Still don't own anything.
:}
It was nearing the end of September and Jade was sitting in Lenard's apartment, getting ready for the welcome back party. He was due back soon, and while he would be exhausted, a little get together was in order. Jade had agreed to help with the setup since she was living there part time until Lenard walked through the door. She walked the apartment, making sure everything was ready, and everything of hers was gone. It nearly led to Sheldon's death.
Jade had been checking Lenard's room one more time, just to make sure she hadn't left anything. She had, on more than one occasion, thought to leave a pair of undies for Penny to find. Tori talked her out of that. As Jade checked things over, she noticed the bedspread was normal. Not one of the movie memorabilia quilts or blankets that had lived on the bed for the last two months. The sheets were also normal.
"Sheldon. Did you or Penny buy new sheets?" she asked.
"No, those are Lenards. I figured he wouldn't want the fun bed sets, since he never uses them anymore, so I put them back in storage and pulled out the boring stuff he'd been using before he left." Sheldon replied, unaware how quickly Tori had acted to prevent the re-creation of a scene from "The Scissoring 2". All summer Jade had slept on the sheets Sheldon wanted her on.
Jade wasn't upset beyond the choices of bed sets she had endured. Her research was on track, the department still loved her and used her talents well, classes were going well and she got the lead in a play. Of course, Tori didn't audition. Tori's album was taking her time, so she wouldn't have been able to make rehearsal. But Tori supported Jade all the way, and Jade supported Tori's singing. Mason, however, wanted Jade to sing on Tori's album, both some backup and a duet. He felt she owed him. They'd agreed on a price.
Jade's play had just opened, and was getting good reviews. The producer planed to move it to a bigger stage in a month. Cat, Beck, Meredith, and Robbie all had rolls, as well as a few others who Jade didn't know personally. Penny, as predicted, didn't get a roll. She was upset, and only the reality of just how dangerous Jade could be kept her from constantly complaining.
Sinjin was now a paid intern at Caltech, as well as his duties setting up the technical stuff for the plays at Hollywood Arts. He was at the party with his girlfriend. He'd picked up a Northridge girl, and Jade felt it was a good starter relationship for him. 'First he gets himself a hot girl, then a hot girl who can read.' she thought. He and Burf seemed happy. Trina was happy, but as often happens college was kicking her ass. She'd quickly get the hang of it, Jade knew that much.
Trina was good at making time for Beck. To no one's surprise, this was her first serious relationship, and she was determined not to mess it up. Trina and beck still hadn't been intimate, but they were getting closer every day. They spent as much time as they could together, and Beck had also made a few changes. He made a much bigger effort to talk to Trina than he ever made with Jade. His laid back attitude had caused him to just let a lot of things work themselves out, so he often added to Jades jealousy, her sense of him not being there, and to her frustration. Not that Jade needed much help, but now Beck made a point to hear everything Trina was trying to tell him.
The improved communication took the place of the power games that had been the center of his relationship with Jade. He was at the point where he could see that constantly flirting with other girls, or just letting them flirt with him, was going to cause insecurity in his girlfriend. He listened, and expressed himself, and so while he and Trina fought, they were growing closer through the trials and tribulations. Beck and Trina were looking more and more like the couple that would last. Beck had, however, recently found something that concerned him. He'd overheard Jade telling Penny how helpless she was before the "Vega Seduction", and asked what that was. Now he was worried that Trina could play him like a drum. Tori had assured him that yes, Trina could and "who do you think taught me." Beck was looking forward to just how far Trina could push him, but scared that she'd be able to get him to do anything she wanted. Jade told him that when they get to that point, he'd want to do whatever she wanted him to. Jade was actually enjoying Beck's loss of control over his life. It made him more human. Between that and his being a great communicator, a whole new class of women were determined to supplant Trina. The Latina loved it.
The new quarter and academic year had started at Caltech, and almost predictably Jade was already being hit on. More than one guy saw her and approached. Some were nervous, Others bold, but she shot them down as nicely as possible. Only the stubborn ones lasted long enough to hear how she was addressed on campus. Usually it was Dave the Coffee Kiosk guy, but sometimes is was someone else. As soon as she was called "Doctor West." there would be questions, and she would then fall back to the excuse that faculty cannot fraternize with the students. Jade had also noticed how the name Dave, or permutations of it, seemed to bring good things into her life. Mrs. Davis at Human Resources helped her when needed, and Dave was her source for fresh coffee when she was heading to or from her car. Then there was David Vega, who she felt was like a second father. 'Could be.'
Jade was still seeing her therapist. Sometimes she would feel fine and usually things didn't get to her, but the damage was deep, and she would sometimes have things trigger her. Therapy kept her going on those dark days, and she was growing through the pain. She knew it would be years before the even was just a painful memory, if ever. So when things triggered her she toughed her way through until her appointment, and then let herself be vulnerable and cry or whatever she needed to do to get through it. Jade was learning the only way to deal with the emotions linked to her past damage was through them, and that was easiest with the help of a trained professional.
She had also invited her mother and father to attend a session each to discuss her past. She needed closure on more than one incident, but in the case of her mother she let the environment help with the elephant in the room. Her mother predictably cried and blamed her father. Jade made a point of repeating that only one person was to blame, the man who raped her. That session was full of anger and tears, and for once Jade sat quietly and watched her mother go through those emotions. It was a step. Her session with her father had it's own emotions, and was easier because they had already started the healing process.
Jade still had her hand in teaching. She had taken the school self defense class, and was now one of it's instructors. She also was back taking classes for Krav Maga, mostly just practice but learning some new stuff as she became one of the instructors at her Dojo. It was only a couple of hours per week, and it made Jade feel like she was helping prevent future victims. She knew it wasn't foolproof, but it would help.
David had approached her about a Martial arts program for at risk youth, but she was doing too much as is. They decided to ask some of the other instructors she knew. David's marriage was still a little rocky, but the were seeing a marriage counselor and things were getting better. Gary was finally divorced, and trying that swinging bachelor thing. His work with troubled teens brought him into contact with a lot of troubled moms, and he was barely keeping the his personal and professional lives separate.
Andre was singing part time at a restaurant, making three time as much (plus tips) as he was selling yogurt. He was saving money up for his Demo Album. Tori was also using him as a song writing collaborator for her album, so he was getting his name out there.
Sheldon was getting closer to publishing his current work, and seemed determined to catch up to Doctor Kripke in terms of how advanced his research was. Sheldon's plan to find the other researcher a distraction had worked, to a point. Taking advantage of Jades misguided attempts to help Raj, he'd managed to find a Northridge girl interested in Barry's secure income and a relationship had formed. The failure of the plan was because the young woman, raised on the hard facts of life, was pushing her new boyfriend to succeed. Someone explained to her what tenyer was, and she was determined that any nerd she was with for security would have security. Northridge girls, despite Jades statements otherwise, were not necessarily stupid, just shallow and sometimes devious. Barry was now more motivated than ever to advance his research and thus succeed.
Sheldon's social life was also slowly moving towards what Jade would call a more fulfilling lifestyle. Still obsessed with his research, his gaming and comic books, his relationship with Amy was still in neutral. However, he was slowly coming to realize he needed people. His life was filled with an ever expanding circle of friends, and from Jade he had finally found an almost equal he could respect without feeling threatened. Jades research in Quantum Dynamics was already doomed. She was interested in learning what we could from that line before moving to more promising lines of research. Her results were helping move the field along, but since Jade identity wasn't totally invested in her research, she could do the theoretical work that would only help others when done.
Lenard's trip was a partial success. The experiments had brought a lot of information and understanding to the field, but there were still massive holes that they were trying to figure out. Lenard noted that they should have drafted Jade, since so much of what they were doing was based on mathematics. Jade just shook her head. Lenard was going back to where he belonged, in his lab, playing with his lasers. Jade knew he was just putting in time before his work would be recognized for the wonder it was.
Raj was still looking for the girl of his dream. Jade and Penny both agreed that now that he could talk to women, he needed to learn how to talk to women. He'd driven off every arranged date Jade had set up for him, including the ones from Northridge, and Penny had laughed at the goth physicists frustration. Penny had tried before, and failed. Raj was still a dear friend, but the women in his life were debating on if they should give up on him or keep trying to help him find someone. Jade just wanted to sew his lips shut, but Tori veto's that plan.
Stuart continued living with Raj, something Jade didn't know before, and his store started making more money. It wasn't enough to go out and buy a mansion, but it was enough to hire someone and take more time off. Stuart's life was slowly getting better. Jade still pitied him, but accepted his place in the group and was happy he's no longer living in his store. She would not visit, however, once she found out Burf was working there. He wanted the employe discount.
Jade's relationship with Tori had continued to grow closer. They had a few real nasty fights, but managed to patch things up afterwords. Jade had come to accept that Tori wasn't going to leave her. They were no longer functionally living together, but both knew that was a temporary condition. Once they had enough money saved, either from Jade's plays or Tori's music career, they planned to get a house together. Jade's dad's boss had agreed to help them, thought the price range they'd be looking at was well above the usual distressed properties he specialized in. Tori was now moving their relationship into a new plateau where they could have their own lives but still be a couple. The relationship was a bizarre mix of first year lust and long term comfort. Jade often wondered if she'd make five years before Tori tightened the knot and they wound up married. They had all the earmarks of a successful long term married couple. Just time would tell if that was what happened.
The others lives continued, close to what they were before. Jade's friends seemed to have a talent for getting into and out of strange predicaments and situations. Jade wondered if it was her. It didn't matter, she's adjusted to the new world, straddling the high school and adult worlds while holding onto her dreams. Old wounds were healing, and A new relationship was blossoming into something she felt she could count on. Most importantly, while she had the full support of both groups of friends, Jade had seen just how strong and capable she was on her own. Soon it would be October, and she was doing great.
So why was she dreading Christmas?
:}
Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, followed, favorited, read, or accidentally opened this story. For my first fan fiction, it was fun to write, even when it had a mind of it's own. Not sure what else to say, I've done everything I intended to with the story. And after 86,000 plus words, I'm still impressed I got that much out.
Again, thank you to everyone who's read or looked at this story. You're reviews gave me the motivation to keep writing and to finish this.