Disclaimer: I own anything original, and that's it. The rest, other peoples.
:}
A short time earlier, Tori had headed into the hall, looking for a guy from her science class. 'Might as well have my backup career planned out, just in case. I do kinda love science, and animals, so maybe a veterinary technician? Hell, if I don't make it in music, or acting, I could even become a veterinarian. But for now, I think I'll find the animal that has my attention, Mitch Orton, and see if maybe misses luck will bring him into my life.' Her smile was radiant, as she started going over what she needed to do to win her the boy. 'Lets see, look cute, put the girls out, smile, and then concentrate on the feeling you want to have. Sikowitz warned me not to focus on the boy, but doesn't the boy create the feeling? Whatever. Lets just do this, cause Tori's been single too long, and it's time to pull me a hottie...' She cleared her mind, finally ready to use her enhanced luck. 'So, I feel warn, excited, interested, tingly, and… Oh, dirty thoughts, dirty thoughts. Okay, cleaning them up, but still, I want someone that I can feel that kind of connection, that kind of attraction for, and lets face it, I'm hot, so he should be too...' A nebulous picture formed in Tori's mind of a human outline, and into it she poured the feeling she wanted, that closeness her parents once had, the love, passion, and sense of joy Tori knew made their marriage so special. For several moments, she felt good, like she was drawing this person closer.
"Hay, watch where your going!" A far to familiar voice echoed, and for that moment, Tori found it hard to maintain that nebulous image, instead having a picture of the fiery beauty she'd just literally ran into fill her mind.
"Jade!" She declared, opening her eyes. "I mean, sorry, didn't see you there."
"Yea, well, watch it." Jade growled.
Tori briefly thought 'Been avoiding her, cause of the whole Dahlia thing, but mom does want me to do something about her friend situation, so…' She pushed words out before her worry could stifle them. "As long as I have your attention, Cat was wondering, is there any way you can speed up the process of getting her cleared?" Tori shifted. "She misses you."
"I would, but her arrest up in Phoenix did kinda complicate things." Jade said, using the truth to cover the lie. "And I just had my probation officer changed on me, so it may be a while." Inwardly, she added 'Been a couple of weeks, but still, kinda sudden...'
"Could you talk to them?" Tori pushed. "I mean, not just about Cat. I'd love to be able to spend more time with you."
"Look, Vega, you don't have to lie." Jade groaned, her anger dissolving into a sadness, edging on despair. "I know you guys are moving on. Cat just likes to hold onto the past. Give her time, she won't even remember my name."
"Jade, why don't you eat with us any more?" Tori shifted tactics, even as she stepping an inch closer.
"I was told to give you space." Jade replied. "Look, until I get my shit worked out, I'm not gonna be able to hang out after school. I'm talking about years, maybe more, before I can be a friend again. I know you're just trying to be nice, but…." Her eyes dipped. "Um, Vega, you do realize you're putting a lot of pressure on that top? Think, your boobs, not gonna get any bigger, so maybe you should stop trying to shove them into me and..." Her mind started doing flips as something clicked. "Are you coming onto me?"
Tori became immediately self conscious. 'I was still shoving the girls out there. In this sweater, the one that makes them look bigger. God, what kind of message was I sending Jade, asking her to come back to us while trying to shove my tits in her face. She must think I've gone totally gay for her.' The singer marshaled her will, saying the first defense she could think of. "I'm not gay."
"Didn't say a thing." Jade chuckled, slipping back half a step. 'I so did, but...'
"Not this time." Tori was already arguing. "But how many times have you chosen to interpret what I said as a form of come on?"
"Don't mistake me picking on you for me liking you." Jade warned, but she was smiling. 'Did I miss this? How did I miss this?'
"I'm not." Tori said, and as she lifted a finger to poke at the raven haired girl, she realized she was still pushing her chest out. Her soft brown eyes dartyed around for an escape. "Oh, look, Tyler McConnell, my crush from science. Gotta go point these in the right direction." Tori announced, making her way away from the goth and towards some guy who she wasn't crushing on, regardless of him being hot. 'Just need to see if these babies get his attention… And my shoulders are down now…'
Jade, however, had found herself staring after the retreating Latina, eyes locked on her rear, and a new feeling building in parts of her that once were reserved for the very few boys who met her interests. 'Damn it, I can't be attracted to Vega. Her moms in charge of Project Redemption. That's playing with fire.' Prying her eyes away, the goth rushed to her next class.
Tori finished up her day, confused as to why her luck had directed to towards Jade, who she had been very suggestive towards, and not one of the hot guys from her science class. 'Hell, I'd have accepted a hot guy from any of my classes. They don't even need to go to school here, just be hot, a guy, and into me. But nooo, my tits had to go all pointy, right at Jade. Now she thinks I like her that way, just because, well, if I'm honest with myself, I've never thought of her that way. I wouldn't allow it. Every time I was attracted, I shut myself down. I mean, beyond her dating a friend, and I'd never do that to Beck, but beyond that Jade's a dangerous psychopath who's as likely to go all super villain as she is becoming a writer.' Her mind reeled as reality, in the form of things she wasn't supposed to know, barged in. 'Wait, she already went super villain, thus placing her ahead of that curve, and she has curves… Jam it, focus, Tori, you like Jade. You like Jade, and would love to have done non-pg things with her. You wanted to her to feel your tits, just to know how hard they were becoming at the though of her feeling your tits.' Tori froze, looking around for a second, convinced that this was getting worse.
However, she did know how to handle this. "Stop!" Her voice was commanding, to a point that none of her friends had ever heard. It was her "Mom Voice", and she reserved it for when she had to break her own thoughts. 'Now, lets think about this logically. Jade's a criminal, and she needs your support to rehabilitate. Not as a lover, though that might be acceptable, maybe as a form of reward, assuming she wants some of this. Whatever, first she needs a friend.' Tori sighed. 'And then, we'll be in the friend zone...'
She found Sikowitz in his seldom used office, talking to someone on his phone. "No, I don't see any conflict of interests having both as my mentee's. At the moment, there shouldn't be a conflict of interest for anyone. They need such different things, and it's so easy to keep them separate… hold on a second." His hand went over the phone. "Toro, is there something I can do for you?"
"I don't want to disturb your call." Tori admitted, feeling embarrassed about what she'd come to talk about. "Um, it's mentor stuff, about my, um, acting, the special lesions I was getting each morning… anyways..." The singer took a deep breath, intent on finished.
"Can it wait?" Sikowitz asked. "I mean, lunch is almost over, and..."
"I may have made a pass at Jade." Tori said, just to get it out.
Sikowitz took his hand off the phone. "Um, the two just interacted in an unexpected way. I need to handle this. But don't worry, I'm on top of things, and there isn't another person alive who can help either of them. I'll keep you informed, at least what you need to know."
The phone hung up, and Sikowitz took a moment to study his student. Then he pulled out his cell phone, as opposed to the landline he'd been using, to call Lane. "Tori's here in my office, and she needs help. Can you inform her next class she's dealing with an issue, and will be late?"
The teacher didn't wait for an answer, even though he got it before he'd hung up. As soon as the phone was away, Sikowitz asked the question that was now burning in his mind. "What was her reaction?"
"She totally shot me down." Tori groaned. "I wound up telling her I was crushing on Tyler McConnell from my science class, when I'm actually crushing on Mitch Orton. It was so embarrassing. Making it worse, I went to Tyler, hoping to take advantage of my shoulders suddenly being pinned back, but the girls had retreated, like I wasn't interested in him. And, and Tyler's totally doable, just like Mitch, who suddenly I'm not that interested in either. And somehow, I know this is your fault."
"Okay, what did Jade do?" The drama teacher asked, bracing for some student drama.
"She said, I mean… I told her I wasn't gay, and she just, just humored me. Like it was no big deal. This is Jade freaking West, and yes, she's been isolated, but that doesn't change who she is. Girl was gonna rip my head off for running into her earlier, cause I wasn't looking where I was going, but then, after I screw up and tell her I think she's hot, she goes and doesn't do anything, letting me make a lame excuse and run away with my tail between my legs." Tori had started pacing, letting her mouth run.
"And how exactly is any of this my fault?" Sikowitz asked, watching the girl intently.
"I only had my eyes closed cause I was trying out that exercise you were telling me about, where you visualize what you want by the feelings, not the images." Tori explained. "I had my eyes closed for only a moment as I pulled the feelings together, and the next thing I knew, I was looking into those deep ocean blue eyes…."
"And it worked exactly as intended." The teacher informed her. "Tori, you just told me you have feelings, or fantasies, about Jade. You're probability manipulating abilities, or luck, just made the first move towards whatever kind of relationship you and her will have in the future. Now, I'm gonna send you back to class with a warning, let your powers complete what they started. Give them some time, and we'll see where this leads. Maybe it'll make you and Jade better friends, cause she'll see you as more human. Maybe it'll help you get over that crush you just told me about, like it did for both the boys in your science class. Lets hear it for hot nerds, right? Anyways, there is also the possibility that right now, Jade's, um, not vulnerable, but open, available, and maybe even willing for something more. Trust in your powers to help bring her over. In time, maybe less then you expect, you'll have a better guess about whats gonna happen, and things will work out for you, for the best, like they should from now on. Just, don't always expect things to look like they do in your mind. See, it's about feelings, what makes us happy, not what we think will make us happy." He gave her a nod. 'And maybe Jade will give you whatever it is you need. Hell, maybe you'll be the anchor Jade needs as well.' His thoughts added.
Holy sat in her home office, wondering what could have happened to cause her husband to freak out so much. "David, whats wrong?" She asked.
"Mister Abra is Erwin Sikowitz." David Vega said. "That means that the same man helping our youngest figure out her powers is Back Dahlia's mentor."
"So, they work with him at different times." Holly said. "Honestly, the only time the girls interact these days is when they're in a class together, and for whatever reason, the teachers have been reluctant to pair them since Jade got put on probation. It worries me."
"You're worried about Jade?" David asked. "The sociopathic bully who made our daughters life such a pain? The same girl who stole her blood?"
"The same girl who could have killed Constable at least three times during your little brawl, and didn't." Holly countered. "She's not a dangerous criminal, and you knew that. You knew, and pushed for her to be part of Project Redemption. You even volunteered to be her super. Dave, you wanted the Black Dahlia. Well, now you have her, and since I took over project Redemption, her well being, as well as her rehabilitation, become my business. Sorry, but her lack of friends is worrying. I was speaking with Lane, and he said isolated people have a higher then average chance of getting involved in less then legal things. Girls vulnerable right now. She needs a friend, and a mentor. Sikowitz, Mister Abra, he's doing his part. I'm doing mine. As of last week, Jade started learning police procedure, bits of law, everything she'll need to know to be a volunteer police officer. Hell, we'll keep training her until she knows everything she needs to know to be a regular police officer. I'm hoping that knowledge will help her understand what you and the others who defend our city go through, and maybe empathize."
"I..." He hesitated. "I'm not sad that Mikey got replaced. Guy was a maniac. But I don't like that you're so close to her now. Jade's dangerous. The Black Dahlia is dangerous. If her powers weren't so useful, giving us the potential to deal with all kinds of disasters, I might not have volunteered her for this program."
"I heard you got Pandion's crown." Holly commented, shifting topics until her husband was ready to face the realities of The Black Dahlia. "What kind of plans do you have for it?"
"According to Dante, it takes someone with some small mystic ability to use, so we're checking out who might have the right combination of potential and training to be added to our limited meta force. I figure we find someone, have them on reserve, and then the next time we need a hero of Pandion's level, we call him up. Hell, we may not even have just one. The power may be usable only by one person at a time, but the force, it wants to have the power for when we need it. Near human maximum physical abilities, maybe a bit more, whats not to like?" David smiled.
"Nothing like finding out there's a new hero about to be recruited to make the old one's feel all nostalgic." Holly commented. "They must be so happy, since this one will be much more controlled."
"Yep, the mayors ecstatic." The police officer said. "He's expecting the addition to help out our Public relations, as well as dealing with the various crimes that plague our fair community."
"Honestly, do you have to say things that way?" Holly asked, trying not to laugh. 'Okay, we're not together just for the kids. Not anymore. It's okay to be turned on by his dorkyness.'
"I'm a hero, baby." David said, flexing.
"Sigh, I can finish this later." The woman said, placing her work down before standing and reaching out to her husband. "Come on, lets do this while I'm still amused. Just, later, don't freak out if Lane and I try to find some friends for Jade."
"As long as they're a good influence, fine." David said, following his wife up to the bedroom.
Jade felt the sweat dripping down her forehead. The tiny droplets of moisture were seriously wazzing her off, as they continued to run wet tracks down her skin towards the ground. 'Come on, Jade, you don't sweat.' She reminded herself.
"Whats wrong, Dahlia? Getting winded already?" Callahan, her new police training officer, asked. Jade had just met him a few hours ago, and already she hated him with a misplaced rage that spoke of all the times she believed she was in good shape. "I thought you held both Blue Steel and Constable at bay for almost ten minutes. That speaks of endurance, and I'm not seeing it."
Jade grunted, pushing herself as she continued the exercises. 'If I speak, he'll say that cliche, about how if I have air enough to speak, I'm not trying hard enough. But, if all I have to do is last ten minutes, then we're already way past that...' Jade realized she'd lost the rhythm, and stopped the routine to grab her breath, as well as a drink of water. "We're way past ten minutes." She gasped.
"But my girl, when your fighting, ten minutes burns as much endurance as half an hour or more of strenuous exercise. Why else would boxers, who expect to last maybe twenty minutes, do hours of road work. They know that those minutes missed cost them in the end. It's that way across competitive sports, where you push yourself every game, every play. I'm gonna push you to your maximum physical health, so that when you're out there, you have what it takes to keep fighting hurt, or tired, or burnt out. As a hero, we need to know you can last. Besides, wouldn't you like to last though one of Blue Steels exercise routines?"
Jade was panting, catching her breath. "Sure, just, let me build up to it, okay?"
"What do you think we're doing?" Callahan asked. "Look, I need an idea of your limits, so we can push them. Every day, we push them just a little bit. You'll be tired, and as the days add up, exhausted. But then, in time, you'll find that everyday things are easier and easier. Which brings me up to our first rule."
"No one talks about fight club?" Jade asked.
"A sense of humor, that's good." The officer said. "You'll need it. But no, the first rule is no magic. You do the exercises, work your body, and then, when tired, you rest and recuperate as I'll be teaching you. Magic healing, or enhancements, are to be saved for when you're beat and we need you." He wiped a line of sweat from his own head. "You may not believe me, but there's a method to my plan. You'll find that it's easier to work through exhaustion when you've had to do it more then once. That, and I believe in paying our dues. Now then, that's enough rest, we have another ten minutes, and I want us to work on speed."
Jade shifted, ready for the next burst of energy, as her trainer pushed her a little more. The minutes dragged by as she did the exercises, working herself to the edge, and a little bit over. Her body screamed, sweat pouring from her pores now that she couldn't subconsciously hold it back. The goth found herself expending energy far faster then she'd have guessed. 'I'm tired, and so whatever I recover goes that much faster.' She guessed.
"That's enough for today." Callahan announced. "From now on, however, we'll be meeting at the school."
"Wait what?" Jade asked. "Meeting at my school?"
"Yea." The officer confirmed. "Dahlia, we can use your schools dance studios to exercise, and we won't even need to pretend to be doing anything but getting into shape. Since the city has a lot invested in that school, it won't be hard to arrange use of one of the smaller dance studios. I'll meet you there two hours before school starts, and we'll have time for you to relax, unwind, and maybe grab a bite to eat before school begins."
"An hour every morning?" Jade asked.
"Hour and a half." The trainer said. "I'm assuming a quick shower, and then food, then straight to class. Don't worry about being tired, that's kinda the goal. Then, after school, I'll give you a half hour warm up before we hit the weights, or work on your martial training."
"Martial…?" Jade asked, feeling slow. "You're gonna teach me how to fight?"
"We need backups for when your powers don't work right, or somethings prevents you from using them." Callahan said. "Once we get permission, we'll even be doing firearms training. Misses V wants you ready for whatever problems you may face."
"And she gave me the impression it was gonna be a lot of book learning." Jade said.
"At least an hour of that every day." The officer said. "Plus whatever training we can give you in your powers. I'd say we're giving you the full treatment. I'm just hoping we get a return for our investment."
Jade smiled. "So, what next? Or can I lay down and die?"
"I'm gonna alternate our aerobic workouts with a form of dynamic yoga, using resistance training." Callahan told her. "You're still gonna be breathing hard, but it'll build flexibility, as well as strength. That way, the weight training can be phased out if we need to. Yoga's good for that." He checked her pulse. "Doing good here. Now, go hit the showers, then come back for book learning. We need you to know a bit of police procedures."
Jade headed off to the showers, ready to get clean and return. Reggie Callahan looked at the clock, then retrieved his cell phone. "Misses V? Hi, Reggie here. Just finished my first session with The Black Dahlia. Girls in pretty good shape, but I can work her into phenomenal shape. However, we don't have to push her at the kind of schedule you wanted. Not for more then six to eight weeks. Her powers won't benefit from this kind of training."
"Reg, I'm not doing this for that reason." Holly informed the trainer. "I need Dahlia able to function in high stress situations, and your training is gonna help her deal with many of the distractions she'd be facing in those moments. Also, the heavy exercise will calm her down a bit, making it easier to work with her. Finally, I want her to know we're concerned about her well being. Working her tail off so she'll be ready for the shit says loads about how much we really care. So, We get her working, and you stay on top of her condition. If she started to approach breaking, we dial it back a bit. But however things go, I need her motivated, and as weird as it sounds, this form of caring will help her feel better about herself."
"Yes ma'am." Officer Callahan said, hanging up. Then, he texted the school, reserving a room for Jade's training to continue.
:}
So, this is a building chapter. Thinking we'll have a few of those as we build towards the next part. Can Jade resist the power of Tori's Luck? So far, no, but she doesn't realize yet she's been targeted. Or for how long. Lets wait and see what comes of this. Until then, review.
Reggie Callahan is both Jade and Trina's trainer, as well as working with other police meta's. Man knows his stuff.
I actually forgot who Sikowitz was on the phone with. Thinking it's someone involved with the project, but doubt it's gonna come back to haunt anyone. No, the attraction will, but not that phone call.