Long chapter but we found Lena...

Sixteen

It was relatively quiet outside the house when she pulled into her spot, and she got out, cautiously examining the front door before she approached it. "Well." She leaned back against the car and crossed her arms. "No smoke, no fire engines outside the place, and it looks like the electricity is still on, so she didn't blow a circuit."

A nod. "Looking good so far. Now, Victoria." She addressed herself seriously. "Whatever this turns out to be, Jade will have spent a lot of time, and a lot of effort on it, so no matter what, you're going to like it. Got me?" She squared her shoulders, and took a deep breath. "Besides, you've eaten at the Republican National Convention. Nothing should scare you after that."

She trotted up the stairs and paused, cocking her head and listening before she keyed in her lock code. Nothing but soft music came faintly to her ears, certainly not the strident cursing she'd have expected from Jade if things weren't going well. Another good sign. Tori unlocked the door and opened it, slipping inside and closing it behind her.

And then she just stood there, only her eyes moving as she absorbed the scene in front of her. The lights were dimmed in both the living room and dining room, and there were candles on the table. Really tall, pretty candles set in crystal candlesticks that complimented the china and crystal place settings patiently awaiting use.

She also realized two other things. There was no sign of Jade, and something smelled great. "Heh." Tori chortled softly to herself. "I'm liking this already."

"Good." Jade's voice purred from nearby.

Tori almost jumped, and then she turned to see Jade leaning against the doorjamb of her bedroom, her hair pulled loosely back, and her body covered in something very silky and brief. The pale blue eyes held a lazily sensual note as they traveled over Tori's form, eliciting a small, almost sub vocal noise from Tori's throat. "Hi there." She managed to get out.

"Hi there." Jade replied. "Wanna come in and make yourself comfortable?" She eased away from the door and moved towards Tori, bare feet soundless against the tile. "Hello? Earth to Tori?" Jade waved a hand in front of her lover's eyes, which seemed to be firmly focused on her.

Tori let her laptop case slide to the floor, and found better uses for her hands, letting them slide over the soft, cool fabric covering Jade's body to feel the warm flesh beneath. She stepped closer, and took a deep breath, then tilted her head back to look up at her wife. "So..what did I do to rate this?"

Jade smiled. "Nothing." She brushed a wisp of pale hair out of Tori's eyes. "I just felt like trying this romantic thing out. Complaining?"

"Nu uh." Tori shook her head firmly. "Where'd you get this? It's gorgeous." She fingered the crimson silk. It barely covered Jade's body, and Tori found herself losing interest in dinner, or asking questions, or… "Damn, you smell good."

"Glad you think so." Jade nuzzled her hair, then slipped her arms around Tori and gave her a big hug. "Mom and Dad took Chino for the night."

Tori gave her a weird look. "Why? She never bothers us."

"No, but she kept jumping up and stealing my mixing thing, and it was driving me nuts." Jade admitted, with a faint chuckle. "C'mon.. let's get you undressed, so you can properly appreciate my creation."

Tori stepped back, and grinned frankly at her. "Sweetie, I don't need to be undressed to appreciate that. I think your creation is spectacular."

Jade put her hands on her hips, hiking up the fabric and only enhancing Tori's visceral experience. "I meant dinner."

"That too." Tori's smile grew wider. "Oh.. " The words finally penetrated, and she laughed helplessly. "Sorry..sorry.. you mean the food."

Jade snorted softly, but looked pleased with the appraisal nonetheless. "G'wan." She nudged Tori towards the stairs. "I'll put the salad on the table."

Tori had turned and had one foot on the steps. Now she stopped dead and swiveled her head to face Jade. "You..." She pointed. "made salad?"

Jade nodded.

"Ah… hah." Tori slowly turned back around and started up the steps, sneaking disbelieving peeks at Jade as she did, until she disappeared onto the second floor. 'Salad." She shook her head, as she entered her bedroom and kicked her shoes off. "I feel like I'm in a dream world."

Her closet beckoned, and she went inside, shucking out of her jacket and hanging it neatly on a hanger. Then she unbuttoned and slid out of her skirt and hung that up as well. Then she stopped and considered, as she removed her shirt. Normally, she'd just slip into an old T-shirt, but since Jade had made an effort… her eyes roved speculatively over her wardrobe. "Hm. It's all business or dressy. I don't have any causally sexy numbers, Jade."

She flipped through the hangers, until she finally stopped at one, removing it. "Hm." It was a sleeveless satin sheath, designed to go under a lacy dress she had. "That'll work." She slipped it over her head and settled the edges, which just barely came to her upper thighs. "Yeah… " She consulted the mirror, which reflected back to her a surprisingly racy looking image. Thoughts of Jade in her silk strapless number came to mind, and Tori found herself wondering just how relevant dinner was going to be.

A shiver of anticipation made her grin.

Jade studied the plate, then nodded in satisfaction, cocking her head as she heard Tori's footsteps coming down the stairs. She put both hands on the back of the dining room chair and smiled in welcome as Tori appeared, the smile broadening as the warm candlelight exposed the brief clothing, and knowing look. "Nice." Jade drew the chair back and Tori seated herself, with a faint chuckle.

"Thank you." Tori waited for Jade to take the seat right next to her, and move the chair slightly so their bare legs touched. "Are you actually going to eat some of this here salad, Gigi?"

White teeth reflected the candlelight as Jade smiled. "Only if you feed it to me."

So she did. They exchanged forkfuls, and Tori found herself enjoying the freshly cut greens very much. Of course, there was enough dressing on them that Jade probably couldn't tell a lettuce leaf from a carrot, but that was okay. That's how she liked her salad. They finished, and she carefully removed some extra dressing off Jade's lips before she let her lover stand and remove the plates. "That was great."

Jade paused at the entrance to the kitchen. "Just you wait."

"Mm." Tori sat back and folded her hands over her stomach, craning her neck to watch Jade busy at work by the stove. With serious precision, her lover was arranging something on plates, and adding scoops of something else from a dish on the warmer. When she was satisfied that both plates had equal amounts, and were symmetrical, Jade picked them up and walked back into the dining room.

"Here you go." Jade set the plates down, and seated herself, then eyed Tori for a reaction.

Tori's eyebrows lifted. 'That's a lobster tail." She commented.

"Yep."

Tori poked the top. "It's stuffed."

"Sure is."

"Those are au grain potatoes."

"With cheese." Jade agreed.

"And peas."

"Leseur Very Early baby peas."

Tori nibbled a bit of stuffing. "Jade, this is fantastic."

A very satisfied Jade settled back in her chair. "Thanks."

They ate in silence for a moment. "When did you learn to cook this?" Tori finally asked, unable to keep her curiosity under wraps.

Jade looked up, and bit the end of her fork in thought. "Four…no, four thirty today." She reached over and poured chilled white wine into their glasses, then lifted one, and toasted her lover. "Incredible, what you can find out on the Internet, isn't it?"

With a helpless laugh, Tori lifted her glass and clinked it, then took a sip of the sweet wine. "So, what's for dessert?"

For an answer, Jade looked her up and down, and raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching into a rakish grin.

"Ah." Tori wrinkled her nose into an appreciative grin. "Got any fudge with that?"

Jade merely chuckled.

"Mm." Tori stretched her legs out in the Jacuzzi and leaned her head back, regarding the stars happily. "What a great night."

Jade stepped into the tub and sat down, setting two glasses down on the rim and stretching an arm out to include Tori's shoulders. "Glad you liked it." She wiggled her toes in contentment. "I sure did, except that fudge got damn messy."

One brown eye rotated in her direction. "Which is why we're here in the hot tub." Tori reminded her wryly. "Or we would have ended up stuck together, which could have made work a little interesting tomorrow." She reached over and scratched the back of Jade's neck. "How'd it go down by the base today?"

Jade handed her a glass of cold, sweet peach tea. "Relatively pointless. I got the circuit hooked up, and got the download started, then…" Jade paused. "There was one weird thing. They've got a private T3 dropped in there that's on an isolated segment."

Tori tipped her head to one side. "Really?" She mused. "That is weird."

"Yeah." Jade nibbled her inner lip. "I've got Sinjin tracking down the private line, but… I don't know, Tor. It's really odd." She leaned back and sighed. "I wish I knew what was going on."

Tori caught the mood change, and she slid closer. "Maybe it's nothing."

Jade regarded the stars. "Maybe."

The phone rang. Jade picked up the cordless unit and answered it. "Hello?"

There was silence, then a gasp. "Um… um.. can I talk to Tori?"

Jade's brows creased. "Sure." She handed the phone over, with a widening of the eyes and a shrug. The voice had sounded very young.

Tori took the instrument and put it to her damp ear. "Hello?"

"Oh.. Tori. Hi." A breath. "I'm really sorry to like, bother you this late and all that, but .. "

"Lena?" Tori's mental recognition kicked in. "Is that you?"

A breath. "Yeah."

"Hey... folks have been looking for you." Tori told her. "Where are you?"

Lena hesitated. "Um… not in a good place."

Jade nestled closer and listened.

"What's not a good place.. are you in the hospital?"

"No." Lena muttered. "I'm in jail."

Jade's eyes widened in surprise. She and Tori exchanged startled looks.

"In jail? What are you doing there?" Tori sputtered. "What did you… " She half turned and pushed the wet hair out of her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Lena sounded tired. "It's just really stupid, you know? My folks clued into like, me being gay, and they grounded me."

"Grounded you?" Tori's voice dropped a note. "Did they think that would fix it?"

"Fuck if I know." Lena replied glumly. "I busted out the windows in my room and took off, and they called the cops on me."

"Ah." Tori's eyes narrowed slightly. "You need help getting out?"

Lena was very quiet for a few seconds. "You're the only person I know that doesn't make minimum wage." She finally admitted meekly. "My folks told me to rot in here."

Blue eyes and brown met. "We'll be right down there. You at the big jail?" Tori asked. "The one off county Jail Road?"

"Yeah." Lena whispered. "Thanks, Tori."

"No problem. Take it easy until we get there." Tori hung up and put the phone down. "Stupid son of a b…" She was stopped with a kiss. "Damn it, Jade. What the hell is wrong with people?"

"I don't know." Jade wiped a bit of water off Tori's cheek. "But we'd better get dressed and go bail your little buddy out. Then we can worry about her dimwitted genetic contributors."

"Pah." Tori sloshed out of the tub and grabbed a towel, handing Jade hers as her lover followed her. "Poor kid… how could they let her be taken down there? She's probably scared half to death."

"She the one with the tatoos?" Jade asked.

"Yeah."

"Mm.. and the nose ring?"

"Yeah."

"She'll be fine."

They both walked into the house, and were halfway across the living room before Tori stopped, and turned, putting her hands on her hips. "Do you know this from personal experience?"

Jade rubbed her face, and just kept walking, a faint chuckle escaping her.

San Francisco County Jail #3 was, as most jails are, a supremely depressing place. The walls were institutional beige, and the floors were many times shined heavy tile. Tori was very aware of the glances thrown her way as she entered, and glad of Jade's light touch on her back as they moved across the starkly lit lobby towards a processing desk.

Thick, bulletproof glass protected the woman seated behind it, and it took a moment before she realized someone was there and looked up. "Yes?"

Ew. Tori exhaled. "A friend of ours is in here. I'd like to see about getting her out."

The woman looked at her then pushed a pad across the desk and through the small hole in the glass. "Name?"

Tori glanced at the pad, then started to fish in her purse for a pen. She realized she didn't know Lena's last name at the same time as Jade handed over her favorite heavy, silver chased ballpoint. "Thanks." Tori scribed the first name, then hesitated. "I'm sorry." She directed her words to the woman behind the desk. "I only know her first name."

"Real good friend of yours, huh?" The officer took the pad back and studied it. "Could be worse. Could be Maria . Lemme go look." She ripped the top sheet off the pad and got up, disappearing back into a cluttered area behind her full of files and tall cabinets.

"Hm." Tori rocked on her heels. "I feel pretty stupid about that."

Jade shrugged, lacing her fingers together behind her back and glancing around the lobby. "Hasn't changed much." She allowed, accepting the curious look from her lover. "After I… " Jade paused, and inclined her head. "That little incident at the club I think you mentioned once."

"Ah." Tori did, indeed, remember. "They brought you here?"

"I was pretty young." Jade acknowledged. "They wanted to make sure one of the jackasses' friends didn't come after me. They called Dad, and he came down to pick me up."

Two officers pushed by them, with a very inebriated young woman slung between them. Tori moved out of the way, ducking as the woman started to swing an arm wildly. "Whoa." She felt herself pulled to one side, and stepped away from the now struggling prisoner, with Jade hovering protectively over her. "So. Dad picked you up, huh?" Tori decided a distraction was appropriate.

Jade's nose wrinkled, at the sudden stench of vomit. "Yeah." She took another step backwards, and tugged Tori with her. "He was, um… "

"Proud." Tori tried to breathe through her mouth.

"Well.."

"Jade Giana West, I can just sit here and picture your father coming in here to get you. I bet he made every cop who was there tell him what you did."

Two men brushed by, arguing in loud, strident Spanish. They had badges on chains around their necks. Another man approached, yelling, and pointing a finger at one of the detectives. The detective slapped his hand, and yelled back.

"Hey!" The clerk had returned to her desk, and now she used the microphone sitting to one side. "Take it inside!"

The three men gave her a look, then shoved through a worn, wood paneled door to one side, which opened into a large room filled with desks and papers. The clerk watched them, then looked up and made eye contact with Tori, lifting one hand and curling her finger inward.

"Officious little..."

"Jade." Tori patted her wife's leg. "C'mon - let's get this over with." She led Jade over to the counter and rested her elbows on it's chipped Formica surface. "Find her?"

"Yeah." The woman shuffled some papers. "You a relative?"

"No. Just a friend." Tori moved a little closer, and tilted her head to see the officer's nametag. Funk. Hm. "She had a little trouble with her folks."

"No kidding." Officer Funk agreed. "All right. The bail's a thousand dollars."

Tori saw the woman's eyes lift to her, and she suspected she was waiting for a reaction. Tori smiled pleasantly. "Okay. Do you take checks.. credit cards? " A beat, and no reaction from the officer. "Animal pelts?"

"Cash." Officer Funk replied. "Ten percent."

Jade removed her wallet from her hip pocket and sorted through its contents, removing a hundred-dollar bill and tossing it onto the counter. "There."

Tori opened her mouth, then realized she didn't have that much cash on her, and subsided. She pushed the bill closer to the woman. "There."

They stood there while the paperwork was completed, what looked like an eight or nine part form along with a sheaf of other documents. "I didn't have to sign that many things for my new car." Tori commented idly.

"You weren't buying it from San Francisco." The officer muttered. "All right, Jack, c'mere. Get me this one from the holding area." She thrust a piece of paper behind her, and it was taken by a shorter man in uniform, with a thick, dark mustache. "This is your receipt." She pushed a form over to Tori. "She comes up for a hearing in ten days. Make sure she's there, or you're in the hole for the other nine hundred."

Jade leaned forward. "What is she charged with?"

The deeper tones caught the officer's attention, and she looked up, to find Jade's piercing eyes pinning her. "Destruction of property."

"What did she break?" Tori asked.

"Car window."

Jade's brow creased. "Wouldn't it be cheaper to just pay for the damn window?"

Officer Funk shrugged. "Her parents pressed charges. Guess they figured the kid couldn't pay."

"Bastards."

In the act of standing up to put away her papers, the policewoman stopped and peered through the glass at Jade. "I don't know. IWhat did they think was gonna happen raising their kids in queer capital of America?." She shrugged, and walked away.

Tori turned, and met Jade's eyes, and they looked at each other in silence. After a moment, an inner door opened and the short, male officer appeared one hand grasping Lena's arm. The girl seemed very quiet, her face showing signs of rough handling, and her clothes were ripped and stained. She looked up and saw the two of them standing there, and a pathetic look of utter gratitude lit her face.

"Hey, Lena." Tori smiled at her. "C'mon…I bet you want out of here."

"Oh. " Lena closed her eyes, then opened them. "You bet your ass I do." She paused awkwardly. "Um.. I mean.."

"I think you said exactly what you mean." Jade drawled. "Let's get out of this place." She let her eyes drift over and meet Officer Funks. "It stinks."

They made their way out of the large double doors and into the cool night air. Lena stopped on the stone steps and took a breath, tilting her head back to look up at the night sky. "Thank you." She hugged herself. "I'll pay you guys back. I've got some money in my savings account." She looked around, with a lost expression. "I'll have to take it all out anyway.. I'll need clothes before I can go back to work tomorrow." A pause. "If they haven't fired me."

Tori and Jade exchanged glances. "C'mon." Tori put a hand on her arm and steered her towards the Volvo. "The first thing you need is a shower, and some clean stuff to wear. We've got both back at our place."

"I can't ask you to do that." But Lena looked pathetically grateful.

"You're not. Let's go." Jade keyed the doors open, and motioned to her. The poor kid looked so ragged, and so at a loss, Jade felt like… Like what, Jade? Her conscience pricked her. Like you want to go punch her mother? She closed the door after Lena climbed up inside the car, then walked around and started to get in, pausing and resting her arm on the edge of the windowsill as she gazed down the sidewalk.

She remembered walking down it, dressed in her scary, punky vest with parts of her aching from the fight but happy, because her daddy was there next to her. They'd stopped on the corner and leaned back against the coral wall, across from the parking lot she could spot her dad's truck in. James had looked her over, and shook his head. "Lord. You are mah kid, ain't you."

Jade had stuck her hands into her ripped pockets, and just nodded.

"Y'know, they don't give folks who do what I do medals much." James had said, looking off into the distance a little. "And I sure ain't got none to give up, but here." He'd taken off his dog tags, and put them around Jade's neck.

Jade remembered looking up at him, and she knew her face must have shown how she felt because he'd smiled, and cupped her cheek with one callused hand.

They'd just gone on home after that

"Jade?" Tori leaned over and tugged on her wife's shirt. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Jade slid behind the wheel and closed the door. "I was just thinking of something."

Tori studied the angular profile for a moment, then patted Jade's thigh, and half turned in her seat to address Lena. "You're doing data entry, aren't you?"

Lena was running her fingers over the soft leather of the seat. She glanced up guiltily. "Um.. oh, yeah, yeah, I do. It's a telemarketing thingie. I put in the orders." Her eyes dropped. "Or I did.. my boss hates when people are late, I can just imagine what his reaction was when I didn't show up for work for two days."

"Don't worry about it." Tori smiled at her. "So, what exactly happened?"

The young girl pushed some very dirty hair back off her forehead. "Oh my god, it was like.. it was so incredibly stupid." She exhaled, but her spirit was rebounding a little. "I can't believe it. It's like some dumb weird ass dream thing, you know?"

"No. But if you'd tell me, I would." Tori replied patiently.

A sigh. "Okay. Like, I told you I was really into this war game thing, right?"

Jade and Tori exchanged looks. "We can relate to that." Tori said.

Lena was momentarily distracted. "Are you guys on the game?"

"We run the war game." Jade stated, as she pulled carefully onto the highway. "So yeah, you could say we're on it.. under it, inside it, crawling all over it… "

"Wow. For real?" Lena watched Jade's profile with interest. "That's so cool. Are you like, hackers?"

"No."

"Sometimes."

Tori gave Jade a look. "We are not." She scolded her partner.

"You've never seen what I can do with a data analyzer, have you?"

Lena started laughing. "You guys are funny." She relaxed into the leather seat. "So anyway.. I'm like really into this game, stuff, and I found some really cool places, with people… um.. " She hesitated.

"Like us?" Tori hazarded a guess.

"Yeah." Lena agreed. "Anyway, we all get together and we chat, and do stuff, and a lot of them write these story things." She rubbed her fingers together. "Some of them are okay, and some are pretty good, and some… ew." Lena made a face. "So I figured I could try doing it, too, and just see how it went."

"Stories?" Tori leaned against the seat and considered that. "What.. stories about.. school and things like that?"

"Uh. No." Lena blushed. "Not about school... Well, one of them was, this girl wrote this one about her and two other girls and some gym equipment, but…"

Tori cocked her head to one side. "Gym equipment?" She looked over as Jade started laughing. "What?" Her brow knit, then abruptly eased as she realized what sort of stories Lena was talking about. "Oh. Kind of… romantic stories, huh?"

Lena chewed her lip. "Well, I guess some of them might be called that."

"So. Did your parents catch you reading this lesbian erotica?" Jade asked, in a low, amused tone.

"No way." Lena shook her head. "I'm way too careful for that, and my parents wouldn't know what they were looking at on my computer anyway." She folded her arms. "I wrote my first one, and I posted it, and you know? Everyone liked it. It was so cool.."

"Hey, that's great." Tori complimented her.

"Yeah, except I printed out a copy to take to school, to show Casey and them, and it was on my printer, and my mother came in and took it." Lena looked out the window. "Wow.. we're driving over the bridge to the expensive side of town."

Jade muttered. "I'd say your mother got what she deserved if she walked in and just took what wasn't hers."

Tori sighed. "Some parents are of the opinion that they own whatever's in the house because they pay the mortgage." She said,

"Yeah.. you're absolutely right!" Lena blurted. "That's exactly what my parents think. My mom took it while I was in the shower, and by the time I got out she was…" The girl fell silent for a second. "She started throwing things at me."

Tori reached over and took her hand.

"I tried to stay out of the way, you know? Because she does that sometimes, just goes off and shit. But she just kept coming at me… " Lena took a shaky breath. "She chased me into the garage, and… oh my god, everything was falling, and she threw a baseball bat at me… then I don't know what happened, something, and a sled we had up in the overhead fell down right on my dad's car."

"So that's what broke the window." Tori murmured.

"It broke everything.. and that sports car is his, like, best child." Lena said. "She locked me in there, and the next thing I knew, the cops were there, and they took me off."

the conversation ended as Jade piloted the Volvo onto the island, and turned down the road leading to the house. Lena slid over to one side, and peered out of the window, looking around curiously until they pulled up into the garafe and parked. "Wow." She murmured. "Holy shit, Toto.. we're not in kansas anymore."

They got out of the car, and headed inside.

Tori lead the way upstairs, leaving Jade to putter around and put up some coffee. Lena was creeping along behind her, trying not to touch anything as she walked in the very center of the stairs. "Let me get you something to change into.. you can use the shower in there." She gestured to the guest bathroom, tucked in neatly next to its attendant bedroom.

"Wow." Lena peeked inside, then followed Tori hurriedly into her own bedroom. "This is a way amazing place."

Tori pulled open a drawer and rooted around inside it. "It's pretty big, yeah." She removed a shirt and a pair of shorts. "Here.. these'll be big on you, but not too bad. They're old ones of mine when I was a lot smaller."

Lena took them gingerly, and eyed Tori. "You're not fat."

Tori smiled. "No, but I used to be a lot lighter, before I started all this wall climbing and weight lifting." She turned the girl around and pointed her towards the guest bathroom. "There's lots of soap, and everything you need in there. Help yourself."

"Okay." Lena carefully folded the clothes over her arm. "Um… thanks, Tori." She said. "I thought I'd be all tough and that, and just stay in there. You know, like, wow, so this is jail."

One of Tori's pale eyebrows cocked. "Why? You're not stupid."

Lena fingered the clothes. "There were some really fucked up people in there." She murmured. "I figured I'd better find a way to get out before something stupid happened." Her eyes lifted. "So, thanks."

"No problem.. but one thing is puzzling me." Tori turned, and they walked together down the hall. "I don't remember giving out our phone number here."

"Oh." Now Lena managed a wan, but cheeky grin. "Casey got that out of the church Rolodex. We were all, like curious, to see if we could figure out where you lived and stuff."

"Ah." Tori replied. "I thought that was locked up in the office."

Another grin. "And?"

Tori sighed. "You could have just asked. That's supposed to be private information." She folded her arms.

Lena looked nonplussed for a moment. "I didn't.. I mean, we didn't think of that." She admitted. "It's just that, like, no one tells you anything when you're my age, you know? It's like everything's such a big secret, and if you want to know stuff, you have to go find it out yourself."

"Mm." Tori understood that, having grown up in a very political household.

"What is up with adults? " Lena asked. "It's like, even in school, they say they don't teach things so we don't get 'idea's. I thought the whole thing school was for was to, like, encourage us to get ideas. So they don't tell us about important shit, like what sex is all about. How brainless is that?"

Tori exhaled. "Go take a shower." She said, "We can discuss the philosophical motives behind education after you're done. I don't think most parents want their kids to get ideas, they just want them to be taught to be just like they are."

"Huh." Lena turned to go towards the bathroom. "That's lame."

Tori watched her disappear. "Yeah." She agreed under her breath. "You can say that again." She shook her head and trotted down the stairs, towards the enticing scent of coffee coming from the kitchen.

Lena waited until she heard Tori's steps fade, then she let out a breath, and leaned against the wall. Her eyes roamed over the hallway, taking in the neat appearance and the interesting pictures on the wall. "Wow."

Curious, she tiptoed along the hall and peeked inside the middle room. It was an office, she realized, as she slipped inside and peered around, aware of the tiny, guilty thrill of doing something she knew was probably severely not cool.

But how many chances would she get, right? And the rest of the gang would be sitting on her ass pulling nitty details out of her, so..

Lena roamed around the room, moving closer to the walls to read the plaques and diplomas there. Tori's office, apparently, since it was her college and professional certifications displayed.

The desk was a light, golden oak, and the chair a very comfortable leather one. On the shelves were pictures of people Lena didn't know, so she guessed maybe they were Tori's family. There was also a weird little collection of rocks, no two of the same size or shape, that were arranged in circles, and two or three little stuffed animals, including a beanie baby cocker spaniel.

She leaned closer to look at the pictures. One was a family shot, and she blinked as she recognized the last figure on the right. "Man. She was right." Lena whispered. "She was a freaking stick." A very thin, very serious looking Tori was standing, dressed in a formal looking suit with her hands tucked in front of her. Her hair was put up around her face, accentuating it's drawn lines, and Lena was having a really hard time reconciling this picture with the woman who had just handed her the clothing and towels.

Lena straightened reluctantly, and eased out of the room, entering the blue and white guest bathroom again and this time closing the door. She started the shower running, deciding to just forget about how weird everything was, and get clean.

That brought up another interesting subject. What kind of soap did they use? Lena explored, and found a bar nestling in the coral shaped soap dish. She lifted it and sniffed. "Coconut. Very cool. " That got a nod of approval. She hadn't pegged them for lilac or anything weird like that.

Lena opened the medicine cabinet, but that yielded nothing but a box of Band-Aids, a tube of antiseptic cream, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Along with a stack of long, single ended q-tips. Curiously, she picked one up and examined it, trying to figure out its probable use.

She put the long handled q-tip, the peroxide, and the antiseptic together and quickly dropped the stick. "Ew." Her face scrunched. "Gross." She closed the cabinet and grabbed the soap, hopping in the tub and pulling the curtain closed.

After a moment, she poked her head out and stared at the cabinet. "Ew." She repeated, then ducked back inside.

"So." Jade took possession of one corner of the couch, setting her coffee cup down on the end table and stretching her legs out over the leather surface. "Madam G. Samaritan.. now what?"

Tori put her hands on her hips. "Are you saying we shouldn't have gotten involved?" She asked sharply.

"No." Jade shook her head. "I just have no damn clue what to do now, so I'm hoping like hell you do."

"Oh." Tori felt the building irritation wander off somewhere, and she took a seat next to Jade's neatly socked feet. "Hm." She took a sip of her coffee, then set it down and inched over; picking up Jade's legs and letting them rest in her lap. She tweaked a toe experimentally.

"Hey!"

"One little piggy…" Tori teased, then relented and merely started rubbing her partner's foot under its cotton covering. "I don't really know what the next step is, Jade. It's not like I've ever done this before, y'know. "

Jade grunted, and wiggled her toes.

"I figure I'll call the church office tomorrow morning. Someone there should at least know where to start." Tori went on. "I know I can get Cat to hire her on as a data entry clerk, god knows we're so hard up for help down there we're taking high school diplomas as acceptable prior experience."

"Mm."

"The church has apartments it leases out to people who can't pay much. She'd qualify."

Jade nodded, sliding down a little and exhaling happily. "Sounds like you've got it all planned out. Good job." She closed her eyes and concentrated on enjoying the slow massage that was working its way up her insole. It wasn't' the way she'd hoped the evening would end, but…

Sometimes, you just had to cope.

"Sweetie?"

Jade opened a blue eye and lifted its eyebrow.

Tori gave her ankle a little scratch. "I'm sorry I brought her home without talking to you first."

Jade considered that for a moment then shrugged one shoulder. "It's just as much your home as it is mine." She allowed.

"I know. That's why I'm apologizing." The blond woman murmured. "It was a snap judgment."

Jade folded her hands over her stomach and closed her eye. "I've learned to implicitly trust your judgment." She told Tori. "Besides, what else could you have done? Not leave her there, or let her wander off down the street. It's almost midnight."

It sounded so reasonable when Jade said it. Tori reflected on the evening, deciding her lover was probably right. "Okay. I can go with that." She mentally planned the next day. "Are you going down to the base tomorrow?"

Jade nodded. "They've got a new class of recruits starting. I'm going to go through their first day with them, just to map the process."

"Literally?" Tori's voice rose in surprise.

"Nah.. just as an observer. You won't get me in those damn boots again." Jade snorted. "I used to think they were the hottest thing - wore them for years, before I had the sense to figure out they're about as comfortable to wear as wearing thermal underwear in the summer."

"Rats." Tori grinned. "I think you'd look really cute in those fatigue things."

"I look like a stereotyped package fresh from Dykes R Us." Jade stated. "All I need is wrap around glasses, and a pair of dog tags with your name on them."

"Hm." Tori thought about that. "You know, there's this Army surplus outlet… they make dog tags."

Jade opened both eyes. Tori smiled at her charmingly.