Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. Anything in this story that isn't part of the canon universe either belongs to Tsubasa K. Kruger or to someone else who will be appropriately credited in the corresponding chapter.

Note: Not being a native speaker and having one's school change its preferred English like someone would change cellphones tends to make one's English a mess. In this case, the mess is a mix of British, American and maybe even other dialects. The author continually attempts to stick to American as closely as possible for this story, but some British might still slip in. Apologies in advance.

Chapter 2 – Kind of perfect

July 23, 2012. California, USA.

When Jade wakes up the next morning, she's met with an empty room. Yawning, she decides that the prospect of possibly drinking some coffee soon is more appealing than staying alone for who knows how long, so she stands up and quickly freshens up before leaving the room.

Only Tori's mother is there, moving through the kitchen as she prepares breakfast, and the scene (knowing now that she's a Fallen Demon) makes Jade hesitate halfway down the stairs – she hovers for long moments, until the woman turns around and smiles at her, encouraging her to finally make her way down.

"Rough night?" Holly Vega asks when Jade almost throws herself onto the couch.

The teenager sighs. "You could say that."

The Demon's smile is sympathetic as she deposits a tray with breakfast on the coffee table and sits next to the half-blood. "It was too much to take in, wasn't it?"

Jade looks at her girlfriend's mother and deduces that she knows exactly what happened the night before. She rolls her eyes as she returns her attention to the tray in order to pick up a plate of scrambled eggs.

"Right. Because you are so open with the fact that you're supposed to be the bad guys here. Especially Tori."

"I see your point. It's still... hard for me to think of her as this emotionless and powerful Assassin, and I'm her mother."

"But you knew she's a Demon – you've probably known what everyone in the gang was from the very start."

"I did, but only because our kind can instinctively spot who in our surroundings is like us. You might develop a similar ability with time, now that you know about your origins."

Jade doesn't comment on that, managing a small smile (unsure on how to feel about the prospect of actually showing signs that she's not human) before she returns to her breakfast, intent on eating something before there can be any serious talks. The other woman eats calmly, in silence, and Jade can't help but to realize that, really, nothing on Holly Vega points at her being anything other than a normal, human, American woman – let alone a Demon.

They finish breakfast some fifteen minutes later, at which point Jade helps clean up before they return to the couch for what Jade knows is going to be one of several serious talks she has to look forward to.

"So, what do you want to know?"

Jade frowns at the blunt question, a bit taken aback. "Is it okay if I ask you?" she asks, mildly concerned. "I mean, Tori..."

"She's the one who asked me to help you through what I can if you woke up before she comes back home, actually."

The half-blood blinks. "She's not here? Where did she go? And now that I notice, no one else is here either" she adds as an afterthought, because it really is weird that they're the only ones in the house.

"David is at work, Trina at an audition and Tori went to Beck's for a meeting with the others about you."

She frowns. "What about me?"

"Well, considering how last night was so unlike the other times you've been attacked, it's very possible that Lucifer might've found out about the little guard you have, in which case he will be furious and send increasingly more powerful Demons after you, in hopes that someone will be either skilled enough or lucky enough to defeat Tori. He might also send more than one at a time in an attempt to overwhelm them.

"So, they have to discuss the possible change in threats and how they will protect you from them... though I don't think God will be even remotely happy with the idea of three Fallen Demons formally working alongside a trio of his Guardian Angels to protect one of Heaven's self-appointed charges. Until now, it was just a mutual understanding that neither Angels nor Fallens wanted any harm to come to you."

Jade looks at the floor in silence for a moment, trying to digest that honest answer – it's not easy, knowing now that her friends have spent years risking their lives for hers and she's been nothing but cold at the best of times and an outright bitch at worst.

She decides to focus on the myriad of questions she has and discuss the past several years with her friends when they're back instead, and so blurts out the very first slightly not controversial question that comes to mind.

"Last night, Idvke Groumnhold was calling Tori some other name..."

"Rivot?" the older woman cuts in. "That's her... Demonic name, you could say – the name she was given by them when they took her from us. When a Demon is expelled from Hell they adopt a Human name to blend in, usually taken in some way from the letters of the name they're trying to leave behind. Tori's name was Rivot von Gieri."

"Rivot von Gieri?" Jade asks, tilting her head to the side in confused curiosity. "That's a... strange name. I'd never heard anything like it."

"I'd be surprised if you had. Both her name and last name are in Ancient, the language spoken back down in Hell."

"So Demons have their own language? And Angels just use Human languages?"

Holly shakes her head. "As far as I know, Angels speak Ancient too, though those that live here on Earth have it as a second language and depend more on whichever language is spoken where they live. They're... more open to interaction with Humans, especially the Guardian Angels.

"Demons, on the other hand... when they're outside of Hell, they speak the language of wherever they are only if it's strictly required for their mission, otherwise they stick to Ancient. That's a quirk of the language – it's the root of all Human dialects, so being fluent means you also know how to speak every other language."

"So you speak Ancient and basically every other language in the world?"

The woman shakes her head again. "Only Tori does, at this point. Most Fallens are so young when we're expelled that we eventually forget it almost completely, and with it our knowledge of other languages. Personally, though, I retained a certain ease to 'learn' languages, which is why I know five languages other than English."

"What about Tori?"

"She must still remember Ancient and know the other languages, but the only time I've heard her speak anything but English or Spanish was when we just found her – I don't know exactly what she said, but her name was mixed in somewhere."

"And I would be grateful to never hear that name again" Tori's voice sounds from the doorway, prompting both women to turn around to look at her close the door behind her, looking far more normal than the night before. "I left that name behind when He expelled me. Now, it's merely a memory from a past I do not want to remember."

"Tori, you're doing it again" Holly says, almost a smile in her voice.

She blinks, as if having missed her slipping accent and mannerisms, but shrugs as she smiles lightly. "Sometimes it seems as if I haven't progressed a lot, doesn't it?"

"No, I think you have" Jade comments. "You didn't slip in front of me once until I already knew, and you can speak normally all the time. I don't think you should count as a failure that you relax with people who know the truth."

Holly nods in agreement, but doesn't add anything to Jade's words and changes the topic. "How did your meeting go?"

That seems to deflate Tori, and she sighs as she plops down on the couch at Jade's side. "The guys are... understandably nervous about Lucifer actually getting angry with... well, with me. It was a bit difficult to even think with them freaking out so much, but I managed to make them sit down and talk."

"What did you decide?" Jade asks.

Her girlfriend frowns at her a little before looking back at her mom, even as she speaks to both of them. "We think that it's in everyone's best interest that Jade stays in a Sanctuary as much as possible, and if she leaves she should be with at least two of us – or one if it's either Andre or me, but still preferably more."

"What's a Sanctuary?" Jade asks, clinging to the first tidbit of information she's completely ignorant about.

Tori blinks at her. "I... I'm sorry, I forgot you know nothing about this."

Seeing that the important issue is covered, Holly excuses herself with a vague mention of going to work, leaving the house mere minutes later. The girls absently say goodbye, neither paying that much attention as they have a more pressing matter to discuss – especially Jade, who's more interested in her life (thank you very much) and in the fact that it seems as if her friends' (especially her girlfriend's) main focus is in keeping her alive.

"Well, first you must know that, even with all the power that both God and Lucifer have, there are certain rules that limit them. One of those rules says that any place called home by a Fallen, be they Demon or Angel, has complete immunity against them – neither God nor Lucifer can even enter a Sanctuary, let alone affect them."

"So even their... active members can't affect a Sanctuary, right?"

Tori smiles. "Yes. And they can't enter unless they have permission from every single Fallen that lives there."

"Oh. I'm staying here, then?"

She shifts, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "I mean, if you want. There's not a lot of Sanctuaries in California, you know, and if you want to stay in state the only options I'd trust you to would be here and the Oliver Sanctuary, but–"

"No, it's okay" Jade cuts her starting rant quickly, "I can stay here. But won't your parents mind?"

"Well, my mom didn't complain, did she?" Tori shrugs. "Honestly, I think the problem will be your parents. We'll try and have you here as long as we can, and after that... we'll do shifts at your house, I guess, as we've been doing all along."

"I actually kind of feel bad that you have to go through all this trouble for me..."

"Hey, it's no problem" Tori smiles. "Even if your Guardian Angels are also doing their jobs, all of us are doing this because we want to."

"Yes, because you were supposed to kill me instead."

The Demon smiles happily, prompting her girlfriend to roll her eyes in silent mock exasperation. Sighing, Jade leans in and Tori meets her halfway, their lips connecting chastely for a few seconds before they pull away, look deeply into each other's eyes, and lean back in for a fairly more intense kiss.

As it is, it's more than a little obvious that someone will inevitably walk in on them, but they're too caught up in their happy little bubble to think that, with their luck, that someone will be their group of friends.

As should have been expected, the door opens mere seconds later, which they don't realize until someone clears their throat. They pull apart quickly and turn around, startled, to see the other four members of their gang standing there – two of them looking excited, one sullen and one smug.

"I'd say you could've gone to your room and saved us from walking in on you, but now Andre owes me twenty bucks so good for you" Beck says, smirking.

"You two made a bet on whether we were together?" Jade asks, glaring at her ex-boyfriend.

He scoffs. "Well, duh. Andre was sure that you two were straight and he said that, even if you weren't, you'd tell us if you started dating – I told him that, first, no way you two would be straight with the looks you give each other, and second, knowing you, it was more likely that we'd end up seeing you together before you actually got around to telling us."

In response, Jade picks up a cushion and throws it at his face with a scowl, while Tori only sighs and looks at the ceiling with a woe-is-me expression firmly plastered on. The others chuckle at the familiar byplay and make themselves at home, like they always do.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Tori asks, pointedly ignoring her cousin.

Jade is so distracted by her accent disappearing completely that she almost misses Andre's answer, but his frown of pure worry is enough to keep her grounded.

"Cat needs to stay here for a while, too. Her brother was attacked right outside their house this morning while we were at Beck's."

Jade, understanding that the attackers must've been Demons or her friends wouldn't be reacting like this, quickly looks at her redheaded friend feeling the same worry as the others. "How is he?"

Cat shrugs sadly. "My parents had to take him back to Heaven for treatment – it was a close call, and it's unlikely he'll be fit for duty anytime soon. Since they're not around to keep the shields up and I'm not strong enough to maintain them on my own, my house isn't safe anymore so... we thought that maybe I could hang around until mom and dad come back, because it would draw attention if I stay at Beck's and we don't need Humans looking into our business more than they already do."

"That's okay, you can stay here as long as you need" Tori agrees easily. Then she frowns. "About the attack... do you know who was behind it?"

"Not really. Mom said that they were two, dressed in all black with maybe five inches of red runes sewn on the bottom of their cloaks, and both had very short hair with a bit more silver than black strands and their temples were red. Oh, also, they had black tattoos on their skin, and... and she swears she's only felt a darker aura once."

Cat gives Tori an apologetic look at the last bit, making it clear whose aura that was, but the Fallen is pale and doesn't seem to register that look.

"Tori?" Jade asks, worried. When her girlfriend doesn't move, she cradles her face to make their eyes meet, and even has to slap her lightly to make her react. "Vega! What's wrong?"

"That... They probably were from the... the Assassin bai Kalaus" she manages to say, after taking a deep shuddering breath. "They are... the best Assassin clan in all Hell – the very definition of elite. Lucifer Himself gives them their missions, most of the time killing powerful Angels– anyone who's given trouble to other Assassins, really, and those Humans that He really, really wants dead. Their motto talks about guarding Lucifer's honor and eliminating His enemies without mercy, with a smile in the face and joy in the soul."

All five of her friends stare at her, not knowing what to say at what sounds like first-hand experience, until Beck finally gathers enough courage to ask what everyone wants to know.

"Was that...?"

Tori smiles weakly. "Yeah, that was my clan." She hesitates for a moment. "Idvke was a Kalaus too, but... judging by his aspect, he was demoted – I wonder what did he do to be labelled an Edhoerjae..."

"A what?"

"That's not the point" Andre interrupts before Tori can even open her mouth to answer, frowning in thought. "Why did they attack Cat's brother? It just doesn't make sense."

Tori shakes her head. "It kinda does, actually. Callum Valentine is one of the best Guardian Angels of this era – you have no idea how many Assassins he's stopped from killing his charges. In fact, had he been one of Jade's Guardians he might've been able to stop me when I... well, you know. You have no idea how many headaches he's given Lucifer."

Jade blinks at her girlfriend while everyone else looks mildly uncomfortable at the mention of the time Tori tried to kill her. "You're kidding, right?"

Seriously, Jade can't wrap her head around it. Just one Angel giving the Devil enough trouble to make him send his best warriors against him? It sounds ludicrous, and yet...

Tori purses her lips. "Well, maybe they were aiming at Cat. It's strange for Assassins to misaim an attack, but not impossible. Maybe they knew your routine and were settled outside your house, pointing at the door to attack the second someone left the shields. Had this been a normal morning, you would've walked out of that door instead of your brother.

"... Of course, there's a reason the Kalaus are the elite, so I'm more inclined to think that Callum was the target all along, not Cat. He's certainly troublesome enough to warrant having a couple of Kalaus after his head."

"But if you're wrong, why would they target her?" Robbie asks, frowning.

Jade stares at him for a second, only now realizing that she hasn't seen him with Rex since that afternoon they all spent together before she took a plane to Florida without telling any of them. It's... strange, but not unwelcome – she hates the puppet, and now, knowing that Robbie is an Angel, she can't help but wonder if Rex really has some level of sentience. Could that be possible with their powers?

"Well, she is one of Jade's Guardians" Tori says matter-of-factly.

If she's being honest, it makes Jade feel a little sick that her friends might be targets of Demons because of her – she's seen what they can do, she was almost killed by one of them, and just knowing that psychos like him could try to hurt them too just to get to her...

It's worse because she knows there's nothing she can do to help them out here – she can't protect herself, let alone any of them, and the less said about her chances of even hurting a supernatural professional killer the better.

She can, at least, follow their instructions as closely as possible. It's... a bit against what she almost instinctively does (she prefers to do what she wants, not follow after someone like a lost puppy), but she guesses she'll have to change more than a bit in order to increase her chances of not being killed by some Demon.

The gang stays quiet, digesting Tori's almost off-hand comment (which they all know to be true – especially Cat, because Jade's the only assignment she's ever had and she's been her protector for almost as long as she can remember).

Then, suddenly, Tori leans forward to rest her elbows on her knees, looking as if she's trying to gather herself enough in order to say something. Her friends, instead of pressing her (which they know to be less than helpful), wait until she's ready to voice what she's thinking.

A few minutes later, she runs her hand through her hair and looks up with a frown.

"I don't like this. If, by some miracle, the attack on Callum was actually supposed to hit Cat... then all of you are in danger, even if the attackers were not Kalaus. But if they were, and I'm almost certain that that's the case, then..."

She trails off, unable to finish the thought, but Beck clearly isn't feeling patient enough to wait around for her, because he explodes fairly quickly. "Then what? What would it mean, Tori?"

She frowns, staring at the palms of her open hands for a moment before she clenches them. "It'd mean that Lucifer is growing impatient – which is a really, really bad thing for us. These past several years he's been sending Assassins almost as a formality, but... look, guys, he sent me. Even if I was only fifteen, there's a reason I'm the youngest Kalaus there's ever been, and no matter what those who hated me would like to claim it was not because of my name or connections or anything other than my loyalty and my talent."

All of them seem confused at what her name or 'connections' would have to do with anything, but before anyone can even open their mouth to ask she's continuing her rant.

"Not to give myself airs, but I was an incredibly dangerous Assassin– I've killed Archangels without getting any injury worse than a few scratches, which is not something many Demons can claim to have done. And I was sent after Jade alone. The other Kalaus are incredibly powerful and dangerous too, and if He sent more than one of them after Cat..."

"Then," Jade continues, her voice surprisingly calm even if internally she's close to panicking, "that would mean he's trying harder than ever to kill me. It could probably even be his main focus, right?"

She inhales and closes her eyes. "Yes, that's what it would mean. As far as I know, He's rarely sent two Kalaus to kill just one target that's been anything less than a very powerful Archangel, regardless of who they are – He's more likely to have had them killed before they could be too much of a threat or an annoyance. Junst, my mentor when I was first inducted into the clan, always taught me that the Kalaus were the ultimate weapon, the one He used when He either had no better option to fulfill His goals or wanted to make sure a delicate goal was obtained.

"Even so, he insisted that we were so good that He rarely needed to use more than one Kalaus to complete a task that would require whole clans – and he was right. When we're not at war with Heaven, He hardly ever sends more than one Kalaus on a single mission even when the target is an Archangel – and I know of only one event in the last three hundred years. All eleven members were sent, true, but they were against a dozen Archangels so it doesn't count.

"Two Kalaus could reasonably be sent after a powerful and troublesome Guardian, but to order them to kill a Guarded or a no-name Guardian? Impossible. The Kalaus are too overqualified for a mission so painfully simple."

"I didn't know some Demons thought that highly of themselves" Andre comments, sounding a bit bemused and just a touch insulted.

Tori directs him a deathly glare that shows how much she appreciates his observation. "It's not an exaggeration, Andre. The Kalaus really are that good – you can ask your people if you don't believe me. I'm not the only one who could've killed any of you without you even realizing there was an Assassin nearby until it was too late.

"But that's not the point. The point is, if things are progressing as I hope they're not and the Kalaus were sent after Cat, we may be close to a situation where not even our combined efforts will be enough to protect Jade. She'd have to stay inside a Sanctuary all the time in order for her to be safe and sound, and we all know that's not possible – not if any of us, especially Jade, wish to continue a halfway normal human life."

"And what about Father?" Andre asks, finally sounding worried at the scene Tori's painting. "We could–"

"You could, but that won't happen" Tori interrupts him. "You guys are working with Demons – worse, with a former Kalaus who probably gave him the mother of headaches while still loyal to Lucifer. As long as I am one of her protectors, God will refuse to even consider to give the three of you any further help. And the only reason why I'd take a step to the side would be Jade being in ultimate danger and God's direct protection being the only way for her to stay alive."

"Which she's not right now," Beck says, "and maybe never, if we manage to keep her here."

Andre shakes his head. "But we can't. No matter her blood, she's still living as a Human, and they just don't stay 24/7 in a house that's not their own – not without attracting attention that we've already said we don't want. She'll be here for the next week, but what later?"

None of the protectors can answer that, and all five of them stay silent, staring anywhere but at the rest, while Jade shifts her eyes from one to the other. The three Angels seem deep in thought, Beck looks worried and Tori has a completely blank expression that frankly makes Jade nervous.

A good fifteen minutes of silence later, Tori lets out a weird little sound and her friends immediately look at her conflicted form as she opens and closes her mouth once and again until she finally breathes deeply and sits straight.

"I... may have an idea. You won't like it" she adds, looking at Jade. Her girlfriend frowns and motions for her to keep going. "If the issue with you being here or at least with one of us all the time is that you're still living with your parents, then..."

"Then I should leave" Jade cuts her off. "But you know my parents, they'd never just let me leave – unless they were the ones to kick me out in the first place."

Tori looks ashamed at her suggestion. "Look, I know that you don't like it, but it's the best thing I can think of right now. It's just an idea, though. You don't have to go through with it if you don't want to."

Jade frowns. "Are they targets? When you went after me, were you supposed to get any of them too?"

The Fallen Demon flinches at the blunt question. "Not really" she answers hesitantly. "The assignment ordered for a priority in making it seem as if you'd... passed away in your sleep, avoiding any confrontation with your Guardians if at all possible and leaving your parents alive, but there was an ishva at the end – that's a symbol that sort of indicates that we– that Assassins have permission to work out of the mission parameters if judged necessary.

"I used to never take an ishva unless I was getting too close to the time limit given for my mission, so I wasn't actually a threat to them seeing as I got past your Guardians so easily" she adds pensively, before shooting an apologetic look at said Guardians. "Still, I had access to the files on missions related to you and your family while I was preparing, and I remember just five missions that involved them directly – four were during the last month of pregnancy, after Lucifer realized a Lost Angel was carrying a Lost Demon's child, with three attempted assassinations on your mother and one on both your parents. The last one was an attempt on all three of you a week or so after you'd been born. Every time that risked them after that was only as... allowed collateral."

Jade pales dramatically, fearing that she knows which incident her girlfriend's talking about. "A week? That's..."

Tori winces. "Yeah. The attempts on their lives stopped after your mother was... rendered infertile after a failed assassination. I guess there was no need to try and kill an interracial couple when they couldn't..."

As she trails off, the room falls into an odd sort of awkwardness that only could be brought about by this kind of news.

"And I was the focus from then on" Jade concludes, trying not to think too deeply on what exactly Tori's words imply. "Because I was the one child they managed to produce before that incident."

She clears her throat. "Well, yes. I actually sort of skipped over your files, since I was a bit too arrogant to think they'd be of much help to me, so I don't have a lot of detail about that."

"Back to the issue at hand" Andre interrupts.

Jade shakes her head. "Yeah, let's just..." she sighs. "Well, if I'm the target and they're just... allowed collateral damage... I may not have the best relationship with them, but that still doesn't mean I want them dead, so I better move out before something happens to them."

"Okay, so, if you can't just leave without them breaking down the door to drag you back, how are you going to get yourself kicked out?" Beck asks.

Jade and Tori exchange a look, one frowning and the other unexpressive, before realization dawns on both their faces.

"No" Tori immediately says. "Jade, that's– you won't ever be able to go back or even restore your relationship with them if you do that!"

"If the other option is dying for something they have no idea about, I'd rather they stay alive and hate me for something that's true anyways" Jade retorts darkly. "I appreciate that you're trying to protect me, but this time it's my choice to make. It's the best option we have, you know that – especially if we want to explain why I'd move here after leaving my parents' house when no one knows we even get along, let alone are together."

"What are you guys talking about?" Andre asks, confused and frustrated.

The Fallen Demon grimaces while her girlfriend crosses her arms stubbornly. "Jade thinks that she could come out to her parents and tell them she's dating me."

"It'd work" Jade argues. "You can't deny that."

"I'm not denying anything" Tori bites back. "We both know they're unrepentant homophobes to begin with, so they'd throw you out just knowing you like girls. But why should you tell them you're with me? That'd completely ruin any possibility of a reconciliation in the future!"

Jade huffs. "I don't have any intention of breaking up with you, so they'd disown me eventually anyway when they inevitably learn of our relationship."

"It was your idea we hold off on telling them to begin with, because you didn't want that to happen!"

"Why would they even disown Jade for dating you in particular?" Beck interrupts them before Jade can express just how little she cares about her parents disowning her right now.

"Yeah, I would've thought they'd love you at first sight, Tori. You tend to have that effect on parents" Andre adds, confused, which elicits a small bitter laugh from the girl.

"Not going to happen. The base of a Demon's brain has a gland that reacts when in presence of an Imnathoerjae, producing hormones that cause dislike. I'm a... a Zkhoerjae, so I trigger outright loathing."

"I didn't understand that" Cat confesses, blinking.

"Isn't that what Groumhold called you? Zkhoerjae?" Beck asks.

Tori winces. "Please don't say that word."

"But what are they?"

"Well, the Imnathoerjae are the Lawbreakers, criminals of all kinds. The others are... they're the Oathbreakers, the Fallen Demons. Calling someone an Imnathoerjae is an insult, just as the words for all kinds of Lawbreakers, but that one is so offensive that it's automatically punishable with time in prison – the only thing under discussion being which prison and the time you'll serve. Really I shouldn't have felt insulted when Idvke called me that, since it's true and I'm not loyal to Lucifer anymore, but..."

Tori trails off uncertainly and shrugs, looking at her clasped hands.

"Anyway," she continues, clearing her throat, "Jade's father is a Lost so he doesn't understand why he hates me, it's just instinctive for him. The less said about her mother the better."

Jade purses her lips and looks away, easily remembering how her father looked at Tori with disdain and loathing the first time they met, when her now girlfriend helped her put her play together, and the glare full of then-unexplainable hate Tori was subjected to courtesy of Jade's mother.

The fact that Jade still didn't even like Tori at the time made everything more confusing, but she has to admit it was part of the reason why she didn't want to tell her parents about their relationship. She wouldn't have minded her parents dying at the hands of someone trying to kill her instead either.

Now, however? Knowing that the hate-at-first-sight thing was at least partially brought about by biology means she really dislikes them, but wouldn't want them to die if she can do something like moving in with her girlfriend to prevent it.

(It's not like she wasn't secretly hoping that their relationship would eventually evolve to them living together, anyway.)

"At least we know that telling them about us would work" Jade comments, steering the discussion back to topic.

Tori shakes her head slowly. "Jade..."

"It's my decision, Tori."

"Okay, we can discuss the exact method later" Andre interrupts. "If anything it can be a last resort, if we haven't come up with anything better before she's forced to go back there. Remember, we don't need her to completely destroy her family, just leave her parents' place and move into some Sanctuary."

"Fine, we'll argue about this when it's actually important" Jade rolls her eyes. "And we already said I'm staying here, so nothing about 'some' Sanctuary."

Tori exhales a drawn out sigh, shakes her head and smiles a little, between timid and sad. "I'm sorry, babe. I wish I could protect you better."

Jade grips her hand tightly. "You guys saved my life last night, and who knows how many times before that. If you've managed to keep me alive so far, I'd say you lot are doing a fine job keeping me alive, Vega."

The others agree, which makes Tori relax a bit as she regains a bit of confidence from her friends' support. It's... a bit reassuring to see an already familiar behavior in this completely unfamiliar situation.

There's a long moment of comfortable silence, everyone ruminating over the recent discussion, and it's not until almost eight minutes later that Robbie brings up a new topic.

"Ok, so, now that we agree on that... we still need to figure out how we'll protect Jade when she needs to be out of the Sanctuary."

"Don't you mess with me" Tori immediately jumps in, her whole being radiating supreme indignation. "I'm doing it. There's no question about it and you know that."

"Tori, chill" Cat tries to soothe the Demon's ruffled feathers. "We're still her Guardians, remember? We have to do something or we'll also be in trouble with our higher ups."

She huffs, her hand tightening its hold on Jade's just enough for her to feel it but nowhere near enough for it to be uncomfortable. "Fine, then. You can back me up if I need help and look after her so I can focus on the fight. Happy? It's not as if we haven't been doing it like that all along," she adds in a slightly resentful mutter.

Jade slowly raises an eyebrow at her girlfriend and looks at their friends. "And I'm the jerk here?"

The other four shrug carelessly, as if none of them can be bothered to actually have an opinion on the matter. Jade guesses it's because they're more used to Tori showing her Demonic side than she is.

Andre frowns lightly. "But she's kinda right. She's the strongest of us, powerful enough that she could beat all of us easily while still keeping anyone under her protection from being harmed. So, yeah, maybe it's best if she's the main force against any attacker and we're there to cover her back – also, to keep an eye on Jade whenever Tori needs to rest or something like that."

Seeing as all of them agree that Tori is the strongest immortal of their group, far surpassing her family and the three Guardians, it doesn't take long for everyone to agree on that. Tori noticeably relaxes when the discussion is settled, and is the first to agree when Beck suggests pizza for lunch.

They spend the rest of the day just hanging around, watching TV and playing cards and generally ignoring anything related to immortals. As is usual for them, they barely acknowledge Tori's parents when they come back and both are quick to retreat upstairs (after making sure they have money to order dinner later), and when Trina stomps her way in and up to her room they just deliberately ignore her mutterings.

They order Chinese for dinner and eat contentedly, with an air of normalcy surrounding them – it's not the first time they've spent the whole day at Tori's place, even if they don't do it often when the summer heat makes places like the beach more tempting spots to laze around.

It certainly won't be the last.

It's not even ten when Andre, Beck and Robbie decide to leave, all six of them tired from that morning's discussions (Tori in particular started to look downright dead around thirty minutes before), and the girls move upstairs.

There's a tacit understanding that they'll all change in Tori's room before deciding who takes the single bed at the guest room and who'll share her large bed (though both Jade and Cat are already determined on the couple sharing and the Guardian taking the single), so they move there and Tori quietly provides pajamas for the duo before shuffling off to one side.

Cat is the first to turn her back to the rest of the room to change, and when she takes her shirt off Jade can't help but to notice something definitely strange between her shoulder blades, right above her bra – something she's never seen before, despite the fact that she's known Cat for most of their lives and has certainly seen her uncovered back more times than she can count.

"What's that?"

The young Guardian Angel looks back over her shoulder, glancing down to follow Jade's pointed look. She blinks and shrugs carelessly, draping her hair over the opposite shoulder to allow her an unimpeded view of the tattoo-like golden design.

"Oh, these are my wing marks – I can't go through Human life with those attached to my back, you know? Normally I pray to hide them when I need to have my back uncovered in front of people who don't know about me, so..."

She jerks her shoulders back in one swift motion, and the tattoos emit a soft golden light for a second before a pair of feathered wings, each one reaching from slightly above her head down to her ankles, grow from the tattoos.

Jade is mesmerized at their appearance, even though the wings are almost blindingly white. It takes Cat retracting the wings for her to come back from her thoughts, and she shakes herself out of the lingering amazement before turning to her girlfriend, who's somehow already changed into her pajamas.

"Do you have marks like those too?" she asks.

The Fallen Demon shuffles uncomfortably on her feet, looking away. "I– Kinda, yeah."

"Tori doesn't like her marks" Cat confides quietly, also refusing to look at her as she brushes away invisible wrinkles on the borrowed shirt. She hesitates for a moment before picking up the shorts and her own discarded clothing before walking out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her – as if knowing that this is a discussion that her friends need to have, preferably in private, before they can move forward with their relationship.

Tori's eyes trail after Cat and, once she knows they're alone, return quickly to the floor between her feet. "Tartarus... isn't a place I like to remember" she says in a low voice. "I never release the magic that covers them. I... I don't like to see the physical reminders that my past left on my body."

Understanding dawns on Jade. "That's why you didn't want us to get too physically intimate. You're ashamed..."

Tori shrugs. "Not of every tattoo – just, almost all of them. A situation like that would distract me and there's a chance I'd let go of the magic... I don't like the idea of you seeing them, Jade, not even now that you know about me."

The half-blood looks at her in sad silence for a second before she walks up to her, lightly grabbing her face to tilt it up. Her eyes study the fake-brown pair, easily catching the fear of rejection deeply rooted there, the fear of Jade walking away from her as soon as she sees the marks left on her body by a life in Hell.

Tori shifts and tries to look away, but Jade doesn't allow it and leans in to kiss her.

"You know I wouldn't leave you for a bunch of tattoos."

The younger girl closes her eyes, fisting her hands by her sides. "Yeah," she manages to say, "but the marks aren't what bother me, it's what they represent. Every stroke of ink, every beat of magic that burnt it into my skin, they all confess the truth about me – how many people I killed, how many families I destroyed, how blindly I followed orders... how dark my soul truly is. I... I don't want you to see the proof of all the wrong I've done. I know it's selfish of me, but..."

Jade sighs. "Please stop that, Tori. What you did was wrong, true, but you were raised to not question it – you didn't know another life. I'm guessing that's the reason why Fallens are rare, isn't it? Because they don't know anything else."

Tori opens her eyes and sighs, her expression dark. "I lost count of how many Humans I killed a little after my seventh birthday" she confesses in a soft voice, and it takes all Jade has in her not to reel back. "By the time I was ten, I'd lost count of the immortals. I was thirteen when I was inducted into the Kalaus clan, something that no one before me had accomplished before turning twenty-five. I'm not... I'm not the kind of person that deserves anyone's affections."

Jade frowns, wondering how she'd missed that profound self-loathing, especially with it so painfully evident now. She'd like to believe it's just that she didn't know about Angels and Demons, that Tori got too used to donning a perfect Miss Sunshine mask, that she hasn't been anything less than completely aware of everything about her girlfriend since she first realized she had feelings for her, but it's hard.

It's almost impossible, because this is not the kind of hate that springs up in a second, but rather an all-encompassing emotion that festers in the soul for a long, long time – possibly more time than she's known Tori for.

When did this hate begin? Was it something that started to brew when she was expelled from the only home she'd ever known and faced with the reality that life could be better? Or was it something else, something older, the root of a deeply hidden voice in her mind that made her hesitate when she was ready to kill the very girl she'd later call her girlfriend, the girl who'd fall in love with her?

Her frown deepens as she stumbles upon that line of thought, and she thinks...

Has she ever said the words to Tori? Other than offhand comments directed more to things she does and the way she styles herself, has she ever told Tori that her feelings for her go more deeply than a simple crush?

She sighs at that and bumps their foreheads together, because the answer is simple – she can't remember.

Tori hasn't said the words to her, either, but now that she knows how much her girlfriend hates herself it's easy to imagine her holding back, determined not to show how she truly feels for fear that it won't matter once the truth came to the surface.

"I can't care about that, Tori, not right now" she confesses. "I might want to know something about your past, eventually, but right now the only thing I know is that you're kind to me and everyone around you, even when everyone else would expect you not to be. The only thing I care about right now is that you're beautiful, and talented, and kind, and that I hope you love me as much as I love you."

Tori's eyes widen at the confession. "Jade..."

"Please don't keep doing this to yourself, Tori. You're not that person anymore, and you haven't been since long before I met you. You're not... you're not evil anymore, which I know because my Guardians wouldn't let you anywhere near me without putting up one hell of a fight if you still were."

Her eyes flicker between the brown she's always known and their natural red as she studies Jade's gaze and judges the truth displayed there, still seemingly unwilling to just accept her words.

That's... not okay, but acceptable. Jade will just have to convince her over time, softly and patiently, just as she convinced her that she wasn't kidding when she asked her out.

Finally, after a long, moment, Tori's eyes settle on red, and when Jade doesn't react to the brightly inhuman color she exhales an "I love you".

Jade smiles, a little confused because she hadn't actually been expecting a confession – not right now, not when the other girl was obviously feeling the brunt of her insecurities and self-hate at the moment.

"I just... I love you" Tori continues, closing her eyes as she hugs Jade's waist. "I... I wish I could be good enough for you, but I'm not, and I'm selfish enough to want you by my side for as long as you'll have me."

Jade sighs and moves her arms to return the embrace, tucking her girlfriend's face to the crook of her neck and lightly pressing her lips to her temple, knowing that Tori feels most comfortable when they snuggle in this position whenever they have a bit of private time.

They stay like that for a while, just holding each other close and savoring the other's warmth, until Tori shifts and moves her head away to lock their eyes together – Demonic red hesitant and regretful, Holy-influenced blue soft and certain, but both full of love and a passion that's been there for too long but neither had allowed to grow.

But now, with the last walls that stood between them gone, they can finally, truly see and understand the depth of emotion they hold for each other.

And just like that, as one, they release the tight grip with which they've held back for so long, and they hope, they know...

Things might not be okay, and they still will have to eventually sit down and have that uncomfortable conversation neither wants to face, but right now?

Right now, this feels kind of perfect.