Disclaimer. I own only the concept. Everything else belongs to other people.

Trigger warnings. Child abuse, rape, self harm, attempted suicide. Possibly others. This is rated M. I tried not to be too explicit. (You're mostly past it, I think)

Note. This story is about Jade, but contains information she might not ever know.

:}

It wasn't until November when Tori had the time to finally get in contact with the Privet investigator Luther had recommended. Tori's schedule had been far busier than she'd have liked, but the performances, the public appearances, everything she did was helping her improve her brand. It was what Tori needed to do at that point in her career to maintain and expand her fame. Mason Thornsmith made sure that she had every opportunity to make money was presented to her, from her consort tours to commercials in other countries. He was careful with her image, knowing that what U.S. Would label her a sellout for would be what would be seen as normal in many parts of the world. Mason didn't understand the U.S. Peoples aversion to their celebrities making money, and Tori made a lot of Money, both for herself and for her record label. It was the way Mason wanted it. Tori would be happy, and come back and continue to record for his label. That made him, if not happy, tolerable.

So by November, Tori was exhausted, facing another month of touring and appearances to go before she could rest. She had other things she wanted to do, like sleep in her own bed, or spend the weekend with her friends. But one priority, the one she'd been putting off for months, was finding Jade. So when she was staying in San Francisco while waiting for her next appearance, she finally had the opportunity to sit down with the Privet Investigator Luther had hired.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Mr?" Tori opened.

"Call me Liam. Or Mister Galway if we're being formal, but I think it's best if we keep this as lite as possible." he said. A tall, good looking man, Liam was used to his charm winning ladies to his cause. To Tori, it was old before he began.

"Well, Mister Galway, I believe you're going to tell me where I can find one Jade West?" She said in a curt, direct fashion.

"Right. Okay, it's like this. I'll tell you, but I've been asked to give you this first." He held out a dossier, and as Tori took it, he spoke again. "You have no Idea what she's been through."

"Raped by her stepfather, probably for years, and who knows what else that man did to her. Am I close?' Tori said. Luther would have been shocked at how much Tori knew. He didn't know that Tori had been there when he was finally arrested.

"You've got part of it, I suppose." He said, starting to read from his copy of the file. "You know some of the beginning. I suspect he started out just beating her. From there, sexual assaults over years, and then once she was out of that, she was accused of helping him rape several girls, leading to at least one murder. The charges were false, but that made her testimony suspect." Liam paused, making sure she was keeping up.

"After that, she was sent to the worst group home in the state, the one were they send the kids they've given up on. Suffered months of abuse before making a nearly successful attempt on her life. Not her first one at the home, just the most successful. While she was in the hospital, someone reported what the place was doing, and the home was closed for a laundry list of crimes. From there, Jade was transferred to another home on the Coast near here. Much better place. She did well there, and was emancipated withing months of arriving. Too quickly for my tastes, but what do I know. Anyways, then she graduated high school and was on her own. The system was functionally done with her" He continued.

"Her family didn't want her around, so she moved to the Santa Clareta area and started attending school there. For over a year, she worked and lived under the poverty level so she could attend school at Calarts, which I'm guessing was her goal. Last June, she was abducted from her apartment, and only the dumb luck of a wanna be boyfriend following her allowed the police to save her from being sold into slavery. She was sexually assaulted and Flogged until unconscious." He left details out, not wanting to cause trouble with her family.

"Since then she'd been back trying to get her education while piecing her life back together. The old charges against her were finally dropped, and with the help of Catholic Charities was able to get into assisted housing. The address as well as her current phone number are listed. I also got you details on her current place of employment, and what she's been doing at school." he finished. He liked being complete.

Tori was struck by how much Jade had endured. The file's she had were far more complete than what Mister Galway had said, and it painted a picture of a damaged girl who was moving forward based only on the dream that somehow fame would make it all worth it. Tori, sheltered as she was, knew more than one celebrate took their own life when fame and fortune didn't fill the void in their lives.

She checked her schedule, and realized that she wouldn't have time to visit Jade, not a proper visit, until Christmas at the earliest. Jade deserved more than a short hello before moving on to the next commitment, and Tori was looking forward to her next big commitment. The family was going to celebrate Thanksgiving in a rented cabin on Lake Tahoe, someplace nice where there would probably be snow. It was a gift she'd promised herself before the last set of tours took her around the world. The cabin, a five bedroom home with three master suites, would give them a chance to enjoy themselves as a family. Trina was coming from San Francisco, and Tori was looking forward to being with her family.

Still, Tori was going to start contact with the goth. She decided to call Jade first, opening the lines of communications. She hoped regular phone contact would help them reconnect. With everything the writer had been through, it might be a good idea to start slowly. Tori would call her weekly, and move towards a get together as they got closer.

But first, Tori needed to keep her promise. Her phone was in her hand, dialing a saved number she'd used sparingly since she got it months ago. After a few rings, Maxwell West answered. "It's not a good time. Can I call you back in a few minutes?"

"You know, girls hate it when you tell them that." Tori said. "Call me back when you can." She hoped he'd call her soon. She'd be making her appearance in a few hours, and be unable to answer her phone again until midnight. The apperance was good publicity, a fundraiser for the San Francisco Zoo, and Tori was going to enjoy her time there. She'd even gotten tickets for Trina and her date. 'Please let this guy be decent. Trina has worse luck with guys than I do.'

About half an hour later, Tori's phone rang. She checked the caller ID. She never answered the phone if she didn't know the ID. That was inviting trouble. Better to let it go to her voice mail, still using the generic response that came with the phone, and call back if it's someone she wants to talk to. She saw it was Max calling, and quickly answered.

"Hi Max, How's life? I didn't catch you doing something you weren't supposed to be doing, did I?" Tori smiled at the thought of the young man hiding his porn as she called.

"Actually, I was in a football team meeting. They don't like it when friends call during team events, and I couldn't tell the coach that it was some pop princess, so I had to call you back. So, did you find out anything new about Jade?" Max sounded hopeful. Tori felt her heart break, just a little. How could she tell this happy young man that his sister lived through hell while he had a happy childhood? She decided it wasn't her story to tell, feeling dirty just knowing so much about the goth.

"So what position do you play?" Tori asked, trying to make light conversation.

"Do you have any news about Jade?" He repeated. "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I'm desperate to know anything? So what do you have? Does anyone even know if she's in California?"

"I know. I've got more than just news, I've got her address, and her phone number." Tori said.

Max was speechless. It was more than he had hoped for. After a few seconds, he forced himself to ask the questions that flooded his mind. "Where is she? Whats she been up to? Is she still in LA? My god, tell me that I'm going to see my sister again!"

"Hold up there, tiger. I'll email you the details, but you need to calm down. Jade's been through a lot, and might not be ready for you to flood her with questions. Call her, let her know you're interested in seeing her, and then arrange a visit. I'll send you her address, but it's for planning purposes only." Tori said, and they said their goodby's and hung up so she could send the information. She had to admit, she wanted to just go to Jade's apartment and talk to the girl. Maybe hug her, and from there, who knows what they would do next. Tori stopped her train of though with their cloths still on. She looked at the recent picture of Jade in the dossier, working at some nice restaurant, and noted that Jade still looked good. 'Bad Tori. We don't think those thoughts about our friends. Except Beck, and that was years ago. And we know how that turned out.' She mentally scolded herself.

Now, weeks later, Jade found herself face to face with Max. She had no idea he knew where she lived, or that he wasn't going to risk her not answering her phone. He'd dropped by a couple of times after school, but this was the first time he caught her at home. Aggie was flirting, a bad habit the girl did when she saw some guy she liked, but he ignored the girl. He was all business.

"Jade? My god, it is you. I didn't recognize you without the hair dye. The brown looks good on you..." Max started, his voice fading towards the end.

"NO!" Jade said, voice loud but not screaming, while walking past her roommate and into the apartment.

"Why not?' she heard him ask. He was still at the door, Aggie had put herself between the young man and the door.

"Because Dad asked me not to talk to you. He said, if I loved you, I'd let you go. I've held my part of the bargain." Jade was hurting, tears starting to flow down her cheeks. Then she started to scream. "FOR SEVEN FUCKING YEARS, I'VE KEPT MY DISTANCE. I'VE GIVEN UP SO MUCH SO YOU CAN HAVE A CHANCE TO BE SOMETHING, AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU RUIN IT." Jade was starting to cry harder, and Aggie let Max walk into the apartment to hug his sister. "I've been through so much, I'm no good for you. Keep away before I hurt you too." Jade was saying through the tears, her voice drowned out by her sorrow. She tried to push him off, but didn't have enough strength left for him to notice.

It took her almost ten minutes to recover, held by her brothers strong arms. The boy had grown into an impressive young man, and he wasn't going to walk away yet. Jade had hinted at things he didn't know. Max West was going to find out why she'd never tried to contact him. He needed answers.

Jade's thoughts started moving quickly as she recovered, and she decided to get her answers first. "How did you get here? You're fifteen." the nineteen year old goth asked.

"I'm on the football team. I've got teammates who can drive. I'm also into Auto shop. I rebuilt a car, and my teammates sometimes drive me places in it. One guy likes to hang out here and flirt with the college chicks, so he's usually more than willing to drive." He smiled at her, then his smile faded. "So dad told you to stay away? Were you really that bad?" He asked. He was still sitting on the floor of her apartment, holding her like she would fade if he let her go for a second.

"It's to do with the whole Richard thing. He didn't want you getting dragged into the middle of it. I understand, I was bad news at the time. You know, if you let me go, we can sit on the couch." Jade said. He helped her up and they sat down on the couch, along with Aggie and the rest of her roommates. "Guys, a little privacy?" They didn't move. "Maybe we should sit in my room." Jade said.

Max and Jade went into her room, and he noticing how small it was. They sat down, Jade on her bed while Max sat on her chair. "So what was all that about Richard? Dad says he was a good, hard working man who got caught up in stuff while trying to pay for you to go to that school of yours. Is that true?"

"Dad was fooled. Richard made my life a living hell. I was, in turn, neglected, abused, and molest..." Jade looked into her brothers eyes, and she just stopped. Fear reflected in her reddened eyes, the feeling making her want to run before he found out anything more.

"So he was a bad man. How come mom stayed with him? Why did Dad just leave you to him if he was such a bad man?" Max was feeling angry, and Jade was the target for the moment. He didn't know what was going on back then, and her story was so different than everything he'd been told.

"You mustn't blame them. They were doing the best they could, for you and for me." Jade said, knowing it was a lie. It was okay, though. The best thing for Max was keeping Jade away. It hurt, losing her brother, but she wanted only the best for him. Now wasn't the time for the truth. 'The truth can only hurt.' she thought. It was okay to blame Richard, he was in jail, but not her parents.

"Why didn't you tell me? I mean, I could have helped." Max asked.

"Because I honestly believed that Richard was untouchable, and I would die before I turned eighteen. I thought it would be better for you if you were less attached. I mean, everyone loved you, so you'd be taken care of." Jade started. She stopped herself before the self pity got thick and blocked her responsibility here. She had to protect her parents. Max could never know what she went through.

"My god, don't you ever tell the truth? I'm not going to sit here and be lied to." Max was angry now, and he got up, and in a rage, he stormed out of the building, It hurt Jade, but she kept telling herself it was for the best. A little pain now and Max wouldn't be back again. He'd have the good life he deserved, and Jade could just disappear.

Except she couldn't. She'd promised Ginny. She had millions of kids in the system that needed her as their spokesperson, showing that there was a way top make their dreams come true. She needed to become the spokesperson for group Home charities, inspiring people to give to their local group homes and help the kids have as close to a normal life as possible. Jade couldn't disappear, but she couldn't make her life public, not if Max was going to find out that their parents lied to him. Jade just sat in her room, trying to figure out her next step. She felt like the deal she'd made with Ginny was tying her hands. Too many others who needed to be protected. However, events were taking that worry out of her hands, while her own schedule keeping her too busy to worry about what to tell her baby brother.

Max West wasn't done seeking answers. The next day, after school, he talked Charlie Ross, a cheerleader he knew who was also on the school papar, in to driving them both to the Hollywood Police station. He knew Charlie had a crush on him, so it was easy to convince the girl to help out. They used her position on the school paper as an excuse to gain access to pubic police records, and found out everything they could about Richard Mathews. There wasn't much. Convicted of rape, murder, and over one hundred counts of molesting a minor. The arresting officer was listed as David Vega. Tori was a Vega, and Jade's high school friend. It seemed too much of a coincidence. Needing to know more, they asked if they could talk to officer Vega.

David Vega was at his desk, doing paperwork. The massive conspiracy he and Gary had been following up on were winding down, but still leading to some interesting investigations. Once the forensics team had finished recovering the data, the slaver's hard drive had all kinds of information, and his phone records had helped find some one hundred or so missing girls. The private slavery trade usually stayed secret, and since the slaver needed to be able to run background checks on people before inviting them to an auction, there was a lot of information. No one had told the slavers how hard it was to make that data unrecoverable.

For their work, both officers received commendations, and David Vega received a promotion. He was now a lieutenant. Officer Vega was happy in his new role, liaising between the Metro unit and the public relations unit. He was still a part of a lot of investigations, but he had more free time and was enjoying the various parts of his job. He could, on any given day, be doing almost anything police related. Gary had also been promoted, but was attached to the local division as a squad officer. They were still on special assignment working together to finish up the investigations around Richard Mathews, but by now it was almost down to the court dates. There were a lot of court dates.

Max had turned on his charm and talked his way into a meeting, and soon found himself sitting in the office of lieutenant Vega. He waited for the police officer to sit down before asking his questions. "Tell me about Richard Mathews." Max said. His heart was beating hard in his chest as he worried. No matter what the police officer said, someone he loved was going to be made a liar. The darkest parts of his mind hoped it was Jade. It would be so much easier.

"This is for a story for your school paper? I'm not surprised. It was a major incident. How much do you know?" David asked.

"I know most of it, but I need confirmation. Just what you can tell me." Max said. One of the reasons Charlie came along was to use her credentials. He wanted to avoid giving his last name if possible. He'd hoped to avoid letting this man, or anyone they might talk to, know he was related to Jade, in case the they tried to protect her.

"We're not allowed to give out much on these kinds of cases. You tell me what you know and I'll tell you if you're close or not." David said. The investigations around Richard Mathews were almost complete, but it didn't do to give away information that might help some of his accomplishes escape future justice. Also, he hated when reporters were lazy. Good thing he already knew what they were after.

"So far what I have is that Mister Mathews was convicted of the abduction, rape and murder of a twenty year old woman, as well as being involved in the rape of three other young women. He also plead guilty to molesting his step daughter over one hundred times. I'm assuming it wasn't over one night." Max felt sick to his stomach just making the joke, but the air was getting hard to breath, and he'd hoped the joke would make everything seem casual.

"I really don't want to comment on the case, but the number was a low ball estimate. He'd been systemically abusing and raping the girl for almost five years. Does that clear things up for you, Mister West?" David said. Max froze. His body would not move. Officer Vega turned to the girl. "I think you're part in this is over." Charlene's eyes were suddenly full of fear. "What you've heard here, it's just between us, okay? Your boyfriend is going to stick around so we can talk about it. I'll give him a ride if you don't want to wait, but Mister West and I need to talk this out." She seemed to hear Officer Vega, because at those words she practically fell over herself getting out of the his office.

"What gave me away?" Max asked.

"I've seen you're picture. We've been looking into every possible connection to what happened to Jade last June, and naturally your family had to be looked into. Your father talked to us. He had no idea what had happened, and seemed just as happy to keep it that way." Officer Vega said.

"Wait, what happened last June?" Max asked.

"I'm afraid that's between you and Jade. You came here to find out what Mister Mathews did to her, so I've confirmed what our reports said. Do you really think that's all he did?" David Vega asked.

"But what did you take her word. I mean, I know she seems like a victim, and I do think bad things happened to her, but she had to do something to make it happen." Max knew he was wrong, but the need to protect his parents drove him to speak. Faith in them died hard.

"Max, I don't know what your parents said to you, but we had recovered video evidence of a sexual assault, as well as a mountain of evidence that suggested he'd been doing it for years. We had over a dozen officers who saw the end of his last assault on Jade. This was an open and shut case. It was the other allegations, the ones he made against Jade, that took years to clear up." David watched the boy. He was stunned. His world was crashing down around him, and he had no idea what to think any more. Max tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't form words.

"We've recently reopened the investigation into Jade's activities during that time, and found she had nothing to do with any of the charges he had made against her. He was trying to destroy her credibility as a witness. And Max, if you really want to know more about her, everything she's tried to hide from you, you're going to have to talk to her. However, I think you know enough. Now it's more important that you decide what kind of relationship you want with her, and work on that." Officer Vega was watching the boy. It would take time, but they had a chance. However, Max had to come to terms with what Jade had been through, and that wouldn't be easy.

Max was starting to get mad. He was mad at his father, Henry West, for just abandoning her to that monster. He was mad at his mother, Miranda West, for standing by and protecting the beast who hurt his sister. Mostly, however, he was angry with himself. He knew something was wrong, that Jade wasn't the demon that his parents so easily portrayed he to be. But then, when she tried to tell him what happened, he refused to believe her. He was angry for not protecting her when she'd protected him. Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he finally understood why she never called.

She wasn't allowed to call him. She'd told him, their father had asked her to keep her distance. Each time her world fell apart, she had to resist calling out to him, to make sure she didn't drag him down. By the time her life was going good, she was so far removed from him. She must think he hates her. That caused another pain in his chest. His sister was lost to him, and his own parents let it happen. If he hadn't gone looking, seeking out Tori Vega to get some information, he'd have never seen her again.

Max cried in the office, held by the stranger who'd held his sister twice when her world was falling apart. Max would need time to find his balance, to accept that his parents honestly believed they were doing the best thing for him, and to forgive them for taking away his sister. Over an hour later, Charlie drove them towards his home. Max knew he had to make an effort to reconnect with Jade, to help pay for their parents abandoning her when she needed them the most. It was a big task, probably more than he could do, but he felt someone owed Jade something, and he was going to try to help her.

Tori was stunned when Jade called her. It was usually Tori who called. Of course, Jade had put Tori's number on her friends and family plan. Tori liked to talk. Today Jade, however, was breathing fire.

"Okay, I understand you're interested in my life, but did you have to tell Max where I lived?" Jade screamed into her phone.

"Wait, what? Jade, calm down. Just tell me why your screaming at me?" Tori tried to stay calm. 'The boy should have called her first. Why doesn't anyone do what I tell them? Maybe it's a West thing?' Tori though to herself.

"Admit it. It had to be you. No one in my family would have told him, and no one else knows both where I live and how to contact him. But your guy, Luther I think, he told me you had the resources to find me, so you could have found him to. You're the only one who could have." Jade was almost ranting.

"So Mason is off the list? He did ask about you on your birthday.' Tori said flatly. She hoped it would calm Jade down.

"Don't try and push this off on Wait, what?" Jade stammered, her chain of though broken.

"Mason likes you, or liked you. It's been a couple of years. Still, he respected the way you pushed me into the spotlight at the Platinum Music Awards. He's been involved in every step I've taken to find you. He even recommended the P.I." Tori was careful. One wrong word, and Jade would explode again. "I'm not saying it was him, I'm just saying that you've left strong impressions on a lot of people, and some of them worry about you."

"I still think this is your doing. It has the whole Vega good intentions stink on it." Jade huffed. "But I'm willing to drop it, for now. So, where are you?" She decided to go with the safe questions for now. She'd find out, in time. Besides, she wanted to know more about these people who worried about her.

"Not this time. Jade, we can talk about that later, during our regularly scheduled conversation. Now, you open up. Tell me why your brother visiting was such a bad thing." Tori said.

All she got back was the sound of her call disconnecting.

:}

Got my first negative review. ":just plain bad". It was anonymous, and I could have deleted it, but honestly I wondered what was bad. If you've already read 9 chapters in, then what didn't you like? Of course, I have my own vision of where this is going. Still, Lets hope it was about my comment at the end of chapter 9.