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The Victoria Chronicles

**Chapter 16

Dinner and a Show**

By the time Frank made it back to the truck Vix was already sitting inside. She had deactivated the suit and was once again wearing the shops coveralls.

He made his way to the driver's side, opened the door and got in. Vix said nothing.

"So...Not quite what we were hoping for, huh?" Frank asked.

Nothing but silence came from the passenger seat.

"Look, not to pry but, who is this Victor guy?" Frank asked hesitantly.

Vix's ears laid back against her head in agitation and her tail flicked about irritably. "Victor's dead. End of story." She said sullenly then turned away from Frank and looked out the window.

"Ok. You don't want to talk about it. That's fine. You don't have to." Frank said in what he hoped was a comforting voice. "How about we call it a day?"

Vix just gave a noncommittal grunt and her ears shifted back to splayed position to either side of her head, mirroring her depression.

Frank started the truck and started driving. Then he had a thought. "Hey, before I drop you off at Pops' why don't we get some early dinner? I know of this place on the edge of town that's got great burgers and cold beer. How about it."

"Fine." Vix sighed, one of her ears twitched.

Frank drove on for a while and left Vix to her thoughts. He didn't like this. She seemed to have withdrawn herself, and he was worried.

"Vix, I swear we will find your friends." Frank said reassuringly.

"Oh, I will find them! And if Smith has in any way harmed them I will drive a truck up his fucking ass! Vix snarled menacingly, her ears flattening to the back of her head again. "That bastard took everything I had! Everything! And I Will make sure he never does it to Anyone_ever again!_ No matter what!!"

Whoa! Frank was not expecting that amount of venom and hate from a person, and he had seen some pretty pissed off people in his former line of vocation. They drove on for a bit with neither of them talking. After some time Frank decided to roll the dice and press his luck.

"So this Victor guy must have been a pretty good guy?" Frank said in what he was hoping sounded like a friendly and non-hostile way.

Vix said nothing for a bit, her ears drooped and her tail went still. When she did she mildly startled Frank who wasn't expecting a response from his question.

"Victor was a good person. He was cared and helped where he could." She said quietly before adding, "Then he was erased from this universe without a trace! Nothing left, not even a corpse!" she growled, her body language swinging from depression to extreme anger in an instant.

Mentioning this guy was a major hot button with Vix. Frank decided to leave that topic for a bit. Vix was way too heated up to ask her again. Even Percii was uncharacteristically quiet.

They drove on for a while until something started to vibrate in Vix's pocket. She reached in and withdrew her phone just to see that Jessica was calling. And it was a video call! She couldn't ignore this call, if she did Jessica would just keep calling and calling. She nearly never called ever, but when she did it was serious.

Shit shit shit! What do I do, what do I do?!

"Uh, are you going to answer that?" Frank asked uncertainly and noticing Vix's growing agitation. Her tail was thrashing about the seat in a panic.

"I can't! It's a video call!" Vix said with a panicked whine.

"Then hit ignore." Frank said confused. He didn't understand why a person who not only stared down the barrel of a sniper but smashed said rifle after cleaning his clock was on the edge of hyperventilating.

"I can't do that either. She'll keep calling and calling while getting angrier each time!" Vix said freaking out.

"Why? Is it your mother?" Frank asked.

"Worse! So much _worse_Frank!" Vix said with her ears laid flat in a panic.

Quickly making a snap decision she shifted to human and pausing her finger over the screen and reluctantly hit accept on her phone.

"Victor!" An angry voice screened, "Why the hell haven't you called yet!" Jessica's angry voice rang out through the cab of the truck.

"Now Jessica." Vix started in as calm a voice as she could muster. "I need you to be calm as I explain something."

It was only then that Jessica took a good look at her phone. From Vix's perspective Jessica's face got closer and larger and she squinted as she took a long look and Vix's face on her phone.

"Who the fuck are you bitch!!" she screamed. Even Frank winced at the volume that she reached. With Vix's enhanced hearing it was almost like nails on a board. She was thankful she didn't have her vulpine ears at the moment. It would have been far worse.

"Jessica, I really need you to calm down. There's something really important I need to tell you about m--, Victor." Vix corrected herself as she tried in a vain attempt to calm down a rapidly worsening situation.

"Where the hell is Victor?! Is that asshole cheating on me?! Is it with you?!!" Jessica yelled while taking a close look at Vix on the screen. She made a quick comparison of Vix's human form which was, frankly, very attractive to her own looks and made a snap, jealous, and very wrong decision. "You fucking whore!! That two timing bastard is cheating on me while fucking you isn't he?! Isn't he?! Answer me you fucking bitch!!!"

Jessica's voice was so loud and screeching that even Frank was flinching at every punctuation and increase in volume.

"Jessica please!" Vix pleaded hopelessly. "You really need to hear this."

"You know what? Fuck this shit!! You tell that asshat that we are through!!" Jessica screeched, "I never want to see him again!" just before she hung up Jessica took a good look at Vix's chest and said in a final act of defiance and spite. "And by way? Your boobs are totally fake!!"

"Jessica wait--" Vix started, but it was too late. Jessica had already ended the call.

"Fuuucckkkkk!!" Vix cried out after a brief pause after the call ended as she slumped into her seat. Things could not have possibly gone worse.

Frank coughed politely before saying in as calming and reassuring voice he could, "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think your boobs are fake."

Vix relaxed her hold and her body changed back to her usual foxy self. Her fur poofed up and she leaned forward just enough for gravity to take hold and let herself fall forward till her head hit the dashboard of the truck with a solid thud.

"Uh, you ok there Vix?" Frank asked, genuinely concerned. Vix just started lightly hitting her head against the dashboard repeatedly several times in torment.

"Hey! Don't break my dashboard!" Frank said now really getting concerned. For Vix, not so much the truck. "Hey look at it this way. You can spare her from learning that Victor is dead." He tried to say in a more upbeat voice.

Vix let her head het the dash with one final thud and stayed that way for some time. Frank started to wonder if he needed to pull over and check on her. Finally she stood up before slumping back into her seat before saying anything in a small voice. "I know things weren't going that great, but I really thought things were starting to look up. I really did."

Frank was confused. Was Victoria talking about trying to fix a relationship between a dead guy and a total bitch? He didn't wish death on people generally, with very few exceptions, but from the sounds of it this Victor guy was better off wherever he was now than saddled with this harpy.

Whine "I give up." Vix said after a while. "Just kill me all over again."

"Look, just forget about that bitch Victoria." Frank said reassuringly, "We're almost there. Then we can have a good burger and a cold beer. How does that sound?"

Vix just groaned and kept quiet for a bit before finally saying, "Fine." In a drawn-out voice of defeat. "Just stop by the shop first so I can change out of these coveralls."

"Sure, no problem Victoria." Frank said. They were headed in that direction anyway so it wasn't much of a detour.

A few minutes later they pulled into the driveway of the fenced in scrapyard and Frank pulled up to the building before parking the Truck. Vix slid out of her seat and went into the building headed for the locker-room. Heading to the locker she had used before she slipped out of the coveralls and stuffed them into the locker before pulling out her flannel and putting it on. Now clothed just in her jeans, green shirt, and her flannel Vix drifted back out to the lot where Frank was loading her bike onto the back of his Truck.

"Hey! There you are!" Frank said in an upbeat friendly voice, hoping to cheer the vixen up a bit. "I figured after lunch I would take you back to Pops' place."

"That's fine." Vix said as she walked past him and climbed back into the truck looking like she had a lot on her mind. Which she did. She was going over what they had found at the old airfield in her mind. Over and over again. Analyzing and picking apart every detail, looking for some clue, anything she could use to find her friends.

Frank wanted to say something, but he was at a loss as to what to say to the melancholy fox.

Eventually he said, "So...where are you from?"

"Everywhere." Vix replied quietly.

"Come again?" Frank asked perplexed.

"Part of me, the part that's neither human nor vulpine, has been everywhere. Greece, Rome, England, London in particular, everywhere." Vix said with I sigh. "I can remember every detail as if I had done it myself. But the person 'I' used to be has never left the country."

"That...that seems like it would get confusing." Frank said glancing over briefly at the vixen sitting there next to him before looking back at the road as he drove.

"It's not so much confusion as...embarrassing." Vix replied.

"Come again?" Frank asked.

"It's...it's kinda like being alone in someone's house and looking at everything they have while their not there. It feels like you're invading their privacy. Only, it's inside your own head. You know it's their memories, not yours. But..." Her voice drifted off at 'but' and she didn't say anything for a few seconds before starting back with, "Can we talk about something else?" Vix said, her ears were still down, but in a slightly different position. Embarrassed perhaps? "This is getting kinda awkward."

"Sure." Frank said. He thought for a minute before saying, "What about Jessica? What's here deal?"

_Shit! Talk about an awkward subject. Why did you have to bring her up Frank?_Vix thought to herself before saying, "Where do I begin? She started out being nice and friendly, but then started being clingy and jealous." Vix said. "She didn't seem like a bad person before, but now? I don't know, I don't know what changed."

"Maybe she was always like that but acted all nicely-nice just to get what she wanted?" Frank posed. "Did Victor have a lot?"

Vix thought a bit before replying. She had to remember to keep the two separate so as not to reveal her secret. People seemed to treat her pretty well all things considered. But what if they knew the truth? What if they knew she used to be--. Vix quickly shoved that thought out of her mind. No! She didn't want to think about that right now.

"Not really. He got by fairly well. But not so much that you'd think he was wealthy or anything." Vix said. It kinda helped if she referred to herself in the third person. That seemed to help her keep her thoughts in line without rousing suspicion. "He was just one of those people that kept his nose clean and did what he thought was right."

"Kinda like you, huh Victoria?" Frank said innocently. Vix gave him a stunned look for a moment before averting her eyes and looking out the window.

"Yeah...kinda like me." She said sadly.

Frank didn't know what he had just said but now the vixen wouldn't look at him again and all the energy in the truck had just been sucked out the window.

Aw shit! There I go saying the wrong thing again just when she was starting to open up a bit. Frank thought to himself. They drove on in silence once again. Frank was afraid to say anything more lest he made things worse, and Vix just didn't want to say anything.

Eventually they pulled into the driveway of an old roadside bar-n-grill and Frank pulled into a spot near the front in the sparsely populated parking lot. Looking over Frank saw that the vixen had already shifted to her human disguise again. I wonder how she does that? Frank mulled to himself. Out loud he said, "Come on, you'll like this place."

Stepping inside the place looked much like a small roadside restaurant with booths along the walls and tables in the center of the room with a bar along one wall. The hostess at the door greeted them as they came in.

"Hi Frank! Usual booth?" She asked.

"Yup. Just two for today." He replied.

She grabbed two menus and lead to them to the back corner to a corner booth that afforded a good view of the place. It was still early so the dinner rush hadn't started yet.

"What would you like to drink?" The hostess asked.

"Two waters and two of the usual please." Frank said jovially.

"You got it! Two beers coming up." She said before turning to head off towards the bar.

"Just coffee please." Vix said quietly.

The hostess spun on her heal and looked back. "Pardon?" she asked.

"I'll just have coffee please." Vix repeated without looking up.

"Ok. One beer and one coffee." The hostess said before heading off again.

Frank looked over at Vix to see she hadn't even opened her menu. She was just sitting there, head in one hand and just staring towards the wall at nothing.

The waitress came back with their drinks a few minutes later and placed them on the table in front of each of them. She glanced at Vix briefly with a slight frown on her face then turned towards Frank. "Do you need more time to decide?"

Frank gave a glance at Vix then turned to the waitress. "Nah Tammy, we'll just have a couple of burger platters please." He said after just a moment's thought.

"Ok, two burger platters. You want cheese with that?" she asked.

"You have to ask?" Frank said with a smile.

"Right." She said writing down on her order-pad. "And the lady?"

"She'll have cheese on hers too." Frank said deciding for when Vix didn't respond.

"Two burger platters with cheese on both. Ok Frank, I'll get this right in." she said before disappearing into the kitchens.

Frank turned back to the human looking vixen and sighed inwardly. He was out of his depth here and wasn't sure what to do. Eventually a pressing mater of a different sort made itself know to him.

"Hey, I'm going to hit the head. You going to be ok?" he asked getting up from the booth.

"Meh." Vix simply muttered.

Giving a concerned shake of his head Frank headed to the back where the restrooms were located just as the sound of motorcycles could be heard coming onto the parking lot. A few minutes later a group of somewhat rowdy guys tumbled into the place and headed right to the bar. As the bartender filled their order they started razzing each other and bragging about some sort or another. Clearly they were already juiced before arriving here. Eventually one of them happened to glance towards the back of the room and noticed Vix sitting by herself in the corner. Nudging one of his cronies he motioned with his beer.

"Hey! Check out that redhead in the corner!" he said boisterously. Before yelling across the room. "Hey sweetie! How ya doing?"

His calls came on deaf ears. Even if Vix had been paying much attention she would not have thought anyone would be addressing her as that was something you said to a girl. It didn't apply to her in her own mind.

"Hey girl! We're talking to you! Why don't you come on over and have a chat?" another one of his friends tried.

Not even a flicker of recognition was given.

Not having the desired effect he decided to try the direct approach. He got off his stool and headed straight over to the booth Vix was sitting in while Vix continued to stare at nothing while her thoughts ticked over internally.

Walking up to her he tried a different tactic. "Hey sweetie, what's your sign?"

Having finally noticed that someone was addressing her she glanced up at him briefly before looking back at the wall and simply saying, "Closed."

This got a chorus of laughter from the man's friends still seated at the bar while they watched the show.

"Aw come-on sweetie." He slurred a bit, "Why sit here by yourself when you can sit with us and have a good time?" he tried again.

"I've had all the fun I can stand today. Now push off!" Vix stated. Her pendulum was starting to swing back from depression back to anger. She didn't know what this guy wanted, and she wasn't interested in anything he was selling.

But this guy would not be deterred. "Hey tell you what! You can sit on my lap and we can talk about whatever happens to pop up!" he pressed his luck. He didn't seem to notice that a fuse had been lit.

Vix finally turned around in her seat and looked him dead in the face. "I've had a really, really bad day! And you're adding fuel to it! I'm telling you one last time, Fuck, Off!"

This got another round of drunken laughter from his buddies at the bar who were enjoying the whole show, but now his pride had been bruised. As it turned out this was soon to be the first of many bruises.

"No look--" he started after placing a larger hand on her shoulder. Vix took one look at his hand then up to his face and her eyes flashed red.

Frank stepped back onto the dining room floor a few seconds later to an all-out brawl occurring with Vix smack in the eye of the storm. The bartender and the waitress along with the hostess were all hiding behind the bar watching the fight and trying to stay out of the range of shrapnel.

"Aw hell." He said before running over.

It was about twenty minutes later and the place wasn't nearly as wrecked as one might expect.

More interesting to note was that the bikers were cleaning up the mess they had caused. Under the watchful eye of Victoria.

She and Frank were over by the bar and watching as the five swept up broken glass and re-righting knocked over chairs and tables. Frank was sitting on a stool holding a bag of frozen peas to one of his eyes. Vix was standing a few steps from the bar with her arms crossed under her chest. The stern look on her face was one that said simply, don't cross me!

"I swear, I'm going to have a black eye tomorrow. Mark my words." He said casually.

"I said I was sorry." Vix said in an apologetically voice turning to look at him with some concern before turning back to glare at the five cleaning, her face going back to one a mother or teacher gives to one that has been misbehaving. The brawl seemed to have burned off a good portion of her anger and brought her out of her depression. For now anyway.

"Bah! It's no big deal. Not the first. Possibly not the last." He laughed. "But I have to ask. What started the whole thing?"

"Man wouldn't take no for an answer." The barman said from behind the bar.

Frank turned around to look at him, the bartender just shrugged. Then he turned back to Vix. "That's what started it? Well aren't you the face that launch a thousand ships!" he laughed.

To be fair the bikers did most of the damage to themselves. Vix only threw two punches, the first that started the fight, and the one that Frank was now nursing his eye over after he had laid a hand on her shoulder to help and she had spun on him not realizing who it was. The rest were caused by the five men in attempts to get at Vix only for her to not be where their fists were aimed, but one of the others to be as they came from the other direction. All Vix had to do was keep out of their way, which she found comically easy to do with her speed and agility and their drunken state. The rest of the beatings they inflicted upon themselves.

Vix just watched the five bikers finish up their chores before one cautiously raised his hand after the last of the debris was dropped into a garbage bag. The fight and the beatings they had given each other seemed to have sobered them up greatly. Having been bested by a female had help also. "Uhm...Miss Victoria? Can we go now?" he asked.

"Are you done cleaning everything?" Vix asked.

"Yes'm." He said.

"Did you pay the owner for all the damages you caused?" she asked.

"Yes'm." He said again. She glanced back to the bartender who just nodded as he polished a glass.

She turned back to face the current spokesman for the gang. "And the next time a women says no?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"We take the hint!" All five said in chorus.

"Fine. Off you go then." She said. All five gave a sigh of relief and started to shamble towards the door before being started by Vix calling for them to halt. She walked calmly over to them as they all held their breath. "Just one question." She said. "Have any of you seen or heard of anything, odd, going on? Strange trucks driving about? Men in black suits harassing people? People you know going missing?"

The men shook their heads at all the questions. That is until she asked that final one. Then they all had a haunted look about them. Vix picked up on this and pressed on. "What do you know?" she asked.

"Well..." One man started, he looked to the others before continuing. "Thing is, a couple of our club came into town for food and stuff, only, they never came back. We were heading into town ourselves to see why they haven't come back."

"How long ago was this?" Vix asked.

"About two days Miss." The man said.

Vix mulled this over while the five stood there and waited. Finally she said, "Do you know where the scrapyard is on the edge of town?" she asked.

"Yes'm" the man said cautiously.

"If you find anything or notice any other weird things you go there and let me or Frank know." Vix said.

"Yes Miss." The man said, "Can we go now?"

"Yes. Off you go." Vix said dismissing them. The five quickly left the building and a few minutes later there motorcycles could be heard leaving the parking lot at a 'respectable' speed without any squealing of tires or fuss. They didn't want to press their luck any further.

Victoria walked back to the bar where Frank was still sitting and took a stool next to him. The bartender gave her a cup of fresh coffee just brewed and look of mild admiration. "I'll be damned Miss. That bunch comes in from time to time and usually are fine, but every so often they come in already half drunk and then it's a chore to get them not to start something. Nothing too bad, but they tend to be loud and obnoxious. That is the first time I've seen them be respectful of anything or anyone while in that state." He said respectfully.

Vix just gave a shrug and took a sip of coffee before pulling back in shock. Was coffee always this strong? It wasn't this way this morning!

"Something wrong Miss?" the bartender said concerned.

"No, it's nothing." Vix stammered quickly, "Just burned my tongue a bit." Vix gave the coffee a sniff before taking a cautious sip. It was still stronger and more bitter than she remembered coffee being. She didn't know if she would be able to get used to it. She may have to give it up entirely.

"Percii? What the heel did you do to my sense of taste?!" She said through the mental link.

"Well Misstre--Miss Victoria, although I did tweak things a bit, what I think you are primarily experiencing is your vulpine tongue. Feral foxes don't like the taste of coffee. Most animals don't. It's mostly just humans that can tolerate the bitterness."_The little AI explained. _"Although Visalth did like drinking the odd cup she generally preferred tea."

"Of course she did." Vix thought mainly to herself. From what little she knew from talking with her, and what she remembered from Visalth's memories, the Vivudrosian did like a good cup of tea. Mainly from her time in Victorian London.

While she was mulling this over the waitress brought out their food and set it down in front of them. "Here you go. Two burger platters with cheese. Enjoy." She said before going back into the kitchen.

Vix picked up the burger and gave it a sniff. Smelled about right, just stronger and with other smells from food cooked from the grill. Giving it a bit she found that not only did it taste like a burger, it tasted better than any burger she had ever eaten before! The meat and texture along with the cheese was like nothing she had eaten before. It had to be these new senses of hers. Maybe things weren't all bad after all if a simple hamburger could be made to taste this good! Or maybe it was the carnivore in her. Whatever it was she dove back in for another bit after she swallowed the first. How could this taste even better than the breakfast sausage she had that morning for breakfast?

"See? Told you the food here was good." Frank said smiling. Vix just nodded and took another bit happily. Frank was glad that she seemed to finally be happy about something after the mood she had recently been in.

It didn't last long though before Vix's mind started to drift back to her missing friends. Why was she the lucky one who was free? Lucky, ha! You call this lucky? Transformed into this, this...what the hell am I? Vix thought to herself as she put down the mostly eaten hamburger. She looked down at the mostly eaten meal and after a few moments pushed the plate away from her. I don't deserve this pleasure. Not when I couldn't even save my friends from that holding cell.

"What's wrong?" Frank asked when he noticed that she had stopped eating. "Aren't you going to finish your meal?"

"I'm done." Vix said after taking another sip of her coffee and grimacing from the taste again. This is going to take some time to get used to again. If at all. She thought to herself before getting up from her stool. "Enjoy the rest of your meal. I'll be out in the truck." She said before turning and walking for the door.

She was stopped at the door by the bartender who happened to be the owner. "Thanks again for dealing with them before they got any more out of hand than they usually do." He said taking her hand and shaking it.

Vix forced a weak smile and said, "I didn't do anything special. They're the ones that beat themselves up." She politely excused herself and walked out the door.

Frank quickly wolfed down the rest of his meal and took a good swig of his half drank bottle of beer before paying for the meals and heading out to the parking lot. As he expected he found her sitting on the passenger side of the truck deep in thought again. With no one in the parking lot she had gone back to her normal form. Sighing, he fished out his keys and got in the truck. As he settled into his seat he noticed her tail tip twitching side to side in mild agitation.

"Ready to go home?" Frank asked as he started the truck.

"I don't have a home." Victoria said dejectedly, "But Pops' apartment over the shop will do for now."

Frank took the hint and shifted the truck into reverse. Pulling out of his spot he turned the truck towards the road and pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Pops' farm.

Pulling up to the shop building twenty minutes later, Frank parked in front and started unstrapping Vix's bike from the back of the truck. Pops came out of the shop a few minutes later and helped Frank in lowering it to the ground before wheeling it under the outside staircase to the apartment on the second floor. Vix wondered off across the driveway and crossed her arms on a the fence to the pasture and stared off in the direction of the herd at the other end of the field as they grazed on grass and haybales that had been placed out for them. While she was lost in thought Katie wondered up to her.

"Hey Victoria! Have a good time with Frank?" Katie asked inquisitively.

Victoria looked over at her and her mind started racing. She was already emotionally drained and she wasn't sure what to say. Was it a good day? Well, it wasn't that great. Some good, lot of bad. Things could have gone a lot better, but truth be told things could have been worse if she thought about it.

"It was...eventful." Vix settled on saying. It was the truth after all.

"I see you got a set of wheels now. Pops said you built it from stuff you found around Franks junkyard." Katie said conversationally. "That's so cool! Where did you learn to do that?"

"Just some stuff I picked up from here and there." Vix said humbly.

"So I hope you don't mind, but mom and I did some cleaning up in the apartment to make it look more like a, well apartment and less like Pops man-cave." Katie said. She said it a bit slowly like she was making a run up to something she wanted to say or admit to.

"That's fine. Thank you Katie." Vix said with a bit of a smile.

"Thing is, while I was cleaning some of Pops stuff off the coffee table a wallet you left there fell open." Katie said as if admitting to a crime.

"That's ok." Vix said calmly, "You put it back right?" Vix had this nagging suspicion that something was coming that she may not like just from the way Katie was fidgeting on her feet. She hoped she was wrong because she was so emotionally tied up in knots already that anything more might just puss her over the edge emotionally. She never used to have problems with controlling her emotions before, but lately she'd been snapping at people a lot more than usual. She had also been tearing up more too, although she had been able to prevent herself from crying. Well, except for at the airfield. But that didn't count.

"Oh, yeah. But..." Katie started, looking at Vix curiously, "Mom and I were wondering, who's Victor?"

And there it was.

Vix could feel her last nerves unraveling as her emotions started to overwhelm her. Her eyes started to tear up and she chocked back the sobs she could no longer hold in anymore from the long day she had just had. With everything that had happened today she had been just pushing unwanted feelings to the side and ignoring them. Her missing friends, this new body of hers and all the things she could do that no human could dream of doing. If not for certain details that she had been trying to ignore she might have enjoyed or even welcomed some of her new gifts. But there were things that she wasn't happy about. Not at all. And it scared her.

Vix looked at Katie's worried face through tear filled eyes, she took a few steps back and nearly tripped over her own feet. "I...he...I...I..." she stammered, her emotions were twisting in her head. She didn't know who she was anymore. Who was she? Who was she?!

Vix did the only thing that made sense to her, that her ferel part of her was screeming at her to do.

She ran.

Without thinking she dropped to all fours and ran like hell across the yard. Past Kristine who had just stepped out from her office to talk to Victoria and between Frank and Pops, who happened to be in her way, nearly knocking them over, before racing up the stairs, bursting through the door, and slamming it behind her with a loud bang, barely missing her own tail.

"What the hell was that all about?" Pops ask dumbfounded.

"Yeah..." Frank said scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Victoria's had an emotional day. We found where her friends had been held, but...we were too late. They had already moved them and other townspeople that were also there somewhere else by the time we got there. missing them by just a few hours. She--" Frank paused a moment before continuing. "She didn't take it well."

"Oh my god!" Kristine said covering her mouth. "She must be distraught."

Pops looked up to the second floor windows of the shop building before looking back at Frank. "I think you should tell us everything that happened today." He said with a determined look on his face. "I have a feeling it's going to be a long night."

An hour later Pops and Kristine walked up the stairs to the apartment after listening to everything Frank had to say and giving Victoria some time to herself. Having not heard anything from the vixen in some time they had decided to check on her.

Pops knocked on the apartment's door. After there was no answer from the occupant within Pops and Kristine entered.

"Victoria honey?" Kristine called out as they came into the main room and closed the door. "Frank said you had a bad day. Want to talk about it." She asked as they looked around the room for her. She didn't seem to be anywhere.

There were cloths strewn on the chairs and seat backs as well as several wet towels tossed over the backs of chairs. It looked like she had stripped off her clothes and just tossed them wherever then took a shower by the look of things. Kristine looked into the bathroom and confirmed that fact when she saw the wet shower. The mirror also had a several cracks running across its surface as if someone had punched it.

But the vixen herself was nowhere to be seen. Pops looked down into the shop area to check but she wasn't there either, and she hadn't left the building. So where was she?

Walking back into the main living area Kristine called out again. "Victoria? Are you in here?"

"...no..." came a small voice. Looking around, what they at first took as a bundle of blankets and pillows heaped at one end of the couch turned out to be where Victoria was curled up. Upon looking it was obvious when they noticed the bit of tail sticking out of the bottom.

"I know you're upset dear, but I think you'll feel better if you talked it out." Kristine said soothingly and taking a seat near the blanket pile on the couch. Pops meanwhile took a seat in the recliner that sat perpendicular to the couch.

"She's been like this since coming in here." Percii said, slightly muffled by the blankets. "Perhaps you can talk some sense into her. She won't listen to a thing I tell her." He said reproachfully.

After a few moments a snout peeked its way out from under the blanket's folds near the top while its owner remained underneath. "sniff...I don't know who I am anymore." Vix said with a sob.

"That's silly." Kristine said after a brief pause, "You're a smart young women. Just look at what you've done so far." She said sternly but soothingly. This did not quite have the desired effect as it seemed to cause Vix to let out a mix between a cry and a whimper.

"But...but I failed to find my friends." Vix said with a small whine after a brief fit of muffled cries.

"You had a bit of bad luck is all." Pops said, "But that doesn't mean you give up, does it?"

"...no..." Vix replied.

"Of course not." Kristine said, "You'll find them."

"But would they...would they still want to be my friends?" Vix said with a small whine.

"Why wouldn't they not?" Kristine asked with a raised eyebrow and a glance towards Pops. "If you're will to go this far then they must be very good friends."

"I'm not who I was the last time they saw me. I don't look even remotely like me." Vix moaned and withdrew a bit into the blankets again.

"And who do you think you are now?" Kristine asked softly.

"...a monster..." came the meek reply from the pile of blankets.

"You are no monster 'little one'. You are just confused and scared," Came a voice from behind them. Pops and Kristine turned to see an older and more sophisticated looking vixen materialize in the center of the room. She was taller than Victoria and dressed in an older style dress from the late 1800's to early 1900's. "Now look at me." Visalth said.

Vix slowly emerged from her cocoon of blankets. As they fell away it was revealed that she was dressed in only a pair of shorts, not having bothered to put on any other clothing. Not that it really mattered much. Her fur and damp long hair covered her chest in any case.

"But I failed to find them Visalth." Vix said quietly.

"No. You only failed to find where they are now." Visalth said firmly but kindly. "You have not failed them."

"But I don't know where to look." Vix said sniffing back some tears.

"And what was it I last told you." Visalth prompted.

"That...that I needed to be patient and wait. That...an opportunity would present itself." Vix replied grudgingly.

"Yes. And that opportunity has not happened yet." Visalth said, "You must be patient 'little one'. The time will come, but you need to be patient and grow stronger. Physically and mentally."

"But...how will I know?" Vix asked looking down at the blanket bunched up around her waist.

"You will know." Visalth said smiling, "But you will have to wait and gather knowledge. Now come here 'little one'." She said kindly.

Reluctantly Vix got up from the couch and crossed the room over to Visalth. Visalth opened her arms and embraced the shorter vixen in a hug. Pops and Kristine noticed that while Visalth's fingers ran through Victoria's hair soothingly her form was not altogether solid. They could see through her hands and arms as she stroked the upset vixen.

"...who am I?..." Vix said in a small and forlorn voice.

You are the same person you were when I first found you. Visalth said in a soothing voice directly into her mind so that Pops and Kristine could hear. Though you look different on the outside you are still the same Victor Reynard on the inside. Don't ever forget that! Visalth said in a firm inner voice.

Then she went back to talking out loud. "I know it's hard 'little one', and I wish I could do more for you. The cards the universe has dealt you don't seem fair, but the universe has a place for you. A very important one. You need only be strong enough. But I'll always be here for you to give what comfort I can."

Visalth pat Victoria's head a few more times before finally saying, "There! Feeling better?" Visalth asked looking down at Victoria. Vix mumbled something that Pops and Kristine didn't quite catch. "Good. Now no more of this moping. You need to gather your strength. I know it's hard. I know this isn't what you wanted your life to be. But this is the reality we now live in Victoria. Now go and get some rest. We'll talk more later." Visalth said kindly and sent Victoria back to the couch where she pulled the blanket tight around her shoulders.

Then she looked at Pops and Kristine. "Llewellyn, Kristine," she said as she looked at each of them in turn, "Watch over her. She's in a difficult place and needs your support. Give her all the encouragement you can as she acclimates to her new abilities and body so that she may perform her duty. For this world needs her badly. More than you know."

"Wait!" Pops said as Visalth turn and started to fade. "How do you know my name? No one uses my first name. Not even my own family. And what role does she have to play?"

"I know far more than you could ever know Llewellyn." Visalth said with a smile before adopting a much more serious and sever look on her face, "And as for her role, that I cannot tell you. To do so would alter the future in ways that would not end well. Suffice it to say that your world depends on her." She said before turning again and stepping out of the physical world.

Nothing was said for a while as Pops stared at the wall Visalth had disappeared into and Kristine stroked Victoria's head as she tried to console her. Victoria was leaning against the end of the couch with her head resting on the arm. At least she seemed to have calmed down somewhat.

"Shit. And now I've seen a ghost." Pops said as he tried to fully comprehend what he had just witnessed. Then he turned to face Kristine and Victoria on the couch. "Well, I guess I know what I'm doing this evening." He sighed as he sat back into his chair and tried to get got comfortable. He had a feeling it may be a long night. Remembering something he fished his phone out from his pocket and dialed home.

"Edna? Yeah, gonna be staying here tonight." He said into the phone before listening to the person on the other end. "Kristine and I are going to be helping out a friend." He listened to the repose from the other side of the line before saying his good night and hanging up the phone.

Pops looked over at Kristine and Victoria. Victoria was slumped against the arm of the couch and seemed to have fallen asleep. She looked like she had calmed down somewhat and was in a deep but fitful sleep. After the day she had just had she deserved it. Kristine was brushing her hair and fur with a brush before covering her with the blanket and patting her on the head reassuringly.

"I'll go get a cot for you and I'll take the recliner." Pops said getting up and heading for the door. "You stay here and keep her company till I get back. I'll call in something and have Katie bring it up when it arrives."

"Should we wake her when the food arrives?" Kristine asked just as he reached the door.

Pops looked back at the vixen wrapped up in blankets on the couch. He was amazed at how someone could stare down death on moment only to break down at the mere mention of a name from their past the next. This wasn't the first time he had seen this happen, and he knew what he had to do.

Wait it out and be there for them when they came back up.

"No. let her sleep. After the day she's had she needs it." Pops said firmly, "And if what that other fox said was true, and I have no reason to refute it, she's will need her rest." he said then opened the door and left to get what they would need for the night.