Author's Note: I just saw the episode where the Greek Gods throw a party in Timmy's house… Yeah, I'm just going to pretend that never took place. The story was already pretty AU anyways.

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Missing

Chapter Twelve: Trust

A year had passed, one full year of harsh reeducation, vicious physical training, and brutal adaptation. Timmy was sixteen now, taller than Vicky by an inch, and rarely unseen by her side. He had grown accustomed to the laws of the land, not that he fully approved of them, but he knew how to deal with his emotions and blend in. That is to say if he covered his face in public.

Vicky seemed to work non stop. He often wondered if she had made a wish for a limitless supply of energy, but he knew this was foolish. He alone was privy to her states of severe exhaustion, and it was often him who had to relieve her. She had yet to demand he go all the way with her, but he knew it was slowly creeping upon them, most likely when massages and forced groping would no longer suffice to keep her cravings at bay. She had respected his wish to cling onto his virginity thus far, probably more on Cupid's behalf than his own, yet he felt she was seeing him more as a man owned by her than ever before.

She often made transverse trips between the time periods, rarely allowing Timmy to accompany her, unless a stealth mission was at hand. From what Timmy could tell she was making tweaks here and there, setting the right people to be at the right place at the right time. She was creating wars, granting political wishes, and screwing up the world's economy. She was also playing the part of the genius government college student; already triple majoring in the fields of law, history, and economics. She had scored internships at the White House and US Supreme Court and was fast becoming the talk of the town. Who knew where this bright young lady would be in ten years? Some joked she could claim the title of youngest US President in history, and a woman on top of it.

Meanwhile politicians she didn't like were mysteriously dying. World figures who held views conflicting her own somehow went missing with out a trace. People were starting to fear the unknown again; and yet found hope when stories of a young redheaded American girl told of how she rose from blanketed tragedy to be a bright new star. She seemed to have answers even the most experienced members of the US congress and the UN never even seemed to fathom. Her name was rising, and rising fast.

Beneath all of this self accumulated attention Vicky was even busier hunting down the remnants of her beloved Gods. With the help of her reacquired position of future Overlord and the resources that came along with it, not to mention the counsel of Cupid and Morpheus, she had located many artifacts that could potentially house the soul of a fallen God. There was also a list which she had formulated herself that indicated potential hosts who might be a reincarnation of a deity.

"It's a trigger," she had told him when trying to figure out aloud exactly how to coax a god from an artifact, "Cupid came back because everyone loved him again, and he is a child of love. Morpheus is regaining power because we dream about him and believe in him, and he is a being of dreams. But I can't seem to figure out Athena!"

She had decided to go after her patron Goddess next, but every single object or listed name seemed to yield little. "I know more about her than any mortal! I swore she had to be a reincarnate, but none of the names or creatures on my list quite fit! And these artifacts, they can't be it! I know it has to be someone out there!"

"She is supposed to be really smart, right?" Timmy had questioned, trying to quell Vicky's growing rage.

"The smartest!" But she just seemed to be yelling at the situation, not him.

"Well, maybe she already knows who she really is, and is hiding herself?"

She looked at him, wide eyed, "Timmy, that's the stupidest thing you have said in a long time."

"Or~…" he seemed to remind himself of Cosmo just now, however the memory of his imprisoned god parents didn't seem t o hurt so much these days, more like it bothered him a little but he could ignore it, "maybe she knows someone who is searching for her would think its stupid and never suspect it!"

"Just shut up," she sighed and leaned against the pane of her massive window looking over the gloomy future city of New Athens. Yeah, this is probably how Cosmo felt whenever Wanda scolded his lack of intellect. After a long time contemplating she turned back to the young man and spoke, more calmly now, "It has to be a woman, women are smarter than men, more cunning and tactical. They also are more natural at craft making and reason. I doubt she would rest in the body of a man, there are no advantages to it."

"And you have looked up all of the most talented women of our time?" Timmy reiterated.

"Yes, I told you already, multiple times. I have examined every outstanding woman or girl and they just don't seem to match up like my other findings."

Timmy knew it was beneficial for both of them to keep her calm, and one way he learned to do this was allow her to organize her thoughts. He would be the inquisitive student so she could act the all knowing teacher. It made her feel better, in any case.

"She was the Goddess of wisdom…" Vicky though aloud, "of peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts, and reason… Companion of heroes… Virgin patron… Ah, but Cupid said she was anything but a virgin, she just allowed her worshipers to say such things to make her look better. She did have many virgin shrine maidens though. So she respected the virtues of her underlings. Morpheus recons she loved their heroes more than he did. If so then why has she not appeared before me?! Did the dream God not say I had greater potential than most did?"

This all rang familiar to Timmy, these lists of traits and tendencies, so he could imagine just how much more infuriating it was to Vicky, who now dedicated everything she had to this Goddess' revival. She let out a great harrowing sigh and looked directly at him, something taxing on her mind.

"My Cosmo came to me when I was reworking our time again," Timmy lifted his head and sat straight up, he was lounging on one of their ornate couches, "he asked about you."

"Me?" the teen questioned, quite honestly surprised. It had been so long since he had heard word of Anti-Cosmo.

"Yes," She began walking slowly in his direction, straightening her military style hat, "He wants to know if you are ready yet."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him you were just about there," she had come to sit next to him and lean in the opposite direction, letting her head rest while looking straight up at the high painted ceiling, admiring the Pantheon rendered masterfully in oils, "that you still had some character flaws, but overall you wouldn't betray me."

"I wouldn't…"

"I know you wouldn't," she smiled, still not looking at him, "Still, I'm worried you might slip up."

"Slip up?"

"Yeah, you know, mention my real plans. Or give us away in one form or another. You have made so much progress since we moved in here, but I still think you aren't ready to face off with Cosmo yet. I have no idea what he has in store for you, or how he will test you. He might even be smarter than me, you know, so predicting the way he thinks is difficult."

"How much longer?"

She laughed, pleased by his abrupt assumption, "Look at you, figuring out things almost as fast as me these days," she sat up some and caught his eye, "Zero, nothing, time's up. He wants to see you at this moment. You technically only have about two years left with your god parents, and are about the age now that kids start losing theirs."

"So wait… are you telling me we have to go now?"

"Now? Oh god no. We haven't even had dinner! I think you forget that Anti-Cosmo is still a gentleman. He'll probably come to call after dinner, or more likely, he'll come to join us."

"Join us? You mean disguised as a human, right?"

"Of course disguised as a human," she shook her head, "He probably already left word with our darling receptionist. That only leaves us with a few hours, you know, so I want you to get changed into your best uniform after washing up."

He stood, knowing now that whenever she gave an order it was to be obeyed with out question, unless it conflicted with anything Morpheus or Cupid had to say. He gathered up his custom made attire, specifically created to his fit and displayed quite nicely the authority he had when in the presence of the Overlord. Not to mention how sharply cut it made him look. The last he saw of Vicky before entering the bathroom was her in deep and serious contemplation.

Now, calling it a bathroom did the place no justice. It was more of a miniature palace. There was a changing room, where one would rinse off their bodies before entering the main bath. This bath, which filled the room with a thick dreamy layer of steam fog, stretched out for what looked like miles. He knew it was a trick of magical fortification, meaning how everything in their living quarters bent to the will of Vicky, but that did not seem to subtract from its stone laden beauty. Classical Greek statues of Ganymede and his chalice surrounded the heavy waters, ever pouring curtains of clear water into the pool. There were trees here too, hanging with every fruit imaginable, and the faint song of birds in the distance.

He rinsed in one of the side showers, washed off, and after wrapping a soft towel around his waist, made his way into the depths of the expansive pool. He waded far out, as was his custom, until he could no longer see the edges of the bath through the dense fog. After letting his towel drift away he lay backwards and floated on the water's surface, arms splayed and tingled by the warm water. His mind wandered, thoughts of his godparents, of Vicky's, of her master plan, and then of the prospect of possibly seeing it all come to fruition. He knew it was up to him to keep Vicky's cruelty to a minimum now, to affect her cold heart with his kindness. For the most part it worked; she seemed to take more pity one people when he was around. It's probably why she didn't much like having him tag along when she went back to their time. Ah well, at least he didn't hate so much anymore…

He felt something soft across his chest. Long, thin, strong, but soft. His eyes opened, only fog above him. He turned his head, and saw her, as naked as he was, and hair let loose to fall down to her shoulders; Vicky, smiling sadly, but with conviction. Rose pink eyes melting into him.

He flailed wildly, heart racing, pounding against his chest, and making quite the splash, "Vicky!" he shouted in surprise, and noticed that he had drenched her, effectively killing any seductive effects she was trying to exemplify, "What are!- uh! I mean, I thought it was my turn to-" the annoyed look on her face shut him up, as it was both murderous and somewhat comical. Well, comical if it was directed at anyone else.

Then, extraordinarily with out warning, she splashed him. A full sweeping of her arms through the water caused a miniature tsunami to wallop him across the face. Ah, payback was always tenfold with her. "You moron," she snapped, "you have no taste for sensuality, do you?! No, shut up, I'm talking! I was just thinking these might be the last few hours we have together and wanted to at least spend some… some quality time together, and you go and ruin the mood!"

"You surprised me! You said you would respect my decis-"

"I wasn't going to seduce you! I was going to bathe with you, dumb ass!" she crossed her arms and haughtily turned away from him. She reminded him of a brat child for a fleeting moment, before remembering this was the most dangerous human on the face of the planet.

"If you had just asked… or given some warning… I'm sorry I upset you." He really was sorry, so the little huff she sounded in response didn't make him feel any better.

She was right though, had they not spoken of it before? If she didn't present him just right to Anti-Cosmo then the dark fairy will probably have him done away with. And, though he saw pain in her face when she confessed it, to keep her mission objective plausible she would have to let him go. Nothing could risk the favor she had with her Cosmo. He didn't hold this against her; in fact he knew it had to be done. If the Gods came into power again then Fairy World will probably be saved. Did Cupid not love the fairies he has lived with for thousands of years? Surely he would free them if he had the power to. It was a strange situation that somehow played in both of their favor and brought the two would be enemies closer. For Vicky it meant the realization of a childhood dream and the possibility of greater power than the Anti-Fairies could ever offer her. And for Timmy it promised the liberation of his god parents and their world. If he had to die for this, then so be it.

She was slumped over now. Not crying, at least not in an audible way, but the situation was weighing down on her. She chose to work alone, Timmy knew, and she had her reasons. But even so it was too much for one person to burden themselves with. It was usually times like this that she had come to him in need of some relief, both physical and psychological. He gulped, hard.

The young man learned long ago not to speak during important moments like this; he just wasn't great with words. And though he knew he could hide his presence now, what with all the physical and combat training she regimented for him, he didn't allow his approach to go unheard. She had said it was just to bathe, right? Right…

One of his arms slipped around her middle, the other crossing over her chest and resting on her shoulder. She leaned back into him, needing this, and he knew it was her wanting so bad to have meaning with someone that allowed her to calm so quickly. Her hands overlapped his, she brought the on her shoulder to her lips and kissed it.

They stayed entwined in a way swans did for what could be considered just a little too long, or perhaps not long enough... Time, if they only had a little more time. She turned around in his arms and wrapped herself around him, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder. It wasn't that Timmy really liked doing this; he just knew what his master desired. And his entire life was now dedicated to keep her happy in order to keep innocent people safe from harm, not to mention his own hide. Still, it wasn't so terrible either, just a bit uncomfortable.

She held him a little tighter, rubbing his strong back and nuzzling into his bare flesh. It wasn't as if this was their first close encounter, but he still felt uneasy. He had to keep reminding himself that it wouldn't go anywhere, that she just wanted to be close and let her troubles go away, if just for this moment. He held her a little tighter too, she looked up at him.

"You still don't want to, do you?"

"I'm sorry, Vicky…"

"No, don't be. It just proves that you're strong. I know I tease you and belittle you, but I still respect your choice. I'm just not great with showing it, am I?"

"No," he laughed a bit, "not really. But that's okay, its just the way you are."

"You say that like you accept me,"

"Don't I?"

"Do you?"

"I think so… I hope so…"

"I accept you, Timmy."

"I know… I'm just not as good as you are in these sorts of situations."

"You're blushing,"

"Wha?... I am?"

"Yeah," she smiled a small curve, "Its kinda cute…"

"Too bad you don't like cute things, right?"

"That's right," she now laughed softly, "but if I did I think I would like this."

"Vicky?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you… and I'm sorry about… well, you know."

"Its okay, you aren't ready. Some of us are late bloomers. Though you are considerably tardy, mister."

"Yeah, well-"

She had moved her fingers up his side, across his chest, and rested one on his lips, "Shhh, don't speak…" She then kissed the finger separating their lips and moved back into her resting position. He was glad she was back in a good mood, if only for this moment.

They knew time was running short, and reluctantly left the comfort of their bath. Timmy's mind wasn't so much on Vicky or Anti-Cosmo, as it was on him self. He had come such a long way from that squirmish little boy he once knew. Yes, she could still make him uncomfortable with the right look or tone, let alone the display of her full figured womanly body, but unless he was outright surprised he didn't freak out any more. Even now, seeing Vicky dry off her naked form and cloth herself didn't upset him all that much, it was actually kind of nice. Not that he was in love with her or anything, he could just appreciate that yes, Vicky was a fine looking woman.

"What, you like what you see?" the redhead half teased, half offered.

"Ah! Sorry, I was just lost in thought!" He quickly began drying himself off with a fresh towel and headed to where his fresh cloths were set.

"I don't mind if you stare, twerp, but it is sort of unfair."

"Unfair?!" he felt slighted, "Hey, lady, you stare at me all the time! I had to get used to it. Unlike you, you just revel in the attention."

"I do, don't I?" she laughed, full of her own ego.

Timmy mumbled to himself as he applied the layers of his uniform on, brushed his hair out, styled it, and presented himself to his crossed armed senior. She whistled a long, impressed note.

"Now don't you look snazzy?"

"I hope so… Ah! I mean, you look great too, Vicky."

"I was gonna say… Well, come on; let's get the hell out of the sauna."

Vicky assumed right, it turned out. When requesting an in person update from their receptionist, she had came up to their room and told of a well dressed dark man going by the name of Cosmo who had dropped by to remind them of a dinner invitation that night. He was accompanied by a woman starkly different than himself in manners, who he introduced as his wife Wanda. Dinner was set for seven in the evening in the great outdoor gardens, for the weather was promising. And the entertainment would be a band of exceptionally talented young boys from the Musical Institute of New Athens, all trained in classical interpretation.

"May I ask something, Overlord?" Their receptionist asked politely.

"I suppose, we do have some time to kill before dinner, anyway," Vicky responded.

"This strange man, Cosmo, he said he was your godfather."

"And? What of it?"

"Well, that's just it; I don't remember you ever having godparents."

"Listen, Toots, there are a lot of things I have kept hidden from you. I know what you're thinking though, why let them live while our parents had to die, right? Well, your parents at least. But I let you live, did I not? So is it so hard to fathom that I also let my own godparents live?"

"No, Overlord, I understand that… But, well…"

"Well?"

"I still don't remember them, or remember mom and dad ever mentioning them."

"Your mom and dad mentioned little about my own mother, let alone her friends. You went for years thinking we were full blooded siblings, remember? What would have been the point in telling you?"

"I see… I just never knew."

"By the Gods, you are as insistent as ever!"

Timmy then stood up and joined the conversation, "Can I cut in?"

"Feel free," Vicky huffed, clearly ticked off again.

"Tootie," why did he always speak so softly with her? "Why don't you join us for dinner tonight? I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you were our guest."

"Oh yes they would!" Vicky nearly shouted, disbelief peppering her voice, "Timmy, you know damn well Cosmo wouldn't want that. He would like for us to be alone, it's a private party."

"I don't mean all the time, Vicky," he responded, ignoring the always present look of wonder when Tootie watched them interact, "but she could be our waitress, and our server. I'm sure she is more than qualified, and definitely capable."

Vicky raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them with a mixture of scorn and contemplation, "I think I created a monster."

"Huh?" both Timmy and Toots said in unison.

"Look at you, Timmy, coming up with good ideas more often than not. Fine, if she doesn't get in the way then I don't care. But don't introduce yourself as my sister right away, let him figure it out. Otherwise he would find it… offensive." No, Timmy knew he would find it offensive at all, not unless being suspicious was considered rude.

Tootie had returned to her post, much happier now, and it wasn't until dinner loomed ever closer that Timmy really did appreciate his decision all those months ago to convince Vicky to let her sister work here. She had been a friend when Vicky was away, and best of all he was allowed to indulge some secrets with the raven haired lady. Not any of the big ones, of course, but things about time travel and exploring the past, present, and future. No one would believe Toots if she said anything anyways, and she seemed to understand this. Never the less she had started a new series in her books about time travelers whose main characters struck a familiar chord in Timmy. Best of all, at least for Tootie, she had started gaining recognition in her writings; if that was because people saw Timmy reading her works in his spare time or not he wasn't sure.

"I want you to mind your manners, remember all of your lessons in etiquette," Vicky had told her ward as they sped down the lightning fast elevator, something else Timmy had, for the most part, grown used to.

"Don't worry, Vicky, I've been prepping myself for hours. I'll be fine. And if I'm a little on edge that's okay, I think he would expect it. I'm more worried about you, to be honest."

"I'm fine; once I'm there I'll put one of my gallery faces on. Remember, he probably isn't evaluating you tonight, just seeing what progress if at all I have made, and if we should put off whatever tests he has in mind any further."

"And if he thinks I'm ready now?"

"Then you damn well better be. Chin up, posture, this is our floor."

The moment the handsomely dressed pair stepped off the iron cage a change from with in transformed them. Mindsets, when often practiced, tend to take over in times of appropriate need. The way before them was decorated and well lit. Out into a hidden garden they passed, and set at its center was a long, ornate dinning table. At the head of the table sat a tall man, with dark blue hair and bright green eyes, too bright to be human. He wore a monocle that complimented his dark, almost black blue three piece suit. To his right sat his wife, also of dark blue curls for hair, but her eyes were a pink Vicky's never could mirror in illumination. The most dangerous Anti-Fairies, Vicky's Fairy Godparents, had arrived in the guise of humans.