“When
are ya gonna kill her?”
Victor
snorted a laugh.
“You are gonna kill her, aren’t ya?”
“I’m
tryin’ t’decide why I don’t just kill you
right now.”
From
her position on the arm of the couch, Marrow angrily leaned forward, her eyes
narrowing.
“I’m not
one of them. I’m just stayin’ there fer
a while cause I got nuthin’ better to do right now. And from what I hear, you
know exactly what that’s like.” She hissed referring to the time Sabretooth had
lived at the mansion, first as a prisoner, then as a pretended imbecile. He had
been faking all along—just living among the X-Men until he didn’t feel like it
anymore. As a going away present,
Sabretooth had nearly torn Psylocke to pieces.
Creed
was now sitting in the office chair in his
home office. He had expected that the
X-Men would have attempted something at some point, however, coming into this
room just after 3 am, he had not expected to see Marrow sitting there. From
what he had gathered, the young mutant was an in house enemy of Ororo’s. She hated her, and Ororo was not fond of the
former Morlock either, even once having pulled out one of the girl’s two hearts
with her bare hands. Sabretooth smiled
as he thought about it. His little ‘wifey’
with a beating heart in her hand. That
gentle woman, who at the moment was asleep upstairs committing, or at least
trying to commit murder? The irony
almost made him laugh. And the thought
of it actually made him like her more.
“Let’s
just say I believe you’re only coolin’ yer heals at the big house and ya ain’t
on their bandwagon. Why the hell should
I tell you if-and-or-when I’m gonna kill her?
Why the hell would you care?”
“I
don’t care. I just wanna be there when
ya do it. That weather-bitch has caused
me more than enough… heartache… I just want to see her suffer as ya do it!”
Victor
grinned.
“I’m
beginning to like you, kid. That is if
I believe what yer tellin’ me.”
“Well
do ya believe this? The Wolf and the
Cajun are on ta ya. They know how you
used that mind-warp chick and her partner t’screw with Ororo’s mind. They know you killed her; they saw it in the
paper. Didn’t take ‘em long t’put two
and two together. They’re out there
right now lookin’ for that Spike
guy.”
This was news to Creed. He hadn’t counted on them finding out about
Spike and Kesh. Not this soon
anyway. This could place a serious kink
in his plans.
“S’that
so? They find him yet?”
“Not
last I heard.”
Creed
nodded, thinking to himself.
“Might
have t’kill her sooner than I thought.” He said, and did not miss the fact that
Sarah’s eye seemed to light up when he’d said it.
“Not
today though.” He added. She seemed to
slump some.
Marrow
climbed off the couch arm.
“Well,
if ya can’t get word to me before ya do it, do me at least one favor…”
She
pulled a long jagged bone from her forearm.
“Slice
her up all ya want. But for the killing
blow--”
She
handed the bone to him.
“--Drive
this right through her heart… slowly.”
Creed
looked at the bone he had just been given, then back up to Sarah. She nodded and headed to the balcony doors.
“How’d
you get in here, anyway?” He asked when
her hand was on the knob. “You didn’t
trip any of my security grids. And I
know ya can’t fly.”
Sabretooth’s
time with the X-Men and later X-Factor had not been unprofitable. He had
stolen
various devices and/or plans from both groups.
He knew full well that the X-Men knew where he and Storm were
residing. He also knew they would never
try to forcibly take her as long as she
believed she was his wife.
“Ya
didn’t mine the sewers. That’s Morlock
turf.”
“You
mean was don’t ya?”
“As long as one of us is still breathin’ it still is.”
“So
where were you when the rest of them bought it?”
“I
was there. But I was only three. Don’t remember much but the screaming. And someone pickin’ me up and running
out. Someday I’m gonna find those
Marauders. I’ll slice every one of
them.”
‘She don’t know!’ He thought amused. ‘She’s
got a shit-load more reason t’hate me than Storm. Wonder why they never told her?’
* * * * *
“There.”
Remy
pointed to the far end of the bar. A
lone man was sitting off into space. A
glass of what looked like brandy sat on the bar between his resting arms.
He
didn’t notice the two gentlemen before they sat on the stools on either side of
him.
“Spike, ain’t it?” The man to his right asked.
With
a sideways glance, he quickly looked the man up and down.
“You’re
Thieves Guild, aren’t you?”
Remy
felt a small tingling in his mind. He
shook his head and forcibly pushed the buzz aside.
“Naw,
we ain’t havin’ none of dat. Got my
own--charm, if you will. You’re powers don’ work on me… an’ my friend
over there,” he said pointing to Logan.
“You try dat on him and he’s like t’get a little grumpy—Well, more grumpy anyway. An’ believe you me, you don’ be wantin’
t’see dat. Ain’t dat right Wolvie?”
“Get
the point?” Wolverine said extracting a
single claw. His hand was still resting
on the bar so no one else in the dimly lit room could see it.
“W-Wolvie…
Oh, my g--!”
Dr.
Stevens tried to stand up but Gambit and Wolverine each placed a hand on one of
his shoulders and forced him back down onto the barstool.
“Now
that we’ve got the introductions out of the way—” Wolverine started, not facing
the man.
“L—look. I don’t want
to be doing this to her, okay! I
didn’t—don’t have a choice. He was going to kill me!”
“What
do ya mean was? If you think he’s
not plannin’ on shreddin’ ya when he’s done with ya, yer bloody kiddin’
yerself! Creed don’t like loose ends.”
“He might not take as long a time gutting
you.”
“…There’s
nothing that I can do. I have to listen to him.”
Logan
grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him so that his face was less than an
inch away from Logan’s. Stevens nearly
wet himself when he saw the boiling rage being contained behind Logan’s eyes.
“Now
you listen, and you listen good. I
don’t give a fuck about you. In fact,
it’s takin’ every ounce of strength for me not
to skew you right now. There’s just two
reasons while yer still breathin’. One,
you disappear, Creed figures we got to ya and he kills Storm. And two, even if Creed don’t, we want you
around to reverse whatchya done. Our
telepaths could do it eventually, but with Storm fighting us, it would be
harder. She could get hurt. But don’t
think that makes you safe. You don’t
wise up and we’ll chance it without you.”
“B-but…”
“Homme,
I wouldn’ finish dat sentence if I was you.”
“…”
Logan
held on a moment longer, then released him.
He angrily stared forward into space.
“Now
dis be de way it gonna play out homme.
Listen, an’ listen good.
* * * * *
There
was blood. So much blood.
It
painted the walls and swam around her ankles.
It dripped from above her and stained her skin and clothing. And there was a face, a familiar face. A horribly evil face. It leaped towards her, fangs bared.
Ororo
bolted upright in her bed, her breath quick with fear. Not fully awake, she frantically looked
about her.
Early
morning light filled the room. She
looked at the clock. 7:30 am. Early light filled the room. Looking to her right, she saw that Victor
was already gone.
Ororo
climbed out of bed, threw on a robe and went into the washroom. She splashed some water on her face. Dizzy she placed her hands on the counter
and stared hard at her reflection in the mirror.
She
felt disjointed, as though she were in someone else’s body—someone else’s life.
“You
belong here.” She firmly told the woman
in the mirror.
That
woman seemed to shake her head.
Ororo
dismissed it, as well as that feeling.
She showered changed and went downstairs.
Creed
was standing in front of the glass doors in the kitchen, looking at nothing.
Ororo
came up behind him and slipped one arm around his shoulder and the other around
his chest in a hug.
“Why
did you not wake me?” She asked
pleasantly.
“Got
up hours ago. Had some business to take
care of.”
“Oh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He
turned to face her. “What is it?”
Ororo
shook her head slightly.
“I—just,
missed you when I woke and you were not there.”
“Sorry.”
Storm
walked over to the counter to make herself a cup of tea.
“I—I
am going into the city today.”
“Why?”
“Can
I not simply go out without reason?”
“…Yeah. I guess.”
Ororo
put the kettle down having filled it.
“In truth,
there is a reason, though you may not think it important.” She took a breath
and continued. “I feel the need to be
around people today.”
“What?
I ain’t people.”
“Of
course you are. But you are one. Dr. Stevens, wherever he is, would only be
two.”
She
paused again.
“Tell
me Victor, did we entertain much?
Before… all of this?”
“No. You and me, we like t’keep to
ourselves. Don’tcha remember that?”
“…Yes. I know we often spent long periods of time
away from others. I can sense that…
But… It seems so quiet…”
Her
thoughts were interrupted as Dr. Stevens comes into the kitchen. He looked extremely pale.
“You
stink.” Creed said right out. “What the
hell happened to you?”
Ororo
could smell nothing.
“I
got thrown into the East River last night.”
“What?”
Ororo exclaimed.
“Right
after I was mugged.”
“Goddess! Are you all right?”
“I’m
fine. Just had to spend a few hours in
the tub last night.”
“Not
long enough.” Creed grumbled.
Inwardly,
Stevens sighed in relief. After the
little “meeting” he had with the two X-Men the night before, Wolverine
suggested that he take a swim in the river to mask their scents. The East River was one of the few scents in
New York that even Logan’s nose could not break through. He had guaranteed Spike that Creed wouldn’t
be able to break through that scent either.
“And
how are you feeling this morning, ma’am.”
“Fine,
save for a slight case of cabin fever.”
‘It’s working.’ Spike thought.
* * * * *
Gambit walked into the kitchen. Late riser that he was, the majority of the household were already present. Logan had already given a summery of they’re meeting with Spike, the night before.
“Ya think he’s started?” Gambit asked.
“The little shit’s too scared not to.” Logan grumbled in response.
“Sara
up yet?”
“Behind
you, Cajun.” Came a rough voice from the doorway. He turned to see the young mutant rubbing her eyes in a waking
manor.
“Where
was you last night, fille? You part of
dis plan too ya know.”
“I
was visiting a friend.”
“A
friend?”
“Yeah. A friend.”
“Needed
to be going over a few t’ings ‘bout d’plan with you. You best not gone off an done somethin’ stupid.”
Sara
poked a finger hard into Gambit’s chest.
“Listen, Cajun. Don’t you start
tellin’ me what to do! I know what you
need me for and I’ll do it on my own time and when I’m good and ready. Got it?”
“Do
whatever the hell you want kid.” Logan said from the table. “But you screw this
up in any way…”
“Fuck
all a you!” Sara said and stormed out of the room.
“Maybe
this isn’t such a good idea.” Scott said.
“How much can we trust Sara?”
“Don’t
worry about it.” Logan said flatly, and went back to his coffee.
* * * * *
‘What
is happening to me? I no longer feel that I can trust my own feelings… or is it
my mind that I no longer trust… or is it…? …No. He is your…’ {Sigh}
Ororo
absentmindedly argued with herself as she walked through the streets.
‘And
where on earth am I going?’
She
stopped herself and looked around.
She
had been walking for several hours, the feeling of isolation and loneliness
growing by the minute. Yet it was not
the large estate she knew as her home that Ororo was unknowingly walking
towards.
‘Goddess… I am less than a block away from where those X-Men attacked Victor! Why did I…?’
Ororo
began walking again and increased her pace.
She passed the crafts store and Harry’s Hideaway. She continued till a sort of fork where the
main road continued and a more private looking road on an incline went off a
few degrees north of it. She took this
quiet looking road.
She
passed the beginnings of a massive estate and her heart began to race. There was a long black iron fence stretching
as far as she could see the estate boarder.
She began to run along beside it until she came to the large iron gates
that secured a long driveway that lead to the extremely large mansion off in
the distance.
Ororo
stepped up to the gates and wrapped her hands around two of the iron
spikes. She pulled her self close to
the gates and looked hard through the spaces.
“Whatcha
doin’ here, Sweets?”
Ororo’s
head spun around. Standing on the other
side of the narrow street was her husband.
“Victor?! You have been following me?”
“You
seemed kinda out of it this mornin’.
Caught up to yer sent about an hour after ya left. Followed ya from there. So what are ya doin here, Sweets?”
“…I…
do not know.”
Sabretooth
narrowed his eyes.
“You
know who lives up in that house?”
Ororo
let one of her hands drop from the gate and partially turned to face him. She shook her head.
“That’s
the X-Men’s mansion.”
Storm
turned again to face the property, placing her free hand back on the gate.
“What
is happening Victor? What is happening
to me? …I feel so… drawn to this
place. It feels… safe to me.”
She
completely turned around to face him.
“But
safe from what…?”
“Why don’tcha
answer the lady, Creed.” Said a gruff
voice from the other side of the gate.
Logan emerged from behind the high hedge that lined the fence. Ororo took a few steps back.
“Go
on. Tell ‘er.”
“What
is going on here?” Storm demanded, as even more of the X-Men appeared. To their credit, however, they remained
behind the gate.
“Seems
t’me like they’re tryin’ t’pull another one of their mind tricks on ya,
Sweets.”
“You’ve
got that backwards, don’t you?”
Creed
stepped forward and put a hand on Ororo’s shoulder.
“Red,
you, and every other one of you x-freaks, know that I ain’t no telepath.”
“But
Stevens is.” Remy said with controlled
voice.
Ororo
turned around to face Creed.
“…What? Why did you never tell me?”
“Ain’t
nuthin’ t’tell. He ain’t even a full
telepath and his powers don’t got anythin’ t’do with me and you.”
“Bull
shit! Don’tcha see chere? He been twistin’ ya mind since d’explosion!”
“And
why should I believe any of you?”
“Don’t.”
Logan said flatly. “Trust yourself.”
Logan
stepped forward and opened the gate, but did not advance any further.
“Stevens
has been twistin’ yer memories so that they fit Creed’s bill. We had a talk with him last night and he
stopped what he was doin’ t’you.”
“The
sense of wrong you’ve been feeling all day is your mind settling back to its
original mode of thinking.” Jean said.
“Your subconscious instincts are kicking in.”
“The
only instincts you’ve been gettin’ is what that mind which has been givin’ ya.”
“Storm,
you were feeling lost and confused, yet the you came here, not back to him.”
Cyclops said.
“Sweets,
let’s get the hell out of here.” Creed said grabbing Ororo’s arm. He started to pull her away from the group.
“Why
don’t ya let Stormy decide for herself?”
Ororo
stopped walking causing Creed to halt also.
She turned to face the X-Men again.
“…What—What
did you call me?”
“Stormy.”
Gambit said looking her dead in the eyes.
“Do
not call me th—” Storm said quietly,
almost only mouthing the words. The
response to him calling her that word seemed almost instinctive. She put her palm to her temple and shook her
head.
Creed
didn’t like where this was going. He
decided to pull his trump card.
From
the inside lining of his jacket.
“If
these folks are so friendly to ya, then why’d I find this stabbed inta your
side of the bed after you left this mornin’?”
He
produced the long sharp bone that Marrow had given him.
Not
only Ororo’s but many of the eyes of the X-Men who were present, grew wide and
round.
“It
belongs t’their little bone chick.” Creed continued. “Not yer usual kinda welcome mat.”
Ororo
did not hear him though. Her mind was
racing a mile a minute, but not in the direction Creed had been hoping it would
go.
The
bone. She knew that bone. It belonged to…”
“Was wonderin’
where I left that?” came a rough voice from across the street. Sara was sitting on the back of a bench, an
identical bone twirling between her fingers.
“Sara,
what did you do?” Cyclops demanded.
“Let’s
just say I owed the rain lady one.” She hissed.
Creed
grinned devilishly, not realizing that Storm’s silent stare was not her belief
in the facts laid before her. It was
her mind putting the pieces of a puzzle back together. Her thoughts were coming together like beads
being strung.
‘Sara… Marrow… she is a Morlock… the Morlocks… I lead them… they are… dead… they were killed… by…the Marauders’
A
sudden image of her dream the night before came back to her. The blood… the bodies… The faces of the
Marauders danced before her eyes, one by one…
Storm’s eyes widened even more and she looked up at her ‘husband’.
It was only now that Creed sensed that something was wrong. He narrowed his eyes.
Then everything seemed to happen at once.
Ororo tried to pull away, but Creed’s grasp on her forearm was too strong. He pulled her back to him and spun her around so that she was trapped in a half body lock with one arm pinned behind her back.
Unfortunately for Creed, that meant she still had one arm free.
The moment Creed had pulled Ororo back to him, Marrow, who was to their left, had thrown the bone she was holding directly at Ororo like a spear. Cyclops, Rogue and Jean, who were to the right, did not even have time to cry out a “No!” as the bone was moving so fast, their mouths froze on the word.
Having Ororo in the body lock, Creed brought the bone he had been holding up to Ororo’s throat and prepared to swipe.
As his hand began to pull back against her jugular, Ororo, having only seen a hint of the motion from her left eye, reached out with her free right hand and caught the bone, Marrow had hurled.
In one swift, yet graceful movement, Ororo flipped the bone and jammed it over her right shoulder…
…directly into Creed’s eye.
As an
automatic reaction, Creed released Ororo as well as the bone he had been
holding and brought his hands up to his impaled eye, howling in pain all the
way.
Ororo
fell forward and instinctively rolled clear.
Her timing was perfect, as Logan had taken a flying leap at the still
staggering Sabretooth, all six claws bared.
Ororo
clutched at her throat and tried to catch her breath. She winced at the slight pain coming from underneath her
hands. While Creed had not managed to
completely cut her throat open, he had broken though some, and it was starting
to bleed.
Kneeling
in the street, Ororo felt a pair of hands fall on her shoulders.
“Ororo?”
“Jean…”
she managed to whisper.
It
was then they saw the damage.
“Rogue,
get her to the infirmary.”
Without
saying a word, Rogue scooped Storm up and flew her to one of the quick-hatches
that the X-Men had used to make their sudden appearance behind the gate.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later, the rest of the topside X-Men piled into the infirmary. Part of Gambit’s coat had been shredded, but otherwise he looked fine. Wolverine on the other hand was a literal bloody mess. Hank raised an eyebrow to him, but Logan merely grumbled: “I’ll live.” Hank shrugged. As per usual, he felt he should always at least ask.
Ororo was sitting on the edge of one of the examination tables looking down at her hands. She had a small white bandage across the left side of her throat.
The X-Men looked at Hank expectantly.
“Oh, she’s fine.” He said. “Well, as far as I can tell physically anyway. The cut wasn’t deep, only three stitches.”
“Ororo?” Jean put her hand on her friend’s.
Ororo looked up. “Jean, I…” she shook her head and looked down again. “Things are coming back to me… but some things I cannot remember.”
“We’ll help you with that.” Jean said with a smile. “The only important thing is that you believe that—”
“This is my home.” Ororo finished quietly. “I do.” She said looking back up.
“Home’s always a good place t’start.” Logan said coming forward.
Ororo hesitantly held up a hand to his face. She managed a weak smile, and then slowly nodded in agreement.
“Told ya I owed her one.” Came Marrow’s voice from the doorway.
“Sara! What the hell were you doing, giving that bone to Creed?” Scott demanded.
“Easy, Cyke. Cajun and I knew about the bone. She thought it might be a good idea to have a little insurance in case we weren’t able t’convince her.”
“Girly, knew dat the not-so-great blood between d’two of ‘em should jump start d’memories.”
“They did, Sara. Thank you.” Storm said.
“So we’re even now.”
Storm nodded.
“But we didn’t discuss you throwing one of those things at her.” Logan growled.
“Hey, she needed a weapon. She caught it didn’t she?”
“Yeah, but ya didn’t know she’d be able t’do that.” Rogue pointed out.
“Oh, I knew.” Sara muttered. “Believe me.”
The young mutant left without saying another word.
* * * * *
Creed had managed to get away from the X-Men, fuming that his plan had gone south so quickly. To further anger him, when he had returned to their former ‘love nest’ there wasn’t a trace of Stevens to be found. He had to make due with tearing the small mansion to shreds.
Five days later, Creed found himself hold up in a cheep motel somewhere in New Jersey.
It was nearly five thirty when he began to stir. His arm flopped heavily on the other side of the bed. It caused him to wake up fully and lift his head. Something wasn’t right. It took Creed to realize it.
Teeth clenched a low growl began to grow inside of him and finally erupted when the angry mutant picked up the entire bed and threw it across the room.