The Runaway

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious, or FOP

A/N:

Chapter 21 (Survivor)

Her body trembled as she watched him pull the hammer back on his pistol. A whimper left her throat and fear gripped her heart. Thoughts of Tori pounded her mind, memories of her father and Tori's friends plagued her heart as she gazed down the barrel. "I-I don't want to die…" Seth chuckled darkly and his lips turned into a sick, snakelike grin.

"Fuck that, bitch."

"No. I-I can't die before-"

"Listen to me carefully. I don't care. Okay, so maybe your little sister and her friends are fucked up out of shape since you ran off, but don't forget, you ran away from them. Whether they're sorry or not, it probably doesn't matter to you, so what good would keeping you around do for anyone? Let me finish the job. Now shut the fuck up, I don't want to have to listen to your nauseating voice when I pull this trigger."

Tears ran along her face and she quickly glanced around the room, trying to figure out how she could get out of this situation. She was basically cornered, the only way she could save herself was to kick out his feet, but that would be a dangerous attempt since he was seconds from shooting her. As she closed her eyes, she grimaced thinking of her family.

She would never see them again, never speak with them again, and she would die before ever knowing whether or not her sister and her friends actually felt anything for her. Something she doubted but fought with for so long.

Two shots rang out, but no pain followed. Her eyes flew open and she saw Seth with his eyes full of pain and fear. His body was trembling and his hand was shaking. Blood was seeping from his chest, drenching his body. He fell to his knees, meeting her eyes with his. She panted out her fearful breaths and slowly grasped the bars with her fingers.

"You…don't hold any power over me, Seth…" His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body collapsed onto the floor. Behind her, she could see Chester still cuffed to the bars, his head bowed and eyes closed, a gun rested in his free hand. He must have pulled it from his holster.

In front of her, Magnate was standing with a tiny handgun raised. He was breathing heavily and glaring at Seth's body. He lowered the gun and Trina glared up at him. "Just leave," Magnate muttered under his breath. He began walking to the jail cell, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Just go away…I don't care anymore…"

"What happened?" She picked herself up, trembling in fear as she studied Seth's body. She heard Magnate close the cell door behind him, locking both himself and Chester in the cell. She looked over her shoulder, her eyebrows meshed together as she studied the two men. "Why? Why are you giving up? Why did you shoot him?"

"Just go. Let the police come….I don't care anymore…"

"She's in here!" Someone exclaimed. She looked to the door, gasping out as Sinjin and Timmy ran inside with Vicky close behind. Sinjin threw his arms around her and she released her emotions for him. Timmy was staring at Chester in shock. Vicky rubbed her back and turned a cold glare to the men in the cell.

"It's going to be okay," Sinjin whispered, "We found you. I'll always find you…" Tears ran down her cheeks as she hugged him. Ginger came rushing in and began licking her lower right leg.

"They wanted to kill me…and I…I fought them."

"That's good, I'm glad you're safe Trina."

"I couldn't stop thinking about Tori…about the others back home…" The group led her outside, where the sunlight stabbed her eyes. Sinjin slowly nodded and let her lean back against the wall of the building, she was hugging his coat close to her body. He'd given it to her at some point of time when they arrived. Timmy and Vicky were calling the rest of the police to the area, which was hard since Chester was supposed to be the top guy.

"All that matters is you're safe, Trina."

"But Seth was right, does it matter?" He raised an eyebrow as she buried her face into her hands. "I left them. You may say they care, but I wish…I just wish so badly that I could hear that from them! How am I supposed to believe they care about me when they don't even make an effort to say it!"

"Trina…"

"I know you would never lie to me, Sinjin. I just…I can't stand wishing they would be the ones to tell me." He slowly nodded his head, closing his eyes as a police car drove up. AJ stepped out of it and hurried over, asking Timmy what happened and why they were saying Chester was involved.

This was all too much for Trina, she simply didn't want to have to deal with this anymore. "That'll never happen though, will it Sinjin?" She spoke slowly, trying to regain whatever calmness she had inside of her. "They don't care about me. They never did. All I was, was a joke to them. There's no chance in hell they'd ever say anything to me. It's too much to wish for. To wish they were here, telling me they were wrong." Even Cosmo and Wanda couldn't grant that wish. There was no one in the world to grant it, not even the great fairy Jorgen.

"I can make that happen." Sinjin smirked proudly and the others did a double take. She scoffed at him and hugged his jacket tighter around her body. "All I have to do is tell Tori you're here, say nothing more, and she will come. With her friends, because I do know how they feel."

"Impossible, Sinjin..." She pointed to Cosmo and Wanda, both in human form as usual. "Even those two couldn't make that happen." Sinjin raised an eyebrow and looked to the duo.

"Ok-ay…I'm not sure what that has to do with anything."

"Sorry, I just…I can't think right now, Sinjin." She closed her eyes and put her head to his shoulder, weeping in silence. "Do you think I could have something to drink? Your hot chocolate, maybe?"

"I thought you'd never ask…Let's get you to my place." AJ looked over with a subtle frown.

"I need to get a statement from her, I think," AJ replied. "I'm used to Chester doing all this, but…damn, we've never had anything like this happen…"

"Can she give her statement later? After she rests?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." He looked to Timmy and Vicky, giving them a subtle nod. "You two want to come by?"

"I need to make sure my sister's safe," Vicky responded. Clearly she wasn't going to let Trina out of her sight. Trina was grateful for this, but also a little bit concerned at the same time. She couldn't deal with all the nervousness going on. She just simply wanted this day to be over.

"You guys go on ahead," Timmy replied. He was clearly visibly shaken by the tragedy he was seeing. Was this his first real tragedy? He'd never even known Chester was capable of being involved in something so terrifying. "I'll swing by the hotel room later…" He clenched his eyes and covered them with his hand, "I need to think, I need answers."

Trina reached out to pat him on the shoulder, "It'll be all right Timmy." He met her eyes and smiled sadly. "Thanks for coming after me with them. I'm glad."

At the hotel room, Vicky was helping her to wash up. Her sister was very protective and making sure she was all right. She closed her eyes as she sank in the bathtub, letting the warm jets sooth her pained body. Vicky was sitting on the closed toilet, her arms crossed and her eyes glaring at the door.

Outside, they could hear Sinjin talking on the phone. She knew he was trying to subtly hint to Tori that she was in Dimmsdale. He wasn't a magician, there was no way he was getting Tori or her friends over. He wasn't telling them that she wanted to hear anything from them, he wasn't going to tell them a thing of what she wanted, because that would be prompting.

"There's no way he's getting them here, Vicky."

"Do you really want that?" Trina closed her eyes and moved her head against the edge of the tub, sighing heavily.

"In there…I was terrified. Seth had his gun at my head, telling me I was worthless, that no one would care. I thought of what Sinjin told me and I just…no, I couldn't listen to Seth. I wished I knew the things Sinjin told me were right, that Tori and her friends were really true, were really sorry, and I wish I could hear it from them…"

"You're growing, Trina. This is about you, and you're working on you. I'm proud, I wouldn't have it any other way, Sis. You're not weak, you're not pathetic, you're strong. In fact, what did you tell Seth in those final moments?"

She slowly opened her eyes, gazing down at her body beneath the water. She let out a light sob as she recalled her ordeal. She was happy not being a damsel, happy that she fought and managed to get herself out of there. Even still, she nearly died. "I told him…he didn't control me anymore. He's just a part of the past, I'm not letting him mess with me any longer…"

"That's good. It shows too…" Vicky reached over and gave Trina's hand a light squeeze. "I'm proud of you, Trina." They heard Sinjin call out to them, saying the hot chocolate and the coffee was done cooking. Vicky glanced up, smiling slightly. "Want me to grab you a cup or are you getting out?"

"Grab me a cup, I want to soak a little longer…"

"All right. I think I'm going to get myself some of that coffee of his. Seriously, that stuff is awesome." She laughed lightly as her sister left the bathroom. She splashed her hands into the water and closed her eyes, breathing in slowly. All she could do from this point was just to keep trying to move ahead. Nothing more, nothing less.

Seth will no longer be an issue. What were your thoughts when he died? Perhaps cheers? Well with that being said, be prepared, further conflict to come as Tori and her friends will soon arrive in Dimmsdale. Tell me your thoughts of this chapter!