Author's Note: I know Vanellope's condition when she's introduced is quite cruel and undeserved, but that's just the idea that came to me and I can't really see this story going any other way at this point. The guy in this story who did it to her is a very sick person.

It was a thoughtful idea on his brother's part, Ralph reasoned. Inviting him along on Felix and Calhoun's little camping trip out in the woods. He didn't exactly want to go, but he often found it hard to say no to his elder brother. The fact that Felix was the elder brother, was always something that made him laugh as there was a large size difference between the two in both height and weight. Ralph was six and a half feet tall and a bit on the heavier side, though he wasn't fat by any means, and Felix was a mere four and a half feet tall, and scrawny. Calhoun wasn't quite on par with Ralph's height, but close. She was just shy of six feet tall. The three were all in their early thirties, with Ralph being the youngest at 30. Felix and Calhoun were both 32.

Felix and Calhoun were a new couple. They hadn't even been dating for more than a few weeks and Ralph was a bit of a shut-in when not working. He wasn't exactly one for crowds either, especially since his height made him stand out somewhat more.

Felix and Calhoun just happened to both be the type to save up their vacation days from their respective jobs, so there was no reason their bosses could find to prevent them from taking a week off for this camping trip. Ralph on the other hand didn't have much of a regular schedule for his demolition job and he was free to pass up on offers if he wished.

The place they chose for their outing wasn't exactly far from civilization, but it was far enough away for such conveniences as cellphones and other technological goodies to not be of much use. Calhoun was a bit of an expert in regards to camping, or so she'd like to think. As such, she took care of most of the preparations such as food and water, protection from mosquitoes and of course she brought a hunting rifle and handgun. One was for hunting if she felt like it. One was, in her words, 'for just in case'. She never left home without the latter, being a cop.

Their story starts near midnight as the first day of their camping trip wound down. Ralph was in a large red tent all to himself while Felix and Calhoun were in a dark blue tent about 10 feet away from his. He was busy reading 'The Hobbit' since he wasn't exactly tired. He had an odd sleep schedule when he didn't have some wrecking to do the next day. He didn't let many people know he read books in his spare time as he quite enjoyed the impression he gave off of being some big, strong guy that just enjoys wrecking buildings for a living.

After a while though, Ralph realized that he needed to relieve himself for what many guys, himself included, would call a 'midnight piss'. Little did he know that this is what would change his life and hers forever.

Ralph groaned as he placed his book beside his sleeping bag and got up to put on his long brown coat. He groaned even louder as the cold outside wind hit him. He made sure to walk a good distance away, perhaps farther than most would go for such a simple deed. He turned back briefly, hardly able to see the light of his tent through the thick of trees to see if Felix was perhaps following him. Could have sworn I heard footsteps.. He shrugged it off and did what he set out to do. This should be far enough.

As Ralph was ready to go back, however, from the corner of his eye he saw something that nobody in their right mind would expect to see on a camping trip. Or at any point in time in their lives, really. There was a young woman tied to a tree with rather thick rope a good distance away to his right. She was Vanellope von Schweetz, a 19 year old woman. She normally held her hair up in a ponytail, but it was down, covering her face.

Ralph's blood ran cold, naturally, as he slowly made his way to Vanellope. Is she even alive? What kind of mad man would tie someone up like this? Damn it, I hope she's at least alive. What if she's dead? She's.. She's not even dressed by the looks of it. That just makes this even more-

Ralph looked around in a manner that most would normally call paranoid, but in this instance it was completely justified. I have to be on my toes in case the person who did this is nearby.. He resumed his small trek and nearly tripped on some roots as he picked up his pace. He wanted to just get this over with and continued hoping that she was at least alive.

Ralph heaved a sigh of relief in finding that she was indeed alive, but simply unconscious. Thank God for that. He took his long coat off and placed it spread open on the ground before pulling out a pocket knife he had in one of its pockets. He cut the ropes binding her to the tree as quickly as he could while still eyeing his surroundings. He expected the culprit of such a heinous act to be still around watching, waiting for a moment to take him out for interrupting whatever this was.. He made sure to hold her up so that she wouldn't fall on her face as the ropes came loose. This is just not my day. First I'm torn away from home, now this.. I guess I can't really complain when this person is clearly having an even worse day.. I don't know what's going on, but first I've got to get her away from here. Calhoun would have a better idea of what to do from there..

Ralph eased Vanellope's unconscious figure onto his spread open coat then wiped her feet of ants that had been biting her while trying his best to ignore the fact that she was completely naked. This poor woman. Why would someone subject her to this kind of cruelty? He wrapped her up in his coat then quickly made his way to Calhoun's tent with her in his arms.

"Uh.. Calhoun, Felix? I don't exactly know what to do about this.." Ralph practically stammered as he stood outside the couple's tent. If anyone does, it's Calhoun though..

"Listen 'Wreck-It', this had better be-," Calhoun said in an annoyed tone as she unzipped her and Felix's tent after slipping her camouflage t-shirt back on, "What the hell? Bring her inside. Felix, you go with Ralph in his tent.." Damn it.. I don't understand what's going on, but first we should at least get some clothes on her. It's a good thing I brought a few spare..

"Oh my land," Felix said softly as he saw Vanellope in Ralph's arms. Where did he find her?

"A-aye aye.." Ralph said nervously as he placed the young, unconscious woman onto the floor of the tent. From his perspective, Calhoun always seemed like she was about ready to smack him upside the head for the smallest reason even though she's only done that to him twice before as far as he could recall. Easy does it..

"Of course," Felix said apprehensively as he scratched his wrist. Whatever happened, we need to be careful around here.. Should we even stay?

"Go on.." Calhoun said pointedly as she waved them out of the tent and quickly zipped it shut. Men have no place watching a girl get dressed. Let alone one they don't even know. I don't know who she is, but she's had it rough. Rope burns from struggling, duct tape over her mouth. Aside from that she seems to be okay.. She sighed and quickly pulled out a spare set of clothes from her black duffel bag and carefully dressed Vanellope. What she dressed her in was a teal t-shirt and brown cargo pants, and of course underwear. Luckily she's about the same size as me, although a bit shorter.. After that she carefully peeled off the duct tape from around the woman's mouth. If we find out who did this to her, that person is going away for a long time..

Calhoun placed the still unconscious Vanellope back onto Ralph's long coat and decided to carve a bit of wood with her knife until she woke up. Rather than bring her in right away, we should give her a chance to get her mind straight and maybe figure out what happened first. I have some neosporin, come to think of it. That should help with those rope burns.. I don't know though, I wouldn't want to ruin 'evidence'. Damn it..

"What happened, brother?" Felix asked softly, "Where was she? How'd you find her?" Jiminy jaminy. This sort of thing would happen on my first vacation in years.. I shouldn't complain, Ralph very well might have just saved that woman's life.

"I don't know, Felix," Ralph said nervously with a sigh as he lied back onto the hard floor of his tent. He insisted that Felix use his sleeping bag as he had taken a nap on bricks on more than one occasion so it was nothing new to him. "I just went take a leak and saw her there naked, tied to a tree with rope.. I looked around, but didn't see anybody else nearby."

"Jeepers.." Felix said apprehensively, "You think we should leave?" What if the person that did this is still nearby?

"I don't know," Ralph said softly, "Your girlfriend would know better than either of us combined what to do in a situation like this. She's a cop for crying out loud." That she hasn't told us to get ready to leave should be indication enough that it's not the option she's going to go with.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Felix said softly. I wonder what happened to her that someone left her tied up to a tree, naked at that..

"At the very least I guess we're waiting for her to wake up on her own.." Ralph said as he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair, "Maybe find out what happened to her first before getting her coworkers involved." Should I continue reading since we're waiting anyway? Or would that be inappropriate given the situation? Either way there's nothing I can do..

Hours later as Calhoun was nearly finished carving some kind of weird bug out of the piece of wood she had earlier, Vanellope stirred from her sleep.

At first Vanellope simply groaned slightly. She wasn't fully conscious. At least not until she felt at her wrist and winced before looking around wildly and backing herself into a corner of the tent. She breathed heavily and examined herself only to find that she was dressed in someone else's clothes. Hers? She looked over to Calhoun and untensed slightly as she realized that she was probably 'safe'. It's a far cry from the position I was in the last time I was awake at least. Her eyes watered slightly and she winced as she felt more rope burns at the sides of her hips. Damn it.. Why'd this have to happen to me?

"You're awake," Calhoun said softly as she put her knife and carving away, "Can I get you anything?" She's calmer than I expected her to be, but that's not much of a surprise.

"Besides payback?" Vanellope asked meekly as she hugged her knees to her chest. Against the guy who did this to me..

"Well I wouldn't rule payback out just yet," Calhoun said softly as she turned her body to face Vanellope, "But for now, what do you need? Are you hungry? Thirsty?.. What's your name?" I should slow down on the questions..

"I am a little hungry, I guess," Vanellope said meekly, "My name is Vanellope.." I wonder how she found me..

"Alright, Vanellope," Calhoun said softly, "My name is Tamora.. It's not the greatest, but we've got some MRE's you can pick from. We also have snacks if you're interested.." They were mostly to shut up the boys, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if she had them..

"I don't really think I could handle real food right now.." Vanellope said meekly as she lifted and inspected the long coat she was laying on previously, "This is kind of big for you, no offense.." Why did I have to say that out loud?

"Oh, that's not mine," Calhoun said softly, "That belongs to the guy who found you." It's not me she should be thanking. Not that she's thanked me..

Vanellope's eyes widened worriedly. It couldn't belong to the guy that did this to me though..

"You don't have to worry about him having done anything inappropriate to you," Calhoun said softly, "He's an idiot at times, but he isn't a lecher as far as I've seen." It was probably a man who did this to her in the first place though, so that reaction is no surprise..

"Where is he now?" Vanellope asked worriedly. He still saw me naked even if he did save me. That alone is..

"You want to meet him?" Calhoun asked, "He's in the next tent with my boyfriend right now."

"Not really," Vanellope said meekly, "I'd rather just go home and forget this ever happened. But that's impossible, isn't it?" I'd have to call the cops too. And then they'll want to question me and do a rape test and stuff.. Not that I was raped. At least not literally. Whydid this have to happen to me?

"Were you attacked at home?" Calhoun asked. Since she's calm enough for questioning, I might as well ask.

"Yeah. What are you, a cop?" Vanellope asked in a slightly annoyed tone. I shouldn't get mad, these people saved my life..

"Yes, actually," Calhoun said, "But we're just out camping." Is it that obvious that I'm a cop?

"I'm lucky.." Vanellope said as she hugged her knees to her chest again, "Would it be okay if I sleep here?" She's really a cop.. I don't like relying on people like this, but..

"Absolutely.." Calhoun said as she stood up and got off of her sleeping bag, "Here, use this sleeping bag. I won't be using it.." It looks like I'll be pulling an all-nighter.

"Thanks.." Vanellope said. My head is killing me..

Author's Note: As long as this story continues to get support, I'll continue writing it. I normally wouldn't say something like that, but I have a number of unfinished stories and wouldn't otherwise know which you'd like me to prioritize.

Also, I'm currently still working on a Jawbreaker story titled 'The Honeyglow Surge', which is the sequel to 'A Sudden Surge'. 'The Honeyglow Surge' also has Hero's Cuties and a few other pairings you'll like if you give them a chance.

Another Jawbreaker story I had started writing is 'Sugar Rush: Version 2'. It was originally a one-shot that I wrote alongside this one to see which people preferred more.