Being back in the mansion was nice and reminded the girl that she had a safe place to go. It had become her home away from home. This was where her new family lived. The thought of having such a place in her life made her feel good.

Even with that good feeling there was still an emptiness inside her. She had friends when she was here the first time, and though she still hadn’t seen any of them she was making new friends. That still wasn’t enough though. There was still a connection missing. Her teachers. The adults she had gotten to know and learn from.

Mr. Holloway, the first teacher Victoria had met. He was so kind and helpful. He showed he really cared about the others living in the mansion. He had helped the girl get over being nervous as a new student. She missed him.

Then there was her second and last teacher. Sam. He taught her not to be afraid. To stand up for herself and others. He taught her she could do more than she expected of herself. He taught her to fight. A lesson she didn’t forget and had continued to work on even in her absence. She used that lesson on the ones who took Ned and his music shop from her.

These two people had impacted Victoria’s core and she need to find them. So she made her way to the offices in search of her teachers.

“Don’t play with me… cause you’re playing with fire.” The record of the Rolling Stones skipped once then continued to play as the icemancer kicked his feet up and put them on his desk. Sam was tired, the lack of sleep he had been having lately was starting to make him miss drinking as much as he used to. Even if it was him just passing out he managed to do that for a few hours before the nightmares cam and after the scare with Juliette he’d prefer to not scare his girlfriend any more than he already had which was why he was trying to make an excuse to ‘do paperwork’.

His feet shifted around the paperwork as he stifled a yawn and actually debated throwing some of the papers out. He knew that his newest assistant Abby would be very upset with him so he refrained. Instead he lazily sorted the papers by which ones were for new students and which one were recent incidents that needed to be looked in to.

Another sip and the heat image of someone started to appear as they were walking down the hallway. Sam didn’t recognize the figure from the heat signature but could tell that it was female. Sam shrugged not paying much mind of it as he sipped again and continued sorting as the song ended and another one started.

Walking down the hall of offices, Victoria looked for Sam’s office as she had forgotten where exactly it was. She had only been to it once before when she ended up asking him to train her. Then there was the Danger Room. She didn’t forget that room. She had gone there time after time to practice and learn. It was also where Sam had nearly scared her to death by having the computer create a scene outside during the daylight hours. Yeah, she never forgot that.

Victoria started to hear music playing from down the hall. It wasn’t a song she knew. Deciding to follow it she thought if it didn’t lead her to Sam then perhaps the person could direct her to his location.

Approaching the office the song changed to another. Yet again she didn’t know the tune. It had to be an album her parents had never played. Shrugging the thought from her mind she turned the corner to enter the office. Standing in the doorway the blonde girl looked across a paper covered desk at her old defense instructor. “Hello Sam. It’s been a while.”