Conspiracy

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 8 (Lost in Translation)

Dennison. The name on the mailbox was in big black letters, but the paint was cracked and faded. The mailbox was a standard black metal box seated on a round iron pole that shot down into grass that had grown long compared to the rest of the small yard.

The air was crisp and filled with the sound of neighborhood kids laughing over a game of baseball. Jade pondered the irony of the game for a moment before approaching the front door of the small brick home.

She knocked once on the wooden door and pushed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. The wood on the front of the door was splintered and cracked, most likely due to the exposure of the sun. A dog barked from inside the house and she could hear a masculine voice calling to quiet the animal.

After several seconds the door cracked open and the hinges squeaked loudly. "Sounds like you should put some oil on those things." She peered over her shades and saw a slim young boy, around her age, slide between the door and wall. His foot was positioned strategically to keep a scruffy brown, mop-haired dog, from racing outside. "I'm Jade West, by the way. You probably don't know me."

The boy had a distinct smell of chemicals on him, and his scruffy yellow hair was held back by a black tie. "I'm sorry, you caught me in the middle of a project for school. Can I help you?" Her nose crinkled and she brought her hand towards her stomach. The smell of bleach and luminol was so strong that she could practically feel it being absorbed into her.

"What class is this?"

"Forensic Pathology. I'm taking part of a college credit program." He stepped outside the door, keeping his foot in place until he could shut the door in front of the dog. Jade breathed in and felt her throat loosen up with the contact of clean air. "My parents work with the crime lab downtown, so they insist on me doing regular experiments."

"I see. You want to follow their footsteps?" He was wearing a white lab coat, buttoned up over what appeared to be a white collared shirt.

"Yes." He pat his hands as though rubbing dust or debris off. "So again, can I help you or are you here for my parents?"

"Actually Ian, I'm here about Tori Vega." Ian's shoulders dropped and the thin smile that was on his narrow face faded away in an instant. "She um, doesn't know I'm here but she misses you."

He looked away and his eyes focused on the kids down the street. "Well since she left Sherwood for that arts school…" She pursed her lips. Part of her was afraid he'd turn her away, that he didn't want anything to do with Tori. As she studied him, she caught a glimpse of something in his eyes. Sorrow and yearning.

"You miss her too, don't you?"

"How well do you think you know her?" He looked back and crossed his arm. With his right shoulder, he leaned against one of the two support beams on his porch. His eyes gripped Jade and she felt as though she were being suspended in air, destined to fall if he so much as glanced the other way. "I've seen her perform on stage, going around singing…dancing…acting, like that's what she really wants. It isn't. Her first love was science. I could see that, she was so passionate about it in class, always asking Mrs. DeBord for advice and taking on whatever project she could get her hands on."

"Is that why you stopped talking to her? Because you think she gave up on all that?"

"For false dreams. Yes." It hurt to be told that singing was a false dream, but she understood the sentiment. It was extremely difficult in today's world to genuinely make a career out of singing or acting, so much that people said it was an impossible or unrealistic dream.

"That's not the case, Ian." His eyebrows burned together and he swept his fingers through his hair, scratching at the side of his head. "Trina encouraged her to go, that way she could watch over her. I can't say why-"

"The family of hers?" His interruption jarred her and she gazed, perplexed, as he stood straight. "Yeah, I know that father of hers is crazy." Ian pointed his thumb at his chest and his voice seemed to raise a notch. "I knew Tori since the sixth grade. I even tried to help her a few times."

"Help her?"

"When she was twelve, she tried to run away from home. The cops took her back and she was never the same. Neither was her sister." Ian's eyelids fell halfway and darted off to the right. "I won't say what, but it caused a lot of panic attacks. There was even a time I let her stay overnight, me and Courtney both."

"Courtney?"

"Courtney Van Cleef. You know her?" She recognized the name now. The girl was Sinjin's younger sister. Sinjin was approximately two years older than Trina and worked as a teacher's assistant at Hollywood Arts. Most people assumed he was a student, as he had his own locker and carried on with the students on a regular basis.

"Yeah, I know of her."

"She goes to Sherwood as well and was in our Biology class. She was friends with Tori also." If this was significant, she could speak to Courtney, but Ian seemed to be the stronger influence in Tori's life. "I guess if Trina influenced her to continue on at that school, then she had a good reason to."

"If it means anything to you, she still thinks about you. She told me she still wants to find a career in the science field, most likely-"

"Veterinary science." His lip tilted into a smug smirk and he dropped his arms to his sides. Jade was shocked by his answer, but relieved to see he still knew so much of Tori. She could feel his breath escape his lips and hit her forehead, it was warm to the touch and the minty scent flowed into her nostrils to overcome her. "She talked about that constantly. I'm glad she still holds out hope of a future out there…"

Just how much did he know about what was going on in the household? She folded her forearms on her abdomen and tilted her head to the right. "She confided a lot in you?"

"Yeah." He scratched the bridge of his nose and looked off with a heavy sigh. "I was the only person she felt like she could talk to." She got a sense that he knew more about Tori's life with her family than he was saying here, but respected that he likely wasn't going to betray Tori's trust by telling her everything.

"She trusted you, she must have felt safe with you. She hasn't lost sight of what she wanted to be, so why don't you give her a call?" If anything, Tori needed that call. "I know it seems like a lot of time passed, but you shouldn't let a rift grow between you because of a bad assumption."

"I'll consider that." Ian reached back to the brass doorknob and pushed his foot to the door. His head tilted back and his shoulders rose. "Can I ask why you're asking all this about her? I know you're one of her new friends, but seriously…"

Jade rubbed her arm and felt her stomach tighten with anticipation as he started to push the door. "I'm looking into her family. It's an investigation. I would ask you more questions, but if Tori confided anything in you and you wish to respect her privacy-"

"I do." His voice deepened and his head fell back down. "She made me swear never to tell anybody, not even the police. Hell, she couldn't even trust the police after they gave her right back to that man. Scared out of her mind."

He pushed the door, and once again Jade was struck by the intense smell of chemicals. She heard an older woman's voice calling out to him, telling him to finish up the experiment.

"Be right there, Mom." Ian looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with Jade. "Tell Tori, I miss her too. I'd love to see her again."

"You could tell her yourself, Ian."

"Perhaps."

Hours later she met with Tori at the girl's home, she had a heavy heart and felt uncomfortable with David's presence at the top of the stairs as he watched the two girls on the couch.

Tori had a board game strewn out on the table, so Jade was more than willing to partake in the game. She did not want to startle the girl by bringing up her visit with Ian so suddenly, nor did she want to tip off Mr. Vega to her having met with someone who clearly had a strong impact on Tori's life.

"How are you doing?" She whispered. She peered down at the game of Sorry and carefully placed the red pawn pieces in the home place. Tori had chosen the blue pieces.

"Good. I just got done with an acting exercise Mr. Sikowitz assigned." Jade smiled slightly and turned her eyes over her shoulder. David was still standing at the top of the stairs. His right hand grasped the railing firmly and his eyes were piercing into her with a violent fire. She could almost feel his fire surrounding her and overwhelming her, cutting off her circulation of air.

Did he not have something better to do, or did he suspect her of trying to dig into something that she shouldn't? Jade turned her eyes back to the board and saw that Tori had moved a piece already. She shook her head and bent her arm upwards, grasping at her chin with her forefinger and thumb.

"Will you perform it in class tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I kind of want to see someone else go." The skit in question was one where the actor made it up. She was interested in seeing what Tori could come up with, but understood if the girl didn't want to do anything. "Oh! Did I tell you-" Tori sat up and smiled at Jade. "Mom took me down to the animal shelter today, I was thinking of volunteering there."

"Sounds fun." She moved one of her pieces onto the board and paused for a second, sliding her eyes to the side. She couldn't feel the hole burning in her back any longer, so she decided to turn fully to see if they were still being watched. To her relief, David was no longer in sight. "You should."

"I don't know though. Dad might not be too happy with it, he prefers that we stay in or near the home when we're not at school."

"Ah." The skin around her nose folded and frown lines curled around the corners of her lips as her mind drifted back to the news article. It sounded like David didn't trust his daughter to not try calling out for help again. "You listen to everything that man tells you?"

"I learned a long time ago not to do what he doesn't want, Jade. Mom, Trina and I all know better. I'm not like you, I can't act out." Jade felt a vibration and looked towards the girl. Tori was trembling, but her eyes seemed to focus on the board as though she were unaware of the quiver.

"I don't always act out, Tori. Besides, you can't live in fear forever."

"You don't know me-you don't know what it's like. No one does."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Now she wanted Ian to contact the girl more than anything. Her eyes drifted to Tori's cell phone and her lower lip tucked beneath her teeth. A premonition struck her and she had a compelling urge to reach for the phone. "Don't you have any other friends that you've opened up to?"

Tori glanced at her phone, but kept her silence.

They continued the game for another half hour, talking casually about school and their other friends. When Tori moved her final piece into the winner's circle, and Jade had one left on the board, she threw her hand up with a loud cheer.

Jade crossed her arms and leaned back, glaring at her final piece. She hadn't been good at board games, and tonight was no exception. "Congrats Tori. I look forward to beating you at a poker game."

"Oh can we play?" Tori's lips spread into a wide grin and her eyebrows bounced up. It was unusual to play one on one, rather than the large group, but Jade was more than willing to entertain the girl.

"Of course." She stood up from the couch and looked back in time to see the screen of Tori's phone turn on. Her heart grew still as a calm air of silence surrounded her. The phone's ringing burst through her ears and time suspended for a moment.

The name on the caller ID was listed as 'Ian'. Her heart skipped a beat as Tori reached for the phone, still not turning her head. When she did, a sudden gasp broke the silence. "Oh my god, what's he doing calling me?" Jade glanced at the stairs and smirked with satisfaction.

David was still gone.

Tori's eyes lit up and a water formed at her eyelids. Jade motioned for her to answer the call, growing impatient the longer the musical ringtone played. The tune ended only when Tori brought the phone to her ear and spoke up with a trembling voice.

"Ian? I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore?" Tori stood up and brought her hand to her chest, nodding slowly. Jade watched the tears roll along the girl's face, framing her lips as they twisted in an upwards motion. "Y-You were thinking about me? You were missing me?"

Tori turned her back to Jade and moved her hand to the back of her neck, rubbing beneath her hair. "I missed you too, Ian. I hated that we stopped talking…no, you weren't wrong, I should have just told you Trina was encouraging me to get in. Singing's fun, but it's not the end all thing I want. I…Ian, I need to talk to you, I've always needed to talk to you but when you said-" Tori dropped her hand and paced to the right three steps. "I'm sorry too, Ian. Can we-can we meet at the school? It's better that way."

Tori lowered her voice so Jade wasn't able to hear, but she didn't care. She sat back down on the couch and watched Tori pace around the living room, and occasionally glancing at the steps just to make certain David wasn't around.

"Trina's okay," she heard Tori. Intrigued, she followed the girl's movement and threw her arms over the top of the couch. "No, he's still wary about friends. He still brings Gary around, I feel really bad because I know he does it just to hurt him." Jade's ears perked and she brushed her lips together, forming a subtle humming noise.

After a few more moments of conversation, Tori was saying her goodbyes. The girl turned to Jade and started to laugh excitedly, like a blushing schoolgirl who just had her first conversation with her longtime crush.

Although that analogy was likely to be very close to the truth. Secretly Jade was hoping that Ian could find a way to help Tori as well, because if anything, help was something the girl needed.

"Thank god he called." Jade threw her friend a smile and waved the girl over to the couch. She needed Tori not to get too excited. "So what did Ian have to say?"

Tori fell onto the couch with a sigh and shut her eyes. "He really misses me, wants to see me and is sorry that he misunderstood the reason I left Sherwood. He was afraid I was going to turn into a diva, but he knows better now."

"I'm happy for you, Tori. Really." Jade pat the girl on the back and glanced to the stairs one final time. She didn't feel safe being here without Beck, or backup of some sort. This one man was able to control three women, one of which being a formerly athletic mother of two girls. He managed to strike fear into Trina, someone who was described as being a dangerous force on the martial arts sparring grounds.

It took a lot for her to stay in this place as long as she had, alone as she was. If David acted up, she knew she couldn't fall back onto Tori or Trina for protection. She could protect herself a little, but one couldn't expect unrealistic means of going up against a powerful and seasoned police officer with years of dangerous criminal activity in his background.

"What do you say we get to that poker game?" Jade cleared her throat and made eye contact with Tori. "Maybe outside on the back patio? Do you mind if I call Beck over?"

As if Beck stood a chance against David if it came to violence, but there was power in numbers after all.

"Aw, I thought it was going to be just us two? Go ahead if you want, I don't mind."

"I don't have to."

"No it's fine." Tori waved her hand and smiled at her. "Actually, I was thinking of calling Cat and Andre over."

"Not Robbie?"

"Definitely not Robbie." Tori's face grew serious in an instant. A familiar emptiness grew in Jade's stomach: fear and uncertainty. Tori had more news to share that she wasn't saying, and somehow it involved Robbie. "Anyway, I'll call them over. It would be great to ask Ian to come over, but I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because." Tori stood up and walked towards her dining table, twisting around slightly. "The last time Ian was over here, he and Dad got into a fight." Jade's head jumped back and her lips parted briefly. "You know that old 50s or 60s song by the American Dreams? The one about the boyfriend and all that?"

"I know of it." The song was called My Boyfriend's Back, it basically highlighted the scorned girl whose boyfriend was returning from some trip and gunning for the person that hurt the singer. "Ian got into a fight with your dad?"

"I've never seen anybody kick my dad's ass, they almost killed each other. Mom and Trina had to pull them apart." It was difficult imagining a man of Ian's size attacking someone of David's size, but the boy did work with chemicals that his parents brought home from work-even though they likely were not supposed to do such a thing.

Then it was possible for anyone to get ahold of a weapon. How Ian survived not being gutted by such a fearsome man, Jade wasn't sure. "Lucky guy."

"Yeah, but Dad said to him 'I better not see your face again'." She had to wonder if Tori was even aware she was opening up, it was likely the girl was and this was her way of telling Jade how bad things were in this house.

It was good to see Ian tried to protect the girl. It meant he was dedicated and that he cared, so she hoped this was a sign that his coming back into Tori's life would be a good thing.

Sp what are your thoughts with this chapter? It's good Jade managed to bring them back together, gives Tori something maybe to hope for, just maybe.