A Family Stolen

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 15 (Downtime)

"Thanks for coming with us today, Jason." Jason shrugged at her. Jade hadn't gotten any downtime at all with Beck or the others since the Vegas went missing and she needed to destress; but remembering Hayley's attack followed by Sinjin telling them the bad guys wanted to capture them and kill them in front of the family members as torture, she didn't feel comfortable by herself without some sort of protection.

"I've got nothing better to do, but I'm a little concerned as to why you're insisting on me joining you and your boyfriend on a date night."

"Well, you can sit somewhere else. You don't have to be right up on us or anything." Beck needed to destress as well. This left field work for the others. Sam had taken Cat to observe some key members of the Black Knights that Sinjin mentioned, while Andre and Robbie were staking out some of the exes. It was their hope that they'd get more intel by following from a distance.

In the meantime, Jade and Beck were going to enjoy a romance drama; which Jason probably wouldn't enjoy. She had to admit she was curious to see how he'd react. Still, the downtime was going to be great.

"We don't have a lot of time, you know. The longer we play around, the more chances something's going to happen." Jason had the right level of urgency, and Jade agreed; but Sinjin told them to take a day off because he and Jesse were going to keep some of the others busy and not let anything happen to Trina, Tori, David or Gary. "Do we trust Sinjin, anyway? I know he said he sent my note, and he gave us all that info; but I'm still skeptical…I'm sure Trina is too."

"It's okay to be skeptical, but he is helping us." Jade took a deep breath and turned towards him. "Look, the movie is just a little over two hours long. After that, we'll get right back to the investigation. Everyone's in place, we'll just need them to fill us in when they're done with their assignments."

"I need to be out there, not babysitting two people on a date." Beck glanced over and chuckled while Jason kicked a rock off the nearby curb.

"Look at it this way Jase, you're guarding two lead investigators," Beck replied smoothly. Jason grumbled something about Sikowitz being the lead, but then smiled politely

Meanwhile, Andre and Robbie were eating donuts in Andre's navy blue mercury sedan. "We're almost like true and blue police officers now," Robbie said with a laugh. Andre rolled his eyes and peered out the windshield. The first person they were staking was Stephen, but he wasn't doing much.

Stephen was holed up in a McDonalds with a big mac. His right side was facing the window, and Andre was able to see through clearly enough. He was disgusted by the Big Mac, mostly because he hated McDonalds. "Telling you Rob, the donuts are the closest I'm getting to that unhealthy."

"McDonalds really isn't that bad. They have a few healthy items."

"It's fast food, fast food is the most unhealthy shit you can touch. The only thing I like about them is their coffee, and that is it." He tapped his thumb on the steering wheel and narrowed his eyes at Stephen. "I'm not sure what they're hoping we'll find watching this guy. According to Sinjin, he and Marcus are the low men on the totem pole."

They'd finished 'staking out' Marcus a little over an hour ago. All he was doing was drinking beer on his front porch as though he had no life at all. "Danny and Ross are the ones I want to stake. They're the big guys it seems."

"Apparently Jesse is with Jerome at Ross's place. There's no need to be there. Daniel is somewhere."

"He's somewhere, it's just more like he didn't tell anyone his location, so we're stuck watching the small beans." Andre sighed and raised a hand to his forehead. "I'm still hung up on that last night, Rob." Robbie frowned and turned his gaze down. "We let her down. Tori. We really did…"

"Is that why you didn't go see Ian with Beck and Jade?" Andre cast a sideways glance and let out a small grunt. He didn't want to admit to being jealous, but it was the truth of the matter. He had a crush on Tori in the past, but had been too afraid to act on it. He didn't mind that she had a boyfriend, but after the way Jason reacted them, he knew Ian was going to be just as judgmental.

"We should have been better friends. The way we've been, I can barely look Jason in the eyes."

"I see."

"You think I want to face Tori's boyfriend? Fuck that." They all sinned in ways that none of them should have. Andre didn't blame Tori one bit for pushing them out; even though she did it that night to try and save them, he knew she meant every word she said. "I couldn't even tell we were upsetting her that night."

"Is that why you're so adamant? You were one of the first ones after Jade to get passionate about finding the Vegas. You feel guilty?"

"Pretty much. I also get why Jason wants to rush it, so do I. This stakeout thing is pissing me off." He extended his arm, pointing out his windshield at Stephen. "Like this motherfucker, munching on a damn hamburger. He's not doing anything, he's not leading us anywhere; and we have Sinjin, so why the hell are we bothering with this?"

"Research." Robbie furrowed his brow and looked at Stephen for a minute before jotting down some notes. "We're studying them, trying to get an idea of where they go regularly and what they do. That way we can figure out the best time to go in and grab the Vegas securely."

"Yeah well, if Jason and Jade decide to race guns blazing, I'm joining them."

Robbie started to laugh, nodding his head in response. "I think we all would. It would be suicide, but yeah we all would." Robbie tilted his head and tapped the end of the pen on the page. "I'd do anything to redeem myself. We've all fucked up, how could we not rescue them? If we rescue them, maybe they'll forgive us…"

"Or maybe they're going to find it harder to trust anybody because of what they've gone through with the kidnappers, even their rescuers. Tori already says she doesn't trust us, or if she does, her sister and parents certainly don't." He ran his finger under his nose, breathing in heavily. "I'm surprised all we've done, their parents haven't done or said anything to us…given what it sounds like happened to the exes."

"That's not necessarily true." Robbie ran his hand over his neck, averting his gaze. Andre raised an eyebrow, studying the man's avoidant posture for a bit before nudging him sharply. Robbie jerked back and turned his eyes sideways.

"Got something to say?"

"Yeah…the stalking I did was bad enough, Mr. and Mrs. Vega warned me to cut it out. Then what happened to Trina." He bowed his head and swallowed hard. "What I did to her. They figured out it was me, and well they came after me. That puppet got destroyed in the process, and Holly injected me with something that made me sick for a while."

Andre shuddered at the thought and remembered a time Robbie was sick with a virus for a few weeks. Nobody knew what was wrong with him and worried he might be dying.

"Do you think they'll forgive us?"

"Hard to say." Even their rescuing them wasn't a guarantee the Vegas-or just the sisters alone-would forgive or trust them for a long time. That said, the parents were obvious; they would never trust the group. Their trying to save them may help; but Andre suspected they would all just have to start over again. "We've done a lot to them that we should never have done. Just because we save them doesn't mean they're going to automatically want us around. Who knows?"

He was partially jealous that Jason got to send a note; but he understood why it could only happen that one time. Sinjin didn't want to arouse suspicion, so sending multiple secret notes would be counterproductive. What he would have liked to have done was send Tori a letter saying they didn't care if she was into the performance arts or something different, and that they would like to be friends with her regardless.

Andre took another look inside the McDonalds and groaned when he saw Stephen frantically wiping some ketchup from his shirt. "Can we please move on to another person?" He'd much rather be checking out the higher profile people, as he called them; this just meant Ross and Danny. "Who cares how guarded they may be, I'm sick of watching nothing."

"I hear ya, but I think we should do what Mr. Sikowitz told us to do. It's different now, man. He's not our teacher anymore, he's our boss. If he lets us go, that's it, we're done."

Andre grumbled, his hands tightening around the steering wheel. Robbie was right. Sikowitz didn't want to put them at risk or in danger, but more importantly he didn't want to put the Vegas in more danger. If they did something that could jeopardize everything, Sikowitz could and likely would kick them off the investigation indefinitely.

He hated the limitation. "I only hope Sam and Cat are making more progress. I doubt they are, but man, something's gotta give."

Sam and Cat had found the elusive Hayley, and it was tempting to go make an arrest, but Sikowitz didn't want them doing that at the moment. Hayley was busy talking with a man that Cat hardly recognized.

He was tall and had spiky hair as black as night. His eyes were deep and face bore more of a brooding look than even Beck's. The man had dark clothing with a skull insignia on the t-shirt, and chains going from his belt to his jean pockets. "That guy scares me," Cat said with a meek tone.

Sam slid her hand along the steering wheel of her car, narrowing her eyes and flattening her lips together. "He should." She moved her gaze sideways. "That's Jerome Klein, current leader of the Black Knights." Cat pursed her lips and watched as Jerome slid his hand along Hayley's shoulder. He was looking down at the bandages on her hand and shaking his head.

"Have you done research into the gang?"

"I have." Sam pulled her hand away from the steering wheel and leaned back slowly. Cat looked to the doorway of the café balcony where the couple were seated, surprised that they were even out in the open. "The Knights were formed in the late 1980s by Roger Miller originally as a motorcycle enthusiast club." When she didn't recognize the name, she looked towards her friend and waited for Sam to elaborate. "Roger's right hand was Ralph Klein."

"Jerome and Jesse's dad?"

"Yes. Ralph had other ideas for the gang, things that Mr. Miller never wanted for the club. Eventually there were factions supporting both men, more supported Roger…this led to a bit of a civil war within the group, one that literally tore brother against brother."

"Literally?"

"Late 1990s, early 2000s, Jerome was the older brother and sided with his father. Jesse, clearly even now, always envisioned the Knights with Roger's ideal vision of remaining pure and good; the Knights were never going to be another stereotypical 'outlaw biker band'."

She could see the struggle, and was beginning to understand it. Ralph wanted to bring in illegal trade to the group, becoming an official gang. "So Ralph believed in illicit trades? Drug, gambling and stuff?"

"Yes." Sam snorted and Cat could see a look of worry flash in her friend's eyes. "Gambling no, but there's another issue that I've let Beck and Sikowitz know about." Cat furrowed her brow, watching in silence as Sam looked out her window. "Well first off, the Black Knights deal in drug trade, the first thing Ralph wanted to introduce. They sell and buy guns within the black market and whoever will buy."

She veered off from that point, appearing to hesitate. Cat leaned forward, interested and curious. Sam curled a finger over her chin and shook her head slowly. "Well? Sam? What is it? Do we…do we trust Jesse? He and Sinjin are a part of this."

"The faction that stuck around for Roger still follows Jesse. There isn't as much infighting and most of the Knights would likely follow Jesse's word; it appears that the majority are afraid of Jerome…since Ralph's passing Jerome has cracked down a lot on his members. Violently. Everyone's afraid to speak, from what my sources are saying."

"Wow…what happened to Roger?"

"Ralph killed him and took over." It was clear what sources Sam was using, so Cat wasn't curious about that. Jesse and Sinjin probably filled her in on everything, and the woman most likely found a few Knights who were loyalists to Jesse. "Fortunately for us, the majority of the Knights follow Jesse and would see Jerome removed, unfortunately nobody knows how to act." Sam narrowed her eyes and motioned out the window. "And this seems to be the first time Jerome has actually showed his face in public. That alone makes him vulnerable…so honestly, I can't believe he's here."

"You know all this, the police must know too."

"Jesse confirmed the Knights are working with the Police Chief, Cat. Jerome has more protection right now than anybody than the president, almost." Cat figured this would have to be the reason he was out in public. Bravado, knowing nobody was going to try anything.

Her heart began to sink as she recalled Sam's hesitation. "Sam? You're hiding something. You stopped for a minute when talking about the things the Knights were doing. What else is there that you told Beck and Mr. Sikowitz? You know we're all a part of the same investigation."

She'd been around the block enough to know when Sam was trying to protect her by keeping stuff from her; but this wasn't the time for that. She understood most people saw her as this meek and cautious girl, possibly frightened at her own shadow. She was just as concerned as everyone else about the Vegas, and had as much fight in her to let the worries and 'meekness' subside.

"Don't worry about protecting me. I'm in this fully just like everyone else."

Sam exhaled and leaned to the side. Cat braced herself, anticipating and holding her breath for whatever was to come. "Slave trade. Granted it may be sex trade, but Jerome's started selling people." Cat's heart was shattered and she released her breath in the form of a gasp.

It was horrible news, and something that made the investigation more urgent. In her heart she feared for Tori and for Trina, because she knew what it could mean. Even if the leads wanted them dead too, Jerome could carry that sway and send the two girls out.

"Oh my god." Her hands began to tremble and she folded them over her stomach. "We have to hurry." The nausea started to rise up her throat and frenzied tears formed in her eyes. "Thank you for telling me, Sam. Do the others know?"

"They will. Jesse's the sole reason Trina and Tori haven't been shipped away; but the hold and influence he and Sinjin have won't last forever. Sikowitz understands the urgency, and we've told Jonah as well as Robbie's father, so both are trying to work on investigations. Jonah still has to talk his superiors into this, but once the FBI's on board it's still going to be difficult to start an open investigation without the Chief ordering the family killed."

"So as much as we have hope…"

It seemed like every step forward, they were forced two steps back. It was troubling, and she was growing more fearful by the minute that they wouldn't make it in. Each day she started to agree with Jade and Jason that they should just 'storm the fort' so to speak, but even they agreed that was far too risky and dangerous.

"It seems we have no choice but to trust Sinjin and Jesse. I won't condone criminal acts, certainly not the way I was when I was a teenager, but even I'm beginning to question whether or not to allow Jesse to take out his own brother…"

"Yeah. Doesn't sound like he'd do that, but everyone's getting desperate."

In the cell, Trina tended to Gary, trying to nurse him as much as she could. He was regaining whatever health he could since Jesse somehow convinced people to stop drugging him. She still worried for his health, fearing the constant drugging would kill him.

David hardly spoke anymore, even less than she did. All he could do was stare at them, and Trina didn't know if he felt guilty, ashamed, or something more. Tori stood with her back to the wall and her eyes to the metal door. "I always knew it was bad," she said, "What mom and dad did, how protective they were. I didn't really know how bad."

Trina exhaled, remembering the actions their parents had done in the past. "I tried to keep most of it from you, Tori. I'm sorry…" Tori's lips pursed and the girl unfolded her arms. Trina didn't look up from Gary, washing his arms and neck with a wet rag Sinjin provided them with. "I didn't want their actions to influence you. It was hard even for me, I knew it wasn't right…"

The only thing she truly told Tori about because she needed someone to talk to was that her father had ordered someone to beat Ross up in prison. She didn't realize the severity of it; that her dad wanted the man murdered.

It scared her how far her father would have gone, and at her expense. Now they all seemed to be paying for it. "I won't lie, I've thought about doing the same things. I don't know how I remained stable."

She wasn't stable, but she wasn't as bad off as she knew she could have been. Her love and concern for her little sister had always kept her conscious of her actions. "Hurting people that hurt us isn't right. It's never felt right."

Like Tori, she didn't know every detail of what her parents had done, they'd stayed away to try and keep them safe apparently. It was getting harder to do, and while their father had calmed in recent years; it seemed Tori's friends had been starting to reignite the fire.

Tori looked at David, her glossy eyes filling with a type of sorrow Trina hadn't seen in the girl, a helplessness she only wished she could remove. "I'm scared Trina. Dad won't talk to us, Gary's in bad shape…and what can one person do against an army?"

"I don't know." The captors couldn't constantly be wherever this place was, could they? Trina hugged herself and grimaced. "When I talked to him…" She could hardly say his name, much less think about him, without feeling the urge to vomit. "He revealed to me his dad's the one that called the shots, and said to gather all the men who our parents hurt. The Chief of Police, Tori…he's the one in charge of all this."

David's gaze slid over and he began to tremble with guilt and anxiety. Trina looked down at Gary, slowly running her hand along the man's forearm. His eyes were open and searching the area for a minute before locking with hers. She gave him a sad smile and pat his wrist.

"So what's the endgame?" Tori started to whine, her voice trembling with uncertainty. "What does the man want done?"

"I was told, he wanted Dad to see his family dead." She breathed heavily, slowly glaring at the speakerphone and speaking low. "He wants us all dead, and to leave Dad for last. Dad isn't meant to die until we're all gone. We're to be tortured before him, forced to be kept alive so he can see us suffer."

Trina sighed and rose slowly. "Until then." She balled up her hands and felt a tear running down her dried cheek. "We have no choice but to wait for either rescue or death. Whichever comes first." Part of her wanted to die, to let all of the pain and grief end; but she had to hold on for Tori and for Jason.

So we're seeing a little more of the feelings going on for the other friends in this. From Andre's resolve, Robbie's remorse and then we see even Cat's bolstering herself. We see Jerome for the first time, and learn of the great infighting going on with the Black Knights: Is that suggesting a weakness in the gang? Something's gotta give.