Trina's Return

Disclaimer: Do not own Victorious or CSI

A/N:

Chapter 21 (Champion of the Vega Family)

Trina and DB were hurrying back to the hotel, as they got an urgent call from Charlie saying the kids had gotten out. They went back to the hotel, so they were safe, which allowed them to finish off the last half hour of their work before they could leave. When prompted, Charlie said he fell asleep and woke up to find the kids gone, he was freaking out and running through every single hallway in the hotel looking for them. Eventually he went back to the room to find Megan and Joshua waiting on the bed for him.

Which of course meant they took one of the three card keys they had, a card key per adult member of the family. DB and Trina only took one whenever they had to get to the crime lab. "When I get to the hotel, those kids are going to be in so much trouble!" She spent the last half hour of work anxious and scared out of her mind, so when the work day ended, she bolted out those doors.

"Just relax, Charlie said they are safe." She knew they were safe, but that didn't make her feel any less frightened for them. She had to see them first. Her heart was racing and the adrenaline was rushing through her body. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel firmly and she pushed down on the accelerator just as a streetlight was turning yellow.

"I'm a mother, I'm going to worry until I see my kids!" She parked her car in the hotel parking lot upon arrival and rushed from the car, DB actually had to walk faster to keep up with her. She heard him say something about being an old man, so she slowed down just a whisker.

"That's not much help, Trina!" She knew he'd been gravely worried about the children too, but the difference here was he knew they were safe so his anxiety wasn't as high. It didn't help that she'd never been one to be calm throughout anything in her life, she didn't have her father-in-law's patience. She had the patience of a Vega, and that wasn't much. Many, many suspects she grilled saw that as true. Trina flipped her hair over her shoulder and quickly glanced back at him.

"Then walk faster."

"I'm jogging. Now what's your husband going to say when you give his father a heart attack?"

"Not going to happen." He chuckled as she stopped to hold the door open for him.

Once in the hotel room, she rushed to her two children who were on the edge of their bed and threw her arms around them, hugging them close, relieved to see they were actually okay. "Thank god you two are safe." Charlie was standing with his back against the wall and his arms crossed. Trina looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "How long were you asleep, Charlie?"

"Probably about an hour. I dozed off. I didn't think the kids would run off."

"We got a time out," Megan muttered. "Daddy gave us the riot act and told us we should not run off like that. We're sorry, Momma. Also, don't be mad at Joshua, I dragged him along. He didn't think it was a good idea to go."

"It's okay baby, and he's right! You know better than that, Megan." Trina stepped back and folded her arms over her chest, contemplating what punishment she could give them. She didn't want to send them or Charlie back home. Plus, the only people back home would be their grandma and Aunt Maya, both of whom would spoil them to death anyway. Not to mention, Maya's second child, Michael, who was off doing whatever he felt like in the world. The kid literally turned eighteen and decided to 'trot the globe'. "We will talk punishment and consequences when we get home, but until further notice, you are not to leave this hotel room without either me, your father, or your grandfather. Do you understand?"

"Yes momma."

She knelt down and reached up, brushing her daughter's hair back and looking into her eyes, "I don't want to lose you two. My greatest fear is something happening to you and your brother. If something were to happen, I would be devastated."

"We didn't go far. Just down the street-"

"Into a bad neighborhood," Charlie stated. Trina flinched, almost ready to ask how bad of a neighborhood it was. Then she remembered, this was LA, every neighborhood was a 'bad' one. That being said, if someone claimed a neighborhood was bad, then it was worse than the norm. Crime rates weren't getting any better. She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly.

"What…could be so important…that you would worry your parents like that and go wondering off into a strange neighborhood in a town you've never lived in before? Megan, do you know how dangerous LA is? You could have been abducted the minute you stepped out of the hotel doors! That's how bad it is. I know you love to explore, but Megan…it isn't safe here."

Megan wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled her knees to her chest. Joshua looked over at her with a frown. "Hey Mom?" The young girl tapped her foot on the bed and started to smile. "Did our ancestors really come from a long line of police and knights?" Trina raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth, but she was too speechless to think of a response. How would Megan even know that? "Ancestor Francis Alejandro was a guard for King Phillip the fifth? Spain? Is that true?"

"Um…yes sweetie, that is true…" She remembered hearing about her heritage from her father, it was for a school assignment. Their teacher asked what they aspired to be and somehow the project got turned into a heritage assignment. Trina already knew her dad, grandpa, and great grandfather had worked in the criminal justice system, and that's why she wanted to be a cop as well. When she asked her dad, he pulled both her and Tori into the room to talk about their ancestry. She found it so fascinating that she actually wrote down everything he said and researched it all.

"Could you tell me and Josh more about our ancestors, please?"

"I don't know if they're my ancestors," Josh said while bowing his head. Trina gasped and sat in between the two children, putting her arms around their shoulders.

"Of course they are, Joshua." He looked up to her with arched eyebrows. She ran her fingers through his short hair and gave him a pleasant smile. "As long as you're a part of this family, they're your ancestors too. Now…let's see what I can remember…"

Interested as well, Charlie and DB moved to the edge of the middle bed. Trina pushed herself back against the headboard, her two children climbed up to her sides and curled beneath her arms. Humming lightly, she recalled all the heritage info her father had told her, and the research on her ancestry she'd done throughout the last twenty years.

"Francis Alejandro was indeed a guard for King Phillip V, who ruled Spain from 1700 to 1724. But our ancestry tree goes far beyond him. The earliest ancestor I ever researched that started out as a knight dates back to the late 1400s and early 1500s, before Spain was actually formed. One of the countries, Aragon, had a Queen, Isabela, Queen of Castile who married Ferdinand the Catholic. They hired a pauper off the streets-"

"Pauper? You mean like a poor person?"

"Yes. Miguel Alejandro, born in Aragon around 1480. Queen Isabela and King Ferdinand needed a guard for some trip they were making outside of the country. As story goes, they had a wager going on that Isabela couldn't choose any random person and make them into a lasting guard. As such, she chose the scrawniest, the poorest, penniless beggar that she found. She spent much time training him to fight, to serve and protect, and he became their chief guard on this trip outside the country. He proved very loyal, and lasted throughout the trip, which was said to be five months in length. He saved their lives countless times!"

"Really?" Megan's eyes were wide and full of delight and admiration, Joshua had a look of awe on his face. Trina was happy to see how interested they were in their ancestry. This was how her family got their start! "Grand Ancestor Miguel Alejandro…Knight for the King and Queen! But when was it Spain?"

"Not until their grandson, King Charles the V. He would conquer many lands and unite a new world, Spain. He united Castile, Aragon, and León, ruling all three at the same time. Miguel's son and grandson had been brought up as knights, having been promised a place in the kingdom by Isabela and Ferdinand. And so it would remain all the way from the first King of Spain, Charles, to King Phillip the V, that our ancestors would be a part of the royal guards."

"So what happened?"

"Well, the idea was that all male children would be members of the guard or the knighthood. Francis Alejandro didn't have a male child." Megan gasped and cupped her hand over her mouth while Joshua's jaw fell towards the ground. Teresa, Leta, and Chiquita Alejandro…we are descended from Leta. Chiquita, if I remember correctly passed away in early childhood. Teresa…faded away into obscurity, Dad says no one really ever knew what happened to her."

"Oh…"

"Well, as it turns out, King Phillip the fifth let his son take over, until death in 1724, and he had to retake the throne after that." She thought Leta had been known to guard the wife of King Phillip. "I believe our ancestor, Leta, was hired by his spouse to guard her, and when Leta married our ancestor, Javier Vega, King Phillip was more than happy to bring him up as a guard."

"Wow…so how long did we work for the royalty after that?" Megan and Joshua were sitting upright now. Trina had all but forgotten that they ran off without supervision, but she was too into the heritage to worry about it. Of course, that wasn't going to last long. She had a sinking suspicion about where and how Megan had been informed about this history. She didn't like it, it made her angry, and she was not going to take this lightly. "Did we always work with them?"

"In 1808, I remember this exactly, Napoleon Bonaparte had a grave mistrust of King Ferdinand, a different Ferdinand obviously than the one I mentioned before. He took that King as well as his father, and thrust them off the throne, putting his son, Joseph Bonaparte as the next King of Spain. In doing this, our ancestor, Julian and Sara, and their son Enrique and his wife, Isabel Vega died protecting the castle from the soldiers stationed in Spain. Their children, our ancestors, were once again thrust out of the castle. The eldest son, Damien became a soldier in the years to come, his children followed, and their children did the same. I believe in King Ferdinand rescinded to the throne in 1813, but Spain became a republic some time later."

"So…no more guards? No more knights?"

"Nope, but even better, they still sought to serve and protect. Our ancestor, Jaime Vega, about the time of the Spanish-American war in 1898, didn't see things as going well in Spain. He took his family, and they came to America, where he got a job as a constable. Ever since then, our ancestors have been police officers, detectives, lawmen of all trades." She puffed her chest out proudly and winked at her children, "And your own mama is a crime scene investigator. Of course, as you know, your grandfather on my side was a police officer."

"Wow! I never knew things were so great!" Megan hugged her tight and Trina started to smirk.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you running off, young lady." Megan sank down and Joshua groaned. "Now the only way you would have even thought to ask about your ancestor is if my own father told you…" DB and Charlie lifted their eyebrows and Megan winced, caught red handed. "Do you have something to tell me, Megan?" Megan bowed her head and her shoulders dropped down. Trina exhaled slowly, she wouldn't be as angry if Megan told her the truth. "Did you go seeking out your grandfather somehow?"

"We looked at a hotel phone book…we found Aunt Tori and Uncle Andre listed…they actually live down the street."

She paused, her heart stopping dead in its tracks. "What?"

"Their house is literally down this road." Megan pointed out the window and looked up into her eyes. "Just a ways down, not very far, but it is through a bad neighborhood." She couldn't believe what she was hearing, her sisterlived down the road. She didn't want to hear, she didn't want to believe that she'd chosen a hotel so close to her family. "Aunt Tori and Grandpa Vega live there with Uncle Andre and cousin Katrina."

"Katrina? The girl you met at the beach?"

"Yes momma." She clenched her eyes shut and put her hand to her forehead, groaning as she absorbed the information. Not only had Tori been on the beach that same day, but she married Andre Harris?

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. She really is still tied to them? Shit."

"Granddad Vega said Aunt Tori was mixing again with Cat, Jade, and Beck…" Her eyes flew skyward and she sank back against the pillows and headboard. Those names were like poison to her. She couldn't believe her sister was still with them! She remembered what her kids had said about Katrina's father and lifted her hand over her mouth, realizing that this father was Andre. So not only was Tori mixing with three of the worst people Trina ever had the humiliation of meeting, but she was in a marriage with an angry drunk.

"Great…" Her heart went out to Tori, but she still didn't want to get involved with the girl. Not now, not ever. "I don't want you getting too close, okay? I don't trust them one minute…especially not if Andre is an alcoholic."

"But-"

"You heard me, Megan." Megan sighed and Joshua shrugged his shoulders. She could see the disappointment in their eyes and looked up to her husband and father-in-law. They didn't seem all that thrilled with the idea either. Perhaps it was best to capitulate, she didn't have to see Tori ever again if she didn't want to. She didn't have to face up with her past, but that didn't mean her daughter couldn't, did it? She closed her eyes and let out a defeated sigh. She was willing to go against her better judgment, why, she didn't know. "Okay. I don't know how long we're going to be stuck here in LA, so until we go to Vegas…" Trina lifted one finger and her kids looked up at her. "One hour. I'll give you one hour on whatever day you decide that you want to see your aunt. You can see your aunt and your grandfather on three different days of the week, no more than that, for one hour on each of those days."

"Really Momma?"

"Yes. However, your dad has to be with you." She opened her eyes and put her hands to the top of Megan's arms, gazing with a slight smile in her daughter's happy gaze. "Does that sound fair?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. I'm going to place another rule, I don't want you talking too much about me. Okay? They don't need to know everything about what I've been up to."

"Okay Momma."

Trina looked over to Charlie and pressed her lips together. He gave her a smile and she closed her eyes, breathing out softly. "Charlie, you all right with this? Also, if you see Andre there, or if he ever comes home, I want you to take the children and leave. They are not to see their uncle under any circumstances." Megan and Joshua frowned and Charlie nodded, it was only fair. She was thinking most of their health and best interests, she didn't want Andre drunk in their presence to where he might become aggressive and hurt them. "Megan, Joshua, if your father tells you it's time to go, you listen. Okay?"

"We will, Momma, promise."

"Good. I know I can count on you two."

She knew she wasn't doing this for Tori or her father, she was only doing this for her children. As for their uncle, well she had to make sure they would be safe and remain safe. She didn't trust Andre for a lick, she never trusted him and certainly wasn't about to start. He may have always been the level headed one, or one of those level headed ones, but he was still one of the members of that group that did her wrong.

Well, what are your thoughts? They're not out of trouble for running off, but at least they'll be allowed to see their aunt and grandpa, under the right circumstances