Author's Note: This is the first chapter of the first fic in a series of I started a few years ago which mainly centers around the Newmans and the Abbotts; though there are a few original characters that pop up as well. I don't own anything except the original characters.

This is about Vicki having to deal with some stuff from her past, and other people from her past will pop up later in the series. The dynamics between her and the rest of the Newmans will be tested and change throughout this story and the series as well. There are 23 chapters in all.

Please note: This story is from 2008 or 2009. There are 23 chapters in this fic.

This series came out of another fic called Be Careful What You Wish For, and is pretty much an A/U (alternate universe) type of fic, though I try to keep the characters as in character as I can.

The sun was shining on a warm spring day, as Vicki drove into the parking lot at Newman Enterprises. It felt good to finally put all the drama of the past few months behind her. The Newmans had all been through an ordeal they wouldn't soon forget. Little did they know; their ordeal was just beginning.

As she walked into the building and over to the elevators she smiled at people passing by and chatted with a few friends from work. She'd hardly stepped foot in her office since Abby's court case began, which was evidenced by the mountain of paperwork waiting for her. "Great, looks like I'll be pulling an all-nighter." She muttered to herself with a small smile, grateful on some level for what she considered a distraction after the hectic pace of the past few months.

She sat down to work, but it was barely a half hour later when she found her concentration starting to wane. "Why can't I concentrate? This is ridiculous! I've got a ton of work to do and I can't focus. Maybe I need to take a break, and then go back to this later. It might do me some good. But what can I do in the meantime? " She walked over to the couch, picked up a magazine and started casually thumbing through it. "Forget it. This isn't working either!" She exclaimed tossing it back on the table in front of the couch she was sitting on. "Wait a minute, maybe Mom's still at home. I know she had a few errands to run, but maybe she hasn't left yet."

Quickly, she got up off the couch and walked back to her desk to call home. "Hi Mom, it's me."

"Hey, this is a pleasant surprise. What's up?" Nikki replied, enjoying the first good mood she'd been in in months.

"Not much, listen. I know it's short notice, but can you come to my office? I really need to talk to somebody."

"Yeah sure. Victoria, what's this about?" Nikki asked, as her instincts kicked in and the tone of her daughter's voice registered.

"Nothing. I just need to talk to you. So, can you come?" Vicki replied evasively.

"I'll be right there." Nikki replied before hanging up the phone, grabbing her things and heading out the door.

Once outside, she stopped on the front porch and thought to herself aloud, as she looked at her watch, "One in the afternoon, I wonder what's going on with her. Victoria never calls me in the middle of the day, let alone to ask me to come to the office because she needs to talk to somebody. She usually talks to her father, or Nicholas, if she talks to anybody about what's bothering her. She never turns to me. I wonder what could be different this time. Wait a minute. ... I don't think I like the sound of this. There was something in her voice...she hasn't been acting right ever since the whole case with Abby started. She's been really distracted and distant somehow. I'm starting to get the feeling something's really wrong here!"