Previously, in the past

Amazingly, Eleanor Shellstrop figures out Michael's gambit, that the Good Place is really the Bad Place, Michael says that he is going to reset everything, including Eleanor and her friends Chidi, Tahani, Jason, and the A.I. Janet. But before he could snap his fingers to start the reset, Vicky (who played the "real" Eleanor as part of Michael's gambit, bursts in, freezes both Michael and his superior Sean, then runs out of Casa Ikea in tears. Janet and Jason stay behind to keep an eye on Michael and Shaun, as the other run out in hot pursuit to find out why, after being part of Michael's scheme, did Vicky turn on her masters...

In the present

It took a Herculean effort on the parts of Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Vicky to keep their horny hands off each other (but what else was new...?). Actually, it was 9am, or what would pass as 9 in the morning in the afterlife, and Noon...not the mention the Big Event. Which means that any extracurriculars would have to wait until after the Big Post-Event at Casa Tahani later tonight.

Speaking of the Sexy Skyscraper, she was trying to calm down Chidi, who was going through the same thing he went through the last time he was in this position..

"Darling, what you need is someone who can make your decisions for you...like this one..." And with that Tahani tossed the white tux Chidi was fretting over and told him to wear the black tux with the tieless white shirt. Chidi gave the tall woman one of his trademark cockeyes smiles and a kiss on the lips as a thank you. "Look, Chidi, being a best man this time is going to be easy. Besides, your decisiveness was one of the reasons we're here, love..." That of course, got the social maven another sloppy kiss from the ethics professor.

While that was going on in the guest bedroom, in the master bedroom (aka, the "clown" boudoir), Eleanor had a similar problem. She knew Tahani was busy with Chidi, she was in the big bedroom with Vicky trying to choose a dress for the occasion. The easy thing would be to call out for Janet to help with the selection, but the A. I. was busy taking care of her husband, Jason. Plan B, of course, would be Bad Janet, but knowing her, Bad Janet would pick a dress with a neckline that would stop just a few meters south of Peru.

That was Bad Janet's choice for Vicky, though Eleanor had to admit the the white dress that the bad A.I. chose for the former "real Eleanor" accentuated many curves that Vicky sought to hide for reasons that Eleanor could not fathom since she and her partners in the other room appreciated said curves on a regular basis.

The problem is most of what Eleanor had was pretty casual: jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and sweats. She plopped her butt on the mattress and let out a heavy sigh. Vicki sat next to her and held the blonde's hand. "You do know you can do this," said Vicki as Eleanor's frustration grew exponentially. "How?" sighed the blonde. "God," replied the achingly cute Indian, "you have a short memory. Look...close your eyes, and think of what you want to look like today." Eleanor looked straight at the double doors of the closet and began to close her eyes when Vicki's fingers captured Eleanor's chin and turned to the tanned woman. "Let me give you a little incentive..." and with that Vicki gave the blonde a gentle, wet kiss on her lips.

With a chirpy "OK" Eleanor then closed her eyes and visualized the outfit she wanted to be seen in. She wanted it to be "Eleanor," something that would be a visual of herself, but also be special, because this was to be the most special day of her afterlife.

Within seconds, the blonde heard the smaller woman's voice tell her to turn around, and when Eleanor did, there was a beautiful yellow pants-gown made of silk. The neckline looked like it could show just enough, though not as much as Vicki's cleavage-fest. Eleanor looked upon the dress with astonishment. "I did this...?"

"I can't imagine you still don't realize that you can do more than that. It's stuff like this this that..." Vicky's eager demeanor grew quieter and more pensive. "It's stuff like that that saved me. That saved all of us." It was then that tears began to fall from her face, a face soon buried in the chest of Eleanor.

The blonde lifted the Indian woman's face and kissed her lips gently, then held Vicky for a long moment, speaking to her quietly. "You know, short stuff, we actually saved each other..." And even as tears kept falling, Vicky Sangupta started to smile at the words, remembering the reason why Eleanor said them...

In the past

Before all this, there was no being that could be a better friend, pal, confidante, or wing person than Todd. Vicki knew this. She knew that after drinking Todd under a table, he would take her home in one piece. He's listen to you for hours and hours non stop, then only give you the advice you needed after you were done. If it were possible to marry him, Todd would be the perfect spouse, save for one tiny detail.

Todd was a fire monster.

One of the gatekeepers of the bad place, Todd was one of those who kept the eternal fires going for those in who were deemed deserving of standard issue eternal torture. Problem was that Todd was too nice of a guy to do torture. This put Todd on Shawn's permanent shirt list. He was a misfit, but then so was Vicky. She truly was the mistake, not the woman she was pretending to be. No she wasn't a very young Mother Teresa, but she was telling the truth about helping innocent people, being an actual clerk and associate at the Arizona Justice Project**. Not to mention her nights were spent honing her acting skills at the Torch Improv. It was Todd's gentleness and Vicky's relentless cheerfulness that had them become fast friends, especially when she needed a friend most.

Michael's gambit was starting to unravel with Eleanor's "confession" that she was the cause of all of the things that were happening in the Good Place since she arrived. MIchael, Shaun, and head demon in charge Trevor agreed that they had to come up with a "real" Eleanor. It was a hurried choice, Trevor knew about Vicky's improv skills. Michael liked her, Sean was suspicious because Vicky did not have that "evil" streak about her, but it was decided, so it was the BP Crew, Trevor, and a very nervous Vicky on that train.

And when Vicky stepped off the train, it was like everything crashed around her. She was briefed about her "marks" beforehand of course, but when she first met them, her insides turned into strawberry Jello. There was Tahani, perfect face and figure and so tall. Chidi, glasses hiding piercing eyes and a knowing demeanor, and Eleanor. There were no words for Eleanor, this mix of sexuality and mischief in that light-skinned blonde frame. There was one other thing about Eleanor, more than the other two: a total lack of bullshirt. Todd had told Vicky that the one thing they feared in both the Good and Bad Places was a that lack of bullshirt that everyone covers themselves up in, for without that filter, a person could do amazing things.

But then, Todd knew that about Vicky, and he wanted to protect her.

And there were times when that lack of BS could have been Vicky's downfall. For instance, there was that time when Eleanor pretty much accused Vicky of coming on to her when she mentioned that Eleanor might have been in love with Vicki's actual designated soulmate Chidi (though if both could confess, they both were and are). The move should have been something like "you're crazy" or something like that, but she just kept going, probably because subconsciously, she was coming on to the blonde.

Then there was the fact that everyone...everyone...called Eleanor "Fake Eleanor," except the person who was playing "Real Eleanor." Vicki was never going to do that to the Real Eleanor Shelstrop.

Finally it was a short time before this. Vicki's intent was to grab Chidi, steal the train with the help of any Janet she could find, confess to the man and plot a way to save the others, including Jason and the Good Janet. That was rendered pointless when Michael announce the jig was up. Vicky yelled that everyone sucked and walked out. And when the door closed, the small woman burst into tears.

Bambadjan, the "legal eagle" who was part of the scheme, tried to comfort Vicki, and was succeeding when the woman put a very determined on her face. "You have to go, Bambadjan. You can't be here." Bambadjan tried to find out why the woman was shooing him away, but the woman just near-screamed "You have to go...NOW!" Bambadjan did leave, just in time for Vicky to hear what was happening. The woman had to act fast to stop what she knew Michael was going to do. Without a warning, Vicky bursts into the house, raises both hands, and emitted a pulse that froze Michael and Shaun in place, then ran out into the night, tears flying from her face...

And that is how Vicky wound up weeping almost uncontrollably on a park bench in the center of town, with Todd the Fire Monster kneeling in front of her. He wanted to hold her, and he could have activated a cooling system that would have doused the fire so he could do that, but it was a chilly night, and the fire that burned through Todd's body of brimstone and ash put out warmth that was a good as a hug. Vicky loved him that.

"You really do love them," the fire monster remarked.

"I could never tell them, Todd." Vicky was still beside herself. "After everything, can can never know..."

"Know what, Vik?" It was Eleanor, along with Chidi and Tahani standing on either side of the blonde.

Now to be fair, Eleanor was a great admirer of a good scam, and mentally her hat was off to Michael and everyone involved, but something was off about Vicky and what she did at the Ikea house, and now, overhearing Vicki's candid confession to whom Eleanor called "The Thing, Jr.," something resembling compassion started setting in.

Vicky looked up at the quartet eyeing her intently. Chidi's piercing eyes, Tahani standing there with her arms folded, and Eleanor just standing there, nose flaring.

Vicki's face was drained of blood and the look of terror was etched on. She did not know exactly what was in the minds of the four, but her instinct was to run, which she got up and did.

The trio started to give chase when Todd told them to stop.

"Give me one good reason, Rock Boy!' Eleanor was angry and scared and she didn't this, whatever it was.

One could not see desperation on a face made of hardened magma, but that desperation was there. "Look, the thing of it is...she loves you. All four of you..." The looks of disbelief were universal on the faces of the three, with Eleanor even more so as Todd continued: "she's been feeling bad about all of this. I think...I think she's going to...retire." Suddenly when that word was mentioned, it hit Eleanor...Michael's gruesome description of what "retirement" was.

"Fork! The eternal sheik!" Eleanor's face had terror written all over it. Now, not only did she seeks answers, but she now had to stop Vicky from ending her life. She turned and saw the increasingly tiny figure of Vicky still running down the street, but now turning left. Eleanor told the others to stay put; she was going after Vicky alone, then she took off as fast as she could.

A/N:

**There truly is an Arizona Justice Project that really does help people wrongly convicted of crimes. You can find then in the Google machine under "azjusticeproject."

Coming up: Can Eleanor stop Vicky from going into The Eternal Shriek? Plus, the two Eleanors open up, a truth is revealed, and an architect is put on the path to redemption.

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