Targeted

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 26 (Growing Threats)

"Honestly, I'm surprised you would ally with her." Andre and Gary sat across from Beck at Gary's table, they pointed to the girl leaning cross-armed against a nearby wall. Beck's lips pressed firmly against each other and he breathed in slowly through his nostrils. "Tiffany, right?"

"Yeah," he exhaled softly, "That's her. It's only for a moment, she truly wants to save Jade and feels particularly responsible for her." Gary folded his right hand over his left, patting it twice before bowing down his head.

"I know you know the story, Jade would have confided it into you, but-"

"That's why I was hesitant, why she didn't reveal herself to me at first." He couldn't explain what it was, if Tiffany had some sort of urge for retribution or wanted to seek out Jade's forgiveness; or perhaps she just simply wanted to see her sister alive. "I know Jade hates her, and she knows it well too I'm sure; but she's expressed that what she did to her was more than just wrong. She was mislead and deceived-"

"Deceived or not, drugged or not, she still made the choice to damage her family." Andre snapped his fingers and started to rise a bit out of his seat. Beck acknowledged this, he knew Tiffany was in no way admonished for her sins. "She murdered her own mother, brought Jade close to death who knows how many times, and nearly killed her dad."

Someone cleared their throat and Beck turned to see Tiffany pushing herself off the wall. Her eyes were narrow, but revealing an ancient pain. "Talk about me like I'm not standing right here," she said roughly, "If you've something to say to me, say it to my face."

Beck silenced himself, tensing up as the girl marched over to the table. She leaned over it, slamming her palms down on the surface. She appeared larger than all of them, towering so high above. "I know what my crimes were. I don't expect any sort of forgiveness or atonement for my deeds. The last time I spoke to my father, I was in prison, and I don't expect he or Jade want anything more to do with me. I'm not going to pretend like they're just going to sweep me back into their arms, I'm no idiot."

She snarled at them, the pain in her eyes replaced with anger. "I hurt Jade far more than any child should ever be, all for drugs and false dreams of wealth and status." Tiffany's hands started to shake, her fingers curling slowly beneath her palms. "Mari wasn't going to let up until they were dead, and I hesitated." She growled. "That one moment of hesitation let my father strike me over the head with some object, let me get arrested, caused Mari to shun me like I didn't exist. I lost everything, but do I care? No." She raised her arm, pointing outwards. Her voice bellowed with great force and shook them like that of an earthquake. "And once more Jade's victim to Mari's family? I won't rest until she's out of their fucking hands. I won't let them hurt my sister anymore."

Tiffany moved her hand to her chest. "When I was the cause of every pain, every nightmare, every moment of grief that girl had…I didn't think about it until I was put in prison. Every time she cried, I forced myself to turn away. I forced myself to ignore it; but when I was in prison I had nothing to help me force it out." Beck looked down, his eyes growing heavy and his heart began to sink. "I remembered every terrorized look on her face, and even the final look on my dad's face before he hit me over the head."

"What look was that?" Beck asked.

"Hate. Anger. Grief." She removed her hood for the first time, revealing her short black hair feathering out at her jawline. She closed her eyes and Beck saw the scars etched all along her face. Scars either from drugs or from fights that she got into over the years, each one bearing a story of its own. "I was no longer his daughter, he didn't have to say it for me to know it. He was protecting the one daughter he had…I'd never seen his expression so fierce, like a lion getting ready to take out his prey. I was nothing, I am nothing."

"Wow." He shook his head slowly, remembering every time he was around Mr. West. The man never spoke of his wife or his eldest child, and as distant as he seemed to be, he always seemed to be eyeballing him and Jade with a great sense of protectiveness. Beck supposed he never quite understood it, but now it all seemed so clear. "You talked to him in prison, right? That's how you found out about Mari and who she was?"

"I cannot tell you how that felt." Tiffany stood upright, her knuckles turning white and her lips pulling back into a grimace. Beck could see her cracked and chipped teeth, and for the first time he noticed the bags under her eyes. "Being told that the person who manipulated me for so long once dated my father and everything I had done was because she herself wanted revenge on him. Of course, she used his daughter to do it all…I hated her, I wanted nothing but revenge on her, to see her suffer-to make her realize all the pain and suffering she caused my family."

"Did you ever apologize for your actions?"

"My father wouldn't hear of it." She scoffed. "I was dead to him. Disowned. I know he said if I ever got out, that I was to stay as far away from him and from Jade as humanly possible." She rolled her eyes and shot him a powerful glare. "How exactly do you apologize for all of that, Beckett? 'I'm sorry I killed mom and caused my little sister more pain and misery than she'll ever feel in her life and possibly never get over'." Beck frowned, turning away as he realized the stupidity of his statement. "An older sister protects her younger siblings. She takes care of the little ones, not damage them irreparably for the rest of their life."

"That is true."

"As I agreed-" She turned to him and leaned forward a bit, her hand landed on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. "Once we've gotten her out, I will fade away. I won't make any attempts to talk to her, I won't make any attempts to talk to my father-who would more than likely call the detective over here if I stepped within the vicinity of him." She rolled her eyes and Gary acknowledged the statement with a brisk nod. "I will leave. Jade will never have to see me again, lest she relieve every painful moment again. However…"

"Why did I feel a 'but' coming on?" He sighed and glanced down, but the moment he did that, Tiffany swept a hand under his chin and lifted his head upwards to return his gaze to hers. "Yes?"

"If you ever let anything happen to her again." She started to hiss, Beck's eyes grew wide as a new fear spread through his body. "If you ever harm her in any way, shape or form…" She growled lowly, a new fire starting in her eyes. "You will see me again, and I will be your enemy, not your friend."

She did not have to clarify what was meant with those words. While not a clear, direct threat, he knew best that he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her rage. "I would never do anything to hurt her."

"Like dumping her cause you couldn't deal with her jealousy?" He frowned as she pulled her hand away from his chin and scoffed. "Which, by the way, was just her gut telling her something wasn't right with this Tori chick…who just so happens to be your enemy right now, is she not?"

"Y-Yeah."

"And now, because you allowed this person into your circle, Jade has been abducted and betrayed by the very person meant to be a friend." He grimaced and Andre stood up, raising his voice a bit.

"Hey now, that's not fair." Tiffany turned her head to Andre, raising an eyebrow at him. The man flinched in response to the woman's half-lidded gaze and started to stammer. "I mean, don't you think he feels responsible already? It wasn't his fault, he didn't know. None of us knew."

"She's right man." Beck leaned back in the chair, slowly shaking his head. His voice trembled as every breath fell away from his lips with swiftness. "No, she's right. I should have listened when Jade said she didn't like Tori." Jade had her ways of telling when someone wasn't right. In this case it was harder to discern because Beck just assumed she was being jealous; but she didn't act the same way with Tori that she did around women she was genuinely jealous of. "What she's been through, she has a way of reading people. She always told me something didn't feel right about Tori, that she didn't trust her, something was off."

"Yeah but man, she thought Tori was going to steal you."

"And she tried to, didn't she?" He raised his head to Andre, remembering how Tori was so soon after Jade had been kidnapped. "But that's beside the point. What really matters is that when Jade felt jealous, she would get between me and that girl no matter what. She didn't do that as much with Tori."

"No…"

"Instead, she just let the interactions happen, let her join us and hang out. Of course she didn't like Tori, always insulting her and treating her like shit, but she would tell me things that she didn't feel comfortable with…she was trying to tell me something wasn't right, and I didn't pick up on it. So I am responsible. This is my fault, one way or another."

"You can't go back," Gary said calmly. His quiet tone resonated with Beck, drawing his gaze. "You can't change the past, there's no sense in it. Same for you, Miss West." Tiffany frowned at him and her eyes darted away. "Maybe you can't atone, or feel like you can't; but let the past be where the past belongs."

Beck shifted uncomfortably and watched as both Andre and Tiffany sat down at the table. They looked somewhat like scolded children, taking a lesson from their teacher in humility.

Gary reached out for his coffee mug, his fingers gently caressing the handle. "You can shape the future by focusing on the present moment. Right now, what is present are the threats all around us…" He lifted the mug to his lips, taking a prolonged sip. Beck felt his heartbeat increasing in speed as he remembered the current situation. Gary soon lowered the mug and looked Beck in the eyes, captivating him in the moment.

"Jade is in danger, Miss Valentine is becoming a threat of her own, though I'm not sure how much based on Robbie's words alone, the Sidero family is poised to take over this entire country." The detective set his mug back on the table, crossed his arms and his eyes moved gently between the trio. "Do you think we have time in the present to argue over the past? Do you think David, Tori, Katrina, or any of those we're fighting against care about our past actions?"

Raising his gaze up, Beck started to shake his head. Andre and Tiffany exchanged glances, with Andre pouting a bit and Tiffany's sternness appearing to fade. The detective cleared his throat gently and shook his head.

"The world moves forward, our enemies press onward, and the longer we linger and focus on what we've done that we cannot change, the stronger they become. In the present, you must stay vigilant, because the moment you let your guard down, the enemy wins."

Beck opened his mouth to speak, agreeing with Gary wholeheartedly; but Robbie came bursting into the room before anyone could react. "We have a problem," Robbie announced, "We have to get to the retirement center now!"

With that, they were gone. The urgency in Robbie's voice bade them to forget about their conversation for the moment. When they arrived, they saw Nona Valentine being lifted onto a stretcher by the paramedics.

Officers stood around the scene, which was undisturbed. Beck approached the body and furrowed his brow as he studied her. Her lips were blue and puffy. Robbie stepped alongside him, his entire body trembling.

"What happened here?" He heard Gary ask another officer. The officer responded with a grim tone.

"It looks like poisoning."

"Cat was here, Beck." Robbie raised a hand over his mouth and closed his eyes. "She poisoned her grandmother." Beck wasn't so sure, especially with the things that Sam and Freddie's people were saying about the carnage she was causing. In both Russia and Ireland, the carnage was far more devastating than simple poison.

"From what everyone says, I would expect a lot more blood coming from Cat."

"Yeah, but this is her family. Her grandmother's not defenseless or weak, but still there's more to it…This was passionate." Robbie extended a small sheet of paper to him. "Found this on the nightstand beside Nona's recliner." Beck looked to the nightstand and frowned at the full cup of coffee. Beside it was a small vial of some substance he didn't recognize.

Beck opened the note, instantly recognizing Cat's handwriting. "Grandma, I am sorry that things have to be this way." His heart sank slowly and his hand trembled over the lower half of his face. "But you're the head of this family, you are the reason this family is the way it is. Or, your parents were, maybe even theirs; but you must pay for a life of criminality. For what I've become. I will make them burn, every last one of them; but for you, it will only be this final drink that you will taste. My gift to you is death."

Gary walked over and grabbed the note from Beck. "I'll be taking that for evidence, Mr. Oliver." The man's eyes drifted to the note and a husky breath escaped his lips. "Shit."

A wave of nausea came over Beck and he stumbled to the side a bit, overcome with grief. He got it now, what Gary had been saying before, there was no time to worry about the things he could not change when the present was getting so out of control.

Cat was now active in LA, and there was no way of knowing whose side she might benefit, or if she was on her own side now. Any attempt to confront or contact her may end poorly. "Think she'll stop?" He asked while turning to Tiffany, the only person he could think might have a close guess to how deep the desire for vengeance would be.

Tiffany pressed her lips firmly together and slowly shook her head. "No, unfortunately." He closed his eyes and placed a hand over his stomach. "She's hunting now. She has a mission, and most likely is going to see it through…damn whoever gets in her way…"

So what are your thoughts on everything here? I'm proudest of Gary's speech, though, I like picturing him as sort of that wise and experienced older character that serves as a guide of sorts. So, Cat's probably already crossed that line, who knows how that's going to end, but now the group has to go after her in addition to the Sidero family while her own family is unaware of the danger they're in. Seems we've found more out about the emotions of Jade's sister, whose identity has been confirmed. Beck's hesitant, but at least he's made clear that she is to go away at the end of it all.