Dangerous Journey

Disclaimer: Don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 12 (Insight on Trina's Past)

Come Monday, Sam managed to get to Sasha's class in time to learn people there could also learn how to box. Rather than go the boxing route, she went the way of martial arts so she could spar with Trina.

For the first day of martial arts, she learned that this choice was a mistake.

Sam ducked an overhead sweep from Trina and tried to counter, but her body was too open and the girl was able to pin a knife-hand strike to her side. Her muscles were sore from the match, and she was already overcome with exhaustion.

Before her, Trina spun forward and moved into a ready stance. Sam threw her hands up, her chest heaved and her eyebrows rose. "I think I need a break," she said with a pant. "I'm still learning the basics."

"Sorry." Trina relaxed her stance and pulled her ponytail out so her hair could drop down around her shoulders. "Once I get into it, I kind of lose myself." They walked over to the wall nearby and leaned up against it. "I miss my sparring matches with Jason."

Her heart sank and she looked down at the floor. She felt in her gut that Jason was still out there, but she wasn't sure. Mr. Benson was on the lookout, but no leads were turning up. "I'm sure he's alive somewhere." Trina crossed her arms and looked at the window across from them.

"Maybe. Maybe he'll come back, maybe he's gone like the rest." The sun glinted off the mist in Trina's eyes, and it embellished the pools of sweat beneath them and around the girl's nose and mouth. Her hair now clung to her neck and portion of her chest uncovered by her gi. "I lose everything I care about, but this? This is the one thing he can't take from me."

Unable to hold back any longer, Sam had to give the girl some semblance of hope. "Trina, they're looking for him." She moved her hands behind her back and pressed her palms against the wall. She breathed in a gentle, slow breath of air and looked towards the girl's now confused expression. "Mr. Benson. He's looking for Jason…"

"What?" Trina turned to her and swept her bangs away from her wet forehead. Her eyebrows closed together and her lips fell apart. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I'm connected with Mr. Benson, and he's looking for your lover." Among other things of course, but she wasn't sure just how far to push at this point. After all, she still didn't know what Trina knew about her own life.

Trina's hands slid to her waist and her mouth slid into a faint smile. Sam brought her hand up to the back of her neck, brushing her fingers along the heated surface as though she were trying to cool herself.

"Look. Trina. I don't know how to say this, but…He is trying to connect the dots. If there's any connection between Jason and those last three guys you dated-"

"There is." The girl's hands fell and frown lines appeared to frame her mouth. "Samuel Ross, Sinjin Van Cleef, and Jesse Klein." Trina sat down on the floor and pulled her legs in, crossing them sideways at the ankles. Sam took a seat beside her, watching as the girl brushed her hair with her hands. "I don't even know why you want to know about them, or why you're even taking an interest in my life…"

"Because I want to." She took a mental note of the names and gave the girl a reassuring smile. "I promise, if Mr. Benson can find a connection-"

"My father." Trina's shoulders fell and an abrupt scoff tore from her lips. "If I can call him that." Sam raised an eyebrow. Her right fingers tapped the ground beside her, and her heart skipped with shock.

Was Trina hinting that she knew David wasn't her father? If so, it could blow this wide open for her-she would have an easier time getting Trina to open up and flee.

"So how is he connected?"

"He threatened all of my boyfriends. Same way he threatened any of my friends that got too close to me." Trina's right knee rose and she hung her arm over it. "Ross was my first boyfriend; he was good to me. Treated me well for the first two weeks we dated. Then as he got to know me, Dad told him to back off…well, Ross was an athlete-on the school football team. He didn't believe in quitting, didn't believe in giving up, so he was always at ends with my dad, fighting him at every turn."

She was sensing there was more to this that Trina wasn't saying, but out of respect, she didn't want to pry. If Trina knew David wasn't her father and still had memories of her abduction, she likely wouldn't want to open up about it.

Especially not if that was exactly what happened to the men she dated. If this Ross learned of the abduction and fought with David, and was lost as a result, Trina my not wish to share that information with someone else.

"Ross. Was he the one you said was murdered?"

Trina's head fell back against the wall and her hands closed into trembling fists. "They found him in a ditch." Trina's breathing grew shallow and her muscles visibly tensed before Sam.

"He was driving down the interstate and someone ran him off the road…Since he was driving a convertible, and his car flipped out, he died instantly. It was the middle of nowhere, I think he was trying to drive out to Washington state or something."

Her heart stopped and her jaw fell agape; what could it mean if Ross were trying to reach Washington? Furthermore, she wondered, could any of Trina's other boyfriends have tried to drive there?

Was it possible that Ross learned the whereabouts of Trina's biological family and tried to reach them? If so, was he killed for it?

"And the others?" Sam stammered and quickly cleared her throat. "What happened to Sinjin and Jesse?" Trina bounced her hand and her lips spread into a thin line.

"They're alive. They both left town, though." Sam reached over, gently rubbing Trina's back. The girl took a deep breath and her shoulders started to rise. "Apparently somebody threatened them. Jesse was tough, I think he was a gang member actually…"

She coughed at the image and tried to imagine David reacting to that. "Seriously?" She had to believe there was a legitimate reason David might have for running a gang member off, more than just the threat of his own criminal activity being discovered. "So what drove Jesse off? If he was a hardened gang member."

Trina closed her eyes and started tapping her legs with her fingers, one after the other. "The last thing I remember hearing from him before he moved to New York-"

"New York?"

Trina turned her head to Sam and her voice fell flat. "That is where his family is." Sam nodded and smiled before waving for her to continue.

"Got it."

"Apparently his father, who was a big time criminal and leader of some organization or whatever, was told by some 'high ranking officer'…" Trina's eyes narrowed and Sam dropped her head with a frustrated sigh. "That his crimes would be over looked if he made his son leave. Jesse's father blackmailed him while also telling him if he wanted to keep his family alive, he needed to be with them."

"So he had no choice?"

"Not a chance."

"And Sinjin?"

"Sinjin was nice, not as tough as the other three though." Trina chuckled softly and curled a strand of hair over her ear. "He was raising his little sister, since their parents were gone. His father died in an accident a long time ago, which drove his mother insane and caused her to abandon them."

Sam whistled and turned her head away. "Damn, that's too bad." It was terrible, but at least Sinjin was looking after his kid sister. A smirk flickered on her face and her eyes slid towards Trina. "I have a friend in a similar situation…"

"Oh?"

"Her mother died a long time ago, and her father was overseas for the longest time, so her older brother practically raised her." Trina's right eyebrow rose and her leg gently lowered to the ground.

"I…am sorry to hear about the mom. You know, I-" Trina stopped herself and quickly shook her head. Sam leaned slightly towards the girl, anticipating the next words, but Trina said nothing more.

Trina wiped away a stray bit of tears from her cheeks and closed her eyes. "Anyway, Sinjin told me when he ended the relationship that he needed to protect his sister. He moved away to god knows where."

"And now Jason? He was another athlete, wasn't he?"

"Of course." Trina chuckled dryly and turned her head to the ceiling. Her lips rose into a smile, framed by fresh streaks of tears and dried sweat. "I met him here. Fell in love with him, he swore to keep me safe, to take me away from here. He said he loved me, that he'd do anything for me."

"So it doesn't sound like he'd run off, and it doesn't sound like he'd be easily blackmailed." She found it oddly ironic that the two athletes Trina dated were the ones most likely to stand up to David.

Ross may have died for it, and if Jason did the same, she feared for his fate.

Sam ran her hand down her left arm and her eyes slanted as she contemplated Jason's fate. There was a strange feeling in her gut that this man could have tried to find Trina's family as well if he found out the truth.

It was a long shot, and she didn't want to put all her coins in one basket, but it was still something to check out. "Trina. Do you remember the day he disappeared?" Trina's breath rattled and her hand moved up over her forehead.

"Yes. He said he was going on a short trip, that he'd be back in a couple of weeks." A sudden pang struck her with the force of a punch to the chest. As she thought to say something more, they were interrupted by the sound of the studio door opening.

To Sam's shock, and slight dismay, Carly was the one entering the building. Sam jumped to her feet, her eyes were wide and fearful, and her pulse was quickening. "Carly, what are you doing here?" She asked with a hurried tone.

Trina rose up beside her and Carly approached them. "I can't come visit my best friend on her first day of class?" Carly's gaze drifted to Trina and her entire form relaxed. "Hi there." Trina responded with a shy wave. Sam glanced over to see Trina's gaze moving up and down Carly.

"Hi there. I'm-"

"Katrina, right?" Carly extended her hand and Trina hesitated for a brief second before shaking the girl's hand. "Sam told me about you. So did Sasha."

"You know Sasha?"

"Yep, my brother's girlfriend." Carly chuckled once and rolled her eyes. "Well, they're working on that, anyway." Sam moved her hands to her waist and bowed her head.

Like Carly, Spencer surprised them by flying out to LA over the weekend. At this very moment, he was at Sasha's home and looking after his daughter. It was fun to see the two meet for the first time, and for Sam, she was amazed to see the tears streaming down his face when he held his daughter.

It wasn't a crucial moment to her mission, but it was a nice momentary break. She hoped that Sasha and Spencer would be able to work on their relationship and hang back while she tried to help Trina, and this of course included Carly as well.

She sucked the air through her clenched teeth and narrowed her eyes at her friend. Her left foot tapped the ground and her chest expanded slowly. "It's not safe, Carly. Didn't I tell you it wasn't safe?"

Trina pulled her hand over her chin and let her eyebrows rise up into her forehead. "You look familiar," Trina stated with a soft and careful tone. "I'm not sure where I've seen you before."

"I'm sure you've seen me before."

"Yeah. Um, oddly I think I remember seeing you in my childhood." Sam's heart jumped to her throat and she watched as a smile slicked across Carly's face. "I just seem to recall seeing your face, but younger. Is that weird? If that's weird, I'm sor-"

"It's not weird at all. It's really great meeting you…"

"You too, I guess." Trina scratched the back of her neck and looked over her shoulder. "Um, I'm going to get back to working out, so um, we'll talk later?"

"I hope so." Trina took off and Sam watched the girl duck into the women's restroom. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand and kept her left clamped to her hip.

"Carly," she growled, "I know you want to see your sister but can't you wait until there's not a risk of life?" Carly's mouth grew into a deep frown and her arms folded across her chest.

"I've waited for twelve or thirteen years to see my sister, Sam. I don't care if I have to jump into a pit of fire to see her."

"Sorry." She started to relax, but her nerves were still frayed. "You know, you're not supposed to be the impulsive one between the two of us."

Carly raised an eyebrow and blew out a puff of air. "Sorry to disappoint." Carly dropped her arms and took a wistful, but lingering look at the restroom where Trina disappeared into. "She doesn't know yet?"

"I haven't told her because I don't know what she knows. If I know what she knows and how much she knows, then I can start thinking about the best way to break the news to her…either easing her into it or like ripping off a bandaid."

"How has she been? Do you know? How much did you talk to her about?"

"One thing at a time, Carls." Carly's eyes darted back to her and she let out a nervous laugh. Sam smiled warmly at the girl. "It'll be alright, Carly. I can't believe I'm the one saying it, but be patient…wait. Just like Spencer, you have to give it time, and I know saying that isn't really a lot of help because that's what you've been doing, but you need to hold on just a little bit longer."

"Doing the best I can."

"I know you are." She inhaled and turned to sideways, moving her gaze towards the bathroom door. "She's had a string of friends and boyfriends that disappeared, you know? I figure they found something out. She hasn't had it easy, but she seems okay for now."

"I will try to be patient. I don't promise much, but I'll try."

"I'd appreciate it."

We've learned about the boyfriends, among other things. Carly's officially met her sister. What are your thoughts on everything?