Happy Passover and Happy Good Friday. I hope everyone is doing well. I have another chapter for you and hopefully a second one on Easter Sunday.

Twilight Warrior 627: I would say that pacing is one of the most difficult parts of storytelling as to not let things drag out, but not get resolved too quickly to sabotage the tension. Those little ones could be adorable together.

The Bensons have opinions all over the place, something that would be expected if suddenly an unexpected grown child appeared in the picture.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Amanda is accepting the truth and wants a relationship with her brother because she was raised (I'm taking artistic license) with the sense of strong family bonding. Mr. Benson just doesn't believe that Freddie is his. He truly believes that Marissa cheated on him and got pregnant by another man. He washed his hands of her and wanted to start fresh.

There is a specialness in seeing the world from the eyes of a child. Grace could possibly see them after her experience, but Jade had the same one and she can't see them. Ian… I've never really addressed his father…

Tori did treat what happened to her/injuries were no big deal and was getting upset with people showing her compassion as her concern was for Grace and thought others should focus on her exclusively. Dusty was one that was agreeing with her, but at the same time kicking her not to blame herself. Sometimes crap just happens and it isn't from a glasses wearing blonde.

Challenge King: They are adorable kids and the story needs a shot in the arm of some innocence with all the adult problems. Tori needed to see that everything was alright and give her the opportunity to do something to help herself. Dusty did what he has always done: give a different perspective than the rest of the cast. We'll see how things work out for Freddie and Amanda.

xemtlenc: Freddie/Amanda are carrying their baggage in trying to deal with a person that should have been in their lives since the beginning, but having to start from scratch with the ups and pitfalls that they will encounter. Freddie himself already has people in his lives that could be considered just as close as a sibling, so how much in need does need another one?

I looked up my past chapters and notes with 'WLEO' in regards to Tasha and I couldn't find any mention of Heather describing her. I've only mentioned that she and Tasha are friends. I'm splitting the difference in her two portrayals on iCarly: she's fairly normal other than being a little innocent instead of a dingbat that could give final season/S&C Cat a run for her money.

Rating: T Language

Chapter 15

West Residence
Los Angeles, CA
Monday, October 14, 2013

The kitchen clock showed just after five as Freddie stepped through the kitchen door and hung up his keys on the key rack. He shut the door behind him and headed to the stairs. Before he started his way up however, he peaked into the living room to see Mrs. West and Colonel Shay sitting on the couch watching television.

He walked to the other side of the dividing bar between the kitchen and living room and rested his forearms on the counter to greet the couple, "Hey."

The West Matriarch looked over her shoulder and top of the backrest of the couch and returned with a smile, "Hey, did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, it was fine."

Shay turned his head to join the conversation and asked, "We heard the news. It wouldn't be presumptuous to think that Mister Hale is back? The good news about the miracle healing of the little girl has been all over the news."

Freddie slightly tilted his head to the right and stated, "No you wouldn't. He showed up last night for her then stopped by earlier at Tori's after we brought her home then he vanished in his usual way, so I don't know if he's back to stay."

Mrs. West pointed out, "He has good timing."

"It wasn't timing. Heather prayed to him, so he showed up. He was kind of annoyed at being interrupted because of Tori," Freddie casually remarked as he decided to make a quick stop to the refrigerator. "But it was Heather, so he showed up."

Shay got up from his seat and walked around the couch and took a seat on the living room side of the kitchen bar. "With all the reports on the news and… some other sources that still keep me in the loop, he's been very busy. If I was on that kind of roll, I might be a little annoyed in being interrupted."

Freddie pulled a bottle of water out and took a quick sip before hesitantly answering, "I can't speak for that."

The former flyer snorted out a laugh then replied, "Please Freddie, it's clearly him. He's wasting any piece of shit that dare pops his head out and it is a lot cleaner than drone strikes. They are terrified of him and I know there are plenty in the CIA and NSA and groups you've probably never heard of that would love to know about him. If he heads back out, perhaps you should pass along that he might want to keep a lower profile."

"I'll pass your advice along."

The kitchen door opened again and Jade walked inside. She turned on a bright smile at seeing her family. She sat the carrying case with Easter still inside on the kitchen island and dropped her bag on the floor next to the island. She wrapped an arm behind Freddie's back and placed the other one on his chest before placing a kiss on his right cheek. "Hey."

"Hey," he answered with a kiss of his own on the corner of her mouth.

Jade glanced to the Colonel and her mother who was taking a seat next to Shay. "Hey."

Mrs. West answered, "Hey sweetheart. How was your day?"

The musician slipped from Freddie's grasp, but remained standing close to him. "It was fine. Tori's alright, no complaints with class and I got to spend the afternoon with Ian. It's good." She let out a soft chuckle, "Rose and her daughter stopped by when we dropped by Tori's. Ian and her daughter, Grace, looked like they got along great. They looked cute together."

Freddie finished taking another sip from his drink and asked, "They're about the same age aren't they?"

"Yeah."

Shay pointed out, "Wow, little guy is starting out early, isn't he?"

Jade returned the grin and remarked, "Dusty pointed out that they're about the same age as you and mom met."

The older couple shared mild shocked expression then their own soft embarrassment.

Freddie questioned, caught off by the news, "Dusty pointed that out? He was with you?"

"Yeah, I ah… stopped by his house after you left. We had a talk then he gave me a lift to class then after we went to Tori's."

"How did that go?"

Jade shrugged a shoulder. "It was kind of tense at first, but I guess they kind of worked out when Ian and I went downstairs to grab a snack for him."

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah, but the bigger news is that we met up with Jon before my class."

"Oh?"

"Yeah and Dusty said that you and Jon share DNA, so…"

Mrs. West incredulously remarked, "He's a walking DNA tester now?"

Shay pointed out, "He is the child of a non-corporeal being and they don't see the universe like the rest of us."

The West Matriarch flicked an eyebrow up and questioned with a smirk, "When the subject comes up, why do you always sound like you have experience with it or know more than you let on?"

The Colonel just grinned with a glint in his eyes that said he had an unspoken truth, which just kind of infuriated her.

Freddie slightly frowned then tiredly remarked, "I guess now there's no doubt that we're brothers."

Jade shook her head. "He wouldn't go that far."

"Why?"

"He pointed out that Heather and I share DNA to make us look practically identical and we don't have the same parents."

Mrs. West rolled her eyes and slightly shook her head. "I still don't understand how that happened."

"It's a strange universe Ruby. There are things out there that you wouldn't believe and proves that life is far stranger than fiction."

She looked to the man she had known for practically her entire life, seeing once again that he had some grand secret that he was keeping.

Jade continued, "It gets stranger. We haven't mentioned this, but Amanda looks identical to Cat."

Shay replied in a deadpan manner, "I think I need a drink."

The younger couple smiled in sympathy to the former Air Force officer as Cat bared a striking resemblance to the late Mrs. Shay at that age. However, that resemblance had at least a reasonable explanation in that Cat was Mrs. Shay's first cousin once removed.

Freddie brought up, "I'm not worrying about the DNA. He's my father and they are his children, so we're siblings. If Jon doesn't want to accept it, that's his business and I'm not going to push it."

Jade walked around Freddie and headed for the refrigerator to grab something to drink. She glanced over her shoulder and asked, "Speaking of your siblings, how did your meeting with your sister go?"

He shrugged a shoulder and lazily answered, "It went alright."

Jade pulled a bottle of juice from the refrigerator and raised a questioning eyebrow, showing she wasn't going to let that go as an explanation.

He half grinned and offered, "I'll tell you later, but it was fine overall. She wants to really get to know me and us to really be family."

Mrs. West cautiously asked, sensing in his voice hesitation with the development, "Is that a good thing?"

"I don't know. I don't know how to deal with a sister or really if I should. What if she's just trying to worm her way into my life and get something out of Jade?"

Jade glanced away, feeling slightly nauseous at the idea that she could be a reason for him to be hesitant in his relationships with people, especially if it was a chance to get to know his lost sister. The dark brunette forced a smile and put her opinion into the matter, "Don't assume the worst in her."

"I'm not assuming, but I have to be cautious. What if she really just wants to use me to get something out of you?"

Jade tightly smiled and glanced to his chest. "Then we'll deal with it if it comes up."

Freddie matched her eyes, unsure of the boost of support to the notion. Mrs. West joined in the curiosity with her own expression as they had always been on guard to take precautions of such a thing.

Shay brought up the obvious question with a cautious tone, "Have you told Marissa yet?"

Freddie looked away from his future bride and answered in a mildly dread filled tone, "No, not yet and I'm not sure how."

The former flyer chuckled, "Simple: 'Mom, I met my dad and his children he had after leaving you.'"

Ruby gave him a good elbow to the side and muttered, "Steven."

Shay lazily looked to his future wife and answered, "He asked how, not that it had to be sensitive. I don't know how you could break that kind of news gently. She is quite aware that she divorced him and she couldn't have been so delusional to think that he wouldn't move on with his life."

"Divorce is a sensitive subject."

He momentarily held his tongue at the not so subtle reference to her own divorce with Roy, but did reply, "Granted, but it's not about her. Her feelings shouldn't take priority… as it usually has been for most of his life." He nodded to Freddie and continued, "It's about him and his relationship with his father and now his half-siblings."

Freddie snorted out a little miffed at the insult towards his mother, "I'm standing right here."

"And? I'm not going to say this stuff behind your back. My thoughts and feelings about your mother are not secrets and I make no apologies for them."

Freddie rolled his eyes and sighed, ignoring the jab at his mother, "He's right. I can't exactly sugarcoat it and I can't put it off much longer. I'm surprised no one has overheard something either at the hospital or on campus and posted it on-line. The last thing I want is for her to hear about it from someone else." He tiredly smiled to the three and took a few steps backwards. "It's been a long day and I'm going to go relax before dinner."

He took another sip from his bottle then gave Jade another kiss on the cheek and pulled away from her to head for the stairs.

As soon as he was out of sight, Jade thumbed over her shoulder and said, "I'll see you later."

Once Jade disappeared up the stairs, Ruby looked to Shay and asked with a hint of chiding in her voice, "I don't like Marissa either, but do you have to be that harsh?"

Shay's lips became a thin line then answered in a slightly annoyed tone, "She struck Carly, thought there was nothing wrong it yet I still let her keep her teeth for it; what more do you want from me?"

Ruby sighed and glanced away, not really having a counter to his question.

Upstairs, Jade took a quick stop by her bedroom to change for the evening into an old Penny-T and loose sweatpants before heading right back out. She walked down the hall to Freddie's room and stopped at the partially opened entrance. She knocked on his open door and found Freddie at his desk, busily working on some programming. "Hey."

The college sophomore looked away from his desktop computer, already starting on work that probably wouldn't be due for weeks as he was always on top of his assignments.

She walked to him and offered her hand to him and bashfully smiled, bringing a tired smile to Freddie's lips. He sighed and accepted her hand so she could pull him from his seat. She walked to the bed and took a seat then scooted back for him to join her.

Freddie took a seat by propping his back against the headboard and extended his legs out. Jade snuggled up against his side, pulling his arm around to rest on her hip.

She quietly remarked, "What's wrong? What's bothering you?"

He forced a smile and nodded his head to the side. "You really picked up on that?"

"It's not like it's ever hard to notice with you. You can't help from being expressive."

He grinned and teased, letting his fingertips drum on her hip, "Or maybe you can just read me after all this time?"

She squinted with one eye and half smirked with her reply, "There's that too."

"So, what's bothering you?"

Freddie sighed then answered, "I kind of learned something about my… my sister and it's kind of bothering me."

"You know her for a day and she's already failing your expectations?"

The brown eye boy chuckled, "I never expected a sister, so I don't have any expectations, but… I am kind of troubled about what I learned about her."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"A friend—not at the time—but her friend… that might be a little more than a friend… found this ultra-rare old baseball card and turns out it's worth something like a million dollars or more, but he sold it to some of memorabilia store for next to nothing. The store owner knew it was worth a lot and didn't let him know."

"That sucks, but what stopped him from just going online to see if it was worth anything? That's really stupid on his part."

"Yeah, but I didn't bring that up."

"So he got swindled because he was too stupid or lazy to do his homework?"

"Yeah, basically, but the guy's best friend came up with a plan to get it back. From what I picked up on, he's kind of like a smooth operator, but he's helped a lot of people because he can."

"Sounds familiar," she teased.

Freddie grinned then continued, "Anyway, he tried to get her and a few others he had done favors for to help him in his plan. He reminded them of all the times he had helped them, but they still refused to help. They weren't going to return the favor. They finally came around after he promised that he would give them each twenty five thousand dollars after he sold the card."

Jade grinned, seeing where this was going. "And you would have done it for free?"

He shrugged a shoulder and boyishly smirked, "It would have been the right thing to do even without returning the favor but it took her a cash promise for her to do it and… I guess that just bothers me."

"Don't let one little thing mess with you. I had a chizz load of things wrong and you put up with me."

"I wouldn't say I 'put up' with you. Whatever… rough qualities you had, they didn't include you being that… opportunistic?"

Jade teased with a tickling of his stomach, "I guess it's not the Benson genes then."

He laughed for a fraction of a second then sadly replied, "It makes me wonder what it is then."

"Perhaps it's on your mother's side?"

Freddie licked his lips and half grinned, thinking on her point. "It just might be."

"Whatever the case, I know our children will take after you. They would have done it to help their friend."

"What about you? What about your side?"

"Other than my coolness, hotness and talent, I hope not."

Freddie softly bit into her bottom lip, stifling a laugh. He kissed her temple and assured her, "Don't sell yourself short. I know that heart you have in there, one you already had before we met."

Jade smiled, willing to accept his praise and relaxed into him.

Freddie spoke up, "You wanted to know about Amanda, so how was your talk with Dusty?"

"Cryptic, but I can tell he's troubled. He's… a little distant and just… off."

"He did break up with Heather. If I lost you, I know I wouldn't be alright—I'd be devastated. It would explain what he was doing for the last couple of weeks: he just needed some distance from the situation."

"Some of it's that—I know it is, but I think what is bothering him is the reason why he broke up with her."

Freddie raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did he tell you why?"

"No, just that we should assume he's the bad guy and Heather is completely innocent. I couldn't get him to open up."

"Dusty's always been a private guy, but wow. He really is pushing that explanation?"

"Yes. He wasn't budging at all on that."

Freddie sighed and thought for a moment. He slightly nodded his head and stated, "If he's asking us to do that, then I'll do that for him. Heather is the innocent victim and he's… he's basically the asshole that broke her heart."

Jade sat up from his embrace and looked him in the eyes. "You just want to accept a lie?"

"After everything we've been through, if that is what he's asking of us, I'm not going to argue with him over it."

Jade relaxed back on the pillow to sit beside him, but not slip back under his arm. She hated that reasoning of just accepting a lie. The old saying 'What you don't know can't hurt you' crossed her mind, but she couldn't accept it. She had to put up with enough fake people in her career and didn't want it to start up in her inner circle. She thought about it for a few moments and asked, "Maybe we can invite him over to dinner?"

Freddie half smirked and raised an eyebrow knowing exactly why she would suggest such a thing. "You want to pump him for what's going on?"

The dark haired musician innocently answered while avoiding eye contact, "I want to welcome him back. He is our friend after all."

"Jade?"

"I want to find out what is going on. It's like… things have started to fall apart while I was gone: something is going on with Tori and Beck whether they want to admit it or not—Dusty said he saw something with Tori—and he and Heather have outright broken up."

Freddie squinted and cautious while being quite curious about his next words, "You can't fix everyone's problems. I would love for everyone to be as happy as us, but…"

"I don't want to…" She stopped herself and took a deep breath, giving herself a few seconds to gather her thoughts. "Look, I'm happy, even with the bullchizz that is going on with Ian's mom, I'm happy. I couldn't be happier with my career and my mom's happy and finally moving on with her life and… I have you and we're happy, but… Is it too much for my friends to ask for my friends to be happy?"

Freddie cracked a smile. The girl that had walked through life with an emotional wall with only the barest of hints that she cared about others had turned one hundred eighty degrees in the last few years.

Things had definitely changed.

"No, it's not, but we of all people know that there are things out of our control."

"'Out of our control?'"

"Yes, a god and maybe some circumstances, but not people. They have to make their own choices—ones that we may disagree—and we have to respect them… as long as they aren't harming themselves."

"You don't think Dusty trying to carry on a lie and wanting us to accept it isn't harming himself?"

"It probably is, but we can't really do anything about it. We could tell him that we won't believe it, but that just makes it blame Heather for what happen, unfairly thinking badly of her and make him dig in his heels."

Jade crossed her arms over her stomach and took several deep breaths. She let the gears in her head turn, trying to figure out a way to get through to Dusty. She idly mumbled, "I could tell him about Nate… what I know about him. That might get Dusty off his butt and do something."

Freddie raised his brow and implored, "No, you shouldn't tell him about Nate."

"Why?"

"Because that's not fair to him. Just because you dreamed of him a certain way that inspired your screenplay doesn't mean that's how he is. Everyone in it is some warped distortion of everyone—including you. If you tell your mom how you dreamed of Mrs. Shay… she'd have an aneurism and Carly just might kill you." He realized his last point and felt stupid for a moment in who turned out to be the villain of the piece, to the chagrin of Jade.

Freddie sighed and continued, "You know what I mean and I really think you should change the character now that you know he's a real person so he can't sue you if you get it sold just like you had to change how my 'father' was in it. If Dusty found out you dreamt of his grandfather as my…"

Jade sighed deeply and answered, "Fine, I won't say anything about that, but that doesn't mean we can't help them."

"I didn't say we wouldn't, but it's ultimately their decisions to make."

She realized that just two years ago before meeting Freddie, she probably wouldn't be saying such a thing as she had a pretty self-centered attitude with her success, "What good is being happy when those around us aren't? Is this Fate's way of really saying 'jank you' for not being able to touch us anymore?"

"I don't know, but I highly doubt she's stuck her nose in Dusty's business since he would probably cut it off."

Jade turned her head and glanced out the window, still lost in thought and perhaps pouting of all things.

Freddie cracked a smile and acquiescence, "Fine, let's see if we can't get him to come over tomorrow night. I guess I can fix something for us."

Jade placed a kiss on his cheek, satisfied that things were finally looking up.

The couple spent the next few hours working on their respective homework, bouncing ideas about another screenplay she was working on and just enjoying each other's company until they went down for dinner. After dinner, they were right back up in his room and picked up where they left off until it was time for bed—at least for Freddie as Jade didn't have anywhere particularly to be the next morning.

It was ironic then that it was Jade that fell asleep on Freddie's bed, curled up with a pillow with the television still playing in the background. Freddie regretfully pulled away from her and took a seat at his desk. He picked up his phone and fired off a quick text message.

He waited for a reply by taking a seat at his computer and turning on the monitor. A few moments later a video request popped up and accepted it, pulling up a video chat window to show his mother's face.

Freddie cracked a soft smile. "Hi mom."

"Hey Freddie. Is everything okay? I mean, I heard about what happened with Tori."

"She's fine and the little girl is okay, but that's not why I called. I wanted to tell you something before it got leaked on TMZ or something."

Mrs. Benson's eyes bugged out and almost shouted, "Oh my God, you eloped? Jade's pregnant?"

Jade slightly stirred at hearing the near shriek from his mother.

Freddie looked over his shoulder to see that she was still asleep then turned the volume down on his speaker for a moment then answered with a mix of disbelief and dismissiveness, "No, we didn't elope and Jade is not pregnant."

Mrs. Benson let out a sigh of relief, "Oh thank you God."

Freddie sighed and rolled his eyes, "Thanks mom of the vote of confidence."

She answered with a sour tone, "Well you admitted that you and she are sexually active and you are engaged."

"Were, but I'm not going to start that argument with you again."

"Fine, what's done is done. It's not as if you could get your virginities back."

Freddie held his tongue on the fact that since Jade's near death and healing, she was physically a virgin.

The Seattle nurse asked, "So what is it that you need to tell me?"

"I met my brother and sister."

Mrs. Benson's lips parted and she squinted, unsure if she had heard him correctly. "What?"

"I met my brother and sister… and dad. He remarried after the divorce and had children."

The nurse's face went nearly as white as Jade's face. "You what?"

"Yes. It turns out that my brother is going to UCLA. They're from New York. Jade and Tori met him a few weeks ago between classes, but we just now figured out that we're brothers. His younger sister was visiting him this last weekend with their father. After Tori's accident, they came by the hospital to visit her and I met my father and I figured it out real quickly. My father got upset and he refused to acknowledge me as my son and my brother is siding with him, but… my sister believes I'm her brother and she's been real receptive to the idea. She's been the friendliest."

"Are you sure it's him?"

"Unless he married another Marissa Benson in Seattle and left her at the same time, it's him. I've seen the old pictures of him and Amanda—my sister—sees the resemblance between me and him."

Mrs. Benson looked away from the monitor, trying to process what she had just been told.

Freddie tried to reassure his mother, "Mom, everything is okay. You don't have to be concerned about anything."

Her eyes darted around like a caged animal. She uttered, "What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know your father now and…" The Seattle nurse smacked her lips, "…and your siblings. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to try to get to know them?"

"He lives in New York and he's back there right now or he's leaving tonight since Amanda said this was their last day. They would have left Sunday, but put off leaving after hearing what happened with Tori. We're not going to see each other, so I'm not going to deal with him."

The Benson Matriarch let out a relieved breath that he wasn't going to try to establish some kind of connection to his father. "But your… 'brother' will be there."

"Like I said, he's taking my father's side and doesn't believe it. He's friendly with Tori and getting along with Jade, so I might see him on a semi-regular basis at best, but right now I don't see it going any further than that. I will be keeping in touch with Amanda and see where that goes."

Mrs. Benson looked pensive. "Okay, I just don't want you to get hurt. I don't want you to expect something that's never going to happen. Your father did abandon us."

"I know mom and he made that quite clear he doesn't believe I'm his son. I don't care about him. He made his choice. I have my family and I'm good. I'm not expecting anything from any of them. The only thing I'm worried about if they want something from me because of Jade, but I'm not going to assume the worst in Amanda."

His mother still looked apprehensive, but quietly admitted, "Okay, if you want to make a connection with them, that's your choice, but just be careful."

"I will."

Mrs. Benson tightly smiled and began, clearly not wanting to talk about the subject of her ex-husband and the fact that he not only moved on from her, but had children, "So how are you and Jade doing…"

Tori and Trina Vega Residence
Hollywood Hills
Los Angeles, CA
Monday, October 14, 2013

The time was approaching seven in the evening as the Vega sisters were sitting at the kitchen table with Tori's assistant Stacy and her manger having a dinner meeting.

Stacy informed her boss between bites of her pizza, "Everyone at the studio and production staff send their well wishes."

Tori had an easier time to let a smile form from hearing such news than she did earlier in the day.

Tori's manager, a lovely woman in her mid-30s with just past shoulder length black hair and glasses, put on a diplomatic smile and brought up, "I'm sorry to bring this up, but they're of course going to push back production for you, but they would like to know if possible how long they need to push back production."

"Tell them that I'm okay. I can be there as early as Wednesday and let them know that I'm willing to do whatever we have to for us to get back on schedule without any need to renegotiate anything."

The glasses wearing manager glanced to Stacy then to Trina, surprised at the answer.

Trina quickly questioned, "Tori, are you sure? You were roughed up pretty good."

"Trina, I'm absolutely fine thanks to…" She couldn't speak freely in front of Stacy and her manager. "…my miracle. There is no reason to put off going. I can't hold up production. Stacy, would you please arrange a flight for me in the morning?"

The brunette assistant looked to Trina for confirmation.

The older sister wanted to argue that she wasn't mentally in the right place with her feeling guilty over something that wasn't her fault. However, her mind turned to the benefits of her sister going ahead to New York. It was good to jump right back on the horse and it would get her away from Jon for a month and give her a chance to clear her head and give her a fresh perspective of her relationship with Beck. She gave a barely perceived nod.

Stacy answered with a forced smile, "Sure Tori. Same arrangement as before?"

"Yes. Beck wanted to treat me, so I'm letting him. I'm going to contact Jon and see if Amanda is still here. I know she put off going home to check on me, so I want to give her to ride with us."

Trina questioned, "Is that such a good idea?"

"She's Freddie's sister. That's reason enough."

The manager spoke up, "I was thinking liability issues in case something happened to her."

Tori bluntly stated, "If something happens to her, I'll be dead too, so it's pointless."

The manger looked to Trina, the only one that could ever really talk Tori out of something if it came down to it. However, she wasn't any help as the old sister raised her hands and gave up, "Fine, I won't argue over that. Let her fly with you."

"Good. Now that is settled, I want to hire on Rose as another assistant."

"What?"

"Yes, I want to hire her."

The other three glanced to one another again while Stacy looked the most concerned that she could be out of a job.

Trina questioned with raised eyebrows, "You're serious about this?"

"Yes."

"You don't owe her anything. The city should pay her for what happened."

Tori closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She took a calm breath and countered, "I'm not buying her off. I just want to help her and this is the perfect way." She glanced to her day-to-day assistant. "I know I'm running you ragged with things. I know you could use some help… and I know that you're helping Trina out too."

Trina looked offended as she was caught, but pointed to Stacy and remarked, "Yes, you give her a raise, not hire someone to compete for her job."

Tori looked laughed towards her sister and added, "You're right. Stacy, you get a raise and I'm hiring Rose. They are not going to compete, but help each other."

The assistant smiled with the bump in pay even if she didn't know the amount yet.

The older Vega sister closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine, but let us do a background check on her first."

"Do anything you want in checking her out, but short of her being a felon, I want her hired and that's that."

Trina rubbed her temples with her fingertips then answered, "Okay, if it will make you feel better then we'll hirer her and we'll get in touch with Amanda to fly back with you."

Tori grinned big enough to nearly break her face then grabbed a slice of Trina's healthy pizza, her appetite coming back.

Hale Residence
Los Angeles, CA

On the couch in the living room, Mister Hale was relaxing after a long day at the machinist shop with his feet propped up on the coffee table and sipping on a beer. Dusty was sitting beside him almost copying him, but with a Peppy-Cola in his hand. Neither one of them were actually paying much attention to what was on the television.

Usually Dusty would find the silence peaceful, they never really needed the chatter, but it was easy to tell when his father was brooding and he wasn't in the mood for it. "Oh will you stop brooding. I got you pie and your favorite Asian porn magazines, what do you want?"

Hale glanced to his son and sharply answered, "You took off for weeks and I only hear about you every time a terrorist turns up with his insides turned into baroque? I had to find out from Bobby that you were gallivanting around meeting up with each one of the Four Horseman of the freaking Apocalypse. You don't think that wouldn't upset a little?"

Dusty glanced to his father and gave him an incredulous expression. "You're going to lecture me killing monsters? Really?" He shook his head and added, "I don't want to hear about them being human. They're killing more than anything you hunted when you were younger."

Hale sat up and directed a stern look at his son. His voice was fairly gruff as his anger sipped into it, "I don't care that offed a few pieces of shit… okay, I wish you never had to kill anyone, but what's done is done. What I care about is that you just took off and while you were gone, you almost got yourself killed."

"You have died—multiple times—and hat I did was worth the risk."

"Maybe it was, but without backup, without any of us?"

"You've done enough. It was my time to pick up the burden."

"That's not how it works. It wasn't your burden to pick up."

"From my understanding, that's how it worked many times with everyone back in the day. You're the stubborn one between you and Uncle Sam and they had to do stuff that you didn't want them to do, but it was the right thing."

"You've never been one for family traditions, but you pick up the one bad habit?"

Dusty pulled his feet away from the table and sat up in his seat to face his father. "Okay, let's follow this path of logic: I pull you into this and obviously you would call Uncle Sam into it and eventually you put the band back together again for another fight."

"Yes, that's my point. You shouldn't have gone off half-cocked and maybe your shoulder wouldn't be a bloody mess and your head nearly taken off."

"And what about Mary?"

Mister Hale squinted and questioned, "What about Mary?"

"You've lectured others to give up that life for their children, but you'll turn around and do it to your own niece? Or Aunt Jo's kids? No. It's our turn now if there has to be those fights. I'm going to bury you of old age, not because you went out in a blaze of glory. Mary shouldn't have to bury her father like that either."

"Parents are willing to die for their children."

"I don't want anyone dying for me and besides… it was my destiny to give Fate the bird just like it was yours and Uncle Sam's to screw up the big prize fight."

The father sighed and relaxed back on the couch and muttered in disgust, "It was still stupid."

"Of course it was… we do stupid things. It's a family trait."

"You mean like you breaking up with your girlfriend that got you to leave in the first place?"

Dusty frowned and muttered, "You're going to bring this up again?"

"Until I get a straight answer from you. Damn, I thought I could dodge and weave, but you're turning it into an art from."

"I'm not dodging anything. I told you."

"Don't give me that crap you're telling your friends—I know you're telling them if you tried to feed that original crap to me. Why? Why did you break up with her? You two have been great together. Far better than I would have expected and you just up and decide to break it off with her? You have been happier than I have ever seen since we moved here. As much as you've made friends with those acting kids, I know you stayed for her."

The former Northridge student relaxed back in his seat and answered, "I… I love her. I broke up with her because I love her."

"You broke up with her because you love her?"

"It worked for you and Lisa."

Hale squared his jaw and breathed out a soft breath from his nose. "That's not the same thing. You don't have to worry about any of that with Heather."

Dusty's brow furled and answered with deadly coldness, "That's not what I was thinking about. I would lay waste to anything that came near her and wipe out their kind within a hundred miles of her."

"Then what is it? Come on son, you know you can trust me with anything you need to say."

The teenager internally debated whether to answer his father, whether he could deal with the inevitable argument that his father would give about how wrong and pigheaded about his decision, until he finally answered, "Fine… the reason I broke up with Heather is…"

Tori and Trina Vega Residence
Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The next morning bright and early, Tori was already out of bed and dressed. After a quick breakfast, she was back in her room looking over her open luggage resting on her bed. Her luggage was of course packed from Sunday, but she took the time to check over that things hadn't jumbled too badly. She took a glance over everything and saw that nothing really looked out of place, no more than it would have been going through airport security.

She wasn't alone in her room as Beck, Amanda and Jon were patiently waiting for her to finish going over her final checklist before they would head to the private airport.

Beck glanced to Jon, trying his best to maintain a friendly expression towards the young man despite wishing that he wasn't here.

Jon on the other hand looked as if he didn't have any trouble keeping a friendly disposition towards the long haired actor.

"It looks like I'm all set," Tori commented then looked over her shoulder to Amanda and asked, "Do you have everything?"

The darker red velvet haired teenager smiled and answered, "Yes, I'm all packed up and everything is in Jon's car. We can go as soon as you're ready."

"Good, I just don't want anything to be forgotten."

Amanda eagerly thanked the brunette singer, "I've double-checked everything. Thank you so much for letting fly back with you. I can't tell you how grateful I am. I've never flown on a private jet before."

Tori smiled, seeing the similarity between her and Cat, and replied, "It's no problem. We are heading for the same place and you're Freddie's sister. That makes you extended family."

Jonathan tightened his smile at hearing the comparison.

The brunette apparently didn't see the uncomfortable expression on the younger Benson's face and Tori continued, "I still hope between your classes and my filming that we can hang out and you can show me all the great places."

Amanda couldn't believe that Tori was being so open and friendly as she figured most celebrities' public personas didn't match how they were in private. She was frankly surprised with everyone's hospitality towards her. Freddie was of course a little hesitant, but he was still friendly towards her and understandable with his suspicions. She felt bad that he had to feel that way because he didn't have her and Jon while growing up and in private, she had cursed her father's shortsightedness for letting things play out this way despite Freddie's obvious point that she, as she existed, wouldn't be here. She recovered and graciously answered, "I would love that, I just hope that you won't be swamped with my friends."

"I don't think it'll be that bad and we can always just go out together for a girls' night out. I can dress down and most of the time I can fool the paparazzi."

Jon questioned with a playful smirk, "Can you really blend in? With Amanda really looking like your friend Cat, wouldn't the both of you stand out and people assume you were with Cat? Even if you weren't famous, you would kind of stand out from other girls."

Beck bit his tongue at the clearly flirtatious remarks towards his girlfriend, not realizing the irony of the situation with his past; Amanda held back a soft smile while Tori slightly blushed and answered, "Thanks, but I think Amanda and I can manage to dodge them."

The younger Benson son nodded in acceptance.

Beck quickly brought up with his lady loving smile as to distract from any more flirting from Jon, "If everyone's ready to go, we should be going. We don't want to keep the pilots waiting."

Tori looked to her boyfriend and asked with her sweet smile, "Right, but could you give me a minute with Jon?"

Beck's easy laidback expression flipped to a slightly perturb expression.

Tori reassured him, "I'll meet you downstairs."

The long haired actor walked past Tori and grabbed two of her suitcases off her bed then started on his way out.

Jon slightly turned to follow Beck out with his eyes with a cautious expression then looked back to the singer. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing with finding out that Freddie's your brother."

The curly haired Benson glanced to the floor and struggled with a friendly smile. "I haven't accepted that Freddie is my brother."

"But Amanda—"

"Has accepted it for herself. I've already argued with her enough over the matter and we've just gone in circles with it and I don't wish to argue it with you. I'm not blind to resemblance and my sister is embracing the news wholeheartedly, but… my dad is saying that Freddie isn't his son and I can't just disregard what he's saying. He's my father. I have no reason to doubt his word."

"I understand—I've… I have sided with my father during my parents' divorce, but Freddie is the best and whether or not it's true, you don't have to be hostile towards him."

A curious expression formed on his face as he cautiously replied, wanting Tori to understand his feelings and not take offense to them, "I don't see myself as being hostile to him. I'm just being honest with him and everyone else."

"That's admirable, but I hope that won't sour any kind of potential friendship as that would be bad by itself, but it could cause tension with Jade and just spiral from there. Freddie is her love… not by Fate, but by their struggles and choices. It's not Fate, not by any means, so you should keep that in mind. She's been better over the years with biting her tongue, but don't push it. She's still as fierce as ever to protect the ones she loves."

Jon cleared his throat and answered diplomatically, "Thank you for the advice. I would hope that it wouldn't cause any problems between me and Jade… and us."

Tori patted him on the side of his arm and reassuringly smiled. "It won't. I faith."

Her beautiful smile sent a reassuring feeling through him and believed with her.

The younger Benson son and Tori made their way down the stairs with Jon carrying the rest of Tori's luggage. Beck, Trina and Amanda were waiting for them of course, but the brunette singer was pleasantly surprised with seeing Freddie. She brightened up at seeing him and greeted as she reached the first floor, "Hey, I didn't expect you to see me off."

Freddie lazily smiled and shrugged a shoulder, "I'd thought I'd see you and Amanda off."

Tori teased him with a pat on his chest, "So it was for family?"

"We're family. Of course it is," he answered with a smug expression. He looked to Amanda and finished, "And I guess we're going to work on it to."

Amanda brought Freddie into a quick hug then reminded him as she pulled back, "Remember, if you want to come to New York, you're welcome to stay."

Jon started, "Amanda—"

The short high school senior turned her head and cut him off with a sharp tongue, "I'm not arguing with you over this. I can invite him over if I want."

"Dad's not going to like that."

"Dad may not like it, but he just can't say that I can't invite friends over when he's always allowed us to do that."

"He wouldn't allow you to have guys to stay over."

Amanda gave him such a furious look that it appeared she as ready to slap him. "He's our brother not some potential boyfriend."

Jon returned with a defensive expression and snapped in return, "And dad doesn't believe it."

"Enough," Freddie interrupted with a sharp tone.

The younger Bensons turned their attention to their older brother, looking surprised and mildly chastised as if they were used to having him as their older brother to settle disputes between them.

Freddie continued with a stern expression that reminded the siblings of their father, "Don't argue over me. I appreciate the offer Amanda, but I refuse to be a distribution for your family and that is clearly what I would be if I stayed over. If I visit New York, which is probably likely with Tori's filming or if Jade has some kind of obligation in the city, I will visit you that won't cause your family any trouble."

Jon nodded in accepting what was clearly the best option for the situation while Amanda continued to shoot daggers with her eyes at her brother for what she saw as him sabotaging her plans. She stuffed down her anger to the pit of her stomach for the moment to look back at Freddie.

She opened her arms up and pulled him into another hug.

Freddie patted the girl on the back.

"You have a safe trip."

"I will."

The former tech-producer released his sister and turned to Tori and opened his arms for her.

Tori happily hugged one of her best friends.

He whispered, "Have a good time and we'll see you in no time."

"I will. You just keep everything sane while I'm gone."

"I'll manage."

The younger Vega sister turned her attention to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms behind Beck's neck.

The tension filling Beck left his body and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He gave her a kiss on her cheek then let her go.

As the couple were bidding their farewells, Jon and Freddie stood side by side with the older Benson commented, "I have no intention of disrupting your family. I frankly don't care if he ever acknowledges me as his son. I don't want anything from him."

"Good… I think Hell would freeze over before that happened."

"It may, but that doesn't change the fact that he's my father, Amanda is my sister and… you're my brother."

Jonathan glanced to the floor, clearly unsure of how he should respond then looked to see that Tori and Amanda were ready to go. "I'll see you around Freddie."

Freddie raised a hand and bid farewell, "Later."

Once Jonathan was out the door carrying one of Tori' bags along with said girl, Cat and Trina, Beck walked up beside Freddie and commented, "I think he has feelings for Tori."

"And Tori might be returning them?"

Beck cocked a surprised eyebrow as he turned his gaze to the man that is with his former love.

Freddie nonchalantly continued, "Jade told me of her and Trina's suspicions of Tori's recent behavior."

The taller teenager spat out in disgust, "Yeah, they accused me of doing something."

"I don't think that's fair, either thinking you've done something or characterizing the entirety of their concerns with saying you're intentionally doing something, but this is Tori we're talking about, so it can't be happening in a vacuum."

"I haven't been flirting with anyone and I sure as Hell haven't cheated on her."

"Okay… then what's bothering her?"

Beck glanced away and towards the door, clenching his jaw, remaining silent.

ToriVega: On my way to NYC with a new red velvet haired friend! Tori via TwitFlash 9min ago

Author's Note: Oh, family tension all around. I hope to have the second half up for Easter Sunday. Have a nice Passover and Easter.