She was an actor growing up and everyone thought that she would be destine for the stage, but then her mother was killed in a robbery gone wrong.
Her mother was just stopping to get some gas on the way home from work when some punk came in and started waving a gun around. He shot her in the head to make his point to the kid behind the counter. She never had a chance. She was dead before she hit the floor.
Jade's dad was a detective with the L.A.P.D and ended his career in the bottom of a bottle. He just could never deal with the fact that he became a cop to keep the people of this city safe and he couldn't even keep his family safe. Officially he was put on long term illness leave, but everyone in the department knew he had become a drunk. About a year off the job he got in his car and drove up in the hills overlooking the city that he loved so much and put his gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
It was sometime during that period that Jade decided that she was going to become a cop. She wanted to avenge her mother in some way and bring pride back to the name West in the department. She was so young and so naïve in those days.
She did her time on the streets, but then one day she got a message to report to the shift sergeant before she went out on patrol. Jade started to put together a story about how the last guy she arrested tried to hit her partner and that is why he needed stitches. She hoped that they would buy the story without asking too many questions. She was told that if she roughed up a perp again she would be writing parking tickets for the rest of her career.
When she walked into the shift sergeant's office she was thrown by the two suits that were hovering around. Right away she went on the defensive. "Sarg. that shit bag was going to hit Thomas. I just got to him before he could…."
"Officer West!" The older suit broke in. "We are not from IAG. I could care less whether you split that, as you so eloquently put it, 'shit bags' head open or not. I am Special Agent Griggs with the DEA and this is Special Agent Morrison. We have a proposal for you."
"Okay." Jade calmed down once she knew she was off the hook for slamming that punk into the side of her cruiser before cuffing him.
"You were once a promising actor. You have a degree in law enforcement from UCLA. You then were the top of your class in the LAPD academy. You constantly score the highest on the range each year when you requalify. You sometimes have a little bit of a problem with anger. You have been formerly reprimanded twice for not waiting for back up." Morrison read from her file.
"Are the feds going to write a book about me?" Jade asked with some venom in her words.
"Ah yes and the Jade West sarcasm. At the rate you are going West you will be working security at a mall within a year. Your time here is limited." Morrison continued
"You called me in to tell me this?" Jade was now putting up walls.
"Shut up and listen West!" Sergeant Nixon yelled.
Jade shut her mouth and glared at the two Special Agents. "We are here to offer you a second chance in law enforcement. We might have a place for you in the DEA if you are interested." Griggs cut straight to the point.
"You will have to go through our basic training program and proficiency testing and if all goes well we will put you in the field in about five months." Morrison stated.
"Why me? Isn't there a line a mile long applying each year to get into your party? What makes a three strike LAPD street cop hit your radar?" Jade was sceptical.
"Well it is a favour. See I went through training with your father. He was a good man, just put in a horrible situation. I stopped in about a year ago to visit and Lt. Jackson was telling me that G.O. had a daughter who was on the force and that she was self-destructing. I felt like I owed your old man something." Griggs told her.
They called Jade's dad G.O. from the time that he was in the academy. Someone once asked him his last name and he told them it was West and they asked "like go west young man?" and G.O. stuck. Most guys I am sure were surprised at his funeral to find out that his real name was Martin.
"Jade we have a project starting up and we are looking for agents with specific skills. You happen to have some of those skill. I will be honest with you though. You have to get your act together. If you go Rambo with us you will be out so fast you won't know what hit you. I would work on the attitude first. You will only get one strike at in our training. Like you said there are a million other, maybe more qualified candidates in line waiting for your spot." Morrison was right to the point.
"It is your acting skills we are most interested in. We are looking at making you an undercover agent. I can't tell you too much right now, but it would be very deep and long term cover. Since both your parents are dead you could do deep cover easier than most. Let's face it no one will miss you in the L.A.P.D so you can just disappear." Griggs took over.
That is how Jade West died and Raven Marx came to be. So long ago.
Raven looked at her phone and saw that it was time for her to go get Ivy. It wouldn't matter Ivy was never ready on time and she always had something else she needed Raven to do before they got down to work.
She went down to the lower floor where her car was. Well truthfully it wasn't her car. It was Raven's car. It had been a drug dealer's car from Florida but now she drove it as a part of her cover. There is no way she could ever afford to drive a 2012 black mustang on her salary. She loved the purple Le Mann's stripes even if no one else did.
She didn't even own the condo she lived in. The government seized it as well. Sure it wasn't the most expensive place in the Platinum Building, but it was more than she would ever be able to afford on her own. She had to live the lifestyle to sell the part she was playing. Even Ivy didn't own the house she was in.
As she pulled out on East Flamingo and shot over to the Freeway. Raven loved the Freeway. She loved to put her foot to the floor. Everyone drove fast on I-15 it was one of the high points of where she lived. Raven felt that you shouldn't own a car like her mustang and drive it like a little old lady.
She did slow down when she pulled onto Ivy's street. She lived in a house in a residential area to the northwest. Raven pulled into the driveway and honked the horn like she always did. She turned up the stereo and pounded out the song.
Ivy came running down the drive yelling at Raven to turn down the radio. "Rav my neighbors are going to shoot me if you keep doing that. Please for me turn it down." Ivy was the one person that could make Raven do what she wanted. The music suddenly got a lot quieter.
"Before we go meat Rodney, can we go by Walter's my new toy is in?" Ivy begged. Ivy was cute. She had long red hair and she always wore black and green. She said she loved the character Poison Ivy from the Batman comics as a kid. So she fashioned herself after Ivy. She was just as seductive and just as deadly.
Of course her real name wasn't Ivy she was a part of the project too. She was with the ATF. They were teamed up about two years ago. They worked hard to get a name in this town. Some would say that they had this town wired. Raven was the one to call if you needed chemicals and if it was guns you wanted you called Ivy.
It is strange. Here Ivy was the biggest arms dealer in the city and she was buying her gun legally through a shop. That was the way Ivy was. You could never guess what she was going to do next.
They walked into Wally's Guns and Stuff and stood at the counter. A young man came up and asked if he could help them. Raven never took off her sunglasses she just stared at him. He became unnerved. Then Ivy spoke up. I am here for Walter!" The kid backed up and almost needed new pants.
He started to stutter and stammer, "I… I will… go get him." He turned and ran into a display rack and had to catch it before it was knocked over. With that he quickly went to the back.
The girls just laughed. They loved doing that to people. "Ivy and Raven. Why do you do that to my employees? He thought you were going to kill me." Walter laughed. Walter was an older man with a large waistline and big mustache. He came around the counter hugged Ivy. She was a hugger, Raven was not and Walter respected that. To Raven he just nodded.
Ivy and he entered into some small talk and Raven moved so she could see the door. You could never be too careful in her business.
"My new toy is in?" Ivy smiled at Walter.
"Yes my darling it is. I have it right here under the counter. I hope you like it." Walter was gushing that was how he set you up to make you spend your money.
"Yeah Yeah" Ivy said clapping her hands together. It was funny to Raven to watch her act like this, seen as she could look you in the eye and watch as your life slipped away without blinking.
Walter brought out a box and placed it on the counter. Ivy opened the box and pulled out a 1911 .45 auto and held it to her chest like you would a child. It was painted green with zombies all over it. Yes this was now the gun that Ivy would be waving in people's faces. What a statement piece.
"Pay him we have to go Ivy." Raven said without expression.
Ivy paid him in cash and grabbed up her new 'toy'. The girls left the shop and got in Raven's car. She chirped the tires as they pulled out of the parking lot at Walter's shop.
"Rav do you have to drive so crazy. I am trying to load this mag." Ivy scolded her.
Raven didn't answer she just cranked the wheel hard to the right and turned left at the light. It pitched Ivy like a ragdoll. Then Raven laughed right out loud. Soon Ivy was picking up rounds off the floor mats.
Back on the freeway Raven turned up the music and both girls were singing with the radio. They loved these times when they could be more themselves and not have to play the parts they were assigned. It was during one of these trips that Ivy out of nowhere shared her story from before.
Much like Jade she had been an actor and singer. She couldn't find work and applied to the Boston Police Academy. She was top of her class and was a stone cold negotiator. She had trained with SWAT. She quickly became their go to person for gun repairs. She found guns fascinating. Most of her off time was either spent at the range or learning about their parts.
Then one day two guys in suits showed up and pulled her out of the squad room. That was the day she stopped being Officer Catherine Valentine and became Ivy Benson.
Ivy Benson was an arms dealer. She was one of the biggest in the state. The biggest arms dealer at the time was found floating face down in his swimming pool. The feds caught the guy who gave him his swimming lesson, some small timer who thought he got ripped off over some AK47s. The feds needed a back ground story so they sent the punk to Guantanamo to make him disappear and gave the credit to Ivy. She was an instant superstar in the criminal world.
The black mustang pulled into the storage facility yard. They pulled up to their unit and went inside. They had a large storage unit with a garage door and a walk in door. This is where they stored and cleared all evidence. They opened the locked cabinets and took out the quarter of a kilo of cocaine and a 100g bag of MDMA.
Ivy cleared her old auto and replaced it in her holster with her new zombie auto. She couldn't stop looking at it. Finally she put it away.
Meanwhile Raven was typing in the particulars of the deal into the notebook computer on the work table that was there with a small lamp. This was where all the evidence was catalogued. All the drugs and gun out and the money that was coming in. Names, places and times were all details that later would help to bring down major arms of organized crime in the state and across the U.S.
Sometime after the girl left the storage unit other agents from ATF and DEA and representatives from the State and U.S. Attorney General's Office would come in and download the reports and log in and out the products. They were building a rock solid case that will change crime in the United States for a long time.
Oliver's in the daytime was like any other bar. It was dark, lonely and sad. Raven pounded on the front door as Ivy watched the street. One of them were always on point while the other did their job. Unlike James Bond they were not above the law and licensed to kill, however if they found that they were in danger or the mission was in danger they were free to do what they felt was necessary. That meant that eight months ago Raven had to do a lot of tap dancing to make the brass understand why Ivy carved an 'I' in a Mexican gang member's chest while he was tied to the joists in basement.
The door opened up and a bouncer about the size of a small car let them in. They could see Beck Oliver at the bar going over the previous night's receipts making sure that none of the wait staff were skimming.
He was a Canadian transplant who bought a run-down club, rebranded it and in a short time turned it into one of the places to be seen in Las Vegas. Far too trendy a place for Raven or Ivy to spend any time. Their heavy boots announced their presence as they crossed the tiled floor. This time it was Ivy's turn to move into the background and keep watch.
Raven opened the flap on her bag that was over her shoulder. She reached in slowly so as not to spook anyone and drew out two brown paper bags and put them on the bar. Oliver reached for the bags and pulled them below the bar. He checked the contents and asked, "This is grade A Blackbird?"
She hated every fiber of this man, "As always. Now I will take 50 Bens."
"Fifty pages can't we deal on this? Fifty seems a little steep. I am a good customer. How about thirty pages." Beck was fishing.
Raven laid her 9 on the bar between them. She often found that a gun often made negotiating so much easier. It didn't take long for Oliver to see things her way and an envelope was slid across the bar. "I was willing to pay 7000." He smiled his greasy smile.
Raven put the envelope in her bag next to the Kel Tec P38 that she took off a street punk who tried to rob her one night. "You know Oliver one day I will put a bullet through you brain or I might let Ivy carve her name in your chest." Raven had a crooked smile that let him know she was not joking.
As the girls left the bar Ivy reached into her pocket and took out a slot token, turned and threw it. The beer mug in Beck Oliver's hand exploded and covered him and his money with beer and glass. Then the door slammed shut behind them and they were gone.
AN: I hope that you are enjoying this story. There is going to be a lot of violence and strong language in this story so if that isn't your thing, then why did you read this far. JPlease leave a review if you liked it so far and I guess even if you don't like it. I am sorry if you are a Beck fan. No really feel sorry for you. I have never liked him he was always a pointless character in the series so I like to make him a villain at least that way he has something worthwhile to say. Thanks again. SM.