Nowhere to Run

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:


Chapter 28 (Moving On)

The minute Trina stepped into the station that Allison worked at, she felt a powerful energy around her. The walls were lined with décor and achievements related to law enforcement, and she was amazed to see wall of heroes on her right.

She felt like someone that just stepped foot into paradise. She took a deep breath to quiet the nervous quivering of her heart, then approached the woman at the front desk. "Hi…" It took a moment to keep from stuttering, and the fanfare of trumpets in her head certainly weren't helping her.

The lady looked up at her with a smile and leaned away from the papers she was working on. "Welcome to the BPD, May I help you?"

"My name is Katrina Vega, I'm here to see Allison Rodgers." The woman's friendly smile grew and she pointed down a brightly lit hallway.

"Right down there, ma'am."

"Thank you."

Finding Allison wasn't an issue after that; her desk was one of the first in the large room she entered into. Trina had to take a single deep breath to swallow her nerves, then approached the woman with a smile.

The woman gave her attention as she approached, smiling pleasantly. "Trina, how are you?"

"Good, thank you." On the right side of Allison's desk was a folded police uniform, ready to be worn. Her heart skipped a note and her eyes drifted to the woman. "How are you getting by after the wreck?"

"I'm making it. I still have a bit of a limp and some internal bruising, but I'm here." Allison seemed to be a strong woman, someone Trina could model herself after. "They asked if I wanted some time away from work, but I couldn't stay away." She folded her hands over a sheet of paper and raised her eyebrows. "How is your father?"

"Dad couldn't be held down by anything. He's doing just fine."

"Glad to hear it." Allison picked up the uniform and stood up. Trina's eyes connected with the woman's and she straightened her posture. "I hope you understand that by working here, it will be your job while you attend your classes. You won't be working as a bouncer or a stripper any longer at this point."

"I understand, and I'm ready."

"There are certain hoops we have to jump through, first." She pursed her lips and brought her hand up to her neck. "Since you will be attending school, and you said you wanted to be a homicide detective, it's going to take a while for you to get to that point. So, you'll be shadowing me."

"Okay."

"The hours aren't easy, and the job isn't stress free by any means, but I think you know that." She nodded and watched eagerly as Allison's lips curved upwards. "The pay is good and if your heart is in the right place, you'll be great at this job." Allison extended the uniform to her and Trina's gaze fell towards it.

For a moment the uniform appeared to glow, with its aura evaporating everything near it. Trina brought up one hand, resting it gently on the soft fabric. Her hand started to tremble and her head lifted for her eyes to meet with Allison.

The woman spoke softly and with a proud, confident look in her eyes. "You're going to be great."

"Thank you for this opportunity. Still, I…don't even know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Trina nodded and took the uniform into her hands. Her fingers gripped the uniform with a firm but gentle hold, as if it would fly away from her if she didn't hold on to it. "Your father recommended you not only to me, but to my supervisors. He says he taught you everything he knows."

"Dad? Of course he did." She let out a sigh and curled up her lips. "I'll remember to thank him"

"Good. Now, change into your uniform and let's go." She pressed her lips together and tilted her head to the right. Allison put her hands to her hips and nodded to the right. "I'll take you to the lockers. We have to report to a crime scene that was called in tonight. This is that crime scene I told you I wanted to take you on."

"Okay."

"These are never easy. You'll see plenty as you progress into your career, that is why you have to be able to stay strong. You can never truly prepare for walking into a crime scene…"

Minutes later they made their way to a secluded location taped off by the police. It wasn't far from Jason's neighborhood. She was surprised by the location, but even more surprised when the vehicle found in the alley looked strangely familiar to her.

Officers were standing around, talking about the scene of the crime. Trina braced herself for the body, sucking in a deep breath and clenching her muscles while following behind Allison. "What do we have?" She asked. Allison looked over her shoulder and pointed to the car.

"Victim is unidentified. He's been dead approximately a week. Tech's are running the plates to see if they can match it."

She walked up to the car and held her breath while peering into the back windshield. The victim could be made out with the back of his head slumped forward, and a long utensil sticking out from the side of his neck.

The closer Trina got to the vehicle, the more she could make out of the scene. "The attack looks personal," she said upon seeing a gunshot wound to the back of the man's head. "Stabbed and shot." She pulled her hands to her hips and looked around the area, remembering something her father used to say about crime scenes a long time ago. "Given the location, I suspect the victim was made to drive here. He wouldn't be back here on his own. The suspect must have been hiding in the back seat."

"Good thinking." She grinned momentarily, then approached the driver's side. There, the grisly sight made her stomach flip and she had to look away for a second. Her muscles tightened and her hand moved up to her stomach. Allison stepped beside her and set a hand to her shoulder. "Feeling sick?"

"A bit."

"It's normal, so don't worry. It never gets easier, but you become accustomed, in a way, of seeing the deceased." A knot formed in her throat and she slowly turned back to the body.

knife sticking in between his neck, collarbone, and shoulder. His head was leaning to the left, away from the knife, and bent forward. A gunshot wound was present on the back of his head, and on the front passenger seat was a small snub-nosed pistol.

When Trina saw the man's face, she froze. The color in her began to vanish into a ghostly white color. Her hands flew to her mouth and she doubled over, holding back the swirl of bile in her stomach threatening to spew from her.

Allison pat her on the back and furrowed her brow. "That's a strong reaction."

"I know this guy." She put her hands to her knees, heaving and shaking her head. "Keith Martinez. Duke's son…" Allison turned her eyes back to the car and Trina rose up slowly. She extended her hand, pointing to the body. "That man's been stalking my sister for the past four years."

"Damn."

She couldn't tell who would have done this, but it was a horrible scene. As a whole it was nice to know he wouldn't bother them anymore, but like Duke, she wouldn't have wished murder on the man. "What is going on?" She whispered under her breath. "First Duke, now Keith? Do we need to start looking harder for Jorge?"

"What was that?"

Trina swept her hand through her hair and turned away from Keith's vehicle. "I'm not sure if it's related or not, but this man's father was murdered about a week ago."

"I know about that. An arrest has been made, so I don't know how related the two would be." Allison turned her attention down the alley and straightened her posture.

When Trina looked down and saw Jade, her heart grew still. The moon created a bluish aura around the girl, giving her the appearance of a vampire in the night. "Jade?" Her hands started to tremble, and a sudden spark of concern swept through her. "That's Jade West. Keith murdered her husband and put her friend in a coma that he hasn't awakened from."

"Oh, I see."

Jade's head was downcast and her eyes slid upwards beneath the long bangs and peered at the car through the gaps in her hair. "I wasn't expecting you to be here," the girl said outright. Trina pulled her hand up over her heart and watched as Jade made her approach. "I'd like to confess to murder…"

Her eyes widened and all of time seemed to cease as Jade turned her head up. She could feel sweat forming on the back of her neck and felt her knees starting to buckle. "Jade no, tell me you didn't. Tori-"

"Doesn't have to know."

Her heart broke for the girl; she'd just given Trina the answer. She turned away and clenched her eyes, holding back her emotion. "I won't lie to my sister." She took a deep breath and motioned to the car. "What do you know about this?"

"I killed him. I knew he wasn't going to stop, and he already took everything from me. I stole his gun and his bowie knife, I stalked him and hid in the back of the car, then forced him to come to this alley where I killed him. I killed him for Beck, for Andre, and I killed him so he would leave Tori alone."

"Jade…you just threw your life away, and for what?"

"Beck is dead. You and Tori lived your lives in hell because of Keith, and now he's dead. I don't care what happens to me now."

Allison stepped in front of Trina, so she took another step back and bowed her head. "I won't make you make this arrest," Allison whispered to her. Jade turned around and put her hands behind her back. Another officer led Jade to a patrol car and Allison looked sorely at Trina. "Hey…"

Trina raised her head and feigned a smile as Allison put her hand to her shoulder. "What?"

"I'm sorry. Why don't you go home to your family? You're too close to this case. You do need to see how booking goes and questioning, but you can do that on your second day."

"I'll be fine. Really."

"I believe that, but if I remember something your father was discussing, I think you need to be with your family right now after this. Don't force yourself to sit and watch an old friend of yours go through this. I'll get you started on a different case."

A sore chuckle fell from her lips. "Do I have a choice?" She put her hand to the back of her neck and watched as Allison's lips spread into a sly smile and her eyelids dropped halfway.

"No."

Arriving back home, she found Jason and David sitting together on the couch. The television was on, but Jason was reading and David was browsing through a newspaper.

Jason stood up when he saw her and she fell into his arms, letting her knees bend slightly as though she were letting him pick her up. "Trina, I thought you were working until later? What's wrong?"

"Allison sent me home for the night." She wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked towards David, who was folding up the paper. "Where's Tori?" She heard a couple footsteps behind her and turned around to see her sister leaving the bathroom.

"I'm right here, we were all watching this sitcom." Tori crossed her arms and lifted her shoulders. "Well, I was watching it anyway, Jason's more interested in his book, and Dad's trying to do a crossword." Trina raised an eyebrow and Tori smirked at David. "Way to rock the retired old man vibe, Dad."

"I haven't gotten there yet," David chuckled, "Not until I've begun demanding grandkids." Trina's eyebrows rose sharply and a light shade of pink appeared on Jason's face. Tori laughed and motioned at the couple.

"Bug them about that, not me. I'm not getting into any relationships anytime soon." Trina stepped away from Jason and met her father's eyes.

"Dad, you know the other night you said I need to never let stress stay inside and to talk to my family?" David nodded once and pressed his lips together. Trina took Tori's hand and led her to the couch. "There's only so much I can say about an investigation, but the case we started to night, I've been pulled off."

"Why?"

"Because I'm too close." She sat down next to the corner section of the couch, and Tori sat on the other side. Trina tucked the lower corner of her lip beneath her teeth and gazed into Tori's wide and confused gaze. "First, there was a crime scene called in. Keith was found murdered in his car." Tori's hand tore away from Trina's and pulled over her mouth.

"There's more, isn't there?"

"Yeah, and I'm not sure how to say it." She puffed her upper body out a bit and dropped her head. Jade's face was frozen into her brain; she had the look of a woman who had given up. "Tori, I don't want you to feel responsible for this in any way, okay?"

Tori's face fell and Trina could see the anxiety creeping into the girl's eyes. Legally, there was only so much Trina could say. Specifics weren't allowed, or at the very least, she wasn't allowed to divulge information that could be problematic in some way.

"Tori, Jade was arrested." Tori's eyes grew and her hand began to shake.

"W-What?"

"She was there. She said she did it. I can't go into details about the crime, and really, I think that's all I can do." All of the energy in the room faded, and Tori fell back in the cushion with a heavy sigh.

"Why?"

"She said it was because of Beck." Beck was only half the reason, but she knew Tori enough to know she'd never forgive herself if she said Jade also did it for her. "Tori, I'm sorry."

"No don't be." Tears began to slide down Tori's cheeks. The girl folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. "I should have known something was going to happen when I found out they were following him."

"I don't even know if the fact that he can't hurt you anymore is good news." She gently caressed Tori's hair, sliding her hand down the front side of it. Tori's eyes flicked up at her and tensed.

"I'm not sorry he's dead, I'm just sorry he killed Beck and put Andre in a coma. I'm only sorry Jade's going to prison for being the one to kill him. After all these years, I wish she and the others would have stayed away from me."

"Tori, you can't blame yourself."

"Why not? It is my fault, isn't it?" Tori uncrossed her arms and motioned to her. "You would have a great life right now if it wasn't for me. I'm sure if I never met Keith, I'd be in good shape too."

"I think the point is, none of that matters anymore." Tori's brow furrowed and Trina reached around her, then pulled her into a subtle embrace. "We can move on. We can live our lives. Both of us have been given opportunities to do that."

"No, I'm ready to move on. I just need to process everything." A slow smile grew on the girl's face. Tori took Trina's hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. "I'm ready to move on. What about you?"

"Yeah." Tears of joy welled up in her eyes and she smiled back at her. "I think I'm ready to do the same." Even if Keith and Duke were still a problem, they could find a way to move on. All that was left was Jorge, but she didn't expect him to be a problem. "We can move on together, Tori. All of us."

"Great." Tori exhaled and closed her eyes. "That's great. As long as we don't have to worry anymore."

"We don't, not anymore." It was a long time coming, but now they could finally start to be happy again.


Looks like things really are starting to look up. Jorge's the only one left, but he's essentially no trouble. The girls are finally ready to start moving forward for good.