a taste of your own medicine

A Villains of Valley View drabble

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Villains of Valley View characters belong to Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, not to me. I didn't mean to ship any of these dorks and then the Halloween special hit me with feels, wth. :'3 Read, review, and enjoy! *Note: This is set during s1e11, "Havoc-ween."

- ^-^3

Halloween definitely has not gone as planned.

That's the only thing in Jake's mind as Hartley's party winds down after he and Amy trick Grandma back into captivity. There's just—there's no un-ringing that bell. Tonight was supposed to be his family's first big holiday as normal people, not as villains, and they didn't manage to pull that off. Now he (well, mostly Amy) is in Damage Control mode, especially since Hartley keeps her distance for the rest of the night.

And that's a new one. Hartley's got a good set of morals, a personal code Jake admires. So for Hartley not to forgive Amy this time around, things are bad. But worse than that…?

Jake joins Amy, sitting by the refreshments, and notes the empty cup in her hand, so he tries to force a plate of cake into her lap instead. When chocolate doesn't breathe life back into his sister, he bumps his hip against her shoulder. Er, well, he tries to bump his hip against her shoulder. That's easier said than done when one's wearing a pumpkin guts costume.

But at least that earns him a tired sigh from Amy, even if she doesn't look up at him. "What, Jake?" she asks, her tone even.

He follows her eyes out into the thinning crowd, to that particular girl swathed in gold. He grins and chuckles to himself. "I wouldn't worry about Hartley too much, Amy. Besides, you two go well together." He points at Hartley and gestures to their neighbor's sun goddess costume before glancing back at Amy. "The sun's never far behind the rainclouds, after all."

But Amy's not here for the nod to her costume complementing Hartley's, nor does she appreciate Jake's attempt to cheer her up. If anything, the small frown on her face deepens to a grimace. Amy sets aside the chocolate cake, untouched, and shakes her head. "I…don't like it, but. I guess I can…maybe comes to terms with Hartley staying mad at me this time. I just—I keep replaying in my head, that scene from earlier, with Grandma's voice coming out of Hartley's mouth, with Grandma controlling her movements." She pauses, and Jake would swear she fights back a shiver at the rather disturbing memory. "As long as Hartley hasn't disappeared…"

"You'll take a mad Hartley than no Hartley at all," Jake supplies.

Amy nods. She glances up at him, and, for a fleeting second, Jakes thinks his sister, dastardly tough girl Havoc, is on the verge of crying. Then she blinks, and she's just angry with herself yet again, trying to hide how badly tonight's encounter with their powerful grandmother has left her shaken.

So Jake doesn't push her to make further conversation, and he doesn't try to cheer her up more. Instead, he mulls over this vulnerable side Amy shared of herself…and he thinks it makes sense, that it falls in line with his sister's character, actually. Maybe, he thinks, Amy's finally growing up, learning to care for the one friend she has.

The Maddens only stay on the sidelines for so long, though. When Hartley thanks the stragglers for coming and sends everyone else home and it's clear Hartley's got her hands full cleaning up everything on her own, it's a no-brainer for Jake that he'll pitch in and help his friend out.

But more surprisingly is that the same occurs to Amy, and she grabs a garbage bag and starts cleaning even before her brother does. It's a rare sight and probably can be explained by Amy's guilt for nearly ruining Hartley's special night.

And yet…Jake pauses in breaking down some of the hanging decorations, because what's going on behind him on the floor to be far more interesting.

Hartley still hasn't forgiven Amy, and she's surprisingly good at doling out the silent treatment. But more curious is Amy's expression aimed at Hartley's back for the rest of the night. The longer Hartley ignores Amy, the more Amy resembles a hurt puppy to Jake.

Jake can't say he blames Hartley for not immediately forgiving Amy. But Amy's shown a lot of change, growth, in just one evening, and the way she's holding out for Hartley's ray-of-sunshine attitude to return…nah, the way she's waiting for Hartley simply to look at her again?

It reminds Jake a lot of him and Starling.

And the reminder of his hero hits him hard, enough that he's got to tear his eyes away from Amy and Hartley and focus on the task at hand.

The three of them finish up faster than Jake expected, which finally brightens Hartley's mood. "Thank you guys so much," she chirps, all smiles again as she pulls her sun crown from her hair.

Jake raises his eyebrows and slides his eyes Amy's way, wondering how this newer Amy will handle the return of the Hartley she's missed all night long.

But Amy shrugs it off as they make to head home, and Jake wonders if he misinterpreted things before, especially since Amy wears her usual, villainous smirk once more.

- ^-^3

Done for the 5, 10, 20, 50, 70, 100 Fandoms Challenge in the HPFC forum on FFN. That last line is so ominous, *lol*. XD But, nah, Jake's deffo smart and a better people reader than he thinks… ;) I've been enjoying this show and Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion from the get-go, but srsly "Havoc-ween" gave me alllll them feels when Grandma and her possession abilities arrived. It was such a great ep! It also helps that Hartley, Celia, and Jake are my favs, but this was an ep where I rly saw Amy's potential for good charrie dvlpmt, and I was so proud of her. ;w; So whether platonic or romantic (bc bby gays exist! -w-), I dig the Hartmy. And also Jarling, hence the comparison. (The ship-thru-others'-eyes storytelling technique used here is just a fav of mine I've done for a bunch of my other fandoms and I couldn't resist for my first VoVV fic~ :D) Aaaand I'm off to write another Hartmy bc the more I think about them, the cuter and funnier everyone is to me. (Also I'm rly looking forward to new eps for the rest of the season coming, so if you're a fellow VoVV fan, pls come chat…! TT-TT)

Thanks for reading, and please review! Check out my other fics if you liked this~ And reblog this fic on tumblr to show your support!

-mew-tsubaki :'D