Vicki’s Joy ride

In the middle of the woods, Vicki was sitting near a ditch, lazily flicking her hand at the sky. She looked completely baked, her head tilted back as if trying to catch something invisible in the air. Tom glanced over at her while tamping down the soil in the ditch. She was calm--thankfully. The last thing he needed right now was a panicking vampire.

"You ever think about why we are the way we are? You know?" she asked suddenly, her voice dreamy and distant.

Tom paused, leaning on the shovel. "We are the way we are. There's not much point thinking about it," he said, then added with a smirk, "The real question is where we come from and where we're going."

Vicki gave him a sideways smirk. "We're coming from your house, and we're robbing your dad's skeleton." She laughed, sharp and unrestrained, clearly amused at herself.

Tom smiled faintly and shook his head, patting the soil flat with the back of the shovel. "Yeah, you've had enough for today."

Dropping the shovel, he made his way over to her and sat down. She leaned against him casually, her head resting on his shoulder. He took the roach from her hand, took a drag, and exhaled. The air between them was thick with silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

"I don't get you sometimes," Vicki said finally, tilting her head to look up at him. "You're mean as hell to me most of the time, but then you do all this--helping me, teaching me, putting up with my bullshit. Why are you like this?"

She left her mouth open, waiting for a response, and Tom reached over to close it with two fingers. "I'm your teacher," he said simply. "It's my job to be firm when you need it. I push you because I know you can do better. It's that simple."

She nodded slowly, her expression unreadable. "Wish my other teachers were like you," she muttered. "All they did was judge me. Fuckers."

Tom chuckled at that and passed the roach back to her. She took it with a grin, inhaled deeply, then coughed. After a pause, she looked around, her gaze falling on the ruins nearby. "What is this place, anyway? Never been this deep in the woods before."

Tom's eyes swept over the crumbled stone walls, the broken beams half-buried beneath vines. "This," he said quietly, "was once my home."

She raised an eyebrow. "What, like your before house? Damn, it's big. You're a nepobaby, huh?"

He let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "Yeah, sure. Nepobaby… Before we became a vampire, this was where my family lived…"

Vicki seemed unimpressed. "Cool story, bro." She brushed some dirt off her pants, then shifted her focus. "What do you think you'd be doing, though? If you weren't… like a vampire? You know?"

Tom tilted his head, considering the question before glancing at her. "What about you? If you weren't like us, what would you be?"

Vicki shrugged, her eyes fixed on the freshly filled ditch. "Probably a waitress. Pregnant. Or lying next to your dad, apparently." She laughed bitterly. "Not gonna lie, Damon was right. My life sucked, and not just 'cause of where I came from. I made shit choices. Jeremy… Jeremy was probably the only good choice I ever made."

Tom studied her for a moment, then nodded. "That's very… poignant."

She burst out laughing, nearly doubling over. "Poignant? Oh my God, Tom, that's not a real word! Poignant! You sound like a Dad!"

"It's a real word," he said, grinning despite himself. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

She calmed after a moment, her gaze wandering back to the ruins. Her attention landed on the bag of books Tom had brought, and she pointed. "So, what's the deal with those books? What are you gonna do with them?"

Tom's expression turned serious. "You can keep a secret, right?"

Vicki giggled, leaning back on her elbows. "Dude, totally."

Tom hesitated, then said, "I'm going to change everything."

Her brow furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"You'll understand in time," he said. "When the moment comes, I'll ask you to come with me."

"Where?"

"Home. With my family," he said, his voice soft. "You'd be free there, Vicki. Free to be yourself."

Vicki stared at him, unimpressed, and muttered, "Coolio."

Tom sighed and gave her a wry smile. "I'll take that as a yes."

Before either of them could say more, Tom's phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out and answered. "Yeah?"

"Tom, have you seen Elena?" It was Stefan, and he sounded worried.

"No. I'm out with Vicki. Why? What happened?"

"It's… complicated," Stefan began, his voice trailing off. "She found out about Katherine."

Tom froze. "She knew about Katherine already."

"No. She didn't," Stefan said, his voice tight. "She didn't know she's Katherine's exact copy. And she found out at the worst possible time."

Tom groaned, already connecting the dots. "You mean after you two…?"

The silence on the other end was all the confirmation he needed.

"Damn, Stefan," Tom muttered. "Alright, I'll help find her. You keep trying to calling her. Try to calm her down. Beg if you have to…"

He hung up and turned to Vicki, who was now sitting upright. "Vicki, I need you to do something important for me."

She nodded solemnly. "Yeah, totally, what's up?"

"Take the books and hide them. Tell no one where they are. Got it?"

"Can I take your car?" she asked, smirking.

"No," he said firmly. Reaching into his pocket, he handed her fifty bucks. "Order a pizza or something. Go home. Stay out of trouble."

Vicki took the money and the bag of books, muttering something about "lame-ass rules" before heading off. Tom climbed into his car, ready to track down Elena, but before he could even start the engine, another call came in. Damon.

Tom sighed and answered. "What now?"

"When were you going to tell me what the nearly dead Logan really said?" Damon demanded.

"Tonight," Tom said curtly. "But you weren't home. Where are you, anyway?"

"On my way to Georgia.~" He replied smugly

Tom frowned. "What's in Georgia?"

"My old witch girlfriend. She's more useful than the one you've got.~"

Before Tom could retort, he heard the screech of tires on Damon's end. "What was that?"

"Get to the highway," Damon said sharply. "Now."

The line went dead.

Tom's stomach tightened as he started the car and sped toward the highway. When he arrived, he saw Damon's car pulled to the side and another car flipped over, its metal frame twisted. Damon waved him over.

"It's Elena," Damon said as Tom climbed out. "She's fine, just shaken up. She said she saw someone."

Tom crouched beside Elena, checking her for injuries. "Who did you see?" he asked gently.

Her hands trembled as she pointed toward the tree line. "I didn't see his face. It was a guy in a hoodie."

Damon crossed his arms. "Probably one of the others Logan talked about."

Tom's mind raced. He reached for his phone to call Stefan, but Damon stopped him. "What are you doing? Stop!"

"Calling Stefan. He's freaking out."

"No," Damon said firmly. "We're going to Georgia. If you call Stefan, he'll sniff out what we're doing and screw it up. Besides, she'll be safer with us."

Tom hesitated. "You sure?"

"If you don't, I'll get Vicki a daylight ring."

Tom groaned. "Fine. But if Stefan finds out, this is on you."

Damon grinned smugly. "Whatever keeps you happy." He loaded Elena into his car, then drove off, with Tom following close behind.

A few miles down the road, Tom heard movement from the back seat. He glanced in the rearview mirror and groaned. "What the hell, Vicki?"

She leaned forward, grinning like a kid on Christmas. "I'm getting a daylight ring!"

Tom slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "Unbelievable."