How the scene in Slippery Slope should have gone. This one isn't connected to my other stories, only the books. Begin!

~Violet's POV

"Klaus go see what kind of information you can find in the library," I commanded as I put on my climbing shoes.

"Violet you're not really going to climb that waterfall by yourself are you," Klaus asked, a worried look crossing his face.

I shrugged, "I'll be fine."

Quigley was standing beside Klaus as he spoke up, "I'll climb with her."

I looked at him and smiled a little, "Thank you for volunteering, Quigley."

He smiled, and Klaus looked satisfied at the prospect of me not doing something so dangerous alone. Quigley put on my climbing invention, and we left one for Klaus just in case something happened. After testing the ice with the candelabra, we began our daunting ascent up the waterfall. I climbed much faster than him; I felt like I had to. My baby sister might up there... I need to know she's ok.

After some time I found a sturdy ledge for us to rest on. I sat down and helped Quigley up beside me. He gave me a tired smile, and looked very out of breath.

"You were really fast at the start there," He said, "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"Climbed a frozen waterfall using only silverware assisted climbing shoes and a broken candelabra? Never," I replied.

He chuckled, "Just checking."

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small bag of carrots and handed one to me. I thanked him and we ate to regain our energy after such a long time climbing. I immediately remembered how Sunny loved raw carrots and my worries for my sister came rushing back.

"Sunny loves raw carrots," I looked down for a moment and asked, "Do you think she's really up there?"

"Of course I do. If your sister is as smart as you and Klaus, then she'd find a way to signal you."

I nodded and looked back out towards the rest of the Mortmain Mountains. After a few moments Quigley spoke again.

"Hey just out of curiosity, Violet," He started, "When you guys were at Prufrock with my siblings, Klaus didn't touch Isadora, did he?"

I felt a tiny smirk cross my face, "He didn't touch her. But she kissed him on the cheek before they went to do laps for us in disguise."

He looked enraged, "What!? And Duncan just let it happen? God damn it, we swore to our dad that we'd never let a guy near Isadora without our express permission."

"Well since you were dead, what exactly was Duncan supposed to say?"

"I don't know... something! He's the oldest; he should be looking out for stuff like this. When I get back down there I'm going to kick Klaus' ass."

I rolled my eyes, "Quigley, listen to me. Klaus is in love with Isadora. He's treated her with nothing but respect since the day they met. When we had to send them up in the hot air mobile home he practically turned the Hinterlands into an ocean with how hard he cried. Duncan trusts him so you should too. And Izzie is my best friend; I want her to be happy. Besides you have to admit they'd be cute together."

He looked away slightly and I swear I heard him mumble something that sounded like, "we'd be cute too," but I must have misheard it. I turned to look back at the mountains. I decided to distract myself from my family worries by admiring my surroundings.

"You know, aside from the ashes of the fire, it's a lovely view."

"Very lovely indeed," Quigley said, but as I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye I noticed that he wasn't looking at the mountains... he was looking at me.

I felt his hand interlock with mine, and I looked down as he squeezed my hand gently. We locked eyes when I looked at his face again. It should have been a romantic moment, like something out of a Disney movie, but something didn't feel right. I looked into his eyes. Green, sincere eyes... a warm smile... handsome face... messy black hair... wait messy hair? I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Now I know what's wrong. Boy, this is going to be awkward. I quickly let go of his hand, and he gave me a confused, disappointed look.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Quigley. It's just... I can't."

"Why not? We're here; we're alone, what's the issue?"

My mind shifted to the warm, caring, green eyes of a boy who looked almost identical to the boy sitting beside me. Duncan Quagmire. A boy who showed me inordinate amounts of kindness, who held my hand for 6 hours to keep me calm about Olaf showing up. The boy who put his life on the line for me and disguised himself as my brother to run laps in our place and got himself kidnapped in the process. Yet he didn't regret a thing. I tried to stop him that night, but he wouldn't listen. He wanted to help and he did, even if he got kidnapped. I loved him. I realized that now. I wanted to be with Duncan, and here his brother was hitting on me, while he's up in the sky on a balloon house with their sister. Duncan and I never had anything official between us, but it felt wrong sitting with Quigley like this.

"Because I love Duncan," I replied, as a bit of red crossed my face at the thought of that charming journalist that had stolen my heart, "I'm sorry Quigley... you just look so much like him, but he always keeps his hair neat. I guess my heart just got confused for a minute."

Quigley scratched his head nervously as his face turned very red, "Oh... sorry I didn't think about that."

We sat for a few moments in silence before he started chuckling, "So, you love my brother, huh? What were you guys dating at Prufrock or something?"

I blushed more, "Not officially, but somehow everyone thought we were." The whole school had gotten it in their heads that Duncan and I were a couple. Vice Principal Nero even said it to my face.

He smirked, "I seem to recall Carmelita mentioned something about two orphans dating. I suppose you can pin the blame on her for the rumor."

I groaned, "I should have known."

He looked away a bit, "So this is what it feels like..."

I tilted my head a bit in confusion, "How what feels?"

"Rejection. I've been with a lot of girls, and none of them ever turned me down before. Duncan would get mad at me because I'd get with a few ones that he had a crush on too. And once I'd break up with them after a while, he never had a chance again because of us sharing the same rugged good looks. As if he thinks he's the better looking one," Quigley scoffed, "Yeah right."

I chuckled, "Well if you ask me: Duncan is the better looking one."

He glanced at me, "Oh, shut up you're biased."

I remembered that I had heard a similar statement from Duncan back at Prufrock.

~…

We had just gotten out of Mr. Remora's class and were walking to meet Klaus and Isadora at the library. We kept up a pleasant conversation before I decided to ask something I probably shouldn't have.

"Duncan, if you don't mind me asking, what was Quigley like anyway?"

He looked at me for a moment before replying, "Well, he was a ladies man. Had a new girlfriend every 2 or 3 weeks or so, with an annoying habit of stealing girls I was also interested in. Of course being cursed with the same rugged good looks meant that once he eventually broke up with them I never had a chance again. As if he thought he was the better looking one. Yeah, right."

~…

I guess this was a conversation/argument they had often. Though I'm sure that if you were to ask Klaus he would say Isadora is the best looking one. And I think she'd agree.

"So, you're really ok with me loving, Duncan," I asked.

He smiled, "Hey, Izzie might think I'm a jerk for being so careless with women, but a rejection is a rejection. If you love Duncan, then you should be together. Hell, my brother deserves a girl like you. I'll be the best man at your wedding if you want me to."

I chuckled again, "I'm pretty sure Klaus will be the best man actually. Duncan is his best friend after all. And Izzie will be my maid of honor."

"Alright, whatever you say," He paused for a moment before continuing, "Listen, Violet, if something happens that separates us I promise that I'll find my siblings and bring them to you again. Ok?"

I grinned widely, "You mean that?"

"Absolutely, I need to be with them again. Being in hiding so long... it got pretty lonely even with Jacques taking care of me the past year; I miss them."

"Thank you, Quigley," I started shifting from my position to face the waterfall again, "We should keep going now."

As we continued our ascent, I felt my heart lighten at the idea of seeing Duncan again. We found Sunny at the top, but Olaf and his remaining henchmen were there so we couldn't bring her with us. We climbed back down. Once we reached the destroyed Headquarters, I had to stop Quigley from hitting Klaus for what happened between him and Isadora at Prufrock. Poor, embarrassed, Klaus apologized profusely and assured Quigley that he would respect Isadora no matter what.

We figured out the Verbal Fridge Dialogue message using Klaus' notes, and Quigley informed us that the meeting would be happening at a place called Hotel Denouement. It was night time now, and we all decided to get some rest after our long day. We each curled up in a spot where the winds wouldn't hit us inside the destroyed library and went to sleep pretty fast.

And all my dreams that night were of me reuniting with my handsome journalist.

~The End!