Out of Time

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:


Chapter 7 (Who to Trust?)

"I can't believe this is your last week here," Tori said with a moaning tone, "I thought you guys decided not to take advantage of that option." Jade wasn't as much a part of the conversation as she would've liked to be, since her thoughts were focused so much on other issues; but she tried to brush those thoughts aside.

"We just kinda thought with this new job and everything, maybe it would be a good idea to take advantage." Jade looked around their usual cafeteria table with an uneasy feeling in her gut. Beck was beside her, holding her hand under the table while Tori, thankfully, had decided to sit on her other side.

The unease came from staring across the table at their other three friends. They looked so innocent with their friendly smile and earnest gazes. Andre, the laid back one, sitting with his elbow on Robbie's shoulder, holding his head at an angle and nodding at them. Then Cat, seeming so meek, leaning forward across the table with her eyebrows curling up in the center; and then there was Robbie, holding his damn puppet that, for the first time in her life, Jade actually thought was more innocent than the friend she once held so dear to her heart.

How dark were their hearts, how corrupt were their souls? This table once held such warmth and comfort for her, somewhere she could be where she could confide in people that cared about her. Just being included always felt nice, to be tolerated despite her aggressive nature had lifted her spirits from day to day.

Now, she could barely sit across from them without bawling her eyes out. The night they left the detective's office, Beck had to console her for hours. Her father was worried for her as well since they were at her home, but she couldn't tell him.

Rather, she told Beck that if he wanted to focus more on the case and she could focus more on filing away the papers and taking care of secretarial duties, that was perfectly fine by her. She still wanted to help, she wanted to save Tori from the proverbial nightmare and hell that surrounded them all.

Then, she wondered, perhaps her friends could be saved too. Perhaps not. Grief and despair shook her, worse than the depression that had taken her years ago.

Robbie's voice filled the air, blotting out her silent thoughts. "Are you okay?" Jade blinked twice and her attention darted to the boy. "You look like you're in some kind of trance."

"Just lost in thought a bit, Robbie." She looked at the puppet in his hand. "Why do you still have that thing attached to you? I thought you were getting past that." Robbie laughed and raised Rex up from his lap.

"I am, I've just been using him to practice a routine. Forgot to stuff him in the locker after class."

"Oh."

"So, tell us about your new job guys. Tori says you're working at a law office or something." Robbie leaned back, his eyebrows rose. "Taken out any bad guys yet?" Jade's stomach churned with bile and she shook her head. Beck gave her hand a gentle squeeze, giving her some comfort.

"No," Beck replied, "We're primarily doing paperwork stuff. Jade's answering phone calls and setting up appointments, I'm busy organizing and filing away all the folders." He shrugged and reached for the cup of water in front of him. "Nothing special, really. A desk job, nothing more; and it's highly confidential stuff too."

Robbie pursed his lips. "Well, at least it's something." He turned to Cat with a chuckle. "Looks like we're the only ones without a part time job." Cat's lips twisted to a smirk and Jade laughed, remembering the girl's part time job.

"I'm still babysitting." Robbie smacked his forehead and the others joined in the laugh. "Granted Sam's not doing much of that with me anymore, I wanted to keep up a source of income. So, you're the only one without a job. You and Tori, I mean."

"Maybe I can help with that food truck…" Robbie turned around to Andre. "How is your new side job going? I hear your dad's on the fence about it." Andre nodded.

"Yeah, he wanted me to find a job to help pay for college." Andre crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "I guess him being a senator, even though I don't live with the guy, means he doesn't want me having a silver-spoon mentality by paying my way through college." He dropped his arms and shrugged. "Still, he knows I got a security gig at a nightclub, he's not too happy about that."

"What does it matter if you don't live with the guy?"

Andre exhaled sharply and raised two fingers. "Two words…" His eyes narrowed. "State. Senator. He may not have been a humongous influence in my life, but he probably cares about the potential reaction the public would have to his son working at a nightclub." Andre paused for a few seconds before a low chuckle drifted from his lips. "I guess that puts a damper on any potential presidential runs he might want to take."

If Jade were a gambler, she'd almost bet Andre was letting that job exist just out of spite for his father. He never talked much about the man or their relationship, and she'd often wondered about it because he lived with his grandmother. She wasn't even his paternal grandmother either, as far as Jade thought, because her last name was different.

"How come you live with your grandma anyway?" Jade asked, hoping she wasn't crossing some line somewhere. Beck raised an eyebrow at her, possibly wondering the same. Andre huffed and crossed his arms once more. "I hope you don't mind me asking, I've just always been curious. Her last name's different than yours, after all."

"Yeah, she's my mom's mother." Andre unfolded his arms and looked off to the right., "Mom and Dad divorced when I was younger, he didn't approve of my mother's personal activities and whatnot. Anyway, when mom died, Grandma wanted me with her because she didn't think I'd have a 'normal life' living with a politician." He shrugged. "Maybe she's right, maybe she wasn't. Who can tell?"

There was a strain in his voice, somewhat mixed with anger and pain. Jade wondered if there were more to the story than that; but she didn't want to overstep any boundaries or ask questions that could cause an upset of some kind.

At this point, she truly was afraid of them. Any wrong words could spell doom, in her mind. She hated being afraid of the people she once called friends, hated having to doubt their trustworthiness.

Hell, even Andre's 'job' could be a lie. She knew it was hard for him to get such a job when he wasn't officially graduated from high school. Like Beck, he was eighteen, so he was old enough to have the job; but she felt like a high school diploma was required. Granted, a special case could've been made for him; but she had to wonder how much of what he said was true when he walked in the door with a clearly drugged Mr. Oliver.

Tori leaned forward, waving a hand towards Andre. "Did your dad even try to fight for custody?" Andre rolled his eyes.

"He was busy with a campaign run for Senate at the time. I highly doubt my father gave a shit. Besides, I already said he won't pay for college."

"He's paying partial, you said."

"Yeah…"

"How much is partial?"

Andre groaned, clearly not wanting this conversation to continue. "Like sixty percent or something." Jade hummed to herself, impressed that Tori was the one to ask the questions on her own mind. It saved a little grace for her at the very least.

Still, the fact that the man was willing to pay for the bulk of Andre's college and wanted him to still be responsible for a portion told her he did care. If nothing else, he was interested in his son's future success. If he were truly an uncaring parent, he wouldn't put anything forward-much less have any kind of contact with his son.

Even then, she wasn't about to challenge Andre's view of his father, nor attempt to change his mind. She had to wonder about the Senator, however. She knew the man's politics well, he was strict on crime so she wasn't sure how connected he could possibly be to this underground organization. He'd done so much to blot out criminals like these, devoting nearly his entire career to the cause.

It would be a long stretch to imagine, or even prove, the Senator-who cared so much about his son's future-was a part of this criminal network that he often fought so hard against.

Then again, Robbie's own father being a district attorney did call into question how much of their parents' policies and actions were genuine. The contrast however, Robbie's father was more forgiving of Johns and prostitution than Andre's father had been. Half of this organization's whole operation was in prostitution and illegal sex clubs, the very type of crime that Mr. Shapiro often avoided prosecuting.

Then there was the question of Cat's mother. Somehow tied to the education department, she's proven with her track record to be forgiving of former convicts and has stated in multiple speeches that if they've proven to be rehabilitated, they could be hired into the education field. It was a controversial subject because parents and staff alike weren't comfortable thinking former criminals would be teaching their children.

Jade often wrote the woman's policies off as just wordplay, feeling that there was no chance schools were going to hire former convicts. Yet, with what Gary said about Hollywood Arts and Mr. Sikowitz, she could see just how much power Mrs. Valentine had. The problem here was whether Sikowitz was rehabilitated or not.

The prospect cast a shadow over her heart because she knew the teacher acted crazy from time to time, and even made comments she always thought were jokes about how there was something in his coconut milk. The nail in the coffin came when Gary said he'd been investigating the man beforehand. There was little doubt in her mind that he was clean from whatever life of crime he lived.

Andre ran his hand over his head, gasping softly. "Oh, speaking of our fathers! Beck, how is your dad?" Beck narrowed his eyes for a split second, then smiled casually.

"He's doing fine."

Tori looked between the two men, confusion in her eyes. "Did something happen to Mr. Oliver?" Andre leaned back and Beck dropped his shoulders.

"Dad went to a business party and had a bit too much to drink."

"Really?" She scrunched her face and wiggled her nose. "I thought your dad was so strict on alcohol? Like one or two max."

"That's Jade's father." Jade chuckled softly and Beck smirked. "Mine, yeah a little similar but not so strict. Still, he tries to be careful, so I guess he just wasn't keeping track or something." Beck folded his arms across his chest and raised his shoulders up. "I'm just glad he's okay, I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him."

"It's a good thing," Andre replied, "Good that he's got a son like you to watch out for him." Beck huffed and Jade breathed in slow. "Take care of him, Beck, I guess that's all you can do for the guy right now. Right?" His words, in this situation of distrust, did not come across as friendly as maybe he hoped. Jade felt like he was trying to keep their attention on Keith, for some unknown reason.

Andre turned to Tori with a smile. "And you're almost eighteen, any plans for the big one-eight?" Tori shook her head, smiling back at him.

"Not really. I think we're going on some vacation, that'll be nice." Jade furrowed her brow and looked at Beck, sharing in his curious glance.

It was a long shot, but she couldn't help to wonder if there was a connection to what happened to Beck's dad and Tori's upcoming birthday. She knew if Keith hadn't survived, they would be too busy and focused on his funeral and figuring out what they were going to do next that they likely not be as present in Tori's life for a while.

With the realization coming to her mind, she was struck with a new fear. "Oh my god," she whispered just loud enough for Beck to hear. He turned his head to her and she met his gaze, her eyes quivered with fear. Slowly she hugged his neck to whisper in his ear. "If your dad died, we'd be so busy that we wouldn't notice right away if Tori didn't come back from her vacation…" His eyes widened and she felt his pulse slow to a near halt.

"Everything okay you two?" Andre tilted his head at them and they started to get up.

Beck cleared his throat. "Yeah, we just realized, we're late for an appointment." Jade wrapped her arm around his and smiled at the others while the corners of Andre's lips sank into a frown. "We'll catch up with you guys later."

"Alright." Andre waved them off. "Don't be a stranger." They nodded and hurried away from the group as fast as they could. Jade was sorry she didn't try to get Tori to leave with them, but she didn't want to arouse any suspicion that anything was wrong.


A bit to digest here, we've learned a bit more about everyone, but what are your thoughts