A/N: I had to look up the past tense of tread water to write this, so fuck you English language.

The warm, late spring sun shone down on the city of Dimmsdale, raising the temperature of it and the surrounding suburbs to a relatively comfortable, if somewhat humid; seventy-eight degrees. Being that the city was located in southern California, many of its residents had already opened their pools to seek relief from the sweltering heat that summer would soon bring, and the same was true for the in-ground pool in the backyard of the Turner residence, which had been built the year before by a one Timmy Turner, at the command of his babysitter, Vicky.

Were it not for the boy's fairies, he very likely wouldn't have gotten very far in his assigned project, but his babysitter hadn't found it necessary to keep a constant watch on him, and this disinterested attitude was exactly what allowed him to turn a project that should've taken him several weeks, into an affair that was completed in just a few days. The only true difficulties he faced were making sure he looked tired and dirty whenever the sixteen year old came out to see his progress, and restraining himself from simply wishing for an in-ground pool.

To her credit, Vicky did seem a bit shocked when she came out on the fourth day to check on Timmy, only to find that the pool was cemented, lined with a liner, and filled with water, but a quick story from the brunet about how his parents had picked up the necessary materials to do all that the night before was enough for her. The Turners seemed fine with the new addition to their backyard, and while the sixteen year old was a bit skeptical at first, she was quick to shrug off the bizarreness of the situation and take it at face value. It simply wasn't her style to overanalyze the details of how the chores or projects she assigned the boy were done, so long as they did get done.

"Hah... I guess she does have some good ideas..." Timmy admitted with a sigh as he sat at the edge of the pool he'd wished for, his legs hanging over the side into the pleasantly cool water; kicking them forward and back every now and then. Not far behind him was an outdoor table with chairs, along with a large umbrella, stuck in the middle of said table, shielding the eleven year old from the worst the sun had to offer, though he was still uncomfortably warm... Just a bit.

Splash!

"Ack!" Timmy brought his right arm up to shield himself from the sudden splash of water, shivering a little as the cool droplets hit his skin.

"Quit sighing and come in the pool already, Twerp! I can tell you're hot just by looking at you, so hop in!" Vicky, clad in a lime green two-piece bikini; called over from the middle of the pool, flicking a few more droplets of water at her charge as she kicked her legs back and forth to stay afloat. "C'mon... I know you'd rather swim with a shark, but I... Probably don't bite...!" She grinned evilly, flashing her pearly white teeth at the boy.

"Yeah, I'm-Ah... I'm good here, thanks." The eleven year old brunet replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he eyed the deep end of the pool just in front of him. The only reason he was sitting on the deep side of the pool was because of the umbrella behind him, as he tended to burn rather easily in the sun.

"Hey, did you forget that I'm the babysitter here? That means I'm in charge, and in the interest of your health, I'm telling you: Get in the pool." The older teen casually swam over to her charge; latching onto the edge of the pool with her right hand as she reached it, before folding both her arms and settling them on the edge, followed by her head, which came to rest on her arms to use them as a sort of makeshift pillow.

Timmy instinctively slid to his right, away from his babysitter; in response, stopping just short of leaving the shade of the umbrella. "I... I can't. B-Because... Um... I... J-Just ate! Yeah, I just ate a little while ago, I don't wanna get a cramp." The boy nodded, seemingly agreeing with his own quick-thinking skills.

"Cramps are a myth, a lot like that story you just told me, since you haven't eaten since I got here. I told you I was ordering pizza for dinner, remember?" Vicky shot Timmy a clearly unimpressed look, her eyes bored and half-lidded.

"W-Well... Um... I don't- I don't want my... Oh! My sunscreen'll wash off if I go in the pool! I burn really easily, so..." The boy trailed off, gulping as he met the older girl's pink-eyed gaze, still looking rather unimpressed after hearing his excuse.

"Twerp, you're not wearing any sunscreen." To emphasize her point, the red-head reached her left hand out, extended her index finger, and dragged it down Timmy's arm, along his left bicep. "Which is dumb on its own, but I forgot to tell you to put some on. Either way, the sunscreen I got is waterproof, so you can come in the pool with it on." Vicky moved her head off her arms and braced her hands on the pool's edge, then lifted herself up and out of the water, before spinning around to sit down on the edge in the same manner that Timmy was. "You wanna try again?"

"Uhm-! I think I hear Cosmo and Wanda calling me, better go see what they want!" The brunet shot to his feet, knowing that despite the sly smile she was shooting him, Vicky was clearly growing impatient.

"Now you're not even trying...!" The red-head suddenly stood up, and before her charge could even take a single step, shot her right hand out toward him, her fingers curling around his wrist. This was soon followed by her giving the boy a quick yank back toward her and the pool, making him turn to face her and stumble, only for the red-head to catch him by placing both hands on his shoulders, leaving him standing right in front of her, Vicky's back to the pool.

"Uh-Heh... V-Vicky?" Timmy squeaked out as he attempted to step backward, but the older girl's strong grip kept him firmly rooted to the spot. "I... Should really go check on Cosmo and Wanda, I think I forgot to feed them today..." He audibly gulped, knowing deep down that there was little chance Vicky would believe his lie, especially after saying his goldfish were calling him.

"Boy, your shoulders sure feel tense. Kinda warm too..." She gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze, catching the boy off guard, since he was much more accustomed to the girl being somewhat rough with him. "Y'know what I think?"

"Um..." Another gulp, this time coupled with a bout of slight shivering as Timmy looked up at his babysitter. "Wh-What?"

"I think... You need to relax, chill out for a bit... Know what I mean?" Vicky stepped to the right, her hands slipping off the brunet's shoulders, then around him, repositioning herself so she was right behind the boy, her hands finding their way back onto his shoulders.

"Uh-N-No, Vi-Vicky..." He took a step backward, the back of his head lightly crashing into the red-head's stomach. "I don't know- I can't-Ack!" Before he could finish, Timmy felt a rough shove from behind on both of his shoulders, sending him careening over the edge of the pool and into the deep end, which itself was about eight and half feet deep.

Sploosh!

"Ack-Kah!" Timmy splashed and flailed, trying in vain to push his rapidly sinking form toward the side of the pool, either edge would work; he just needed something to grab onto so he could keep his head above water. "Vic- Ugh! Ky!" He gasped for air as water rushed into his mouth, accidentally inhaling it as he panicked.

Vicky, meanwhile; watched her charge's struggle with a bit of curiosity, before rolling her eyes and adopting a flat look. "Oh yeah, very funny, Twerp. I know you can swim, so stop playing around..." She shook her head to dispel the tiny hint of worry that had come over her, realizing the boy was probably just surprised by her little push, and wanted to make her worry to either get back at her, or save face.

Timmy continued to struggle, kicking his legs as hard as he could to keep afloat, which was quickly exhausting the eleven year old. "Nuh- No! I can't-Kah!" He coughed up a mouthful of water and gasped, which only caused him to inhale another mouthful into his lungs, robbing him of the ability to deliver life-giving oxygen to his already exhausted muscles. Before he knew it, he'd sunk below the surface, his babysitter's form growing blurry as darkness began to slowly encroach on his vision, starting at the edges, but soon expanding toward the center of it, then going dark completely.

"Ugh... Very funny, kid. I'll admit, you're pretty dedicated, but..." The red-head absently scratched at her arm in a disinterested tone, her eyes glancing down toward Timmy every now and again. "And now he's..." She paused, at last noticing that Timmy's eyes were not only closed, but his mouth was wide open, allowing water to flow into it unimpeded. "What is he-? Hey!" She knelt down at the edge of the pool, slapping the water with her right hand to make a large splash. "Enough screwing around! Get back up here before you drow-" Vicky's eyes widened as the realization hit her like a truck, her stomach feeling like it had just just been punched by a world-famous pugilist. Without another word or even thought, the seventeen year old shot forward, diving into the water and scraping her legs on the cement by the pool's edge in the process.

Her momentum sent her nearly all the way to the bottom, where Timmy was; and she kicked once more to reach him, awkwardly looping one arm around his waist before bracing her feet against the bottom of the pool, then pushing herself up with all her might, shooting herself back to the surface near-instantly. Her head broke the surface with a loud splash, and she quickly swam over to the edge of the pool, her unconscious charge in tow.

For some reason, Vicky found that her mouth seemingly couldn't find any words. She felt annoyed, angry even, since Timmy had never once thought to mention that he couldn't swim, and even his parents were evidently unaware, or simply didn't care enough to give the fact any thought. Worse than annoyed though, she felt scared, alien as the emotion was to her. "Urgh!" Using her well-known yet inexplicable(for her age and size) strength, the red-head hauled both herself and Timmy out of the water, carefully setting him down on, lying on his back; on the cement that surrounded the edge of the pool. "Okay, think. He was only down there a few seconds, so..." A light bulb turned on in the seventeen year old's head. "Rrgh... Dammit, Twerp! Wake up!" Vicky, now on her hands and knees, yelled into the brunet's face, only to hang her head soon after as she realized it didn't work. "Shit... All I know of CPR is that garbage I've seen in movies..."

The seconds ticked by as the older teen wondered what she could do. She knew her best bet was to try CPR, as even if she called an ambulance, they'd probably take at least five minutes to get there, and by then...

"You little...! How can you do this to me?! If you die on my watch... How am I supposed to keep babysitting after that?! No one's gonna hire me if you...!" Vicky felt a mild itch at the corners of her eyes and rubbed at them. At the same time, her feeling of having been punched in the gut now felt like a twisting knot, one that made her want to throw up. "Son of a...Argh...!" She quickly glanced to her left, then her right, seeing that her yelling had apparently gone unnoticed by the neighbors living in the houses on either side of the Turner household. "R-Right, um... I should... Listen for a pulse." She leaned down, allowing her head to settle on Timmy's chest, her ear pressed to it. There was a faint, barely perceptible beating noise in the boy's chest, but it wasn't anywhere near as loud as she knew it should be.

"Alright, he's still... Alive..." She pulled away, beginning the next step of what she knew of CPR by settling both hands, one over the other; in the middle of his chest. "Crap, was it to three? Or... Was it more?" Shaking her head as she realized she was very quickly running out of time, Vicky pressed down hard on Timmy's chest. "One, two, three..." She punctuated each number with another downward pump, until reaching ten, then dropped back to the ground, her head settling on his chest again. As before, she heard faint beating, but from what she could tell, Timmy still wasn't breathing. "Fuck..." She muttered under her breath as she pulled away, her pink-eyed gaze falling on Timmy's face; his lips parted somewhat. "That just leaves..." She moved up along his body, settling herself next to his head, and turning it so he faced up at the sky. "Y-You'd better be dying for r-real, Twerp..." Using her index finger and thumb, she pinched Timmy's nose closed, then moved in, briefly pausing just before her lips touched his. "Stop hesitating!" A voice in her mind screamed at her, causing her to suddenly jolt forward and cover the brunet's mouth with her own, then blow all the air in her lungs into Timmy, an act that she was quick to repeat, as she'd forgotten to inhale fully the first time.

She noticed his chest rise out of the corner of her eye, and she pulled away to look down at Timmy. "Oh... C'mon, Twerp! Wake up!" Vicky moved to the boy's chest again, settling her hands down, palms flat; on the middle of his chest. "You are not dying on. My. Watch!" Again, she punctuated each word with a rough downward pump on the brunet's chest, her tone growing just a bit desperate as she crawled up near his head again, this time wasting no time in sucking in a huge breath of air, holding the boy's nose, and covering his mouth with her own once more as she exhaled into him.

Unlike the first attempt, however; this try was met with results, as she felt Timmy's small form jolt beneath her, causing her to instinctively pull away as his eyes shot wide open and he turned onto his side. "Gah! ...Ah-Kah!" The eleven year old shifted onto his hands and knees, a light spasm wracking his body as it forced the excess water out of his lungs, making him cough it up in between gasps for air.

"Uh... H-Here, let me..." Vicky crawled over to Timmy's side, then lightly thumped his back with the palm of her hand, hoping to help clear his lungs.

"Ah... Hah... Th-Thanks..." The brunet managed to gasp out between breaths for air, his voice sounding a bit hoarse from coughing. "I'm-Uh... I think... I'm okay now." He rocked back, folding his legs underneath him to sit on them. His eyes soon drifted to his shoulder, Vicky's hand still resting on it; then up along her own arm and shoulder to eventually settle on her face, her pink eyes filled with... Some emotion he didn't recognize. Were they not the eyes of his babysitter, he might think it was worry he saw in them, but he told himself it couldn't be that. This was Vicky, after all.

"Phew..." A sigh of relief escaped the seventeen year old as she hung her head, her worry slowly ebbing away now that her charge was conscious and seemingly coherent. "Jeez, Twerp. You had me worried for a few minutes there..."

"Wait, she was worried?" Timmy thought to himself incredulously, realizing that yes, Vicky had just admitted to being worried about him, she even sounded genuinely relieved when saying it. "But... Why?"

"Wha- Whaddya mean why?! You almost just drowned!" She shot back in a tone that almost sounded defensive to the boy's ears. "It's not like I want something bad to happen to you! I do care about you- ...Getting paid, y'know! If you go and die from something as stupid as drowning, it's gonna severely impact the-Uh... The amount of money I get from your parents!" Vicky yanked her hand away from the brunet's shoulder; crossing her arms and nodding in agreement with herself as her cheeks took on a very light shade of pink.

"Oh... Alright then..." Timmy sighed, his gaze dropping to the cement ground between them. "I just thought that you... I dunno..."

An awkward silence pervaded the backyard, prompting Vicky to wonder how she could break it.

"Look, um..." The red-head began, only to trail off soon after. Somewhere, deep down, she knew she at least owed Timmy an apology for pushing him into the water, especially since he had been trying to tell her he couldn't swim, but...

She pushed herself up and to her feet, stretching a little once she stood up fully. "We should... I should probably take you to the hospital. Just to, y'know, make sure you're alright after... That."

"But... I feel fine, I don't want-" Timmy began, his tone childish and a bit pleading.

"Well I want to make sure you're alright. ...Because I could get in a lot of trouble with your parents if you're not, so we're going to the hospital. Go up to your room and dry off, change if you want, and then come back down so we can go." Vicky commanded, clearly not budging on the issue.

"Vicky, I'm fine. I won't say anything to my mom and dad, so please-" The boy tried again, now very much pleading with the older girl. It wasn't that he had any bad experiences with hospitals, there was just something about them that he didn't like. Maybe it was the smell, maybe it was the risk of getting sick, or maybe it was just the fact that, as a kid, he felt like he was 'supposed to' not like hospitals. Whatever the reason, he really didn't want to go. Being stuck at home with his evil babysitter was infinitely preferable to a fifteen minute hospital visit, in his mind.

"Twerp, I don't want to hear it!" Vicky finally snapped at him, her pink eyes vibrant and angry as she glared into his bright blue ones. "We're going to get you checked out, end of story! Now quit fighting me on this and do what I say!"

Timmy flinched at her tone; partly because of how loud and angry she'd suddenly become, and partly because his babysitter sounded... Different somehow. This wasn't her usual anger, where she'd yell at him to do his chores and take a fair amount of enjoyment or pleasure out of it. Somehow, this anger was... Well, serious. "A-Alright..." He conceded sheepishly as he rose to his feet, then spun around and made for the backdoor, disappearing into the house once he reached it.

"Rrgh...!" Vicky growled as soon as she saw the back door close, her body bristling with annoyance. "What the Hell kinda question is that?! 'Why?' Why not?! Frickin' kid could've drowned if not for me!" She closed her eyes, trying to ignore a certain gnawing thought at the back of her mind. "...So I pushed him into the pool, it's not my fault the little Twerp can't swim! It's his fault for not telling me he can't swim! ...Or at least his parents'." The red-head blew out a puff of air, blowing a lock of her soaked hair out of her eyes. "...Dammit all. Now I need to figure out some kind of story for how he almost drowned... Better make sure Timmy knows what to say too... Why can't I ever just have a nice, relaxing day?!" Vicky shouted at no one in particular, then made her way over to the backdoor, same as Timmy had; and disappeared into the house.