Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights belong to someone else and not me.

Revenge of the wolf

Chapter 15 – The show must go on.

No One's POV.

After her shower, Jade felt clean for the first time in weeks. Any other time, any other day, that would normally be a good feeling. But the feeling of being clean and refreshed, barely registered in Jade's mind.

Stepping out of the shower, she noticed that either Victoria or Jadelyn had placed some clean underwear, a bra, socks, black sweatpants and a t-shirt for her to wear. Jade quickly concluded it was Victoria, judging by the neat way they were folded. She quickly put them on.

Emerging from the bathroom, she could smell the beginnings of a taco dinner.

"Jade, dinner will be ready in a short bit." Came Victoria's voice from the kitchen, which caused Jade to briefly reminisce about all the times Tori had said the same thing. It occurred to her, just then that she rarely offered to help, yet Tori never complained.

"Can I help?" Jade found herself saying.

Popping her head out of the kitchen, Victoria looked her over. "Are you sure, you could barely stand a short while ago."

"I kinda just need to do something. Anything to get my mind off of…"

Victoria nodded. "I was just about to brown the beef. You can do that. The beef is in a package in the fridge, the pan is on the stove and the taco seasonings are next to the stove. Oh…you need a fork to break up the beef. Get the meat and I'll get you a fork."

Feeling the need to get busy and not wanting any more guilt today, Jade mechanically started her task. It was a simple one, brown the beef and break it into small chunks. Then drain the fat, put the taco seasonings on it and reheat. Jade didn't even have to move around much.

Jade set about her task, using it to for a few seconds keep her distracted. Finishing it, Victoria thanked her and told her to sit down at the table.

Dinner was served shortly after. The food was good but the atmosphere was both awkward and a bit tense. Jadelyn was moody, sullen and barely said anything. Tori was her normal friendly self, but not all that talkative either. She was more concerned about Jadelyn. Jade, not sure of what she should say if anything, Just concentrated on her food. It was the best plan considering she had no desire to antagonize Jadelyn any further and still could not look Victoria in the eye.

Once dinner was done, Victoria and Jadelyn cleaned things up, while Jade sat on the couch flipping channels.

When things were cleaned up, Victoria came out.

"It's only about 6:00, but Jadelyn and I are going to be our room for the rest of the night. If you need anything, knock. If you don't knock first….I can't be respsonble for what Jadelyn will do to you."

"Got it."

The two went into their bedroom, leaving Jade alone.

Jade spent the rest of the evening, watching TV, practicing walking again and for a time, sat on their balcony. Though she was up and around, Jade felt barely functional.

She knew she needed to, get busy living, but other than moving around and taking care of herself, she barely knew how. In fact the longer Jade thought about it, sitting on that patio, the more she felt this feeling of hopelessness. She didn't feel she had the strength to do what was needed and in her mind coming back and setting things right seemed utterly impossible.

She knew in order to go back and win; she needed two things, hope and strength. Something she sadly concluded, she couldn't find in herself.

Jade's POV

I went to sleep that night and as she had every single night recently woke up from a nightmare.

Alone, scared and in the dark I just didn't know what to do.

The next morning, just after 8:00 Am, I found some clothes set out for her. A pair of jeans, a t shirt, socks and shoes, all black of course.

I dressed and emerged from the kitchen to the smell of bacon and eggs. It smelled just like, Tori's which Jade found oddly comforting.

"Hello Jade. Breakfast is almost ready." Victoria called out from the kitchen. "If you're up to going out, I need your help with something. I also want to show you something as well."

I poked my head in the kitchen, to see Victoria scrambling eggs. "Where's Jadelyn?"

"She's in class and afterward she's going to see if she can arrange something for you. Something that I think may help you. That and she really doesn't want to deal with you today."

I nodded sadly. "I get that. I am sorry."

"Have a seat, I'll have breakfast in jiff."

Sure enough she had good food ready to go and as she sat down she gave me a concerned look. "Jade, I've been talking with Jadelyn as to what she thinks is going on in your head. She agrees, with what I feel is going on."

I took a bite of bacon. "What's that."

"You feel lost, in addition to nearly crippled with guilt. You showed last night that you wanted to get better. You got up and that's a great step. But you're mental hurdles are much more a challenge. You also don't know if you have it in you too go on. Am I right. Heck, you can't even look me in the eye."

She about nailed it.

"Yes. It seems impossible….."

"Well, I've got something planned today that may help you a bit and cross your fingers, if Jadelyn can swing it, you may just be….well, we'll just see. Don't want to get your hopes up. Now, onto happier subjects. Tell me all about Fiona and the twins. I know you miss them, but please tell me all about them."

So I told them all about the girls and for the first time, I managed a hint of a smile. I did so while telling a funny story about how Fiona calls all her stuffed animals, her little wolf pack.

After breakfast, she told me we were going out to do something. I emerged outside for the first time and the sun hurt my eyes. Soon we were I her car and on our way.

This Los Angeles, looks very much like mine, with one exception, monorails. This society, uses them extensively and the various tracks run all over the city. Such an odd sight.

I just watched the city roll by and couldn't help but be envious of all the people living their normal lives. Our first stop was at a garden store, where Victoria purchased some wildflower seeds, and a tiny tree sapling.

I was curious where we'd plant it and when I asked Victoria she smiled.

The next stop was at Hollywood Arts of all places. It was then I remembered that the equipment they used to cross between worlds is located in the basement. Though they are out of high school, I imagine they have some sort of arrangement with principal Helen.

We parked and Victoria grabbed the tiny sapling and said let's go.

"Where are we going with this?" I said as got out of the car.

"Just grab the seeds and follow me."

Following her in, I felt this strange sense of déjà vu. It wasn't my version of it, but it looked just like mine. I half expected Tori to come around the corner any minute I really wish she would.

We went down into the basement where we entered the storeroom where the device that Robbie invented to cross between worlds was stored.

"I'm getting the hang of this." Victoria said as she flipped on some switches and then sat at a computer terminal.

Moments later the various pieces of equipment in the room came to life.

There was a doorway in the center of the room hooked to various cables. As I watched a blue light formed in the doorway. A second later it seemed to grow distinct and I could see what appeared to be an image of room beyond.

"Home?"

Victoria shook her head as she grabbed what looked like a remote control off a table. "Too dangerous. Somewhere else. Come on."

I followed her through to find myself in what appeared to be the same version of the room I was just in. It was radically different.

The room was half filled with debris and what appeared to be rotting furniture and rusty file cabinets. A part of the wall had caved in and the debris formed a ramp that lead out onto the surface.

Using her remote control, Victoria hit a button and the doorway behind us vanished.

"Recall device. Nice of Robbie to make it. Come on."

What was this place and why was the room wrecked. I was curious and actually that was a good thing as felt something different than despair, depression or guilt for once.

Victoria walked up the ramp and outside. Wondering where I was, I followed.

What I saw, for a moment, made me totally forget all my pain.

All around me, as far as the eye could see, was devastation.

Block after block of ruined, smashed buildings. They were more than smashed, they were burnt. Everything looked burnt as if a sea of fire, rushed through here long ago. The streets were choked with rusted cars that looked like they'd been there for some time. There was no people, no sounds other than the wind. Whatever cataclysm happened here, it happened many years ago.

It was an abandoned, desolate place.

Feeling much the same way, I felt oddly at home.

"What happened here?" I said as I tried to process, what I was seeing.

Victoria turned and sat on the hood of what appeared to be a very rusty, 1950's car.

"This is known as world #60. In my universe and in your universe, the Cuban missile crisis, brought the world to the brink of war. However cooler heads prevailed and the world was brought back from the brink of war. Here, that wasn't the case. In October of 1962, this world and almost everything on it, died in a nuclear war. What the flames and bombs didn't kill, the nuclear winter afterward did."

Looking down I could see a human skull at my feet. Picking it up I looked at it and put it back down. "No survivors."

"We have yet to see any signs of any survivors, ever. I even brought a short wave radio one day. To try and listen for any radio broadcasts from locally or around the world. Nothing! The human race here is no more, these people and their civilization died."

Still stunned by the utter destruction, I shook my head. "All gone."

"I've learned about them. From books I've found. These people loved music, more so than us. Nearly every town had its own orchestra or band. They were very passionate people. Perhaps that was their undoing. Actions have consequences Jade. A lesson I think even you have learned by now. Passion without reason, can be very dangerous sometimes."

"All too true." I said in a low voice.

I hadn't paid attention it initially, but all around us in the areas where there was dirt, I could see, all kinds of wildflowers and plants. It stood in strange contrast to the ruins around us.

Victoria smiled. "You see the flowers."

"Yes."

"When Jadelyn and I first arrived, we found nothing living, save for a handful of sickly looking weeds and some lichens. Everything, and I mean everything else was dead. But that didn't sit right with me. It just didn't. So I with Jadelyn's help, have begun to bring back life to this world. We've been planting seeds, helping them grow with fertilizer and recently set up a beehive. We bought some bees from a beekeeper in our world and brought them there. Not easy, we both got stung a few times. But now, the bee's are happy here. Now both the bees and flowers are just starting to thrive. Today you'll help me plant this small tree and spread more wildflower seeds. I have some fertilizer and tools nearby. I think it will help you."

We quickly got to work, where we headed down two blocks to what used to be a large park. We stopped and got some tools from a building, where she had stored them. In one corner of the park, there were plants, where Victoria and Jadelyn had started their work. The rest of the park was bare, with only long dead trees and rusted and half melted playground equipment.

"You see Jade, you feel lifeless and dead. You feel that you are without hope. But look at this place. Life is beginning to return. It needed some help but it is. Look at the pretty flowers. We brought back nature, we returned beauty to this world."

"But the people aren't coming back." I remarked, as I kicked a skull out of my way.

"No, you're right. Humanity has moved on. But Jadelyn and I hope to bring back birds, animals maybe someday. Reestablish an sustainable eco system. One, that after we're gone will spread. And one day, perhaps a few thousand or million years from now, this world will be lush and green again. Maybe intelligent life will again someday come into being, in some form or another. Hopefully they'll be a bit smarter, more cautious. The possibilities are endless. Jade, where there is life, there is hope. Even here."

I want to believe that I do. I just can't.

I thought about that for a moment, let it sink in. Across the street, see ruined buildings, bones, rusted cars, death. I then looked down at my feet to see some a whole bush of these purplish flowers. They not only looked very beautiful, but they had a strong and rather pleasant fragrance.

"That's called Cleveland sage. I like those." Remarked Victoria.

It was a stunning contrast indeed. "Smells nice."

"Jade, I have a bit of work here. Why don't you wander around You'll see the areas we planted. Explore a bit. It may give you a chance to think. Oh. If you see a building with a orange X on it, stay out. We've been marking the buildings that look the most unsafe. Some are in good shape, some not so good and some just piles of rubble."

"OK."

So I set about wandering down the street. It was like something out of a movie. After a few minutes I was all alone in this devastated world.

I could see where Victoria and Jadelyn had been. Pretty much any place where there was dirt, had been planted with flowers.

As I walked down the street, I found myself thinking about life and death. All around me were signs of death. In fact nearly every ruined car I saw had multiple skeletons in it and they all seemed to be going the same way. They were headed out of town, trying to flee, trying to save them and their families. .

But the blast caught them and burned them alive in their cars.

I saw life too, in the form of plants now starting to grow.

Suddenly my own problems, didn't feel as great. I had a whole world to go back too, one filled with life and people. This one, would take thousands of years to recover from this holocaust.

Turning a corner I spotted a record shop and the building was very intact. The windows were all blown out and there was junk and debris everywhere, but I could move around inside.

"You people loved music, let's see."

Creeping in the ruined store, I could see the rows of bins and racks where all the various records were on display. On the walls, I could see a few faded posters advertising various musical groups and artists. I didn't recognize any of the names.

I tried to look at some of the records, but the blast, time and the elements had ruined them all. All the music they loved so much, was gone forever. I wondered just what music they liked and felt disappointed that I wouldn't get to hear any of it.

I continued walking, absorbed in my melancholy. At times, I wondered if I should stay here. It's be a fitting place for me. A dead world for a dead person.

There were the flowers of course, here and there. They had stuck them where they could. In road medians, former lawns, anywhere. In a way, it was absurd, trying to beautify up a desolate place like this. But that is a very Tori thing to do. It does make the place look a little less bleak.

I'm not sure why I noticed it, considering how much a wreck I was. But I notice it, something very odd.

Returning to Victoria I found her nearly done planting and attending the plants. "Tell me, did you plant grass seed anywhere?"

Victoria shook her head. "No, we only picked wild flowers and plants native to this climate. We were very careful about it. No grass, why?"

"Let me show you."

I took Victoria down to small patch of flowers that they had planted between the sidewalk and the road, a few streets down. This patch was just one of a number they had planted along the way.

"When did you plant the flowers on this street?"

"Uh…these were some of the first we did, more than a year ago. We plant more each time we come. Why?"

I pointed to a few shoots of green poking up through the soil. "That's grass. It's here and several other places down this street."

Victoria examined it and scratched her head. "I don't get it. That shouldn't be."

It was then I realized it and in a way, it was amazing. "I get it. You planted things, started the cycle of life and death again. Once upon a time, there was grass here and all up the street. You planted flowers, from seeds from your world, put down fertilizer and they grew. But this grass, is from the seeds that were already here. It's only a few, but somehow, you caused these long dormant seeds to sprout again; you gave them the spark of life. That's what they've been waiting for, all these years. You more than brought life to this world from another, you actually managed to bring some the life from this world, back. Had you not done anything, those seeds may have never sprouted."

Victoria jumped for joy and hugged me. it was odd, being hugged, I'll admit I pretended it was Tori. "That's wonderful. As I said the only thing we saw then we came were a handful of sickly looking weeds and a bit of lichen. But this is something coming back to life. Like I said Jade, it came back to life and so can you."

For a moment I actually believed it and briefly excited about it. But my depression and anguish is far too strong. I cracked the wall a bit, but it simply feels impossible I just don't think I have the strength.

We returned home and found that Jadelyn was still out. Victoria went to some studying, while I relaxed or tried to on the patio. Though I kept thinking about those simple seeds of grass, sprouting after all these years. But in my case, they're still waiting for that spark, that life force that cause them to grow. Right now that feeling of hopelessness, is still all powerful.

Around 6 o'clock, Jadelyn came home with yet another version of me, in tow. She looked like me, dressed like me, only her hair was much longer.

"Tor." Jadelyn said. "Good news, she'll help us. in fact we've planned it. I wish I was going myself."

Both Victoria and I returned to the living room where our newest guest, looked me over.

"So you're the one." Jadelyn told me all about you."

"Who are you?"

"Jade actually, but that would be confusing, so just call me TJ."

Walking up to TJ, Victoria gave TJ a hug. "I'm so glad you could help. Thank you."

"My pleasure, you're lucky. Me and my beautiful Tori were only going to be in town for another few days. Then it's back to England. But I've already got it planned."

"You live in England?"

"Yeah, Herford, it's just outside of London. My baby and I own and run a pub and I go to college there. I'm a senior now."

I still didn't know what was going on which was a bit annoying.

"OK, what's planned and what does it have to do with me?"

"You're heartbroken, guilt-ridden, you don't think you have the strength to go on and you're just not sure this can be fixed right."

"I already know that!" I snapped.

"We'll we're going on a bit of journey. We'll leave now and I'll have you back by late tomorrow or early the next day. I promise. We'll have some fun and I think when you come back, your view will be just a bit different. I think it's just what you need."

I scoffed bitterly. "Me have fun….that's never going to happen again."

Jadelyn shrugged. "Told you TJ, she's a tough nut to crack."

"So just where are we going, this wondrous journey?"

TJ smirked. "It's not a matter of where, my heartbroken doppelganger, it's a matter of WHEN!"

So, Jade has seen life come back to a lifeless world. Yet she still feels it's impossible for her. She wants to hope, want's to believe, but just can't get past that wall of hers.

However TJ is here and has something planned. Just what is it.

Oh to give you a clue. "TJ is a Jade from one of my other stories. We're going to have another crossover chapter next time. Can you guess, which story TJ is from? I've given you some clues. You'll find out for sure, next time.

The chapter title, The show must go on, is a reference to the Queen song of the same name. A song of death, heartbreak and how life must go on, whether we want it too or not.