Too long in updating, but here it is, actually part one of two updates I'd like to make before the weekend is finished.
mkpunk: Assuming they figure out that it is Steven, he's going to have plenty of people coming after him, but there could still be a turf war because the tensions are so high, no one is going to really believe plausible deniability. We'll see what happens over these next two chapters. You are right that neither really wants a war because they have far bigger things to worry about: the demonic vampire population, the native 'demon' population and a slayer army over that next hill.
Martial arts student: Only saw the tail end of the movie, so I don't know if there was a similar scene it.
metal rider: Is Jade the one behind this? Could be, but the difference was that Jessica was the one that had a loaded gun with blessed silver pointed at her wielded by a slayer while Tori was basically in a shirt and shorts getting ice cream.
Challenge King: Thank you.
Fanfic-Reader-88: Is war between the vampire factions inevitable? We will have to see if they can remain calm enough to figure things out.
Twilight Warrior 627: You know there's going to be some killing after that chapter. Where are Dusty, Sam and Heather? That would be telling, wouldn't it?
I know mkpunk's story 'iHave Super Powers Vol 1' has been updated, so check that out.
Rating: T Language
Chapter 6
Jade cuddled up against Freddie's left side while his arm protectively wrapped around her to keep her close and pulled the sheet up to keep the coldness away from her flushed skin. He would occasionally kiss her forehead as the couple relaxed in each other's embrace. Happiness didn't seem like a strong enough word to describe the feeling that had seeped into every nook and cranny of their very being.
She was happy.
She couldn't be happier.
She was in the loving embraced of a man that she knew loved her in return. As scary as it was, she was happy to be a mother to her stepbrother and them being in this family unit. She had friends that cared about her—truly cared about her—and she was on her way of reaching her dreams of being a respected and admired performer.
Nothing could go wrong.
She was about to be proven wrong.
Jade's phone rang from the nightstand. She was about to blew out an irritated breath at being interrupted again with enjoying after her lovemaking with Freddie, but the ringtone was personalized for Tori's phone number. She reached over and tapped the screen with her thumb. She brought the pear shaped device to her ear and answered, "Tori, you have seriously bad timing."
The female voice answered in the faintest of voices and if it wasn't for Jade's heightened hearing, she wouldn't have heard her, "Jaaa…"
Jade sat up and pulled the sheet up to cover her modesty while asking with a bit of dread lacing her voice, "Tori? What's wrong?"
"Ja… help…"
The dark haired slayer pressed the phone against her ear and scream, "Tori?! Tori?!"
Freddie sat up and looked on with worry while Jade continued to shout into the phone. She looked to Freddie with a horrifying expression when Tori wouldn't reply.
Tori and Trina Vega Residence
Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA
The couple dressed and armed up at a record setting time then raced down the road in Freddie's fully restored Dodge Charger towards the Vega sisters' home. Jade frantically called Beck then Trina to meet them back at home prepared for a fight. The Charger skidded to a stop in the driveway and Jade threw the passenger door open and nearly leapt from her seat.
Freddie quickly caught up with her and grabbed her left elbow, bringing her to a quick stop. She snapped her head around to gaze to him.
"Slow down! They could still be there and it could be a trap. We should wait for the others."
She snapped at him with a near murderous glare, "She could be dying in there."
He sharply retorted through clenched teeth, "I know, but we wouldn't be any good to her if we're dead."
The pale teenager spat, "You wait, I'm going inside."
She turned and started to the front door, but Freddie called out, "What about Ian?"
Jade froze in her step.
"Your life is not yours own anymore. You have to think about his."
The up and coming musician turned and looked to him with the same glare she had just given him, but he could see her struggling to maintain it. She whispered, "We can't just leave her in there."
"I know… I'll go."
She snapped back, suddenly filled with rage at his suggestion, "And you expect me to wait out here?"
Freddie clenched his jaw for a second then answered, "Fine, I'll go first and you cover me. If it's a trap, get out and don't wait for me."
The couple locked their gaze, a battle of wills going between them until Jade bowed her head and gave a soft nod.
Freddie took a deep breath then walked around her to the head for the front door left partially ajar and setting off even greater warnings of dangers off in the couple's respective heads. He slowly made his way inside the house as he held up the sawed-off Remington Model 870 shotgun ready to blast anything that wasn't Tori with silver blessed buckshot.
Jade followed holding up a FN P90, an unusual birthday gift from a godfather with eagles on his shoulders, ready to shred anything in her way as she was not holding to some silly Slayer prohibition against firearms.
They scanned the living room, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
Jade suddenly stopped as a whiff of a copper smell. She turned and headed for the kitchen without warning. Freddie dashed right behind her, fearful she was heading straight into a trap. What she saw when she got there stopped her in her tracks.
Tori's shoulders and head were braced against the bottom cabinet while she laid slump on the floor, her left leg turned at an odd angle and a bloody spot under it. Her arms were outstretched, a bite mark clearly on the girl's left wrist while she uselessly held on to the phone in her other hand.
Jade rushed towards and knelt down beside her former rival.
Freddie hissed out to his friend as he tried to secure the kitchen, "Jade!"
The very dark brunette ignored him and dropped her weapon to cup the girl's right cheek while her other hand pressed against the left side of her neck. Tears instantly swelled in her eyes as she had trouble finding a pulse. She cried out, "Tori!"
The younger Vega sister surprised them as she struggled to open her eyes and moaned, "Jad…"
The pale skinned singer laughed out in relief, "Tori."
"Ste…"
Jade reached up to the counter and found a dishtowel and pressed it hard against her fellow slayers neck to stop what little blood was still flowing from Tori's neck.
Freddie shouted while he scanned their surroundings, still expecting someone to jump out at them at any moment, "We got to get her to the hospital!"
Jade was already slipping her arms underneath the girl to pick her up, but Tori groaned out again, "Steevvv…"
"Tori, don't try to talk. You're going to be okay," she instructed as picked her up and cradled her.
The musician ignored her mean friend and whispered, "Stev… en…"
Jade's blue eyes looked to Tori's drooping eyes. "Steven? Steven did this to you?"
"Ye…"
A switch flicked inside Jade's head. Her terror turned in blood boiling rage. She was going to hunt down that son-of-bitch and put his head on a stick, but she obviously had a greater priority. She gently pressed her lips against Tori's forehead. "You're going to be alright," she attempted to reassure the brunette and herself while she headed for the front door.
Freddie picked up Jade's discarded weapon and quickly followed.
Ronald Reagan Medical Center
757 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA
The Charger pulled up in front of the ER entrance and Freddie dashed out of the car. He climbed over the hood of the car and opened the door for Jade to crawl out of the seat cradling Tori. Jade charged inside, easily carrying Tori in her arms. "Help me! My friend's been attacked and shot!"
A number of nurses ran to the commotion and a few gasped at seeing the girl's condition. One had the sense enough to grab a bed and roll it towards them. Jade sat Tori on the bed and the nurses started rolling her further into the hospital. A doctor ran to them and started shouting some medical jargon including calling for blood as they rolled her deeper into the hospital towards the operating room.
The mentioning of them needed blood for the budding pop-star flashed a memory to the forefront of her mind. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone. She quickly tried to bring up her contact list, but her bloody thumbprint started smearing on the screen. She ignored it and finally got Robbie's number to dial. The other end of the line rang several times before the voicemail picked up with his irritating voice. She impatiently waited for the recording to finished then she shouted, "Robbie Shapiro you get to UCLA Medical Center right now or I'll hunt you down like a dog and castrate you!"
She took several deep breaths and ended the call, not caring how unfair she was to him on the voicemail. She glanced around, trying to calm herself while several people milling about turned their attention to her. A few others recognized the singer, but were far too fearful to approach her while she walked further into the hospital to find a seat somewhere.
Mason Thornesmith Residence
Los Angeles, CA
Mason was sitting behind his home office desk trying to catch up on work he got behind between his meeting with Quincy, Josef and the police when there was a loud bang at his door. He barely had time to look away from his laptop when Chelsea barged inside with a near panic look on her face.
The elder vampire immediately knew something was wrong to warrant her just barging in his office, so admonishing her for bad manners was the least of his worries and quickly asked, "What is it?"
"It's all over the news: Jade and Freddie just brought Tori to the hospital and they're reporting she was shot and some animal nearly tore her throat out."
Mason jumped to his feet and the blood ran from his face—even being a member of the undead he still had a circulatory system for his blood. He snapped, "Put everyone on alert!"
Chelsea affirmed with a nod, "Already sent out the call as soon as I heard the news."
"Good." He reached for the desk phone and brought it to his ear as he dialed a number.
The younger vampire curiously looked on and asked, "Who are you calling?"
"Michael. Quincy isn't going to believe I didn't have something to do with this, so we might have to strike first. Get my car and call Eli. I want his nests ready to go when I give a call."
Chelsea felt her stomach sinking and asked, "You think it'll be war?"
Mason only frowned as a response and the head of his personal strike team picked up from the other end.
Waiting Room
Ronald Reagan Medical Center
757 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA
Jade impatiently paced about waiting room while Freddie quietly watched in equal worry for news on Tori and Jade overwhelming herself in guilt. She was gnawing on a thumbnail and hadn't stopped pacing since they brought Tori to the hospital. She hadn't bothered to at least attempt to clean herself up from Tori's blood on her jacket and shirt.
Freddie was about to say something when someone shouted from the entrance of the room, "Jade?! Freddie?!"
The couple turned in unison to see Trina, Beck and André rushed inside the waiting room. She spotted them immediately and they met each other in the middle of the room. She switching her gaze back and forth between them and asked, "How is she? What happened?"
Freddie quickly answered, "She's in surgery right now. Her jugular torn and her left kneecap shattered. She was shot her then she was nearly drained dry. Right now they think someone turned an animal on her."
Trina clenched her jaw tightly and nostrils flowered while blowing out a sharp breath. "Who?"
The pale slayer took a step closer to the older Vega sister and whispered, "Tori was able to say it was Steven."
The older Vega sister blinked then narrowed her gaze. "What? Her loser ex? I didn't know he was a vampire."
Jade hesitantly answered, "It happened in the early summer. He works… he works for Mason."
Trina narrowed her gaze on Jade and whispered with venom dripping off her voice, "Mason? Mason did this?"
"No, he wouldn't do this."
Trina's jaw dropped then snapped, "Are you serious? It was his guy! He was mad that Tori got famous off his show then didn't sign with him!"
Jade saw from the corner of her eye that the others waiting turned their attention to the standing group. The pale slayer took Trina's elbow and led her away from prying eyes and ears to a corner of the room. The guys followed the pair just as Jade continued, "But he's doing his best to avoid a war with Quincy."
Beck finally spoke up, "Do you really think that?"
"Yes. He's desperate for Quincy's cooperation and he knows that if he did anything to Tori I would kill him."
The teenage vampire asked incredulously, "You would kill him? Why? You hate her."
Jade bit into her lower lip then answered, "I do not hate Tori."
The vampire retorted, not believing the statement, "Right…"
The former couple stared coldly to one another before the long haired actor broke eye contact and looked to Freddie. "Is she going to be alright?"
"We don't know yet."
Beck blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair from his forehead to the back of his head. He asked in mild disgust of the situation, "Has anyone gotten a hold of Dusty?"
Freddie answered, "I've tried, but he could be anywhere, so I don't know if he heard me or not. He could be in Avalon right now for all I know."
"Has someone tried to get a hold of Heather? Wouldn't she know?"
"I haven't gotten a chance to call her. I'm not sure where she is."
Jade offered, "I think she's somewhere in Europe for a shoot and he's probably with her."
Beck squinted and asked, an underlining tone of accusation, "You don't know for sure?"
The singer crossed her arms under her chest and answered, "He does have a life outside of us. He doesn't call us for permission on where to go."
The handsome vampire slightly turned and shook his head in disgust.
Jade rested her hand on his right shoulder and tried to reassure him and herself, "Tori's going to be alright. She's too stubborn to die. She's got the best doctors and with slayer healing, she should be fine. Anything the… the heart of the demon can't take care of, Cat will have a healing spell in her bag of tricks or Dusty will be back to make her whole."
Beck stared into his former girlfriend's eyes, trying to ascertain the genuineness of her statement. Her actions over the last few months of distancing herself from them and her coldness to Tori when her name came up in any kind of interview was in contrast to the look in her eyes that he saw of truthfulness. He muttered, conflicted by the contradictory information, "I don't understand why you care. You wrote off the rest of us months ago."
Jade dropped her hand from his shoulder, biting back her tongue. His words cut deep into her, but she wasn't going to let him know.
Freddie kept quiet, but that didn't prevent him from directing a glare at the vampire.
The building tension was broken when Mason and Quincy walked into the waiting room nearly together, throwing glares at one another. The pair spotted the group and immediately approached them, knowing that it would be useless to get anything out of the nurses and doctors. It would be too obvious to bribe a nurse as neither was above doing such a thing.
Quincy hurriedly asked the group, "How's Tori?"
Trina was blunt, "A vampire attacked her. He shot her in the knee to keep her from fighting back then nearly drained her."
Mason eagerly asked, silently praying it wasn't someone working for him, "Do you know who?"
The teenagers looked among themselves, nonverbally debating whether they should tell him or not as the answer could set off a powder keg. Jade decided to answer as hiding the answer would be futile, "Tori mumbled that Steven Carson attacked her."
"Steven," Mason spat in mild disbelief.
The other record producer immediately picked up the meaning in his tone and accused, "He works for you? We agreed that we wouldn't retaliate on each other for someone going rogue."
The English-vampire snapped, "I didn't send him to go after Tori! You're the one that sent Jessica after Jade."
"I did no such thing. I didn't order her to do anything. You did this out of retaliation."
The two vampires looked like they were ready to bare fangs and claws and settle their war right there between them.
Jade hissed out through gritted teeth, "Enough!"
The two older vampires turned their attention to the dark haired slayer.
Nearly everyone else in the waiting room turned to try to eavesdrop on the conversation.
Jade took several calming breaths then looked between the two vampire record executives and pointed out, "If you two want to go to war then just go outside and tear each other apart and let Buffy be able to walk in L.A. with her army."
The older vampire seethed with anger, neither wanting that to happen, but didn't want to lose face in front of the other or his subordinates.
Freddie quickly spoke up, "I think I have a way to solve this little disagreement: Trina and I are going after Steven while Beck and André got after Jessica."
Beck and Quincy looked like they were about to object, but Freddie cut him off, "This really isn't open for discussion. You let us handle it because she's our friend and family, so we have the right to the kills and look at how it benefits you: you each get to take care of this mess in-house—you have to take care of this in-house or the rest of your people will think they can kill anyone they want without your approval and then what kind of covenant leader would you be? I'm obviously on Mason's side with Jade to deal with Steven and Beck and André are firmly in Shawn's camp to deal with Jessica. It's your people dealing with upstarts who think they can just get away with defying your orders."
Mason pointed out, "What about Trina? She's definitely not on 'my side'. She's Tori's sister."
Freddie cocked his head to the side and asked, "Who would really object to her avenging her sister? Would anyone really on your side deny her right to the kill? Does family not mean anything in your group?"
Quincy cautiously questioned, "And if we refuse?"
Freddie clenched his jaw and glared at the record owner. "Because if either of you refuse… I'm going to kill that person right here and I don't care if it is in front of all these people."
The older vampires looked to one another and without speaking. It was an iffy proposition whether he could do such a thing to the older vampires, but he did have a vampire, a hunter and two slayers standing beside him to make it a five-on-two fight.
They were allowed to internally debate and hold off their answers with a doctor in scrubs walking into the waiting room, looking for Tori's next of kin or the people that brought her. He was able to spot Jade due to having dry blood on her shirt and quickly approached them.
"I'm her sister, Trina Vega." The actress quickly reached into her pocket and produced her ID to prove her identity.
Once satisfied, the doctor brought her off to the side so he could discuss in private Tori's condition. It was a moot point of course as the group left behind had acute hearing and was able to hear every word between the two. They overhead that the staff was able to stabilize her—surprisingly so, but they were concerned about her lose of blood and the lack of supply in compatible blood. She was fortunately out of surgery and was going to move her to a private room. They could see her in a few minutes, but she would still be under sedation. Unfortunately, they would have to have additional surgeries to repair her knee.
Trina nodded and gave her thanks before heading back to the group.
Jade immediately pointed out, "I called Robbie and told him to get here as fast as he could or I'd castrate him."
"Good. They're kind of amazed how easily she's stabilizing, but it wouldn't hurt for her to have the boost. I should go ahead and have them draw some blood from me."
"The slayer healing must be kicking in. As long as they can keep her stable, she'll heal right up," Jade stated matter-of-factly to hide her own uneasiness about the situation. "We're figure out how to put her completely back together later. Like I said earlier, Dusty will be back or Cat will figure out a fantastic healing spell."
The group apparently accepted her words, Quincy being reassured more due to the relief that his investment wasn't completely down the tube though he wasn't completely heartless about Tori's wellbeing.
In this pause in the tension, Cat, Robbie and Rex dashed to the others with the redhead shouting, "Jade! Freddie!"
Jade didn't even speak as she simply grabbed Robbie by the arm and walked him to the doctor and Trina. They caught up with them just before they disappeared behind a privacy curtain and the musician stated, "Here, all the blood you need." She glared at Robbie, challenging him to argue with her in donating blood.
He put on a nervous smile. "Okay, where do you need to put the needle?"
A nurse that the doctor had pulled while he led Trina to a private area smiled and motioned for him to join her and Trina. The ventriloquist swallowed down his mild fear then followed the nurse along with Trina to prepare to draw some blood.
In the waiting room, Beck and Freddie took the opportunity to catch them up on what happened and Tori's current condition. Cat looked like she was about to burst into tears until Freddie passed along Jade's suggestion that she look up some healing spells. She nearly let out a squeal then grabbed Rex by the wrist to drag him back to the car to take her home to begin her research.
As the good witch and golem headed out of the hospital, they passed Detective Vega entered with a plains clothes female police detective. Vega instantly recognized them and shouted, "Where's Tori?"
"Everyone's in the waiting room!" she shouted back and continued on her way out.
The police detective groaned in annoyance, but decided not to waste his time as he always thought the girl was a barely functional being such a child. He continued on his way then paused at seeing Thornesmith and Quincy among her daughter's friends then quickly asked, not caring who answered, "Where's Tori?"
Freddie answered, "She's just out of surgery and they've just moved her to a private room."
"What happened? I heard on the news and Jones called from their house. There's blood all over the kitchen."
Freddie didn't know of Jones and just assumed he was a fellow officer. "The doctors told us—what we already knew when we found her—she's had massive blood loss and a shattered kneecap… someone shot her and turned some animal on her that bit into her throat, but they've stabilized her. They think she's going to pull through."
Vega nodded his head, trying to put on a brave face in spite of the news of what happened to Tori. He was torn between sorrow and rage against whoever did this to his little girl.
Jade came up from behind them and picked up, "Tori called me and asked for help. We jumped in Freddie's car and floored it over to her house. We called Trina and Beck on the way. We… we found her, scooped her up and just got here as fast as we could."
Vega paused for a moment at seeing the blood stain on the teenager's shirt and taking another moment to put aside the fact that no one had called him and asked, "Was she able to tell you the bastard who did it to her?"
Jade pause and slightly leaned back, caught off guard by the question.
Detective Vega's years as a detective instantly told him that she knew something and pressed it, "If you know, you have to tell me."
She bowed her head and answered, "I don't know. She was just muttering my name as we drove here."
The veteran detective's instincts screamed to her that she was lying, but he couldn't prove it. He was about to prove it when the female detective quietly whispered to him, "You can't interview her sir; you're too close to this."
David Vega turned to his fellow detective and nodded, conceding to her point and stepped aside.
Jenny Adams sympathetically smiled to him then asked Jade, "So you found her?" She looked to Beck, André and Freddie and asked, "Which one of you is Freddie?"
Freddie politely raised his hand with a bashful smile.
The brunette police detective motioned outside of the waiting room and politely asked, "May I privately speak to you alone for a few minutes?"
The couple looked to one another, a bit of apprehension playing on both their faces then Freddie charmingly smiled and answered, "Of course."
They followed the detective out of the waiting room and Quincy took the opportunity to slip up beside Detective Vega and quietly state, "I'd like to move her to a private facility as quickly as possible."
Vega gave him a perplexed expression and quickly asked, "Why?"
"Not to disparage the LAPD, but I have a crack security team—plenty of police and military veterans—that can guarantee her safety, something I can't do here being a 'gun free zone'. They don't have to fill out paperwork in triplicate if they have to shoot someone within the confines of a private estate."
The record producer's points immediately peaked the detective's interest, but before he could answer, Trina shouted out behind them, "That's not his decision to make!"
Vega and the record owner turned to see Trina's irate expression. "Until she can make those decisions, they fall on me, not him. You want to talk about her wellbeing you speak to me about it. We have power of attorney over one another in case something like this happened to the other."
The father didn't appreciate her daughter's harshness, but he couldn't really fight it. They had been on the outs since the separation between him and his wife.
Quincy bowed his head respectfully then continued, "Then would you give me permission to move Tori?"
Trina ignored her father's disapproving expression and answered, "Yes. When she's ready to be moved, we will move her somewhere safe that you'll guard better than Fort Knox."
The record producer reached into his pocket to call his assistant to start getting the necessary personal—security and medical—ready for when they could move his golden goose while starting to debate details with Trina.
David Vega didn't want to get into an argument with his daughter in public over the blatant disrespect and wanting to cut him out of any decision in regards to Tori's wellbeing, but nevertheless was about to voice such disapproval. Fortunately before he could get into such a discussion, Detective Adams returned.
He weighed confronting Trina versus what his fellow detective had found out from the couple and decided finding out who did this to Tori was far more important. He quietly asked his fellow detective away from prying ears or so he thought with Mason and Quincy still in the room, "What did you find out?"
She glanced over to the couple, but was mildly surprised when they hadn't followed her. She put that to the side and answered, "Freddie seems pretty open, but she's definitely hiding something. I think your daughter told her who attacked her."
He frowned and answered, "I know they've been on the outs for the last few months, but I don't see things so bad between them that she would try to protect an attempted murderer—especially since she's the one that brought her here." He shook his head and followed up, "Freddie wouldn't do such a thing. He and Tori are very good friends."
"They are? Jade's boyfriend is 'very good friends' with her musical rival?"
"Yes…" he muttered, realizing where she was going.
"Was something going on between him and your daughter? Maybe we can leverage that against him so he'll talk in order to protect his relationship with her?"
The Hispanic shook his head and regretfully smiled. "I like the plan, but unfortunately Tori and Freddie aren't anymore than friends."
The curly haired brunette smirked and falsely innocently asked, "Does Jade know that? Does she believe that?"
Detective Vega raised an eyebrow, the idea suddenly sounding like a viable avenue in trying to find out what she knew. He may have had a bit of guilt for Freddie in saying his next words, but that didn't prevent him from saying them, "Why not? This is my little girl, so I don't care about his feelings being hurt or his relationship being damaged if they want to hide something from us. That's on them."
The detectives looked out again to find the couple, but were unable to spot the teenagers and so caught up in trying to spot them, they didn't notice that Beck and André had slipped out of the waiting room.
He dumbfounded asked, "Where did they go?"
Author's Note: I hope this chapter tied you over and assuaged your fears about Tori. I hope to have the next chapter for this up by late Sunday/Early Monday. Have a nice weekend, OneHorseShay