Over the Hedge: Vincent's Return Chapter 9: The deal, an over the hedge fanfic

Disclaimer: This movie belongs to Dreamworks. Characters belong to T. Lewis and Michael Fry

RJ continued to cry. His one and only love was kidnapped by a homicidal bear, and he had no clue where to go to find her. "It's my fault," he said. "I shouldn't have left her alone." The triplets tried to comfort him. "It was our faults, Uncle RJ," said Bucky. "Yeah, we shouldn't have been spying on you guys," said Spike. "You wouldn't have had to leave Heather to scream at us," said Quillo. RJ just continued to cry. Then Bucky saw something that he knew would cheer him up. "Uncle RJ, look!" he said. "Bear tracks!" RJ immediately looked to where Bucky pointed. He saw that while Vincent trashed the place, he stepped into a pile of cream filled donuts and made tracks. He saw them leading away from the spot. RJ ran over to the start of them followed the trail. The triplets went with him. They continued to follow the trail until they came to the end of it. Where it stopped was the last place RJ wanted to see now that Vincent was around: the mountains where Vincent used to live. He ran back over to the dinner spot, grabbed his fishing pole and golf club, and ran back to meet with the kids.

"Okay, kids," he said. "Listen to me. Go back to the hedge and grab everyone. Bring them over here. If things get ugly, I'm going to need everyone's help." The triplets did as they were told and ran back to the hedge. RJ ran over to the foot of the mountain and cast his fishing line to the very top. Once the hook was firmly stuck to a rock, RJ reeled himself up. Once he was up, RJ ran over to the opening of the cave. He took a look inside and saw Heather in Vincent's grasp. He also saw Vincent looking right at him. "I knew you'd come, RJ," said Vincent. "Why don't you come in and we'll talk." RJ glared at Vincent, let out a growl, and ran at Vincent with his club raised. Before he could land a hit, Vincent slammed his paw down on RJ, pinning RJ under it. "Look, I'm just going to say this once," said Vincent. "If you don't want your girlfriend here dead, you'd better listen to what I say. Understand?" RJ just glared at him and said nothing. "Understand?!" Vincent started crushing RJ under his paw. RJ let out a scream of pain. "I'm waiting," said Vincent. "Yes, I understand," said RJ. "Good," said Vincent.

Vincent lifted his paw off of RJ. "Get up," said Vincent. RJ did what Vincent said. "Alright, now pay attention," said Vincent. "As you probably already know, winter's less than a month away, about 3 weeks. Normally, I'd have the cave almost full to my liking by now, but since I've spent most of my time trying to get away from the Rockies and tracking you down, I haven't been able to do so." RJ looked at the spot where some food was, and saw that there was very little of it there. "Now, when I went over to your little home earlier today, I noticed that you had a pretty big stash of food." "Yeah, so?" interrupted RJ. "So, I'll make a little deal with you. Since you're quite the expert at gathering food, I'm giving you until winter to fill up my cave until I'm satisfied. And believe me when I say that it's going to take a lot of stuff to make me satisfied. I'm thinking about 3 wagonloads the size of your stash. If you do that before winter, I'll leave you and your friends alone."

"Do it yourself, you tub of lard," said RJ. Vincent glared at RJ. "Now, before you say no, let me tell you what will happen if you don't do it. If you don't do what I say, then I'll tear your little girlfriend apart, limb from limb." RJ's eyes widened at Vincent's words. "You wouldn't," he said. "Believe me, I would," said Vincent. "And I'll do it nice and slow, too." RJ knew that he was serious. He knew that Vincent would kill Heather if he didn't do what Vincent told him to do. That was the absolute last thing he wanted to happen. "So what's it going to be, RJ?" asked Vincent. RJ gave in. "Fine, I'll do it," he said. "Just please let her go." Vincent shook his head. "Not until I get 3 wagonloads, and not one less load. Now go. And remember, 3 loads, or the girl dies. And you'll be after her."

"Can I just talk to Heather first before I leave, please?" RJ asked. Vincent rolled his eyes. "Fine, but make it quick," he said. Vincent set Heather down next to RJ and left the 2 for a moment. "Did he hurt you?" asked RJ. "Don't worry, RJ," said Heather. "I'm okay. But how are you going to get a bunch of food before winter?" RJ sighed. "I don't know. It won't be easy, but I'll try. I'll make sure I get enough food. I don't know what I'll do if Vincent kills you." Vincent came over. "Time's up," he said. "Get going." Before RJ left, he and Heather embraced each other. "I love you," said RJ. "I love you, too," said Heather. "Be careful." "Hey, come on," said RJ. "I've done plenty of heists. What's the worst that could happen?"

They stopped hugging and RJ left the cave. As he climbed down the mountain, he could only hope that Heather would be okay. When he got to the bottom to meet back with the kids, he saw the others waiting there as well. Ozzie ran over to RJ. "Where's Heather?" he asked. RJ just hung his head. "She's still alive, but Vincent still has her," he replied. "You left her with him?!" screamed Ozzie. "I had to Ozzie!" screamed RJ. "Do you really think I would've just left her there if I didn't have to?!" "How did she get kidnapped in the first place?!" asked Ozzie. RJ knew that Ozzie wouldn't like what he was about to hear. "The kids were spying on us, so I left Heather at our date spot to give them a talk. Then I heard Heather scream, so I ran back. By time I got there, she was already gone."

The next thing RJ knew, Ozzie's fist connected with his face. RJ fell to the ground. "So it's your fault that she's in the paws of a homicidal bear!" screamed Ozzie. RJ got up and wiped the blood from his lip. "Ozzie, I'm sorry," said RJ. "I didn't think Vincent would come by and take her." Ozzie's answer was another punch to RJ's face. "It should've been you, not her!" he said. Verne rushed over to stop the argument. "Alright, stop it, now!" he said. Ozzie took a minute to calm himself down. RJ wiped the blood from his lip again and glared at Ozzie. "Nice to know you feel that way, Ozzie," he said. "Before you punch me again, Ozzie, listen to me first. Vincent made a deal with me. If we can get 3 wagonloads of food to fill up his cave before winter, he'll let Heather go and he'll leave us alone. They need to be the same amount as our stash in the log." "What'll happen if we don't do it?" asked Hammy. RJ let out a sigh. "If we don't get Vincent's food, he'll kill Heather." Everybody gasped. "How are we going to get 3 wagonloads before winter?" asked Verne. "There's only 3 weeks left before winter, and our stash took us almost 2 weeks to gather."

"I know Verne, but we're just going to have to try," said RJ. "I'm sure everyone on the block must've gone shopping since we stole from them, so this might not be too hard. We just need to work extra hard and extra fast." They headed back to their log. When they got there, everyone went to their sleeping spots. Before RJ went to his, Ozzie took him aside. "What is it Ozzie?" he said in a bitter tone. Ozzie looked at RJ with sad eyes. "RJ, if you hate me right now, I don't blame you. I shouldn't have said what I said. And I shouldn't have punched you. It wasn't your fault. And I shouldn't have said that it should've been you. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" RJ was silent for a minute. Taking it as a no, Ozzie walked away. Then RJ stopped him. "Of course I forgive you Ozman," he said. "I understand how you feel. And you're right, it should've been me. I'm the one that angered Vincent, not Heather." RJ looked Ozzie. "And I promise you, one way or another, we'll get all of Vincent's food and get Heather back. We have to. Heather's life depends on it."

So what do you think? Pretty tough spot for them, huh? Good chapter or bad? Review please. And I want to say thanks to everyone who has been reviewing my story: scuta5, NWCobalt, rjandheather, rent.love., Rock Raider, moviemanic122893, Tikaani, Heather the Hen, Nausica of the Spirits, Adeptis, and Optimum Energon. This story's gonna be coming to an end soon. Most likely 2-3 more chapters. Hope everyone's finals in school went well. C ya!