Bury the Past

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

Chapter 11 (Seed of Doubt)

Hours away in a quiet spot not far from home, Martin Skopic practiced shooting a target at a makeshift range his wife made some time ago. There was a main road to his back, but the city was small enough that it wasn't frequently travelled.

Ever since Gary took him shooting, he enjoyed the practice. It was something he and his wife could do together. He wasn't one for guns normally though, but for now, it was a decent stress relief.

His entire body ached from pain, and his eyes were sore from being rubbed too much. Deep in his heart he knew he was overreacting and that his wife needed him, but he had to clear his head first. Preferably without the alcohol. Gary and Deputy Perez shook him up big time after his last bar visit.

"Carefully…" He adjusted his goggles and noise-cancelling headphones, then aimed at a round target in the distance. "How much do I even know about her? Gary isn't even her dad." He fired two shots, hitting one in the center and the other towards the edge. Often he and his wife made a game out of shooting the targets, seeing who could get closer. Whoever got the most to the bullseye would plan something for the night. "God I miss her."

His eyes travelled to the target on the right and he felt a pang in his chest. He lowered his gun and a goofy smile appeared as he thought of Trina. "Why couldn't you be honest with me?" His smile faded and he bowed his head. "Why couldn't she trust me?" He removed the headphones and let out a despaired sigh.

"Hey buddy!" Someone called, causing him to flinch and twist around. A large glass company truck was positioned in the shoulder of the road, with the passenger side facing him. The window was rolled down and he could see a woman watching him closely. A man was leaning against the hood of the car, his elbow on the surface and his hand hanging loosely. The man flashed a smile and motioned to the targets. "You're doing well with your aim. You shoot often?"

"My wife and I." He jerked his thumb back at the trees. "We live about a mile that way, through the woods." The man raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. "You shoot any?" The man waved his hand casually and chuckled.

"Not really. I mean, once in a great while I like to cool off at the gun range, but I'm not a professional or anything. Just like to have a gun for defense." The man pushed himself up from the truck and walked forward. "My name's Beck. Beck Oliver."

"Martin Skopic." He extended his hand. The woman in the car turned her head suddenly, her eyes growing large and her eyebrows raising high. "What brings you out this way?"

"Skopic, huh?" Beck shook his hand with a firm grip, looking him straight in the eyes. "I'm just getting some work done. Thought I'd travel on through this way since my cousin lives in these parts. You may have met her."

Martin shrugged. "Maybe. Name doesn't ring a bell."

"Jasmine Brown." Beck snapped his fingers and pointed. "You know what, I think I may have met your wife." Martin furrowed his brow and looked at the truck. The woman watching seemed a bit concerned, her forehead was wrinkled and she was slowly shaking her head. "She's working a homicide back in LA, I think."

"Homicide? Ellie?" Martin crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. He knew his wife wasn't a homicide detective yet, so this was strange. Beck leaned his head back and his mouth turned into an oval.

"I don't know her by that name. I know her by the name of Trina." Beck walked towards the targets, picking up the headphones and reaching for a gun that was holstered on the back of his jeans. He took aim at the target Trina usually shot at, closed one eye and pulled back the hammer. "Katrina Vega."

"Sounds like you know her personally…"

"Knew her." Beck fired a shot. Martin watched the bullet fly into the center of the target and hummed to himself. "Back in high school. She was a crazy as hell girl. Probably had all sorts of dark secrets." Beck turned his eyes to the sides as Martin bowed his head.

"She um, she never told me anything about her past."

"What? Really?" Beck's eyebrows rose and he lowered the gun. "She never told you about her past? What kind of person marries someone and doesn't tell you everything about their life."

The woman in the car twisted further, curling a hand over the bottom of the window and leaning her head out the door.

"I know." Martin scratched his head and paced to the right. "I mean, it's like she didn't trust me or something." Beck shrugged and aimed again at the target. "Why wouldn't she trust me?"

"She wasn't someone that could be trusted back then. She had a lot of problems. Kind of the crazy type." He fired off another shot and Martin turned to face him, furrowing his brow. On one hand, he was surprised to hear this about his wife, and on the other hand he was appalled that someone was talking about his wife like this.

"That's not who she is. I know who she is. I love my wife, and she is not crazy."

"Do you? Do you know who she is, man?" Beck leaned back, staring calmly at the target in front of him. "I remember once she stole blood from her sister as she was donating…" The woman's jaw fell open and her eyes seemed to bulge. "I don't know, if you're having problems trusting her, maybe you should think long and hard…how long have you been married for?"

Martin crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the ground. "Less than a year. We've been dating for nearly three. All this time I thought Mr. and Mrs. Lawton were her parents."

"So she lied to you about her family, huh?"

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck and raised his head up. "She had a sister?"

Beck narrowed his eyes and took aim again. "Yeah. Victoria was her name. Nice girl, really. A lot nicer than Trina, and a lot saner." The woman bowed her head, and a tear started to run down the side of her face. "You wouldn't have had to worry about trust issues from her, not at all." He fired three consecutive shots, causing Martin to flinch each time. "Not surprised she didn't talk about her real family though, they were just as crazy. You might be dodging a bullet there…"

"No. I don't think she's anything like what you're telling me." He stammered, unsure what to think. "I love my wife. I love Ellie."

"Trina."

"Trina…" He turned around, rubbing his forehead with his wrist, groaning softly.

"To be brutally honest my man, I think everyone could use a little distraction. Even you. Maybe you should look up my cousin…" Martin's heart stopped and the woman's eyes grew further, now to the point that if they grew anymore they might pop out of her head. "She's a woman you can trust."

"What the hell are you suggesting?" Anger coursed through him and he beat his chest, growling several times. "I love my wife."

"Then why are you here? Where is she? Can you even trust that woman?" Beck holstered his gun and raised his eyebrows. "Who says she isn't cheating on you right now? I mean how much do you know about her? We used to have a friend, red-haired girl, dating a guy named Danny. Guess what, she went after him behind her back."

The woman shook her head again and looked down at a device in her hand, likely a cell phone.

Martin's hand shook and tensed around the handle of his gun. His lips pressed together and he began to tremble as the cold wind swept across his face. "I trust my wife. Maybe she had reasons…for not telling me…"

"Be careful not to trust a snake that plants a seed of doubt in your head and your heart." Beck waved his hand in the air. "Sorry man, forget I said anything about her. In fact, let me buy you a drink."

"I don't feel like drinking."

"Come on." Beck pat his shoulder and flashed a friendly, charming smile. "Just a drink or two, it's nothing much."

Giving in, he got into his car and followed the man to the local bar. His mind was spinning, doubt reeling in his brain and questions burning him like poison.

As the time passed, Martin was sure he drank more than Beck. The alcohol was causing his body a great deal of pain again, but he could stand it. Beck sat on the stool beside him while the woman he was with stayed at a table a few feet away.

"Why am I still drinking?" Martin said with a slur. Beck laughed and pat his back, as if he was suddenly his best friend.

"Because everyone can use a distraction. Something to take their focus away from the things stressing them the most. You, me, and even your wife." Martin groaned as the lights flashed and blurred in his vision. "Anyway, guess who I've called for you."

"What?"

"My dear sweet cousin." Martin sighed. The woman at the table slowly reached for a cell phone, staring at him and at Beck with narrowed eyes. He turned his head and saw a tanned woman walking towards them. She had a long red dress with a low cut collar, revealing a great deal of cleavage, and a long slit along her thigh. "Jasmine, it's so good to see you."

"We live four hours apart and barely talk," Jasmine replied. Her voice was soft and sultry, and she had long, dark wavy hair like Jessica Rabbit. "Who's your handsome friend?" Beck extended his hand, motioning at Martin.

"Jasmine, meet Martin. Martin, meet Jasmine." Martin hunched over his beer, gripping it protectively and close to his heart. His eyes clenched shut as Jasmine sat beside him and slowly put her hand to his back.

"Hello Martin. Beck's told me a little about you, I think it's nice you can handle a gun. What else can you do?" Martin opened his eyes partially, sighing heavily.

"I teach history. Aside from that, I've worked on cars."

"Fancy yourself a handyman, then?"

"Sure…" He looked up, gasping softly at the predicament he found himself in. Jasmine was an extremely attractive woman with soft blue eyes and ruby red lips.

As he stared at her, one of the bar's patrons began to sing a strangely familiar song on the karaoke stage. Almost Persuaded, rang in Martin's head as if trying to remind him of something.

Last night, all alone in a barroom. Met a girl with a drink in her hand. She had ruby red lips, coal black hair, and eyes that would tempt any man.

Beck turned away, raising his hand for the bartender. "Tell me more about yourself," Jasmine said as she put her hand over his. His eyes travelled down and his heart began to race.

Then she came and sat down at my table. And as she placed her soft hand in mine, I found myself wanting to kiss her for temptation was flowing like wine…and I was almost persuaded to strip myself of my pride. Almost persuaded to push my conscience aside

He felt a knot in his throat and wiped away the sweat running down the side of his face. Behind him Beck chuckled and said something to the bartender about giving him another drink.

On the stage, the man singing sounded so close to the real thing, which was remarkable as he never heard anyone come close to the original so late at a karaoke bar. "Would you like to dance with me, Martin?"

"I don't dance." He swallowed heavily and stared down as her hand squeezed his, then ran along his forearm. "Don't. I…"

Then we danced and she whispered 'I need you. Take me away from here and be my man.' Then I looked into her eyes and I saw it…a reflection of my wedding band.

The singer was looking his way now, and it seemed as though he was able to see and think more clearly than just moments before. As though the man on stage were instructing him, he looked at Jasmine and furrowed his brow.

She was gazing down at his hand, studying the ring on his finger. He balled his hand into a fist, straining his throat and tensing his jaw as Trina came to his mind; and with her, a not so distant memory.

"I know you have to talk about that job in Maine," Trina said while taking his hands in hers. It had been a long day, and Carol was in the hospital after a mild heart attack. "So…" Martin looked into her soft eyes with a chuckle and started to smile.

"You are crazy if you think I'm going to leave now, I don't care if it's a full professorship at Harvard."

Trina's smile grew and her soft voice enchanted him. "Thanks, babe."

"For what?"

She squeezed his hand gently and breathed in. "I know I don't really show it, but I can't live without you." He squeezed her hand and she leaned forward, kissing his lips. "I love you."

"I love my wife." Martin furrowed his brow and glared at the woman pushing her hand up his forearm. "Leave me alone!" He pulled away so quick that Jasmine nearly fell off her bar stool.

The woman at the table smirked as Martin pushed away the pint of beer placed before him. "I will never do that to her." He didn't care if he felt betrayed because she kept things hidden from him, he knew she trusted him and wasn't going to damage that. "I'm better than that, stronger than this. I don't even know who the hell you are or what you're trying to pull, but I will never hurt my wife."

He thought he heard the woman at the table mutter, "Then what are you doing away from her?"

Beck frowned and watched as Martin started for the door. In the corner of his eyes, he thought he saw the singer grin as he finished the song on a powerful note.

And I was almost persuaded to let strange lips lead me on. Almost persuaded! But your sweet love made me stop and go home.

In LA, Trina and David were driving down the road after spending some time at the shooting range. They were listening to a CD of classic songs and singing along to David Houston's Almost Persuaded when the chime of her cell phone caught her attention.

"Oh! Got a text." Trina grabbed her phone and opened the text, raising her eyebrows at the sender. "From Jade?" She'd given the girl her personal number before Beck left, telling her to contact her if she remembered anything at all.

David looked over, staring down at the phone. "Maybe she thought of something. See what it is." He turned the volume down, but the song was still loud enough to hear.

Her hands began to shake as her eyes scanned the message, and fear gripped her heart firmly. "No." She raised her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes, groaning softly.

"What is it?"

She didn't know whether to be relieved or afraid. Anger rushed through her veins, but she had no target for her rage. All she could think was how much she needed to talk to her husband.

"I'll just read it." Her voice shook with grief as she tried to hold the phone steady. "Stumbled across your husband today, Beck started talking to him." David tensed and slowed the car to halt in a nearby parking lot. "Took him to a bar, got him drunk and tried to introduce him to his cousin…who happens to be a prostitute."

"Holy shit." David raised his voice, coming close to belligerence. "What the hell is the point? Why would he do that? What's he playing at?"

"Tried getting Martin drunk enough to cheat. Martin stayed true to you. He loves you"

Trina sank into her chair as tears ran from her face. "What the fuck did I do to Beck?" She knew what she wanted to do to him. "I'm not the same girl I was back then, I don't get picked on without giving a fight back."

"Calm down." David brought his hands to his face, clasping them together at the tip of his nose. "Keep your focus."

"Weren't you just shouting a second ago?"

"Yes, but the sanctity of your marriage seems fine. I think we need to focus on the case."

Trina looked at her phone and growled. "Maybe we should focus on Beck."

"Don't become emotionally charged now. We have no evidence to suggest he is even a suspect…" David took her phone and looked at the text message with a calmness in his eyes. "Though this does arouse suspicions. It's almost like he was trying to make something happen."

"Did it work?"

"You tell me." David looked sideways at her and slid his thumb slowly across the bottom of her phone. "Can you still focus on the case, or are you worried further about your marriage so much that you cannot focus?"

She got the point, and she wasn't going to lose focus. "I need to talk to Martin." Her arms crossed over and her eyes narrowed. "But no, I won't lose focus." She grabbed her phone and held her breath. "Why would Beck purposely talk to my husband and try to make him cheat on me unless there's some old vendetta he has against me? I'm starting to regret even coming back to Los Angeles…"

"Don't." David started the car up and sighed. "Let your emotions work though you, but don't let them destroy you. Keep your head."

"Do you think it's some old vendetta?"

"Never seemed the type to hold a grudge, but who knows? He could still hold a grudge for the whole puppet thing…" Trina raised an eyebrow and David glanced out the window. "I did look at the security system I had installed back then, saw he was lying through his teeth, and confronted him about it later." She was impressed, but not surprised. "You might also think about how much Jade truly remembers."

"Yeah." Jade supposedly had full-on amnesia, but that was questionable if she remembered enough to know Beck's cousin. She wasn't too sure the Jade she remembered would have let her know what was up, however. "And there were a number of times I think I may have insulted the guy or irritated him. Maybe my coming back in town sparked something in him?"

"Possibly…"

"You don't still have that security footage in the house?"

David sighed. "I wish." Trina frowned and David shook his head. "Your mother wanted it uninstalled when we got divorced. She didn't think I should be watching everything that went on in that house if I wasn't there anymore."

"Great. Just great."

"Anyway. Sit back, relax, and let's finish listening to our CD."

She smiled and wiped away the frenzied tears on her cheeks. "I'll try." She reached down and pulled up the handle that reclined her seat. Her eyes closed and she let out a small sigh as the song came to its end.

Almost Persuaded…but your sweet love made me stop and go home!

Well, that happened. What are your thoughts about everything in this chapter? I'm not sure Martin came as close to cheating as it seems though, actually it doesn't even look like he considered the aspect whatsoever, but this seemed to wake him up a little. Tell me your thoughts. Next chapter we have Martin also, but we'll see a couple we know well that have become great performers...you can guess who.