Chapter 70 - Who Are We? (Part 2)

Vicky and Mia were having a standoff with the soldiers and Claire. Mia pointed her pistols at the soldiers. Vicky had her karambits out.

"The two of you… against all of us. I don't think you'll win," Claire said. She took a device from her inventory, and continued "A time freeze jammer. You can't use your powers here."

"Who said it's just the two of them?" the young player from the bank asked. He walked towards Vicky and Mia, with the rest of the players from the bank following him.

"What do you have to say now?" Vicky asked. Claire glanced at the other players.

"We still outnumber you," Claire replied.

"We'll see about that," Mia said. She disappeared, and appeared behind one of the soldiers, and took them out one at a time. She then teleported back to her previous position. Claire stared at her soldiers in horror.

"Are we still outnumbered?" Vicky asked.

"I will get you back for this. I trusted you, Icicle! I thought we were friends," Claire replied.

"If we were friends… Why did you call me a 'weapon'?" Vickr asked. She looked at Mia, and back at Claire. "Are you sure you don't want to leave now?"

Claire looked at Vicky, and got into one of the vehicles, and drove off.

Vicky turned to the other players who backed them up, and nodded her head. She and Mia left on their bikes.

"Are you going to save Wyatt?" Mia asked Vicky, through their earpiece.

"Should I even bother? It's not like she's helped us out with anything that we needed," Vicky replied.

"I don't know. Maybe you could tell your dad. He'll figure something out," Mia said.

"Why didn't you kill them?" Vicky asked, after a short pause.

"Who?" Mia asked.

"The players at the bank. Why'd you give them the money?" Vicky asked.

"If there's something I've learned. It's that, when you anger someone greater than you. You need someone to help you out. And you just angered Claire, and now, she will do everything in her power to get back at you. You're going to need people who will want to keep you safe. You saw what happened at the bank," Mia replied.

"So we're going to help people now?" Vicky asked.

"It's your choice Icicle," Mia replied.

Vicky was quiet. She was pondering the question Mia asked her about Wyatt.

"I think I should log out now. My dad said he was dropping by," Vicky said, as they reached the safe house. Mia nodded to Vicky.

Vicky logged out of the game. She was in the pod. Connor had arrived at the house, and walked into her room.

"Vicky! Claire just called me. She told me what happened. This is your chance to come clean," Connor said. He stared at Vicky, as she got out of the pod, with his arms crossed over his chest. Vicky smiled.

"And what did she tell you?" Vicky asked, walking towards the window.

"That you got Wyatt captured. And aren't going to help bring him back… among other things you said to her," Connor replied. Vicky turned towards Connor, and took a few steps towards him.

"Did she tell you anything else?" Vicky asked. She dropped her guard, and sat on the bed.

"She told me that you aided the man who captured Wyatt. She said you guys were the distraction at the lab, while he robbed this bomb kind of thing," Connor replied.

"Do you believe her?" Vicky asked.

"Should I?" Connor asked. He leaned on the desk in front of Vicky.

"I'll tell you what actually happened…," Vicky said and explained the events just as it happened.

"He pushed you off a building?" Connor asked. He had one hand on his hip, and the other on his mouth.

"Yes!" Vicky replied.

"And Claire called you a 'weapon'?" Connor asked. He was trying to wrap his head around Vicky's version of the story.

"Yes! Why are you asking me so many questions? Don't you trust me?" Vicky asked.

"Vicky! There's a lot of omitted things in your story that Claire told me," Connor replied.

"Like what?" Vicky asked.

"Like how you threatened those other players in front of Claire to work for you?" Connor replied.

"I told you we gave them the money from the bank. Claire lied to you about us threatening them," Vicky answered.

"Why would Claire lie to me?" Connor asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Vicky replied.

"Vicky, I believe what Claire said. She has no reason to lie to me, and she never has. I trust her. I've known her since she was an infant. She's like a daughter to me," Connor said.

Vicky's gaze met Connor's just as he finished his last line. She looked at the ground and nodded her head.

"And I'm not your daughter anymore, right? I mean… how could I be. You kept your big secret from me for years…" Vicky said, and was interrupted by Connor.

"Vicky! That's not what I meant," Connor said.

"That's exactly what you meant," Vicky said, standing up from the bed. She walked next to Connor and stared him in the eyes. "That's what you've always wanted to say wasn't it. That she's like a daughter to you, and you barely know anything about me anymore. How could I be your daughter then?"

"Vicky!" Connor said.

"No let me finish," Vicky insisted. She stared at Connor in anger, and continued "You just told me that you trust her over me. So why don't you run along to her. Go help her save her father, so that she can be happy again."

Vicky stepped away from Connor and took a backpack from the closet.

"What are you doing?" Connor asked.

"Whatever I want to," Vicky said, wiping a tear from her eye. Connor walked next to Vicky and kept his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm…" Connor said.

"No! Don't touch me," Vicky interrupted Connor. She threw Connor's hand off her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Vicky!" Connor said.

"No you're not, you just think that apologising to me would make me feel sorry for you. Not any more. I am done feeling sorry for people. No one ever felt sorry for me. Why should I feel sorry for them?" Vicky said. She packed clothes into the bag.

"Vicky, wait!" Connor said. Vicky stopped packing and turned to Connor.

"Tell me this one thing. Why is she and Wyatt and the captain, and EVERYONE MUCH SPECIAL TO YOU THAN I AM? HOW DID YOU GUYS EVEN MEET?" Vicky shouted, she began crying. Her eyes were red, she was crying of sadness, but anger. Pent up anger that she threw out on Connor.

"I've known Wyatt for a long time. We used to be in the army together. I met the captain, and the team at Raina Corps," Connor said. He tried to clean the tears off Vicky's face, but she stepped back.

Vicky looked at him one last time, packed her bag, and stepped out of the room. She walked to the entrance of the house.

"Vicky please wait," Connor said, following Vicky.

"MY NAME IS NOT VICKY!" Vicky screamed, turning around to face Connor. "My name is no longer Vicky."