When Worlds Collide
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: In case you haven't figured out, yes the chapter titles are titles of songs. While it's not a song fic by any regard, the titles are just basically songs that fit the chapters or helped inspire it in some way.
Chapter 6 (Carmen Sandiego)
Tori moved down her stairs with a slow and cautious gait, hearing her mother talking to someone in the living room. Gripping the handrail firmly, she looked down and saw Gary Malone standing in the center of the rug.
Her heart clenched and stress lines stretched like cracks from her firmly pressed lips. "Mom?" Holly, seated at the couch, looked up with a startled gasp. Gary raised his head up, peering with a stoic expression at her. He was in full uniform and holding a hat in his hands. "What is he doing here?"
Venom was laced in her tone as she emphasized Gary. The man did not react, looking down solemnly as Holly rose from the couch. Tori took a few more steps, squinting her eyes. "I thought that whole thing was over, mom. I thought you and Gary-"
"He is only helping, we aren't getting back together or anything like that." Holly smiled sadly, raising her shoulders up. "That ship has sailed, honey." Still skeptical, she studied Gary closely while moving towards her mother. "I've contacted him to try and find your sister. He's only here on business, and no one else would take it up because she isn't a runaway and hasn't been abducted…"
"I do care," Gary replied slowly. Tori withheld a scoff, rolling her eyes and clutching her mother's shirt sleeve with tightening fingers. Holly frowned and Gary walked a few steps around them, exhaling softly. "I watched the two of you grow up, I know you're suffering right now, and Tori, you should know your mother's pride. As much as I want to help financially-"
"No," Holly interjected, "I won't have you going out of your way like that." Tori's eyebrows rose and Holly raised her hands up, moving away from the two. "You've already agreed to help look for Trina. You don't have a lot of money either, but I don't want to look like a tramp."
Gary sighed, nodding slowly. "I understand." Tori was impressed, but also curious if her mother's rejection of help would be a problem. She could see her trying to be strong, trying to figure a way to get on solid ground on her own, but right now they didn't have much.
"Besides, aren't you using your own finances to try and find my daughter?"
"In a way. I've had to pay a few sources for information." Gary set his hat on the end table and looked at the empty recliner momentarily, his nose scrunched up and he turned away to clear his throat. "I couldn't tell you anything solid, unfortunately. Multiple people have stated different things, and I'm only one person. Some of the officers in my department are willing to help, but most of them scoff at this because as stated, Trina is not actually missing."
"She's just avoiding contact with anyone in her family."
Gary looked to a photo on the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "For reasons I can't honestly say I blame her for. However, I'm still going to look for her, but you know I can't-and won't-force her to come back to you. If she wants nothing to do with her family, that's her right."
"We won't push, I just want to know where my daughter is at this point." Holly hugged herself, and gripped her elbows firmly. Tori looked to her mother's glistening eyes and pouted lip, frowning as her mom looked away and downward. "I mean I thought about asking her for some sort of help, but…now I just want to know where she is, and if she's okay."
Gary placed a gentle hand on Holly's shoulder, looking solemnly to the woman as she raised her head. "I'm sure she'll be okay, Holly. If I find anything out, you'll know. Right now, I have possible locations where my contacts have said someone matching her description was spotted."
Holly raised her hand to the collar of her shirt, folding her fingers over it and trembling. "Where?" Her voice shook and tears ran along her cheeks. "Have those places been verified?"
"Nothing verified or confirmed, unfortunately. Some even say she has a 'common face'." Tori's heart dropped and she bit her lip. She wanted her sister to be home, or at the very least, to be able to keep Monica at bay like she could in the past. She was to blame and she knew it, but she never thought she would have pushed Trina away to this degree.
Sinking into the couch, Tori started to bury her face into her hands. Holly and Gary turned towards her and she looked up at them with tears in her eyes. "It's my fault she's gone." Holly frowned and moved beside her, sliding an arm over her shoulders.
"Oh honey, it isn't your fault."
"It is, it is." She shook her head and ran her hands over her knees. "When I first went to Hollywood Arts and wanted to leave because Jade was mean, Trina encouraged me to go back and not give up. She confronted Jade, even threatened her if she did anything to me…" Tori wiped away a tear and looked at the door, picturing an angry Trina standing there with suitcases in hand. "I…I just wanted to be liked, so I did everything to make my new friends happy."
"Sweetie, you-"
"Jade started insulting Trina every chance she could after that. The others did the same. Trina would act in certain ways just to get close enough to us that she could keep them under watch…but I sided with my friends because I was afraid. I was afraid they'd reject me."
"For defending your sister?" Gary asked. He raised an eyebrow and Holly shot him a glare, as if warning him not to be hard on her. "Why would anyone be so important that you'd attack your own sister for them when she has had your back? Don't think I don't know how it was like for you when you first attended Sherwood, and I know well how protective your sister was." His voice softened to nearly a whisper and he shook his head gently. "I couldn't believe she just took off the way she did, but hearing that and knowing how neglected she felt by you and by David-"
"How could you even know anything about how she felt?" Tori bit back, annoyed by Gary's words. She recoiled, holding her breath when he didn't react and remained calm.
"She came to me on a few occasions. You forget I was a friend of the family. She didn't like the affair, but she also saw herself as having no one else to turn to." Tori grimaced and her mother looked down shamefully. "But that being said, she didn't even come to me with any information about where she was going or what she was doing."
Holly leaned back. "What kind of a mother am I that my own daughter doesn't think she can come to me with something?" The woman closed her eyes and folded her arms over her stomach. "I-I don't deserve to be happy."
"I wouldn't say that."
"No, you can't understand. I…I've become my mother, absent and never there when I'm needed." Holly's eyebrows curled together and she started to mumble something. "Can we even find her before David does? He only wants the money."
"We can certainly try. If you like, I can tell you what some of my contacts have said. It's a hell of a trip, though, because it's literally taken me all over." He rubbed his chin and furrowed his brow. "Which would make sense if she's been traveling the world."
"World?" Holly breathed heavily and started to whine. "Gary, I don't understand."
"Well we've had a gas station attendant in Seattle say they were pretty sure they saw a woman matching her description stop in to buy gas. She was with a man, however, and was wearing a raincoat and large sunglasses." Gary lowered his hand and raised his eyebrows. "Another person spoke to an airline stewardess that said she could have sworn she saw someone fitting Trina's description getting on board a plane in Germany."
"Germany? Why on earth would she be there?"
"That's what I was wondering, so I dismissed that." Tori would dismiss it too, since neither of them knew anyone from Germany. Her old teacher at Hollywood Arts would be the only person, and it was his family that hailed from there.
"Anything else?" Tori inquired.
"A few things. A banker in Santa Fe believes he saw Trina making a deposit. Again, a brunette matching her description, wearing a sun hat, shades and a large dress. Also had another source say she was spotted in Spain."
"Well our Dad's family is from Spain." Tori pursed her lips and Gary hummed. "She could have been trying to get in touch with Uncle Raul. Maybe."
"It's possible."
"Anything else?"
"A number of irrelevant and dead end sightings. Some mention a man, some don't." Gary took a seat on the armrest of the couch, still not wanting to sit in the recliner. It was like he didn't feel he had the right to sit there, even now Tori wouldn't care if he did. "I've had someone tell me they saw her at the Olympics, and even another tell me they could of sworn she was watching the presidential inauguration."
"Or maybe she's not been to any of those places?"
"Maybe. Nothing seems concrete at this point. Santa Fe is in New Mexico, so it's possible that was her, because a number of sources seemed to have suggested a trek through the southern states early on. I highly doubt she's become a globetrotter."
"She's an athlete," Holly remarked, her eyes growing wide. "What if she's joined some team and is doing all that travelling?" Tori couldn't believe it, but was amazed at her mother for such a good point. Trina could certainly be off touring with a sports team, maybe even doing college courses online. "Anything else, Gary?"
"I've mentioned pretty much everything." He blinked several times, then shrugged. "The last thing I heard was someone saying a woman and man were buying tickets in Texas for a cruise that would start from the Gulf of Mexico, but that's also not a highly reliable source."
"Still, it's better than nothing." Holly inhaled and once more began to tear up. "My baby doesn't want her momma in her life and is living a great life without me." She stood up and Tori started to reach for her, wanting to comfort her in some way.
Even Gary was silent now, his expression tense and uncertain. There was nothing more to say, and certainly nothing that could be said. Wherever Trina was, she certainly had some semblance of a life she didn't want to share.
Her cell phone went off and she looked to the purse sitting beside her. It was open and her phone was facing up. Once again, the caller was a private number. She let it ring, ignoring the caller. "You going to answer that?" Gary asked. She shook her head.
"No. It's some private number that's been calling me for a few months now. Don't know who it is, so I ignore it."
"I see. Well, be careful. If it's something you're worried about, let me know."
"Yeah, yeah…I'll do that."
At Hollywood Arts, Jade marched with the others, grumbling about the things she couldn't control. "Tori's not told us anything about her life, and it's aggravating. I wish I could have known some of the stuff she's gone through."
"We still don't know much," Beck replied. It seemed like she had a rough time of Sherwood, based on the things they observed. This Monica irritated Jade to no end, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She was grateful for the man that pulled Beck out of that fight that started, and wanted to get back at Monica but knew violence was probably not the best way to go about this. "We know that people, for some reason, cannot stand Hollywood Arts."
"Yeah. There are probably rumors and shit." Jade crossed her arms and spoke with nonchalance. It didn't matter to her what people thought of the school she attended. She was more focused on mean girl Monica. "Girls like Monica, I can't stand them. They can't be underestimated."
"That Ian had a good way of handling her, but people look up to him it seems like. Popular without actually realizing he is…He says people respect him, and I can see that. Sure would be nice to get to know the guy."
Cat walked in front of them at a faster pace, glancing over her shoulder. "Didn't you say he seemed colder after the nurse's office?"
"Well, not cold so much-or maybe only slightly. He just wasn't talking as much. Either way, I think we're on his good side. I mean, if anyone could possibly help Tori out, we could talk to him and see if he would."
"I had some other things in mind," Jade replied. She and Cat had been tossing the idea of going to Sherwood themselves, but they weren't sure if this was the right course of action. "I want to get advice from Mr. Sikowitz first, though. Girls like Monica, you can't handle them with threats or violence…at least not unless you're prepared to follow through."
"You might be." Beck chuckled. Jade shrugged and shook her head, knowing full well what would happen if she were to attack Monica.
"She has too much power. You remember that time I faked getting hit by Tori, and almost everyone was afraid of her or something?" She frowned as the others started to nod. "Picture that tenfold, even worse if you actually did attack someone like Monica. She can find dirt on you, seduce the teachers into thinking certain things, and quite literally fuck up your entire life. This is the type of girl that can get someone expelled from school and not even bat an eye."
"You speak like you talk from experience," Andre said with a laugh. Jade turned her eyes down and pressed her lips together firmly, narrowing her eyes at a rock. He was only joking, but he couldn't know how right he was.
Even Beck was quiet, for good reason. "Yeah…" Jade raised her head up and balled up her hands. "Because I am. Back in junior high-well, you know I'm 'different', in some ways. I dress in black, I like things that are strange and odd, and I don't care for girlish things." The others slowed to a stop, looking at her with sympathy as she took a raspy breath and tried to hold back the memory. "I used to have a good friend that became extremely popular. She dumped me because I was too weird for her new friends."
She clenched her teeth, her breath growing hot and shallow as her chest began to ache. "Eventually, we got into it and started arguing…next thing I know, she's telling everybody that I attacked her and threatened her with a weapon. The teachers and everyone believed her…"
"Oh god…Jade, I didn't-"
"That's why I felt so guilty back then for putting Tori through that. Had you guys not figured out I was faking, I might have possibly come forward anyway."
"What happened at your school?"
"What do you think?" She scoffed. "Principal got my parents involved and said I wasn't allowed to attend that school anymore because I was a threat to students."
It was one reason she liked Hollywood Arts so much, because no matter how bad you were, the school didn't care as long as your parents kept giving them money. It was a strange relationship.
Now, however, what she was considering was almost terrifying for her. To say she was afraid of girls like Monica was an understatement, but she wanted to be a friend to Tori and find a way to help her, even if it meant transferring to Sherwood and having to deal with someone that would likely have more social power than she did.
Jade stopped in front of Sikowitz's classroom door, placing her hand on the handle and looking to the others. "But before we do anything, I want advice from our teacher." He always had something good to say, and seemed eager take an interest in his students, more than most.
She pushed open the door and guided the others inside, but to her shock and dismay, Sikowitz wasn't there. In his place was a woman with grey hair and a nose like a bird's beak. Her eyes were sharp but her smile gentle. "Uh, this isn't right…"
The woman looked at them, carefully removing the bifocals from the tip of her nose. "Hello, you must be the group Mr. Sikowitz was going on about. I'm Mrs. Baker, his substitute."
"Substitute? Where is he?" She had to hold her breath and felt her heart pounding as this woman walked around the desk. She recognized her as not just a teacher, but the grandmother of her former friend from many years ago.
"Oh, he wanted to wait and tell you, but had to rush off. His nephew's fiancé invited him on a cruise ship. You just missed him, he left about thirty minutes ago to catch his flight." Jade groaned and started to move backwards.
This was a sign, it had to be. "So Mrs. Baker, how's your granddaughter?"
"Selene? Why she's wonderful. She'll be joining us for a while!" Her stomach lurched forward and sweat formed on the back of her neck as her hands started to tremble.
"Oh. Okay." That was the final part of the message. She turned around, grabbing Cat by the wrist and ran from the classroom. When she heard Beck calling after her, she stopped and turned to see him walking towards her.
"Jade? What is it?"
"We're getting those transfer papers." He paused, turning his head slightly and looking at her with confusion. She hadn't explained it to him, and knew she needed to. "Turns out I didn't need advice from Sikowitz after all. He just answered my question by taking off to join his nephew and nephew's fiancé on some cruise trip. We're transferring to Sherwood!"
Beck grunted then began walking past them. "Not without me you're not." Jade smiled gently, glad to see he had her back on this matter. "I've seen Monica's ire first hand and you've dealt with Selene, so you're not going to a school where girls like that are prevalent without me."
"I didn't think I'd get your support so easily."
"Not like I don't know why you're doing it. Just know, from what it seems like, it won't be easy…"
"Yeah." Jade took his hand, interlocking her fingers with his. "You know what will happen if you transfer there, don't you? We're not going to exactly be, you know, welcome. Kiss your popularity goodbye."
"It's not that important. I'd sacrifice it all for you." He swept his hand through his hair and smirked. "Besides, I've already got an in with this Ian guy, so how hard can it be? Just befriend him, and it seems like he'll have our backs."
"Yeah I don't know," Cat muttered, "For some reason I feel like that's going to be easier said than done."
"He helped us out, Cat."
"Yeah, but at the same time…" Cat ran her hand over her neck and looked off to the right, chuckling nervously. "At the same time, I got the feeling he didn't exactly think too highly of us."
"Yeah, well, it's a start." Beck shrugged and Jade nodded, understanding where he was coming from. They were not about to be easily accepted at that school, and the minute Monica got any dirt on them, she could do a lot of damage. According to that altercation she witnessed, it sounded like Trina was the one thing that kept Monica at bay-in much the same way Ian got her off Beck's back. "We need someone to be on our side if we go to that school, someone that will keep the people from hassling us. Ian's the only in we got, however difficult it may be to actually get on his good side."
Jade wasn't sure exactly why Ian didn't seem to like them when he didn't know them, and she didn't care to ask. She wanted to be on the guy's good side as well, because she acknowledged they were not going to be able to do anything on their own at that school.
Plus, Ian was a calm and patient guy, so he could also be a friend for Tori as well. If they could get the two to meet, then maybe Tori would have a support system, but one thing at a time.
"Strange as it may be to say it…" Jade marched forward, shaking her head and sighing as Trina came to mind. "I kind of wish Trina were around to tell us what we're in for and help us have some kind of insight."
"Yeah, I wonder where she went off to."
"I'm not sure even the Vegas know where she is. She was the one to try and protect Tori from Monica…" Jade chuckled sorely and curled her hair over her ear. "She even confronted me about Tori during her sister's first few weeks here. Girl used to be deathly protective, and now she's just...just gone with the wind. Like a real life Carmen Sandiego. Where in the world is she?" Never needed before, but now nowhere to be found when she was needed.
So a bit has happened here. Jade's made a crucial decision with Cat and Beck, but Cat may be right in that it may be easier said than done getting on Ian's good side. What are your thoughts on everything?