Out of Time

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N: So it's been a couple weeks, my computer failed on me and I had to get a recovery drive and basically wipe it clean. I also lost my backup flash drive in my move to Houston and had an old flash drive. Couple that with just before that, I took down several ongoing works so I could finish them independent of the site and put them back up…So I've lost everything I've done since 2015! Including those works. Thankfully, Out of Time was still retrievable. Enjoy.


Chapter 8 (Importance of Distraction)

"Take a little bit of a break," Sam said while guiding the couple to the body shop, "Everyone needs a hobby in their life." Jade nodded, though she was still surprised to hear such words coming from Sam's mouth. All this time, the girl seemed so serious and focused on the case because it seemed to be so personal to her; and Jade could see something similar taking root in Beck.

"I suppose thinking about something constantly can wear on your emotions and mental state," Jade remarked while recalling something her father once said. Sam's brow furrowed and Beck raised an eyebrow at Jade, causing her to shrug. "My dad's a psychologist." She playfully smacked Beck's shoulder. "You know that already."

"That's why I brought you here, I wanted to share a bit of my hobby with you guys." They made their way to the front desk where a young woman with soft brown hair sat reading a document. The woman's piercing blue eyes lifted towards them and her lips curled to a smile.

"Hello Sam, are you here to pick up your bike?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Just go on back, Johnny will give you your keys."

Sam nodded. "Thank you." The couple followed her to the shop and a wave of metallic smells coupled with oil and gas struck Jade like a tidal wave. She winced and twisted her nose a bit, earning a concerned glance from the others. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little taken back. Wasn't expecting so much gas, but it is a auto shop…" A nervous chuckle fell from her lips and Sam returned with a light hum before continuing towards a man in the back of the shop.

Jade looked to Beck, who was admiring the cars as he walked, admiration in his eyes. She couldn't help but to smile, realizing this may be a good distraction for him. If he could relax and be calm, despite all they were dealing with, she would be happy. It couldn't be too difficult because he did enjoy looking at cars; one of his favorite shows was an auto auction.

Towards the back of the shop, Johnny was crouched beside a motorcycle, wiping the chrome handles with a white rag. The man was bulky, had long blonde hair and a shaggy beard. The motorcycle was all black with a red seat, it glistened beneath the shop lights.

"Nice bike," Beck remarked. His eyes lit up and scanned the bike with a lusty glint. Sam grinned as Johnny rose to greet them.

"It's cleaned up and ready to go," he said, "Do you want to drive it out or do you want me to?"

Sam waved her hand through the air. "You can, I still need to go around to billing."

"Ah yes, I have your paperwork over here." He walked to a grey stand nearby and picked up a plastic folder with paperwork inside. "I'll bring the bike around to the front while you take care of this."

"Thank you." Sam took the folder and smirked playfully. "I'll try not to wreck it up." Johnny's face paled and he slowly shook his head. As they made their way to the billing office, Sam glanced over her shoulder at the couple. "Yeah, I had a little run-in recently when I was tailing your friend."

Holding Beck's hand, Jade felt his muscles tense a little. She looked up to see his smile fade away. "Which one?" He asked. "Was it Andre?"

"Robert." Sam chuffed and Jade snapped her gaze over, widening her eyes as the surprise stopped her heart. "I was following him down Bertha Boulevard, he realized someone was following him." Sam raised her shoulders and shook her head. "Not sure he knew it was me, but he started speeding up. I hit a turn a little too fast; the bike's a cruiser, it's not made for speed."

"Damn."

"That being said…" Sam raised her index finger, wagging it in the air. "I'm going to let you ride my bike, do not try to go fast on it." Jade's jaw dropped and she could see a flash of excitement in Beck's eyes.

"I'll keep that in mind." Beck curled a finger over his chin and cocked his head to the right. "I don't remember Robbie mentioning any sort of a chase. He'd definitely mention that." He dropped his hand with a sigh and rolled his shoulders back. "But then again, I guess we don't know him as well as we thought. It's so hard to continue to pretend like nothing's wrong."

"Just be careful with that." Beck nodded at Sam, his brow furrowing. "You don't want them to start sensing that something's wrong or that you're suspecting them of anything. If you can't carry like normal, then you need to step back from them."

"Yeah." Beck's tone quieted and his left hand pulled out of Jade's. She frowned at him and watched as he made his way towards a vending machine nearby. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at the snacks inside the machine. His gaze seemed to dull and his body looked tense.

Jade bowed her head, her breath held in her throat as she struggled to keep from reacting. It wasn't difficult to decipher his thoughts, but it was harder to keep those thoughts at bay.

At the end of the day, Beck was throwing everything into this case just the same as Sam, because it was personal. They worried for Tori above all else, but they couldn't see a way to safely get her away from danger. Beck would have loved to rely on his friends for help, but now it was impossible.

With a heavy exhale, Jade raised her head and slowly approached Beck from behind. His eyes were shut, and the corners of his lips had sank into a scowl. She raised her hand to his left shoulder, causing him to lift his head a bit.

Jade guided her hand along his arm until resting it inside the fold of his elbow. He opened his eyes slowly and pulled his arm out, letting her slide her hand into his. "Did you want anything from the snacks?" Beck asked with a quiet tone. Jade rested her chin on his shoulder and gazed at the vending machine.

There was an assortment of chips, candy, and popcorn. Her eyes drifted to the Reese's Peanut Butter cups and she started to smile. "I could go for Reese's right about now. We can share a pack or two…maybe three?"

Beck laughed once. "You're getting a bit of a bigger appetite lately. It's cute." Jade blushed as he removed his wallet from his back pocket and grabbed a five-dollar bill from it. "Guess I'll get a couple of those."

"Thanks, hon, you're the best." She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand. Beck smiled back at her. To see him happy warmed her heart. Perhaps this was her role in all this, being there to support him through this. He did the same for her of course, but she knew he was shouldering everything.

Sam walked to them as Beck was removing the last Reese's, her eyebrows rose and a bemused expression came over her. "I hope that's not all one sitting." Beck chuckled and held it up.

"It's Reese's, who can resist it?"

"People who don't like chocolate or peanut butter."

"They have no soul." Jade laughed and Sam shook her head. The trio left the shop to where Johnny had the bike ready. Sam grabbed the crimson helmet off the handrail and handed it to Beck. His eyes widened and he stared at the helmet as though he'd just been handed a priceless artifact.

"Have you ever ridden a bike before?"

"It's been a while, but…yeah."

"Put that on." Beck chuckled nervously and carefully placed the helmet on his head. "You're going to follow me back to the office. Slowly." She emphasized the last word, her hands sliding to her waist as her lips curved to a smile. "Or we can go to the nearest parking lot."

"Let's do an empty parking lot." Excitement grew in his voice and he bounced slightly on his feet. Sam's smile grew and Jade's heart skipped a beat. "I get to drive this there?"

"You do."

"Awesome!"

Jade sighed contentedly and watched as he hopped onto the motorcycle. It was great seeing him starting to relax, and to see him like a child with a new toy. She closed her eyes and breathed in as Sam proceeded to go over all the safety details with Beck.

Because Beck hadn't ridden in a while and Sam only had one helmet, Jade would not be riding on the motorcycle with him. She was fine with this, especially given she preferred the safety of a car's walls around her. Beck, however, could live on the edge of danger as much as he liked.

On the way to the parking lot, Jade watched Beck through the back windshield. Since the visor was shut, she couldn't see his face; but she was sure he was enjoying himself. This was even more so when they reached the lot, as Beck proceeded to do figure eights around the nearest signposts.

Sam and Jade stepped out of the car and leaned against the side of the vehicle. Sam crossed her arms and chuckled when Beck began to drive around the perimeter of the parking lot. "Sure you don't want to drive it, Jade?" Sam glanced sideways at Jade, who simply shook her head.

"Honestly, I'd rather let Beck have the moment. If he's happy, I'm happy."

Sam gave an understanding nod and brought her head back against the car. "I'm sorry to make you guys get all wrapped up in this. That wasn't my intention when I approached you…" Jade frowned, bowing her head.

"You couldn't have known. Beck's always had an investigative streak in him, so of course he wanted to figure out what was going on. Realizing that Tori might be in danger kind of hit us both, we wanted to do something." She closed her eyes and raised her shoulders up. "Tori's our friend, we can't just let something happen to her."

Sam was silent and Jade raised her gaze back to Beck. He drove by them, laughing as the wind rippled through his jacket. "Well…" Sam dropped her hands down to her waist and clicked her tongue. "I know it's a lot of pressure, a lot of stress. If I'd known you guys would get wrapped up-"

"It's not so much your fault as it is Andre's." Jade's lips flattened together and her eyes narrowed as Sam arched an eyebrow at her. "When he brought Mr. Oliver home that night, just knowing that something bad could've happened to the man…" She shook her head and scowled, remembering how angry they were in that moment. "That's what really drove Beck to action."

"I see."

"These people might want to hurt Tori or something; but when they went after Beck's father for whatever reason, they made an enemy out of both of us." She crossed her arms and felt a surge of anger through her. "If our friends are really bad people, we want to help stop them. If Mr. and Mrs. Vega are bad, then we want to help put them away whatever the cost. Yeah, it's weighing on us, maybe more Beck than anything, but we want to do the right thing even if we don't know how to move forward."

"I understand that." Sam breathed in slowly. "It's not an easy place to be, it never is; but it's better to do what's right rather than stand aside and ignore it."

"You couldn't ignore it either…Spencer was your friend."

"Right, but it's more than that." Sam closed her eyes and her nostrils flared a bit. "Yeah, I've seen Spencer's panic attacks. I've seen him fly into whatever artwork he's working on just to distract himself. Usually around the anniversary that Sasha was taken. I've been there at times when Carly wasn't, I've had to talk him down. He says it's gotten a bit better, but that pain never leaves no matter how long it's been."

"Sure."

"When I thought that Tori might somehow be connected…" Sam's expression tensed and her arms dropped to her sides. The woman shook her head slowly and growled. "When I thought that she could've been Spencer's daughter, Sasha's baby-when I considered that she could've been abducted, it hit me. This wasn't just Spencer's kid, this isn't just some baby taken from her family."

Jade's brow furrowed as a heaviness came over her. She returned her gaze to Beck, but her mind was focused on Sam's words. She remained silent, unable to form any words as her blood started to boil as well.

"This child was Carly's niece, someone that Carly never knew. Even when she stood right beside her, stared her in the eyes." Jade's hands balled into fists and her eyes narrowed. "This was a child that Spencer doesn't even realize is alive. Carly's like a sister to me, Spencer's like a brother; so this girl…And not even that, realizing that the people who took her could be involved in some grander scheme, realizing that Tori is only one out of a countless number of children lost to this network. Sasha's just one person to become a victim. Spencer's just one person to lose a loved one."

"Yeah." Jade blew out heavily. Now she knew what Beck surely must've figured out, what weighed on his mind similarly to Sam's. She'd already formed this realization, but had been so focused on Tori that it really hadn't hit her until Sam laid it out. "These people have hurt too many. We…We need to save who we can. I'm sure we can't save everyone, but we have to try. Don't we?"

"That's all anyone can do, try to save those that can be saved and stop anyone else from becoming a victim. That's the hard part about being the hero, because it's not like the movies. Not like the books. The hero doesn't always win, and in an ideal world, this organization would've been stopped a long time ago."

"If we were able to get Tori away from these people, reunite her with Spencer, what do you think would happen?"

"They'd need a lot of time to heal. You have to understand, Tori's entire life has been one big lie. Spencer doesn't even know his child is alive. Tori would need time to learn to trust again, and Spencer still has a lot of pain to work through. Up to now, his raising Carly was the only thing keeping him going."

"I can't even imagine if I were in his shoes. Just how I'd survive, I'm not sure. I know Beck would say the same." Jade looked down and sighed. "Ever since we got involved, I've seen how Beck looks at me. Like he's afraid, but not afraid of me. I don't understand it so much, but-"

"It's common when you're in this line of work. He's probably imagining, putting himself in the shoes of the victim." Jade raised her head, gasping softly. Her eyes started to sting as she brought her eyebrows together. "You try to push those thoughts from your mind, but you can't. Sometimes it wears you down, sometimes it strengthens your resolve. Because for him, he wants to protect the people he loves. Why do you think he's been insisting on being around whenever you guys go over to Tori's home now? Or even spending time with your friends."

Jade slid her hand down towards her stomach and she started to frown. She wondered what it would've been like to be in Sasha's position, scared and alone. She was afraid to put herself in that woman's situation, to feel so helpless and empty. Now to think that Beck might wonder the same, knowing there could be a very real chance that he could be in Spencer's shoes.

This was a bitter pill to swallow. She felt Sam's hand on her shoulder and looked to her gaze. "Now, do you understand why I wanted to bring you and Beck out here?" Jade nodded slowly as Beck parked the motorcycle alongside them.

"Jade, do you want to ride with me?" Beck grinned as he removed his helmet. Jade chuckled nervously and drew in a quick breath as Sam smiled.

"We're in a parking lot," Sam said softly, "It'll be okay. Go ahead and get on."

"Oh, alright." Jade rolled her eyes and smiled as she climbed on behind Beck. She leaned against him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Sam took the helmet from him and proceeded to place it over Jade's head. "Oh come on, it's not like he's going to crash in a parking lot."

"Safety first."


So what are your thoughts?