Timmy glanced nervously to his left from the passenger seat of the red sports car. In the driver's seat sat his babysitter of four years going on eternity, Vicki. The reason he found himself in her car, rather than the relative safety of his home was because his parents were having some sort of romantic rekindling of their love life day, so they needed Timmy out of the house, something Vicki didn't seem like she would agree with until his parents handed her a large wad of money and told her to take him ice skating.
Why ice skating and not anything else, he wasn't sure.
"Isn't this great Twerp? Just you, me and a frozen lake."
Why Vicki was still putting up her sickeningly sweet facade, Timmy had no idea. "L-lake? I thought we were going to an ice skating rink or something?"
"Dimmsdale doesn't have an ice skating rink, dontcha know? Everyone goes ice skating at Sable Lake."
"Which is where we're going?"
"Yup!" she smiled at him, yet it was less sweet, more 'I'll murder you in your sleep'. "I heard the rest of your little Twerp squad will be there too, so I get to torture all of you!"
"Yaaaay..."
"I know right?! And to think, your parents are paying me to bring you to some skating rink... I guess they don't know the city doesn't have an ice skating rink either."
"You do realize I don't know how to ice skate, right?"
"Then it'll be all the more fun to watch you slip and break your face."
Though Timmy imagined that today would be another torturous experience with his babysitter, there was a slight ray of hope today. He was able to bring Cosmo and Wanda, who were now his gloves and hat respectively. If he could get even a few seconds of alone time, he might at least be able to wish for good ice skating skills. And if he could get a few minutes of alone time, he might be able to suppress his conscience enough to wish Vicki was a snowman.
"Hey, we're here."
Timmy looked around at hearing Vicki's voice. He must've drifted off in thought for a few minutes. "I'm coming." Timmy reluctantly got out of the car and immediately slipped in an iced-over puddle that Vicki had parked over, landing on his stomach and just barely stopping his face from being planted into the ground.
"Whoops! Hope that's not a sign of things to come, huh?"
"Are we really starting this this early? I would've figured that the weather would've cooled your ever present anger..." Timmy stood up and carefully stepped off the puddle and onto less slippery ground.
"Who's angry? I'm just trying to toughen you up so Francis doesn't push you around anymore. In fact, you should thank me for being so tough on you, I'm only trying to help..."
She would say something like that to justify her being mean, whether it was true, or if some part of her felt guilty for her actions, it mattered little. "Guilty, right..." "Do you know how to ice skate?"
"Of course I do. I'm a regular Jill of all trades! Maybe I'll teach you a thing or two, if you're lucky."
"The only thing I could learn from you is how to be a miserable person who hates everyone."
"Keep it up Twerp; they won't find your body."
Timmy followed Vicki to the skate rental counter and watched as she attempted to work her magic on the attendant. "Hi! I need skates for me, and this little darling here!" Vicki finished by kneeling down next to Timmy and hugging him, causing him to grimace at her.
"How old is he?"
"How old does he need to be to get a discount?" Vicki dropped her facade for a more serious tone at the mention of paying the attendant.
"Twelve or under." the attendant shot back in a tone that was more bored than serious, perhaps she would prefer to be skating as well?
"Oh! How convenient! My little charge here is exactly twelve years old!" the facade was back once again.
"Good for him. Total's ten fifty. Watch out for cracks in the ice and anywhere it gets thin, only skate in the designated-"
"Sure, whatever." Vicki snatched the ice skates from the attendant's hands and gave Timmy his pair.
"You two have fun... or... whatever."
Vicki walked off with the skates slung over her shoulder, Timmy following close behind. Disappearing now would only get him further on her bad side...
"Hey Dude! You made... it..." Chester trailed off as he noticed Vicki walking in step with Timmy.
"Yeah, heheh... We did..." Timmy responded sadly.
"Aw, what's the matter Twerp? You almost don't sound happy that I'm babysitting you..."
"Why would I be?! You being around means no fun for me or my friends! Why do you have to be so... so evil?!"
For a split second, Vicki seemed to be taken aback by Timmy raising his voice at her, but she quickly regained her composure. "Because it's fun." Vicki shrugged her shoulders and sat down on a bench to put her ice skates on. "Thought you would've figured that out by now."
"How exactly is making people miserable, fun?"
"You ever try it?"
"No..."
"Then I wouldn't expect you to understand." Vicki stood up from the bench and slid back and forth a bit with her skates. "At any rate, stay out of trouble." Vicki began to pick up speed as she skated away.
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere else." Vicki sped off, leaving a dumbstruck Timmy, AJ, Chester, and Tootie.
"Well that was... odd." AJ spoke up first. "Did you do something to upset her?"
"Pretty sure you need a heart to be able to be upset or have your feelings hurt." Timmy answered.
"Hey! Just because Vicki isn't the nicest person around doesn't mean she doesn't have a heart!" Tootie went to bat for her sister, surprisingly enough.
"She's right you two; what, do you think Vicki has a black hole where her heart should be?" and now Chester was backing up Tootie.
That was oddly close to exactly what Timmy thought, but he knew better than to voice his opinion with Tootie around. Her and Vicki were in the process of repairing their relationship as sisters, and while he trusted that Tootie wouldn't rat him and his friends out to the red-headed witch, he wasn't really in the habit of tempting fate. "Fine, I'll admit that she probably doesn't have a black hole instead of a heart, but her heart must be a shriveled little husk for her to be the way that she is."
"Maybe you should consider what she's had to deal with before you go around saying she's evil."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean... Nevermind... I shouldn't have said anything..."
"Tootie, you know you can talk to us, we're your friends." Timmy skated over towards Tootie, nearly losing his balance as he did, but Tootie caught him and steadied him. "Thanks."
"First time ice skating?"
"It is." Timmy blushed slightly. "But how about we talk about what you were saying?"
Tootie groaned, evidently hoping that Timmy would've forgotten. "Our mom and dad...They weren't very nice to Vicki when she was growing up. And it only got worse once I was born, it went from them not being nice to full on neglect... Not um... like, they didn't hit her or anything... As far as I know... But they just ignore her all the time now, like she's not even there. And Vicki... she's completely given up talking to them."
This surprised Timmy. He figured Vicki was just mean because she enjoyed being mean; how was he supposed to know that her parents treated her so similarly to how his treated him? It's not like she ever said anything to anybody, never showed if she was hurting. She didn't seem the type to be hurt by anything. "I've got more in common with her than I thought..."
"So what? You think your parents not caring about her justifies the way she treats us?" AJ asked.
"I didn't say that!" Tootie snapped at him. "I was only trying to get you guys to understand why she is the way that she is!"
Timmy was relatively unfazed by Tootie's little outburst, having grown used to it now that they were friends, but Chester and AJ took a few steps back. "We're uh... we're gonna be over there... Chester says he knows some... cool tricks to show me! Yeah..."
"I did?" Chester asked AJ in genuine confusion.
"Yep! C'mon, let's go learn some new tricks!" AJ got behind Chester and pushed him toward a group of their classmates, and away from Timmy and Tootie.
"That seem weird to you?" Tootie asked Timmy.
"It's just those two trying to play matchmaker for us." Timmy responded with a sigh. "They've been at it for weeks now, leaving us alone at lunch, Chester working with AJ on school projects so that I had to work with you, them suddenly canceling and saying they couldn't come to my last birthday, they think they're clever, but I notice things like that. Or you scared them." Timmy shot Tootie a slight smirk.
"So they want us to be together?"
"Seems that way." Timmy nearly slipped again, but righted himself on his own.
"And what about you?" Tootie skated in front of him and looked at him seriously. "What do you want?"
"Me? I..." Timmy moved to skate past Tootie, but grabbed her hand so they could skate side-by-side. "I like where we're at now. I know it's... probably not what you want, but-"
"No!" Tootie exclaimed and gripped Timmy's hand tighter.
Timmy flinched slightly.
"I mean... no, I like where we are too. I spent the better part of three years chasing you, and most of a fourth. But... I like being your friend. Me and you... together I mean, it would just complicate things." Tootie waved her hand in the air as she finished.
"You... really feel that way?"
"I do. It took me some time to accept it, but I just don't think our wires match up correctly, y'know? There's someone out there for you, just as there's someone out there for me, but we aren't really meant for each other."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Tootie tugged on his hand so he'd stop and face her. "I shouldn't have tried to push you into a relationship, especially when we were so young. I realize that now, besides, we'll always be friends, and that's good enough for me."
"Listen to us go on and have an adult conversation like this at twelve..."
"With age comes maturity."
"Maybe... maybe I-" Timmy stopped and facepalmed. "I have to try and make amends..."
"With who?"
"Who do you think?" Timmy nodded over in the direction far behind Tootie, who turned her head to see that Timmy was gesturing towards Vicki.
"Why?"
"Because we're friends. And even if it kills me... Which it very well could; I can't be friends with you without at least trying to be friends with her."
"You think that'll work?"
"Not really. But even so, not trying is worse."
"Imagine if it does work..." Tootie tried and failed to stifle a giggle.
"What?" Timmy was having trouble keeping a straight face due to Tootie's giggling. "What's funny?"
"Can you imagine if it works? What'll Chester and AJ think when we tell them that you and Vicki are friends?"
"They'll either think I'm completely insane, or that she brainwashed me." Timmy shook his head back and forth as he tried to imagine how his over-protective friends would react.
"Something you're willing to deal with?"
Timmy looked past Tootie again at Vicki, who was now skating alone. And very gracefully. "Guess she wasn't lying about that."
"Timmy?" Tootie shook his shoulder upon realizing that he had drifted off.
"Hm? Oh! Well... Maybe I can convince her to be nice to all of us?"
"You'd have better luck achieving world peace." Tootie remarked dryly.
"Well, doing something is better than doing nothing at all."
Tootie turned away from Timmy and watched her sister skate further away, then turn a corner around an outcropping of land in the lake, causing her to disappear from view behind some iced over trees. "Ugh. Looks like you've got your chance to talk to her without Chester and AJ being around. While you're there, could you tell her that she needs to stay close to the safe area?"
"One thing at a time. I doubt she'll listen to me about where it's safe to ice skate, even if it's for her own good." Timmy released Tootie's hand and began to skate away, only to slow down as he almost fell again. "I'm alright!" Timmy called back as he skirted around the outcropping of land.
Tootie shook her head at Timmy's lack of caution at almost falling. "I swear he was blond in another life..."
Timmy came around the outcropping to find Vicki even further out on the frozen lake. "Why did I convince myself that this was a good idea?" he grabbed one of the low hanging branches to steady himself. "Um... Hey!"
Vicki looked in his direction for a split second, then resumed her skating, from what he could tell, she must've been carving something into the ice.
"She's really gonna make me go out there?" he knew from what Vicki had said earlier that she was just waiting for him to fall so she could laugh at him.
"Why not just wish you could skate well?" Wanda asked.
"Because that would be... taking advantage of you guys' powers or something..."
"So what are you gonna do?" the Cosmo/glove that wasn't holding the branch asked.
"I don't know... I guess I'll... have to skate out there if I'm gonna talk to her..."
"Just be careful Sport."
"I'm always careful." Timmy said matter-of-factly as he began tentatively skating toward Vicki, who was apparently still ignoring him.
As he got closer to her, her features became more magnified and pronounced: Her wiry red hair, those weird, soulless pink eyes, her pale, corpse-like skin...
Timmy sighed as he gave up trying to convince himself that Vicki was... well, Icky. In truth, she was anything but... save her personality. That was most definitely icky, but everything else...
Everything else about her screamed that she was beautiful, a thought that he couldn't drive out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried. When he was pining after Trixie, he had thought she was cute, annoyingly haughty, but cute. And Tootie too. There were some days where he had to admit that the now significantly less obsessive girl was definitely cute.
But Vicki...
She was a different story. Watching her for extended periods of time(no easy feat, considering she usually watched him like a hawk and would've picked up on it) brought with it an odd tingly sensation in his stomach, one that terrified him to no end.
He had asked Wanda about it, thinking it meant that there was something wrong with him, or that he was sick with something, but she merely giggled and shook her head. Why did women have to be so hard to figure out?!
He refocused his attention off his thoughts and onto Vicki as he stopped short of the design she had made in the ice. There would be time to think about his odd thoughts later. "What are you doing?"
"Skating." Vicki shot right in front of and past him.
"Why are you away from the skating area?"
"Why do you care?" she continued skating without looking at him. Had he touched a nerve without realizing it? Sure, Vicki didn't really care to give someone her full attention when they were talking to her, but she usually got confrontational for seemingly no reason at all around Timmy, likely simply because she enjoyed making him squirm. Now she was being... Evasive? That seemed to be the best term to describe her current behavior.
"Because skating by yourself is dangerous."
"And since when have you worried about me?" Vicki stopped and stared at him now, arms crossed over her chest.
"That- ...What about the avalanche?"
"The one we agreed to never speak about?"
"If I didn't care, like you say, then we both would've frozen to death and you know it."
"One time, congratul-"
"Or when you fell in front of the steam roller."
"So what? Two times-"
"How about the time that you were almost hit by that city bus and I pulled you out of the way?"
"You pushed me out of the way and landed on top of me, copping a feel in the process."
Timmy blushed at the mention of that incident. "And there was the time my dad left his new sports car running in the garage. We both would've died of carbon monoxide poisoning if I hadn't noticed the noise of the engine. So tell me, how exactly do I not care? If I didn't care, I would've left you in the house and gone out as if nothing was wrong."
Vicki let out a huff through her nose. "What do you want? I told you to stay out of trouble and left you to hang out with the rest of the Twerps."
"I know. But I was talking to Tootie and she wanted me to come and get you since you went off to skate by yourself. She was worried."
"And you just listened to her without protest? Were you worried about me?"
"...It's dangerous to skate out here by yourself."
"As you can see, I'm just fine." Vicki resumed drawing some design into the ice.
"Would you please just come back? Tootie's worried about you..."
"You can tell her I'm fine."
"I can't exactly go back without you." Timmy began skating as well, struggling to match Vicki's pace and not caring if he screwed up whatever design she was carving into the ice.
"I'm not asking you to go back, I'm telling you. Screw off."
Timmy continued in his lame attempt to keep pace with Vicki.
"Why are you following me?"
"Because I said I'd bring you back." Okay, technically he didn't, but being out here on the ice, especially with the bright sun shining down on it, wasn't safe. "And I... wanted to talk."
"Yeah? Well I don't."
"Would you just..." Timmy was beginning to grow tired from Vicki's accelerated pace. "Stop?!" he reached out and grabbed her hand, tugging it as his fingers wrapped around hers.
Vicki did just that as she looked down at her hand in his.
"..."
"Well?! I stopped, what do you wanna say?!"
Timmy jumped slightly as she yelled at him. "I... I talked to Tootie..."
"And? Why should I care about every conversation you have with your girlfriend?"
"We actually talked about you, and your parents."
Vicki tore her hand away from Timmy's at this. "We're not having this conversation."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't need a therapist or a shoulder to cry on, and I definitely don't need you, Twerp."
You must at least want to talk about it... maybe... get it off your chest?"
"I don't want to talk about it. What do you think? I'm just gonna go on and on about how mommy and daddy never loved me? Then we'll hug and everything will be better?" Vicki turned to look at him fully and narrowed her eyes at him, indicating she was about to lay into him. "We may have neglectful, shitty parents in common, but don't think for a second that you understand what I've been through! You weren't 'forgotten' at Wall 2 Wall mart! You weren't ignored in favor of a little sister! Even you weren't left behind with no one when the rest of your family went on some stupid trip!" Vicki wiped at her eyes, knowing the tears were threatening to spill.
To be fair, there was that one time where his parents left him home by himself, which ended with him calling the girl standing before him, who was still trying to get her breathing(and likely emotions) under control. He figured now wasn't the best time to mention it though, lest it seem like he was trying to make light of her troubles. "Feel better?"
"A little." Vicki sniffled and wiped her eyes again. "Why are you like this?"
"Like what?"
"Understanding. Nice to me when I don't deserve it or want it. Anyone else would've left by now, hell, wouldn't have come over here in the first place, yet here you are, listening to my problems and acting friendly to a girl who's gone out of her way to make you and your friends miserable."
"Well... I don't want to fight anymore... not you anyway. I know that I'll probably still fight with Francis, AJ, Chester, maybe even Tootie. But I don't want to fight as enemies with them, or you."
"I doubt Francis will stop bullying you anytime soon."
"Be that as it may, I'm friends with Tootie and I want to at least try to be friends with you."
"Hmph. You're too nice for your own good. Looking for friends like that, being nice to people, helping them when they don't want it, or are outright mean to you... That's a weakness."
"I know. What kind of weirdo goes around being nice to people?" Timmy's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Vicki took a step back. "You should find someone else to be friends with. You don't become friends with an evil babysitter." Vicki practically spat out the word 'evil', making Timmy realize that he had indeed touched on a nerve earlier.
"Vicki... I'm-"
"You ever wonder why this is called 'Sable Lake'?"
"Wh- I... not really..."
"Sable is another word for 'Black'. They say that back when Dimmsdale was first founded, many people came here to swim, some of them very accomplished swimmers, though not on the same level as Olympic athletes today."
"Okay...?"
"Those people, anyone who came here to cool off, or go fishing and fell in, they always drowned, no matter how good of a swimmer they were."
Timmy glanced down at the ice beneath his feet.
"They say that the bodies were never found, not even a scrap of clothing. They also say that their ghosts haunt the lake, and that sometimes, when you're swimming alone, you might get pulled down by their grasping hands, hoping you'll join them in death." Vicki was a fair distance away from him now, stopped in the middle of the circular design she made in the ice.
"Nice ghost story."
"I thought so too."
"But why aren't you scared that the ghosts will get you?"
"Two reasons." Vicki held up her index and middle fingers of her right hand. "One, I'm not swimming right now. And two, you ask why I'm not afraid of the ghosts getting me?" Vicki chuckled. "Because they know better."
Such a thought didn't seem all that unusual to Timmy. If most living things feared Vicki, then perhaps even the dead could fear the red-head. "Not to change the subject-"
"But you're going to anyway. Such a comment is always followed up that way." Vicki shrugged.
"I wanted to say..." Timmy gulped nervously. Why was he nervous? He wasn't asking the girl out... "I'm sorry, for earlier. I shouldn't have said you were evil. I never thought about you, or your home life, never even considered that you might have a worse home life than me. I've said terrible things to you, done terrible things to get back at you, just as you've done the same to me, but... If- if you're willing... I was wondering if... maybe you want to start over? Maybe... try to be friends?"
Vicki took pause at this. Was he serious? Even with everything she had done to him, hell, she had literally just insulted him not five minutes ago, even then... He wanted to be friends? With her. Of all people. And him. He would be her first friend? "No."
"N-no?" Timmy's heart sank at this. He expected her to be hesitant to the idea, but to shoot it down outright? "Why?"
"Simple. I don't wanna be friends." Vicki did a little pirouette with her skates.
"Oh..." Timmy sighed out. His chest hurt a bit. Was this what it felt like to have a broken heart? But why would he have a broken heart? He didn't... like Vicki, did he?
CRACK
And now he was hearing an odd cracking noise... Was he imagining it? Or did having your heart broken do this? There it was again, that thought of... something. Heartbreak? Sadness that Vicki wouldn't be his friend? What was it?
CRACK
No... the sound was coming from outside himself, somewhere more like...
Timmy looked down to see the ice around his feet beginning to crack and shatter. "Just my luck..."
"Timmy! Just wish you were back on solid ground!" Wanda half-whispered, half yelled at him.
"I can't! If I do, I'll lose you guys when Vicki sees me magically disappear!"
CRACK
"Then what are you gonna do?!" Timmy could tell that Wanda was panicking, judging by the tone of her voice.
"Just... let me think!" Timmy looked over at Vicki, who was obliviously skating around again. "Um... Vicki? I need some help..."
"Why? You've been skating just fine on your own, you're a quick learner."
While he did appreciate the fact that that sounded dangerously close to a compliment, no amount of skating know-how would save him from drowning in freezing lake water. "Vicki... the ice is cracking..." he was currently struggling to keep his voice calm and even, panicking now would be a death sentence.
"Come again?" Vicki stopped skating so she could listen to what he was saying.
"The ice! It's cracking!" Timmy yelled over to her.
"Well then skate off of it or something!"
"What if- what if me moving makes it break?!"
"Staying there is gonna make it break! Just- Argh... just stay there!" Vicki left her design in the ice and skated over toward Timmy, stopping a few feet short of where the cracks in the ice were, then got down on her knees. "Alright, gimme your hand."
Timmy looked at the obvious six foot gap between himself and Vicki, her arm didn't even reach halfway! He attempted to mimic her actions and got down on his knees too. Unfortunately, being twelve(and a bit short for his age) meant that his arm didn't even begin to reach hers. "I can't reach!"
"Well... try crawling over?"
CRACK
"Carefully!"
It would figure that the bane of his existence would be his salvation, wouldn't it? Just as it would figure that a crisis that, if improperly handled, would result in his death was what it took to make her sound worried about him. "C-can you get c-closer?"
Vicki grumbled something but scooted a bit closer, there was still a very obvious three foot gap between their hands. "Crawl closer or we'll both fall in!"
"Crap..." against his better judgment, Timmy did as he was told. The ice continued to pop and snap beneath him. Was this really how it was going to end for him? "This must be what they mean when they say that no good deed goes unpunished..."
"Hey! Snap out of it and get over here! You're gonna be fine!"
Her attempts to reassure him(odd as they sounded coming from her) did not go unnoticed, and Timmy resumed trying to crawl over toward Vicki.
She was trying her hardest to reach him too. Much as she fought with this kid, she didn't really hate him, and she certainly didn't want anything to happen to him, that might cause problems for her getting paid.
Or so she told herself in an effort to cover up a deeper meaning. "C'mon... I can almost reach you..." the distance between them had shrunk considerably, a few more inches and she knew their fingers would be brushing against each other, an inch or two after that and she could pull him off the crackling ice...
Unfortunately, the excitement of being almost safe(along with the fear of being seconds from death) caused Timmy to try and lurch forward, and the sudden movement broke the ice, sending him straight down into the frigid water.
For a few seconds, Vicki knelt in absolute shock, she really hadn't expected the ice to break... Though upon realizing that this wasn't a strange imagining of hers and that the ice did indeed break- "Oh shit!"
Below the ice...
Aside from feeling very, very cold, Timmy felt oddly relaxed for someone who was currently swimming in frigid water. The odd mental clarity he felt allowed him enough presence of mind to look down into the lake's depths to see that there weren't any grabbing, clawed hands seeking companionship on the lakefloor, just unusually long tendrils of lake weed. It took him several more seconds to realize that his mouth was wide open and inhaling a fair amount of water. While now would be a good time to wish himself out of the lake, all that came out as he attempted to speak were bubbles and garbled blubbing noises.
Another realization came to him as he tried and failed to make a wish. He felt... comfortable? How could one be comfortable as they breathed in water and froze to death? Unless... was he dying then? Did dying make you feel comfortable before all that you were was snuffed out forever? His vision began to darken as he closed his eyes, he was suddenly very tired... Maybe he'd think more on it after he got some sleep...
Meanwhile, not below the ice...
"Dammit!" Vicki lunged forward, not caring if she fell into the water as she reached into the hole in the ice. "I tell him to stay calm, so he panics! Next time I'll just tell him to freak out!" the water was bitingly cold and her coat did little to keep her warm, but she was fine as long as she didn't fall in too. "Grr... I'm gonna kill him if he freezes to death!" after searching around in the water for a few more seconds, Vicki's fingers curled around what she assumed was Timmy's hood and yanked him up out of the water and onto the ice, away from the hole and cracked ice.
"Okay... Wake up!" Vicki slapped Timmy's face a few times, with no result. "Ah... Shit! What- what do I do?!" Now she was panicking, she didn't formally know CPR, only what she had seen on TV! "Um... Okay..." Vicki pressed her hands on Timmy's chest a few times, then checked to see if he was breathing. "Dammit! Don't you dare die on me!" she yelled at him, hoping she could snap him back to life with her anger.
This too, had no result, and Vicki groaned as she realized she had forgotten one of the most important steps in CPR... "You... grr... you'd better not die after this!" Vicki took a deep breath and pressed her lips to Timmy's, then breathed out and into him. As she felt her lungs empty, Timmy shuddered slightly, then coughed and spat up a fair amount of water.
"Yuck!" Vicki wiped her face off, then realized that Timmy was alright after all.
Timmy's POV
"Ugh..." he felt like he had been hit directly in the chest by a truck, and he continued to cough and gasp for air. After a few deep breaths, he looked around. He was still on the lake, and still very much soaked, but he was alive at least. He looked at Vicki as he felt her put her hand on his shoulder.
"Are... you alright?"
"I... yeah, thanks..."
Vicki surprised the both of them as she pulled Timmy over and into a tight hug.
"Guess I owe you one..." Timmy didn't care enough at the moment about how odd and awkward the situation was. Vicki definitely wasn't about to do anything like this for a while, if ever again, so he wasn't about to question it and ruin the moment.
"I really wish you'd listen to me more often... I thought for sure that- ...It doesn't matter. We need to get you somewhere warm, c'mon." Vicki stood up and helped Timmy up, then maneuvered the both of them around the hole in the ice and back toward the skating area. She didn't know exactly how long it took for hypothermia and frostbite to set in, but Timmy being soaked didn't give her much confidence in the situation.
As they approached the area that they should have been skating in, Vicki called out to Tootie. "Tootie! We're leaving!"
Tootie turned around to see her sister, and her best friend leaning into her, barely standing on his feet. "Vicki? What-"
"Just c'mon!" she wanted to prioritize getting Timmy warm, and his friends seeing him like this would only complicate that plan.
Tootie said nothing more as she followed her sister and the three returned their skates, then got into the car. Once they were buckled in and Vicki cranked the heat to full blast, Tootie spoke up. "What happened?"
"I f-fell i-into the l-lake..." Timmy responded as he shivered.
"Are you okay?! How did you fall in? Can you still feel your toes?"
"He fell in when he tried to get me to come back to the skating area. And he'll be okay as soon as we get him warmed up." Vicki answered for Timmy.
"Vicki s-saved me when I fell in." Timmy shivered and leaned closer to the car's heat vent.
"I did what anyone else would do." Vicki added somberly.
"That's the point Sis... Chester and AJ wouldn't expect you to do something like that, and I'm sure even Timmy is surprised that you did."
"Y-you're every bit as good as them, e-every bit."
"You're clearly delirious, we need to get you warmed up." Vicki stepped on the gas and drove them back to her and Tootie's house. "You good to walk?" Vicki asked as she got out of the car.
"Yeah... I'm just cold now..." Timmy followed Vicki and Tootie into the house, and Tootie shut the door behind them.
"Looks like mom and dad aren't home right now..."
"Hm... You're gonna have to get out of those wet clothes..."
"Yeah-heh... I'm ah... I'm good, thanks."
"No, you are most certainly not 'good', you're gonna get sick if you stay in those. Tootie? Get him a change of clothes. One of the outfits you stole."
"I-!" Tootie's cheeks turned pink, she didn't know that Vicki knew she had a few of Timmy's outfits from back when she used to stalk him. "Be right back..."
Timmy watched Tootie go up the stairs, then turned to look at Vicki. "That's still really creepy."
"Creepiness aside, follow me." Vicki went up the stairs now, and Timmy followed, until they came to the bathroom. "Alright, take a shower, or a bath, I don't care which, but you need to warm up and get out of those wet clothes. I'll tell Tootie to leave the clothes- I'll bring the clothes in when Tootie finds them."
"Th-thanks." Timmy watched her leave, then peeled his wet clothes off and turned on the shower. The warm water was a welcome relief from how he felt a few seconds earlier. He at one point heard the bathroom door open, and what sounded like clothing hit the floor, then close again.
Vicki's POV
"You sure he's okay?" Tootie asked her sister, who was currently sitting on the couch, watching some inane show.
"Yeah, he should be fine now." Vicki didn't turn away from the TV.
"So... what happened after he fell in?"
"I reached in and pulled him out. I thought... I thought he was dead when I did, so... I gave him CPR."
"Since when do you know CPR?"
"I don't. But you learn enough on TV... or at least, I did. He's alive, isn't he?"
"Oh... Well... Thank you then." Tootie sat down next to Vicki and hugged her.
"Hmph. You make it seem like I'm some kind of monster that would've normally left him to die."
"I- I didn't mean it like that..."
"I know what you meant..." Vicki ruffled Tootie's hair. "Bad as his friends might think I am, I wasn't about to let him drown."
"His friends?"
"I know that they don't particularly like me, but Timmy... He came up to me asking if we could be friends. Apparently that was partially your idea?"
"Well... I did ask him to check up on you when you skated away from the rest of us... Are you going to be friends now?"
"No." Vicki released Tootie and relaxed into the couch.
"Wh-why not?! After today-"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told him. I don't wanna be friends."
"Ugh... I just don't get you. You'd think that a near death experience would be enough to bring two people together, but not you two..."
"What can I say? I'm not a very friendly person."
The conversation stopped as Timmy came down the stairs in his usual pink shirt and blue jeans, though he was currently without footwear. His hair was still a bit damp, and he held his soaked clothes in his hands. "Um..."
"I'll wash and dry those for you." Vicki stood up and took his clothes, then disappeared down the basement stairs.
"Thanks?" He had told Cosmo and Wanda to go back to his house after assuring them(several times) that he was okay. Now he stood rather awkwardly in front of Tootie as she sat on the couch. "Might as well get it over with..." Timmy shrugged half a second before Tootie leapt from the couch and hugged him.
"I'm really glad you're not dead..."
"That makes two of us..." Timmy returned the hug, then released Tootie as she did the same and sat next to her on the couch. "Vicki okay?"
"Hm? Why wouldn't she be?"
"I... dunno, she was acting... different when she pulled me out of the ice..."
"She was probably just worried about you. I think she's fine now. Sorry the whole 'friendship' thing didn't work out."
"Well... at least I tried." Timmy shrugged and relaxed into the couch. While he wasn't cold anymore, he felt exhausted after his ordeal. He felt like he was starting to drift off to sleep, but a certain red-head plopping down on the couch next to him dashed those hopes.
"You tired or something?"
"A little..." Timmy yawned.
Vicki scratched her chin in thought. "You wanna lay down for a while? I don't think you're in danger of dying now..."
"I... if it's alright with you... I just wanna rest my eyes for a little bit."
"'Kay, follow me." Vicki stood up from the couch and gestured for Timmy to follow her. She made her way up the stairs and to her room.
Timmy, though his thoughts were somewhat clouded by fatigue, knew that he was essentially moments away from entering a dragon's lair. He considered running back downstairs, hoping Vicki wouldn't kill him with a witness around, but instead stayed rooted to the spot out of morbid curiosity.
Vicki opened the door to her room, and Timmy peeked past her to look around. No weapons hung on the walls, no skulls of previous victims lying about, not even a foreboding aura like he expected. Just a regular girl's room, with a dark-ish green paint job. "Not what you were expecting?"
"Huh? I- um..." Timmy blushed as he looked around her room again. "It's nice... I just expected... more weapons..."
"They're all hidden away, can't exactly leave them out for Tootie to get a hold of."
Was she seriously like this? In public, Vicki rarely concealed the fact that she hated most things, unless she was putting up her sweet act to get what she wanted. But now Timmy wondered if this was the 'real' Vicki, for lack of a better term. A Vicki that was protective and careful around her sister, and a Vicki that was currently treating him like a member of the family.
"Well... go ahead and get some rest. I'll probably order some food in a bit, come down whenever you feel like you've slept enough." Vicki walked past Timmy and almost made it out of her room, before being stopped by Timmy's voice.
"Where... should I sleep?"
"The bed... Unless you'd prefer the floor?"
"No! It's just... um..."
"I don't have cooties, y'know. And neither does the bed."
"I just... wasn't expecting that you'd... let me sleep in your bed I guess..."
"There's always Tootie's bed, though I can't guarantee you won't wake up tied to it..."
"...I'll sleep in here, thanks."
"Thought so." Vicki said with a chuckle as she closed the door.
Timmy directed his attention to the bed and climbed in. He was surprised to find that the mattress was actually quite comfy, and not just a wooden board with nails sticking up out of it. As he got comfortable and relaxed, he could feel the tension in his muscles slip away. "What a day..." Timmy sighed out.
Downstairs...
Tootie looked up from the TV as her sister came down the stairs and sat down next to her on the couch. "Timmy alright?"
"He's fine. Just tired after almost dying, suppose I would be too... Hm... y'know, your longtime crush is here, and he doesn't have his friends or parents around to keep you from having your way with him..." Vicki elbowed her sister playfully.
"Oh, come on! I'm not that creepy! Besides, Timmy and I have a mutual understanding; we're just friends. Totally platonic, non-romantic friends."
"Hmph. Whatever; you're letting a golden opportunity slip through your fingers, just saying."
"What about his parents? Won't they be worried about him falling into the water?"
"First of all, him falling in the lake stays between the three of us, got it?"
Tootie nodded in the affirmative.
"Second, they probably won't even realize I haven't brought him back for at least a few days. I'll just let him rest up and take him home tonight or something. Third..." Vicki now narrowed her eyes at her sister. "What have you two been talking about when I'm not around? Something about our parents?"
"Hey, I was trying to defend you today. AJ and Timmy were saying that you were evil, and had a black hole for a heart, all I did was tell them about how you're not as bad as all that."
"Well from now on, that info stays between us. I don't want you screaming how shitty my home life has been to the world."
"Sorry..." Tootie looked down at her hands as they rested in her lap, a normal gesture for someone to indicate that they might be feeling regret for their actions, but in Tootie's case... It was more of a ploy to make Vicki feel bad for getting mad at her.
Vicki sighed, knowing Tootie's plan, but feeling somewhat bad all the same. "It's fine. I can't really fault you for trying to defend me..."
"So... you're not mad?" Tootie grinned at Vicki.
"Don't push it Toots. Remind me to call the Turners and tell them that Timmy's over here in a bit."
"'Kay."
Timmy awoke with a start and looked around. He was once again in his winter coat and the rented ice skates, laying on the frozen lake, only now he seemed to be much further out. The shore looked as if it was miles away from him, and the sun's position in the sky told him it had to be late afternoon. "Agh... How- how did I... get back here?"
There didn't seem to be anyone else around now, likely they had all gone home. "Tootie? Chester? AJ?"
No response, save for the cold howling of the wind.
"Vicki?"
CRACK
"Oh no."
Ahead of him, the ice began to crack, yet instead of cracking downward and sinking into the water, their seemed to be some force pushing the ice up from the water. Each cracking sound was preceded by a muffled thump, as if there was someone -or something- under the ice, trying to break out.
Remembering the ghost story that Vicki had told him, Timmy scrambled to his feet and began skating toward the shore. He wasn't about to fall into the lake again, and he definitely wasn't about to stick around and find out-
CRASH
Whatever it was that just smashed it's way through the ice!
Timmy picked up the pace and skated faster, though the shoreline did not grow any closer, no matter how hard it felt like he was pushing himself. He looked over his shoulder to see that he wasn't being chased by anything, until looking at the ice itself. A large crackling fissure was chasing him through the ice now, as if something just below the ice was trying to match his pace; but it was doing more than just keeping up, it was gaining quickly.
Timmy redoubled his efforts and pushed himself even harder as the shore seemed to at last grow closer. "Almost there..."
He suddenly fell forward as... something gripped his leg, sending him face-first into the ice. It felt like...
Whatever it was that grabbed him sunk it's claws into his leg, the cold he felt from it was far colder than when he had fallen into the water, it was so cold that it burned, yet for the life of him, Timmy couldn't cry out, his voice was completely absent. Looking back at whatever was digging into his legs revealed a skeletal hand covered in lake muck was wrapped around his calf, it protruded through the fissure and was quickly being joined by several more similar-looking hands.
Timmy tried with all his might to pull himself along the ice and away from the clawing hands, but it was no use, he was only about a hundred feet from the shore, but the grip of the hands was too strong. He felt another clamp down on his shoulder and found his voice at last.
"AHHMmph!" Timmy's scream was interrupted by a cool hand over his mouth.
"Shh! My parents are home... keep your voice down!"
Timmy opened his eyes and moved his arms away from his face to find Vicki's a couple inches from his. He glanced around quickly to find that he was back in her room. Pale moonlight filtered in through the window, giving Vicki a slightly otherworldly appearance. Her right arm rested on his shoulder, her left remained on his mouth.
"Jeez... are you alright?" Vicki pulled her hand away.
"I- It was..." Timmy sighed. "It must've been a dream..." he fell back onto the bed and threw his arm over his eyes. "What time is it?"
"A little after eleven. Hungry?"
"Not really... Wait! Eleven?! I have to-" Timmy sat up quickly, only to be pushed back down onto the bed by Vicki.
"I already called your parents and said you were sleeping over, relax."
"Oh... Okay then." Timmy laid back down. "I miss anything?"
"Just the delivery guy bringing some food. Everyone else has already gone to bed."
"Do you... want me to go downstairs then?"
"For what?"
"So you can get some sleep?"
"Nah, you're fine there." Vicki climbed into bed, allowing Timmy to briefly see her completely.
"Wh-where are your pants?!"
"Hm? I dunno, they're... around here somewhere... Why?"
"Why aren't you wearing them?!"
"Remember what I said about keeping your voice down?"
"Wh- Gr..." Timmy grumbled something unintelligible, then started speaking in a much quieter tone. "So?"
"It's my room. I'll wear what I want. What kind of guy complains about sharing a bed with a girl wearing nothing but a tank-top and her underwear?"
"Considering it's the same girl that has, up until recently, made my life miserable, I'd say I'm within my rights to be a little freaked out!"
"Fair enough." Vicki laid down and pulled the covers over herself. "'Night."
"Just- just like that?!"
"Ugh..." Vicki propped herself up on her elbow to look at Timmy. "What's up?"
"I wanted to thank you- Again. You saved me at the lake-"
"I was just returning the favor for all the times you saved me." Vicki shrugged. "We both know you'd have done the same."
"I know, but... Um... could- could you promise not to kill me if I... do something?"
"Well, since we're being vague, no."
"Hm." Timmy slid over to Vicki and hugged her, causing her to release a light gasp at his sudden and bold action.
"O... Kay..." Vicki returned the hug half-heartedly. "I might still have to kill you." her threat lost any of its seriousness as she chuckled.
"I... assume you haven't reconsidered what I said earlier? About us being... friends?" Timmy looked up at Vicki hopefully.
A humming sound escaped Vicki's lips. "Like I said before Twerp-" she pulled him up so that his face was level with hers, then planted a feather-light kiss on his lips. "I don't wanna be friends."
Timmy blushed as Vicki pulled away. "Oh..." a nervous looking smile became evident on his face.
Vicki giggled at his reddening face. "See? Now you get what I meant."