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TSS - It's Complicated

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"Victor! Are you still alive?!"

Victor rolled his eyes and picked up his phone.

"Yes, I'm still alive," he sighed. "Why would I not be?"

"Eh… turn around."

Looking over his shoulder Victor saw a group of expendables of the notorious Doctor Doctor in hot pursuit of his sky skybike.

"Oh come on!" He kicked the bike up a gear and sped off. The expendables did the same, barely avoiding crashing into each other.

"Stupid Alphonse. Stupid Anita. Stupid date. Why can't she get herself home?" he grumbled to himself as he wove in and out of the city buildings. "Better yet, if he's such a gentleman, why can't he escort her home?"

He dived into an alleyway, crouching behind a pile of rubbish, hoping his pink skybike wouldn't draw attention to him. He often got jibes from the other agents about his choice of colour. Couldn't a man like pink these days?

The expendables zoomed on overhead, sluggishly looking back and forth for the secret agent. Victor shook his head in disbelief. You would think a super villain like Doctor Doctor could afford to hire minions of a slightly higher intelligence. Still, all the better for us, he thought.

When they had passed he took to the sky again, heading for Alphonse's mansion/art gallery. Victor grimaced at the thought of it. How did Anita find any of his odd bodily works of "art" appealing? She had very strange taste indeed.

Anita was waiting for him at the front door, holding a strange blue-white object. She waved happily at Victor and hoisted herself up onto the bike behind him, placing her arms around his waist. He ignored what her touch did to his heartbeat and focused on the blue-white object which he could now see was a teddy bear.

"That's a nice gift," he observed. "An odd colour for a bear though."

Anita giggled. "Yours is blue though. Besides, Alphonse made it for me-"

"Please don't-"

"-from his belly button hair!"

"Lovely." Victor said dryly.

"I know!" Anita sighed, cuddling the bear close.

As they landed at the UZZ Base, an unseen figure on a skybike detached itself from the shadows and hurried after them.

------

Victor was in bed when the alarm went off, cuddling his beloved blue teddy.
The voice of his boss came over the loudspeaker, "Code custard! Code custard! This is a matter of the greatest security! Speaking of security…" He cleared his throat. "For reasons of security my name is changed daily. Today you may call me," there was a beep, "oh… Snickerdoodle."

Victor grinned to himself, as he picked up his ray gun and peeked outside his bedroom door. Trust Snickerdoodle to squeeze his daily name change into an emergency announcement.

Professor Professor's voice was fait over the loudspeaker, "Snickerdoodle! Ze Code Custard!"

"Oh um, yes! Code Custard. All agent personnel to report to the theatre! Agents Victor and Anita to the briefing room!"

In the briefing room Professor Professor and Snickerdoodle were looking their usual coifed selves. Victor wondered if they ever slept. Anita, like himself, was looking a little dazed in her pyjamas, which hung like potato sacks on her limbs compared to her tight-fitting agent suit. Her hair was unkempt and, lacking its usual band, fell around her face in wispy red-golden streaks. Victor had never seen her look so frazzled.

And he had had never seen her look so beautiful.

There was something incredibly appealing about seeing her this way. Usually she held a very controlled atmosphere about her. Everything she did had a purpose and a set way of going about it. Other agents admired her for her no-nonsense attitude, her confidence when working on cases and her passion for helping others. She never showed any weakness.

But there was something about her like this, something… vulnerable.

"Victor?"

"Hm?" Everyone was staring at him. "Oh! Uh, yes Snickerdoodle?"

Snickerdoodle frowned. "I know it's the middle of the night Voctor, but please try and keep up. I was saying that there is evidence of an imposter in the Base, and I do not mean Red-Eye's followers. As our top agents I want you and Anita to help Special Agent Ray find out who he is and where he's hiding. Do you think your sleepy brain can manage that?"

Victor looked away sulkily. "Yes Snickerdoodle."

------

Victor was scouting the hallways on the dorm level of the base, making as little noise as possible in his bare feet, when he heard rustling around the next bend. He gripped his ray gun in sweaty hands and leapt around the corner yelling, "Freeze!"

There was a large figure crouching by the doorway with a suspicious bundle in his hands. It froze as commanded and turned around with its hands up.

"Alphonse?!"

"Why hellooo Victor! Lovely to see you on such a fine night," Alphonse greeted cheerily, flashing him a bright smile.

"What are you doing here?" Victor demanded and then, seeing the bundle in his hands, "Are those roses?"

"Well, yes and no…" Alphonse began, "You see I chewed them a little and-"

"That's alright, I'm sure they're lovely," Victor said hastily, not wanted to know what had really happened to the poor flowers. "But now that you're here I have to turn you in. You see we have a Code Custard and apparently you're the intruder. Follow me."


In the briefing room Anita gaped at her boyfriend.

"What- How- Why?" She stuttered.

"Dearest Anita! I simply wanted to surprise you with this lovely bunch of regurgitated roses!" He swept low in a bow and presented the 'roses' to her. "I intended to leave them outside your bedroom for you to find in the morning but now since you're here…" He beamed at her.

She scowled back. "You put the whole base on alert. You should go now."

Alphonse looked so dejected that even Victor felt sorry for him. Anita sighed and accepted the flowers, breathing in their scent.

She smiled. "I'll call you in the morning okay?"

Alphonse grinned and gave her a hearty hug before being escorted out by two very disgruntled agents also in their PJs.

------

Victor was once again just about to curl up in bed when he heard a faint thump from the room next door. Frowning, he walked outside and knocked on the door of his neighbour.

"Anita?"

The door opened upwards to reveal Anita, her hair more tussled than ever.

"Yes?" She was rubbing her eyes.

"Is everything okay? I heard a noise." Peering around her Victor saw the roses and teddy sticking out of the waste basket.

Anita saw where he was looking and turned away. "I'm fine."

Victor realised she had been rubbing away tears so he didn't see them.  He placed a hand on her shoulder.

" No you're not. What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to see me this way," she whispered, her hands in front of her mouth.

"Anita…" He pulled her around to face him and placed his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes were gleaming and her lip trembled. "Anita, I don't care. I want to help." Because I never want to watch you hurt again, he thought.

For a minute Anita looked like she was going to bolt and shut the door in his face; put up the strong walls he so admired about her, yet wanted to get behind just as much. But her shoulders slumped and she pulled away and said instead:

"Alright… Just not here."

Victor followed Anita into her room and sat on the edge of her bed with her, waiting for her to speak.

She didn't so instead he asked, "Why are Alphonse's roses and teddy in the bin?"

Anita looked over at them. "I… I was upset. I threw them pretty hard."

The thump, Victor thought. "Why?"

"Because… Well because I don't want them anymore." She paused, wringing her hands in her lap. "i don't think Alphonse and I are right for each other."

Victor was taken aback. But Anita was smitten. Anyone could tell from the way she treated his disgusting gifts, and he adored her. Every spare moment he was calling her to say hello or arrange a meeting.

"But I thought you loved him," Victor said quietly, trying desperately to push down the tiny sparks of hope that had bubbled up in his chest.

"I do." Suddenly Anita was crying and Victor didn't know what to do. He'd never had to comfort her before, let alone quell her tears. "It's just… he sends me lovely gifts and says wonderfully sweet things to me and I'm fascinated by his art, but it always seems to be about him. I love that he makes these things for me but it's almost as if he's showing off. And then there's the disregard for my job. He calls me while I'm on missions, he drops in during work hours, he tries to arrange dates when I've told him I'm working on a very important project. It's always, 'I have an exhibit here! Let's go see it!' It's never 'What would you like to do?' or even 'How was work today?' Am I selfish to want that? When he was the intruder, I was so furious. It could have been an Imposter, or Doctor Doctor, or the Floaty Heads; something serious. He doesn't seem to take what I do seriously. I love my job, it's such a big part of my life, I live here for crying out loud! He just doesn't seem to understand."

It all came out in a rush of words and emotion that Victor had never heard from her before, not even then. The hope bubbles swelled and urged him to turn the situation towards his own selfish desires. He wanted to so badly, wanted her so badly, wanted to be with her because he did understand. What they did, there were no words to describe the thrill and the joy it brought them all.

But instead he said, "Talk to him. Make him understand. If he really loves you, he will."

------

Victor hated himself for saying those words, for two reasons. The first because he willingly gave away his chance to be with Anita, and second of all, the tumult that followed was unbearable, even for him.

Anita tried talking to Alphonse, explaining her situation but he did not take kindly to 'being put second to her work'. She explained that that wasn't the case at all, only that she wanted him to know how she felt.

Victor spent many nights listening to the yelling over the phone, witnessing awkward scenes between the two and brushing off questions from the other agents.

Alphonse left one night without a word. Victor passed him as he headed out, back from testing a new untested and highly dangerous invention with Professor Professor. Alphonse glared at him as if he had done something dreadfully wrong. Well, he had. He had messed up their relationship and now Anita was even sadder than before. Why did he have to ruin everything? He had promised himself never to hurt her again, but he had.
He went straight to Anita's room, not bothering to drop his ray gun and phone off in his own room. The door opened to reveal Anita looking utterly lost.

"What happened?" Victor took her hand but she pulled away and curled up on her bed.

"Anita, what happened?" The door closed behind them.

"He's gone. He's not coming back," her voice broke on the last word.

"I'm so sorry Anita."

She looked up at him. "This isn't your fault. If it wasn't for you, I would have been unhappy anyway. At least this way, I was honest with him."

Victor sat down next to her and placed an arm around her. Anita leaned into him and they sat there a long while. Hairs all over his body were prickling with anticipation. He wanted to gather her to his chest and kiss her till she was dizzy. Make all her hurt and heartbreak go away just with that. But he knew, he knew it wasn't the right time.

"Hey, I know what will make you feel better." He got up and rummaged around in the shelves beneath the telescreen. "Ah-ha!" He pulled out a tape with the words THE FLUFFY BUNNY SHOW written in big capital letters across the top.

Inserting the disk they sat back and watched as Sweet Little Granny was swept away by Ray's special forces, followed by cartoon caricatures of themselves running across the screen. The decision to put UZZ's successes into a children's TV show had been Snickerdoodle's idea of promoting their agency. It had worked up to a point, attracting funds and fans and even new recruits. It had also made the villains especially unhappy with them. Still, watching some of their greatest feats of greatness certainly cheered Anita up.

They watched as Professor Professor, portrayed with exaggerated smallness and a head three times its regular size and greenness, Snickerdoodle, always with his mantelpiece, Special Agent Ray, with his beloved aviator sunglasses, and of course themselves, triumph again and again over evil. The cartoon girl was every inch Anita, from her fiery attitude to her fighting skills. Victor's clumsiness and occasional ignorant comment were played upon, but he didn't mind.

But, of course, Alphonse was bound to pop up sooner or later and he did just that, fighting alongside them for his giant bogey ball. Victor pressed the stop button on the remote and glanced at Anita. Her smile had faded and she was staring at her clasped hands lying in her lap.

"Sorry," Victor began.

Anita interrupted him, "No it's okay. That was exactly what I needed. Thank you" She gave him a smile.

"Well, just doing my job," he said, returning the smile, "Can't let my best buddy feel down. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early! Goodnight."

"'Night"

Victor returned to his own room, feeling very strange. He knew that he had just missed a very good opportunity, but at the same time he knew the time wasn't right. As he pulled up the sheets he wondered if the time would ever be right.

------

After Victor left, Anita picked up the remote and pressed play again. She couldn't help but grin at the antics Victor and herself got up to. Oh the fun they had had together!

She had felt numb earlier that night, after days of conflict with the man she had believed was her future husband and soulmate. But Victor had taken her heart and breathed feeling into it again, understanding what Alphonse couldn't- her love for her work. After all, it was his work too. Alphonse had seen it as competition, a challenger to his time and effort. Something he had to overcome and draw her attention away from to have her.

"We've got to stop her Victor!"

Anita's attention was drawn back to the screen. She was hovering on her skybike, turned back to face a Victor in red mask and cape simply floating in the air. It brought back some dark memories. Victor hadn't really had a disguise at all, it was just a bit of humour added to the show, but his obsession with the cape had become an addiciton. She continued listening.

"You're right Anita. I behaved like a-" cartoon Victor blew a raspberry, "We're a team, and we do things the Secret Agent way. Who needs a magic cape when I've got my best buddy to help me?"

"Let's go to it buddy!"

Violins played in the background as he gushed his heart-felt apology.  It was a children's story, with a happy ending and a moral. The cape had been so much more powerful than their cartoon selves let on.

~~~~~~

"Victor, I want you to take off the cape."

"No."

"Please, Victor."

"No!"

"Victor…" Anita had sat down next to him and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. They were in the agent locker room and everyone had already retired for the evening.

"Get off me!" He grabbed her hand in a painful grasp and flung it away from him.

"Victor! Take it off! It makes you act strangely. You haven't eaten in days, you won't help us try and fix this Eartha Quaker mess and I'm sick of covering for you. Professor Professor warned you it was dangerous, and if he found out you've been wearing it all this time he'd have a fit."

He snarled, a deep animal-like snarl, and leapt at her. They hurtled to the floor in a crash. Anita couldn't move; Victor was on top of her, pinning her down. There was a wild gleam in his eyes that chilled her to the bone. What had happened to him?

That's when he hit her. Right in the face. She had heard the crunch and pain exploded in her nose. She cried out and pushed hard against his chest, feeling the blood trickle down her chin and neck.

"No… This isn't you." She had whispered. "This isn't you!"

Anita eyed the clasp that sat at Victor's throat. He drew his fist back to hit her again and she saw her chance.

Rip!

The sound of fabric tearing echoed in the room as Anita's entire left cheek went numb. Victor's eyes rolled back and he slumped on top of her, unconscious. She didn't have the strength to push him off, so she waited, wondering what was going to happen next, when Frumply de Notty and Professor Professor found out.

Anita was just about to drift into a giddy daze of unconsciousness when Victor's eyes fluttered open. He lifted his head and for a moment, a strange look flashed across his eyes. It was hungry, needing. Anita thought for a moment that he was still in the violent evil state induced by the cape and braced herself for another assault. Then realisation dawned and he scrambled off her, horror all over his face.

"What have I done?" Victor's voice broke. "Anita… Oh god Anita I'm so sorry."

He supported her as she sat up and held her as she swooned from the pain. It was only when she felt the tears land on her skin that she realised he was crying.

~~~~~~

The memories replayed in Anita's mind. Victor had been ready to give up his position then and there, saying he didn't deserve to be a secret agent. Anita had devised a plan to stop Eartha Quaker, determined not to let Victor lose his job, and they undertook it in the dead of night. It turned out to be a matter of luck that she had been already on her way to the World Leader's house and they worked together in a way that they never had before to stop her. Afterwards they had strapped both capes to a skybike and sent it flying into the oblivion of space. Anita stayed the course, broken nose and all, and they returned to the base, announcing their success and stating that her injuries were a result of the battle.

It was a case that baffled all the other agents, but they accepted it as the truth as Eartha Quaker and her son didn't bother them again. Anita's only guess was that their giant blood was strong enough to resist the power of the capes while still utilising their powers. The show was an adaptation of the real events.

Anita touched the bump on her nose. Victor had never forgiven himself for what he had done. Fascinated by the power of the cape he had continued to wear it despite Professor Professor's. It had eventually consumed him. The guilt of it still plagued him, even now years later. She had forgiven him almost instantly, never thinking of anything other than his normal gentleness with her. She had never spoken about how she had felt that night with anyone, keeping her defences up. The fear that he would hurt her, the sorrow because she knew it was not really him, the sympathy at the guilt that almost tore him apart, and most importantly the feeling of being so in tune with him as they fought the flying giant. It was exhilarating. No Anita was not the kind to talk about such feelings.

Her chest felt tight and funny. The memory of that strange look in Victor's eyes suddenly intruded on her mind.

She gasped and sat bolt upright in bed.

------

Victor woke up in a cold sweat. He had dreamed of the one and only time he had ever lashed out at Anita, under the influence of an evil power of a cape of all things. It was a dream he had often, making him feel undeserving of her friendship or of his secret agent position. No one in the Base knew about the incident. It was their little secret.

He would never, ever forgive himself for hurting her. And he would never forget. The pain of it made him feel worthless and there were many times he had curled in the foetal position, shaking and gasping, wanting so badly for the memories to just disappear.
He willed himself to get up, prepared for the day and stepped outside.

Anita was waiting outside like she always was, leaning against the wall with one knee propped up. When she saw him she moved towards him, her posture tense.

He was about to ask what was wrong when she placed her hands either side of his face and kissed him, long and sweet. His mind reeled, questions and feelings swirling around in one giant mess. Eventually he settled on Why?

"Why did you do that?" Victor breathed as Anita pulled away.

"Because it's what you want. What you've always wanted."

He looked taken aback. "But is it what you want?"

She smiled. "It is now."

------

Desire.

It was in Victor's eyes now, just as it had been that night neither of them could forget.
But also love. A love that had grown in force over the years since the day they had been assigned to each other. A love that had survived so many battles, so much heartbreak, to finally, finally, be returned.

He swept her into his arms and turned towards his room.

"We'll be late," she said, teasing.

"You know what? I really don't care." And then he kissed her, full of the yearning he had felt for all these years.

And now she was his.
EDIT:
the response has been overwhelming. thank you so much everyone! Im glad you all liked it so much :D

----

not really happy with the writing of this but liking the idea.
very open to suggestions.

anyway written for Valentines day and I know im a little late but it took me longer to write this than I thought I would.

I thought Id examine the idea of TSS being an actual show of the agents lives, and also to introduce some darker elements to our favourite couples lives (cause im evil like that :mwahaha: )
the other thought i had was some of the things theyre up against are pretty darn scary. so i examined the idea of Victor's obsession with the cape (in Super-Vic) being a darker twist of evil magic that caused him to turn on his own friends (prompted by the throwing of the Base without regard for their safety in the actual show)
also alohonses and anitas reeeeeeally weird relationship. shes always going to him and amiring things made by him, but hes never coming to her or looking at what she does so i just decided to exaggerate that a little, maybe add a bit of a real-life twist.
anyway, hope all you TSS fans enjoy!
for anyone else this probably sound like a load of gobbledegook :P

once again, disregard the actual writing of this story, ill work on it :/
© 2012 - 2024 Dreaming-is-Freedom
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VictorVoltfan1's avatar
I wanted to let you know that this story inspired me to make this ^^ Go watch it! 8D You'll like it =} youtube.com/watch?v=Fcg0L6K-_z…