A/N: I didn't think I would make another Victorious fic again but this idea has been rattling inside my head for a long time. Since one of my most popular stories were "Edge" and its sequel "Is Your Love Strong Enough?" I was thinking about going back to this continuity and closing it off as a trilogy.
Can't believe its going to soon be 10 years since we started this. I hope to have this done in time for Christmas or at least before the anniversary of parts one and two.
I really love Tori and Jade in this one and the O.C. Jordan and Nate were breakthroughs with the fans, so I wanted to bring them all back. But since the last story was heavier and more gritty; I wanted to conclude the saga with something more fun.
With Christmas approaching and re-watching one of my favorites "DIE HARD" I was inspired to make a holiday action movie with our favorite cops, Tori and Jordan, faced with a real situation that they will have to use their training as well as their wits to overcome.
BTW: I have a long list of my "to read" pile and will get through it when I get my new tablet to read them. Phone is way too small.
Enough blabber; let's get this ride started!
Please leave reviews and drop a message if you'd like to say hi!
;-)
The signs pointing to Los Angeles passed by the massive window of the Greyhound.
Jade would rather fly but there were...circumstances. But the bus wasn't so bad; at least when she was able to relieve herself at one of the stops. Jade refused to use that bathroom on board the grey and blue monstrosity.
She looked at the time on her phone and marveled at how much earlier she was going to arrive than anticipated. Jade wasn't getting much of a signal so she sent a text message since it took less data to transport. To pass the time, she started scrolling through her pictures. They go back quite a way, over 1,000. She really should upload them into her PC when she gets the chance.
Jade stops on a photo of her and Tori from last year's Christmas party. They looked so happy, wrapped together in garland whilst holding brightly-colored drinks.
She hadn't been much in the Christmas mood this year. They have been separated long enough in her opinion. When she texted Tori and Jordan that she was coming back home, only the redhead responded in the affirmative. Tori never sent anything back.
This worried her so. Not that another argument was what she wanted but anything! The silence on the other end haunted her. After all, Tori was an officer of the law and in one of the more dangerous cities in the country. In the wrong state of mind, she could get really hurt or worse.
"I know it's a lot I dumped on you," she sighed. "Please don't do something reckless before we can make up."
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
The buzzer echoed through the shooting range as the paper human target began rolling forward.
Perfect. Two in the chest and two in the head.
Tori Vega would normally be elated to see such a result but she just regarded the holes she made from several yards away expressionless. She ripped the sheet off and situated another fresh target and pressed the button, sending it rolling all the way back to the wall.
She was always sharp. Her father, former chief of police, said so. Tori's reflexes took time to match her eyes. Once she got that dream team together, she was a regular crack shot.
Only Cupid's arrow would strike with such accuracy.
These days, Tori wished to God that it didn't. She had had enough with love.
"Ugh, there you are!"
Tori didn't flinch with the sudden intrusion of her old partner. She didn't even glance over for a second. Just kept eyes on the target dangling from the overhead track.
The tall redhead looked at Tori, wound tighter than she had ever looked. For someone who was dead inside, she was as stoic as a boulder. She looked down at the small stack of spent paper targets.
"Have you been here all day?" asked Jordan.
No answer.
"Hello?"
Tori kept her stance and didn't look beyond the target like she was a horse with blinders. Quick, elegant hands dumped the empty clip and reloaded without looking down. She could do this by ear; a natural. Who knew that the perceived prissy Tori Vega from Hollywood Arts was an efficient killing machine if she applied herself. Always easy on the eyes but she could just as quickly become your worst nightmare if she had a reason.
"Tori?"
Ready...
"TORI?"
Aim...
"VEGA!"
That was it. The one word that made her break. Like the Manchurian Candidate but in reverse. The intended bullet missed the paper silhouette completely and ricochet off the back wall.
She missed.
"What do you want, Jordan?!"
"Chill out, woman!" she said, crossing her arms. "I don't appreciate being ghosted. Luckily this was the fourth place I tried because if you weren't here, I was gonna start getting pissed."
The half Latina shrugged.
"So what? Getting pissed is a waste of time. Nothing matters."
"Okay!"
The redhead caught Tori off guard and disarmed her with a flash. Tori was quick but so was she. Jordan reactivated the safety and tucked the pistol in her pants.
"This new existential crisis ennui Tori Vega is getting on my fucking nerves!"
"What do you care?"
The sheer venom in her voice was so jarring. Even after all of the near misses they experienced over the years, the woman was always full of love and life. And now she was an empty husk. Like a being from another planet kidnapped the real Tori and replaced her with this really shitty doppelganger.
Jordan charged forward, getting right into Tori's face.
She's had enough. With the whole damn thing.
"You listen and you listen WELL, Vega!" the taller woman pointed. "Don't you EVER tell me what I should care about! I let in who I deem worthy of my heart. They don't decide, I do! ME! And if one of them turns into a bleak, brutal asshole who turns their back on everything they worked for, who they fought for; I'm not gonna just sit there idly by!"
At this point, she didn't give a damn. Jordan knew this was a trigger for Tori after her days of captivity but she grabbed her wrists to make her understand how serious she was right now.
"I promised a long time ago that I wouldn't quit on you! I've had partners before and they all sucked. We get each other! You were there for me. And you were there for Nate when I couldn't be."
Tori quickly flashed back to those dark days in the bowels of Keith Hellman's den of inequity. She did everything she could to keep going even though in the back of her mind, she was pretty sure this was going to be the end. To this day, she has the occasional night terror. The most recent one was especially bad because there wasn't anyone to hold her until she felt safe enough to go back to sleep.
Lonely nights. The loneliest nights ever.
"You faced the odds!" Jordan continued. "You're a bad bitch and I love you like a sister. And I'll be damned if you're going to throw the best thing in your life away!"
Jordan let go and stood there in silence, allowing her words to sink in.
Tori looked down at her targets, shot full of holes. She weakly picked up one of them, stared at it for a moment and tore it in half as the waterworks came flooding through.
She dropped to her knees and Jordan instinctively wrapped her arms around Tori, who was now sobbing.
"I'M...SU...SU...SORRYYYYYYYY!"
"Oh, you gorgeous idiot," she said, fighting back her own tears. That tongue-lashing was the most raw she had ever gotten with Tori. And she meant every word. "Of course I forgive you. But I'm not the important one; you know that."
"Where..." Tori sniffed, collecting herself. "Where is she?"
Jordan checked the clock on her phone.
"She should be arriving at the bus depot in less than an hour."
"Okay, let's go. And Jordan?"
"What?"
"Thanks," Tori said, holding tightly to her partner's hand. "I know I've been terrible these days."
The redhead patted her shoulder.
"Don't mention it. Just tell me how awesome I am over lunch. Your treat."
Tori smirked for the first time in almost a month. It felt good. She forgot how much she missed doing that.