Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Victorious, agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any show for that matter. I do enjoy seeing what if, however. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

:}

Jade was sitting on the Vega's couch, wondering once again how she'd ever agreed to this. "You're using black polish, right?" She asked her girlfriend.

"Yep." Tori agreed, then hesitated. "You know, you should consider using the same color as your extensions. That would make things kinda match."

"First, I change my extensions regularly enough that I don't want one color. Black goes with everything, and gives the impression I want." The goth princess said, looking peeved. "Second, these are my chizzing toes."

"Hay, you agreed." The Latina chided her. "Now hold still. This is very delicate."

"You're enjoying yourself." The pale girl growled.

"Maaaybe." The other girl chirped. "But I'm allowed to enjoy painting my girlfriends nails, or kissing her on her cheek, or maybe touching her..."

"VEGA!" The blue eyed girl barked. "Concentrate on what you're doing. And I'll decide if there's gonna be any touching."

"You're no fun." The tanned girl moaned, but her smile broke though and she couldn't help but do a little happy dance at being allowed to do something so intimate with her girl.

"Geez Vega, their just toes." The other girl tried to downplay what was happening. But The taller girl didn't often paint her nails, so letting anyone paint her toenails was a major thing.

Trina walked through the living room, noting what the girls were doing. "Get a room." She said, trying not to smirk. 'Pity Griffin's probably working for the bad guys, cause I could really, REALLY go for someone pampering me like that right now.'

The older Inhuman could hear her sister arguing with her girlfriend, and wondered once again about the sacrifices she was making. 'First really hot guy totally interested in me, and he turns out to be a user. Whats wrong with this me?' The thoughts turned from dark to strange as a realization this. 'Tori only dated losers and users until she hooked up with Jade. Not that she's that much better, but at least she tries to protect her friends. Does this mean I'm only gonna be happy with a chick, cause I'm fairly sure Cat's about to have Robbie's kid.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a call. Caller ID was from an unfamiliar phone, so the Latina considered ignoring it. However, the call was coming from the 206 area code, not one found in the L.A. basin. 'I'd love to look up where this is.' She thought as she let the call go to voice mail. Moments later, the icon came up letting her know she had a message. Trina decided to listen just to rule out the possibility it was a sales call.

"Hi, you don't know me, but I'm Cat's roommate, Samantha Puckett." The voice paused. "Yes, that Sam, the one from iCarly. Anyways, I heard you were dating Griffin, from Seattle. I just wanted to let you know Carly dated him for a while. He's not what he appears to be. Totally into Pee Wee Babies. As in collects them. I know he may seem to be into you, but from what I could tell, nothing is as important to him as those Pee Wee Babies. Call me, and we can compare notes."

Trina didn't bother to call, instead just popping over to near where that number was. 'No sense in giving this girl a heart attack.' The Inhuman decided. It didn't take her long to realize she was near where Cat was supposed to be staying, just outside what she'd been told was the redheads apartment. Taking a risk, she rang Cat's doorbell.

"Ding Dong." Someone said from inside.

'Please don't let that be Cat.' Trina prayed. Then the door opened and Sam was standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm Trina Vega." The older girl said. "I got your message while, um, running an errand in this neighborhood, and decided to drop by to talk. What can you tell me about Griffin?"

"Not much more then I told you." The blond said. "But there is one thing I should warn you about. Come in, cause I don't like talking about this without ham."

With that, Sam ushered the other girl into the apartment, where she could see Cat playing with a couple of kids. "Cat,. Why don't you take Billy and Mandy to the bedroom and play a game." The webstar said.

"Kaykay." The redhead chirped, leading the kids into the next room..

"Okay, lets start with the basics. I don't know how much you know, but Cat, and our friend Jade, they have a few secrets..." The tough girl started.

"I kinda know." The other girl cut in. "I'm not gonna go into details, but I know Cat and Jade have a strange bond, one that gives them both a lot of strength. Like toss a car strength."

"Cat's that strong?" The former bad girl asked, now wondering how much she really knew.

"Probably not. I mean, she can lift a car, but wouldn't be able to toss it that far." Trina assured her. "Look, I'm not dancing around the subject all night. Cat and I, we're both members of the Champions, and I need to know if Griffin is a threat to us."

"Not as far as I know." Sam replied. "But he' not the guy you think he is. I doubt he's really into you, cause he wasn't that into Carly back when he was with her. And, given his obsession with Pee Wee Babies, I'd say he was buy-able. Look, I got my man, Fredward, to do a search, and someone's been bidding on some of the rare once lately. Someone from L.A. May not mean anything, but when your roommate is a super, you tend to watch out for these kinds of things. Sorry if this ruins your image of him."

"No, you just confirmed what I already heard from another source." The now sad Latina softly said. She was hurting, thinking about how he manipulated her.

"You know, he could still have feelings for you." Sam tried to cheer her up. "Maybe he found he liked the real you, and decided to turn his back on whatever bad boy ways he used to have. And, and maybe he got himself a good paying job and is earning the cash to buy the collectables. I understand they increase in value at fairly consistent rate."

"Except they don't." The older girl corrected her. "They can, and many do, but the collectables that were one a craze may wind up not being worth nearly as much as what they cost the person who bought the super rare one during the craze."

"You've studied that chiz?" The blond asked.

"Common sense." The brunet replied. "Look, thanks for the info. I'm gonna go home now and drown my sorrows in ice cream. That is, if my sister is done pampering her stupid girlfriend."

"I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt here, and assume your jealous of her being with someone." The Seattle transfer suggested.

Trina looked embarrassed at what she realized she's inadvertently said. "You're right. Sorry to offend. It's just, Jade hated her for so long, and now their practically..."

"Jade?" The other girl cut her off. "Jade West? Scary, morbid, dresses in black Jade West?"

"Cat's best friend since forever." The Latina confirmed. "Oh, thats right. You two have probably met."

"I know a bit about her." Sam acknowledged. "We've hung out a few times. We have a lot of common interests. And it can be real fun to watch her intimidate kids. She's gay? I knew about the strength chiz, but I thought she was dating some guy named Beck."

"She was." The inhuman confirmed. "And now she's dating my sister."

"I feel for you." Sam offered some small comfort.

"Can I come out now?" Cat asked, peeking out from the bedroom. She was covered in silly string.

Griffin was sitting in his Pee Wee Baby room, looking over his collection. His phone was on speaker so he could adjust the shelves as he decided which ones he wanted where. "So, I draw her out, and we take her? Sounds like a plan. I've got the thing you gave me, and I'll be expecting your backup when it goes down. Just one thing, thought. When things are over, am I gonna still be dating her?"

"Probably not." Rex replied. "I'm hoping we can turn her, but if not, we may have to kill her."

"Pity. She has a nice rack." The bad boy said. "Soft too. Man, I just wish I had the chance to..."

"I totally get that." Rex cut him off. "Look, if we can turn her, maybe I'll let you two stay together. I'm sure she'll be the kind of girl you want, docile and obedient."

"And a freak in the bed." The human added.

"Whatever." The evil puppet waved the thought off. "The point is, things are going down, and soon. I've got Rob arranging for a Faraday cage with additional blockers to keep her from escaping. She's still tough, so we'll need to take her by surprise. But I'm predicting we get her, and use her to get her sister."

"She's cute too." The collector cut in. "Can I have them both. One for the boobs, the other for the ass."

"No!" Rex barked. "Tori is needed for us to get Jade. And Jade's powerful. If things go as planned, then Jade becomes a potent weapon we can use. And if not, I've been working on ways to kill her, Tori, and everyone near them. Even had a successful test run. Now, once I get you the address, you call Trina and have her meet you there. We get her into the cage, and proceed from there. And I know you don't have any question."

"Nope, I'm good." Griffin replied, smiling. "I'm gonna have them all."

Andre was talking to Goonter. "He wasn't at the airport with Grant, but we covered." The agent said, glancing around. Down the road a bit, he saw some people he'd met before, but he just couldn't place where.

"He was at the airport." The good puppet explained. "He just had an escape readied. I expect Rex to have such precautions readied as well. His influence over Robbie, and his magics, worries me. But neither of us can live without Rob, so humiliation is the best that fiend can get away with. But things are different now. I'm certain they want to turn Jade, and that gives us the opening to unravel their whole organization. As you probably know by now, Trina has agreed to be my friend Emily's champion in this matter."

"She's..." The musician tried to make sense of what he'd just heard. In the back of his mind, he was watching the two boys down the road a bit. They were discussing fudge balls with a sunshine girl, and that was enough to distract he trained agent. 'I hope they're not harassing her.' He thought. But the girl seemed calm, at ease, and the boys were on their best behavior. "Trina's contact, the one who helped us find the slavers, is working with you?" The question was said while looking at the boys, trying to figure out where he knew them from. 'If only I could place…' For a moment, recognition filled his eyes. "Gerald! And Merl!"

"Robbie's blackmailing them." Goonter said calmly. "We found out about the potential, and when they got the call, we stepped in and told them we'd help. Emily is my voice in such matters. It's easier for them to believe a young girl is the spokesperson for some authority figure then to deal with a living puppet. I expect they'll be happy to know that Rob doesn't want to use them for anything else. However, both boys have agreed to try to befriend him, getr closer to him, so we can get a better idea of their plans."

"Too late." Andre said, now watching the young blond girl. "I'm guessing whatever's happening is going down soon. After we took down Grants cyborgs, their was a lack of reaction from Rex's camp. I'd have expected some kind of rumbling on the streets, someone trying to get new resources. That means that Rex has the resources he wants."

"No, they need a resource, Jade." Goonter restated. "Jade's the one thing Rex is aware could hurt him. Jade can kill him, and that fills him with a dread so deep that he'll do anything to feel safe. You've seen how the rock men Rob uses are? Their just bodies he can shift, shape and reform. Destroy one, and he can reform it as long as he has the energy left to do so. These bodies we're in are similar. Our spirits are what matters. We can repair the body we are in, or move to another body later on. Think about it. Was Rex always the same puppet? Or did he shift, change, as Robbie got used to the idea of what he should look like? I'm betting that's not the original puppet Rex inhabited. We're bound to the body we're given, but we can be moved, and Rob can fix what's been done to us."

"Then how is Jade so dangerous to Rex?" Dre asked, now ready to learn more. "Or is it that she'd rip Robbie's arms off if she thought he was looking down her shirt?"

"Jade is an Asgardian, at least partially, and whatever mixed with her seemed to enhance several aspects of her abilities." The good puppet answered. "But the one we're concerned with it that Jade's mystic in nature. She carries a mystic charge withing and around her that affects everything she does. Her blows hurt bound spirits like us, making the damage done to the body reflected on the damage done to the spirit. If she just ripped Rex's head off, he'd die. That scares him more then anything. To bad, cause I have a fate worse then death planned for him."

"So he needs to get rid of Jade." The agent said. "But he's planning on turning her. That means he's either realized your out there, or somethings changed."

"Something has." Goonter replied. "Tori Vega. Jade's in love with her, and Rex sees her as the key to turning Jade. But he forgot one thing. To get to Tori, he's planning on using Trina. And we've already put contingencies in play to deal with that."

"So if he does try to take Trina…?" Andre prompted a response.

"Trina will probably be taken quickly, so we have started to put people close to Rob, on the assumption that he'll tell them, or recruit them, and we'll know what he's planning." The protector spirit explained. "We just need help to fill in one more contingency. Emily has tried to contact the appropriate people, but so far, we've had little success."

"I'll make sure Jade and Tori know whats going on." Andre told his new friend. "I'll just have to be careful, cause Jade's likely to find Rex and rip his head off."

Beck sat in his trailer, playing some video-game he never really liked with Sinjin. "Man, I can't believe the selection you have." The lanky inventor commented.

"Jade loved to play." The Canadian replied. "When we broke up, all the games my dad bought me kinda just sat here. I offered to give the system to Tori, but Trina told me they'd be playing other games for a while yet." He sounded sad.

"You miss Jade, don't you?" His friend tried to be supportive. "I get it, she's so pretty, and smart, and she's good at so much..."

"And if I managed to get her off, she's crush me with her legs." The handsome boy cut in. "Sorry, thats not fare. We had our problems before either of us… Well, before I became a hero. But even when she was plane old Jade, she still almost crushed me once. Girls strong."

"I'm not sure how to respond to this." The nerdy boy said. "Look, I know Courtney would love to be your next girlfriend, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of her dating a friend. Things could get awkward."

"I appreciate that." Beck said. "Let me see if I have a racing game in here. Something closer to our need for speed."

"Those leave me cold." Sinjin dropped casually. "I was thinking about our problems, and I think I have a solution. Not for all of them, but for two. For the Robbie problem, I was thinking of tuning a couple of wristbands to the electromagnetic fields of the earth, kinda like I did with you, only instead of using them to give a whole host of powers, they'd make a form of exoskeleton. Then the wearer could protect himself with a force field, fly, even project bolts of energy. If I added the right filters, he could dance up and down the electromagnetic field. I'd have to come up with an alternative energy source, but I'm sure we could make something. Keep him safe and give him the ability to tap into whatever resources you need to keep an eye on the battlefield."

"Robbie may be the mastermind behind some of the strange occurrences we've been encountering." The Canadian hero said.

"Okay, then the other problem is Trina and the idea that she may be dating a mole." Sinjin continued. "Wait, Robbie as a mastermind? I just don't see it."

"We think that Rex is some kind of malevolent spirit, and he's manipulating Robbie." The tanned boy explained. "Or at least, thats what Andre told me."

"Oh, then that makes sense." The lanky boy continued. "I was thinking of romancing Trina myself. However, and this is important, if we both feel you and Courtney would be uncomfortable, then maybe you could try romancing her too."

"I don't know." Beck pondered. "Then again, becoming a hero has helped her overcome a lot of that desperate feeling she has. Not so needy, in her own way. I mean, she's still high maintenance."

"Like Jade, but less, um, psychotic." The other boy took advantage of the long pause.

"True that." The heartthob agreed.

"But that made her hot, in a dangerous, please don't hurt me kind of way." The nerdy boy continued.

"Thats also true." Beck agreed. "The point?"

"Yea, I had one, didn't I..." The tall boy seemed confused for a second. "Oh yea, Jade's with Tori now, and she's totally different. As a girlfriend, I mean. And we've seen Trina be a bit, um, not more responsible, just different."

"She's an innovative fighter who makes the best of her abilities." The tanned boy pointed out. "And she's a team player. Saved more then one of us in a pinch. Also, she's stayed loyal to this Griffin, even risking her identity to show him she cared." For several seconds, both were silent. "Tell you what. You take your shot, and if that doesn't pan out, I'll consider dating her. I think me and Courtney don't have that much in common."

"I just wish she'd be interested in someone who wasn't one of my friends." Sinjin said while focusing on the game. "And as for Trina, may the best man win."

Beck smiled, enjoying the moment. He and Sinjin were surprisingly good friends. "Maybe not." The actor said. "You have to remember, I'm in this contest too."

Jade sat there, on the edge of her bed, looking at the black nail polish that adorned her toes. 'It does look good, but kinda bland. Maybe next time I go blood red?' She mused. But the whole evening spent allowing Tori to paint her toenails was etched in her mind, far more intimate then anything she'd done with Beck.

"Sooo, whatcha thinking?" Her mother asked, surprising her. Jade jumped, but didn't bother asking how the older woman had gotten into her room.

"That my girlfriend painted my toenails." The princess replied, watching her feet. "Why is this such a big deal? I mean, we pay people in shops to pain our nails, so it's not like it's that personal."

"The salons make it a big deal." Her mother replied. "Atmosphere, maybe a manicure, and then the polish. Plus polite people tip their stylist. But to have someone we're involved with do it, it's sensual, intimate, a showing of trust. Some people think that a foot massage and painting of the nails is more intimate then sex."

"Okay, she did kinda massage my feet." The goth admitted. "But that doesn't give you permission to reference 'Pulp Fiction'. I mean, how would you know?"

"I've had thousands of lovers, in multiple forms. Many of them were humanoid enough to have feet like I do now. Especially the Kree. And let me tell you, a good foot massage and I'm willing to give it up right there. It's why I had to stop seeing Foon Yee at the salon. She was threatening my marriage."

"Have you ever been with a girl?" Jade asked, now very serious. She gave her mother her total attention, listening for whatever insights might be gleamed from the next few moments.

"I've experimented." Ann, her mother, said. "I've dated girls, even tried being a man. It didn't work out."

"You always saw yourself as female?" The daughter wondered.

"That, and as it turns out, I wasn't able to father children. I do so love my children, even if it breaks my heart every time one dies. But I don't have to worry about that with You or Nari. You'll both live for thousands of years." The mother commented. "Assuming you don't do something stupid and get yourself killed."

"Tori pained my nails." Jade said, showing her mother.

"Before you've slept together? That hussy." Ann joked. "It's not that big a thing. That is, unless it is?" She looked in her daughter's blue green eyes. "And it was. Geeze, maybe you should have nailed her."

"MOM, LANGUAGE!" The younger girl protested.

"Relax, your brother's in bed, sleeping." The ancient entity said. "And Richard knows I can have a raunchy sense of humor. But things are progressing quickly. I mean, after she nursed you back to health..."

"Which took maybe a couple of hours." The goth cut in.

"Too short a time for a sponge bath." Ann said, smirking at her daughters embarrassment. "But after the near death experiences you've had, I'm not surprised she might be a little protective of you. Let her know you appreciate it, but can take care of yourself. And, once this whole mole thing is over, let her show you how much she cares."

"Other mothers don't encourage their children to have sex." Jade said, smirking.

"Wow, apparently I'm not like other mothers." Ann said, looking at the wall. "Sweetheart, I've mothered children with men younger then you are now. That is for their species. Spent a decade among a species that only lived twenty years. That was a mood killer. They died off so fast..."

"Thanks mom," The goth said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, "You always know just what to say."

A couple of days later, Trina got a call from Griffin. "Babe, I just found something wild. Why don't you pop over to where I am so I can show you. It's kinda cool, in a sciency kind of way."

Trina responded with a call of her own, letting her man know she'd be there soon, and for him to get out of sight. Once he let her know he'd done that, she popped in and walked over to see him. "This way. You'll never believe what I found in this old building."

"Where are we anyways?" The Latina asked. "I'm not familiar with this part of the city."

"Sand Diego." The handsome boy replied. He was leading her into what seemed like and old warehouse. "This place isn't like most warehouses. It's a bunch of small spaces that people would rent to warehouse their stuff. I originally thought there would be like tunnels from Mexico in here, but apparently it's too far even for the drug dealers."

"So thats why you were exploring here?" The Inhuman asked, not sure she liked the dark, closed in place.

"Yea." He said with an almost distant voice. "In here. The place looks deserted, but it's still being used. Rented out. Of course, most of the people who use it are looking for a place to temporally store whatever as they jog over to Mexico or back. Not a lot of call for long term storage here when modern storage places are available with better security. Place is usually fairly deserted." They'd reached a decent sized room, maybe twenty by twenty. Only the room was mostly filled with a large, circular construction of metal mesh and wires, eighteen foot diameter. The door to this "Room" was open. "Go in. It's in this strange room. The shape has something to do with containing this thing."

Trina felt uneasy with the request, even as she noticed the odd markings and runes that decorated the strange construction. But she walked into the room, and through the door. As soon as she did, four men emerged from the space directly across from this one and rushed in after them, slamming the door to the odd circular room closed. The men seemed to threaten Griffin, so Trina leaped to his defense. But as soon as she got to him and tried to pop out, she found she didn't move.

"Sorry babe, but orders say you stay." Griffin told her. Then to the men. "Minimum force. I want her as intact as possible. If your nice, I'll get you something, or someone, later."

The men advanced on Trina, each shifting slightly. She'd seen some of these changes before, as they assumed animal like forms and abilities. Griffin just smiled in the background. "Griffin, whats happening? Why are you doing this?" The hero asked.

"Cause your friends are all busy, so they won't notice you missing for a while. And by the time they do, you're sister will be the next to fall into our hands." He said, smiling. "Rex sends his regards."

:}

Don't you love a cliffhanger? What will Trina do now? How will they save her? What is a Faraday cage? (A structure that blocks radio waves and electricity from passing through.) And will Jade look good with black toenails? The answer to these questions, and maybe the chance to see what I forgot, will be discussed in the next exciting chapter.

So, thoughts? review, and let me know.