Chapter Two: Whose Side Are You On

A/N: Wow everyone! Thank you SO much to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed. I can honestly say I didn't expect Tori's story to have such a huge response. Please note the rating though, because although there are none in this chapter, you can expect sex scenes in future chapters. Also there will be flashbacks throughout, as there's a lot of background to Tori and her history with Diego.

Sixteen years ago

This was it – her big moment to shine. Fourteen-year-old Tori Cain scanned the ballroom as her stepdad mingled with friends and enemies alike. This was exactly what she had been trained for since childhood. Fabrizio had seen to it that in addition to her extraordinary abilities, Tori was proficient in mixed martial arts. Her job wasn't to be the muscle – it was to infiltrate, observe and single out the target.

"Focus," Giulian Russo hissed, his grip tightening on Tori's arm as they made their way around the ballroom. He was only three years older than her, and the son of Fabrizio's recently deceased best friend. Giulian had shown drive and ambition even at his young age. As he and Tori were the youngest members of Fabrizio's section of the mafia, they'd had little choice but to become friends.

"I am focused," Tori responded, offering sweet smiles to the men who greeted them before heading over to her target.

Antonio Santos had been doing Fabrizio dirty. Tori hadn't been told all of the details, but apparently he was a rat, and was talking to the feds. That meant he was trouble, and tonight it was her task to dispose of him in the most subtle manner possible.

It was a terrifying task. Tori had never killed anyone, and although she had used her abilities to harm others, the idea of doing it deliberately was repulsive. Nonetheless, Fabrizio had been good to her since she'd been a little girl. She needed to start earning her keep. No one got a free ride in the mafia, and Tori's abilities made her Fabrizio's most unique treasure.

"Ah, young Tori Cain." Antonio lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a dry kiss to the back of it. "Fabrizio's stepdaughter. And Giulian! I was sorry to hear about your father's death recently. Such a tragedy."

"Thank you." Giulian's smile was tight. Tori squeezed his arm hard to remind him why they there.

Secreting toxins from her skin had become as easy and natural to Tori as breathing. She reached out to catch Antonio's hand. The merest brush of her fingertips on his skin was enough – she had embedded him with enough poison that he'd only last a few minutes. The idea that it could be so quick and simple was horrifying, but Tori tried not to dwell too much on that.

"Do you know where the bathrooms are?"

"Yes, they're just…" Antonio's brow furrowed, face contorting into a picture of pain as the toxin kicked in. Giulian took a step back, but Tori remained exactly where she was, feigning concern.

"Mr Santos? Is everything alright?"

Antonio never had the chance to respond. His knees buckled and gave way and he convulsed on the floor at her feet, foaming up at the mouth. Tori screamed like she was supposed to, the epitome of the helpless teenage girl. That was how she appeared to all these other mafia members – a child. Across the room, Fabrizio caught his stepdaughter's gaze and raised his glass to her, a faint smile on his lips. To him, she was not a child. To him, she was a weapon.

The cool March breeze sweeping across Tori's cheek roused her from sleep, because she definitely hadn't left that window open. She immediately went to the bedside table and rummaged around for her gun, but someone grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her feet. Although determined not to use her abilities, Tori knew she'd have little choice if she was about to be attacked – although her fear was more for Jill, asleep in the next room.

A hand clamped over her mouth and the cold steel of a knife kissed her neck as Tori's attacker moved behind her. She stopped struggling as his chuckle reverberated up her spine.

"Thought you were past your villainous ways." It was Diego. Of course it was Diego. He moved his hand away from her mouth, maybe worried she'd bite him and inject some of her poison beneath his skin.

"I am," Tori insisted through gritted teeth. "Unlike you, Number Two. You can ease up with the knife now."

Diego removed the knife and spun her to face him. His dark eyes were emotional, but that was expected. As much as he tried to act cool and collected, he was all fire and rage. His encounters with Tori had always been passionate, in one way or another.

"If you wanted to get kinky, you could have just asked." Tori raised her eyebrows, a smirk spreading across her lips. "You know I don't mind having a knife to my neck."

"That isn't what this is about," Diego argued, putting the knives away and releasing Tori. "You heard about my dad dying, didn't you?"

Tori shrugged her shoulders. "Who didn't?"

"Luther seems to think he was murdered." Diego folded his arms over his chest, assessing her with narrowed eyes. "As much as I want to think his death was accidental, it's something I'm definitely thinking over. After all, there are certain people who could make a death like that seem accidental."

Tori threw up her hands. "Why the hell would I want to kill your dad? Don't you think if I did, I'd have done it years ago?"

Diego's eyes raked over her, and Tori was suddenly aware that she was only in an oversized shirt.

"Besides." Tori tilted her head back. "I thought you weren't really talking to your family anymore."

"Things change." Diego traced a finger along the edge of one of his knives. "The death of a parent draws people together like that."

"Well, I'm sorry you lost him, but you're looking in the wrong place." Tori shook her head slowly. "Fabrizio, on the other hand…"

Diego scoffed. "Your stepdad's in prison. How's he meant to have orchestrated this?"

"You don't know him like I do," Tori said softly.

Reginald Hargreeves had been a cold and distant man. He had never really been a father to his adopted children, merely utilised them for his own gain. Perhaps that was why Tori and Diego had such a connection – Fabrizio had been the same, but worse. He had eliminated anyone and anything that could possibly have compromised Tori's loyalty, and for that, she would never forgive him.

There was something like tenderness in Diego's dark eyes, and he stepped closer to Tori. She tensed, uncertain what to expect, but then his lips were on hers. How could they meet in the dark, just the two of them, and not succumb to their rampant emotions? Tori stepped up on her toes to throw her arms around Diego's neck, deepening the fierce kiss. His lips drifted away from hers, pressing down her neck.

Diego picked her up and set her on the bedside table, a hand running up her leg and beneath the hem of her nightshirt. With great restraint, Tori caught his wrist and brushed her away. They couldn't keep doing this. She couldn't keep being his secret. She hadn't been a villain for five years now, and he was still ashamed at the idea of being seen in public with her.

It had been thrilling and forbidden, but after more than a decade of their on-again, off-again affair, Tori found herself growing tired. She was almost thirty now. She wanted to be with someone who wasn't embarrassed at the idea of her. She had thought once Giulian was the answer, but he'd destroyed that dream.

"Go home, Diego. Go back to your family."

Fourteen years ago

The Umbrella Academy responded to the murder of high-profile federal agent Nathan Bolt with haste. The assassin had set off security alarms, but by the time Diego Hargreeves and his siblings arrived, it was too late – he was already dead. His body was still warm, indicating that the murderer had just departed. Thrilled at the idea of catching the criminal responsible, Diego eagerly sprinted off down the stairs, with Ben not far behind him.

"We should wait for the others!" Ben called after him.

"Yeah, they're busy seeing what happened to the guy," Diego responded, tearing down the fire escape at breakneck speed.

When he threw open the doors to the alleyway that ran behind the hotel, he could see two people casually sharing a cigarette near the dumpster. A small blonde girl probably around his own age, and a boy in his late teens. They both glanced at him as though he'd interrupted, and it took him a moment to realise that the boy had bloodstains on his shirt. This unlikely young duo were the murderers they were looking for.

Diego didn't even hesitate. He hurled the knife toward the boy. The girl threw herself in front of him and the knife glanced off her arm – which Diego realised was covered in some sort of black armour, like the rest of her body. She offered him a sweet, dangerous smile.

Diego was taken aback and for some odd reason, instantly attracted. People ran from his knives, not threw themselves in front of them. Despite the blood on the boy, the girl was completely clean. Pretty, too. Although he was determinedly avoiding that fact.

"Can we help you?" she asked. "Number Two, right?"

The realisation that she knew who he was, but he didn't know who she was, made his stomach lurch unpleasantly. Ben appeared at his side, and Diego knew his brother would be reluctant to use his own power, especially against these kids.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Why did you kill Bolt?"

"You might find out one day." The blonde girl shrugged. "You can call me Toxin."

"Let's go." The boy put an almost possessive hand on her arm, glaring at Diego. The girl – Toxin – stepped toward Diego and Ben. Diego stiffened, and he felt Ben catch his arm. The girl simply reached out to touch their hands, smiling. Although suspicious, Diego didn't move…until he couldn't move his fingers. Glancing at Ben in horror, he realised the same thing was happening to his brother. Diego bared his teeth and lunged, but immediately collapsed to his knees. Ben groaned as he hit the ground beside him.

Toxin smirked as she stepped back, hazel eyes aglow with mischief.

"Don't worry. You'll regain sensation in a few minutes."

The girl blew him a kiss, laughing, before sprinting off out of the alleyway after her friend.

Toxin. Diego would remember that. He'd remember her. His new mortal enemy. She was intoxicating, in more ways than one.

"I'm here to see Fabrizio Martelli."

It had been a big choice to make, thinking about whether she wanted to see the man who had ruined her life, but curiosity had gotten the better of Tori. She'd walked away all those years ago, leaving Fabrizio no time to give an explanation. She was ready to hear one now.

The receptionist at the prison looked over her notes, before peering down her nose at Tori.

"Name and relation?"

"Tori Cain." She stuffed her hands into her pockets. "I'm his stepdaughter."

The receptionist typed something into the computer. "Looks like he's available for visitation."

One of the cops escorted Tori through, buzzing her into room full of chairs. She hadn't ever visited people in prison, despite the fact that members of the mafia were carted off there on a fairly regular basis. Looking at what the other visitors were doing, Tori supposed she was meant to sit in front of the glass and pick up the phone to hear Fabrizio speak. She did so with shaking hands, as the door on the other side opened and her stepfather walked in.

At almost sixty years old, there were still very few grey hairs in Fabrizio's dark mop, but there were bags under his eyes and lines etched across his forehead as he sat in the chair on the opposite side of the glass. He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear, and for a few moments there was silence as each waited for the other to speak first.

"I see you're finally where you belong." Tori's venom got the better of her, eyes narrowing as she stared down the man she'd once considered a father.

"You're all grown up now." Fabrizio's tone was solemn. "What are you doing with your life now?"

"Honest work," Tori responded snidely, before taking a deep breath. She hadn't come here to attack Fabrizio, as much as she wanted to. "So, it was you they got for Celine's murder. That's a surprise."

"I was responsible." Fabrizio's voice was heavy, and Tori was glad that he was now accepting some of the blame. He may not have fired the shot that ended Celine's life, but he had been the one to give the order. Fabrizio had as good as murdered Celine, regardless of what he might try and claim.

"But you didn't kill her."

No, that had been someone else entirely – the man Tori thought she could have come to love, the man she might have married if things had been different. Giulian had broken her heart the night he'd chosen Fabrizio over her, the night he had murdered her best friend. It had been an attempt to convince Tori that she needed to stay, that she had nothing left. Only it had backfired when Giulian had been caught at the scene of the crime, before he and Fabrizio could claim it was someone with a vendetta against Toxin.

"No, but the man who did is dead." Fabrizio's dark eyes examined her. "I am not the only one who committed murder that night."

It had been her last cold, cruel act as Toxin. When she had seen Celine's dead body and Giulian standing over with the gun, Tori had reacted instinctively. She'd paralysed Giulian before he could object, because she had wanted him to know what she was going to do. She wanted him to watch as she killed him. Then she had, brutally.

Tears of shame spilled down Tori's cheeks. She hadn't relished what she had done. She had acted in the heat of the moment. It had not been easy for her to kill her fiancé, the man she'd been close with since childhood.

Yet he had taken Celine from her, taken away someone outside the mafia who knew who and what Tori was, and not condemned her for it. He had killed Celine to prove his worth to Fabrizio, but she knew he had also done it because he was jealous, scared that she might choose her friendship with Celine over her relationship with him.

"You're here because you want to know if I was responsible for Reginald Hargreeves's death. It would make such a simple solution, no? I'm sorry, amore mio, I was not."

"Don't call me that," Tori snapped, "I'm not your love, I'm not your daughter. I never was. I was something for you to use, and you got shitty at the thought I might live a life outside of you."

"I have done many things that I regret." Fabrizio sighed deeply. "Driving you away was the worst mistake of my life."

Tori didn't know how to respond to that. She had expected her stepfather to defend himself, not openly confess to having made a mistake. Nonetheless, she wouldn't raise a hand to help him. He deserved to be in prison for what he'd done. Hanging up the phone, Tori pushed herself to her feet. Fabrizio watched her with sad eyes, but she turned her back on him.

She now knew that, unless Fabrizio was outright lying, he hadn't used her poison to kill Reginald Hargreeves. She had jumped to a conclusion, and she'd been wrong. Tori knew that she had to see Diego and tell him what she knew. He was the first person who'd develop a thirst for vengeance. He hadn't loved his father, but there was a lot of anger in him, just looking for a way to seep out.

But first, she needed a sugar fix from Griddy's Doughnuts.