Sorry that took so long, everyone! We were both really busy this month and it's just going to get even busier for me because I'm starting school next week! So here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
Oh, and have you heard? Dan might be producing a Victorious finale. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw his tweets. Let's hope it's legit!
"I thought we said we weren't going to the cops yet?"
"Well it doesn't hurt to at least try, Andre," Trina said.
"Yeah, maybe those thugs are on a wanted list or something," Tori added.
"Maybe. It's worth a try," Jade agreed.
Since Andre and Beck had no set plans moving forward, Tori insisted they try to the police once, hoping that maybe her father might recognize the thugs. So there they were, waiting at the front desk at the Los Angeles Police Department, hoping to find a lead.
"Evening folks," the officer behind the front desk greeted them unenthusiastically. It was pretty late at night and he presumed the group of teenagers in front of him were just stirring up trouble.
"Hi, I was wondering if officer David Vega was here," Tori asked politely, resting her elbows casually on the front desk.
"No, he's out right now," he said, annoyed. "And he has no time to waste on-"
"Tori, Trina! What are you kids doing out late?"
Another officer spotted the Vega girls and walked up to the front desk. "Officer Gary, thank god you're here!" Tori was relieved to see a familiar face, especially her father's partner of ten years.
"Yeah well your father's on a big case so we're staying late tonight. Hector, I'll take it from here," he told the officer at the desk. The officer was surprised to learn that Tori and Trina were David Vega's daughters. He shyly nodded and walked off in embarrassment. "You girls alright?" Gary asked them.
"Well, we kind of need your help," the younger Vega said, addressing the rest of the gang behind her. "See, our friend Robbie is missing."
"How long has he been missing?"
"A couple of hours."
"Oh. That's a bit too soon. You sure he's not just wandering around?"
"No, Robbie's not capable of wandering out and about," Jade said, snickering a little bit.
"What do you mean?"
"He's not exactly the outgoing type," Andre explained, shooting Jade a look, to which she shrugged offhandedly and rolled her eyes.
"So then how do you know he's missing?"
The teenagers exchanged glances, wondering if the officer would believe their story. "He has been kidnapped," Tori shared.
Gary's eyes widened. "Whoa. Ok. You kids need to give me more details. Come on, in my office."
He led them to the chief's office and shut the door, making sure it was sealed tightly. After everyone got comfortable sitting on a chair or leaning on a desk, they went back to their discussion.
"Now, I know we've got that 24-hour rule, but since you're David's kids and I respect the guy, I'll try to tip this before the morning," Officer Gary told them.
"Thanks, Gary," Tori said in relief, speaking on the behalf of the whole group.
"But I can't guarantee you that we will get on this case sooner. We've still got to go with policy."
"We know. We just thought that maybe you guys and us would have similar cases or leads like any kidnapping things, a list of wanted people… all that junk."
"That's confidential stuff, Tori," Gary chuckled, scratching his head through his short, graying hair.
"Yeah, but we're sort of family, right?" Trina tried to help out.
"Yes, that's why I'm writing this out early so first thing tomorrow we can do this."
"Are you sure there's nothing else you can do?" Trina slumped back in her chair.
"I'm afraid not. Look, I know you're worried about your friend, but you will have to be patient and let the police do their job. It takes time but I assure you that Robbie will return unharmed."
The gang let out a collective sigh, fearing that this would happen. "If it helps, I haven't heard of any kidnappings nor have a most wanted list of thugs yet, so maybe your friend isn't in too much danger."
"I hope not," Cat, who up until now was extremely quiet and still, said.
Gary hadn't noticed her shyness and suddenly felt sympathy for the redhead. "Alright kids, tell me what you know. Your lead may help the investigation in the future."
"Well, we were at Wanko's and these thugs were there," Tori began.
"We all got away from them, but Robbie was stuck. So Beck and Andre tried to fight the guys in order to free Robbie," Trina added.
"Andre, Beck. What happened when you tried to get Robbie?" Gary turned to the two males of the group.
"We almost freed him, but the thugs caught us off-guard by slugging us and holding up guns," Beck informed him.
"They were armed? What kind of guns?"
"Yeah, I don't really know the whole gun language," Andre apologized. "Just two handguns, sir."
"Alright." Gary wrote down some notes on a notepad. "Well it would have helped to know if they were seriously armed and dangerous, or if those were simple guns."
"Sorry sir, but we think they're dangerous," Beck told him.
"Oh yeah?" The officer folded his hands in front of him expectantly. "How?"
"We think they're up to something. And they were threatening enough just at Wanko's, intimidating us with weapons and everything, " Andre said.
"Alright so back up. Do you know if they have a plan or a prior motive while robbing the store? And what made you think they were a threat at Wanko's before pointing guns? What were you guys doing at Wan-"
Ring ring!
Gary checked the screen on his cell phone. "Hold on, kids, I've got to take this real quick."
The gang watched him step outside his office, not sure where to go next. They had completely forgotten that by sneaking into Wanko's ahead of time before the sale started, they were putting themselves in a sticky situation with the police as well.
"We gotta get out of here." Beck stood up.
"Why?" Tori asked, looking confused.
"Well, in case you forgot, we were trespassing at Wanko's as well!" Beck whisper-yelled.
"Oh, right," Tori said, chewing on her lip nervously.
"But what about Robbie? We didn't even tell Gary about the videos we sent. Shouldn't we tell him they're terrorists at least?" Cat suggested.
"If we do that, they'll go after them and Robbie might get hurt. Look, I know this is bad that we're hiding this, but it all just needs to happen at the right time. Trust me," Beck told everyone.
"Then why did we come here in the first place? I already said we shouldn't!" Andre protested, getting more and more confused by the minute.
"To see if these thugs are wanted," Jade said.
"So now how are we going to get out of here without sounding suspicious?" Trina wondered.
"Follow my lead. Let Tori and I do the talking," Beck said and nodded at Tori.
Everyone agreed as Gary stepped back inside. "Sorry about that, kids. We're in the middle of a case right now."
"No, it's alright. Actually we're just heading out. Thanks for your help, sir." Beck got up, gesturing for everyone to be prepared to leave.
"What about your friend? This sure seems like a serious matter, Tori."
"It is, but we really don't have anything else to share with you. We don't know much about the guys," she told him. "And we know there's not a whole lot the police can do with the limited amount of information we have about the situation."
"So there's nothing else you can share?" Gary raised an eyebrow.
"Just that they're two guys dressed in black, almost six feet tall. And they were last seen in Santa Barbara," Beck informed him.
"Alright…" Officer Gary still wasn't completely convinced. "Well I'll let you kids know if we get any reports within the next 24 hours. But whatever happens, come back here tomorrow and we'll complete this report."
"Will do. Thanks, Gary," Tori said to him, shaking his hand.
"No problem. And tell your mother I said hello." He winked.
"O-kay…" Tori lingered for a moment. "Well bye!"
The kids rushed out of the building and piled into Beck's car before Gary could become any more suspicious of their hasty exit. As Beck pulled out into the street, the gang leaned back in their seats, exhausted from all the worrying they had done that night. "Well that was a waste of precious time where we could have been out looking for Shapiro."
"It wasn't that much of a waste, Jade. We went to see if those guys were on a wanted list and apparently they're not, so they might not be as dangerous as we thought," Tori argued.
"Or they might be so good that they haven't been caught yet. Either way, Robbie's still out there and we're still here," Jade retorted.
"Look, we tried and failed. Now's not the time to argue. We just have to come up with a new lead," Andre told the bickering girls.
"Like what, Andre? You and Beck have nothing. These videos are nothing. What next?" Jade spat.
"Why don't we try to video-chat Robbie too?" Trina suggested.
"You can't. Robbie dropped his phone three stories so it's busted," Cat told her, looking down at her fidgeting hands in her lap.
"Then how was he able to send the video messages?" Beck wondered.
"His phone is only able to send stuff. I tried calling him last night and he messaged me on the Slap telling me he wasn't getting incoming calls or texts," the redhead informed them.
"Well there goes another thing. You geniuses have any other leads?" Jade asked.
Andre and Beck shrugged. "I guess not," Andre scoffed.
"Great. This is just great," Jade crossed her arms with a frustrated look upon her face.
Andre buried face in his hands and Beck dug his hands in his pocket, ashamed to disappoint the girls. That was when Beck realized something. "Wait. I might have a lead."
Andre looked up. "What do you mean?"
Beck dug something out of his pocket and placed it on the coffee table.
"An earpiece? How is this going to help us?" Cat asked.
"When one of the thugs knocked the wind out of me, I was rough-handling him before. So this must have fallen off and he didn't know. They weren't exactly the brightest thieves."
"No they were not," Andre chuckled in agreement. "But they were scary as chizz."
"I think we've established they're stupid and scary now," Jade said impatiently.
"So what are we supposed to do with an earpiece?" Tori asked, picking it up and examining it.
"Look at it closely," Beck said.
"It says 'Ear-Com Technologies. Product of Sky Store Inc.,'" Tori read aloud.
"Oooh, Sky Store! I haven't bought anything from there in a year." Cat suddenly turned giddy.
"Well what about the Sky Store?" Trina asked.
"We can go to the headquarters and see if we can ask them or hack into their files to see who has purchased ear pieces," Andre guessed.
"Exactly." Beck high-fived him.
"Right, because they'll let anyone do that," Tori said sarcastically.
"I hate to say this, but Vega's right."
"Hear us out. We'll go to the headquarters and ask. If that doesn't work, we've got Jade," Beck said.
"He's got a point." Jade had a change of heart and smirked, already devising the outline of a plan in her head.
"Ok so where's the Sky Store Headquarters?" Tori asked.
"Let me check. Tori, where's my phone?" Trina ordered.
Tori glared at her before Cat responded instead. "No need, I've got a magazine in my bag." She nonchalantly pulled a catalog out of her purse.
"Cat," Andre said.
"Yeah?" she perkily answered.
"Why do you have the latest catalog in your purse?" Jade asked.
"Uhh…."
"Have you been buying from the store again?" Tori raised an eyebrow.
"No, I swear! But it's still taking me some time to say goodbye to it," she defended.
"It has been a year," Beck said.
"Everyone heals differently!" She dramatically raised a hand to his face.
"Anyways, can you check where the headquarters is for us please?" Andre asked her.
"Let's see…" She flipped to the back cover. "Oh, it's in Santa Barbara!"
"Then maybe that warehouse is near Wanko's since it seems to be close," Andre reasoned.
"You think maybe we should go back there?" Jade questioned.
"Don't you think if they know that others have seen them, me and Beck, that they'd try to go elsewhere?"
"Well it's worth a shot." Beck shrugged.
"Yeah, besides they'd have to take time figuring out where to go, pack up their stuff and leave to a new headquarters if they're terrorists."
"Yeah and…"
As the others discussed the options for moving forward, Cat paid no attention. She picked up the ear piece on the table and as if it were a time machine of it's own, it brought her back to another place.
*Flashback*
"Why are we here again, Robbie?" Cat whined. "I thought the point of leaving was to not come back?"
Robbie sighed, stopping in front of his Mamaw's apartment door. He had felt bad leaving his grandmother in there, flustered without the internet. Plus he needed Cat to see that his grandmother didn't hate her. She was just a little rough around the edges when it came to communicating with teenagers. "I just know I'll feel guilty if we go off baby golfing knowing my Mamaw is confused and upset. This will be one second and I promise I'll fix things."
"But I already told you, she hates me! Let's go now and you can apologize to her when I'm not here."
Cat tugged on his hand, but Robbie held her back. "No! You two will make nice as well. Now stay. Like I said, this won't take long at all."
Robbie knocked on the door and it opened almost immediately. "Oh, again?!" Robbie's grandmother exclaimed, wearing a look of disgust. "I'm going to call Brenda."
He groaned. "No, don't. Mamaw, why are you being so mean to Cat? She never did anything to you!"
"Well she said herself that she doesn't like her mom and that she has psychological problems! Not to mention when you were fixing the Internet, she said she hates and picks on old people."
Rolling his eyes, Robbie turned to Cat. "Cat, did you really say that to my Mamaw?" he asked, knowing that Cat would deny it. Besides, he couldn't imagine Cat saying that to anyone, especially his grandmother.
"No! I said I hate when people are rude and pick on old people. I swear, Robbie!" Cat protested, pouting slightly.
"Then why did-" Robbie then had a thought. "Mamaw, did you forget to change the battery on your hearing aid?"
"Change the battery in what?" she wondered.
Robbie gestured for his Mamaw to take the earpiece off. He replaced it with new batteries (which he kept in his backpack just in case this sort of thing ever occurred) and put it back on her ear. "There, can you hear better now?"
"Oh why thanks, dear. I've been getting cut out ever since you came over last night." His grandmother patted him on the shoulder.
"See, Cat. My Mamaw just didn't hear you right," Robbie reassured her. "Mamaw, Cat doesn't hate old people and she loves her mom and is sane… for the most part."
"Well, I guess." His Mamaw scowled. "Sorry dear, I'm just getting old," she sighed. "Maury, did you remember to take the chicken out of the oven?!" she yelled, going back to her daily routine.
Seeing that his grandmother had already forgotten they were there, Robbie and Cat walked away slowly until they got to the elevator. "Well, now that that's settled, how about some baby golf?" Robbie said, smiling.
"KK! But can I ask a question?"
"Sure, Cat. What is it?"
"Why doesn't your Mamaw just get a new hearing aid?"
"I've been trying to convince her to buy a new one, but she insists on using her old one until it completely gives out," he explained as the elevator stopped and they walked out of the apartment building. "I even found a really good one on Sky Store."
"What's Sky Store?" Cat wondered.
"Oh, just an online store that gives out great bargains on unique products…" he said before closing the door.
*End Flashback*
"Cat?"
"Hey Cat."
"Kitty Cat."
"Lil' Red?"
"CAAAAT!" someone screamed in her ear.
"What-y?" She brought her attention to Jade.
"You alright? You stared into space just now," her Goth best friend asked.
She looked up at her friends, then at Beck and Andre. Her fragility began to show as she slouched, her bottom lip quivering. "Beck, Andre."
"What's up, Lil' Red?"
"Are we going to find Robbie?" she mumbled.
The guys exchanged unsure looks.
"We're going to do the best we can, Cat." Beck placed a hand on her head and ruffled the top of her hair.
"So I guess, off to Santa Barbara again?" Tori assumed.
"Let's go."
Meanwhile, at the warehouse, Robbie was stuck in a predicament of his own.
"Alright, listen nerd-"
"Robbie."
"What?"
"Who's Robbie?"
"My name's Robbie."
"I'm Barry."
"And I'm Barney. I thought you knew that, kid."
"Yeah but I prefer you call me by my first name and not nerd or kid," Robbie said, annoyed at the thugs' stupidity but still scared out of his wits at the same time.
"Ok, fine," Barney said, equally as annoyed with the kid with the bushy hair. "Listen, Rob-bee. Our boss wants you to hack into this system but we just can't seem to get past this here firewall."
"Well, it's government official, I'm not surprised it has a very secure protection."
"I don't know what you said, but it's protected real good," Barney said.
"Real well," Robbie corrected him.
"That's what I said, kid." He glared at the nerd.
"You mean, Rob-" The other twin clenched his fists and stepped closer, making Robbie squeak in fear. "Shutting up."
"Look, get through the firewall before morning so we can get out of here. And don't try to pull any funny business, nerd. The second we hear sirens, it's adios to you and your friends, amiga."
"Don't you mean amigo?"
"Isn't that what I said?" Barry sneered.
"No, you said amiga, implying the feminine conjugation of the word friend in Spanish."
"You know, for a smart kid, you really need to know when to shut up." Barry poked his chest.
Since Robbie wasn't the most buff guy, the simple poke hurt him. "Ow. Yes, sir."
"Now get to work." He turned to his brother. "Hey Barney, boss has been calling you for the past five minutes. Go to him."
"Sorry, Barry. I lost my ear piece."
"You're so clumsy, man. Well go to him. I'll watch the nerd."
Barney walked out of the room while Barry plopped down on a chair, reading the newspaper and trying to understand the fine print. Knowing that he would get in trouble for not doing to task given to him, Robbie gulped and tried hacking into the firewall, struggling with the electronic barriers and with decoding all of the passwords needed to break down the said barriers. After an hour or so, with no Barney in sight (losing his earpiece probably earned Barney the typical punishment of cleaning the urinals before he went to bed), Barry's eyes slowly shut and he eventually dropped the newspaper in his lap, the sound of his loud snoring echoing throughout the big room. Robbie figured this was a good chance to send another video message.
Making sure that Barry was completely out, he took out his phone and started recording another video.
"Hey guys, so I hope you got my first few videos. And if you were trying to reach me, I kind of dropped it about three stories the other day. Cat knows, just ask her. Anyways…"
So since I haven't updated any of my stories for a while (and there are a couple of reasons for that), I think this is the appropriate time to make an announcement: I'm taking a break from fanfiction. I don't know how long it will last- could be days, weeks, months, or even forever. Since Victorious ended six months ago, my attraction to the show and characters has been slowly dwindling to the point where the old material from the episodes is making me lose motivation to write. It's just not...new. Doesn't give me any new, crazy ideas for stories and plot lines. I just haven't felt motivated to write lately. Mostly it's because of summer laziness. No surprise there- I'm sort of brain-dead right now lol. But also because... *drum roll* I'm going to college in five days! And all the worrying and excitement has been keeping me nice and blocked/preoccupied. And I'm sure once I actually get the college, the distractions will just get even worse. In other words...if there is no Victorious finale and college keeps me busy enough...I may not be coming back. And I would hate to do that and leave all my stories unfinished, especially Following the Stars because that is my most popular story ever with almost 100 followers following it and I don't want to let them down! If I update one of my stories, then that's a good sign. But if you see an author's note...be prepared for a sad farewell. :(
I'll still write this collab, of course, because my partner is awesome and we make a great team! I may update Geek Charming from time to time too because basing the story off of the movie makes the writing process easier. But as for Following the Stars and my original one shots...I have no idea. My creative juices have run out for the time being :/.
So sorry for the depressing announcement! But no fear- the show must go on! Please review :)