Missing

Chapter Nine: Turnabout

"Eat," Vicky commanded, voice cold as ever while she slid a plate of sizzling sausages beneath his nose.

Timmy poked them with his fork a few times, turning them over and taking in their hot peppery scent, though not feeling all that tempted. "I half expected to wake up in that cave again…" he didn't know why he spoke this subject aloud; though out of all the ones he wanted to talk about, it fell out.

"Eat," Vicky repeated a tinge more forcefully, setting down her own plate and jabbing a fork deep into a juicy link, skewering it with ease.

"Do I even need to anymore? When I was stuck down in that pit I never ate or drank, and I was down there for a good three years! You wished that, didn't you? Well?"

"Eat," she tore a good sized chunk from atop her sharp utensil, removing nearly half of the steaming sausage.

"Or what? You'll beat me? Make me kill more people? Is that why you brought me to this deranged future? Huh?! What pointless lesson have you got prepared for me this time?! Tell me!"

Vicky flipped the coffee table over, sending their dishes across the room to crash, "Fine!" she screamed, making Timmy stand to his feet like she was, "Fine! You don't want breakfast! You're angry and want to fight! I'll fight you then!" she grabbed a handful of the boy's crumpled night shirt and brought him close to her face, "Well?! I'm right here dickhead! Take a swing! Or are you still too much of a fucking pussy to hit me?!"

A rage fumigated his entire body, making his muscles tense and clench. Oh yes, he would love to hit her, pay her back ten fold for everything she had dragged him through. But looking into her contorted face gave him an ailing admonition. Did he really want to sink down to her level? Is that what she wanted him to do? Or was she really just so pissed off she didn't know what she was doing any more?

"I'm not going to hit you, Vicky," Timmy said with a defeated sigh, allowing his muscles to relax with the deep breath, "You know I would never-"

"You think you're better than me now?! Huh?!" her eyes were so wide, packed full of malcontent, "You think I'm scum?! Do I disgust you?! Make you sick?! Well?! Answer me!"

Maybe it was because he had heard her yelling all his life, or perhaps because seeing her rage was never going to be anything new to him, but he didn't flinch, he didn't even look away from her. How funny the human face is, so many emotions it can portray. No wonder wrinkles creep up on people with out warning. She didn't scare him anymore. Oh yes, she could attack him, hurt him, scream at him until her lungs filled with blood, but he wasn't frightened of her. No, instead it was something else… something more like… "I feel sorry for you, Vicky," he raised his hands to grip her wrists, at first she held fast, but with enough steady and relentless pulling she finally released him, allowing him to bring her fists down to her side.

"Sorry for me?... Sorry?! I don't want- I don't need your pity!" She tried raising her hands again, but Timmy wouldn't release her, "Let go of me!"

"No."

"I said let go!"

"No, I won't."

She dead-legged him, right on his left quadriceps, her knee repeating the digging attack with zest. Finally he was unable to cope with the relentless assault on his now throbbing leg and discharged himself from her.

"Ha!" Vicky barked, most likely finding his pain to her pleasure, "Won't let go, huh? Some commitment you have!" She pushed at him as he tried to comfort his bruised leg, "Hands off! You aren't allowed to lick your wounds until I say you can! You obviously don't like me being friendly with you, so I'm going back to way I always am!"

Timmy stared at her. It was so obvious to him; could she not see her own follies for herself? She must be lashing out, not because she was fed up with his attitude, but rather she was being a sore loser. Vicky hadn't won him completely, had not been able to break him down completely and rebuild him into her perfect soldier, despite being her captive for three years. Even if she didn't want his pity, he still couldn't help but feel it for her. And, he took notice, feeling sorry for her was much more gratifying than striking her. It meant that he really hadn't been wrecked and reformed completely after all, being able to feel this way was proof of that.

"Vicky…" the boy started, though not having a single clue what he wanted to say.

"Don't give me that conceited tone bullshit. It's more fun to watch you struggle when I slap you around."

"… I'm sorry."

"What?"

"For last night… I'm really sorry…"

Her deranged façade melted. Timmy was sure the events of last night were rushing through her head once more. Vicky sat back down on the couch and closed her eyes. That had done the trick, he really was catching on!

When the redhead did not speak Timmy continued, "I know you were just trying to get closer… and have some fun while you were at it-"

"You don't know shit!" Vicky spat, though not hindering Timmy's progress.

"But I don't want to be that sort of friend with you… and before you start its not because I don't think you're good enough for me, its because I want my first time to be with someone I love and care about,"

Vicky made a mocking little sound.

"Yes, love, I believe in it still. Even after everything you put me through I go on believing. I saw what you had done with sex in this time period; it's become recreation and a way to control people. And that's what I felt from you last night. Was I wrong?"

She readied no attempt to look up at him. Her arms crossed defiantly as she eventually spoke, "You're thinking way too much into this…"

"Am I?" he didn't believe her words spoke the truth.

"Are you questioning me?!" Vicky shouted, facing the boy in anger once more.

"I am," now wasn't the time to back down.

She forced her face away from his again. Timmy was anticipating much more of a fight than this. Was she actually losing her moral? Her overheated inspiration? He could only hope as much as she stood and started for her front door, "I want this mess cleaned up by the time I get back," she ordered right before slamming the door behind her exit.

At first the young man refused to follow such inane instructions. Who was she to boss him around with such a weakening resolve? Snoozing on the couch was much more appealing, so what if the monstrous bitch could come storming back in at any moment? He would just stand his ground again. After all, it was she who took away all he had to lose. As the hours passed and the sky became a cotton-candy painting, however, sheer boredom drove the boy to tidy the place up.

Staying inside proved boring at best, so Timmy headed out onto the porch to watch the sun be dragged away and the city hum to life. Her symbol of the V was everywhere; he hadn't noticed the strength of its persistence last visit. He knew there was some important meaning to constant displays of authority and power, all the countries of the world in his time used flags and symbolism for similar reasons, but what exactly that was he felt uncertain. He had not progressed so far into his academic education, after all.

The sound of a door slamming snapped the boy out of his musings. Instinctively he spun on the spot to face the apartment's entrance, but as he took in the vacant room reason slapped his brain silly. That sound didn't originate from this home, but next door.
Was this relief or disappointment he was feeling? And how come he was unable to clearly distinguish his emotions anymore? Well, his feelings didn't really make a difference anyway, did they? Nah, better to count the few brightest stars that could still break through the light pollution, in a rather wintry nightfall, than worry about how Vicky's inevitable return would affect him.

"Oh," a female voice from Timmy's right spoke in mild surprise, making the boy turn in response, "I didn't know anyone had moved in next door!" She was pretty, this was the teen's first analysis, and he cursed himself inwardly for not dressing out of Vicky's used pajamas and into something sharper. Once he got past the male instinct of fuck or flight, he took in the appearance of the woman on the other balcony more casually. She had straight black hair, horn-rimmed spectacles, and blue eyes… recognizable blue eyes…

"Err, I just got here," Timmy answered quite truthfully, holding his hands to his bar arms in an attempt to preserve body heat, "Umm, so you must be her neighbor, right?"

"Her? You moved into here with someone else?" the absence of disappointment in her voice compounded on his own inside. But what was really confusing the boy was this woman's familiarity.

"Yeah… I guess you can say that. Umm, sorry about this, but don't I know you from somewhere?"

"You know what?" The raven haired lady put forth, not seeming to be all that affected by the cold, "I was just about to ask you the same question."

"Huh?"

"I could swear that I've seen you before…" the young woman seemed to become engrossed in her contemplations before popping her eyes open with an enlivened nuance, "Hold on one second! Love, if I talk to you like this," her voice became suddenly husky and seductive, a small smirk pervading her mouth, "does it ring any bells for you?"

Timmy's eyes were now the ones to hold comprehension, "The bar maid!" he shouted unceremoniously with a rude pointing of his finger, "You're the lady that got me drugged!

"Non!" the actress dismissed, "It wasn't I who drugged you, darling, that little pleasure belongs to the fumes mixed with the party air. I simply provided you with the trigger, which should be common knowledge, you see."

"Oh yeah…"

"Furthermore," she pushed, "I think I remember who you are now. Piña colada, and woman troubles… ah~," her eyes brightened, "I didn't recognize you… you look older, maybe the new haircut? Heh, so, you moved into this nice little one bedroom with your trouble maker, have you?"

"I… I guess you can say that…"

"You haven't?"

"I don't know. I have no idea how long we're supposed to stay here. Hell, I just woke up in that room yesterday."

"She must be some kind of woman to drag you around in your sleep, and you don't mind if I drop the bartender act, right?"

"Yeah… I don't care," Timmy wasn't very surprised to find out about her personification, "Vicky just dragged me here after… Uh, after I fell unconscious…"

"Vicky?!" Toots yelped in surprise, "Your girlfriend's name is Vicky?!"

"What?! No! She isn't my- why would her name- ughhh, what?!"

"You don't know about the name either? There is something strange about you. No wonder there is a price on your head…"

"A price on my head?!"

"Oh, wanted alive and unharmed, don't worry. But after you disappeared at the dance a few weeks ago Overlord Victoria went on a rampage. She locked everyone in and wouldn't release a soul until you were found. When she couldn't find you she had people thrown from the highest tower until she got some leads, but they were all useless. And you can guess that this just further frustrated her until she executed her personal bodyguards. Something about them not being able to follow orders, I think it was. I guess they were supposed to keep taps on you. I didn't realize you were the kid who went bezerk on that child molester until after you had gone."

Timmy's stomach was distorting inside-out. So Victoria was searching for him? And had murdered innocent people just because she couldn't find him? Where was Vicky? Where had she run off to now? He needed to find her, tell her what had happened and get out of here, their little feud could be put aside; they were in danger. Then another stab of revelation twisted into his back, and he backed slowly away from Toots. This woman couldn't be trusted, she knew who he was. Well, not who he truly was, but who he had become in this alternate future. And there was a reward for his captured body.

"Well, I'll just be going inside now," he tried to dismiss, heart pounding something terrible.

"Oh? Is that really such a good idea?" this question held him still, "Because the way I see it you can either stay here and talk with me, answer some questions, and maybe even warm me up to your plight; or you can run back into your little hidey-hole as I inform the authorities that there is a most wanted young man living next door to me. Also, I could really use the reward money."

"You're almost as bad as Vicky…"

"Yes, speaking of Vicky, why does your girlfriend have that name? You do know it's a forbidden name to have, unless you obtain exclusive permission from the Overlord, right?"

Right now the truth did not feel the safest path to follow, but at the same time he had the overwhelming feeling that this woman was not one to be lied to, so leaving out some key details had to somehow work for him "Okay, first off, she isn't my girlfriend. Vicky is just her name, she was born with it and I have always known her by it. She might have been granted permission to keep her name somehow, who knows?"

"I would know."

"Why?"

"I'm asking the questions here," unlike Vicky, however, Toots did not yell at or belittle him. Her questions held a calm urgency, a meaning behind them, "Now tell me, how come you know so little about common custom? I mean, like the spiked air, or the forbidden name?"

Timmy considered her for a second. Would she tell the authorities everything she found out? Was she perhaps part of them and just stalling for time until backup arrived? Or was she genuinely just curious about him? "I'm… I'm not from around here…"

"There you go again! You clearly don't know that it matters not from where you come; the entire civilized world is the same. One language, one worship, one law. So please, explain to me why you don't know these things!"

"I… well… I don't think I should be- I mean, you know, talking to you about this…" god, how weak his argument was. Why couldn't Vicky have taught him something useful for situations like this?

"And why not?"

"Because Vicky… I'm just not allowed to, okay? It's not worth it!"

"Oh, it will be if you don't fess up. Either you tell me, or you tell the police. And trust me, hun, they won't be nearly as courteous as I am."

Timmy wanted to snap at this woman, who was she to make threats? "You really remind me of her, you know?"

"Who, Vicky or Overlord Victoria?" there was a small pulse in her voice, making the boy halt, pause, and reassess his situation.

"You say that like…"

Toots raised a well trimmed eyebrow and crossed her arms beneath her chest, a knowing smirk beginning to form, "Like what, kid?"

"No way…"

"You shouldn't be so surprised… well, I didn't believe it at first when my sister came crashing down into the dance floor that night, saying that you, Timmy Turner, had returned and disappeared beneath her nose. I had thought her obsession had finally taken its toll and cracked her mind, but the more she explained, the more it made sense."

"So…" what a bombshell! Tootie, the adult Tootie, not only alive in this alternate future, but on speaking terms with her dictator of a sister, "So she didn't buy my story? She knew the entire time that I was me?"

"Of course she didn't believe you! She isn't a moron, as much as we liked to believe she was as children. Ah, but that brings me to my next point, how come you are still so young?"

"You've grown up…"

"I know that! But wh-"

"And you are so much different than you were as a kid… I mean, you haven't squealed my name once or even-"

"Timmy," she sighed in an adult sort of way, "That's because I have grown up, and I got over you when I was still a kid. My sister never did though; she has it in her mind that you are the only person capable of putting a stop to her rule. She never told me why but she must have her reasons. Never mind that now, tell me why you are still just a teenager."

"Vicky must have known…" he said more to himself than to her.

"Answer me, Timmy," Toots softly ordered, "And then tell me who exactly this other Vicky is afterwards."

"I… no," the shellshock was dissipating, allowing the arms reason to regain their strongholds, "Even if you are an old friend, I still can't tell you why. Hell, you might not even believe me if I did."

Toots let go of a regretful sigh, "What a downright shame."

"Shame?"

"Will you at least tell me who this other Vicky is?"

"No… No, I don't think I should."

"Timmy," her tone become stern, unfaltering and infallible, "You do know that if you don't tell me then I will have no choice but to report your whereabouts to my sister, right?"

He hesitated a strenuous moment before gently responding, "Even if I'm captured and whisked away someplace… unreachable, I doubt anything even in this place can stop Vicky from reaching me. No, let me talk, I am completely serious. She has ways, ways even the sister you know can't match. It was her who stole me out of that dance floor, and it will be her who can remove me from any prison I might end up going to. Huh, now that I think about it, she might have put up some sort of protection here just like in the cave… I wonder…"

"Cave? What cave?"

"Ha! Let's just say any cell you have ready would be like paradise compared to the place she has been keeping me."

"So you are a prisoner? You weren't just over exaggerating your circumstances that night?"

"That's right."

"And she still has you prisoner, even now?"

"I'm thinking it's probably impossible for me to even leave this place with out her, or for anyone to get in. Actually, knowing her, I'm pretty damn sure I can't."

"And her name is Vicky?"

"Y-… Yes…" it just occurred to Timmy that this annoying black haired woman was piecing his words together, "Why?"

"And you are still only, what? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

"I think I've told you enough…"

"Right… Though that is impossible, ah, but you being your age and disappearing was also impossible…"

"Tootie?"

The woman lifted her head out of contemplation, a wondrous gaze shone through her magnified blue eyes, "She is also my sister, somehow, isn't she?"

What was he supposed to say? Confirm? Deny? There seemed little point in either, as Toots had somehow convinced and wheedled herself into the truth. His silence seemed to be all she needed. However her dawning meant little as the front door banged open and Vicky's dominating voice echoed though out the apartment.

"Hey twerp! Where are you?!"

Timmy shot a humiliated glance at Toots' excited one. He knew she wouldn't be calling the cops, not now that the situation had become something almost like magic to her, "I better go, she sounds mad," and no longer caring what action the adult Tootie would decide to perform, Timmy walked back into the barren apartment.

"What where you doing out there?!" Vicky stipulated. Her hair was wind swept and there were little dead leaves clinging to the bottom of a dark green trench coat Timmy did not recognize.

"Just talking to our neighbor…" the young man sighed.

"Oh, her," the lack of caring his captor showed conjured surprise in the pajama clad youth, "Don't get your hopes up about her, even if you told her everything no one would believe her. Anyway, I want you to get dressed, we are going out."

"Hold on," Timmy griped, "So you know Tootie is living next door?"

Vicky rolled her eyes, "Of course I know! How else do you figure I would know about a vacancy here? Now I'm not going to-"

"Forgive me," he interrupted unwisely, "but I though we were fighting again."

"Doesn't matter, I cooled off. Now shut up and go get dressed, we are going to take a walk around town. Oh, and it's chilly out there, so dress warm."

He obeyed, though for his own sake rather than hers. After dawning a sporty new outfit and stepping out of her room, he began questioning again, "Tootie said there was a price on my head."

"Yeah, and?"

"And?! Well, there is a price on my head! And I don't mean my future self! I mean me! And Tootie threatened to turn me in!"

"And did she?"

"Huh?"

"Did she turn you in?"

"No, but-"

"Then there is nothing to worry about."

"But she said-"

"And I said that there is nothing to worry about."

"But-"

"Timmy!" Vicky was really pushing her point now, "Trust me on this, okay?! If I wasn't certain we would be absolutely safe here, then I wouldn't have made this our new hideout. I knew Toots wouldn't turn you in, even if you did fess up. And frankly it was just a matter of time before she realized a younger version of her sister had moved in next door. I also knew my sister well in this time; she serves liquor to kids and writes second rate fantasy novels. She wants to believe in magic even in a world controlled by me, so why would she give up some glimmer of that hope for just a little cash? If anything she'll be a pest to us, and it's not like we haven't dealt with that before."

"Well… alright, alright. So Tootie I don't have to worry about, right?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"And… You aren't mad at me anymore?"

"I told you, I cooled down," Vicky placed her hands in her coat pockets before gazing out over the balcony, "I'm still pissed off, but not any more than I usually am with you."

"Is it because I still stand up for myself?"

"Partly, yeah, but there is more to it than that; I guess I'm kinda mad at myself for not trying harder too. I just assumed my plan would work like always. It's an adult mistake, I got over confident. Well, that's the conclusion I came up with wile walking around all day. I wanted to kill you, Timmy, and I almost snapped again today. But I don't really, truly want you dead; understand?"

"… I… I suppose…"

"I need a break, I have been working so hard these last few years, and almost at nonstop. Last night I thought I could use you for some relief, I admit that now, but don't mind it. Kay? Come on, the night is young, lets take a break!"

Vicky took hold of Timmy by the wrist and led him out the front door. Whatever events the night was to holding in store for him filled the youth with a most curious fear. So much had happened in such a short time, it seemed unrealistic that his day was only half done.